Halloween!

We had a really nice night trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and passing out candy (the girls love this part...they pretty much run to the kids to give them candy!). Emi was so cute saying 'trick-or-treat' this year.

I wish I got video of the girls after the sugar set in...at one time both girls were running up and down our street screaming & laughing, back and forth, back and forth and then later Emi was just laughing hysterically and running in circles. It was so cute! :)

Papa & Grandma stopped by to see the girls.

Our next door neighbor carved this. Since Nate's a Vikings fan we had to take a pic...maybe next year I'll do a Cardinals helmet. :)

Running to the next house!

Some of the neighbors had their houses decorated so spooky that the girls were a little scared to go up to the door. ...they were brave though, knowing there was candy to be given! ;)

Halloween over the years:

2005 - Alyssa's 1st Halloween - Our Little Pumpkin

2006 - No family picture :( ...but here's one of just Alyssa being a cute little puppy, one with cousins Zach & Emma, and one with best friend Mercy.

Our family 2007 - Cute little bugs... Ladybug & Butterfly

Our family 2008 - Cinderella & Minnie Mouse

Our family 2009 :) - Dorothy & Ladybug

Fun dress-up/Halloween pics

We had the opportunity to have the girls get their pictures taken for a Halloween photo shoot for Leasure Designer Portraits...and they ended up on their flyer! It was so fun and the girls did such a great job. :)

Pre-Halloween Celebrations

Last week we celebrated Halloween by carving pumpkins with Nate's side of the family. We had yummy treats, ate a good fall dinner, and carved some pumpkins. :)

The kids were not really excited about pulling out the 'guts' of the pumpkin...such girls! ;)

Sudhakar and his beautiful new wife Aneela.

This was Aneela first time carving pumpkins, she did a great job!

While I was carving Emi's pumpkin she found some sprinkles and enjoyed them all! :)

The finished products...I like DeWayne's on the end...he couldn't think of anything to carve so he just didn't carve it! :)

Nate & Alyssa's super cute winking pumpkin and the sad looking ladybug pumpkin that Emily & I did.

This past Thursday Fry's had a Halloween event for the kiddos so the girls and I headed over for a little bit while Nate was working late. It worked great to have 2 trick or treating events since I really wanted Emi to wear her Snow White costume this year too...Alyssa choose to be a ballerina for her '2nd costume'.

The had games set up around the store for the kids to play and win candy/snacks at.

Enjoying the cookies they decorated.

Driving the 'car'.

AZ State Fair

Yesterday Nate took a 1/2 day off and after naps the four of us went to the State Fair. It was a beautiful afternoon to spend the day outside with my whole family!

This turkey is ready for Thanksgiving!

Getting ready to ride the BIG ferris wheel.

Stopped on the top...yup I was freaking out! ;)

Zoo trip

Yesterday morning we got to go to the zoo and hang out with our friends Holly, Brandon & Noah. It was so nice to enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the kids run free since there was hardly anyone there! :) We got to the Orangutan exhibit right when the guy was setting it up for the day. The kids got to learn lots of fun facts about how they live, what they eat, how they play, etc. Then we got to see them enter their exhibit. It was really fun!

Mother Nature's Farm

Yesterday our play group went to Mother Nature's Farm. It was really cute...there was a pumpkin patch, the kids got to decorate a pumpkin with stickers, we went on a hay ride, there was a bounce house, and we got to feed the farm animals. The kids had such a fun time!

My pumpkins :)

Emi stood like this for a long time just staring at the pigs. It was so adorable I had to take a picture. ;)

Luke and Alyssa were inseparable!

Alyssa wanted to grab the whole bail of hay and throw it in!

Daddy's home!

Friday Nate got back from being in Japan for almost 3 weeks. It was so cute to see how excited the girls were to have him home!!! We went inside the airport when we went to pick him up and the girls stood as close as they were allowed to, to where the people come out of the gates. Emi just kept pointing down the hallway like she was seeing him...but after a couple minutes I realized that was not the case (I think she was just so excited that she wanted him to come through the gate right away!). ;) Then when he got to us the girls went crazy, Alyssa just started talking to him non-stop and Emi just kept touching his face and giggling! :)

When we got home Emi laid on Nate's luggage, as if to say, "you're not going anywhere now daddy!" ...and then when he laid down on the couch, she would not leave his side. I love how she loves to cuddle.

We are so thankful that God brought Nate home safely, we love you babe and are so happy you're home!

Fancy Nancy Party

A couple days ago Alyssa went to Mercy's 4th birthday party...a Fancy Nancy party! :) Kristina did such a great job...she set up different stations for the girls to be at, a dress up station (dresses, purses, etc.), a hair station, a nail station, professional photo shoot, a craft station, and a dance area. The girls loved getting all 'fancy'!

