Swim Time

It wasn't the warmest day...but good enough.

The girls cleaned their room and helped me with laundry...so they earned a day at the pool! It was pretty fun. I was worried that Elsie would be a little nervous about getting in the cold water...but she is a fishy like the other two. Can't wait for summer-time! (and a tan!)

Silly Elsie

Elsie has the perfect hair for jumping on the trampoline! Isn't that just great!!! She kept crawling around, then touching us...or the puppy and thought it was so funny! Silly kid!

She has also made friends with all the little ants who have found shelter in our home! She found one in the corner of the kitchen one day...and she still goes back to it every morning to look for her friend! Silly kid!

IT'S A BOY!!!

We got a little boy for our family today. We caved in a got, not just any puppy, but the most perfect puppy in the world!!!

This little guy is so sweet and mellow. There is no way we couldn't take him home. He is a Miniature Australian Shepherd, so he won't get much bigger than he is now. We are excited to have him in our family...hopefully we aren't too in over our heads. But just look at that face!!!

His name is Tanger. He was named after Brent's childhood dog whom he loved so much. He was also an Australian Shepherd...just not mini. But I am sure this little Tanger is going to be just as loyal!

Elsie absolutely loves him...Cassi mauls him, of course...and he has already chosen Madi as his favorite...(don't tell Cassi) Madi and Cassi were eating and we tried to get Tanger to come out side with us to meet the neighbors. He wouldn't budge until Madi got up...he followed her to the sink to dump her dishes, then followed her outside. What a good dog!

Playing in the Rain

We had one heck of a rain storm role in this afternoon! But it was warm enough that we could still play in it. There were some crazy big rain drops!!! So after helping the neighbors with some yard work, and sending Madi to celebrate a birthday with her friend Keva, we did a little playing. It was a fun time!

I noticed that the last few posts have been about Elsie or Madi, and I thought Cassi should get a turn. Poor girl suffers endlessly from middle child syndrome...everything Madi does is so exciting because she is the first to ever do it...cause she is the oldest, and Elsie is the baby and everything she does is so celebrated, so poor Cassi gets lost in the mix. But this little girl is a definite one of a kind! She has a million dollar smile, and she is so full of energy that Grandma Ene is known to say, while Cassi is around..."'If only we could bottle that energy, we would be rich!!!" It is true. She is always on the go. But she has such a tender little heart. She is the one who would never lie to us, and if she did, we would know right away cause she feels so bad about it. She does tend to get in trouble a lot, but that I think goes along with the middle child thing, and maybe not getting the attention that she needs. But this is the little girl who you can always rely on for a good laugh and a good bear hug (pointy chin and all)! Our family would not be complete without our little crazy Cass!!! Love you Cass!

Flying Kites

Today was a great day for kite flying. So after church, a quick nap, and some dinner, we walked over to the soccer park by our house and flew our kites. The girls had a blast. It was nice and warm, but had great wind! And again, sorry about so many pictures...but it was hard to narrow it down to these. Plus I know people like pictures more than blabber...so enjoy!

Perfectly windy day!
Madi getting her kite up...
...and Cassi keeping her kite up.

Sitting down for a break
Elsie flying her fishy kite
Lazy kids!!! Just kidding...Flying kites wears you out!
Madi's got really high! Brent added extra string to hers...you can't really see it in the picture...but it is kinda a white blob in the upper left side.
Worn out I guess!!!

Elsie is obsessed with shoes, so Brent tied her shoe onto the string and she thought it was so funny when it went up there!!! Looks at those excited toes!
Then she got a little concerned!
Elsie's turn to fly! Again...look at those excited toes!
Ready to go home to bed
The girls wanted to fly their kites home...Cassi's didn't last, but Madi made it home with hers still flying.

More walking practice for Elsie

Elsie is doing great with her walker, and we can already tell a differnce in her strength she has in her legs. This is just a cute little video of Brent playing with Elsie and getting her to walk from couch to couch. This is the most she has ever walked...so that is really great! I love how she has to rub Dads newly shaved head for good luck...she gets a little mad a few times when he forgets to let her do it! What a cutie!

And by the way...I am tired of no one commenting anymore!!! Seriously!!!

I just wanted to post my most favorite all time picture.

This is Madi Bell with her proud new Daddy.

(Sorry it is a scan)

What I love most about this picture is that the minute Brent saw this little girl, he was a Daddy in every sense of the word.

Our Bell did give us quite a scare when she was born, but she was so strong and she helped us be strong through it all. How can one tiny little thing wiggle into your hearts so fast!

We are so lucky to have the little family that we do. I do know that these three girls have taught more to us than we have to them...about forgiveness, unconditional love, make-believe, patience, and just how to have fun and laugh. Each one of them has the best laugh!

These girls were given to us for a reason, hopefully we can be the kind of parents they deserve!

Elsie's new ride

Elsie got her new ride today!!! She is loving it. This one works MUCH better for her...first of all..it's GOLD...how could that not be better, right??? NO, but really, it stops when it starts to roll backwards...which is a good feature. The front wheels swivel, which makes it much easier for her to maneuver where she wants to go. She loves it and has worn herself out today walking with it. Her little legs get tired pretty fast, but she loves it, so she keeps going! She will sleep good tonight, that is for sure. Sorry about all the pictures, but she just looks so cute...I can't help it! I should post a video, I will do that another time.

