It's...

It's a boy!! (We spared him the obvious picture:) We all think he is so cute:) Ashley and Cassie are so excited and Meggie has conceded that a little brother will be fun. Dave and I went and watched them measure "our boy"(Dave calls him). All the parts were there, looked good and were the right size(a HUGE relief). When they got the image first up it was so awesome to see him in there moving around. I was so emotional and so grateful. The whole process is just a miracle. He cooperated so we could know if we had to buy new clothes or not:) We can still use all of the same things as before (except for clothes and a few blankets). Now for the name...

Summer

It was a VERY fun summer and we did a lot of fun things!! If you go to Batesbunch.com you will see the pictures that Dave put up of our fun goings on(Thanks Dave!!)...he does such a good job that I won't try to compete. But, I wanted to tell about a few of my summer highlights. I am now 17 weeks pregnant and VERY excited about his new little one. So are Dave and the girls. It was a rough last year as far as that goes, so we are grateful. It was so fun to go on family trips with both of our families. One was to Disneyland and other was camping, so it was fun to have such different trips. The girls had swimming lessons and all did so well. It was fun to sit and watch all of them. They lOVE water. We have started working on the backyard and hope to finish before it snows:)...oh yeah, I almost forgot...Ashley was in her first musical with her own solo. She was in heaven and I was so glad that her part meant so much to her. Wilford Woodruff is her great great great great(I think) grandfather and in her song she was singing to him. Anyway, it was a neat show and everyone in it did a great job. Like I said go look at the pictures that Dave put up. Enjoy!!

p.s.The other thing the girls did a lot this summer was make up shows. Tatym came over and played with them a lot and their shows were so fun. They were so creative with the costumes and props!!

Meg

I was thinking about my little Meggie and her 4th birthday we just celebrated. We had her birthday at Bear Lake and she got a jewelry box heart cake. I made it with cupcakes this time and shaped them like a heart and frosted it with pink cream cheese frosting (yum!). Then we put some of her pretend jewelry on top. She loves to have jewelry on and carry he purse with her, so it was a cute and totally "Meggie" cake.

I was thinking back on some of the funnier, or I should say "crazier", things that Meggie has done in her short life and I thought of 2 that were pretty memorable. To say that this little girl is strong-willed or has her opinion about things, would be an understatement:

One day Dave and I were playing "pretty, pretty princess" with her and she didn't like the color that one of us was playing with so she suddenly banged her forehead so hard on the table. She started crying and got a huge goose egg....It was so shocking that Dave and I looked at each other in horror and then burst out laughing. The other time she wanted to play on the computer and I told I needed to do something first. A couple of minutes later she came back screaming with blood coming out of both of her nostrils. Ashley said she was mad, so she banged her nose on the wood floor over and over really hard. Wow, I couldn't believe it. I thought she had broken her nose. She ended up being okay, but what a determined little girl. Thinking of Meggie makes me smile...

p.s. I chose this picture from pre-school because she was so into her program and sometimes it is hard to get her to even smile:)(she doesn't like a lot of attention or people to look at her) It was so much fun to watch!

Bear Lake...

We went to Bear Lake to celebrate Memorial Day and to say "goodbye" to the Bear Lake house. It was so much fun and very relaxing. We didn't go play at the beach (except for a second before it rained on us:(), because it was so early in the season, but we had a GREAT time! The kids just played and played and entertained themselves. They love the bunk beds upstairs so much and found all kinds of things to pretend up there...airplane with the fan, gymnastics, house...Dave had the multimedia center set up in the family room, so we played video games (lots of laughs) together, watched movies and played board and card games. I have so many memories at Bear Lake. That is where I decided the I loved Dave (in the middle of Bear Lake on the wave runner). It was so beautiful that day 10 years ago and I won't ever forget that. It also reminds me so much of Grandma and Grandpa Daw, so I guess it was perfect weekend to go. I am glad we had the chance to go "one more time". Goodbye Blue Bear Lake House...

Mother's Day (done right:)

I was so spoiled today!! Breakfast in bed with lilacs from the yard and some great homemade gifts. Cassie said she liked me "better than a piece of cake"(which is a great compliment coming from her:) Ashley wrote a beautiful and deep (as usual) poem for me. Meg was just as cute as ever of course and gave me kisses and hugs. I love the yellow and red tulips Dave, and the meal was gourmet!!

p.s. This is the first formal family photo we've had taken since Meg was 18 months, so I am glad we did it! Cassie was so nice to pose with the tulips and Ashley's poem:) The other is me with my girls at the zoo(Dave was our photographer). We had a great time and a yummy breakfast with Dave's company to start it all off.

