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If any of you are in a pinch for church dress because maybe your daughter has clean skirts, but no clean shirts, Shaelan has modeled here how to fix that problem. You simply take a skirt that has shorts sewn in underneath and create this beautiful dress appropriate for any occasion!
Fun with fireworks
Loved the Roman Candles
Not a super great pic but from the looks of all the flame, you know they were having a good time
I guess not everybody had a good time. This was the last firework she would stay outside for. After this, Javin got out the mortars and she freaked! I had to take her inside for the night.
This girl loved everything about the beach. The smile says it all.
This one was so focused on her sand castle
She finally paused to smile for the camera
These two had a team effort going for their sand castle. The sand was actually too wet for anything.
Eliana, Shaelan and Clayton waiting for the waves
Here it comes! Get ready to run! This was a fun game for Shaelan.
Here's the jellyfish that washed up on shore. After the girls were done examining it in their bucket and showing it off to the cousins, Rick took a shovel and cut it in half "to see what it would do". It was dead...it didn't do anything.
Our babies
The only thing that could have made this pic better would be a sunset. Look at our girls...so cute.
Pics of Ft. Columbia, 4th of July
B and E down in the old bunker
Looking at Shaelan from the top of the bunker
Beautiful beautiful view of the Columbia River
King of the mountain! Or is it the fort? Should be queen...
Cousins at the cannon
Brother and sister
See what happens when Brynlie gets the camera? This is just one of many random pictures...
5th Grade Graduation and Field Day
She's no longer in elementary school!
She's almost as tall as I am!
Brynlie and her BFF Angie
Trying to all stand up without coming unhooked is harder than you'd think...just ask these 5th graders
There was a tug of war championship. Brynlie was not on either of the championship teams, but here is her group. They didn't win. At the end, the kids wanted to have a tug of war moms (there were maybe 20 of us who volunteered for field day) vs. kids. O.K. There were 82 kids. Who do you think won? The funny thing is, on the mom's side, we pulled for a few seconds, then counted to 3 and let go. It was funny to see those kids topple like dominoes. It is very humorous to hear Brynlie tell the story. :)
Brynlie with just some of her friends
Full military honors
The flag was presented to Uncle Dennis, who then presented it to Grandma.
This is the strongest woman you'll ever meet. She is the tiniest thing and so very frail physically, but she is the one who helped us all pull through this sad time.
These girls are so funny. They collected dandelions from the cemetery grounds and made them into boquets. Grandma told them they could put them on Grandpa's casket...and they did. :)
Katie and Dad with friends
My boyfriend, pondering the events of the day
What a stylin' guy!
Aah....so sweet.
Sam the Man
Kensley was so curious about this hole. I kept catching her next to it.
Uncle Joe holding a sleepy Conner
Aunt Darlene
Kensley (back to camera), Brynlie, Eliana and Macey checking out the big hole in the ground
Dad and Uncle Dennnis (with his back to the camera) with Mr. and Mrs. Riggs from the funeral home
The Allen gang from North Carolina
oops...she got scalped!
Eliana and her chalk pastel art work
Kensley and her chalk pastel art work
This is the best thing I came away with. You will see several pictures of it because I am so excited to have scored this treasure! These are the rims of a wagon wheel. This wagon wheel came from the wagon belonging to my great great grandparents Absalom Pennington Free Jr. and Carrie Sorenson Free. My great grandmother notes "...When I was small Mom used to take me with her and Sis. Anderson Relief Society teaching. They collected the small articles for tithing. They took lard buckets for the saucers of sugar or flour or cereals that were donated. Some gave butter, a spool of thread, jar of fruit, even quilt pieces...all articles were taken to the Tithing Yard." This wheel is from the wagon that helped to collect all those articles. What my great grandmother fails to note is the reason she went along is that her mother could not trust her to stay home she was such a naughty little girl! :)
wheel hub and spokes
A picture of my dad as a very young boy. Isn't he handsome?
A picture of my great great great aunt Emmeline Free Young. She was married to Brigham Young (wife #20 and they had 10 children together). Isn't she beautiful?
My great grandmother's glasses
Our Trip to Klamath Falls
Kensley and her great grandma Shaffer
Brynlie and Eliana with great grandma
Brynlie and Eliana with great grandpa Shaffer
Kensley and Shaelan with great grandpa
Cousins...Eliana, Shaelan, Penelope, Macey, Brynlie, Kensley
Macey and Eliana
Penelope and Kensley...fun at the park
Penelope, Macey and Eliana
Me and my sista...the last time I'll ever see her
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the happy face of a little girl who is growing!!! Kensley grew 1 1/3" from September 10 to January 14. Her endocrinologist says at this rate she should grow 4" total by this September. Her IGF-1 levels were still low so the dosage has been increased. Maybe that'll be more growth!!! Kensley is so excited!
And now onto winter sports...
Sam, you are the man!!! Everybody please notice the newspaper photo. My cousin is a fantastic wrestler and he is rocking the socks off of his opponents this season. We were privileged to get this newspaper article in the mail (and this time it's even autographed! Will be worth millions someday!) He is quite the celebrity and it's nice he thinks of us whenever he is in the newspaper. Way to go! Best of luck for yet another amazing season! (come see us when you go to state again. :) )
Igloo in the back yard
I decided to make the best of this sweet awesomest snow and make an igloo for the kidies. They were quite impressed with my mad skills. Now I'm one cool dad.
What it looked like inside the igloo...
Pine Tree Can't Take The Weight
Unfortunately, our pine tree on the corner had over 10 larger branches that broke off. After it snowed for a full day, we got freezing rain, which added too much weight to the branches. Plus side - firewood!