My 2 princesses. :)

Didn't get one with them looking at me or smiling, but hopefully Renee did. :)

Dance Party!!!

I love Kristina's pose in this one. ;)

Her favorite dance move... "and we all fall down!"

She was such a big girl getting her nails done.

Time to make a princess cookie. :)

Mercy opening her presents on her throne!

We love you Mercy, happy 4th birthday!!!

Alyssa's 4yr old pictures

Thank you, thank you, thank you Renee! I love these pictures...they are SO Alyssa!!! :)

Here are my favorites: (sorry there's a lot!) ;)

Had to get Barbie in a couple shots! :)

Emi jumped in for a little photo shoot too! :)

Misc. pics over the last week

Emi brought me a bunch of clippies and wanted me to put them all in her hair, what a cutie pie!

Our first watermelon from our garden. It was very small and picked too early, but I think it's so cool that we can actually grow watermelon!

After dinner at the Williams', Emi jumped on the couch next to Kenny and just sat there for a few minutes, sitting just like him. :)

I think this is 'marker attack' #1...there were a few afterwards, but I think I lost the humor (not that it ever was funny...but sometimes you just need to laugh and grab the camera!) in the situation and decided to not take any more pictures. ;)

Cardinals game

Last Sunday Alyssa and I got the chance to go see the Cardinals WIN!!! ...well we actually didn't see them win because we left a couple minutes early, but we did see most of a really great game! It was really fun to spend the day with Alyssa. Thank you for the tickets Shannon. :)

It was so cool to be sitting right where the players ran out on to the field...Alyssa loved the big blow up Cardinal!

Enchanted Island at Encanto Park

On Friday we went to Enchanted Island with our friends Rachel, Amariah, & Easten. We had so much fun! The kids got to ride a lot of rides and the weather was pretty nice. Fun morning had by all! :)

Alyssa tries to climb every tree she sees now. :)

Emi had a choke hold on me the whole time during the first ride on the carousel!

Emi waiting for the big kids to finish their ride on the airplane and rollercoaster.

What cutie pies!

Next time Emi rode the little horse that didn't go up and down. :)

Emi playing the guitar...kind of ;)

Our friends gave the girls a couple toys that their kids were done playing with...one of them is a Backyardigans guitar. Emi LOVES it! I tried to show her how to hold it, but this is how it ended up...

She's so cute (and serious) about her 'playing the guitar'...I love watching her!

Alyssa @ Ballet Under the Stars - Emi & I at the Zoo

Sunday night Alyssa got to go to Ballet Under the Stars with Nate's parents and her cousin Ava. The girls wore their tutus and were adorable! Here's a couple of pics...

Alyssa then got to have a sleepover with Ava at grandpa & grandma's house so I had the morning with just Emi! So we headed to the zoo. :) It was so fun to just be with her...we went on the carousel and the train, went to the monkey exhibit, and played at the treehouse.

Alyssa's 4!!!

Last Monday was Alyssa's 4th birthday. We started the night before by filling her room with birthday balloons after she had gone to bed. I heard her when she woke up saying, "Mommy??? There's balloons in my room!" It was too cute. :) We started her birthday off with breakfast at Joe's Farm Grill with our friends Ashley, Marcus & Evie. It was very yummy and we all had a great time hanging out together. That night we had our family over for dinner and cake...which was supposed to be a special Barbie cake that I made for her, but ended up being a 'special' Barbie cake from the grocery store bakery. ;) Then the next day we hosted play group at a gym (the same one we had Emi's b-day party at). We were going to bring the grocery store Barbie cake for everyone, but since that ended up being eaten the night before we picked up donuts on the way...kind of like cake, right?!?! ;) For her friend party we went to Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. Nate and I had taken the girls there on Emi's birthday and Alyssa has not stopped asking to have her birthday party there since then. I didn't think we were going to be able to do a party for her this year, but it ended up working out just perfectly and I'm so glad it did because she had a great time!

She's been wanting to climb trees for a while now and we finally found one she could climb...she did great!

The Barbie cake. :(

The replacement cake. :)

Her 4yr appt. We brought Emi's baby and the dr.'s kit to play with while we were waiting for her shots.

Waiting to go into the pool.

Weekend with friends

This past weekend we went up north with our 'high school friends' (people we've been friends with since high school...some of them have been friends since preschool!).  We've gone up the past couple years and it's always such a great time.  Just relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather, eating yummy food, and playing a bunch of games!  Thanks John & Stacy for allowing us to join you at the Lodge, you put together a wonderful weekend.

Alyssa loves picking flowers and giving them to everyone. :)

Gotta have the baby, baby stroller, and all the baby supplies wherever we go. ;)

Aaron and Alyssa checking out a rainbow after a storm.

