Starley Family

Christmas Candids

2011-12-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas Dresses

Abby just wants to hold the camera...

Painting with Goop and having a ball

Snuggles with Doggy

Sarah's last day of Preschool before Christmas Break

Taking out the Trash

2011-12-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

There is something about crawling into confined spaces that toddlers can't resist. Nate adds a little humor by threatening to dump her in the trash can...

The sisters get in on some sliding car action

Never a dull moment

Student of the Month

2011-12-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Katelyn has had a big month of awards. She had a reflections/literacy night display at her school and her sunflower drawing was chosen to go on to Council (to be judged against all the other elementary schools in the district). She received a ribbon, certificate, gift card to an ice-cream parlor, a fun day at the Kangaroo Zoo and a ceramics day with all the other participating kids at her school. She also found out she was chosen as Student of the Month for November and was invited to come back to school for a special assembly (she's in half-day kindergarten). I will post images of her entry once we get it back but here are some shots of her ceramics day and awards assembly:

Katelyn with her Friends

Getting a hug from Mom

Busy Painting

My mom joined us for our afternoon at Kangaroo Zoo (indoor bounce house playland) and pizza lunch (you order pizza but it's really just placed through Dominoes and then delivered...smart).

And Katelyn at her Awards Assembly by her class paintings

Hearing her name announced

Accepting the Award and listening to all the nice things Ms. Vandyke wrote about her

Showing off her award certificate

Way to Let your Light Shine Katelyn!!

Temple Square Lights

2011-12-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

We took the girls down to enjoy the lights at temple square.
A few tips:
      a. dress warm
      b. arrive early before the lights are on so you can see all the visitor center stuff first and then enjoy the lights.
      c. hot cocoa is a must have
We hung out in the visitor's center and the girls were absolutely amazed by the little house display that had television screens for windows playing mormon ads. They could have been content there alone. Next of course is the open model of the Salt Lake Temple. Nate and I were married here so it was fun for the girls to see the miniature rooms like a dollhouse display. We walked past a model of Angel Moroni and Katelyn exclaimed, "Look it's the whistler!!!" We had a fun filled night watching Abby stare with open wonder at the Christus Statue and adoringly squeal, "Neigh" at all the horse-drawn carriages. Sarah mostly snuggled and of course they all were oohing and ahhing over the lights.

Sarah gave up on walking early in the night...

Katelyn taking in the lights

Everyone is starting to really feel the cold

the light display

it looks like there is fire coming down...

Slowly kids are making dibs on mom's layers

in the restaurant where it's nice and warm

finally peeling the layers

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

After the storm passed the food from the Relief Society Dinner was added to the Ward Christmas Party. The delicious Chicken Primavera was happily eaten by all.

Darling Primary Reindeer Craft

Sarah couldn't look at the camera because she was studying dessert.

Katelyn singing with the Primary

Abby attacking everybody else's plate

Which is Scarier, Daddy or Movie?

2011-12-09T17:17:00.000-08:00

Nate Chasing the Girls Up into the Windowsill

A Quick Lunge

Roar!!!

Abby getting nervous

A little more

Can't watch for a minute

Abandon the movie, it's too scary

Wind Storm Damage

2011-12-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

Nate had heard about a big windstorm coming through Ogden but he didn't mention it to ME. So I was totally unprepared for the 26 hours without power and the destruction through the backyard. Though even if he had told me I don't think we would have thought we were in for all this. Didn't take a shot of the roof but that is a satellite dish that came off the roof and pulled a whole bunch of shingles with it. There are also patches above the garage and addition that are missing as well. We have our insurance adjuster coming to evaluate whether we need a new roof tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Just in case you were wondering how the playhouse looked before here's a refresher:

8 Girls at once

2011-11-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

Sarah decided she wanted a playdate with some friends from preschool and she decided to call the twins. Small catch. This playdate overlapped picking up Katelyn from preschool. And we carpool. So we loaded Abby in the Kelty backpack, the twins in the double stroller, and Sarah held onto the strap. When we got to the school we decided to invite Katelyn's carpool buddy over for a playdate (rather than walk the few blocks to her house with everyone in tow). Then we decided to invite one more friend so they had an even amount of friends. They were GREAT playing together and it was a memorable day for sure!

Lucky for us it didn't start snowing until after we got home!

Seattle Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

We decided since Heather was in her 9th month of pregnancy that we would travel to see them this year.
We started with a day of preschool and kindergarten. Sarah was the leader and we didn't want her to miss out. We made a poster full of photos and Sarah's favorite things to introduce her to the class. She brought her pet hermit crab, Swirl for show and tell. We were in charge of the snack and Sarah wanted to share her favorite food: pancakes with whipped cream and blueberries and Chocolate milk. It was a fun day! Katelyn had a Thanksgiving Parade in her headband and vest.

Making handprint turkeys

She wanted to say a prayer at school...

The first night, we stayed at a nice hotel with an indoor pool/hot tub and exercise room. We ran a couple miles, swam with the girls, and had breakfast before setting out again.
We had at least two miracles on this trip. One was that we made it the 60 miles to the next gas stop with our red light on and the second was that our tire went flat in Yakima with a full tire shop rather than in one of the tiny towns along the road or on the freeway.

Thank you good samaritan that helped us switch the flat for the spare so we could drive to the tire shop!

We finally made it to Mukilteo and had a great time eating delicious food, wrestling and chasing, opening matching jammies, watching Beezus and Ramona, hiking in the Gulch, reading stories, and playing games.

Aunt Annie entertaining the kids with stories

Family Photo

Returning from the Gulch Hike

Opening Matching Christmas Pillowcases

And Matching Jammies

Wrestling with Uncle Matt

Three Sleepy Girls

We had a fun filled day in Seattle visiting the Pacific Science Center and Pike's Place Market. The girls got to play with butterflies, and water hermit crabs, starfish, giant chess pieces, you name it. We didn't quite match up with the Richins family but we did see Occupy Seattle and the lighting of the Macy's Christmas Tree and Firework Display. We started our return trip with a decadent 7 course breakfast at Snowqualmie Falls.

The Butterfly House (one landed on Katelyn's head but we didn't get the photo)

Jamming on the teeter totter

Climbing in the tunnels

The music area

Snowqualmie Falls

Sarah refused to wear a coat but always ended up stealing mine along the way...

Ropelato Thanksgiving

2011-11-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Turkey Sarah, Indian Maiden Katelyn, Pilgrim Abby

This is the In-law Year for Thanksgiving so we had a get together earlier with my side of the family.

Thanksgiving Activity Days

2011-11-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

We made journal jars and decorated them and made this darling dessert.
Oreo cookies, reeses cup, whopper ball, candy corn, and some icing.

Playing in the Bins

2011-11-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

Ever since our Family Movie Night in the Bins the girls have had a riot putting blankets in them and pretending we are at a drive in theater and the bins are the cars.

However this time they wanted to be in the same bin together.

Nothing like a little Netflix after a long hard day of Kindergarten

Each has a cuddle buddy too

Abby say Cheese!

Sweet Girls, huh?

Treehouse Museum with Sarah

2011-11-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

Sarah's Preschool Fieldtrip

Listening to The Three Little Pigs

Spencer Performing the Three Little Pigs

Happy Girls

Looking in the Microscope in the Nursery

Nurse Abby

Playing with the Castle Figures

Sarah came to play too

Abby and Mommy in the Farm area (Sarah was riding a horse)

Hawaii Presents

2011-11-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

My parents celebrated my mom's retirement with a little trip to Hawaii. They of course spoiled us with real flower leis, chocolates, jewlery, soaps, lotions, and mumus. Thanks guys!

