She's walking!!!

Finally at 17 months she decided to take her first steps! And this is how it happened... We had been working with her for months trying to get her to take a step or even just to stand on her own. But she just wasn't ready. Sometimes I would catch her standing when she didn't know she was doing it, but as soon as she realized, she would instantly drop to the ground. Anyway, one night Dave and I got a babysitter and went out to dinner just the two of us (which happens about once every two months - if we're lucky). About half way through our dinner we got a call from Cole, our 10 year old. He was so excited and he said, " I taught Soli to walk!! She's walking all over the house!" I thought surely he was exaggerating and maybe she was taking a couple of steps. But when we got home, sure enough, she was walking all over the house!! She had taken maybe 3 steps on her own before, and that's being generous. We couldn't believe it! Months of trying to get her to take even just a couple of steps and all of a sudden she was all over the house. What an exciting night!! The kids were dancing around her hooting and hollering and urging her on. They couldn't sleep until after 10 PM! It was like Christmas! We were so proud of our baby girl. She's her own little person and she waited until she was ready to show us her moves. As much as I love my babies, I'm awfully glad to have everyone on their own two feet! Good times! Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving! ~Heather

"Look Mom! I'm doing it!!!"

"I gotta call someone!"

"Gramma, you'll never believe it! I'm a walker!"

Fall in Yosemite

We took the kids to Yosemite the last weekend in September. It was just beautiful and so much fun. We rented one of the cabins at Housekeeping Camp (why they call it that, I just don't know). We grabbed the kids after school on Thursday and spent 3 nights in our cement cabin. It was really more like a tent with 3 cement walls and a canvas curtain. It had a cement floor, a double bed, and a set of bunk beds. It was rough but very cozy. Cole and Dave climbed half dome on Saturday and the other kids and I rented bikes (and a bike trailer for the girls) and cruised the valley floor. We had a great time and we're excited to get back there in the Spring.

Emerson - 7, Evie - 4 1/2, Soli - 17 months, Cole 10 1/2

Soli standing on her own...sure to be walking any time!

Breakfast time!

Emerson making friends with the locals.

Evie learning to ride without training wheels.

I love this picture of the the two of us.

Dave and Cole on the way up the Dome.

Peering over the ledge of Half Dome.

Soli and Mommy on dishes duty!

Gettin' ready to cruise the valley.

Half Dome in the afternoon sun. Dave and Cole are up there somewhere!

Evie and Daddy tossin' around a fly line.

"Bouldering"

Catching Up...

I have been so bad about posting on my blog lately!! Since my last post was in July, and you know I've taken about a million pictures since then, I thought I would just post a smattering of my favorites over the past several months. Here we go...P.S. You can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger.

Evie and Soli getting ready for our hometown 4th of July parade!

Evie and Emerson selling their fresh squeezed lemonade.

And they were just so cute!

Coleman made the allstar baseball team this year. He was so excited, and we were so very proud!

So we spent a lot of our summer watchin' baseball! (Which you know we love!)

Soli was her brother's biggest fan!!

We hit Raging Waters the day after school got out. Here's Emerson smiling? for the camera. So fun!!

Coleman and Joe on Gramma's ranch in Montana.

Sissy Time!! Evie and Soli (16 months) "hangin" on the swing set.

Emerson grew his hair out all summer. It was pretty cool. This was taken just before the buzzers came out. Sigh... I actually bribed the kid to cut it, and now I'm wondering why...He looks so cute with his golden locks. Oh well. They'll grow back.

Evie started her first season of soccer this Fall. After watching Emerson play for the past three years she couldn't have been more excited to get her turn on the field!

Here's our Soli girl cruisin' around Gramma's cabin in Montana. She was 15 months in this picture. She is just as sweet as they make 'em, and we are so thankful to have her in our family. She is 17 months old today and hopefully she will be walking soon, soon, soon.

First Day of School. This year Coleman is in fifth grade which is his last year in our Elementary School. Next year he'll ride the bus across the river to the middle school. Our elementary school is just around the block from our house and I will be so sad not to have him there next year. I'm just not ready...

Go Giants!! (Since we didn't get enough baseball over the summer... ha, ha!)

We hope you are all happy and healthy and that you are enjoying the first signs of Fall. Thanks for checking in. ~Heather

Arrrr Matey!! Emerson be seven!

Emerson celebrated his seventh in high pirate fashion. He had 10 of his best scallywags over for a sleep over. This is a lovely age for sleep overs as they are still young enough not to cause too much mischief. They were all asleep by 11 PM and a few of them tucked themselves in by 9:30. They had a treasure hunt and pizza dinner and then watched the Goonies in their sleeping bags. The next morning we made eggs and bacon and then it was on to the water balloon fight. They had a great time and we couldn't be more proud of our darling seven year old. We love you, Em!