Loves and kisses for her daddy! That girl has him wrapped around her finger!!!

Playing in the water

We finally had a nice day again!!! So the girls headed out to the sprinklers...(can't wait for the pool to open!) We love the warm weather and water!!!
This is Elsie with her best buddy Alex
The girls and friends playing in the water

More awards for Madi

So Madi moved on from Regionals to State.

She won the region 8 award of merit and then for state she won the State award of EXCELLENCE!!! They had a little awards ceremony tonight where she got to receive a big trophy and another ribbon. She is so excited! (Brent and I are a little proud too!)

Title: FRIENDS

Theme: 'I can make a difference by not making fun of others who are different.'

When we were browsing throught the awards before it started and Madi said "Look at how big this one is!" and pointed to one of the 4 or so BIG sized trophy's...and I looked and then said "Ya Madi, and look what it says on it!" The trophy she had pointed out was HER trophy with HER name on it! She was so excited!

Madi with a proud daddy!
Receiving her award
A very proud Madi showing off her awards
...and trophy!
And one with her proud Mommy! We are so proud of Madi. We might be a little biast, but this girl can do just about anything she puts her mind to, and she does her best job. What a treasure she is to our family!

Bruneau Sand Dunes

(WARNING: may include an obscene amounts of pictures...sorry!)

We decided to take a little trip. We were all itching to get out and do something fun, so we took our camper and headed to Bruneau Sand Dunes. Things didn't start out so great. First of all, we didn't make reservations cause we figured...who in the heck wants to go camping for Mothers Day??? Well, we were wrong. They were completely full, but they had an overflow spot in their equestrian area....where they keep the horses. Well, I think in this case equestrian means 'crappy windy sandy camp spot'. We thought it would be a terribly long night with sand blowing in our eyes. So we drove around seeing if there was any chance that another spot would open up...no chance. So we decided to do back and make the best of our camp. There was a pavilion there...and since there wasn't very many people there we decided to hog the pavilion. It had two sides to it, and we parked our campers on the third side, blocking the wind pretty good. It actually became a pretty great camp spot. After we had everything all set up, we went and did some fishing and playing in the water. We didn't catch any fish, but had fun trying. Then we went to the sand dunes. The sand was so nice and warm, and it was a little windy, but it wasn't blowing in our eyes. Madi climbed the hill 6 times the first night...and two times the next day. She made me race her a couple times, and that is seriously a hard workout...I can't believe she climbed it so many times! Then we went to the observatory to check out the little telescopes...by little I mean...not the huge one they open up at night, but these we could spot the people on top of the dunes with and other areas...they thought it was fun! Then we went back to our camp and made some s'mores...and stayed up really late cause we were going to go the the observatory there...but it ended up being a cloudy night, and we decided to go to bed. Then we woke up on Mother's Day......

The girlie's fishing...


Elsie fishing with Dad

And playing in the water with Mom...

The sandy dunes

Elsie had so much fun! Just one giant sand box...

The girls at the top...

If you look close you can see the trail behind Elsie...she crawled and crawled...like a little turtle...it was so cute!

Looking through the telescopes



Elsie wouldn't look at me...so I told her to look at my nose, so that is why she is pointing out her nose. What a cutie!

Making s'mores with dads camp-made s'more makers...what can't you make with a hanger, stick and duct tape???
MMMM...s'mores!

She is covered in Marshmellow...and doesn't want to be cleaned up!
Our neighbor camper offered to take a famly picture for us...too bad we all look goofy! Well, all except for Brent, but he is always cute!


MOTHERS DAY
I had such a great Mothers Day. We woke up and I was told I was not allowed to do anything. So what else did I do...I took pictures. The girls got up with Dad and made Breakfast. Not just any breakfast...but french toast. My favorite! And let me tell you...it is even better while camping! The girls did a great job cracking eggs, cooking the sausage and eggs...seriously..I was very proud of them. Then Dad cut one into a heart and made me a beautiful breakfast...complete with Madi's tissue paper flowers that she made for me. Then they let me take a nap with Elsie while they went for a little hike. Then we came and picked up camp and took one last trip to the Sand Dunes before we left for home. It really was a great trip and we are so glad we got away and got to spend such a great time with each other! I am so thankful for my perfect little family...I am so lucky for all I have been blessed with!


Elsie loved to open and shut the camper door...

LOVE this picture of Elsie!
Cassi is dipping the bread in the eggs for the french toast
Madi, cooking the sausage
Cracking eggs for scrambled eggs

Cassi is a pro at cracking eggs

Madi, making my eggs for me.

Little Elsie...doing what she can to help.

Isn't it beautiful???

Me and my kiddos before my Mothers Day breakfast

One of our neighbors dogs. The girls had fun throwing the ball to her so she could fetch it.

Elsie had great time exploring EVERYTHING!
Last visit to the dunes.

I like this shot...it was very windy at the top, you can see the sand blowing.

Yep...really windy...the girls look pretty silly with their faces! I just thought it was a great picture.

Walking along the ridge

There's our little set-up!

You can barely see her...but his one is Cassi rolling down the dunes!

Madi at the top
Madi running down...fast!

Cassi finding cool rocks...they are all so smooth and soft. The sand dunes are basically a big rock tumbler!

Getting cozy...

Daddy with his little girl

Sand angels
(and pants full of sand)