New Pics of K and Q. . .

KALEM AND QUINCY

This one is for my mom. She told me she was going to check out my blog tonight at my Aunts house and so I am posting some new pictures of the kids for her. Trev has been away this ENTIRE week and we have missed him. We have been trying to keep ourselves busy and one of the activities of the week was taking Kalem and Quincy to a nearby park for some pictures. We had fun messin around and I enjoyed acting like a photographer. Hope you enjoy mom. . .We love you and cant wait to see you in a month.

Little Buddies. . .

These two are starting to become little buddies. Quincy is finally getting to an age where she can play for a few minutes with Kalem. Every night after bath time they have started playing chase each other down the hall- it reminds me of when we used to play this with Kalem in Scotland. They laugh so hard their bellies ache. It is so cute. Recently he has started to climb into her crib and reads her stories. He is such a good big brother, Quincy is one lucky little girl to have him around.

4th of July. . .

We spent our 4th at Bear Lake this year. It has been a while since we have celebrated our countries Independence up at the lake. We had a great time doing what we do best. . .

A little bit of this. . .

Playing cards and A little more of this. . . Quite a bit of this. . .

and just spending time together.

Every time we go home both Trev and I question why we don't move back sooner than later. Kalem gets along so well with all of the cousins and keeps asking when we are going back to see them.

Quincy on the other hand, she is going through a mommy attached stage. She wouldn't let me put her down for a second. It was tiring. Hopefully she will pull out of that soon.

(our little firecracker)

We got to experience the latest Thatcher Tradition which is the Paris Rodeo on the 4th. I am so glad we got to be a part of the festivities this year.

We hear how fun this Rodeo is and each year the cousins come home with Chickens and Pigs that they win in the races!! This year CC and Chase were the proud new owners of 2 baby goats.

Trev enrolled Kalem into the Calf Riding - yeah picture bull riding just on a smaller scale and instead of a cowboy hat he had on a HELMET.

I was sick to my stomach as I watched my little boy in the shoot getting instructions on how to hold on for his life. Sure enough that calf came out bucking and poor Kalem didnt have a clue as to what was happening. After 2 good bucks he went barrelling through the air - Needless to say he wasn't too impressed with the ride. I got some good video footage and we still have a laugh watching it in slow mo. We asked him if he will ever do it again and he says maybe when i get a little bigger- I think that's a good idea bud.

Anyway, a big thanks to Gram and Pa for all that you do and for making such a great effort to ensure the whole family gets together for special times like these. WE LOVE YOU!

CHEERS!!!

Mr Ice Cream Man. . .

Kalem discovered the Ice Cream Man this summer. He waits patiently each day for him to come. He saves his money in a special place so that he can grab it whenever he hears that special tune coming down the street. I swear Kalem is his only customer in the neighborhood because I saw him the other day speed down one street and then went REALLY slow as he turned down ours. Anyway, we've had to cut back on the Ice Cream purchases so that it isn't expected every day, only on special days!!! We haven't seen him for a few weeks and so Kalem asked me if I knew where the Ice Cream Man lived. I of course said ''No.'' Then he told me that we should put it in the GPS to see if it comes up. Clever little guy, why didn't i think of that???

No More Training Wheels. . .

Kalem got a new bike for his birthday and not a week later Trev had him up and running on 2 wheels. I was amazed. I went out one night and came home to a boy so proud because he learned to ride his bike w/o the training wheels. He showed me the next morning and he had every right to be so proud. He is addicted to the bike and wants to ride that thing morning, noon and night. He is getting brave and we are moving onto some extreme moves such as going off curbs. I think we oughta figure out how to stop and start on our own before we conquer some of the bigger stuff but way to go buddy- we are so proud of you!!

CHECK ME OUT. . .

Lights, Camera, Action. . .

We had some excitement in the neighborhood recently. A couple houses in our neighborhood were selected to be in a few scenes for the remake of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET!! We had a weeks worth of action around these parts. Freddy Kreuger was here- YIKES. I do have to say it was pretty cool. There was a serious buzz around here for a week. We had crowds of people coming in to see if they could get a sneak peek but to be honest they were pretty good at keeping F.K. covered up. I walked over to the filming every chance I could get but it was hard with the 2 kids keeping them quiet and out of the way. It was pretty fun watching how things work for filming a movie- no wonder they take so long to finish making them. Anyway, here are some pics of the FARM HOUSE they used. They asked the owners to move out for the week - totally redecorated the interior of their place and gave them a nice compensation for it all- Why couldn't hey have picked our house??

