Sam's 2nd Birthday Party in Twin

We just celebrated Sam’s 2nd birthday here at home over this past weekend with a costume party and oh how fun it was!! I was able to make our family’s costumes (with the help of my mom) in honor of Sam’s FAVORITE show in the whole world: Veggie Tales! Sam was Larry the Cucumber, Michael was Bob the Tomato and I was Madam Blueberry! They were just as fun to make as they were to wear! I made my first ever fondant cake in the form of a castle and boy was it time consuming!!! But I think it turned out quite cute! We played three games, of which Sam didn’t understand, but the older kids had a good time! Ate cake and ice cream, opened gifts (another thing she didn’t quite get yet…she thought she should be allowed to play with each toy and not have to open the next one), then we went out to the small town where Michael works and did a trunk or treat , then headed back to the house for dinner and visiting time. We had a full house but enjoyed every second of it! Now to start working on the family party… :O)

Here’s a few pictures of the occasion…

All of her gifts....SPOILED!

THE CAKE!!

Oh how she loved this balloon!!

Dancing...

The incredible Swains and the McCarron hotdog

Blowing out her candles....

Eatin' cake

Mingos with Michel and Selmo in the back

Ben Haney and Kira Rosenau

Baby Jace!


Opening presents....

Our little Veggie family...

Molly's baby shower

Last week we had a great trip to Spokane to celebrate my nephew's soon arrival with a baby shower for Molly! The shower turned out great, however getting there was quite the adventure! Our plane showed up late to pick us up which made us late getting into Salt Lake...so after running through the ENTIRE airport with my 25lb two year old and my backpack that probably weighs at least 30lbs, I just barely missed my flight! It was the last flight of the day so they put us up in a hotel room for the night and gave us vouchers to get breakfast the next morning, doesn't sound too terrible...but when you combine it with pregnancy hormones and the fact that Sam didn't go to sleep til 3am when we had to get up at 630am, it wasn't a very pleasant experience! Once we got there we had tons of fun though visiting with family and a few friends, but it went by so quick!!! Here's a few pictures of our adventure...

This is a picture of my brother Nick, his wife Molly and baby Benjamin who will soon be here...

My cute lil' girl...smiling because we were talking to the baby who was at the shower...jealous lil' girl :)

The cake my mom mostly made...I made the lions and the top part and Molly helped with some too :)

My sister-in-law and the diaper cake my mom made for her

Sam using two tv remotes as telephones...she'll use anything these days as a play phone, her stuffed monkey, magnets, blocks, pretty much anything...

Sam wearing Joey's Luigi hat from his halloween costume last years

Oh boy Oh boy...

Looked at our little monkey on ultrasound last night and it looks like Sam's going to have a little BROTHER!!

Our Visit to Spokane

Here's some more pictures of our quick trip to Spokane for Sam's BIG announcement...

Mommy tickling Sam to try and get a smile out of her

Watching Buns closely as Daddy used it to get a smile out of her with Papa and Grandma Huffman

Sam had just watched us pack up the van and I think she thought we were going to leave without her...so we got a half scared smile out of her with Grandpa and Grandma Chamberlin

Sitting with Grandma

Eatin' cereal on the step at Grandma's when Mom and Dad did leave her to go on a date!

Three hours past bedtime with no nap for the day and getting ready to try her big girl bed out for the first time...she loved the new bedding Grandma bought her!!

Sam's BIG news...

We've been in Spokane now for the past four days...the main reason was so that Michael could interview (along with 80 other people) for a job, BUT another really good reason to come up was so that Sam could show off her new shirt...

Although she has really no idea what her shirt means she did find the monkey very entertaining...and everyone else appreciated the phrase I think :)
So that's it, we're going to have another somewhere around the time frame of March 22, 2011.

A visit from Auntie Angie

It's been a while since I updated my blog and honestly I cannot say why. Perhaps because I have been busy, worn out and haven't taken any pictures over the past month :(

Well, Michael's sister, Angie, has been here for the past 2 1/2 weeks now so I've been trying to snap a picture here and there...I think I've got like 5, so not like me!! It's been really nice having her down here, she's been a big help with Sam and the yard! It is so neat to see Sam interact with her!! I have noticed a huge difference when people come to our house vs. us going to theirs pertaining to Sam's comfort level! It only took the two hour drive home from the airport and Sam was instantly comfortable with her!

Sam wearing one of Auntie Angie's headbands...

Sam loved to hang out on Auntie Angie's bed, partly because there's a mirror that she can admire herself in like she's doing here...

And she's still looking in the mirror...vain lil' girl! :)

Sam's been picking up words like crazy...although she only uses them when SHE wants to! She's also very much into mimicking faces and sounds that people make. Michael said "woo hoo" about three nights ago and still I randomly catch Sam saying it just like he did sporadically throughout the day. I am really enjoying this age, she's like a sponge, and although she doesn't always follow directions, you can tell that she understands everything that you say :)

So, today we're heading back to Spokane to take Angie home. It'll be a SHORT trip as always, but it'll be good for Sam to see her grandparents!

Camping with our friends, the Rosenaus...

This was our first attempt at taking Sam camping...
We went up near Hailey, Idaho and found a spot right off the road with lots of trees and a creek that ran along side of it, it was perfect!! The only thing that wasn't perfect was the weather! It was pouring rain and hail the moment we pulled in, which in turn soaked all of our stuff in the back of the truck! Unfortunately our suit case had a hole in it and everything was soaked by the time we set up camp, so we had wet clothes all three days :) As we unpacked we realized we forgot our camping chairs as well as all of Sam's warm clothes...I had them all in a pile on her dresser to go but forgot to put them in the suit case. :( So, Michael and Kirk went to town as soon as we got there and picked up a sweatshirt and a pair of "pants" for Sam, they were really capris for a much larger child, but did fit her like pants. They looked for camp chairs but the cheapest they could find were $60 a piece!!! Needless to say they were smart and did not buy these, so they called dispatch and ended up getting hooked up with a Blane county officer who let us borrow his....so wonderful!! Thank you officer we've never met, I greatly appreciated it!! When it came time to sleep the first night, Sam decided she was going to lie awake until after five am and if she caught eye contact with Michael or I she would start jabbering, otherwise she just laid awake looking at the top of the tent. The second night she fell right to sleep, but woke up screaming in the middle of the night, I assume she had a bad dream...from then on she cried any time I took her into the tent :( We got rained on off and on the whole trip and the last night we were supposed to stay all we could see was clouds so we decided to pack up camp and head out a night early...after stopping for ice cream in Hailey of course :) We had a lot of fun and had some great fellowship with some really good friends that we don't hang out with nearly enough!!

Mommy and Sam on one of our hikes...

Sittin with dad by the campfire

This was Sam's favorite way to hike!

S'ghetti-Os!!

Sam loved sitting in the middle of the creek on this rock!!

And this is what happens when she's told no...

The lid was really on, she just thought she was drinking it...

Walking through the puddles with dad...

Putting rocks in the creek

Mommy and Sam by the campfire

Two out of three of Kirk and Kira's kids with Sam on the rock in the creek

Kira and her daughter, Andi, who is just about the same age as Sam