July Excitement

Yes it's been a really long time. But better now then in another year. July has been so much fun. Soooo I wanted to post some pictures of memorable moments for my Mom and fam to see how cool Maryland is and to move here tomorrow :)

First - Fourth of July in DC!!

We had soooo much fun. What a remarkable feeling to be in the center of the core of our country. Between the Lincoln and Washington Memorials - the leaders of our country when is just beginning. IT WAS AMAZING!Here's the fam on the lawn - do you see the Lincoln behind us! Can you tell everyone had a blast?

Rhett and Camie - it is so fun to be married - it will be ten years this year. I have an amazing and wonderful hubby!! I sure love him.

We went with the Spire Family. Had to include them too - the kids all had fun together.
The Fireworks were amazing - Gunnar was in complete AWE to how big they were. They had music with it and it was really cool.

Second - NIAGARA FALLS!

Oh yes another soo much fun place. We had the time of our life - what a wonderful wonder that the Lord has created for us. The boys loved getting wet, Janey hated it but endured, Rhett and I were kids too and loved being sprayed by this amazing fall.

Gunnar wanted to get right in the middle of the fall and count to 10 while we were on the hurricane deck. Next time he says he wants to do it again and count to 20! He was very upset when we said it was time to go - he wanted to go again on the Mist of Cave tour!

Preston loved the water too - I couldn't believe how brave the boys were. On the cave of mist Rhett and I split up so that Janey didn't have to be so brave. Here is our little Janey on the Maid of Mist boat tour. She isn't screaming here but she does have the look I can't believe they did this to me. She just hated getting sprayed other then that she was really good on the trip.

Third - Palmyra

We got to go to the pageant, which Rhett and my Dad were both part of at one time of their lives. We went and saw the sacred grove, where The Book of Mormon was first printed, and everything there. It was an incredible feeling to be there and how appreciative I am for Joseph Smith and the first saints that brought the restored gospel back to the earth!

Here we are at the pageant with some Nephites! Gunnar stayed awake the whole time but Preston and Janey feel asleep. Preston waited though tell his favorite part with Samuel the Lamanite on the wall.

Here we are where The Book of Mormon was printed - the boys thought this was their favorite part of Palmyra. They still even mention the printing block and stamp. Here the Sister missionary is showing them the little letter tiles.

Here we are in front of the Sacred Grove. You can sure feel the sacredness of this place.

The boys are standing where the plates might have been hidden underneath. Do you see Preston's dog Pluto he was with us all day!

She's Here!!

Janey Elizabeth Rhees has arrived! Janey came early Tuesday morning at 2:18 on May 25th. She weighed in at 8 pounds and 3.7 ounces and was 21 inches long. We sure love her and are so glad that she is here with us! Here are some pictures of her big day!!

Here we all are right after the delivery. Birth is such a miracle and special experience!
Below is a picture of our nurse and midwife who helped delivery Janey safely into the world.

We are both proud parents and glad she is here.Here is our little princess already with a bow! When they took Janey to get her first bath and all cleaned up, she came back to me with this adorable bow hat!
What a princess I have!

Here are the boys and their little princess! Gunnar brought Janey a big balloon for her big birthday and Preston brought her a purple ball which he took home with him after asking her if it was okay.
Gunnar was really excited to hold her and see his new sister. He sure has been excited through the whole pregnancy and as soon as he saw her he said she is "this big Mom"Preston didn't want to hold her but he did want to carry the car seat with her in it :)
And the family of five is headed home together!! Do we look crazy or what?

