23 days of vacations!

June 14-23 Fly to NC. Travis was born in North Carolina and much of his extended family is still there. This week we have rented a beach house with all of Travis' immediate family for a reunion.

This is a picture of Travis and the girls playing with a "grand-daddy long-leg"? This thing was huge!


this is Travis and his siblings with their dad out in front of "The Homestead".



Sure girls, go a head and touch the Jelly fish!
There were tons of huge jelly fish washed up each day. When we went sea kyaking they were everywhere underneath us. It was pretty cool and helped you focus on not tipping the boat.






Home on June 23 but gone again June 25

June 25-June 28 Big Island Hawaii



June 28-July 4 Beautiful Maui
Something sad happened this year in Maui. I didn't take any pictures. After being there 5 years in a row, I have run out of things to take pictures of. Oh accept this, the resort offers complimentary Yoga each morning so Travis did Yoga. He loves it.

JULY 4! Ely Nevada.

We got off the plane at 7:30 am Friday July 4th and were in the car by 9:30 am to Ely, Nevada, where my Grandfather lives, for the fourth of July.


July 5-July 8 Farmington, UT
While we were in Hawaii I received news that my mom's mother in law passed away. She has been battling breast cancer for 15+ years now. We left from Ely to Farmington to celebrate my grandmother Margeret Elliott. Now I now she is actually my step- Grandmother and that I have only known her for only a year and a half but she is dear to my heart for the loving way that her and Max welcomed my mom and us kids into their family. We never felt indifferent. She and Max were great examples to us and our love is with them.

Avery's Swim Lessons

Avery had her first swim lessons this week. We were hesitant because she always freaks out if we make her try without her floaties. It was quite the opposite experience though. She loved it! every morning she would jump out of bed and put her swim suit on. She would then ask me if it was swim time. She would ask this every 5-10 minutes from 7 a.m. till 10 am. She really thrived out there and whenever it was over we practically had to pry her from the pool. Amber was her teach and has been so good with her. Avery loves Amber and draws pictures for her and this morning she told me that she wanted the brown sugar in her oatmeal to stay on the top like miss amber taught her to be a starfish and float on the top of the water.

Pretty Princesses

They do not always get along but every now and then you walk in on them and it just makes your heart smile.

Happy Mother's Day

Wheeler Farm, Salt Lake City

I love visiting my Mom. She is living about 20 minutes north of Salt Lake City in a beautiful town called Farmington. I do miss having her here but to visit such beautiful country is a special treat too. There is always something fun and exciting for the girls to do. This trip we took them to Wheeler Farm.
How both girls are such animal lovers I have no idea! Both Travis and I are not pet compatible. Avery has become very concerned that we are not a pet family and according to her"it's not fair!"
Therefore, they did enjoy visiting the farm. Here are some of the fun pics...

My New Toy

This past week I went to Utah to spend some time with my mom. While I was there I picked up a new toy. I got a used surger so that I can have more fun with my sewing projects. Here are my latest creations...

I made coordinating outfits for the girls. I don't have a full picture of Avery's dress but they are wearing the dresses in the mother's day pic.

It's Time

Neither one of my girls were great about taking pacifiers in the beginning. Avery started using hers around 7 mo and Madelyn at 9 mo. I have to admit that I really pushed it because it is nice to be able to "plug 'em up" sometimes. Avery only used her Bink at bedtime.Madelyn started out that way but in the last 3 months has managed to make a habit of taking her out of the crib and using it all day. My family started calling her Maggie from the Simpson's. I have been terrified to take it away but have known that sooner is better than later. This girl is a stasher. She has pacifiers hiding everywhere. One time I pulled out her crib and found 5 of them. She knows too. When she is looking for one she will go up to her room and crawl under the crib.
She has actually done pretty well. She freaks out if she sees one and she has managed to find three that I have missed but she surrenders them peacefully.
Good job Madelyn!

"sew" now I like to sew

So my mom is really good about giving great and practical gifts to us kids. Over the years she has given me my hope chest, cutco knives, a Kirby vacuum, canning supplies, a dehydrator, etc... She always thinks of the gifts that we wouldn't spend the money on but that are highly useful or will come in handy at some point. Soon after Travis and I were married she bought me a sewing machine. Truth be told my first thoughts were, "what in the heck am I going to use a sewing machine for. I had been taught the basics of sewing when I was growing up but never thought I'd need it. Now, I think it is one of the best gifts that I have ever received. Over the years I occasionally put it to use it it was always nice to have it when I needed it. But, I have this need for sewing lately. Especially since I made those purses the other day, I just need more, more, more. I find myself thinking about all of the things I can make. Mostly children's clothes. Tonight I used up some old fabric to make Avery an apron. I was very meticulous and it turned out perfect! I don't love the fabrics, but I was only using up old stuff to practice. I can't wait to get my hands on some designer fabrics. My favorite line right now is Ginger Blossom by Staci Henderson. These prints are so Yummy! I love the colors. I just had to get my hands on them so I went to the fabric shop today and bought some quarter folds just for the heck of it. I don't know what I will make with them yet but I just needed a fix.

Princess Bag

Avery has these little princess figurines she just has to take with her everywhere that she goes. The problem is that her collections has become so large that she doesn't have anything big enough to carry them in. So, I took her down to JoAnns and she picked out some fabric for me to sew her a princess bag with. They actually didn't turn out great but they do the trick. I say they because of course we had to do one for Madelyn too. Madelyn loves to carry around purses . Anyway, the bags were a hit with the girls but tonight Avery asked me if I could sew a pocket on the inside for her to keep her small things. Too cute...

Random pics...