Swimming

I have decided that the thing that I miss the most about Texas besides family of course, is swimming. We made it a point to swim almost every day while we were there. Abigail took swimming lessons at the Stocker Swim School of course and I taught the twins in a Water Babies class. She is doing much better because of the lessons. Now, I have to find a pool in Idaho that we can practice in, so she doesn't forget everything that she learned.
Abigail was fortunate to have Grand Nan as her teacher.
Abigail is floating all by her self for Sherry, a swim school assistant.

Birthday Parties Galore

With 18 grandchildren on the Ralphs side of the family, you are bound to attend a birthday party or two if you stick around for a couple of weeks. Abigail's cousins Brendan & Triston (yes they are twins) turned 5 while we were in Texas. Abigail had a blast at their Batman birthday party.

Abigail turned 4 on July 19th and her birthday wish was to have a Little Mermaid swimming party at Grand Nan's house. This is abigail's pre-party present. Abigail was Ariel for a day in this gear.


Abigail had so much fun with her Texas friends and cousins and grandparents. Thanks to all that attended, you made her day very special.

Family Fun

We have been really busy the last couple of weeks. Here is a picture of a few of the highlights from the past couple of weeks.

Another one of Abigail's fashion creations.

Father's Day. Gifts for the man we love. I couldn't ask for a better father to my children. He loves them so much and is a great example (most of the time) to them. We are so lucky to have him in our lives.

Fun times with cousin Taylor.Taylor is surrounded by little girls: Elizabeth, Emily, & Abigail.

Rough day.

Ralphs Look-alike Meter

This was fun to see what the meter said - you should try it yourself. I personally don't agree about Emily. I think she looks like her daddy. What do you think?

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Ralphs Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Ralphs Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Family tree templates

Lava Hot Springs

Diving Towers and Two Slides - Darin & I went down the slides twice.
Elizabeth - What A Cutie!

Darin with Elizabeth & Taylor with Emily.
Taylor & Emily

We went to Lava Hot Springs for Family Home Evening Last Night. I have been dying to go swimming, but it is still too cold to swim here. We chose Lava Hot Springs because the water temperature is 90 degrees year around. It is about 1 1/2 hours from Rockland. The twins had their first swimming experience (they looked so cute in their little swim suits) and Abigail had great fun with her cousin Taylor who is visiting us from Texas. Abigail is not in any pictures because she couldn't be still for 5 seconds so that I could take a picture of her. I tried a few times, she was having a blast.

Abigail's Dance Recital

Abigail had her dance recital on May 16th and none of the pictures that I took of her dancing turned out. These are pictures that the photographer took of Abigail in action. If you can't see the image, just click on it and the image will get bigger. It is fun to look at the expressions on her face. Abigail - green clown on the right.
Abigail - green clown in the middle.
Abigail is on the far left
Peek-a-boo (I think the Mexican hat tap dance was my favorite.)
Abigail's ending pose in her Swiss Miss ballet dance.

Financially Savvy at Such A Young Age

This one is for Papa Carl. We subscribe to two magazines that are quite helpful in making financial decisions one is called "Bottom Line" and the other "Consumer Reports." Emily seemed quite interested in the "Bottom Line" magazine and Elizabeth seemed to prefer "Consumer Reports." I thought you would get a kick out of this Dad.

Abigail's New Best Friend

Abigail is playing with "her new best friend" Hailey. Hailey is the granddaughter of our neighbor across the street. She has been visiting for a couple of weeks and they have become quite good friends. Their personalities are alot alike. I think they are kindred spirits. Too bad she has to go back to Texas in a few days.

Another One of Abigail's Crazy Outfits

May 24th was mine and Darin's 5 year anniversary. I can't believe it has been 5 years already! Time goes by so quickly when you are having fun. We were going to go on a date, so about 3 hours before we had to leave I started getting the kids and myself ready; it was Saturday, so I had to give them all baths before our date so we would be ready for church on Sunday. I got Abigail dressed, but she had to add a few of her personal touches of course, this is what she looked like when I dropped her off at the babysitter's house - you can't see, but she has brown tennis shoes with pink socks too. We had a great time on our date. We got our picture taken and went to a Mongolian restaurant. The girls did great with the babysitter, or so she tells me.

The Girls 4-Month Check-Up

Just Because I Like To Compare

Abigail's Stats (at 4 months old)

Height: 25 1/4 inches - 75th percentile

Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz - 50th percentile

Head Circumfrence: 16 3/4 inches - 90th percentile

Elizabeth laying her head ontop of Emily

Elizabeth's Stats
Height: 24 1/2 inches - 50th percentile
Weight: 14 lbs 2 oz - 50th percentile
Head Circumfrence: 17 inches - 90th percentile

Emily's Stats
Height: 24 inches - 50th percentile
Weight: 16 lbs 8 oz - 95th percentile
Head Circumfrence: 16 3/4 inches - 90th percentile

What a Storm!

