A Day at the Zoo!!!

My moms company has a family day at the Zoo every year.  So since we live so close we met them there sometime in September.  For these events, everyone from the company who goes gets a goody bag.  They got a bag with lunch and treats and $10 to spend on refreshments or whatever.  Since we didnt get there for lunch, the girls got their bags full of treats instead.  After a few hours at the zoo we went with everyone to Casa Bonita for dinner.

 We always do the carousel so this trip the girls wanted to ride the train.

 Grandpa and the girls.

 Patrick and Zoiee gearing up to see how far they can jump.  Which animal will they be??  I think Zoiee was the rabbit...I have no idea what Patrick was.

Patrick enjoying a sopapilla.  We remember this restaurant from our younger years.  I remember it being delicious.  This trip, not so much but Patrick sure enjoyed his sopapillas. 

Start of a new school year!! 1st grade wahoooo!!!

The first day of 1st grade with Mrs. Wingfield.  Zoiee was very excited to start school this year.  She had no tears and went into the classroom easily.  She also decided to ride the bus this year.  This, I had to get used to.  I didn't want her to ride the bus but, anyone who knows Zoiee knows this is a big step.  So being the momma bird, I had to let go a little and let her ride the bus. 

 Wearing her new outfit she picked out from Nana and Grandpa.  She is growing up so fast.

 We did take her to school on the first day though.  She waited patiently with a smile on her face until the bell rang and went right in.  Notice Gracyn in the background.  You will see a theme in a minute.

 Zoiee getting off the bus.  She had a very good day and enjoyed the bus.  She has a good friend that lives in our neighborhood and is in her class so they ride together.  She is very lucky to know several children from church that ride her bus.  I am thankful we live in a small community.

 2nd day of school, wearing an outfit she picked out when Aunt Jama took her shopping.  She is definitely a girl.  She loves clothes, shoes and shopping.

I had to put this picture in here because Gracyn has to pose in the pictures when we take them and to show her in yet another bathing suit.  Were we going swimming, you ask??  No we weren't.  She just likes to dress up.

Helping Grandad!

For Fathers Day this year, Patrick gave his dad the gift of time.  Jim had the pathway project started that goes from the back patio to the storage house he built.  We went up to Cheyenne for a few days so Patrick could help finish up the project.  One thing about Patrick is he loves anything to do with outside.  If there is a project needing to be done outside, he is all over it.  He can't wait to finish a few in our yard next year.

 He also had our "little orphan Annie" helping him out.  This was the same weekend that I did my first 5k.  I was 7 mths pregnant and walked the whole thing but it was an accomplishment.

 The pathway to the storage house.  They leveled the dirt, then added sand, leveled that and then put down the pavers.  Then added more sand.  I am very thankful for a handy husband.

I can't remember which visit to Cheyenne this picture was taken, but Mamacita was visiting for about 6 weeks.  We got to visit her a few times and the girls warmed right up to her.    Gracyn shows her personality through her smiles.  I also love her hair cut like this. 

The Petting Zoo

We have been trying to do more as a family this year especially before baby comes.  Since I go to the doctor in Ft. Collins, we decided to take the girls to a petting zoo there on one of my appt. days.  And for about .25cents you can buy a scoop of food to feed the animals.

Gracyn loved feeding the animals.  She would laugh a little when their tongue tickled her little palm.  Now Zoiee was a different situation.  We would try to get her to feed the animals but she would cry and get scared.  Her 2 year old sister showed her up.

She made fast friends witht he animals.

Even kissed a couple.  I was totally grossed out by this but Gracyn is her own person and she will do anything she wants regardless of what this mommy tells her.  So if the worse is kissing animals, I will have to learn to handle it.

After A LOT of coaxing...Zoiee finally fed a lamb.  And guess what!!!!  She loved it.  She kept wanting to feed them but we ran out of food.

This small petting zoo was great way to spend family time.  Take a little picnic, roam around, play on old farm equipment.  I couldnt have asked for a better day.

Home Depot

We finally decided to try out the free kids workshop at Home Depot.  The girls really enjoy building things and using all the tools.  This was their first time.  A school bus pencil holder.  We have been 3 times so far.  Zoiee wanted to paint hers, so we went and bought some yellow paint and let them finish them at home.  I didnt get a finished picture, but they enjoyed every minute of it!



Together

We did a lot together this summer.  Trying to keep busy.  Zoiee and I got our hair done together while we were in Cheyenne for Frontier days.

                         Pat cooked me a birthday cake for everyone to enjoy...the big 30!!!!!

Zoiee and Gracyn with 2 of her cousins playing in the sprinklers.  They love to see their cousins every year from Texas.

