More Good Times in Arkansas

We went to the Zoo. Mom came up with Adabelle. The Little Zoo may be small, but it's the perfect size to see everything with 6 little kids in tow.

Watching the birds

Gabby chasing a butterfly

We had lunch at Riverfront park and let the kids play in the spray park. They loved it! I wonder how much it would be to put one in a backyard...

Me, Olivia, and Pam

Sister Pic (minus Marji)

Dee-daw (Madison's unique term that has caught on for all the grand-kids) and Gabby.

David and Gabby loved the dogs! David especially loved tackling them. He's tackling Winston (Pam's dog) as Otis (Mom and Dad's 7th child) runs away.

Life at Dee-daw's is pretty great. What could be better than ice cream cones on the back porch on a gorgeous fall day?

Dee-daw kept the kids entertained with crafts in addition to walks, bubbles, balloons, play-dough, and stories.

Maggie LOVED Olivia. They're already BFF. Maggie would get so excited any time Olivia was in sight. Cousins are the best!

They played hard and slept hard!

Bowling and Sweet Cousins

Madison and Gabby love each other so much! It's actually a love/hate relationship. Madison relished her power of being Gabby's Best Friend and took that privilege away with any provocation. I can't count how many times Gabby came running up to me or Pam crying that Maddy was no longer her Best Friend. Gabby was constantly checking with Madison that they were indeed best friends, I can't really blame Maddy for saying no on occasion. They really got along well for the most part. Gabby was very upset this morning that she was going to school and not Maddy's house.

David decided he had to join his cousins in the love-fest

He'd actually rather wrestle than cuddle. Such a boy!

If wrestling doesn't work, there's always King of the Ottoman.

Still BFF!

We thought the kids would do great at bowling. The alley charged by the hour and we ended up leaving before the hour was up. Gabby, Madison, and David didn't do so well at taking turns and we got tired or refereeing the fights. It was fun for a bit though!

They were so excited to bowl, I couldn't get a good shot of them together

Gabby bowling (Pam acting like a 4 year old ;))

Dallas

Marji and Jim are moving to a new house this week so they couldn't make it up to Arkansas while we were here. Pam and I took a trip down to see them so Gabby could see her cousins. Of course, Dallas has one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Abuelo's, so that was a nice incentive as well.

We couldn't believe how well the kids were getting along when we first got there. They sat and played a computer game without any fights. They took turns and were so nice. Yeah, so that lasted about 2 hours. The novelty wore off and we spent the next 24 hours refereeing their disputes.
Our cousin Marcie joined us. That's her son Blake playing play-dough with the kids.

Kaylee

Pam, me, and Marji. Missed ya Jen!

Gabby is sound asleep in this picture. I was asleep as well when it was taken by Pam. She thought it was hysterical that Gabby's eyes were so open. Madison kept talking to Gabby thinking she was awake. I think people who sleep with one or both eyes open are extraordinary myself.

Arkansas!

Gabby and I were both more than ready for a vacation. It's been a crazy year and it's really nice getting back home to our roots for a bit. We arrived in Little Rock Saturday night. My mom and Madison picked us up from the airport. Gabby was so excited to come the night before that she didn't get to sleep until 2am and was up before 7am. Needless to say, I was not too amused with our lack of sleep. All morning she was trying to rush me out of the house in her excitement to see Maddy. She even gave me ultimatums of going to Arkansas without me if I didn't hurry. I wonder where she learned that....

Madison and Gabby, together again.

They hit the dress up gear as soon as we got to Pam's house.

Olivia, Madison, and Gabby (she's trying some new poses for pictures lately) before church

I finally got to meet Olivia after 4 months! She's such a sweet baby. She's very talented at blowing strawberries and spit bubbles.

All the girls after Sunday dinner (we were missing Marji and Kaylee of course)

Gabby got her 1st black eye after 4 years! She was running around with balloons at my parents house and smacked into the corner of the counter. She heard me saying it's her first black eye and has taken to telling everyone the same.