Shiver me timbers!!

Daddy and Sissy getting into the spirit!

The Captain Jack Sparrow Cake

Captain Brett and First Mate Quintin

The Pirate Wenches

The littlest wench!

Happy Birthday, Bubba! We love you!

Easter 2007

Soleil - 11 months

Evie - 4 years

Emerson - 6 1/2 years

Coleman - 10 years

Our Very Own Fantastic Four

Dave saw this picture and said, "Wow, we have a big family." Yes, sirree!!

My Child, My Treasure

Cole's teacher asked us to write a letter to our kiddos for their memory books. It turned out sweet, so I thought I'd share it.

My Child, My Treasure

Remember When…

Remember when you were one and you fell and knocked your front tooth out? You were missing that tooth until you were six. Remember when you had E. Coli in Mexico? You were just a baby and so, so sick. It was scary to see you so sick. But you were tough, and you pulled through. Thank goodness for antibiotics.

Remember when you were two and we lived in Montana? You loved to throw rocks in the river. Morgen would try to chase them but they would sink too quickly. You thought that was so funny.

Remember when you were three and you learned to ride a two wheeler? I remember how cute you were riding around and around the park with Daddy jogging after you. You were so proud and so were we.

Remember the time you pulled the sword from the stone at Disneyland? You were four then. I’ll never forget that smile on your face.

Remember when you were five and we let you eat as much Halloween candy as you wanted? Then remember how you threw it all up in the bathtub? I think you learned a valuable lesson that day.

Remember that time you were six and we went camping in Death Valley? Daddy let you sit on his lap and drive the Scout. You would have driven up that trail for hours if the sun had stayed in the sky.

Remember when you were seven and you crashed on your dirt bike? You had road pizza on your elbow and your hip and you were mad that Daddy took a picture. I bet you’re glad now. I know I am.

Remember when you were eight and O’brien died? That was a sad time for us. You said you were sad because you weren’t there to save him. You have such a big heart.

Remember when you were nine and we took you sailing in Panama? Remember the tuna you caught for our dinner? It was one of the best meals we had that whole trip.

Remember when you were ten and you got picked up by the Policia in Guatemala for playing soccer on the neighbor’s property? That day gave me a few grey hairs.

My sweet boy, we probably don’t tell you enough how proud we are of the wonderful, generous, brave, smart, sincere, and loving person you are.

Remember always how much we treasure you. We love you so much.

~ Mom and Dad

My Little Sunshine Turns One!!

I can't believe my baby girl is already one year old!! That year flew by... We celebrated luau style with family and close friends. The weather was gorgeous and everyone had fun. Soli wasn't so into the messiness of her cake but, honestly, that's pretty typical for my kids...she fits right in. She has adjusted so easily to ebb and flow of our fun filled days. It's hard to remember a day without her. The kids have just a couple more weeks (10 days to be exact-Emerson informs me every day) of school, and then summer will be upon us!! We are planning to grab the kids out of school on the last day and hit the high road straight to Disney Land. We haven't been since Evie was a baby! I promised the kids that since we had a "small" Christmas (relatively speaking, of course) in Guatemala that we would take them to Disney Land when we got home. So we are making good on our promise. Dave is being a good sport by going along with the plan (he'd pretty much rather not do the whole D Land thing), and then we're taking a week to recover in Palm Springs. We can't wait for some quality R&R with our kiddos. Here are some fun pics of Soli's big day. I hope you are all happy and healthy. Please send thoughts of strength and good health to our dear friend Mike and his family, who was just diagnosed with a stage four, advanced carcinoma over his stomach and liver. Thanks for checking in. ~Heather

Good Morning my beautiful birthday girl!

A birthday dinner with Gramma and Grandpa.

I just love this birthday thing!! And I love my Miami Hurricanes Nemo from Gramma and Grandpa!!

Soli's favorite part about opening presents was eating the tissue paper. Her favorite toy, you ask? The instructions to her Wee Sing microphone...hours of entertainment!

Soli's cake - I was so excited about the hibiscus candle!

Daddy the grillmaster.

The "other" cake for the rest of us.

Sister cousins: Kylie, Payton (just 3 weeks old), Evie, and Soli (Kylie and Payton are my sister's daughters)

Sissies!!

I just love my birthday!!

Soli wasn't too sure about her cake...

So Evie stepped in to lend a hand...

But in the end the sticky frosting proved too much for our little birthday girl! "Mommy, I got messies on my finger!"

Nothing a dip in the jacuzzi didn't take care of!

Ni-night my birthday girl! I love you, mi nena!