After the girls and I enjoyed some time with family in Cheyenne, Patrick and I had a staycation.  We went to Joe's crab shack for dinner, went to the temple and the museum.  We decided to spend this weekend together to celebrate our 10 year anniversary early since we are expecting a baby 2 days before our actual anniversary.  It was nice to enjoy one another without kids tagging along.



And baby will make 5!!!!

In June, we found out that we will have our 3rd girl!!!  I had to take a picture of the ultrasound and it didn't come out all that great!!!!

Hallee Shawn will be arriving Nov 1 around 730 am. 

We are all very excited to add her to our family.  Zoiee has had fun watching my belly grow, in fact the other day she said to me "your tummy isn't very big for having a baby in 8 weeks."  Maybe, just maybe I won't get huge with this one.  I have had minimal weight gain with this little girl and the pregnancy has been great.

Patrick has been kind of funny through out the whole process of finding out the sex of the baby.  Since we already have 2 girls, we were hoping to add a boy into the mix.  At the first ultrasound, the tech was only 90% that it was a girl.  {She was being rather modest with her legs crossed at the ankles.}  A month later I was able to get another peak at her and finalized that a girl is coming.  Now that Patrick was somewhat convinced that we are having another girl, he was able to talk about girl names and actually come up with one.  I think he is still holding out hope that one day we will have a boy.  Who knows!!! 

I am currently 30 weeks and have 8 1/2 weeks to go.  Baby and Mom are doing great!!!

Memorial weekend!

We spent Memorial weekend in Colorado Springs at my brother and SIL house.  Her family was there including several of ours.  It was one big party.  We did a lot of visiting, eating and enjoying the outside.  My brother Wesley serves for the United States Army and will be deployed to Afghanistan in July for a year deployment, so we got a lot of us together for some family time.  My dad and his wife drove up from Cali, my sis and her 2 kids and my parents came from Cheyenne and of course us.  We are lucky to have so much family so close. And Jill's family from Nebraska.  {this post has really reminded me that I need to start taking more pictures} 

Dad must have been tired.

Zoiee and Mimi

This just shows that Patrick does go places with us!!

My sister Stephinie and Dad getting ready for their ride to Canon City.

Gracyn loved this car of Cilla's

For some reason I can't get this picture to rotate.  But this is the only picture I have to show that after we came home from the Springs, my sister and her 2 kids came with us.  And a day later our greatest friend and her 4 boys came for a 3 day visit.  It was a full house around here.  But a great time all around!!!

End of Kindergarten

Zoiee had a "Dinostars" performance just before school ended.  She was very excited for it.  She has been practicing all the songs with the actions all week.  {We still sing "We're raptors...yo yo we're raptors}

Zoiee and Mrs. Doyle

Oh how we loved her!!!

Zoiee also participated in her first field day.  At the end they had a fire truck that blasted water for the kids to get wet, but Zoiee just watched because she claimed she didn't want to get wet.  All in all Zoiee enjoyed Kindergarten.  She had an awesome teacher and made good friends.  We had some difficults months dealing with anxiety but we pulled through.  We look toward the future with a positive attitude and know 1st grade will be better. 

Zoiee's First tooth

I really need to get caught up on this blog so we will start with Zoiee losing her first tooth. She lost her bottom tooth at the end of April.  It has been loose for a couple of weeks and we tried to talk her into letting us pull it out but to no avail she waited until it fell out on its own.  It happened when she was eating ice cream one night.

She also wrote the toothfairy a note to ask her how old she was and how she got into houses.  The toothfairy even wrote back.  Zoiee being who she is was a little nervous about puting her tooth under her pillow the first night so on the 3rd night after she lost it, the toothfairy finally made her appearance.  She lost the neighbor tooth shortly after that and the toothfairy has yet to be soon.  I just don't think that it is mommys job to put her tooth under her pillow so when she decided to do it, maybe the fairy will come.  But I think there should be an expiration date on teeth.

Gracyn turns 2

Gracyn turned 2 on April 10.  She got to go shopping for birthday gifts this year.  I thought this would be very easy for her, but she would see something pick it up, love on it then put it back.  So, it took quite awhile and lots of pushing to get her to pick stuff.  She enjoyed the disney store and California pizza kitchen on her birthday.

The girls with Nana and Grandpa before they left on vacation.

  Gracyn has been like a whirlwind lately.  We enjoy having her in our family.  She is very loving and always makes us laugh.  A few things about her::

* was potty trained 5 days before her 2nd birthday.
* is more vocal and well on her way saying 100 words.
* is starting to put 2 words together
*loves running around naked.  It is very hard keeping clothes on her now
*thinks that she older than she really is
*loves to try my patience on a daily basis