Saturday, September 26, 2009

Maddie and Shasta

Today Maddie had her first official horseback riding lesson out in Durham. She loved it! She got to ride a white horse named Shasta. Shasta is a sweet old horse. She first brushed him and then helped to get his saddle on. Maddie then got to ride on Shasta. She got to trot a little, but that made her a bit nervous. Then she got to ride outside of the corral a bit. Her teacher, Robin, was very nice and calm. I think they are going to have lots of fun together!!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Grampie's on Sunday

We hit Grampie's house for dinner tonight. Aimee's family came too, so we had a full house! Here is Spencer with Wyatt (8 months) and John (7 months).After dinner we walked down to the creek and Mac took a ride on the swing by the creek. We tried to get Maddie or Ryan on the swing, but they wouldn't. I love the swing at the park!!

Jason and Kacee Perez


Last night we went to a beautiful wedding here in Chico. My cousin Jason married his sweetheart, Kacee. It was absolutely beautiful. They put care into each detail. We are so happy for Jason and hope that there are little Perez babies running around here soon!! (No pressure!)

Friday Night!

This Friday was a busy one for the Smiths. Spencer and Dave had their big kick-off dinner for their charity, giveglasses.org. Alison was awesome and let them use her house to feed 30 people from the Lyons club. Doug (www.chicobbq.com) catered the event, which of course was delicious! I hear it was a huge success and now they are gearing up for their fundraiser in November.While Spencer was working/eating, I was hosting a baby shower for Kim. We had so much fun! Everyone played my games. Thank you! I love games. I don't like the dumb games where you can't cross your legs, so we played pictionary. Alicia was in charge of the food table and made the cutest decorations. She is amazing! Unfortunately, the only photo I have from the evening is of Alicia trying to get a shot at just the right angle. What a crack up!

John in His High Chair

John now eats in his high chair. We are so glad! He was getting WAY too big for his bouncer. He also has moved up into a regular car seat, no more infant seat for him! He has moved from just baby food to the occasional cheerio or banana. He's hitting the big time!

Pre-K for Ryan


Ryan started pre-k two weeks ago! This is a photo of him with Teacher Barbara. He has had a great time so far. We've even had a play date with a buddy from class. There are only 10 little people in his class and he feels at home already.

Homeshooling Begins!

I have not posted in a while due to a big change in our family life. We decided to bring Maddie home for school. We have completed two weeks, and so far so good! We still haven't received all of our curriculum yet, but we've been very busy. We are using a charter school called South Sutter Charter School. I hope to add some photos when we get all of the curriculum in!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

And so it begins...

My boys have built up a bit of a reputation for trouble. Mac used to get into my kitchen and make horrendous messes. I remember one time he got into the shortening and covered himself and most of my kitchen before I found him. Another time Mac broke eggs on my kitchen floor. I could go on for hours about Macky's messes in the kitchen. Then there's Ryan. He loved putting things in his hair - toothpaste, yogurt, gum. He also loved to flush things. The most valuable thing he flushed was my wedding ring. I figured that I had a while before I had to worry about John. Apparently not. I put him on the floor and then the doorbell rang. While I helped my Uncle Jim get something from the garage, John was busy. By the time I got to him, he was covered in ink. He got one of Maddie's pieces of artwork and was busy trying to eat it. Maddie had drawn a picture with marker that came right off and smudged right onto John. So, now I really have to watch it. He's going to be an expert mess-maker, I can tell!

Ellingson Cousins


Wyatt and John got to hang out a bit this week at Grampie Bob's. Grampie's house is like an amusement park for little guys, so they were very happy. They each had their own walker. Wyatt was walking all over in his, John didn't know quite what to do. It was really funny!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Lilian Claire Stapf









We got a new niece today. She was born at 7:01 this morning at the Feather River Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 18 inches long. She has beautiful eyes and thick, wavy hair. I wanted to hold her all afternoon, but I had some serious competition. The children were all so excited to see her!!
This morning we got the call just after 5 am. They needed Spencer to go over and take care of Ethan, Bonnie, and Eliza so they could get to the hospital. Delayne's contractions started at about 4:30 am. Unfortunately Brett was over at the Guadagnins as today is the opening day for dove season. Shannon and Doug had planned to go get some doves, but it was not to be. As they were pulling out of the driveway, Brett came out telling them that he had to get Delayne to the hospital. All worked out well. Delayne made it - we were worried, she did go so quickly! It was a hard labor for her, but I can tell you that she is doing fabulous now! What an amazing woman!!
Can you believe that I didn't get a single picture of the baby alone?!?!