Gabby and Madison passed out in the car ride back to Pam and Micha's house

So we really enjoy laughing at our kids some times. David has a new fear and I am shamelessly exploiting it for laughs. Just so you know, his mother was laughing just as hard at him!

My Naked Chef

Gabby is my little helper in the kitchen. Given that I can't keep clothes on her at home, she is almost always naked when we cook. She's been requesting a chef's hat for some time and I found one at a party store. She insists on wearing it while she cooks.

We made cupcakes on her birthday. Gabby pours everything into the bowl, puts the cupcake liners in the pan, and starts the mixer. She even cracks the eggs. She basically just crushes the egg in her hand. It's surprisingly efficient.

Gabby had covered herself in red and black spots. They didn't wash off so easily. Notice the bandages on her leg. She had 15 on there at one point before I took them off while she slept.

Chef Gabby testing the product before general consumption

This was another evening. Gabby called me downstairs. I don't know what happened to her underwear, but she was decked out in her chef gear, had cracked 3 eggs in a pan, and was ready to cook some eggs. She loves making eggs almost as much as eating them.

The Real Naked Chef

Birthday Extravaganza Continued

I didn't know whether to be offended or not. Gabby sat so quietly and let Marji do her hair for her. No screaming, no tears, no scrambling away, just utter contentment.

Gabby was really happy to have Aunt Marji here. Marji stayed in Gabby's room and I pulled out the trundle in my room for me and Gabs. Every morning, Gabby woke up saying right away, "Where's Marji?" Of course, Gabby also loved sharing a room with me. It's becoming quite the battle to get her back in her bed.

We went down to Provo on Saturday. Marji and I were at BYU together. We took classes and worked together. We walked around campus reminiscing. It's changed so much since we were there. For one, there's not any construction on campus any more. And why did all the students look so dang young?

Of course, it's not a trip to BYU without going to Brick Oven. They have the best pizza ever! This chocolate mousse birthday pie was so delicious as well.

Jen indulged me and Marji by listening to all our stories from our BYU days.

We were shopping at the Quilted Bear in Provo. It's a huge crafty kind of home decore store. Anyway, we saw some tutu's there and decided we could make them ourselves for our girls and make them just as cute. We went to Hobby Lobby, bought the supplies, and busted out some tutus in about an hour. Gabby loves it. This will be her Halloween costume and is great for just general dress-up play. I hated that the weekend had to end. It was so great having so much kid-free sister time! Thanks Jim and David for letting me have Marji and Jen all weekend!

25 For The 5th Time

I can't believe I'm 25 yet again! I'm 30, I can say it. I just like the sound of 25 a bit better ;). I had a really great birthday. Marji came for the weekend. The only thing missing was Pam. We really missed her, but Jen and I are excited to see her in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, Gabby and I have both been sick all weekend. Gabby got this fun stomach bug first and I soon followed. I didn't let it spoil our fun too much, though.

Friday morning, we went and got pedicures. It felt so wonderful being pampered. We splurged and got flowers on our big toes.

We went out to lunch after the pedicures. Marji and I went downtown and did some shopping. We went to Temple Square and enjoyed seeing the incredibly powerful Joseph Smith movie. We picked up Gabby and went to Jenny's. I was a bit sick so I took a power nap on Jenny's couch. Gabby had me hold a balloon for her. I was actually trying to hide from Gabby and David. They like jumping on me and that's not a good combo with a sick stomach.

Jenny prepared a fabulous fried food fest. I gave her and David the deep fryer as a thank you gift last winter for letting Gabby and I stay with them. Jen has become an expert with it. She made onion straws, chicken strips, shrimp, fries, and chicken nuggets. It was delicious! Thanks Jen!

Gabby was slightly offended that it was my birthday and not hers. She really liked the crowns Jenny bought. Her crown had a picture of Ariel and she would only answer to that name the whole evening. She would only call me Belle as that was who was on my crown.

Jenny was just hilarious about the candles. There were far too many on here.

I'm still young enough to blow them all out though.

Gabby was excited to help blow out so many candles. She was even more excited to eat some more cake. It was such a fun birthday! Thanks Marji and Jen for making it great!