Better late than never...

September: Tessa's first day of Preschool...almost. This was actually preschool orientation day, but she insisted on getting her picture by the door like Carson.

Tessa's first, official day of Preschool! She wanted to take her pillow pet for show and tell. That thing is as big as she is.

Carson's first day of 1st grade!

He already gets his own locker!

Last minute Yellowstone trip before school started!

Carson was fascinated by the geisers. Tes did not like the steam coming from them, they scared her. We had a great time hiking & sight seeing all the beautiful sights...

including the animals. We saw 10 buffalo, 5 deer, 8 Elk, and 1 big snake!

August: Vic & Catherine's Wedding Day!

It was SO hot & the kids did great. Tes did have a cute cardigan over her dress, yes my daughter was modest on the Temple grounds, she just insisted on taking it off because she kept saying..."I'm sweating Mom." After pictures, Carson just stuck his head in the waterfall as we waited for Daddy to bring the car around. We're so happy for Vic and Catherine!

July: Swimming Lessons! Poor Tes cried everyday at swim lessons. Her teachers were great with her. She would do most of what they asked her to do, she just cried while doing it. Hopefully next year she will feel a little better about swimming & know that its okay to get splashed & wet while in the pool. :)

Carson is doing great & building his confidence in his swimming abilities. Yay! By the end of the week, he was diving off the diving board.

Tim's surprise birthday party!

Fourth of July BBQ with cousins! It was fun having both my parents, Bry & Angie in town for the 4th this year! It was a fun filled day with the 'ole Kaysville parade, BBQ at Smolkaville after & then fireworks later that night.

June: It just wouldn't be summer without Lagoon passes!

Carson's Kindergarten Graduation

Carson holding up his Chinese calligraphy he did in his class. That sign means love.Carson did NOT want to get his picture taken with me, hence the look on his face. So sad, my boy is already "too cool" for his Mama. ;)He had NO problem getting a picture with his sister...Or with his teachers, rude! I still love you buddy! Here he is with his teachers Mrs. Piper (Blonde in back), Ms. Ding, & Miss Stephanie (Mrs. Piper's assistant). All three were wonderful & all said what a sweet boy Carson is. 1st Grade, here we come!

My Baby Girl is 3!

On Tes' actual birthday, we picked up a little Chick-fil-a & went to the Castle Park & played & played.

Tes & Daddy exploring in the nearby "woods" behind the park.

My almost 1st grader!!!

Tes at her Rapunzel party. We had a family dinner with Harm, Josh, Cannon, Grandma Lanie, Grandma Mary, Aunt Deborah, & Uncle David. Following dinner, we had a few of the neighbors come over for a little cake & Tillamook ice cream! The girls on our street are all older than Tes, but they all like to come play with her & are so good with her! We have such a great neighborhood.

I went with the good 'ole Costco cake this time. The cake making process seems to just stress me out because I have great visions on what they should look like & I'm always disappointed with the end result. I did make some cake pops however & I am still in the experimental phase with those so hopefully they will improve with time. Not that we necessarily needed more cake, but I think they're cute & add to the decor. :)

Tes with Grandma Lanie

Tes & Mama

Trampoline fun!

The Men at the grill.

The princesses (& Cannon) all "Tangled" in Rapunzel's hair.

Grandma Mary, Harm (& baby Hayzel), Me, & Deborah. What a great party it turned out to be. We missed all those who are either out of town or who couldn't make it! We love you Tessa Cupcake!

Yay for Spring!

Feeding the ducks! We've been LOVING the early, warm Spring we've been having.

Cousin, Cannon. Sorry Harm & Josh, he insisted on wearing Tes' Rapunzel necklace. :)

Easter egg hunt at our friends/neighbors Nick & Jodie's house.

Grandpa Ed came to town last minute to get some dental work done. It was fun having him here! Tes was attached to him all weekend long. We wished Grandma Liz & Uncle Bry could've come too.

Happy Easter! Tes was not in the mood for pictures & Carson was a bit squirly, but this was taken after church so who could blame them.

See what I mean? :)

I saw Tes' dress online at Nordstrom and couldn't resist! I just wish I'd found a white cardigan that fit her better.

No longer Missing in Action

So I know I've been MIA on the blog and any FB pictures for forever so here's a whirlwind of the past few months here in Smolkaville. I finally feel like I need to come out of my shell/cave, whatever you want to call it. For those of you who don't know, I miscarried...once again in February. :( It was another quick one, like in October where I found out I was pregnant and then miscarried a week later. I've had a lot of issues with bitterness and anger and had kind of shut out the world for a while. I've gone through several blood tests with my Dr. and there appears to be nothing wrong with me. As of right now, she's guessing that my progesterone levels have dropped since getting older so I will start on progesterone the day I get another positive pregnancy test...if that day comes again that is. Anyway, enough of the sob story, just thought I'd update ya'll on why I haven't really been around the past few months. The pictures include the happier times over that past several weeks. If all else fails, Tim and I do have two perfect little munchkins whom we adore. If that is all the Lord decides to bless our family with, we will be perfectly happy.
Tes and her BFF Woody. The hat actually belongs to Carson, but Tes has officially taken it and has claimed it as her own.Sorry Tes for the lack of privacy here, but I just had to post that my baby girl is officially potty trained for the past 6-8 weeks or so (the pic was taken in Feb). :) I kept asking her daily if she wanted to go in the potty and she kept saying no, that is until I bought her some cute new princess and minnie mouse undies. That was apparantly enough motivation for my sweet pea. She was pretty much trained within a week. Now if only we could get rid of her "be bas" (binkies) that easily. This girl is going to have serious dental issues if we don't get rid of those things soon!
Pure joy! We took the kids bowling during my birthday weekend & Tes had a blast! She kept saying, "This is so exciting!" It had been a while since we had gone.Carson started basketball this year and loved it! He scored his first game basket during his final game of the season, woo hoo!
Carson ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his class! He has LOVED the Chinese Immersion program.
Here's our POST Christmas snow storm. The weather can't seem to get it right that we love the stuff for Christmas, but after Christmas it can go. Tes loved it!Carson ready to test out a neighbors mini sledding hill!
Lastly, here are a FEW of our December highlights. (Yes I know it's now almost APRIL!!!)
Christmas Eve and the kids' new PJs!

Carson turns 6!

Carson wanted an Angry Birds party this year. The boys started off "turning into angry birds" by making their angry bird hats. We then played a game of throwing darts at some green "hog" balloons. After cake and ice cream we played one last game of "Dodge the Hog". It was dodge ball, but with Carson and Tessa's plush angry bird hogs and birds instead of balls that Tim and I threw at the 9 wild boys. It was a riot! Happy birthday Buddy, we love you!
Carson and his hog cake.This was my first attempt at cake pops...don't laugh. So I couldn't find any RED melting chocolate (in December go figure) so I went with the white. Who knew that adding red icing coloring would make it purple? These were supposed to be RED angry birds. Carson was sweet, he said, "Mom it's okay if they're kind of purple."Look out for these Angry Birds!!!