The Lambourne Update

2011-02-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

We've had two birthdays, a visit from my mom and Grandma, and we're getting eggs!! You can read about it here: www.thecrowleycrew.blogspot.com

Our chicken coop!

2010-10-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

The nesting box is blocked off for now, when the chickens are old enough to lay, we'll finish that part (and by 'we' I mean Rod...)

All the metal was leftovers from Rod's work..the roof, the window screen stuff, and the square wire at the bottom. The wood used for the walls is wood they use to pack the metal in that gets shipped to Noorda. So it was cheap!! (or "cheep" as the chickens would say....okay, let's all groan together on that one, sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Jordan's Birthday

2010-10-03T13:44:00.001-07:00

Jordan is 1 now! I can hardly believe it! He had a great birthday though, and definitely enjoyed his birthday cake. At his dr's appointment he weighed 22.8 lbs but he feels a lot heavier than that to me. We haven't heard any definite words yet, but he likes to wave, play peek-a-boo, and blow kisses. He can stand himself up, and walk around with one of those baby walkers. Jordan is a total boy! He is so much more active than I ever remember Lynnea being.

Here are some pictures from his b-day party at Grandma's house.

one of his new forward-facing carseats....looks comfy, huh?

Jordan & Uncle David

Playing on the train

Look at those curls!!!

Summer Biking Highlights

2010-09-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I though I'd post a few pics of biking highlights from this summer. I was able to sneak a ride into every trip this summer, Northstar, CA. Downieville, CA. and Gooseberry Mesa,Ut. and my local stomping grounds of Bootleg Canyon. All biking meccas! Summer rocked!!

Heading back to the town of Downieville after a 1-1/2 hour down hill run, that's one single trail that was down the entire time with drops and rock gardens. You're up on your feet on the pedals the whole time, it's like doing squats for 1-1/2 hours straight. Yea, it was an awesome ride! There was an amazingly beautiful river of the side of the trail at Downieville, just don't look down too long or you'll end up in it. I'm sure the water would feel great, but bouncing down the 50 foot drop from the trail wouldn't.

Carrie riding the teeter-totter at Bootleg Canyon. The thing sits about 5 feet up in the air and you have to ride up it and balance at the top then wait for it to drop down... and hopefully not get bounced off when it hits the ground. Most the guys I take out there won't even try this. Yea, she rocks!

Carrie and I at Gooseberry Mesa on Labor Day weekend.

Carrie climbing at Goosebery Mesa, she did awesome!

Gooseberry Mesa

Getting a little air at a camping ground in Tahoe.

Riding the lifts at Northstar for another run.

Ladder ramp at Northstar, getting ready to drop off the end.

2010-09-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

Look at your man. Now look at this. Now back to your man. Now back to this. See this deck that my man built with his own bare hands? ...and several powertools and access to an awesome metal shop that ran the roof panels...
Rod got a new drill set out of this! His old one somehow wasn't good enough to do the job... But I think he did a great job! These pics I took aren't the greatest, but you get the idea. Notice the sandbox in the center, 3 panels come out so kiddos can play in it.

(If you're not laughing at the intro to this post, check out these videos, and then you'll get it!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLTIowBF0kE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArIj236UHs )

2010-08-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Ashley got to spend the day together at Busch Gardens yesterday. Cosette took Erika and two of her friends and they went on the big rides. Ashley and I had fun in Sesame Street, where the rides were just enough for us. The roller coaster in Sesame Street was great. It was fast and you went up and then d-o-w-n... and round and round. It was perfect. Just enough for me and Ashley loved it. We went on it over and over - then we took the skyride over to Dragon Land, a play place for kids with some small rides and we went on the merry-go-round. We saw the pet show and came back later to see it again at Ashley's request. We stopped in the avairy and Ashley had three parrots on her at once, then when another one landed on her head I realized I really need a camera - I wish I could have captured that moment. We went in Dark Castle. Ashley closed her eyes most of the time, but wanted to go again; so, after dinner when we met up with Cosette, Erika & friends, we all went to Dark Castle together. We ended with another couple of rides on the roller coaster in Sesame Street. It rained off and on throughout the day and we did get wet, but we had a great time.

tHe FoUrTh

2010-07-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

We hung out in our front yard and watched fireworks our next door neighbors were setting off. They have four older boys, so I'm sure the 4th is a favorite holiday over there. We also enjoyed a delicious homemade apple pie my friend Sarah brought over. It was low-key, relaxing, and fun! The girls enjoyed doing sparklers, pop-it's, and confetti thingys. Here's some pics Rod took:

We have no idea where she learned this. Certainly none of her big sisters does this.

check out those black feet! This is just from walking around the front yard!

Rod experimenting with shutter speed (see his ghost legs??)

too cute!

Trip to Taiwan

2010-05-31T02:00:00.001-07:00

Some of my friends said I should post pictures & updates while on my trip. I'll post today's update here, but I don't want to take up too much space on the blog. For those interested, here's a link to our family blog where I'll put daily posts (or try to, anyway. :-) Hopefully I'll have some fun pictures tomorrow.

http://bairfamilyupdate.blogspot.com/

Day 1: LONG plane ride -- watched 4 movies, read 1 book, and
pseudo-slept for several hours.

Most memorable moment: getting rice porridge with shrimp & tuna on top and a green egg for breakfast on the plane. I do regret not taking a picture for my squeamish daughter to see though.

Biggest adventure: The ride to the hotel -- I have to say our driver seemed quite cautious compared to most people on the road; we only had 2-3 near misses. People seem to view the lines between the lanes as mere guidelines, if that. There were often 5 cars across on a 4-lane road. They just weave around wherever there's the *tiniest* space, as if they were walking through a crowd instead of barreling down the road at incredible speeds!

Thankfully we survived the journey intact and made it safely to our hotel, where we promptly fell into a nice, firm bed. Or was it a concrete slab with a sheet over the top? Not sure, but we were so tired it didn't really matter ... until morning when everything hurt. First item of business today: find something a little softer for our weary old bones.