Walkin in a winter wonderland

2011-11-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the day the yard looked like this.

entertaining themselves by running up and down the wood ramp (for the lawn mower)

Abby sporting a diaper

Then the snow came...

Nate was at a soccer game, so I woke Katelyn up to come share in the joy of the first snowfall. She really was excited, just not about the flash.

And the next day...makin snowbunnies with Ava

Dot Died

2011-11-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Katelyn's excitement for a new crab

Poor Dot. She was in her molting stage and I think I messed up putting water in the bath after she had drank it all. I guess they can't move during this stage and I basically drowned her. Just google how to know hermit crab died. I knew for sure when I caught wiff of the smell....not good.

Trick-or-Treat

2011-10-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

Family Costume Shots

Southern Belle / American Girl Doll

Katelyn made a last minute costume change when she saw most of her Kindergarten class was a witch this year. She rummaged through the dress-ups and chose these duds instead.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ariel

Leaf Jumping

2011-10-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Dainty Landing

Katelyn's Wild Leaps and Tarzan impersonations

Abby was only on board if she could keep her tootsie roll

Now that we've taken a little rest the cat is willing to join us

Mr. Stumps the Monkey puppet

Getting in some princess playing time

Halloween was full of class parties, leaf jumping, and trick-or-treating. We gathered all the leaves in the front yard and loaded them up into our kiddie wading pool and let the kids jump around in it with some neighbor kiddos. I used a few shovel loads to sprinkle down some additional excitement. We decided to ditch our baby trees and head to Grandma's house for some serious leaf jumping. As always Grandma's house delivered!

Kindergarten Halloween Party

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

School Photo

Katelyn's Witch Costume for her Kindergarten Party!
We had a great time rotating through several stations:
Pin the Eye on the Ghost
Hand Painting (Black Cat or Spider)
Clementine Jack-O'Lantern
Spooky Storytime
Skeleton Handprint Craft
Popcorn/Candycorn Snack
Halloween Song Musical Squares Dance
Photo
and Lots and Lots of Giggling!

Katelyn's Soccer Season

2011-10-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Katelyn's Soccer Moves:

Cute Coach

Katelyn had a great season this year. We started off a little slow with a pep talk every game and practice to remind her that this is for fun and that we all have to sub out. After a bit she caught on and has made some new friends. Thanks everyone for your help with the awesome end game treats (another enticement to want to play hard) and the fun practice pizza party to celebrate the end of the season!

Halloween Sillies

2011-10-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Vampire Teeth

Abby's attempt at vampire teeth

Sarah laughing at the sillies

Berenstein Bears stories with Daddy

My Mom's Retired!!!

2011-10-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

My mom has been working as a Respiratory Therapist for the last 37 years. She just finished her last shift and is so excited to be done. She worked for years and years full-time on the graveyard shift so she never missed out on our kid activities. She's pretty amazing! The girls and I had a little retirement party (which to them means a singing card of Cellll-e-brate to dance to, balloons, giant unicorn, flowers from each girl and lots and lots of hugs!)

Unicorn is a must!

Grandma flowers, balloons and

lots and lots of snugs

UEA Weekend in Park City

2011-10-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Nate took us girls to Park City for UEA this weekend. We had a great time making a mess and letting someone else clean it up...just kidding. The girls LOVED sharing a bed, I guess bunk beds at home are not the same. We swam in the pool in the morning and shopped in the afternoon at the outlets. Perfect retreat for all but maybe next time we'll do a bit more of Nate's stuff.

Checking out the beautiful fall colors

Watching Horseland

Park City

Cute Baby Abby

Loveland Halloween Party

2011-10-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Halloween Fun at the Loveland's. Cheryl and Colleen went to so much work getting this party ready. It was absolutely darling. There was crafting fun like Mummy Dogs (Rhodes rolls wrapped around hot dogs), clementine jack-o'lanterns, Halloween Bingo, Witch's hat ring toss, Candy bag hunt and quantity guesses, and face painting. We had dancing to music in costumes and halloween limbo. Delicious dinner: Chilli, Mummy Dogs, Chips/Salsa, Desserts and Witches Brew (homemade root beer) served in Halloween Cups with spider rings inside. There was spooky storytime and a visit from a dead friend (touch the body parts like rice krispie treats for brains) with a finale of a spook alley walk in the backyard amongst the scary daddies.

Three Dancing Girls

Sarah was really bustin a move!

Sarah:Strawberry Shortcake, Katelyn:Princess Witch, Abby:Minnie Mouse "Minneee M-ow"

Katelyn is contemplating how many laffy taffy's in the bag while Sarah is just thrilled to see so much CANDY.

Limbo Queens

Nate was awesome as a scary troll living in the playhouse. The girls were very scared but they knew it was Daddy!

Even Uncle Reed got a good scare out of Mom while walking the girls through the Haunted Walk.

Two Newest Additions to Our Family!

2011-10-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

We branched out in the pet department and added two more to our Starley Family.

Meet Dot
And Swirl

The girls love to watch them crawl around in their aquarium and hide in their shells. These are pretty low maintenance pets!

We've spent many hours reading A House for Hermit Crab, making lapbooks from homeschoolshare.com, and even taking them on a fieldtrip to Katelyn's Kindergarten class.

Orange you going to Smile?

2011-10-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

Katelyn had an interesting experience. As Nate was pulling into the driveway Katelyn took her seatbelt off to surprise Nate with a Boo. Nate had forgotten the lawnmower was at the front and he pushed the brakes. Katelyn went rolling right over the seat and smooshed her face in the dash. She got her first shiner and learned an important lesson about leaving seat belts on until the car stops. Still the large amounts of rain, the fact that today is school picture day and she has a bruised eye doesn't stand in the way of orangey smiles. I love these girls!

After a little makeup magic!

As for Sarah and Abby, a few princess braids and a hat and they've forgotten all about Grandma's pool closing and the torrents of rain outside.

Hat Snugs and Grins

Rain, Rain,
Go Away
Come Again Another Day!

Meet Cuddles the Bear

2011-09-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

Cuddles with his Ghost Cake Sucker

We were in charge of soccer treats and Sarah has her pre-school pet
Cuddles for the Weekend

She was SO excited to bring him home
and dress him up in the build a bear clothes

Abby was pretty excited as well

Aren't sisters the best when they share?

