The Girl's First Fair

On Saturday morning, the 13th, we headed to the Clay County Fair. I never grew up being all that much of a fair goer, but Rob said for a county fair this one was pretty good! So anyway, it was a pretty nice day...we were comfortable in pants and t-shirts, we avoided the rain and we got to see a few animals! What more could you ask for? The first thing we saw was all the cows. The girls kind of crawled up in the stroller a little bit...they weren't so sure right away, but warmed up slowly.
Just a pic of the cows being lazy, so crazy how big a cow is when you see them up close!
Gracie thought the cows were way too loud! They kept mooing, so she covered her ears ;)

The girls looking at the miniature ponies with Daddy and Grandma...Papa we want one!

There were not many goats in this building but the ones we saw were so velvety lookingGrandma bought the girls the softest, fluffiest, coziest pillow buddies! They loved them!This was Gracie after less than an hour...neither of my girls will keep shoes on thier feet long!
Lookin' so cute on the John Deere...nothing but green for these girls ;)Love this picture of Daddy and Karys playing around on the tractor!She is just a doll! Melts my heart when she stands up tall and says CHEESE!SO BIG! Having fun playing in the tractor tire...by next year we will be too big for this!The girls were in awe, as were Rob and his dad, at just how big this little train setup was! There were multiple little villages and the detail of everything was AMAZING!Family picture at the fair! The girls kept trying to do our hair...Gracie asked Rob, "Daddy what happened to your hair?" So funny!

Bonfire with G&G VL

I am a little behind on my blogging, but it is that time of year where I feel like I am behind on a lot of things ;) So let's try to catch up a little!

Last weekend, it would have been Friday the 12th. Grandpa and Grandma VL came up to visit for the weekend. When they got here we had just gotten back from a football game where the girls LOVED watching the band at half time! And we had just started a fire and were getting ready to make smores. I know, what kind of parents give thier kids smores after 8 pm...that would be us :) But it was great! We don't get to see them that often and the girls got to stay up a little later and spend time around the fire, but then also went in and Gma read them books and helped get them ready for bed. We had to get some sleep to be ready to go to the fair on Saturday morning...
Getting the marshmallows "just right" over the fire! Daddy is so good at getting them golden...
Gracie taking a jumbo bite! She is so funny, she can never finish it all and hates having sticky fingers... Karys loved it too....she kept saying "I'm sticky Mommy!" and then licking her fingers often ;)
Grandpa Ron was a big help in getting the marshmallow off the poker and on to the cracker!Playing "Chase" with grandma....

I really think it was more like "Catch" though because that was thier favorite part ;)Everyone was putting thier hand out to get money from Grandpa...the girls like got thier purses out to put the money in and bring it to the fair. It was pretty funny to watch, hope they don't get in the habit of holding thier hands out any time soon!

Bed Bouncing

Ok, so it was Friday and we all slept in a little this am...Especially Gracie! She didn't wake up til 9:15 and Rob even went in 2x to make sure she was breathing ;) The best part of that is that Karys woke up this am screaming, "No!" repeatedly. When Rob went in the room Karys was on the edge of her bed yelling at Gracie and Gracie was out cold in hers. Rob asked Karys who she was yelling at and she said Gracie.....So funny, now I know they yell at each other sometimes just to engage in a yelling contest! Before I go on there is one other funny thing that happened last night. Karys was crying during the night and Rob got up to go check on her...as he was walking down the hall he could hear Gracie saying, "Don't worry, Karys. It is ok, Daddy is coming." Have you noticed the common theme in these stories? My husband is the one going to the girls rescue when they cry...What a blessing he is! Not just so I can sleep, yeah that is a luxury ;) But I don't even hear these things happening! I would be oblivious to them if I didn't hear the stories the next morning! So Thank you ,God for a husband who not only hears...but is also so willing to take care of the girls at these times...there are very few moments where he wakes me up and sends me...What a guy!

Ok, on to the story of today...there aren't going to be many words to describe this! Gracie and Karys were playing on our bed and basically bouncing all over. Gracie has been so into Dance and Gymnastics moves lately that she just starts throwing herself around on the bed. Next thing you know she is arching her back and throwing her legs in the air...and almost getting herself completely vertical! It was so fun to watch and she LOVED it! she just kept telling me..."Mom, I am SO good at doing this!" So yeah, the pics don't capture it all but it was so fun to watch and Karys had a good time attempting to do it too...