A couple of nights ago we had a huge wind storm. I kept thinking it was going to start downpouring, but no luck. For those of you that don't know, I love Texas storms, especially the thunder and lightning (as long as I am safe indoors and not teaching swimming lessons). I did however hear my first burst of thunder since I have been in Idaho, just one burst, but it made me excited. Well, anyway, my sister Heather was over and she heard a huge crash and she said, "What was that?" we looked outside and didn't see anything, but it was really dark, so we couldn't really see anything anyway. A few minutes later we got a phone call from the neighbors across the street. Our 90 foot Poplar tree had fallen across the road and was blocking the street and in the neighbor's yard. Someone came out with a backhoe and pushed it out of the street and into our yard so people could get by. This is what it looked like.

Torticollis = Turtle Neck

Here is my story. I woke up on Saturday morning at about 3:30 a.m. to feed the twins on my living room couch. The next thing I knew it was 7:00 a.m. and my neck was frozen in one position. At first I thought that I just had a crick in my neck and that it could be worked out, but after a few hours of a heating pad and some Motrin, it was only getting worse. I was in pretty extreme pain and I was getting tired and frustrated because I could only hold my neck in one crooked position. We decided that I probably needed to go to the ER and the doctors told me that I had Torticollis which translates to Turtle Neck, basically I pinched a nerve in my neck. I don't really care what it is called, it hurts! I am now on some pretty strong pain killers, a muscle relaxer, and look like I have been in a car accident. Who knew a person could injure themselves in their sleep? I feel a little better today, but definitely not great and I can't lift anything that weighs more than 5 lbs. Lesson to be learned: don't sleep on the couch.

Abigail's Spring Recital

Abigail has her Spring Recital for dance tonight. These are pictures back stage for the dress rehearsal that we had yesterday because we aren't allowed to take pictures at the actual recital. She is doing four dances - ballet, tap, jazz, and the group finale. She has loved dance this year. I think we will take a break from dance for the summer and start back up in the fall.

Abigail's Circus Clown - Jazz Costume

Abigail's Swiss Miss - Ballet Costume (I'm not sure what position that is)
Abigail's Mexican Hat Dance - Tap Costume (She is missing the hat) and if you were wondering, I never pose Abigail for pictures, she just does her own thing and poses herself.

Old Yella is Back

Darin decided that he needed a farm truck to drive around the farm. I agreed because he was driving our Excursion on the ranch and he would bring it home really dirty. He found this old 1969 yellow Chevrolet C10 truck, which used to belong to his grandpa and somehow got it to run. If you want more details you would have to ask Darin because I have no idea how he got it to run. I know he had to put in a new battery, new spark plugs, new tires, and do something with the ignition, but beyond that I'm not sure. It is great that he is so handy.

Happy Mother's Day!

My gourmet Mother's Day lunch. Leftovers: Enchilada Casserole, Stir Fry, & Mashed Potatoes. Served on a Elementary school lunch tray. Very Creative - I must say.
My Mother's day gifts - my wonderful husband & three girls. Abigail gave me a Tulip, a silk flower, pipe cleaner bracelets, a picture, and a poem.

"Little Prints"
I'm, sorry, each and every day, on walls and doors through hours of play;
Round every corner you will find, little prints I've left behind.
But quickly changing, as time will, My little prints get bigger still.
And then, will surely come the day, when I am grown and moved away.
But here for you is living proof; in just my size, and of my youth.
Little prints I've left behind; but this time I don't think you'll mind!
Happy Mother's Day!

Darin got me some photo books. I have decided to do photo books instead of scrapbooking. To look at the the 2007 Photo Book click here MyBookShelf & for the 2006 Photo Book click here MyBookShelf .

The Zoo Crew is taking Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis

Each year our family walks to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis in the Dallas Great Strides 5K walk. Great Strides is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest, most successful, and most important national fund-raising event. This is important to us because we have family members that are affected by this debilitating desease. This year we are not able to attend the walk because we live in Idaho now, but we still feel that raising money is important to help with medical advances for Cystic Fibrosis. If you can, we would really appreciate a donation. Any amount would help. Making a donation is easy and secure. Just click on the link http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/SheralynMitchell to make a donation.

Our team - the Zoo Crew at the finish line in the Great Strides walk 2007.

We will miss walking this year. We will be thinking of the family.