Nate's Baptism

2010-05-31T00:05:00.000-07:00

I never posted pictures from Nathan's baptism on the blog. I was going to do that now since I actually have some free time with little else to do. (I said I would help with setup for the tradeshow today, but most of the work I can help with is done now. I might leave and go shopping but enjoying some free time to play on the computer.) Anyway, I posted 30 pictures on my facebook page and decided I don't want to put 30 pictures up on here. Here's a few from the actual baptism itself. Otherwise, you can see all the pictures from the weekend on my facebook album.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=2044174&id=1026468782

Quartet

2010-05-26T20:59:00.001-07:00

So Rod took some great pics at my sister's wedding, but what he didn't tell you was he was also awesome in a thrown-together quartet him and my other bro-in-laws did at the dinner the night before the wedding. They practiced together for about an hour before doing this- they were a hit! They introduced themselves as "Sons of Georgia". For some reason my sister's having trouble emailing me the video, so here's the link to the blog that it's on: http://www.thecrowleycrew.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

(You'll have to go to the bottom of the blog and stop the music that automatically comes on before clicking on the video so you can hear the guys)

(from left to right in video: Clark, Kate's fiance and now husband, Brett, Emily's husband, Rod, then Troy, my oldest sister Brooke's husband)

Great Website for FREE Pics

2010-05-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I am so super excited about this website my coworker showed me. You can order one FREE photo book per month. We're talking 100% FREE....you don't even have to pay for shipping!! Wednesday night I made my first book and its already been processed and shipped. I'm hoping to get it tomorrow.

Check it out.. http://www.hotprints.com/

They offer the books for free because the advertisers pay for it. In the middle of the book is one removeable page of ads. (You can choose to order without the ads for $3.99) I was surprised how many options were available...lots of page layout designs, background choices, colors, etc.

Enjoy!

Sweet Update

2010-05-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Firstly, I'd like to congratulate Jordan on getting his first tooth!!! Jordan cut his bottom right tooth on May 1st...my little man is growing up! Lynnea wanted to see it so bad all day she kept trying to force his mouth open to see - you can imagine how much Jordan liked that.

Here's some pics of the family from last week at the zoo.

This spring we have a baby bunny that visits our backyard and Lynnea wants to catch him so badly. We put out celery for him and wait. Her plan is to catch him and make him pretty like a girl...meaning she wants to put bows in his hair. Saturday morning, she even wanted me to put her hair up pretty so she could show him when he came. Too funny!!! I'll let ya'll know if she catches it !

MAJOR BIRTHDAY WEEK!!!

2010-04-27T13:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday NATHAN, ROD, GARRETT, and MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post pictures of your birthday person!!!!! Rod's mine, so here he is.....

Rod is fun, funny, crazy talented, hard working, and my bestest friend. He never toots his own horn (even when I tell him he should), is thoughtful and considerate, always rinses dishes, and is an amazing dad to his girls.

He loves to eat plain parmesan cheese, is an Excel spreadsheet master, and never, ever burns his marshmallows when making s'mores.

I love you!!!

Happy Birthday Rod!!!

Why do YOU think Rod is awesome???

visit from Erika & Cosette!

2010-04-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

Firepower! Rod and I went biking at Bootleg Canyon here in Vegas this past weekend. It was a fun date!...Although Rod had to do a lot of waiting for me...

Abby at Red Rock.

Me on a teeter totter at Bootleg. Rod made me do it.

When we were at Red Rock with Cosette, their was someone tightroping across! I guess it's a new sport...seems a little crazy if you ask me!

Red Rock was a stop on our list of things to do with Cosette & Erika. Here's me & Abby at Red Rock.

This is NOT snot! It's gluey stuff from the project Lani sent out for the girls! But doesn't it look great?

The girls really enjoyed doing their project from Grandma! Thanks Lani!

Cosette sleeping with Abby! Aren't those baby feet ADORABLE???

One of two water intake towers at the Hoover Dam. I like this picture Rod took.

Savers (an awesome thrift store) may have been the weekend high! I found these great clip on earrings there, and Lizzie lived it up!

Outfits the girls LOVE from Grandma! Don't be fooled by Lizzie's face, she's our somber child and usually looks like this in pictures! She wanted to wear hers to bed tonight....

Erika at Red Rock

Erika and the Lizinator. Rod and I decided we need to have an 11 year old next. Erika was so helpful and sweet to the girls!

We went to this thing called Pet-apalooza. We saw the band Barenaked Ladies perform, a cool dog tricks show, and lots of different dogs and pets (one person had a pygmy goat on a leash!).

Cousins at Hoover Dam!

Cosette at Petapalooza

Inspired by a group of old oriental ladies, Cosette showed them up! This is her tai-chi at Red rock!

Easter in VA

2010-04-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a good Easter...here are some pictures from the festivities in VA. We met for brunch at Mom and Dad's followed by an egg hunt and some games. Good times!!

Jordan 6 months

2010-04-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here is Jordan's 6 month update...

Height 26.25 inches (47%)

Weight 15 lbs, 13 ozs (22%)

Head 17.5 inches (73%)

His latest achievements are rolling, and scooting. He really can get moving! He's also sitting up better and had very strong legs. Jordan is full of smiles and giggles and absolutely LOVES his jumper...YAY for us!!! : )

He's sleeping in his own room in his crib now and usually sleeps solid through the night. Hooray!! No teeth yet, but it probably wont be long. He drools like crazy and chews on everything! He's also still got his amazingly blue eyes...hopefully he'll keep them for good!!!

To The Ladies...

2010-04-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Right now I am reading Sheri Dew's book, No Doubt About It. This passage is a great reminder to me of the type of woman and mother I want to be. Hopefully you like it too.

"From the adversary's point of view, we are dangerous. Righteous women dedicated to the Lord and united in the cause of goodness threathen Satan's work. Of course he would target and attempt to deceive us, women who have a clear understanding of who we are. For we are not ordinary women.

"We know that we are beloved spirit daughters of heavenly parents, and that our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction, as the Relief Society Declaration asserts. We are women who seek to hear the voice of the Lord. We are women dedicated to strengthening our marriages, families, and homes; women whose covenants and influence span generations; women who are not easily deceived; women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity - not to mention integrity and purity. We are women who understand that to qualify for eternal life, we must deal with a full range of difficulty and disappointment here. We are free to choose how we live, where we spend our temporal, emotional, and spiritual resources, and to what and whom we devote ourselves."

Happenings in Oregon

2010-03-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

I like the new look, Carrie! I'm realizing it's been a really long time since I posted any pictures or updates. Life in Oregon has been fun & busy as always. There's no way I have time to update everything tonight, but I'll post a couple pix...

Nathan earned his orange belt in January. I have videos of his first tournament, which was that weekend, but I haven't had time
to figure out how to convert/post HD videos yet.

Working on FINALLY getting poor Nathan's quilt tied -
it's not anything fancy, but he wanted a warmer blanket, so Jenna, Kaylee, and I made this for him LAST Christmas (as in 2008!).
(The exercise ball worked great as an easily portable seat.)