Summer Vacation in 1856

2011-08-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

William Stimpson Family Statue in Temple Square, Salt Lake City
(Nathan's 3rd Great-Grandfather)
William and four year old son Frederick made it to Utah. 2 year old son Joseph died on the trail 2 weeks prior to his mother. Rebecca, 7 months pregnant, died at Independence Rock due to complications from childbirth. Pre-mature infant son died 15 minutes later. Nate comes from the family line of the woman William married later in life.
Water Crossing

Mud Crossing

Cactus Flower (these were everywhere along the trail in Martin's Cove)

The Handcart Line of our Stake, you can glimpse the last stragglers coming over the ridge in the distance if you click on the enlargement
(we had close to the 300 person capacity limit on the trail)

Games during a company bathroom break

Lunch at the Martin Center with our family
Left: Me, Porter, Jayden, Natasha, Magoli
Right: Madison, Clara, Preston, Mandy, David
Not Shown: Nate (He was photographer)

Morning Sunrise

This summer has blurred right by so I will have to play catch up soon and fill in the gaps but this was a highlight in our vacation. We learned all about Nathan's ancestors in the Martin Handcart Company and the joys and sorrows that those pioneers experienced. Nate and I were called as a Ma and Pa for our stake youth conference to Wyoming for 4 days of trekking along the pioneer trail. I believe the final mileage was 36.6 (Day 1: 4 in Martin's Cove, Day 2: 16 along the historic trail, Day 3: 16.6 through Rocky Ridge, Day 4 home). We wore pioneer clothing, and camped in tents along the trail. We had special devotionals and private moments to reflect on the handcart pioneer whose name and biography we wore around our necks. The last night was spent at the Willie Memorial and we learned about the 14 individuals buried there. Marjorie Hinkley's two sisters came to share their ancestor's story and testimonies. There really aren't words to express my grattitude to those who planned everything but this was a truly sacred experience for me. I love those 9 kids that we were assigned as a family like my own. A few days is really only enough time to glimpse at what they experienced but one that truly touched my heart was when the boys were crossing the muddy river. Porter and Jayden weren't able to see the massive boulder that was in the middle of the path and they had taken their water shoes off so they wouldn't get sucked away. They cut their feet and while they were being bandaged up I caught my breath in a moment of reflection. I just adore these boys and I was so grateful they had taken the load for me so I wouldn't have to wade through that particular stretch of the trail. We had trekked up Rocky Ridge earlier in the day and it is a two mile stretch of the trail that is referred to as the Trail of Blood. It has steep inclines of jagged rock and must have been so daunting with the addition of the cold winds of 14 below and deep snow packs. The pioneers had lost their shoes or worn through them and now simply had burlap sacks wrapped around their feet as the trekked up this rocky, ice-encased terrain (I saw a sole of a tennis shoe in the garbage from one of OUR kids shoes so I can imagine what the handcart pioneers shoes must have been like walking from Iowa to Utah). The pioneers feet were so badly torn that they left a trail of bloody footsteps behind them. Then I thought of our Savior and His Atonement, taking the burden of my sins on my behalf. I can't put those feelings into words but I could just glimpse for a second a small portion of the love He has for each one of us. I thought how just like those beautiful cactus flowers that bloomed from the spiky, cruel-looking orbs; that through our Savior's Atonement, a horrible inexplicable sacrifice, blossoms the most beautiful plan of salvation and redemption for all mankind. It was a moment in my life I will never forget.

A Tale of Two Cities

2011-04-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

This Friday I went out for some much needed girl time with Becky, Natalie, and Randee (my two sisters-in-law and my soon to be sister-in-law). I took them down to dinner and to see the play A Tale of Two Cities at the Hale Center Theater. It was phenomenal! It helped that I had recently re-read the book so it was fresh on my mind. I loved the guy that played Mr. Cruncher! He did such a fabulous job endearing his part as a character I didn't particularly like in the book. In fact at one comical line a lady was laughing in the audience so hard that they had to pause for a minute before continuing. I think they were very pleased. A special treat for us was that the author of the original Broadway play was there and had coordinated during production with the Hale Theater. She got a standing ovation from the entire theater and it was really special to watch her enjoy her work (she was sitting two people in front of me). Also she brought a large group from New York with her to see the final play so I am sure this brought good press for the theater group. I guess this was the first off Broadway performance so that's pretty cool. Anyway if you missed it sorry it's last show was Saturday but you can find the music online...
Anyway it was great to hang with the girls and talk about all the fun stuff that only sisters chat about. Thanks girls for the wonderful night!
You can click on the title of this post to view public images of the play.

Front Runner to Gateway

2011-04-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

We decided to take an outing to the Gateway for Nate's day off. We packed a lunch and the girls and loaded up on the Front Runner. A family day pass is only $13.50 and we would have spent that in gas and parking for Salt Lake. We spent a grand time watching the girls play by the squirt fountains and reading books in Barnes and Noble. After icecream in the food court and a couple of visits to stores we headed back to the Trax and onto the Front Runner. Abby slept the trip home and Nate entertained the girls with their new books, Rapunzel and Berenstein Bears and the Messy Room.

April Fools Wedding

2011-04-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

It's fun to think their anniversary will always be April Fools, but a couple in our ward were married today. The girls just got their darling Easter dresses from my mom (she took them for a day of shopping to pick whatever dress they wanted and yes-I got some too), so of course they wanted to wear them to the wedding. Here they are:

I can't believe I don't have a photo of Abs in hers. Maybe that's when we realized we were going to be late. Well I will get one soon.

Our Newest Addition

2011-03-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

AEROSPACE MUSEUM
Katelyn's Preschool had a fieldtrip to the museum today. It was raining really hard so our tour guide went home early. It was great that most of the kids had not been before so they didn't know they were missing out at the children's center. Aw well. Katelyn had a blast anyway.

DANDELION
We have a pet!!!! We found a caterpillar while purousing the little green spikes of tulips and daffodils coming up in the flower beds. Her name is Dandelion. We made her a little home with a stick but all she wanted to do was crawl around in the dirt and burrow under a leaf. She stopped moving after about 3 days and I thought she died (the green leaves were now dried up withered things). I was slow to throw her outside and then she started to change colors. She made herself into a red cacoon but chose not to hang herself from the stick, hmmm. She is still in that position and we found a buddy in the garden to compare to Dandelion. I left him on the counter because he too looked like he had started the cacoon phaze. Next morning he was gone. Great now I have a loose caterpillar on my hands.

Sisterly LOVES
Katelyn loves to snuggle with Abby. Sarah and Katelyn don't see what's wrong with loving her when she's asleep or being loud during that time either...Poor Abs. What doesn't hurt her only makes her stronger.

Lunch at chick-fil-a and daddy wrestles

2011-03-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

We got 5 star treatment at Chick fil A. Here I thought it was because we were just so darling of a crowd (grandpa, dad, mom, 3 little girls dressed up...) then we saw the owner was sitting in the booth behind us. Ha! The "waitress" wiped our tables, got placemats down, balloons, and filled Abby's bottle with warm water... It was the best during lunch hour rush!!!
Nonetheless we all got a good laugh.

Strep Throat, Rash, Fever, Ear Infection

2011-03-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

Yep after the fun week out we spent a few weeks in. Poor little Sarah.

But Plucky little Sar didn't let that hold her back.

Treehouse, Snowmen, Aquarium

2011-02-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been way fun kid days. We went with the neighborhood kids to the Treehouse Museum, Built a Snowman in the yard with Nate, and Traveled down to the Sandy Aquarium to meet octupus, sharks, penguins, frogs, and pet rays and urchins.
Fun was had by all!

Valentines at the Bowling Lanes

2011-02-14T22:32:00.000-08:00

We hooked up with Nate's extended family for a night at WSU Lanes. We had bumpers up and the tiniest bowling balls but the girls LOVED it!!! Thanks everyone for the fun night!

Firemen, Firetruck!

2011-02-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

Our sweet neighbor Maxine slipped and broke her hip today. The ambulance and firetruck created quite a stir. We tried to eleviate some of Maxine's embarrassment by drawing attention to the fire enguine. The firemen signed the girls' fire book and let them climb in the truck and get dressed up in their duds. It was quite the morning!!!

Sarah's Birthday Party

2011-02-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

Blowing out candles

Abby diving for the cake

Sarah's Basketball Hoop (Nate did get her princess slippers too...)

