Nashville Trip

Bristol had a week off from school for a Fall Break so we took advantage of it and tried to find somewhere with in driving distance that we had never been to and that would be warmer than home.  We came upon the destination of Nashville, TN.  Neither Nate or I are huge country music fans, but hey we are fans of vacations.  It was nice, my mom and dad came out and met us there.  We went to the zoo, the Grand Ole Opry Hotel, went on a boat ride on the river to music and dined on delicious food, the girls swam a bunch, and best of all we just took it easy and enjoyed ourselves.  Here are some pictures of the adventure.

The Zoo

Just eating some lunch.

Gwyn getting her walking in for the day.

 Grand Ole Opry Hotel

Swimming at the condo

They cracked me up with their boots and jackets on.  It was nice and warm the beginning of the week, but then it cooled down.  Luckily there was an indoor pool too, they just had to get a little bundled up for the walk.

Nashville Temple

We stopped at Mammoth Caves on the way home which is the countries largest cave, but true to form I left my camera in the car.  I guess we will have to go back and visit another time.

Kali Turns 4

I can't believe how fast the time flies, but yes my darling little girl is now four.  Unfortunately I did not get this posted sooner.  The day after Kali's birthday we went on vacation for almost a week and then since we have been home I have been trying to catch up with the house and not to mention suffering from a head cold and crazy back pain that was pinching my nerve and making my left arm tingle and ache.  I'm finally on the mend, not so much cold wise, but thought I should post some pictures before Bristol's birthday comes.

On Kali's birthday we started by having a primary program practice and then we went to the mall where we met Nate (he was on-call working that day and had a little time off) where Kali got her ears pierced.  She had been asking for a month or so and told me she wanted to get them pierced on her birthday.  So I agreed.  We then were able to head home and open some presents since Nate was off to the hospital again.  Since we didn't know when he would be home again that day we thought we would open presents while he was there.  Then Kali chose to have dinner at McDonald's.  The girls and I headed there and then I called Nate on our way home and he was able to make it home yet again for a half an hour or so to have cake.  He left once again to the hospital.  We invited over some neighbor friends to enjoy the cake with us.  All in all it was a busy, but fun day.  Then after the girls went to bed it was a mad dash to get us all packed up for our vacation

Kali with her cake.  Sorry all of these pictures are so blurry, I had forgotten to turn our flash back on our camera.

Here is Kali showing off her new earrings.  She didn't cry or anything, she was such a big girl.

Waiting for her presents.

The neighbor girls and our friend Samantha.

Her First Steps

So Gwyn has finally taken a few steps here and there.  I am going to use the same excuse that my mom says, "It must be hard to walk on such little feet."  Seriously she has tiny feet.  She is still in 0-3 month size shoes, plus none of our other girls were early walkers.

We did our best to try to capture it on film.  She wasn't being the most cooperative this particular evening, but hey at least we got it.

I took these the other day too.  I just think she looks like such a big girl in these photos.

Bristol's lost tooth

August

So once August came we had just gotten back from our vacation to my parents, Nate was still working in Indianapolis, we had doctors appointments, back to school nights, all sorts of things that kept us busy. But in the crazyness I was able to only take a few photos. So here is how our August went...

Bristol lost her first tooth. She would wiggle at it and would constantly be working at it. Then one morning she went and pulled it out herself. Nate was home the day before and he pulled on it a little bit, she had wanted me to pull it out but I told her she would have to wait for a week before Daddy came home, because Mommy doesn't pull teeth. For some reason it gives me the major heeby jeebies. So I guess she didn't want to wait that long because she went in and pulled it herself. (I have a video I will post later, oh and can you tell she just woke up?)

Bristol started first grade! This is her first day of school, she was so excited to go to school and have lunch at school. She picked her outfit out herself and told me how she wanted me to do her hair. It was so cute.

Gwyn has found her new favorite thing to do, pull things out of the cupboards and then proceed to climb into them for better access to things.

We decided to plant a plant. Another one of Gwyn's obsessions: she loves dirt! She was in heaven using a shovel and digging in the loose dirt.

Here is Gwyn again, in the cupboard. She probably does this atleast once a day. Since she is so small she can fit right in no problem.

We also filled our time with trying to go to the pool as much as we can before the weather gets colder and before the pool closes.

Washington Trip

So these pictures are in no particular order.  I am too lazy to put them in chronological order, so enjoy the randomness.

 Luckily my sister was willing to put up with my uncooperative children and take some pictures of our family.

 Here is our new Gianatasio family photo.

At the Portland Zoo

Then on Thursday it was Nate's 33rd birthday and we also had an unbirthday party for all of the kids since none of us live by each other to celebrate them through the year.  We even had the kids pick each others names and go to the dollar store to pick out a birthday present.  They loved it and had so much fun.

Sorry this is the zoo again.  We took a train ride to the rose gardens.

 Making animal footprints in the sand.

 Mmmm... lunch time.

 More train ride.

 Gwyn loved looking out the window of the train and to feel the wind on her face.  It was so cute.

One day we hiked around to see some waterfalls.  We climbed over rocks and saw some beautiful landscapes.

 The water was freezing.

Going for a walk at my parents house, headed down the driveway.

 My kids loved my parents house and being able to run around the yard.  They also loved going into the huge garden that my mom has.  Also one of the highlights was checking for eggs each day that the chickens possibly laid.

 My parents' house and their land around.  It was very beautiful.

Berry Picking

We went berry picking and picked some blueberries and raspberries.  We came home and made jam.  I was able to bring home 6 jars of homemade jam.  However, I did find out that when bringing home jam in your suitcase when flying you have to split it up between many different ones because of the weight.  Also you better believe that they open up and check each suitcase for the contents of what you may be hiding.  I am just glad that the TSA didn't decide to keep it for themselves.

I have some more pictures, but I will probably post them another day.  I don't want to overwhelm you all at once.