Jenna & Talia on the newly finished quilt - I should have a picture of Nathan with it, but he was off skiing with Scott & Kaylee.

Scott's birthday - Wow, was it ever difficult getting
40 candles on that poor cake!

Cute pix of Lisette

Kaylee's diorama for "Where the Red Fern Grows". Grandma Lani helped her come up with the idea & wanted to see how it turned out. It's mostly made from different types of moss we pulled off trees and the ground. (Moss is ever abundant here in Oregon!) She made the animals with pipe cleaners and the kid with a clothespin.

Kaylee won first place in bars at her last meet, second on floor, third on vault, and third all-around for her age group! It was her very best score yet, unfortunately it was also the first meet we've been to that didn't give medals for individual events. She was pretty bummed about that, but she did get a gold medal for her
all-around score. No more meets until September now.

2010-03-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

For each of our munchkins, I make a slideshow at the end of their first year. We burn it, then watch their show each year as part of their birthday festivities. They love it, and it's so fun to remember them when they were so small. I just finished Abby's. Enjoy.

Also, a completely unrelated note...my sister Kate is getting married! Her and Clark have been dating since last May, and will be getting married in the Oakland Temple May 15. Clark has been a fixture at all the family functions over the past year, so we've all gotten to know him and definately approve! We are so excited for them both!

Also, we're STOKED for Cosette and Erika to come visit us in few weeks!!!

And I spiced up the blog a little. What do you think?

2010-02-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a preview of some of the pictures from Christmas. It wouldn't load the music, and the quality has been downgraded, but you get the picture. Our CD burners aren't working right now, but when we fix them we'll burn copies for everyone...

Snow Days

2010-02-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

We had 6.5 inches of snow this past weekend....basically shut down the whole town! We had a good time though and got to play outside. Thankfully its starting to melt away now so we can get back to normal life. We're all a bit stir-crazy!

Lynnea's Prayer

2010-01-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

Last night Lynnea said her prayers all by herself. Usually I give her some suggestions, but this one was super cute.

"Father in Heaven, thank you for the food. (pause) Thank you for Jesus. (pause) Thank you for Santa. (pause) Thank you for mamma and daddy and Jordan. Jesus Christ, amen.

The pauses were especially cute because I could tell she was thinking hard. I'm just glad I made #4 - I mean, what more can I expect...not even mom can top food, Jesus, and Santa!

Jordan's 4 Month Checkup

2010-01-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

No pictures with this update, but here are the stats from Jordan's checkup today.

height: 25 inches (55%)
weight: 13 lbs 14 ozs (29%)
head: 16 3/4 inches (57%)

He's getting so big now! He's rolled over a few times already (pretty sure they were all by accident though). He's sitting up stronger, and really grabbing for objects now. His hands are getting fast! Last night he got a handful of my mashed potatoes...lucky kid!

Still as happy and smiley as ever. I'm getting pictures taken of him this weekend or next so I'll be posting some keepers soon! Keep an eye out!

2010-01-19T20:17:00.001-08:00

I have come to grips with the fact that I am just not a cake decorator. This may be the ugliest birthday cake of all time. If not, it's got to be in the top three. "Unappetizing" would definately be a euphensim here. But Lizzie and all her friends loved it!

She loves her mini tea set from Grandma Crowley!

Rod took Lizzie to the store and bought her flowers when he came home from work tonight. She wore her pink boots in honor of the event!

Caitlin was happy to help Lizzie in any way possible! Lizzie was very nice and let Caitlin take the ribbon off her presents. She loved opening her presents!

She had two parties- her many friends came over yesterday and we did the "friend" party then. Today, being her real birthday, we had our family party. We celebrated with homemade mac-n-cheese, peas, honeydew, and hot dogs! A true 4-year-old feast!

Then we go around the table and say what we love about Lizzie. Then we watch the "Lizzie show"- a slideshow I made for each girl after they turned 1 of their first year of life. Then presents, then cake! But having two parties- it's more like cake remnant. Lizzie didn't seem to mind.

It was a little tough for Caitlin watching Lizzie get all the attention over the past two days. But losing (and swallowing!) her tooth was very exciting for her! She loved waking up to find 3 quarters and some fairy dust where her note "Dear tooth fairy, I swallowed my tooth. Love, Caitlin" had been!

New Year Greetings

2010-01-04T19:43:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

2009-11-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest surgery's pictures. They removed the hardware from Rod's arm, taking out the metal stuff and screws. He's recovering great, the best part of which has been not going to work for a whole week! We've basically been partying all week with good food, movies, and family outings to Red Rock National Park and these cool desert demonstration gardens call Springs Preserve. Prepare to be grossed out:

Jordan's 8 week update

2009-11-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Jordan won't be 8 weeks until this Saturday, but he had his checkup today since I start working again next week. He has grown so much!! He weighs 11 lbs 1 oz (47%) and is 23" tall (66%). He gave us his first smile at 6 weeks but I finally caught one on camara yesterday. He has the sweetest smile, and when you combine that with his soft coos and gurgles, it melts your heart!

Lynnea is still a fabulous big sister! I couldn't ask for anything better. She is so helpful and sweet with him. She loves giving Jordan hugs and kisses and is surprisingly gentle and caring with him. When I change his diaper she comes over, rubs his head, and tells him, "It's ok, it's ok." So cute!!

Halloween in VA

2009-11-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

For Halloween we picked up Adam's mom at the airport and went straight to the ward Trunk or Treat. Lynnea was an expert trick-or-treater, and always said thank you. After that, we went to mom's house for pizza and chili.

At the Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Lynnea, Brooks, and Ashley at the pumpkin patch.

Grandma Sweet's Visit to VA

2009-11-12T09:58:00.000-08:00

Adam's mom came to visit us for a week. Here are some pictures from her fun visit!

Karen bought Lynnea her very own pony!

Grandma Sweet and Jordan

While Karen was here, Lynnea was invited to a birthday party at a farm. These are pics from the farm.

Petting a chicken

Daddy's little girl

Riding a real pony

Feeding the goats

We also made a trip to the zoo....

On the train at the zoo

New family picture

Jordan's so cute!

Riding the train

Lizzie Addams??? Scary.

