Meet in the Middle

Travis' sister had a baby five weeks ago and we have been very anxious to meet him and to see their kids. It has been literally months since we have seen one another. We are always missing Papa and Grandma Amy, so we decided yesterday to meet eachother halfway and have lunch in Twin Falls. The time went way too fast, but it was so fun to see each other. The kids had so much fun and are ready to make the trip to Grandma Amy's in a few weeks for the baby blessing and New Years. I really should have taken a picutre of our waitress, she made the day unforgettable!

They Grow Too Fast

She really is this precious


Justin has been a little under the weather this week with congestion and a cough. He is such a good natured little guy that it has not even seemed to have bothered him. I took him to the doctor and he is twelve pounds six ounces! Congestion hasn't hurt his appetite.

They are really smiling now and Megan is trying to laugh. I nearly caught her grinning here...when I put them side by side like this I STILL am amazed that there are two of them! Everyday as we get to know them a little better I realize how they were just meant to be here together. It is hard to describe, but I feel it.

A smile from Justin

Daddy somehow ended up with both babies at the same time!

A little exercise never hurt...

Believe it or not, this is a picture of little Meg exercising. Bless her heart she did not have a lot of room in the womb and Justin was resting right on top of her. Consequently her neck is crooked. The pediatrician recommended a few exercises for her and this one seems to be the easiest. I just sleep her on her weak side and it helps strengthen her. We were noticing tonight that she is making some improvement. I wish my exercises could be done in my sleep!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Sweet little Emma turned six this week. If anyone deserved three birthday parties it was Emma, and three she got! First a shared celebration with Grandma Jo who is 50 years and one day older than Emma, then a party with our little family, and then a party with some friends on Friday night. She had a great week. I am so grateful for her. She is a very special spirit; a peacemaker and incredibly kind natured. In fact, our home teacher came over with a card and five dollars on her birthday. As she was going to bed the other night she asked me if it would be alright to take the money and buy food for people who are hungry. Wewill be doing that tomorrow! I have said before how grateful I am for Emma, she is an example to all of us.

Emma decided to have a Christmas themed birthday celebration. We made ornaments, decorated frosted Christmas trees, and what better way to end the party than with a visit from Santa? By the way, it only took her seven years, but this is Annie's first time she was willing to stand closer than ten feet away from Santa.

All the party animals...wow that is some face Emma pulled! I don't believe I have ever seen that one before. I am glad to have it on film, she'll really love that in a few years!

So, I actually made cupcakes first, but got distracted and the bottoms were a little dark. This was a quick fix to the crunchy cupcake problem. I think Emma liked it better anyway.

Travis gave a dramatic reading of the birthday card.

On Emma's actual birthday I had mutual at the church, but it was actually a dance performance so I took the entire family along. One of the sweet miamaids has been teaching dance and had her show for us at mutual. In the middle of the show they took a break and had Emma come on stage so they could sing Happy Birthday to her. I came out with a cake and candles. She looked at me like she may love me and she may hate me for doing that to her! Oh and yes, that is Jake being held by the dance teachers mom as he rushed the stage to blow out candles!



We sure love you Emma!

The Linebacker and the Ballerina

I took the twins to the doctor last week. Megan weighs exactly ten pounds and Justin is almost twelve pounds! Justin is also a half inch taller. They are both so healthy and we are so grateful. Megan has a crooked neck that we are exercising for her. It is crazy how comfortable she looks with her head bent completely to the right, but she really does look so cozy that way.

All Smiles

Ahhh...if you could only smell them! Freshly bathed and ready for bed. It is one of the best smells in the world. Speaking of ready for bed, the good news is both Justin and Megan are sleeping for longer stretches of time. Megan slept through the night three times last week! I know, it appears as though Justin has enough fat on stand by to keep him satisfied through the night, but the poor little guy just can't make it!
Annie and Emma had the time of their lives last night at their friend Molly's pajama birthday party. We are still hearing all about it...

A week ago we saw Megan's first smile. A day later came one from Justin. I actually thought Justin would be first, he has been smiling as he drifts off to sleep for a couple of weeks. Smiles are still hard to come by. I have to all but stand on my head, sing, and cross my eyes to make it happen. Here, I nearly caught Justin in a picture but just didn't quite catch him. It is so sweet to listen to the older kids try to get a smile out of the babies.