Sleeping Beauty Cake

Wood Blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Starley

Sarah 3 @ Vintage Cupcake

2011-02-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Two Grandmas and a Great Grandpa for Birthday Cupcakes!

Blowing out her Candles

Swinging on the Porch Swing (Inside Vintage Cupcake)
Katelyn, Cousin Lexie, Sarah

Abby mostly watched the Pinkalicious Desserts from her stroller...

Isn't this place just darling!!?

So bare (bear?) with me, I have a lot of posts to catch up on.

Dangers of Skiing

2011-02-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

The girls and I enjoyed the Junior High Play, Beauty and the Beast, while Nate was working away.

They loved meeting Belle at the end and the suckers that were shaped like Roses. It was very impressive!!!
Beware Photos may be gruesome...

This poor girl was skiing and when she went off the jump, her pole stuck in the snow and her chin came straight into the pole. Nate fixed her up right away but I thought you guys should see his handy work.
Before

After (Same Night)

Laundry Room Renovations

2011-02-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

We finished this just before Abby was born in May but somehow with the 3 girls I never got around to blogging about our work. (I am currently working on my kitchen...)
Before

Close Enough to After

Here is a more detailed transition:
Before Under Stairs

Framing DIY

Sheetrock DIY

Bring in the Professionals:Framers, Plumbers, Mud and Tapers

Paint DIY

Flooring DIY

Chalkboard Wall (missing the measuring wall and moulding but you get the idea)

Mural over Kitchen from Laundry Room entrance

Polka Dot Playroom Wall

Sarah's Pre-3rd Birthday Party

2011-01-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

We celebrated everyone's Ropelato January Birthdays together and added Sarah's since hers is so early in February.
Excited about her Sleeping Beauty Cake (My mom made it and decorated it with Fondant)

Blowing out the 3 Candles

Her Barbie Car Birthday Present

Playing with Jasmin's Castle (My mom gave her a box of paints to decorate it with as well (super creative, I know)

Treehouse Museum with Preschool

2011-01-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

Treehouse Field Trip
Dem Bones Dem Bones-making a skeleton floor puzzle in the science area (they loved the microscope and dressing like neonatal nurses.

The music area. This place is great!

K is for Katelyn Day
Abby, Sarah, and I joined Katelyn for K day. We brought a K is for Katelyn poster with photos and a list of her favorites. We had the snack so we brought K is for Koolaid, Kix, Kisses (hershey kisses), and we brought cookie cutter K's to cut the K shape into single cheese slices. The kids loved it and we had a blast!!!

Sarah Painting

2011-01-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I love to have our one on one time while Katelyn is in school and Abby is down for a nap. It doesn't happen often but when it does Sarah can enter a world of her very own!

29th Birthday Wishes

2011-01-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

I asked for Paint. By paint I mean I painted the upstairs and downstairs hallways, the playroom, wallpapered the ceiling with paintable wallpaper, hung beadboard wall paper under my pantry, painted with venitian plaster on my backsplash and two walls in the kitchen, painted the lower cabinets one color, the upper another, and the underside of my counter another. It's not quite finished but it's been so fun. My sister-in-laws are the best and sent me parafin wax and the sister-in-laws on the other side took me to a day spa. We spent the entire day there (or so it seemed!!!). It was a steam shower, then the shower exfoliate, hair shampoo and deep conditioner, eyebrow wax, 1 hour massage, full line product sampling in the locker room...it was heaven!!! My in laws made me an awesome Salmon dinner with Quinoa. The girls and Nate made me breakfast in bed and Nate and I went to dinner at Dei Enko Tai AKA Kobe and saw the Reese Witherspoon chick-flic. What memories!
Shots of the ceiling during

Rearranging Katelyn and Sarah's room

(We wont dwell on date night being broken into two nights because Abby cried better make that screamed for 1 hr 40 min until Grandma broke down and called it quits. The minute I got home Abby became perfectly content and played quietly with her toys. Did I mention she's a little attached to me??)

Candids of the girls-bath

2011-01-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

Interesting Choice of Outfits

Rub A Dub Dub, My Babies are in the Tub!

Sisterly Loves

Abby Dancing with Daddy

Katelyn and Sarah Synchronized Dancing with Sippy Cups

Sweet Goobers

Abby Officially Started Walking around the coffee-table while holding on...

Iceskating

2010-12-29T22:02:00.000-08:00

Backyard Tubing

2010-12-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

Santa's Gift was a huge hit, thanks to Dad's muscles!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was fun at the Starley's. We had a cute Nativity story with Katelyn as Mary, Sarah as the Angel, and Abby as a Wiseman. We had a great night together and ended with the family tradition of opening matching jammies. Nate was very jealous of my star wars themed jammies! Abby threw in a nice surprise and started crawling on that very night.

Peek-A-Boo Abby

2010-12-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

Abby is starting to get around these days. She doesn't ever move while you are watching her but if you turn your head for a minute she's right at the Christmas tree yanking on the ornaments. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that our tree has already toppled over once this year spraying broken glass all over the floor...that being explained I left the girls in Abby's room while I answered the phone. Katelyn and Sarah of course followed shortly thereafter and I heard Abby start to wimper. I walked in her room and her cries went silent. I couldn't see her either. I thought that was odd. So I went in my room to see if I had had a zany moment and she was actually in there. Nope. I went back into the nursery and could hear her soft breathing. I lifted the bedskirt of her crib and this is what I saw:
Abby are you in there?

It's Abby

Abby pretending she can't move

The girls have been extra cuddly these days and it was fun to catch a shot of them with Grandma and Grandpa tonight.

Mommy and Katelyn moment, sometimes you just have to hold them on your lap because they grow up too fast!

WSU Bookstore Meet Santa and Reindeer

2010-12-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

My mom saved me by watching Abby while Katelyn, Sarah and I joined my sister-in-laws at the bookstore to meet Santa and his reindeer. We had just lined up when Katelyn announced she needed to use the potty. Of course the nearest bathroom was upstairs and around the corner... Once we had that taken care of the rest was really fun. Santa was very sweet (we had carrots to feed his reindeer).

The craft was making a cute Santa frame for the free photo. And they had cute Dr. Seuss cutouts to take photos.

Outside we met Snowflake and Blitzen and received special reindeer food for Christmas Eve.

Then we found out the girls photo was in the Standard Examiner (if you saw the girls last Thursday in the Top of Utah section).
All in all a day with the cousins, santa, reindeer, and crafts-what could be more fun!

Ropelato Family Christmas Party

2010-12-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

There's nothing better than hanging out with the family during the Christmas season.
We had a darling nativity with Katelyn as Mary and Sarah as Mary/Angel.

We played games (m&m straw game, and Christmas Jeopardy), ate delish food, and visited.

What could be better? Oh yeah we had a visit from Santa and the whole family got new socks. Nate received sports socks,

Stace received super soft socks,
Katelyn had princess socks with little crowns over each toe,

Sarah had crazy stripe socks,

Abby had cute little yellow socks.

Like I said, Good times had by all. Cousins Sarah and Lexie in twinner outfits!