2009-11-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

We had a fun halloween! We had a ward trunk-or-treat at the church parking lot, it was a lot of fun. We had a dinner first in the cultural hall, then took the girls through the rows of cars for some serious candy hauling. Lizzie didn't seem to quite understand it at first, she would take candy out of her bag and give it to people who were passing out candy. Didn't take her long to catch on, though. Later Rod and I watched Addams Family for a little Halloween fun. Wednesday eerily reminded us of what Lizzie will be like in 5 years.

Here's a few pictures (not the best quality, we forgot the camera so we only had our phone to take pictures with):

The girls' pumpkins: yeah right, Rod did these. The girls told him what they wanted and he delivered, in true detail-obessessed fashion. Lizzie wanted a black widow and Caitlin wanted a princess castle....could these girls be any more different?

The fam. My costume was the old standby, the hippie. Everyone kept telling me that I looked like a real hippie. Is that a compliment? Or are they trying to tell me I need to shower more and cut my hair?

The girls assembled their own costumes for the most part. Caitlin is a "wicked, wicked witch", Lizzie is an angel (which is what she was last year, her costume is a little small!). Lizzie actually told me she wanted to be a black widow...I said no way am I making that!

Lots of people knew who Rod was even without his claws! He's been growing his hair out for a few weeks to get more of that Wolverine look! Lots of people remembered last year he was Iron Man, so he's sort of getting a superhero reputation.

What a cute bunny! Of course, she would have been cute as a cockroach....

Halloween Photos

2009-11-01T17:11:00.001-08:00

All ready to go trick-or-treating

Jenna & her friend Jordan

Handing out candy

Enjoying the "haul"

Jordan's 2 week update

2009-10-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Today Jordan had his 2 week old checkup with the doctor.

He has already grown to 8 lbs 6 ozs (33%), and 21 inches (55%). The doctor is very happy with his weight gain. He is such a fantastic baby, and I just love spending time at home with him and Lynnea.

Here are some more pictures...isn't he so handsome!

2009-10-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

Lizzie is so brave! The day before she got her tonsils out, she had to have blood drawn for lab work. She held very still, and didn't cry or anything! She just said "Ouch, that hurt," then watched the vial fill up! I was pretty impressed!

I took this will my cell phone, thus the poor quality. Here she is just before we parted ways....her to the OR, me to the lobby. The procedure only took about 25 minutes, then I sat with her in recovery for about an hour. In case you were curious, they have little kids breathe into a mask to put them out, then they insert and IV and all that when they are out. She did NOT like waking up with an IV in her arm. The people were very nice. They even put a bracelet on bear (around his middle) just like Lizzie's on her ankle. She even was allowed to take bear to the OR! So, he saw the whole thing!

Recovering on the couch that same day. Poor little thing. Her ears hurt, her throat hurt, and her voice was very hoarse! A package from Grandma Lambourne was just the thing to lift her spirits, though. She loved doing the projects- they really helped get her mind off her pain! She's also enjoying the ice cream and popsicle perks . She's doing a lot better already today, she's up and playing, and only mentioned twice today that her throat hurt. Side note- see the little flower bouquet in her cup? I put these together for her and she's been carrying them from room to room, to where ever she plans on staying awhile. How cute is that?

Baby Jordan Has Arrived!

2009-10-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! The Sweet family would like to introduce our newest member.

Please welcome Jordan Eugene Sweet!!

Born Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 4:24 pm

Weighing in at 7 lbs 3 ozs

19 1/4 inches long

So far Jordan is a very contented baby and sleeping as well as can be hoped for. Lynnea has quickly assumed the position of big sister and loves to hold and cuddle with him. Adam and I feel so blessed to have Jordan in our family and we are extremely grateful that he is healthy and strong. Thank you all for your prayers, support, and love.

More pictures to come soon...

Back to School Pictures

2009-09-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten Open House

Waiting for the Bus (Talia actually tried to get on while I was taking pictures!)

Talia's first day of Preschool too!

New haircut - long bangs and layers

Christmas List 2009

2009-09-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Bair side of the family sent out Christmas Exchange names yesterday, so we thought we'd do the same for the Lambourne's. The kids helped pull names out of a bowl and it seemed to be great until I compared to last year's list -- half the people had the exact same names!! What are the odds? Anyway, we re-pulled all the names and came up with this list:

Jenna --> Erika
Kaylee --> Jordan (Baby Sweet)
Nathan --> Garrett
Lisette --> Brooks
Talia --> Gavin (Baby Lambourne)

Caitlin --> Lisette
Lizzie --> Jenna
Abigail --> Ashley

Erika --> Kaylee
Ashley --> Abigail
Brooks --> Lynnea

Lynnea --> Lizzie
Jordan (Baby Sweet) --> Caitlin

Garrett --> Nathan
Gavin (Baby Lambourne) --> Talia

For the brothers & sisters, I believe we are four down this year:

Leticia --> Tiffany
Crystal --> William
Rodney --> Leticia
Cosette --> Crystal
Tiffany --> Rodney
William --> Cosette

Let me know if any of this is wrong or needs to be changed. Also, any opinions on amounts this year? Mom is coming out in November, so you Virginians might be able to get her to bring out gift to Oregon (if she has room).

Websites

2009-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the summer, Scottt & I took on an extra project to create a website for a friend, who is a painter. He created a video that teaches people all the tips & tricks he uses when painting and wanted to sell it online. Scott designed the layout and I did the coding. We finally completed the website last week.

It has totally interfered with the summer projects we had planned in the yard, but it's done now - yeah! We are going on vacation next week and then starting the fence/garden project on the side yard the next week. Of course, we still have to catch/kill the gopher digging up the backyard vacation or not (and no matter how much Jenna screams that we can't kill it)!

There are still things I'd like to add and a couple of nits to fix, but the website is functional. You can check it at the link below. (And, please, let me know if anything looks wierd or doesn't work - I can always use extra testers!) :-)

http://www.homerepair1on1.com/

Kaylee in "Evita"

2009-08-14T12:04:00.001-07:00

Evita Flier

Kaylee's Bio in the Program

(What Kaylee actually looked like when they asked
for a headshot for the program!! I had to search
the computer for an older picture that would work.)

Kaylee as Young Eva
(this was her first wig - short & dark brown)

Kaylee as Young Eva
(in her new shorter, blacker & scratchier wig)

Just having fun backstage
(these are props from a different show)

Kaylee as an Orphan
(No wig for this one. So it's put the hair up for a wig, then
take it down, then put it all back up as she changes costumes!)

Kaylee (orphan) singing her solo
You can see other pictures from the show on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119814&id=53667709082

An August update!