Look at how straight she is! Just love it! Maybe cuz I know there is NO WAY that my body would do that not just now but back when even ;)
She wasn't the best at the control part....there were a couple landings that ended up being right on top of sister, but she thought that was all the more fun!Off the charts! Karys was just giggling so much I don't know if she even had the chance of doing it!
Sisterly love! Gotta love when they entertain themselves and you all in the same morning

Cozy Jacket

I left Karys in the bathroom alone one afternoon, for a very short period of time. When I came back, as soon as I came into the bathroom, I heard, "Jacket, Mommy! Cozy!" She had taken the rest of the toilet paper that was on the roll and proceeded to wrap it around her neck and body while she was sitting on the toilet supposedly going poopy. I laughed so hard, and like any other time, told her not to move til I came back with the camera! It was so funny and she was so serious about it til I started laughing, like she really thought the toilet paper was going to keep her warm! I love the way she is so carefree, and this little girl really truly is hilarious! One of the last picture is of her "silly eyes". One day in the kitchen she started doing this with her eyes to us...at first when she did it one of her eyes would cross to the middle...she must have been trying to hard to do it or something, so Rob started calling them silly eyes. On this day, after we were done laughing about the TP...she just says "Hey Mom...picture of silly eyes!" Then of course wanted to look at it and see what this silly eyes thing is all about! Oh, it is priceless!

Baby Jaydon

I never really blogged when Jaydon was born, and he and Amy were at our house all last weasekend so I thought I would do that now. Jaydon David Sawatzky entered the world on August 20, 2008 at 12:15pm. I had the honor of being there when he took his first breaths and shared his first cries. Rob and the girls also came up to the hospital to meet Jaydon on his firt day. Since then he has been doing so well! Amy has shared with me that he nurses like a champ, hardly ever cries, has his days and nights mixed up, and loves to cuddle and bounce! She is doing an amazing job as a mom, and it has been a blessing to watch her truly embrace this role and naturally begin on the adventurous journey called motherhood.

This past weekend, it was also so fun to watch the girls love on Jaydon. They both always had to have thier turns holding him. Especially Karys, she would walk around the house following Amy, or whoever for that matter was holding Jaydon crying "me hold him". Gracie demonstrated her little mommy characteristics by successfully feeding Jaydon his entire bottle! She is so fun to watch!Gracie feeding Baby Jaydon his bottle. "He is such a good eater!"

"Me, Hold him plz!" "Smile, Baby Jaydon!" "Hi, Baby, Hi..."

Grant was also around for some of that and we got to see him give Jay a bath and change a couple diapers ;) He as well is changing some as he has begun fatherhood. Look at those big eyes! And the lips....gotta love the lips! Wish we could see you more often Jaydon!

Karys turns 2!!!!

Karys turned 2 this last Thursday, and we had a bunch of family and friends in town to celebrate on Friday night. It was so fun just to have everyone gathered together to celebrate our daughter. What a blessing it was for Rob and I to be able to look around the patio at the ppl who were gathered as well as to think of all the ppl not present and just truly be thankful for the number of ppl that truly care for and invest in the lives of our girls and/or in us. I think that is how you survive as a parent! Through your family, friends, community who walk the journey with you! So thank you all for being a part of that!
Anyway, Karys decided this year that she wanted Snow White on her birthday cake. Because mommy did not really want to do another princess party I convinced her, with some help of key library materials, that maybe she would like Veggie Tales. In the end i decided to put both on her cake....after all who ever said that the dwarfs couln't really be talking vegetables!

We celebrated on a beautiful evening, a little cool for the first days of September, on our back patio. Shared a meal, conversations, amazing cake, and then watched our little lady open gifts. That night we also shared our home with Doreen, Heather, Seth, Nathan, Amy and Jaydon...so fun to be full! I love it! Enough said though, enjoy the pics!
Uncle Seth and the cousins were folding thier hands for the pre-dinner meal...So cute to look out at the swingset and see this ;)
Rob and Justin in deep conversation...always a good conversation going on between these two
Sarah and Leah going through the line of yummy food! None of which I had to make ;) Gotta love a servant hearted husband and family!
The kiddie table...it wasn't very successful for any of them to sit together and eat, they all had to work on that.
Everyone on the patio enjoying the YUMMY food! rob did a great job with the chicken and had a whole crew to help with the rest ;)
Karys saying cheese with Bob, Larry, and Snow White

"How does it taste Karys?"

A birthday kiss from her big sister!

She blew out her candles all on her own! YAY!Grandma, Gracie, and Karys were all practicing thier butt busters! It was Karys' turn to go... Enjoying the evening with good company (Heather&Seth) and good coffee!Both of my grandmas made it to the party! That was SO special to me to have them there!Jeremy was telling my Dad all about his bear hunting trip he just got back from at 5am Friday!Karys had LOTS so helpers when it was time to open her presents!
Jeremy and Sarah tied a balloon to Leah's binki! So hilarious to watch her try to figure it out!Leah was walking all over the living room with this little cart...fun to see if she will be walking in a couple months in time for her 1st birthday!Tough little guy on a fuzzy pink horse! He loved playing on this! This pic is for you Chad!"Smile for Mommy, Baby!" Karys loved this little dolly from Auntie Sarah, Jeremy and LeahThe GREAT Grandmas with the GREAT Grandaughters...should have tried for this pic earlier in the evening I think...the b-day girl was all partied out!