HI

Wow, it has been 2 months since my last post. I can't believe that it has been 2 months since Megan decided to make my life a little easier. She is so good at going to the bathroom by herself, that it seems like it has been forever since I changed a diaper. I won't take this for granted and I will enjoy every moment:)

I am enjoying the spring so much and I have really loved all the rain (except on soccer saturdays). Dave has done most of the family history work this month, so go to batesbunch.com and enjoy the pictures and videos. Life is good and my major project right now is cleaning my house out and getting rid of EVERYTHING we don't need. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!

Meggie...no more diapers!!

I am soooooooooooo excited that Meggie decided that going on the potty was an okay thing to do. It took a little convincing...but we did it!! A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I was sick of changing her poopy pants and it was silly that she was going pee in her pull-up and then throwing it away herself. She just refused to do it, sooo one Monday when I could stay home with her I took her pants off and she went bottomless the whole day. There were a few tantrums about how she wanted her pants, but she held her pee the whole day. That evening she went in the potty and the was a HUGE turning point. She had accidents the second day, especially when she had her pants on and she was testing to see if she could be lazy still and get away with it. But, when I told her if she went in her pants one more time I would take them off, she decided she wanted to have her pants, and that was that!! What a great thing. Megan is a very private person with her pottying. She has to shut and lock the door when she goes and she does everything herself (except for the occasional wipe). Even when I am in the bathroom with her in a public restroom, she says "I don't want to see your feet." Jan and I had a really good laugh about the other night at the church. It's fun to share these motherly moments with others, because they really are funny when you say them out loud!! Goodbye diapers!!!

Cassie's Boombox Party!!

We had Cassie's "Groovy boombox" "Better late than never" birthday party this last Saturday. She picked out the pink and blue decorations and her "record" pink and blue Piñata (or pinata, like she likes to say it)at the store and was so excited. We filled the piñata with fun stuff, made the "boombox" cake, got balloons and ice cream and we were ready to go!! We played a "name that tune" game, Hullabaloo, stick the nose on the clown and then broke the piñata. After they filled their party bags, we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. She got lots of art "stuff" which she spends her life doing, so thanks everyone!! What a great time.

p.s. Cassie picked a boombox party theme because she lOVES to carry around her white boombox, serenade us and be our DJ!! I got the cake idea from the Family Fun birthday cake book which I LOVE.

Little Mermaid

Cassie and Ashley did a "musical in a week" with Missoulas Children's Theater the last week of January this year. They did their version of the Little Mermaid. I highly recommend this to anyone if you ever see your community doing it. They try out on Monday for parts and then practice after school during the week and on Saturday. Then, they have 2 performances on Saturday. They travel around the country doing these, so the costumes, music, scenery etc; is all done and they stick the kids in and go. What a great idea. Anyway, here a few cute pictures of the girls. They love to sing and put on shows, so this was really fun for them.

Ashley Ann, Cassie Joy and Megan Kaylee

I wanted to put the girls pictures up because I think they were so cute...I am not biased:) I am well aware of my children's shortcomings, (as they are of MINE:)like not going to bed and listening when I ask them to do something, ANYTHING!) but being cute is not one of them.

They are so sweet, thoughtful and ....just plain cute. What can I say. I am trying to enjoy them more and play more with them. Playing games is something we love to do.

Cassie talked me into playing Clue with her, although we only just started. She also loves to play Coloretto (a fun game that Dave discovered thanks to the guys at work) and she plays with her stuffed animals which is so fun to watch. I played Sorry with Ashley (she won of course) and didn't feel sorry AT ALL about beating her dear old mom. Cassie loves Sequence for kids that my mom gave us for Christmas It's fun for all of us. Meggie loves to play Pretty Pretty Princess, especially with her dad. He has to be the blue princess though, but seeing him with the jewelry on is SOOO funny.(Jimmy got roped into it too when he was here. You look good in blue Jimmy:). I got a Chinese jumprope for Ashley for Christmas, because I loved that game growing up. Does anyone remember playing this?? The kids also love to play Big Little Planet or any of the playstation Lego games with their Dad. They would go on forever (not joking), if it wasn't for mean old mom. Anyway, it's fun to spend time together. I am glad I live with people I love to spend time with...

San Diego!!