2009-08-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

We got Caitlin's stuff for her online charter school this Fall. Whoa. We were a little overwhelmed. Boxes upon boxes of books, science stuff, math stuff, workbooks, blocks, and oh yeah, a computer, monitor, and printer. We have to eventually return most of the stuff at the end of the year, but we had no idea where to put it all or where to set up "school". So out went our washer and dryer into the garage and in went a galvanized-metal tabletop Rod made at work and chairs from craigslist (that I reupholstered). My hubby can do it all!! It looks pretty awesome. There's still some wiring to figure out where to put, and more school-ish things to go up, but you get the picture:
Abby is rolling over all over the place now! She's a ton of sweetness and fun.

These pics crack me up: look at her eyes, as soon as she had one toy, she wanted the other. She only wanted what she didn't have!

We're going camping at Lake Tahoe next week. Then Rod comes back and me and the girls are staying in California for another week to visit with my sister and parents. We're excited for our trip, and also excited because Rod's boss told him to expect to go back to 5 days a week when he gets back! Whoo-oo!

2009-07-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Strawberry picking...

Farmer Brooks and

Diva Ashley

Dowdy Update

2009-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

I guess it's my turn to update....except we don't really have an update. Everything's the same!!!
Here's some recent pics of the kids.

Erika and her new found friend

The girls horseback riding

Erika strawberry picking

Update

2009-06-17T14:45:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone. I've been uploading pictures from my camara to the computer and found some good things to put up on the blog. They're totally random and basically span this whole Spring. Enjoy!!

Adam bought us tickets to Wicked for my birthday last September.
This past May was finally the show.
We went out to dinner first then to the show.
It was amazing!!!

VIRGINIA AQUARIUM
Sarah and I took Lynnea and Garrett to the aquarium one day. It's so dark in there it's kind of hard to get good pictures, but here what I got.

Lynnea admiring the fish.

Garrett

Lynnea and Garrett together watching some fish.

We couldn't get both of them to look at the camara at the same time.

This is the best shot!!

EASTER 2009

Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house.

Brooks in the swing.

Garrett showing off what he got.

Erika, as cute as ever!

Will and Garrett

Lynnea egg-hunting

Will doing a back flip. This is his second flip - his first one he actually landed perfectly!

LYNNEA

This is just Lynnea being really cute. She was sitting at the table just talking and singing to herself and of course as soon as I pulled out the camara she quieted down, but here she is...cute as can be!

2009-05-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

So my mom started this whole book thing when Caitlin was a baby- looking at books make babies smart, she insisted. So now we always prop up books for our babies- here's a picture of Lizzie taking it to extremes.

For Mothers' Day, we went to the Las Vegas Temple after church and walked around. It was HOT...but beautiful. Then we came home and enjoyed a husband-cooked meal before going to some friends for F.H.E. and dessert. It was nice and relaxing! (note to ladies: it is a SIN to cook on mother's day. Really. I bent the rules a little, by prepping a crock-pot meal the day before because Rod had a rough week at work, but even that has never happened before. Usually Rod cooks from start to finish. It's awesome- he's really a great cook and I think secretly enjoys it. We grew up thoroughly brainwashed that moms don't cook dinner on mother's day. The tradition continues, see my mom's mother's day post: http://www.thecrowleycrew.blogspot.com/)

IT'S A BOY!

2009-05-14T09:40:00.001-07:00

We're having a boy!!! Adam and I are very excited. We'll probably name him Jordan Eugene Sweet. Not 100% sure though. We took Lynnea to the ultrasound with us and she did pretty good. The monitor kept her interest for a few minutes. Then she liked playing with the stool that goes up and down. She loved getting pictures at the end though!

Slideshow

2009-05-05T19:58:00.001-07:00

A.J.

2009-05-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today was Abigail's first Sunday not in a sleeper. I hit the yard sales yesterday and SCORED!! Tons of new clothes for Caitlin & Abby (including this dress), and a few new things for Lizzie and even me!! What's better than $0.25 clothes for you kids? I love the cheap finds rush!

Brave Lisette

2009-04-29T12:58:00.001-07:00

So we had our first broken bone last night. I sent the kids up to bed and then Lisette came down crying ... she had jumped off the bed and hurt her arm. It was bent where it really shouldn't be so we rushed off to the ER. She was an extremely brave little princess ... today she is resting, watching movies, and eating lots of ice cream. She wanted me to post pictures of her being so brave.

Just got to the ER with a sad little girl.

No, sadly that bend is not her elbow.

The drugs have finally kicked in ... when the nurse came in and asked how she was doing, she answered "Oh, I'm great!".

Back home at last - the bones are reset and we're just waiting for the swelling to go down so she can get a hard cast on.

March ...

2009-04-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

Scott really enjoyed his birthday cake this year (much to the children's chagrin)!

Talia liked the cake too!
Nathan & Kaylee spearheaded this year's leprechaun trap, but alas ... no leprechauns.
Scott's sister, Jodee, & her family came up for Spring Break. Everyone had a great time together!

Some happenings....

2009-04-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

So Caitlin's birthday party was a few weeks ago. This being a "small party" year, I didn't do invitations or favor bags, Caitlin just picked 3 friends to come over and I took them all out to ice cream. Caitlin made her own favor bags, complete with rocks, twigs, grass, pictures cut from magazines and one piece of candy each. She worked quite a bit on them, and gave them to her friends. And her friends loved them!

Caitlin is getting into mixing and matching in her dressing...

What would a post be without a picture of Abigail? She's 9 weeks old already!

a bathtub full of toddlers

2009-04-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

The new bathroom is a hit among the youngest grandchildren. The bathtub is low and they can climb in and out. With potty training the bathroom holds a second fascination for Brooks & Lynnea. Garrett is walking holding on and doing his best to keep up with his cousins. And here's a couple of cute pictures of Garrett with the hard hat and such a cute smile.

Jenna's Project

2009-04-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Jenna's school project -- a setting from a book she read, all made with clay. (I know, it's not the greatest picture angle and all, but it was late! I'll get a better one when it comes back home. If you click on the picture, you can see it bigger and see the detail better.)

Cannon Beach

2009-04-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, Scott & I went to Cannon Beach for a quick weekend trip. It was wonderful to have nothing scheduled and to just walk on the beach & look in the shops for hours. One of our favorite adventures was exploring the tidepools, caves, & waterfalls that are only accessible at extremely low tide! The large rock above is Haystack Rock - we were able to walk all the way out to it; usually all of this completely covered with water.