Easter Fun

I am so behind I don't even really know where to start but to just start before a whole year goes by without ever a new post! Sooo here is to our most recent Holiday of Celebration! EASTER!!
We had a wonderful Easter! Gunnar was the most excited and loved filling his basket with eggs and then lined up all the eggs in a row to see how many he got! Which was 27!!! Preston loved the candy! And at one Easter Egg hunt he sat himself on the hill while everyone else played on the playground and ate every single piece of candy that he liked - mostly the chocolate - the jelly beans he is not such a great fan of!! At an Easter Egg hunt I had a friend take some pictures! You can see my belly is growing and the time for #3 arrive is around the corner! We are all excited to welcome her to our family come May 28th which is the official due date!We were able to have Micheal Dammon over for Easter - this is our second one in a row! We are almost calling it a tradition! He stayed the night with us and got to watch Conference with us and I don't know if that was enjoyable as the two boys were wild as can be for 4 hours of Conference after Easter Candy! But very rare did anyone sleep:) We also went to the pond on this beautiful Easter Sunday and Rhett brought a net taped it to a stick and frog hunting was the game!! We were very successful and caught five frogs! Two of which were even connected and would not seperate - Gunnar seems to find lots of two things that are together - Rhett and I laugh and smile at each other and then tell Gunnar to just leave those two be for now. Preston was our frog spotter and even caught one all by himself! We had a wonderful meal which Rhett claims it was only because Micheal was there but I assured him it was for the Holiday and even if he was just there I would still try to be fancy!! Here are a few pics of our day and the frog hunting team, Gunnar had to hold every frog and yes has lots of warts now, just kidding!

Concerts in the Park

We love our concerts in the park! And unfortunately we didn't go to as many as we would of this summer had the weather cooperated. This year for the concerts we added baseball to our bbq and music fun! Gunnar loved playing baseball and running the bases. Preston would go around to but not stoping at the bases. It was a wonderful time to be together as a family and visit with friends! We have a wonderful neighbors the Hirtles in some pictures along with the Baldwins who would BBQ with us too!

The hitter of the night!The whole baseball team!Blanket time with music!

Joshua, Preston, and Nude Gunnar (just kiddding he just has his shirt off)

The guys hard at work eating as many hotdogs as they can!

Briggs, Eric, Rhett and a friend of Baldwins that I forgot

THE FAIR

Yes, the Howard County fair has come and gone! We love going to the fair, it brings back lots of fun memories for me as a child, the kids love the animals and playing, and the wonderful fair food This time I tried the FRIED OREOS, it was YUMMY YUMMY!! Here are some pictures of the evening we had at the fair!

Our family picture eating our yummy fair food!

The kids with the cows! They have so many cow barns it is amazing and we went in every single one for the kids! And they even got to pet a couple! They also had this area for kids and there was baby chickens, and ducks, and baby rabbits, and baby piglets! It was so cute!

At this kid area the favorite part was the corn pit! Gunnar swam in it and played and played in it!

Preston jumped in it and even tried to eat some of the corn! Which quickly was ended!

Fairs mean tractors! Here they have tractor races and it is so much fun to watch! We all bet which tractor is going to win. Here is Rhett with the boys on a tractor!

Beach Bums!

Summer can't pass us by with out going to the beach! Sooo Rhett and I took the kids for a day trip at the beach! We all had a blast, it was such a fun day! The boys could not get enough of the sand, we built castles, burried each other, and threw sand everywhere! Preston would even do a dive into the sand, his entire body was literally covered from head to toe. We even took the boys out into the ocean this time. Gunnar was thrilled to ride the waves! He had his floaties and tube on and would ride a wave and say "Wow, Mom that was a big one huh?" He even got so brave that he wanted me to let go of him! Here are some fun pictures of my beach bums!

Sand Dive ManGetting buried in Sand with PGunnar and the biggest shell we found that day!
Picnic at the beach!The Boogie Board Man

My two Boys!

I got some pictures taken of the boys, they are so good. Thanks Alisa! It brings to light how dang cute my boys are! Here they are!!

Gunnar (3 and half) Shows his I am so big attitude in these pictures with his I am sweet as can be face too. He is growing up soo much. He is still his Mommy's boy and loves thirty hugs a day but now has also taken on a Daddy's boy too as he loves to go crawdad catching and fishing with his Dad!

Preston (19 Months Old) He is my toddler trying to be as big as his brother. Insists on doing things all by himself already. He is very active and as he walks he does this hop skip and a jump walk that I just love! He sure is cute and we love him!

The two together! Hand in hand! The boys amaze me with the love for each other! It brings a tear to my eyes as I see them play with each other at home, at the parks, and how they talk to one another and are best buddies! Now of course we have two sides of the spectrum and there is also fighting, hitting, and get away from me moments but who likes to dwell on that side!

Me and my boys! I love this picture and had to include it!

Now for the whole gang! A quick snap shot - we have a family photo and were mainly focusing on the boys but Alisa manage a quick shot and so here is for the four of us!