Marc and Randee

2010-12-14T15:48:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Sledding

2010-12-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

The great thing about Mt. Ogden Park is the sledding bowl, so we took a day trip to the park and the girls loved it. Even Abby went down the hill.
Snow Bunnies

Snow Angels

Sledding Hill

Girls Turn

Sarah's Happiest inside

Thanksgiving Flu

2010-11-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

It's a bummer when your kids are sick for the holidays. Katelyn had a crazy high fever of 104.3 for several days (11) combined with stomach flu, sore throat, cough, and aches. It was very sad. Sarah and Abby of course followed suit and it made for a very homebound November. Katelyn was feeling better for Thanksgiving so we took her up to the big feast at my parent's house. When we got there she was happy for about 10 minutes and then went in on my mom's bed and said, "Mommy I miss Sarah." So we visited for just a few minutes and then I took her down to our second feast. Colleen didn't have any little ones so we thought it was okay to have our sickies at the meal. It was fun to be around all our family for such a special holiday.

Quiet moments with my reading partner

A view of the lethargic. Katelyn woke up in the middle of the night panicked, "there are rice krispies in my bed." Yep and on the wall, carpet, her hair...poor, poor girls. I think I averaged four laundry loads a day for a couple weeks there.

Pilgrims and Indians

Sarah admiring her big sister

A glimpse of the party at my parent's where Katelyn was missing Sarah

DIY Thanksgiving Placemats

2010-11-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

Whenever I compare my envisioned craft idea and it's lackluster fruition, I am left disappointed and I promise myself I wont go through all that work again without help. So when these placemats ended up working out I was thrilled! I hope you can appreciate them but feel free to make them cuter with buttons and ribbons, etc.
Here's the story:
I was reading in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine and saw a cute construction paper turkey placemat idea. I thought hmmm...that sounds fun. So I cut a couple of feathers for the girls to decorate with glitter and markers and started to make the bodies. Somewhere in the process I thought it would be cute to use scrapbook paper visuals for the feathers where each one could represent something we are thankful for. Then after assembling them I didn't want them to be ruined after one meal so I headed over to Kinko's and had them laminated (they were too big to use my laminator...).
Here is the result:

An example of discussion during dinner:
wheat=I am thankful we can harvest what we plant in our garden.
missionary= I am thankful we have freedom of religion and can share our beliefs with those around us.
soccer=I am thankful we have healthy bodies and can play sports.
marriage= I am thankful to be sealed to Nathan and I was able to choose my husband.
tiger pride= I am thankful for public education (school mascot).
disney sledding scene=I am thankful for 4 seasons and childhood fantasy.
The table view

(I made 5 but didn't put names on them so we can have more options)
It really has been fun to talk about the feathers while we are eating! Feel free to make some for your family as well.
Sorry I didn't post a shot of the plate on the placemat but it fits the center belly and the head, feet, and feathers poke around the edges of the plate.

Abby Sitting Up!

2010-11-11T22:53:00.000-08:00

Way to go Abby! 6 months old and she's sitting pretty. She is attempting to push up to crawl but it's still pretty early yet. I can't believe how fast she's growing up!

It's always so sad to take down fun decorations but...the pumpkins were rotting

and the window displays are falling, and the ghosts were drenched in the rain

not to mention my children losing their clothes

but they sure are sweet!

Leaves!!!

2010-11-10T15:23:00.000-08:00

We spent a day at Grandma's House jumping in the leaves:

Don't you just love Rosy (the kitten)

Dinosaur Park with the Preschool

2010-11-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Katelyn's Preschool took a fieldtrip to Dinosaur Park. I was excited to take Katelyn and Sarah for the day and leave Abby with Nate for some bonding time. When it was time to leave Sarah wanted Daddy time too but apparantly it only lasted about 5 minutes. She cried the entire 2 hours we were gone and was so beside herself that I took her solo and joined Katelyn's afternoon crowd at the park. It was actually a fun day and we ended with reading How does a dinosaur say goodnight? for bedtime. Fun day!
Katelyn Sliding and Crafting

Sarah w/ Miles Feeding the Ducks, Sliding, and Crafting

Abby's Daddy Day

Trick or Treat

2010-11-01T11:50:00.001-07:00

Post Ward Halloween Carnival (Abby was Minnie Mouse)

Swinging off Some of the Sugar

Sweet Abby-Sitting up on her own

Group Shot-Ariel's and Ladybug

Trick or Treat

The Two Ariels

Abby as a ladybug

Sunset

Preschool Halloween Fun

2010-10-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Katelyn's Preschool is so fun!!! I went in to help with the Halloween Party Day and here are some photos.
Me-Strawberry Shortcake Katelyn-Purple Fairy (because Purple is her FAVORITE color)

Singing "Witches Brew"

Picture Clues to "Witches Brew" and Miss Jill as Snow White (Isn't she great!)

Waiting In Line

Trick or Treating through the high School

Another Day in Paradise

2010-10-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

I sent this update to a special friend and felt it was blog worthy. Enjoy.
It’s funny how if I had written on Sunday, my letter would be completely different. Sunday was my first Fast Sunday that I have participated in for about a year (prego/nursing). Anyway I was totally on a spiritual high and thought my girls were absolute angels.
Monday, while Katelyn was at preschool, Abby slept until 10 and Sarah and I made pie crust together. She made little S shapes with cookie cutters in the leftover crust while I assembled the chicken pot pie filling, baked acorn squash with apple dumplings, toffee and hard boiled eggs for the salad. I cooked for like 5 straight hours to make a feast and invited my parents for dinner. The girls played so well together and I got dolled up and felt rather accomplished with my sparkling home to boot. My mom was supposed to work that night but was able to come at the last minute because she was called off her shift and we had a lovely evening.
Tues was another day in paradise doing fall yard work as a family for Nate’s day off. We trimmed bushes, trees, and roses; made burp cloths for a neighbor baby and went visiting with other neighbors.
Then TODAY the dream popped. I loaded up the 3 girls solo and drove 45 minutes to a pumpkin patch for Katelyn’s preschool fieldtrip. It was truly miraculous that we could muster a picnic lunch and have everyone dressed and packed to arrive in time. When we arrived at the ticket counter, Sarah decided she was finished with walking. When I gave her the ultimatum to stay or go home she bawled. I told her I couldn’t carry her…side note-stroller had a flat and I was carrying Abby in a climbing backpack. Anyway I couldn’t carry her and Abby at the same time. She cried louder. In the swirling mess of preschoolers I had several mom’s approach her as though she were lost and needed help. Which just made her cry harder. By the time we got to the animals she was a sight to behold. We spent an hour trying to cheer her up but someone bigger constantly knocked into her creating another scene. Katelyn got her finger squished by a dad climbing to rescue his kid from the top of a slide and the workers asked me if I needed a first aid kit because everyone heard Katelyn’s blood curdling screams. Of course Katelyn ran straight to her teacher and got a kiss and her loves made it all go away. Abby lost her binkie about then and all eyes were on me, “Oh you’ve got your hands full.” No offers for help just shock and awe. By the time my girls jumped the line for the train ride and threw corn kernels in a little girl’s hair I was just going with the flow. If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em strategy? Who knows. We made it to the hayride with only a lost shoe from Abby but the tractor trailers were all full. The girls tried to be strong but at least we only had quivering lips. I caved during the wait simply to abate them by buying the kettle corn that was for sale. When our ride came the girls dashed off in the patch in two different directions and neither would relent to follow the other and of course they were the last two to get their pumpkins snipped from the vines. Brother! We had to squish our way back on to get back and when getting off a little boy nearly sent Sarah face planting off the back in his hurry to exit. His mother told him to just push his way thru. Nice, eh? When we got home from this crazy day (there was more with feeding the three of them, carrying pumpkins and searching for shoes but I will spare you), my mother-in-law invited us to dinner. I thought Ah Salvation. But a spit-up greeting, cottage cheese food fight, potty accident & crying ensued. After putting them to bed I heard little voices and thought they were having bad dreams. Nope-they were using the nightlight in the closet to illuminate their play and subsequent fight over toys.
Boy it was a LONG day. Deep breaths but I am chuckling at the review. At least my camera and video recorder were out of batteries so I will soon forget their antics and hopefully have some better fun days decorating for Thanksgiving with them, selecting books & Halloween costumes. There was a brief moment during family scripture reading (got this scripture recite idea from conference) just before they went to bed when I was bursting with love but it quickly popped when I found them in the closet. I just pray to have the patience and energy required to teach them how to behave while allowing them to know they are loved. Hang in there and who knows, maybe today your little ones were perfect angels.
Love ya, Stacey