Adam's Family Visits

2009-03-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Karen, Steve, and Tami visited VaBch at the end of February. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Visiting Botanical Gardens

Hanging out at the Oceanfront

Visiting a park in Chincoteague, VA (on the Eastern Shore)

In Outer Banks, NC for the day

Some other cute pictures

Lynnea says bye to Grandma Sweet

Lynnea's 2nd Birthday

2009-03-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm only a little over a month late on this but I hope you still enjoy!! Lynnea had a small birthday at home this year but we also went bowling to celebrate all the birthday's in February and Adam's. Some of Adam's family was in town during the time too so I'll be posting some of those pictures as well.

2009-03-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

A "residual" smile...the camera didn't go off right at that perfect moment, but it's still adorable!

Kaylee (& the kids)

2009-03-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

This was Kaylee's "Nation's Symbols" project for school. They had to make something 3-dimensional that represented one of our nation's symbols. Kaylee decided to make a pillow of the Betsy Ross flag (because it has less stars!). I did the cutting and most of the ironing, but she picked out all the fabric, did all the sewing herself, ironed on the stars, puffy-painted around them, stuffed it, and helped me sew up the gap! She worked REALLY hard on it and it turned out so cute!!

And here's a few other recent pix of the kids:

2009-03-01T11:45:00.001-08:00

The Dowdy Update

2009-03-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hey all! It's been a while since I've been on here. Everyone's pics look so cute! There's not much as far as updating goes for us... same thing, new day. Here's some recent photos: Erika playing basketball, Ashley playing soccer, Will and Sarah, the little cousins Love - Cosette

More Abigail Jean

2009-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

Great-Grandma Lambourne got here last night. Today she's hitting the strip with my mom!

2009-02-01T17:38:00.001-08:00

Drum roll please...

Welcome Abigail Jean Lambourne,

Born: Jan. 31st 20099:19pm

Weight: 8 lbs 5 ounces

Length: 21"

Delivered: at home by her Daddy!!...that's right, you can call me Mr. Mid-Wife.

The whole thing went down in about 45 minutes flat. It must be a record time for labor to birth and it was definently a surprise to all of us who were just talking about getting a movie for the night and maybe the baby would be born the next day. Carrie and I went on a walk to get the mail at about 8:30pm. When we got back, the heavy labor just kicked in all of the sudden. Next thing you know, I'm playing doctor and delivering my own daughter...in my own bedroom! The mid-wife arrived about two minutes after Abigail was born and took over with the clean up detail.

Both mom and baby are doing great! I think Grandma Crowley is a little traumatized, but it went down perfect. We were blessed that everything with the birth go so good (no funny business with the cord or anything) and that we were allready prepared for a home birth, because we would have never made it to the hopsital!

Abigail is a beautiful little angel who we can allready tell is going to be determined. When she makes up her mind to do something, she isn't going to wait around for anyone! I think we're going to nick name here "Action Abby."

Mom and baby resting

Grandma Crowley and Abby

Caitlin and Lizzie getting to know their new sister...so far they seem to like her.

The Mid-Wife and her Assistant,

I love the way they weighed her in...like a fish or something

2009-01-30T13:09:00.000-08:00

Just an update...I'm STILL pregnant! AAAHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm think my brain cells are breaking down and I'm going a little crazy about it! My midwife came over yesterday, and I'm 3 cm dilated, 65% effaced, and the baby is soooooo low and in position. What the heck is she waiting for?? We'll keep you all posted!!

Swans & Curls

2009-01-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

I took this picture at the place I went with Rod's family in Vegas. Our wedding cake topper (which got broken beyond repair, repurchased, and broken again) had two swans on it, because swans mate for life, so of course I had to post this picture.

So everyone wanted to have their hair curly for church last week ... Yes, it took a long time, but church isn't until 2 pm nowadays so we just made it. (Of course, it was one of the few weeks I had straightened my hair!) And no, Nathan did not get curls, but of course he wanted pictures too!

Pictures from visiting with Rod & Carrie

2009-01-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

I got to hang out & have fun with Rod & Carrie and their cute girls when Scott & I went to the CES convention in Las Vegas this month. Here's a couple of cute pictures ...

2009-01-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

We've been enjoying some atypical January weather lately, which has been beautiful, but also has us worrying about how hot it might get this summer! Today after church the girls had a little harvest of carrots that I had to share pictures of. They each have their own pot, and a few months ago we planted carrot and lettuce seeds in them. Today they dug up their carrots and we had them at dinnertime. They were delicious! And the girls were so proud of their little bounty!

2009-01-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

Here are the shelves Rod built in the closet of our "blue room". They give me a TON of more storage space and we were able to get rid of an entire table, thus freeing up some serious floor space! He did these in one night, trying to get as much done before his surgery. (my cardboard boxes are temporary!)

Notice my sweet sewing set-up! The table goes up or down and I can even lock it! I really like that feature. Mom's sewing stuff is WAY too exciting to these little girls...

At Lizzie's music class this week, I made it a little birthday party for her. She was very excited to have a birthday party and music class in one!! This is her opening some little presents.

This is all the kiddos decorating their angel food cake with whipped cream, grapes, and sprinkers.

Here's Rod recovering from surgery with Jasper, one of our bunnies (who I'm suspicious is really a Janice). Rod's surgery was last Monday and went great (except for him barfing lots afterwards, he had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, which he's never had before). His recovery has been definately his best yet. I was hoping he'd need a whole week to recover and get a break from work and the stress there, but he went back to work on Wednesday for a few hours, then Thursday for a few more, then full throttle on Friday. Can't a guy take a break? His cast is now off, but his stitches won't come out for another week and a half.

Christmas Pictures...Finally!

2009-01-12T07:05:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone! Here are pictures from Christmas here in VA. Due to the way the blog uploads pictures and me not wanting to rearrange them all, the pictures are in backwards order. We all had a really great time. We met up at mom's around 3:00 and opened gifts. Then everyone played with their new toys while we were setting up for dinner. After dinner we had a little program in the music room. We listened to Christmas carols and sang songs and Erika, Ashley, and even David performed a song on the piano! It was a lot of fun. Dad also had us go around and tell what gift we could give to Heavenly Father this year. There were a lot of good ideas like praying more, going to the temple, thinking of others more, and taking time to enjoy your family and blessings.

After all the gifts, everyone went on a bikeride. Lynnea and Brooks laughed the whole time!

Dowdy's - this was a lucky shot...5 seconds later Brooks was trying to escape, Cosette was struggling to hold him still, and Ashley had melted into the couch.