Falling for Fall

I must admit I normally don't care much for fall. As beautiful as the colors and smells may be, to me it is just a precursor to winter and I hate winter. However, this fall may have changed my opinion forever. It has just been such a wonderful season with the birth of the twins and a few other miracles that every fall from here forward just may remind me of this one thus changing my opinion forever.

Yesterday the babies were sleeping and I was scurrying about as I do when they are both asleep. It really is quite a site to see. One woman doing a half dozen things at one time while she has a few minutes! Back to yesterday...as I was scurrying I heard the most wonderful commotion outside. It was the screams and giggles of the older kids having some kind of wonderful fun. I peeked out every door and window and finally found them behind our willow trees playing in the fallen leaves. Annie had even found the rake and was busy pulling all the leaves into a pile and getting everyone set to run and jump. I ran inside to get my camera and Jake followed me saying, "Mom, do you wanna play in the leaves? Do ya?! Do Ya?!" My minutes to scurry quickly turned to my minutes in the leaves. It was so fun! See, I am falling for fall.

Emma is such a big help to me! Sometimes I find myself counting down the minutes until she is home from kindergarten. Friday while I made lunch she tended Justin right to sleep.

Justin has really taken to his bink. I couldn't be happier--blessings come in so many different ways, even in the form of a bink!

A Day in the Life

Can you almost hear him getter fatter?!

We never know what he will think of next!


It is with great pride that I announce Megan's first pony tail!

My own personal assistant

Travis thought he was sooooo funny one night! Yep, this is Megan! I tell you what at her 3:00 a.m. feeding I was really confused. I would drift off as I was feeding her, wake up and think--wait when did I start to feed Justin--wait, when did Justin grow all that hair...then finally, OH TRAVIS!!

Double Blessings

As I mentioned before, this was the weekend for the babies' blessings. Everyone was so kind to take the time to make the trip here to be with us. We really missed Maria, but she is just about to deliver a little blessing of her own.

Wouldn't you know though, sometimes with blessings come trials. At 3:30 Saturday morning Frank was having symptoms of a heart problems. Travis rushed to Frank to give him a blessing and I dialed 911. It seemed like an eternity before the ambulance arrived. They did finally get here however, and took him to the hospital in Caldwell. Poor Annie was awakened by the commotion and saw the paramedics take Papa away. No one really knew what to do, we really thought we ought to wait until later in the day to bless the babies, having faith that Papa would be there. However, Papa and Grandma urged us to go ahead as planned and really not wanting to add any stress or anxiety to their circumstance, we went ahead. No one can describe the ache we felt without them there. So, Grandma and Papa these pictures are for you:

Miss Megan is becoming a little more feisty each day.

See Travis' face? You get only guess where he decided to put his hand!! Ugh.

Seeing these two together all dressed in white makes me think about how truly special their circumstance is. I can't help but stare at them and think about their lives in an eternal perspective. There will never be a time eternally before, here and now, or eternally after this life when they will not have known or been without one another. What a blessing to our family.

Our first complete family picture

Now for an update on Frank...All test results came back with good results. He will follow up with his doctor to try to determine what happened and if it can be avoided in the future. We are so thankful and grateful that this incident wasn't more serious. It was so nice to see them come back through the door last night!

Happy Halloween

Justin is starving (he thinks) and Megan is trying to wake up but I just had to take a quick picture of them in their festive outfits before they had a bath.

A big thanks to Papa for help carving pumpkins!

Hannah Montanah, a butterfly, and a frog (minus the hood)

Seriously, this is Emma and her teacher!!

Annie's pumpkin

Emma's pumpkin

The Grandmas are Coming!

Travis is in Texas this week for business, so what else was there to do but call Grandma Jo? Bless her heart, she came back, even though she literllay worked herself sick last time she was here. In fact, she isn't quite healed, but came anyway to stay Sunday through Wednesday. It wasn't an easy few days...a big thanks again mom!!

Today, Grandma Amy and Papa are coming!! We are so excited for them to meet the babies. Travis will be home tomorrow evening. We will bless the babies Sunday, so Grandma and Papa will stay until after the blessing.

Busted!

Annie a few years ago...

Jake a few days ago!

Workin' With Dad

Jake has been going to work with Travis a little bit these days. First because he loves it and second because it is very helpful to me. Travis took this picture today with his phone. Jake decided he would go ahead and load this calf into the trailer by himself. I am guessing he ended up needing just a little help...