A house full of girls

Here are two girls that LOVE to dress up. We are constantly entertained by the different costumes that they come up with. They always have made up names and fun ideas. Today they were "stretch girl" and "dance girl".

I always have to laugh at Brad. He is constantly surrounded by girl everything. Our girls are VERY girly and they expect him to play right a long. I had to get a picture of the latest...Barbie bandaids on his big manly foot. He had a couple of blisters from playing basketball. A couple of months ago, he had to go to school with a Hello Kitty bandaid on his finger. :) I love it!

Happy 31st Birthday Brad!!!

Addie says ...We hope you have a good Birthday! We are surprising you with a blue birthday party and a turtle cake when you get home. We love you for all of the nice stuff you do. We love you very much because you give us good support and you drive us everywhere. You are such a good helper and you like to talk about funny stuff. We wish you a Happy Birthday and a Happy New Year! Love, Me Livie and Ellie

Sweet Olivia

As many of you know, Olivia has battled lung problems from the time she was 6 months old. She has spent a lot of her little life in hospitals and doctor's offices. With all that she has been through, she is SO sweet and the best little patient. Last Thursday, she was admitted into a Topeka Hospital for pneumonia and asthma issues. She was there for a couple of days, when they decide to life flight her to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. She really scared us! We are SO THANKFUL for good friends and family that prayed and fasted for her. We really witnessed a miracle. She is doing so much better!!! She should be able to come home in the next few days. Brad has been at the hospital the entire time because our little Ella has RSV and is not allowed to be with Olivia. I have been in Topeka with Ella and Addison. We went up for a visit today and Olivia was so cute!! She said, "Addie! You have got to try a helicopter ride, I saw the sky!" It is so great to see that she is acting like herself again. She even had the energy to play Barbies. :)

White Christmas

We normally don't have this much snow in Kansas. Brad had so much fun pulling the girls around in the sled. They were laughing so hard. Ella was fascinated by the snow. She was upset when it was time to go inside. :)

Gingerbread House

You sure can't tell from the serious faces, but the girls had a lot of fun making their gingerbread house this year! We went the easy route and bought a kit. They were so cute, they tried to make their house look exactly like the one on the box. I think they were pretty close.

Big Day

We had such a great weekend! Brad graduated from Law School! Grandma and Grandpa Daybell came to celebrate with us. Our kids were so excited to see their Dad graduate. I think they were a little surprised to see him dressed up in regalia. Addie turned to me and said, "Wow, Dad is so handsome, I wish I could give him a kiss." It was a neat ceremony and reception. The day was so much fun.

Ice Storm

There is ice everywhere. The trees are beautiful. Addison was so excited to go outside to "build a snowman". She could not believe that it was ice. We let her go outside and see it for herself. She was very surprised. She kept trying to pick up "snow" but the ground was solid ice.

What is this?

Now, normally I wouldn't get worried about cloud formation, but I do live in KANSAS. Tonight, during dinner, we looked out the window to see this. What is this?!? The sirens did not go off, but this thing lingered near our house for about an hour! Yikes.

Sisters

Our little Ella has started crawling! She is on the move constantly and is busy all day long. I love this stage, she wants to see and touch everything. She is especially interested in our Christmas tree. :) Tonight, I heard two panicked sisters yelling from their bedroom, "Help, Ella is stuck." Ella had somehow ended up in the little cradle and had her legs twisted. She was still as happy as can be. I went to get my camera and by the time I got back into their bedroom, the three of them were rocking out of control!! It scared me to death and they thought it was hilarious. I just hope they can all make it through childhood without serious injury! Kids are fun.

Thanksgiving

We had the best Thanksgiving! My two sisters and their families and my parents came to visit us! They were here for 8 days! We LOVED having them here. We spent the majority of our time on the road visiting church history sites. We spent Thanksgiving day in Nauvoo. My little girls had a blast with their cousins. Here are a few pictures from our trip...

Running through the fields at Adam-ondi-ahman.


Kids being kids at Liberty Jail.

Addison and Olivia playing with their dolls in front of the sun stone in Nauvoo.

Olivia pouting at Carthage Jail. Addison and her sweet cousins trying to cheer her up.

Trying to smile after 5 days without a nap.

Ella spent most of the 8 days in a car seat. She was the best baby!