Dave and I had an awesome trip to San Diego at the beginning of the year. I just keep reliving it and want to go back so bad (just for a day...or two). Once I had everything planned and my kids were taken care of (thanks "Moms",Lynne and Jim and Jan), I could relax. I like to fly and hadn't in a while, so that was fun . We had such a fun time being together. I had never walked on the beach in the winter, and we were pretty much the only ones there. There were some people roasting marshmallows and it looked so fun. What a beautiful sunset. We went to dinner with Marc and Deon (great restaurant guys!), then spent a whole day (sun up to sun down of course) at Disneyland. The Christmas decorations were still up and they had their holiday overlays on Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World and we saw their Christmas fireworks. The San Diego temple was closed, so we went on Sunday after church and walked around the grounds. They still had their nativity up. What a gorgeous temple. We stayed around town for a day and night too and walked around Seaport Village(clam chowder in a bread bowl, yummy!) and went to a dinner and a movie in the gaslamp district(great sushi and sweet potato fries, not to mention a "small" sundae at Ghirardellies. Still not as good as Leatherbys by our house). It was relaxing and much needed!!! I love vacations...especially with Dave...alone:)

The Host

I finished The Host by Stephanie Meyer last week, and I thought I would tell you how much I LOVED it!! It took a little while for me to get into the book, (It took me a while to get into Twilight too..) but what an amazing storyline. I thought it was very original and her creativity was limitless. The way she describes details and feelings is so moving. I felt like I really knew everyone and they were family. The descriptions she wrote were so vivid. I am not a writer (except for things like this), so critiquing is not my forte, but I know when a book touches me like this one did. If you've read it, I would love to know what you thought (even if you don't agree with me:)...

Grandma Daw and the girls...

One thing I wanted to share was how sweet Cassie and girls were with Grandma as she was sick and even after she died. rewinding a bit... Megan, Cassie and my mom and I would go visit Grandma at Sunrise some days while Ashley was at school. She was cute with the girls and would play with them. The last time we went, the girls were dressing up in the dress-up clothes that Grandma had in her hallway and we were giggling. Grandma said something really funny and we all giggled. Anyway, we visited her again after she had fallen and was in her new place and Cassie helped feed Grandma and make sure she was comfortable. When we would go she didn't want to go play and run around, but she wanted to take care of Grandma. The Monday before she passed away we went and she wasn't feeling very good at all. Cassie held her hand put her arm around her. We sang to her and Cassie again wanted to make sure she was okay. As we got her settled and left that day we didn't know that would be the last time we would see her awake. She was on her way to a better place where she would know us all again and be healthy.

She died on Cassie's birthday and we were able to go and say goodbye. Ashley went in with me and we sang some duets for Grandma and held her warm hand one last time. That was a special memory for Ashley. Megan wasn't ever afraid to go tell Grandma she loved her and kiss her hand. At the viewing Cassie was up with Grandma most of the time and never wanted to leave her. She caressed her arm and made us all cry with her sweet way. She didn't want to leave Grandma's side (She got the job of holding the kleenex box so she could stay longer:) until they closed the casket. Then as we went back to the chapel for the funeral she wanted to go play in the nursey. She was done. She had said goodbye. Ashley stayed for the funeral and loved hearing the stories they told about Grandma and getting to know her better. We all took home some flowers from her graveside service and the girls each put together a vase of flowers to remember Grandma. I am so glad that my girls got to know their Great Grandma and I want to keep sharing my memories with them too...

Grandma Daw...

My Grandma Daw passed away on Saturday night December 27th (Cassie's 6th birthday) and had a great reunion with Grandpa Daw and all of the others she loved. She suffered so much at the end, not ever really knowing what was going on, so it was a blessing for her. I have so many memories of her throughout my life. Ever since I can remember she was always a huge part of my life. I remember her coming to all of my important days and us always going over to her house...oh the memories there with all of my cousins. We always had the best time!! One time with Grandma I will never forget was when we went to vist her in South Carolina and we went to an amusement park. I wanted to go on a ride that spun around and went upside down. She was the only one who would go with me. I remember her laughing so hard she almost wet her pants:) She was always so supportive and loved everyone no matter what. It's hard to say goodbye to both Grandma and Grandpa, but what a gift they gave me while they were here. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa...

Cassie's 6th Birthday!!