Bumblebee

2010-09-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

We had a turn with Bumblebee the class pet. Bumblebee is a cute stuffed bear with outfits and a journal. We are supposed to add an entry of our exciting experience with Bumblebee. We brainstormed fun Free things to do with Bumblebee and decided Katelyn's first dental trip would be fun. Bumblebee came out with no cavities and a fun bib/toothbrush/and mirror combo to show the class along with pictures. It was a lot of fun!
Katelyn's first Dental Visit (Check out Sarah in the background)

No Cavities-Orange Dreamsicle Polish and Bubblegum Floride

Bumblebee's Check-Up

No Cavities

Abby in Sept

2010-09-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

Sweet little girl having her scalp exfoliated. Love this baby!

Katelyn's in Preschool

2010-09-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

Katelyn is loving Preschool with Miss Jill. It helps that Miss Jill is best buds with Grandma Starley and Miss Jill's mom was Nate's preschool teacher. She has the cutest crafts and songs. Sarah and I have been using the time to have a special preschool for her with me at home. Sarah will say hi teacher to me and I respond hi student. It's great fun.
1st Day

Sarah wants to be just like Katelyn

The Pick Up Area

Walking with Grandma Starley

Labor Day Weekend at the Farm

2010-09-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

We had a sleepover at the Starley Farm for Labor Day Weekend. We had a great time playing Yahtzee and stacking the hay bales.

Abby coordinating breakfast

Katelyn in Uncle Matt's hat

The girls enjoying the car.

Carver's Cove Petting Zoo

2010-09-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

A day at the petting zoo with Grandma Ropelato
Petting and Feeding the goats

Cowgirl Katelyn

Rodeo Queen Sarah

Abby likes her hands and Smiles!

2010-09-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

Abby is such a sweet and content child

Katelyn and Sarah being sat on by Nate...

Happy Birthday Matt "Chew"

2010-08-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Nate's bro Matt's birthday with a nice homemade icecream cake. It was a first. Loved it. I will have to remember the website something about Sunday...but you can just google icecream cake. Delish

Marc's 30th

2010-08-16T23:41:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Marc's 30th at Snowbasin with a hike while Randee and Marc had dinner in the lodge and we met at Grandma and Grandpa Ropelato's for a swim and dinner.

Weber County Fair

2010-08-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

Cute animal at Home

The Awesome Sandcastle Exhibit

Enjoying all the animals at the fair.

Swim Lessons & Jones Family Reunion

2010-07-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Swim Lessons at Ogden High

Jones Family Reunion (burying the cousins in the sand)

Jackson Tournament

2010-07-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

So apparantly the city is now Jackson as opposed to Jackson Hole, WY...who would have thought. We drove up with Matt for the soccer tournament. They won 2 and lost 1 of their games. Not too shabby. The girls and I read the Bearenstein Bears Scout book on the way up. We decided to camp on the side of the road with our under 3 month old. She did great by the way. The girls thought it was great to sleep with Prince Phillip (daddy) and the valiant steed (uncle Matt). They were good sports and we got a hotel room for the second night.

Abigail's Baby Blessing/4th of July

2010-07-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Well as luck would have it the only time we could get all of my family and almost all of Nate's family in town on the same fast sunday landed on the 4th of July and the same weekend as my 10 year reunion. Needless to say it was busy but the day was very nice. Uncle Marc ran the grill at the after party and we assembled shish-kabobs for the meal. Isn't she a cutie!

Abby's 1st piece of mail (a reminder check up appt for the pediatrician's office)

Splash Pad

2010-07-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

Another Happy Day at the Splash Pad. My girls have so much more fun at the picnic table than in the water. Not a big hit but I like them for the safety factor...

Nate's 31

2010-06-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Blowing out candles...

Nate's Birthday IceCream Cake (Indiana Jones theme of course)

Nate specifically requested no fanfare for his 30th birthday last year. So the 4 of us went to Chuck-E-Cheese. He seemed a little disappointed that night...and so I decided to throw a big bash for his 31st. I made it a surprise party with friends, family, and neighbors and it was great. Nate had no clue it was coming and was way excited even though he was a little shy about the attention. Happy Birthday!

Content

2010-06-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a very good day. We started with a trip to the park for playgroup and ended up in our backyard. We spent 6+ hours out there today. I was weeding/planting and the girls played. We have four backyards that touch and the neighborhood kids kept bouncing from one fenced yard to the next (we have a ladder against the fence that the kids can jump around on their own). I just counted all the families that were over and we had 6 different neighborhood families of kids in our yard today. We pulled out Otterpops and they built sand castles for all the princess figures. All in all it was pure heaven. Even some of the 5 year old neighborhood kids jumped in and helped me pull weeds. It was great!
At one point I set up our little play tent with the baby bouncy seat in the doorway. We dubbed Abbie the Queen (but a good one like Aurora's mommy) and Katelyn and Sarah were her princesses. I was the Pink Fairy to protect the Queen. Pretty much Abbie slept the whole time in her "castle" on her "throne" with a few breaks for meals.
It seems so long ago that we were so far away from home but now we are so far away from our other family. My awesome mother-in-law lent me this book made from a friend. It is a compilation of nearly every talk given by Sis. Beck (I just love her talks!). I read over 8 of them on Memorial Day and I felt truly empowered with my roll as a mother. I am very grateful for my girls though everyday isn't always easy. As I read through her messages of building strong families I thought how much I have been influenced for good from these families away from home. Thanks for being such truly wonderful people for me to look up to. So many tiny everyday moments remind me of one special friend or another. Anyway today I felt very very thankful and happy with my life. I hope you have such peace in your heart today.
I didn't have my camera out there but this is pretty much the full heart of joy feeling I had today:

Abigail Baby Book

2010-06-01T15:50:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Newborn Shoot by Amy Call Photography

2010-05-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

ABIGAIL
Peek-A-Boo

Vintage Pearls & Diamonds

Family Shots

Sisterly Loves

Girls

Aren't they so sweet? This was such a fun day getting the girls dressed as princesses and posing them. Thanks Ames for all your hard work!

Knitted Hat & Swaddling Sac with Sweet Baby Toes

(Amy DeWaal made this darling knit hat. She's so talented!)

Check out other offers and portfolio at www.amycallphotography.blogspot.com

Abigail's Birth Story

2010-05-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, all my babies have been born via cesarean. After two it's pretty much decided that all future births will be c-section as well. So Abigail was scheduled for early on Sunday morning so that we could have my OB/GYN for the surgery as well as our first pick for the anesthesiologist. The nurses set up a mirror in the corner so I was able to watch the surgery (and catch first glimpses of Abigail) like we did with Sarah. Though my OB doesn't mess around. It was 5 minutes flat from getting numb to hearing Abigail's sweet cries. A little surprise kicker was that Miss Acrobat Abigail had managed a rather large knot in the umbilical cord and had I gone into active labor contractions we would have been in an emergency c-section rather than just a planned one. We feel very grateful for modern medicine and the prayers of our friends and family members.