The guys went to the Chiefs/Raiders game in Kansas City. They were on the 5th row/50 yard line.

GOOD TIMES WERE HAD BY ALL. :)

Walk at the Governor's Mansion

Since our move to Kansas, we have loved to take walks at the Governor's Mansion. We have made it a tradition to go on Sunday afternoons. The weather was perfect today for a walk, so the girls and I went this afternoon. It was gorgeous!

Sweet Ella

Ella is the best baby! We feel so lucky to have her. She is so happy and sweet. We love her so much.

Halloween

Every year our girls just can not decide what to be for Halloween. This year we had a battle because they both wanted to be the Barbie "Genevieve". They cried about it up until yesterday afternoon. They talked it over and made a compromise. To my surprise it went in Addie's favor. :) Addison decided to be the Barbie "Genevieve" and Olivia decided to be Genevieve's sister "Lacy" (whoever that is). We went to "Trunk or Treat" at the church and then went trick or treating with a group of friends. We borrowed a little cheetah costume for Ella. She was very frustrated with her nose, and absolutely not in the mood for whiskers!

Weekend in Wichita

This weekend we took a trip to Wichita. We visited some good friends who I knew when I lived in Colorado. They invited us to attend a "pig roast". As we sat in our hotel the night before the roast, we realized that we had not really explained what a "pig roast" was going to be like. Addison and Olivia were SO excited to play with the pig! They were a little surprise to hear that we were actually eating the pig. The next morning, Addie prayed, "please help us that we won't think the pig is gross!" We took pictures of the dear ol' pig, but I thought I better not post them (not a pleasant picture for weak stomachs). :)
So, I posted some pictures of our hunt for autumn leaves. It was absolutely beautiful in Wichita. The girls were determined to find the most colorful leaves. We encouraged them to find them on the ground, but they kept Brad busy, lifting them into the trees to find the "perfect leaf". We had a lot of fun.

Addie in the leaves

My photography classes have ended for this semester. Now it is time to have some fun. Addison loves to get her picture taken. She loves the camera and she really has fun posing. She always wants her hand, a flower or in this case a branch of leaves, right next to her face. I am always laughing inside, but I try to act excited so that she will forever enjoy having me take her picture. Today, she wanted to lay in a pile of leaves and hold a branch next to her face. She put on her serious face (she never wants to smile in a picture) and did not move while I shot pics. She is so much fun and at such a cute age! I had to smile, and I was a little unsure, but I think it turned out pretty cute.

There's no place like home.

A day at the park

We have had the cute little Westhoff girls staying with us this week. Their dad just passed the Colorado Bar, got a job in Denver, and their parents are off looking for a house this weekend. We have been good friends with the Westhoffs since the day we moved to Kansas. We will be so sad to see them move away. :(

Glitter Pumpkins

This is my favorite autumn craft. We did this for a Family Home Evening project tonight. It was so much fun and the mess we made was unbelievable. Glitter everywhere! We painted the pumpkin stems, coated the pumpkins with watered down glue and covered them with glitter. Our little girls had so much fun! I don't know how I will ever get all of the orange glitter out of their hair!!

1/2 Marathon

Okay, many of you know that I have been training for a half marathon. My training started 12 weeks ago! I was so nervous as the race was approaching because I caught a cold and it was not going away, it was getting worse. So, the last week I have totally been off my training schedule. My last long run was last Saturday and it went well, but I was sick the next day. So, yesterday I decided no matter what, even if I am sick, I am running this thing! Well, I drank a gallon of water throughout the day and ate a ton of carbs. I could not sleep last night because I kept checking the clock, thinking I would not wake up in time. Well, at about 4 a.m. I started hearing the rain, hail and major gusts of wind. I kept waiting for the storm to pass and it just became stronger. My running partners picked me up at 6:30 a.m. and as we arrived at the half marathon, everyone started their preparations as though we were actually going to run. But, as the lightning crashed down along with the hail, we soon realized that it was not going to happen! So disappointing!! I am hoping I can make arrangements to run next week in the Kansas City Marathon. I'll keep you posted.

Graduation

Brad had his graduation portraits taken today. He brought home a photocopy that the photographer gave to him, and then I took a picture of it. So, you can kind of get an idea of how cute he looks. :) Graduation is on December 15th. He is graduating one semester early. I can not believe we are so close to the finish line!