This is what our front yard looked like for a few weeks. . .

The movie is scheduled to be out sometime next fall!!

Springtime Soccer. . .

Kalem started soccer this past spring. HE LOVED IT. He spent most his time tripping and falling down but he still had a blast. A friend of Trevors from Scotland gave him his little soccer (football) uniform for his 2nd birthday and it fit him prefect for his first season of soccer. He looked like a mini pro out there.

Spring Cleanup. . .

Trev Beautified our yard today. . .

He made this edge around our flower beds,

and I think it looks pretty dang good.

He works so hard and everything he does always turns out so nice.

Tasty Treat. . .

The more I told her to stop, the more she ate

This is a classic example of how different Kalem and Quincy are. I don't think I have EVER seen Kalem get this dirty and here she is eating it. . . that's my girl!!

EGGS, EGGS and more EGGS. . .

We loved Easter around here this year!! Kalem reminded us on Easter Eve to put out the carrots for the Bunny. I am not sure where he got that clever idea but I am sure the E. B. appreciated it very much . . .

We loved. . .

THE EGG HUNT

(at the neighborhood park)

Coloring eggs with Mom. . .

and searching for our Easter Baskets on Easter morning.

That night when I put Kalem to bed he asked me when it was time for Christmas again. I reminded him we still have his birthday, the 4th of July and many other holidays to look forward to before Christmas rolls around. . . Not to mention SUMMER TIME!! We cannot wait for slurpees, slides and swimming pools.

MEXICO. . .

The SUN, The SAND and a PINA COLADA

who could ask for anything more?

We just returned from a great time in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) Mexcio.

Every time I go on vacation to another country by the end of the trip I am convinced for some crazy reason that I could live there. Mexico was no different. I loved that place. I loved the people and the food. I loved pretending to speak the language and of course the beach wasn't so bad either.

We had fun shopping. . .

and eating. . .

and
hangin out with these guys is always fun. . .

Nothin better than a good game of Canasta at sunset over some grubbin salsa!!!

until next time M E H I C O!!!!

Thanks to my parents who flew in from Utah and made it possible for us to escape the kids for a week. As much as we missed them, it was SO nice to have a break. It has been way too long since all I had to worry about was myself and it didn't take me long to get used to that again. The sun shined the entire week and oh how we needed the sun. It was hard to come back to freezing cold Chicago but great to see our babies. Kalem and I both cried- I think he missed us a little bit. Quincy was just like ahhh whatever- can take ya or leave ya coz I got grandpa wrapped around my finger. I think my parents were happy to see us home though- they were wiped out after 8 days of parenthood all over again. Unfortunately the weather for them was absolutely horrible and they all got a cold so they were cooped up inside for TOO long. We love you mom and dad and cant thank you enough for your time, patience and love.

Her 1st birthday. . .

So the day has come . . . little Q turned 1!!

she gets a special birthday kiss from daddy

a few presents

her very own cake

and that was about all she could handle!!!

We love you little Quinny!!

Happy Happy Birthday

Enjoying 40 degrees . . .

I took a little break from blogging and it was nice . . . but I am back for a moment anyway. I had one of those days today where I got myself all organized and everything put in its place- and it feels SOOOO GOOOD!!! I always feel so guilty when I take time to blog and I have so many other things that I need to be doing. But tonight I don't feel that way so much so here I am. The weather was so beautiful this weeking in IL, we haven't had many days like this recently and so we were outside for a bit enjoying the amazing temperatures in the 40's. The sun was shining and the snow was melting so Kalem and Quincy went for a ride in his jeep. Kalem put his arm around her like a protective older brother, it was pretty cute. . .

New Years. . .

We went to Utah for New Years this year. It was a special treat because we weren't planning on travelling home for Christmas or New years but Trev's mom called and said, we want to see you and the kids we are flying you out. We got online, found some great flights and a week later we were off. It was a nice break for us and fun to see the family. We headed straight to Bear Lake from the airport and made it just in time to ring in the New Year. Bear Lake is such a nice retreat from the real world. This is what I woke up to one morning. . .

Kalem was in heaven. Cousins, snowmobiling, sledding and the dogs made this trip a great one for him. He is still talking about going back to bear lake. We do love it there and will be back soon. Everytime we visit Utah Trev gets the sudden urge to move back there. It isnt in the plans this year, maybe 2010!!