It's rather different having a baby around family. Everyone at the hospital seemed to have a connection to my family or Nate's. The nurse cleaning baby Abigail happened to be Nate's cousin's wife Crystal. The anesthesiologist is a good friend of my mom's. The first hour was painful and full of nausea but once we got the right cocktail together I have felt great ever since. In fact I was supposed to stay in the hospital until Thursday morning but on Tuesday we were ready to go home so we did.

Abigail means source of joy and we decided to pick that name out of our three main ones because as soon as I heard her little cries my eyes welled up with tears of joy. She's been eating well and growing and sleeping for two 4 hour blocks at night. I say this and now she wont be sleeping at all...

Abigail Starley

2010-05-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

Abigail Starley was born Sunday May 2, 2010 at 9:26am. She was 6lbs 15oz and 20inches long. Here are some cute photos from the hospital (not all because my camera lost battery power) and I will get you a recount on the experience in a bit:

Catchin' a ride home

Post Op Room

Katelyn holding Abigail and Sarah practicing holding her hands out

Sarah holding Abigail

Katelyn and Matt Holding Abigail

The Three Muskateers

Sweet Moments

Loves From Great Grandpa

The Geese at the Hospital Reflecting Pond were a great distraction for the girls

Mom getting Abigail ready for the car

Cute Sticker on her stats chart

Family Photos

2010-05-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

We've had a tradition taking shots of our family at the very end of pregnancy. We had Amy Call (see www.amycallphotography.blogspot.com) take our photos on Saturday (the day before surgery) and loved how they turned out. Now to just pick which ones to have on the wall...
We spent the last evening as a family of four at Chuck-E-Cheese and the girls had one of the very best days ever!

Graceless Moments

2010-04-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

I am learning that balance and pregnancy do not go hand in hand. While trying to kill a hornet, I fell from a chair and gracelessly plummeted into my computer, table, and living room window. I split my elbow and bruised my arm from shoulder to fingers not to mention the broken table leg. I immediately left the scene to attend my last OB appointment. My OB recommended an xray because she thought I had broken my arm (though it was just a crazy amount of swelling blocking my ability to close my arm).

The positive side: I did kill the hornet so at least it didn't fly down and sting me to add insult to injury, I didn't shatter the window as expected, AND it looks like I wont have to show up for my surgery with a cast on my arm...

Sarah's 1st Hair Trim

2010-04-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

I would say I "cut" her hair but it was more like a "snip-off-the-rat-tail" trim.
She was not patient like Katelyn on her first cut, so my lacking skills are very apparant...

Birthday Take 2

2010-04-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

We had a Starley family party a couple days later. Katelyn was VERY specific on her cake this year. She wanted a purple cake with white frosting, green sprinkles and of course it needed to be an Ariel Princess cake...this was the best I could muster.
The Cake

Sarah Drooling

Blowing out candles

Cutting the Cake

Showing off the "Purple" cake aka blue and red food coloring to a white cake mix.

Katelyn's 4th Birthday

2010-04-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

My mom was awesome and had us combine Katelyn and her two cousins' birthday parties into one. We had some fun with potato sack races, musical chairs, and presents. Not to mention 3 birthday cakes! It was a success.
The Birthday Girls
(left to right: McKell, Jackie, Katelyn, and non-birthday Lexie)

Big Wishes

Opening Presents

I love this photo of my brother Dave cheating in the sack races...priceless.
Lining Up

The Big Cheater

Ladies Race

Kids Sack Race

The Kids Footrace

Sarah not understanding Go

She doesn't mind being last!

Cute Moments with Nate

2010-04-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sarah made a special request for Daddy to make her fly like a fairy...

Pure joy

Both girls wanted to sit on Daddy's lap to put the puzzle together

Easter with 2 Grandma's

2010-04-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Colleen went to Connecticut this year so we celebrated Easter early with the Starley's. This actually worked out perfectly so we could have loads of Easter celebration and still have Conference Weekend available. For the Starley Easter we had a mix of Eggs with symbols of the Easter Story inside and candy. For the Ropelato Easter we had a mix of candy and money. Katelyn was our best money hunter and found a $20 gold egg.

Here is a photo highlight:
Starley Easter
Dying Eggs with Grandma Starley

Dying Easter Eggs

A little game of Horse

Sarah falling asleep with bottle in hand before the Hunt due to the game of Horse

Racing for the Eggs

A boost from Daddy

Ropelato Easter

Family Photo

The Competition

Katelyn in the Hunt

Sarah in the Hunt

Katelyn (dressed as an Angel) surveying the goods

Sarah (dressed as a Fairy) holding her baby

Backbends

2010-03-23T20:45:00.002-07:00

Working on form at gymnastics

Flat Tire

2010-03-23T20:45:00.001-07:00

After a couple of consecutive mornings with a flat tire on the car we went to the tire shop to purchase new wheels. A pair of glasses kept Katelyn entertained for a long time.

House Projects

2010-03-23T20:44:00.004-07:00

First a Prego Shot for those of you wondering...5 1/2 weeks to go!

All of our projects we do together

My brother decided our tv was pretty old and bought me a new one for my birthday. The quote says "Establish a House: a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."
Pre-Entertainment Center

After Entertainment Center

We decided we needed a tad more privacy and some help for utilities. I found canvas paint dropcloths at Home Depot for pretty cheap and hemmed them (finally).
Before Curtains

After Curtains

We tried to make the bathroom a little less 50's and added beadboard, blue paint, and some finishing touches to cover exposed piping. I will have you know I cut each piece of trim and beadboard by hand with an exacto knife. I just found out about the wallpaper beadboard and boy do I wish I had used that stuff.
Pre-Bathroom

After Bathroom 1

The gold was great with Lorette's furniture but I was looking for something a tad more relaxing (oh and they have smells now that you can add to your paint so the walls smell like Sea Breeze).
Before and After Master Bedroom

We moved the girls' downstairs to make way for the nursery.
Girls Room 1

Girls Room 2

Girls Room 3

Nursery

Our latest adventure:
Before Laundry

Hopefully in the next few days I can show you the after shots.

Aerospace Museum

2010-03-23T20:44:00.003-07:00

A trip to the Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum with Daddy!

We had a great time and the best part is, IT's FREE!

Valentine's Packages

2010-03-23T20:44:00.001-07:00

Thanks Heath for the Valentines! If only we were as good as you guys! The Tinkerbell cards and cookies made our day!