Like I said in a previous post, Alyssa has been waiting to play in the rain for months now...so when I saw that it was going to be raining off & on while we were at the lodge I packed the rain gear right away!  I'm so glad they got to use it!!!  :)

The other side of the rainbow.

I forgot why we put the girls to bed in our bed before moving them to the pack n play & sleeping bag, but we did...and they did great!  They were so cute (and I was so impressed that they fell asleep next to each other, and with out a fuss) that I had to take some pics. :)

All the kids (11 total!) had so much fun playing together.

Alyssa was so excited that she was allowed to play the piano.

Sorry, more sleeping pics. ;)

Alyssa wasn't feeling well on the way home so we pulled over for a couple minutes...she ended up being fine after a little fresh air.  PHEW!

Our Prescott getaway

This past weekend we went up to Prescott for the weekend with Nate's parents.  We've gone up to one of their friend's vacation home the past couple years and we were excited to be able to go up again this year.  We go to go to the big craft fair they have every Labor day, enjoy a beautiful thunderstorm, play lots of games, hang out at a local lake/park, and eat yummy food!  It was a very fun, restful trip.

I don't know why, but Emi LOVES to lay on the ground!  YUCK!!!

The girls (and daddy) having fun dancing to a local musician's music.

They kept up their 'princess' spinning until they both fell down!

Movie time

Beautiful view of the sunset from the balcony.

My mother-in-law got the girls these adorable princess crowns at the craft fair!

The girls loved being able to play in the grass.

More dancing

A praying mantis that the was around the house all w/e.  With 2 little girls, there was a lot of screaming going on...Nate tried very hard to make them not afraid of it, it worked on Emi until all of Alyssa's screaming finally turned Emi away screaming too.

Diamondbacks game

Last night we were able to go to the Diamondbacks game (thank you Elisabeth!).  We took the light rail there (thank you Melissa for the suggestion!) and the girls loved it.  We got there just in time for the beginning of the game and the girls enjoyed it and did so well sitting there.  Emily just sat there with her popcorn staring at the jumbotron and Alyssa wanted so bad to know what was going on on the field at all times.  One thing both girls did really at was... noticing the cotton candy guy walk up & down (I've taught them well!). :)  Emi was so cute, she kept pointing at the guy and saying "Mommy, mommy!"  After sitting for a while we headed up to the play area and let the kids run around...by the time we were done with that it was time to go.  It was a very fun night! 

The girls got free Gonzo t-shirts...which will fit them when they're about 12!  They were so cute in them, Emi's went right down to her ankles. :)

What do you see in this picture?  Yup, the COTTON CANDY!!! :)

This picture was taken while waiting for the light rail...again.  I thought we were at our stop, but actually we got off a stop early, oops!  :(  

Fun this week!

This week the girls and I have had a very fun week (despite some meltdowns). :)

Emi feeding her baby.  She's so cute, she gets all the needed items (high chair, food, bottle...and beauty chair-for her!) and brings it out to the living room and sets it all up. :)

Dress up time!

Children's Museum

Chick-fil-A had a Princess event this week where the girls could dress up like princesses (and get free ice cream shakes for doing so!), make little crafts (tiaras and princess wands), get their make-up done, pet/brush a pony, and then even have princess pony rides!  It was such a fun night. :)

Can you tell how happy they were that I had them take a picture with the cow??? ;)

A good-bye kiss for the pony.

They even decorated the ponies like princesses!

Painting fun today! :)

Here's Emi checking out Alyssa's masterpiece.

Alyssa did hand-painting, finger-painting isn't her thing. ;)

The finished projects...

Alyssa over the last couple days...

A couple days ago we were eating dinner and I was telling Nate a story about the day (which included a lot of spelling out words) and after I was done Alyssa started telling a story and in the middle of her story she starts saying random letters...ex. "Daddy today I e-y-o-t-y and it was fun and then, etc."  Nate and I just looked at each other like "what did she just say???", so we asked her to repeat what she said.  With a straight face she repeated exactly the same thing.  We started cracking up!  She was totally telling a real story and thought she'd through in 'random' letters like she heard me saying...that must be how you talk normally, right??? ;)

Today we were working on a preschool activity book learning how to write the letter 's'.  She did such a great job so we went to the back of the book where there are 'Good Job' stickers so we could pick one out and put it on her page.  I asked her to pick one out and the first one she picked out had a bunch of hearts and said I Love You.  I said, "that one looks pretty, let's put that one on it" and she said, "no mommy, that one is for you because you make my heart happy!"  Oh how that melted my heart!!

Last story...tonight she was having a hard time falling asleep so I told her she could fall asleep in my room.  We've never done that before and she got scared when I left her in there by herself.  She was screaming and crying and when I went back in to calm her down she asked, "is God going to protect me?"  What a sweet opportunity to talk about God and His promises, pray together, and for her to learn to trust God in what was a hard situation for her.  God is so good!