Sarah, Will and Garrett

Christmas day - Lynnea and Brooks always have a blast playing together and copying each other. They were putting on quite a show through the kitchen window. Perfect photo-op!

This is a baby doll and bottle from Lynnea's Grandma Sweet. She absolutely loves this gift and asks for her baby everywhere she goes!

Lynnea LOVED our holiday decorations. Her best friends for the season were Santa, "Nu-cacker," and "no-man." After decorating the Christmas tree she brought in all her friends one by one to look at the lights.

Christmas morning 2 - this one is just so cute too!!!

Starting from the left you have Crystal's, then Ashley's, Erika's, Brooks', and Lynnea's

About a week before Christmas we got together to make gingerbread houses.

Crystal danced and danced in these pj's. This was just the tail end of it!

Lynnea opening her baby doll - you can hear the excitement in her voice once she realizes it's a baby. It's soft so listen closely, but it's so cute!

Lynnea had a blast playing with the peanuts - it was pretty funny!

2008-12-27T20:18:00.001-08:00

Check out my new wheels! It's a 2004 Toyota Sienna! I LOVE it!!!!!

More Christmas Pictures...

2008-12-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a few more Christmas pictures. It was cold and wet and rainy today so I'll take a picture of my new wheels tomorrow when the rain lets up!!

The girls loved these umbrellas from my mom! We went to the park today (in the rain) and they wanted to bring them. I had a hard time explaining why that wouldn't work...

Lani made this purse for Caitlin. Lately she's been really big into bringing her own church bag to church, and she's excited this one will be able to fit so much stuff! She's been toting all her presents around in it, and told me this was her favorite present to open!

The girls got out their nail polish from my sister Emily unauthorized!! Fortunately, I could smell what they were up to before any disasters occurred and got them to the table to finish. Their nails (really, their whole last knuckle on) look interesting to say the least!

(Leticia, note what Caitlin's wearing...she wore it ALL day yesterday and put it on again first thing this morning!)

Opening presents...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T10:56:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all had a great Christmas, as did we! We had a lot of fun with our quiet little Christmas, here's a rundown of the events:

Christmas eve, the highlights being the traditional clam chowder (Caitlin cleaned her bowl and asked for more!!) and a little presentation of the nativity. They took turns being Mary (so we had to do it twice, of course!) and Rod was the (half-asleep) donkey. They liked leading him to the stable...

Christmas morning the girls woke up around 8, and Rod started things off with a wonderful French Toast breakfast for us all!

I love Letitica's tradition of having her kids make stuff for each other, so we've adopted that. This year I helped them make tie-fleece pillows for each other. This project was totally at Caitlin's level, she loved tying them all, but I'll admit Lizzie basically just wrapped Caitlin's when I finished...

Then came the present-opening! We all took turns opening presents, and it was fun to see the girls get excited about what everyone was getting, not just them. They liked watching daddy open the 8-pack of Dr. Pepper cans they decorated for him!

Snow Days!!

2008-12-22T09:46:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I took a bunch of pictures of the snow we've had here all week. (Seriously, NO school or church since last Sunday! Yes, we're all going a little stir-crazy.) Then we woke up this morning and I had to take new pictures - there's twice as much snow and it is STILL snowing!! We have about 4 inches of powder covered by a 3/4 inch layer of ice and now 4-5 inches of powder on top of that. Here's a couple "Before" & "After" pictures.

And here's some pictures of the kids - they loved "stepping" (as Talia called it) and breaking through the ice yesterday. Scott said it felt like he was Godzilla. I think the biggest piece of ice we picked up was 2 x 2.5 feet! The kids loved to karate punch/kick the ice & break it.

2008-12-18T21:56:00.000-08:00

It snowed here! It snowed around town earlier in the week, with some places getting 5-ish inches and it sticking. We're one of the lowest parts of town, so we didn't see snow then- but yesterday we did! It snowed for awhile and flurries stuck for a little bit, until it rained that night. I bundled up the girls and sent them out as fast as I could! They loved it for about about 15 minutes, then they were freezing. Little desert weenies.

Anyway, the funny part is that today was a snow day for the schools! And it was blue skies and sunny- no snow on our part of town whatsoever, though in other places there were a few inches of snow. But really, a snow day for a few inches??

Demonstrating the true craziness of the weather, Monday the girls picked the corn they planted a few months ago (and they got to eat it for dinner!). It was just little 4" or so corn, but it was fun watching them husk it and be so excited about cooking and eating it. So Monday was harvest, Wednesday was snow. Seriously, how often can you take a picture of freshly harvested corn in front of a Christmas tree?

2008-12-05T15:01:00.001-08:00

This is pet attempt #2....two baby bunnies! A friend in the ward's 3 bunnies turned into 10....with another litter on the way! My friend THINKS they're both males, hopefully they're both the same, whatever they are! I will take them to a vet and just have them tell me for sure in a few months. I really, really don't want to end up with millions of rabbits! They will just be outside rabbits, in the summer we'll have to rig something up for them to survive. But I'm hoping they'll be low-maintence, fun pets for the kiddos.

2008-12-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight when Rod got home from work we worked on the ol' Christmas Family picture. This one of the girls is cute....

It's definately better than this one...

After we finished the Christmas photo, we went to get a tree. Rod was going to just bring one home on his way home from work, but he had to hurry home before it got dark so we could have our photo shoot. Then we went all together to get the tree. I'm glad we did. The girls had a blast, and the tree place was really fun for them. There were lights all around, a huge fake snowman, and they loved looking at all the trees.Rod & Lizzie

Caitlin hanging on the fence at the tree lot....

Anyway, that's the first week back of Christmas preps! We decorated inside, and it's starting to feel a little more like Christmas. The leaves on our trees are again covering the grass, and I actually had to wear long sleeves today. I even got to wear a scarf tonight at the tree farm!!

We had a great time in California for Thanksgiving. It was a full house- all my siblings and all the grandkids. It was a lot of fun! We ate and ate, Rod got to go see Bond with my brother-in-law, he relented to see Twilight with me, and we enjoyed the cooler weather. The girls loved seeing their cousins, my parent's dog (who I think they view as an uncle), and of course, grandma and grandpa. We had a lot of fun!

Recent Pictures of Lynnea

2008-12-01T09:32:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of Lynnea from this fall. See how cute she's getting?!!!!!