Katelyn's Kidney Scare

2010-03-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

So from my previous post you may understand I was a bit consumed in preparing for the open house. Poor Katelyn has been doing great with the potty but recently strongly resisted going potty unless I went with her (she could do the potty dance for a couple hours if necessary). I knew this is sort of common and tried not to force her to go. I would simply ask her every 5 minutes if she needed to go and offer to help until she made the decision to use the bathroom. On Thursday she told me it hurt while she was going and I thought maybe she was a little constipated. It wasn't until she woke me up in the middle of the night asking if I would help her that I realized she was saying urinating was painful. There is nothing worse in the world than listening to your child shriek in pain and feeling powerless to stop it. Katelyn and I spent most of the night soaking her in the tub and then cuddling on the couch looking at her baby book and telling her every tiny detail about her birth and first days. So Friday morning (the day before the Open House) we scheduled an appointment with her pediatrician and spent a good amount of time trying to collect a sterile home sample. Here goes, place child in tub and wash body to sanitize her. Next sanitize potty with antibacterial soap and dry. Coherce child to use the potty as gently as possible (I will have nightmares for quite some time of her face of relief for the first 3 seconds of urinating and then awful pain and screaming as her nerves kicked in). Dump urine into pre-sanitized canning jar and label. Next drive to pediatrician's office ASAP so that they can test for bacterial growth. Not a fun adventure. Her pediatrician is awesome though and let us be seen during her lunch break so we wouldn't have to come back that evening. She put Katelyn on a sulfa drug due to her allergy to amoxacillin just in case it was a urinary tract infection but sent us and the sample to the hospital lab to test calcium levels indicating a kidney stone. This may seem a tad OCD but my neice McKell had kidney stone at age 2, my brother at age 5, me during pregnancies, and Nate's mom as well. We are still waiting on the lab results but nearly immediately she has been feeling better with the sulfa drugs and cortaid on the tender skin. We have implemented "Super Juice" in Katelyn's diet, Light Cranberry Juice, and focusing on keeping her highly hydrated. She's been a trooper to say the least. Today we celebrated a bit of family time with a trip to the Layton Surf-N-Swim for some swimming fun.

Open House

2010-03-09T14:39:00.001-08:00

So if you are wondering where we have been these past few weeks, I will explain. Our church building has been under construction for the past 14 months and we've been meeting at the next closest building (it's 3 blocks down the road from our other one...). Our bishop asked me as ward activities chair to take charge of an open house for the community. So what does that involve exactly? I guess it depends on whose in charge. For ours we placed an article in the local paper, had a banner made to announce the date, and made flyers for the 500 dwellings in our ward boundaries. The scouts started the open house off with a flag ceremony and the bishop gave the prayer. I had spots highlighted for a tour with church members volunteering to take groups through. I sort of wish we had a count on everyone that came during the 4 hour open house but in the opening group it was about 100 people that walked through.
The tour included the chapel, bishop's office, young women room, library, primary, relief society, and ended in the cultural hall for refreshments. In the chapel we had hymns and songs from the children's songbook played on the piano, as well as the sacrament table set. Our focus here was Sunday worship services.
In the bishop's office we had a framed photo of the new Ogden Temple and a photo of the bishopric. The Ogden temple will be closed sometime at the end of the year for 18-24 months while the remodeling occurs. Our focus was the bishop's role in encouraging members to live worthy to attend the temple.
The young women's room had a tent with sleeping bag and firewood display as though you were entering girl's camp. The YW president put together a slideshow of photos from the previous year's camping trip. The focus in this room was the young women programs for 2010 such as the new personal progress program, emphasis on virtue, new youth website youth.lds.org, and YW activities like mutual and girl's camp.
In the library we had focus on geneology work and the new website new.familysearch.org and access to member numbers and confirmation dates for members to get signed up. Thanks again Mom for coming to take over this presentation.
In the primary room we had all the same easter activities we did in california last year. We had a scavenger hunt with photos of key elements of the Easter Story. We continued on the theme of Easter with a coloring page, find the match, Easter Sudoku, Easter Crossword Puzzle, and a Puzzle of the Resurrected Jesus appearing to Mary. In this room we also had the cd of the primary's fall musical program that the kids spend all year learning.
In the relief society room was a photo collage of enrichment activities the ladies had been doing the past few years (quilting, cooking, book groups, dining divas, and silly fun). The focus in this room is the service and love the ladies have for each other and the community.
In the cultural hall we had a video slideshow of the building during different phases of completion and the move in day bringing everything out of the pod. We had cookies and lemon water and left this room for conversation. The missionaries had a little table with pamphlets if anyone was interested in learning more about the gospel. We had handouts with the new building meeting times and announcing the dedication for Sunday evening.
Deciding what to highlight, coordinating guides, greeters, refreshments, and information for everyone was overwhelming at times but whenever I prayed for help and guidance things came together. The spirit of love and neighborly friendship was so strong it was hard not to smile constantly and forget about the blisters on my feet and pregnancy contractions.
The artistic rendering of the remodeled Ogden Temple:

Photobooks Deal

2010-02-19T08:14:00.001-08:00

Hey guys. I was just passing on some info about photobooks. So I am not partial to any one printing company and usually wait for a good price. Winkflash has a deal they just extended until Monday Feb 22nd. I think it was a steal personally. The deal is you can buy any of their size photobooks for the base price. So I made a 12x12 photobook of our year in California (using the max 100 pages) and it still cost the same as a 12x12 with 20 pages. It took me about 2 days to make a photobook that size but I am sure you guys would have ample time if you wanted to start from scratch (like I did). Feel free to email or call if you have questions with the program. I would encourage that you start with creating a registration so you can save your work as you go. My computer somehow shut down in the middle of creating it the first time, Katelyn accidentally stepped on the power plug reset button the second time I was uploading photos, and then I figured out how to save as I went.

Sarah's Hello Kitty 2nd Birthday Party

2010-02-08T13:36:00.001-08:00

This was the first family birthday party we've had for our girls and we realized just how big our two families really are these days. Sarah was so excited. She just kept saying, "Two Grandmas, Three Grandpas". Sarah ended up with two cakes, one for her and one for everyone else.

Sarah eating her very own Pooh Bear Cake with a fork. I think this was the cleanest self-eating experience she has ever had.

The Hello Kitty Cake

Katelyn Cookie Decorating with McKell

The Finished Product

3 Grandpas

Half of Starley Siblings

Katelyn being the proud sister (she was so good but I think she thought it was a party for both of them).

Sarah in her new princess costume

Grandma holding the look-a-likes Lexie and Sarah.

Dad's Birthday

2010-01-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

It was great. We went to dinner with the fam at La Ferrovia (gotta order the Spinach Cannelloni, it's the best!) for my dad's birthday. It was cute because my mom said to the grandkids to go give Grandpa a hug. My two girls ran to their great grandpa because they call my dad "Mommy's Daddy". I think it made my dad feel good that he wasn't old enough to be called grandpa.

Solution for Lost Mittens, Make Your Own

2010-01-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

The girls and I were at the Ogden Nature Center for a cute little preschool class on the water cycle and heard about this class on Recycled Wool Mittens. I signed up and went last night.
Basically you need a couple shrunken wool sweaters (to close the fibers), some polar fleece, and fun button embellishments and you can sew yourself some handy dandy mittens. The exterior shell is made from the wool sweaters and the interior shell is made from polar fleece (oh so soft and warm). You can find sweaters at thrift stores, your closet, or garage sales. Joanne's just had an awesome sale on polar fleece and I am sure you can round up buttons just about at any craft store or junk drawer in your home. If you would like to watch the demo go to http://studio5.ksl.com/?sid=4456414&nid=61.
***The pattern on the website is set for adults (though I had to measure it against my hand and add a few inches on length). To make children sizes just use a copier and print at 80%, 60%, or 40% depending on the child's sized hand. Katelyn (nearly 4) can wear the 80% printout but it will probably fit her until she is 10.
Katelyn sporting her new mittens:

Adult (blue stripe), Child's (soft grey)

Video link from KSL (Jenny taught my class at the ONC):

Artist Moment

2010-01-25T16:03:00.000-08:00

One of those perfect mornings! (Unlike the days when I don't change Sarah's pull-up fast enough and she make feces murals...) We'll just stare at these cute photos and erase those gag worthy memories.