Cassie's 6th birthday was so fun this year. She was so excited about it and loved counting down until the day, "2 days after Christmas" she would tell everyone. She was so cute and wanted to us to go swimming together. We didn't freeze to death after and had a GREAT time going. Then we went to Noodles and Nana and Grandpa came and gave her a present. After, we went to see my mom and dad (they gave her some fun presents too) We all said goodbye to Grandma Daw for the last time, because that night she passed away.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!(Dave's Creation)

This is Dave's other creative outlet this year. We never know quite how we are going to look each year, but thus far is hasn't been too embarrassing:) We had a GREAT Christmas, enjoying it for the first time in our new room and loving how excited the girls were. On Christmas Eve, Meggie heard us say that Santa was coming and she looked at me and said "Santa's coming here???" She couldn't believe it! Anyway, I am REALLY enjoying the time off from school with the girls.

Happy Christmasing...

I haven't written for a while...but things are busy and we are enjoying the season. Just wanted to say "Happy Christmasing" to all of you out there. Heidi

Twilight with Dave:)

So, I loved Twilight!...Dave and I went to see it yesterday for our anniversary (9 years:) He read it too, so it was all the more fun to watch with him. We both thought the characters were perfect and really couldn't think of anything we didn't like. It was surprising to me, because it's hard to make a movie that does justice to the book. I went in with low expectations and really loved every minute(except the cleavage shots:) It had a great mix of drama, romance, action and humor (there were some really funny moments). It was a great movie for a perfect date. To top if all off, we went to the Garden restaurant and had yummy food. Thanks Dave:)

pictures

Hi! Just a quick note...Check out the pictures I added to some of the old posts:)

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a grand old time!! Dave's show was very creative, as usual:) He had so much fun doing his new songs and neighbors, friends and family had a great time watching. The girls were a witch (Ashley), Minnie Mouse (Cassie) and a pink fairy (Megan). Cassie manned the front door and loved passing out the candy and doing her funnny voices in Dave's cool microphone. Now on to Thanksgiving...

Cassie...well, you'll see:)

So, I love my girls so much. They have such funny ideas sometimes. They love to organize dance classes, plays, primary...whatever. The other day, while we were getting ready for Halloween, Cassie got every one of our dolls and stuffed animals (which we have collected a lot of:) and she organized them for a group photo. She recruited Meggie to help. It was so funny. Then, they all had to have a snack, so they she put down a white piece of paper for every one of them all up and down the stairs and put cereal on them...she is a cutie and loves to line up her guys and play with them.

My First Tooth!!

I lost a tooth!! It hurt a little bit. Mom pulled it out and I didn’t even realize it. Then she showed it to me. Then we took pictures of it. That’s all. Bye. Love, Cassie

Halloween!!

This new background is in honor of my husband and his PASSION for Halloween!!! Happy haunting Dave:)

Party Fun!!

So, yesterday was Ashley's 8th birthday party at the Lion House. It was pretty nostalgic going back after 26 years, although all I remember is the doll they gave me, eating the sandwiches (which were so yummy) and wearing a pretty dress. It was so nice to have a birthday party where I sat back and relaxed (except getting the kids there and back, which was pretty exciting). It was fun (and very helpful) to have both of Ashley's grandmas there plus Dave and I. Nana (Dave's mom) is the Brigham Young descendant and she planned the fun party. She had fun tidbits of info. to share with us. And it was nice to have my mom and Dave there to keep track of Ben, who likes to wander and explore (ha ha!! or not) Anyway, the stories, games, taffy, food, cake and all the fun was great!! Ashley had a really fun group of friends and our host was wonderful and very good with the kids. Birthdays are great!!! Heidi

Quick Note

I decided if I just wrote a little something and didn't worry about pictures every time, then I might actually update this once in a while. So, Dave wrote about our fun lice experience. If you want to read more about that go to his blog(actually everything is on batesbunch.com). I am still trying to forget that it happened(the lice thing that is)...Anyway, my big project right now is getting our emergency kits updated. I think that Ashley's clothes are going to be 4 sizes too small because it's been so long. Anyway, wish me luck!! Bye, Heidi

We Survived!!!

This picture pretty much sums up the last year of our life...we have been living in a construction zone. This was our christmas card photo last year and Dave did some photoshopping. (We did not string Christmas lights on all of the wood, but we had to make it festive somehow:). Hey, it was a year off from Christmas decorating... Anyway, we now are done (with all of the big stuff anyhow) and LOVE our house.

I was thinking about it, and it was almost exactly a year ago (July 26, 2007) that this picture was taken. There goes the yard...

We're on our way...:)

That's more like it...

April 19, 2008, we finally had Cassie's late birthday party(December 27 is her birthday), in our newly finished room!!!!!

Knowing me, it will take 5 years to decorate, but one step at a time...:)










Or... we could have left the decorations up. Oh well, too late!