This is what it looked like a little farther up the tree...
Snowman... minus the body
Our girls made these hilarious snowmen in the back yard
Another snowman...
This, folks, is what cancels church!
This is the tree in our front yard. The snow is 10" up the trunk. I was out in it when it started snowing yesterday morning at 4 a.m. It snowed for 17 hours straight. I kid you not. And this is the result. To make it worse, sometime in the middle of the night, the freezing rain started and things are super icy right now.
This is early in the day, before it really got going
Kensley and our neighbor Jordayn played doggie in Jordayn's front yard while Rick took the rest of the girls and Jordayn's brother sledding up and down the street
And of course, getting out the snow gear meant dress up day for Shaelan
Here's for you Luci!
Look Luci! I put your pictures up on my fridge! I look at them everyday and think of you! I love all the beautiful pictures you made for me. I hope you can come visit me and see them all on my fridge!
Don't try this at home
Rick and Javin were trying to break up ice for their sparkling cider Thanksgiving Day. Javin had the brilliant idea to smash the bag with the bottle of cider (which had been previously opened). After he did it, he wondered if the bottle would explode. Rick told him it shouldn't. He cracked it open a little and it started to explode so he closed it. Once they thought the pressure had equalized, Rick opened the bottle again, much to his disadvantage. It was like popping a cork. It sprayed everywhere...all over the fridge, stove, counters, floor and as you can see here, ceiling. Rick could not see because it was in his eyes, but we were all laughing hysterically. It was quite comical!
Never a dull moment...
Every day with a two year old brings a new adventure...you never know what you are going to get. Shaelan keeps us laughing most days. She does this punching thing where she tries to fight everyone. After trying unsuccessfully to beat me up, Brynlie told Shaelan to run into the back of me and attack. When she did that she hit her lip on my back and received two itty bitty red marks where her teeth must've hit. No blood. However, she screamed and ran down the hall yelling "Band aid, Band aid". Brynlie was kind and put a bandaid on her lip for her. So you see, a bandaid will fix everything. (Kati, notice the dress. Every day has been dress up day since I got home with these dresses!)
She's been doing a lot of reading herself to sleep. So cute.
Our Little Artist
Brynlie was one of nine students in her school chosen by the art teacher to paint a mural for the lights display at Portland International Raceway. Here she is in front of it.
Here is a little better picture of it
Trick or Treat!
Our halloween group. Shaelan refused to be in the picture. Instead, she stood in the kitchen crying because she didn't want to go. (See next picture). Brynlie's friend Breanne came with us this year. She typically goes trick or treating with her brother, but he passed away earlier this year so she asked if she could come with us. We had a great time...lots of candy!
Shaelan kept trying to take off her costume and didn't want to go. She kept saying "No tick teat". I don't think she understood the benefit of dressing up and looking cute...YOU GET CANDY!!!! We finally convinced her to come. Well, we just grabbed her and left and she cried half way up the street. She wouldn't let go of Rick, even to get candy. It wasn't until we were almost done for the night that she finally thought this whole thing was a good idea. Better luck next year.
Big Winners!
Brynlie, Eliana and Kensley all won first place in their age group in Pella's coloring contest. Because October is Fire Safety month, the grand prize was a tour of the fire station and a DQ gift card. We had a ton of fun at the fire station. The firefighters were very nice and we learned a lot!
Shaelan spent a good deal of time holding the firefighters hands. She wanted them to help her down the stairs, up into the fire truck and whatever else was going on. She never left their sides. They were so good to humor her.
First time with the scissors
Do you see the big patch of hair missing in her bangs? I noticed this on Sunday while I was getting her ready for church. If you could look up close you would see the hair is very short...almost like she used clippers. I haven't found the hair yet. She is very proud of herself (she keeps pointing to it saying "Me cut! Me cut!")
Independence
You have to pick your battles. Shaelan is at the age where she insists on picking her own clothes and getting dressed herself. This outfit is mild compared to others. We missed getting a picture of the one last week where she was wearing a Bugs Bunny pj shirt backwards, blue pants with purple flowers on them, socks and brown sandals, a Dr. Seuss backpack and purple sunglasses. It was a riot!! And of course you can't change her! I love it. :)
Notice the shoes! She HAD to wear these ones. This close up will also provide you a better understanding of the whole outfit. Blue shirt with hearts, black velvet pants with red flowers and white dots and yellow Princess Belle dress up shoes. You gotta love it!
Shaelan's Happy
Ever since her cousins Jayden and Jaxen had their 1st birthdays, all we've heard is "my happy, my happy". Their birthday was hard for her...she wanted all the cake and presents. Finally the day arrived and she had her happy! Shaelan turned 2 today and for all of you w ho called her (thanks) you know just how excited she was! Look at her face!
This stroller was a big hit! Look how excited she is!
Shaelan is always taking everyone else's pens. She loves to write. When she wants to write she says "I O I O". These are the only letters she knows.
Her own notebook to "I O" in
Kensley and her EasyPod
A daily injection with this will hopefully give her some inches!
Toothless Wonder
Kensley lost another tooth! She loves this part of growing up!
The beach was very windy but the tide pools were great. We saw lots of starfish, hermit crabs and other sea life.
After a long day at the beach. Just cuddling by the campfire.
Family time around the fire on our last night.
Jackson Visitors Center, Mt. Rainier Washington
Ah...the beauty! Many a gorgeous picture in this national park.
The glaciers are massive. It's hard to capture in this picture the sheer magnitude of these glaciers but they are huge!
Ok...so this is Shaelan's magic trick. It's very cute. Especially watch where Eliana puts the card and where Shaelan takes it out. ;) -Brynlie
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