Thanksgiving at the Lake

2008-12-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! Here are some of the pictures from Thanksgiving at the Lake. Most of us arrived Thursday afternoon for a Thanksgiving dinner. Then on Friday, Michelle & Henry, Gordon & Marcy & Laura, Will & Sarah, and Sheree came too and we had a big dinner at Diane's and had the family gift exchange.

The boys went mountain biking Friday, but I'll have to let dad post those pictures. The weekend was full of family, fun, and good food!

Halloween + Update

2008-11-02T19:34:00.001-08:00

Here are some of our Halloween pictures! Lizzie was an angel, Caitlin a ballerina, I was an Indian, and Rod was Tony Stark (if you haven't seen Iron Man, it won't make any sense!)

I made Lizzie's angel dress and Caitlin's ballerina skirt, and they made their annual Halloween treat boxes (cereal boxes cut in half). I really like the cereal boxes- they don't stretch much and have a limit to the candy they can hold!

Our fam- I don't think the flash went off.

Iron Man just came out on video a week or two ago, and everyone knew Rod was Tony Stark - his chest light was on, but didn't show up in any of the pictures. Just one of those stick-on L.E.D. lights from the dollar store. He worked on his goatee for a few days before and picked up some dollar-store glasses and viola- is that Robert Downey Jr. or what?

This was a few weeks before Halloween. I just thought it was funny. Here we are, trying to have some family fun, and Lizzie is just ticked off she was dragged along. Seriously, this kid's attitude belongs in the body of a 16-year-old!

Also, I had a great birthday today! Thanks to everyone for calling! Rod took me out to dinner and shopping last night, and this morning made us breakfast! We had a scrumptious dinner and cake (made by Rod!!) and presents. The girls each wrapped up a piece of Halloween candy to give me. When I opened Lizzie's, she insisted I share. What's up with that? Anyway, it was a great birthday!

Also, just to update everyone, I had to go the hospital to get a bulge in my calf checked out. I woke up on Tuesday with this bulge in my calf, some pain, and some redness, along with the veins behind my knee bulging. Since it could have been a blood clot, I went to an imaging center on Tuesday (after my midwife came over and looked at it) and they said it wasn't a clot. But we (us and my midwife) wanted to be 100% sure so I went the hopsital on Wednesday and got it checked again, and they said it's okay- it's varicose veins!! AAAHHHH!!!! I guess pregnancy brings them on a lot. But I still have this bulge in my calf (think a macaroni noodle under your skin- it's wierd) and have to wear these compression nylons probably the rest of my pregnancy. The stockings won't make them go away, but sometimes the veins hurt and they help a lot with that. The good thing about all this is it's recommited me to exercise- I have to do something cardio 6 days/week to keep them from getting worse. I'm grateful I don't have a complication where I have to stay in bed or something. I read they sometimes go away after pregnancy, but sometimes they don't. Hopefully they will!

Guess Who Game

2008-11-02T16:18:00.001-08:00

All four of our girls have worn the same costume at two. (I have to admit Talia was forced and we barely managed a few pictures - she was extremely particular about the many different costumes she did and did NOT want to wear!)

Now here's the fun - can you guess who is who?

Halloween Photos

2008-11-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

2008-11-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted pictures, so here's a few catchup photos from the summer & fall...

Fun at the Zoo

A visit from Tom

Lisette's Birthday

Kaylee's Birthday

Riding the Train with Grandpa!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-10-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Prop 8

2008-10-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

My mom just posted their most recent Prop 8 experience. They've walked routes, knocked on doors, talked to people about Prop 8, made phone calls, and put up signs in their yard (that got torn down). I'm amazed by the dedication of not just my parents, but all the members in California. It's hard to do things like that, it's definately a reach out of most people's comfort zone (I know it's out of mine!), and it's amazing that so many members are putting themselves aside, doing what the church has asked them to do, and making a difference:

"I just got back from waving Yes on 8 signs with a few ward members on the corner of First St. and Military. I thought I might need a bullet-proof vest, but all I got was a coke can thrown at me. Actually, the feed back was about 70% in favor. However, the opposition were not nice. Sometimes, just a thumbs down, we did get some obscene gestures and f---bombs. I heard "idiots" and "bigots" a couple of times. The one guy threw his coke can at Jim Shoemaker and me. He missed, but there was a little splash. Jim waved down a Benicia policeman and filed a report on the guy. I didn't know it was a felony to throw something out of a moving car! I was just thinking a littering fine would be good. The policeman said he would send out word to all units to look for the guy. Anyway, we did have a lot of honks, thumbs-up, encouragement and thank yous also. One guy yelled out "It will be a landslide for Yes on 8!" An exciting week ahead! "

Here's to the passing of Prop 8!!!

Goodbye, Cali

2008-10-18T14:08:00.001-07:00

Maybe we're just not working out to be "cat" people. Last night, while doing the final lockdown before going to bed, I peered out the window and saw our Cali lying in the street. She had been hit by a car and died. So farewell to Cali, a good and patient cat! She has gone to join her brother, Rocky! The kids are taking it well, and I think this is helping them learn the whole life/death process, where we go after we die, etc. But I enjoyed having a patient cat who never scratched little kids and even sometimes napped with Lizzie, helping Lizzie stay in bed and sleep. No poop to scoop, no walks to have to take. She was a good, low-maintenance animal! We will miss her!

How we imagine Cali & Rocky's reunion in heaven..

They were such cute kittens!

This is proof that Rod does have a soft spot for cats- sometimes! This is Cali offering moral support during Rod's gallbladder removal recovery.

2008-10-11T21:05:00.001-07:00

I get a lot of emails from a friend in Sacramento about the Prop 8 stuff and what they're doing to try to get it passed. No longer a Californian, at first I was mostly relived that this doesn't effect us directly. Then I realized it does. So I wanted to do my part, and I've started a blog called Why Vote Yes on Prop 8. You can check it out and let me know what you think:http://votingyesonprop8.blogspot.com/
I'll be putting a link to it on the blog page, too.

Emily's Big News!!

2008-10-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

Just some exciting news from my side of the family- my BABY sister is getting married! She's been dating Brett awhile now (they dated before his mission and have been dating ever since he got back, over a year now) and I can't say we were surprised, but boy, are we all so EXCITED for them!! Brett's a great guy and we're all excited to have him as part of our family. To see a pic of Emily's ring, check out her post on the Crowley Blog: http://thecrowleycrew.blogspot.com/

Also- our update, Rod and I are getting a fun getaway this weekend! A friend from high school is getting married in Lake Tahoe, so some good friends are watching our girls for *gasp* 3 days, and Rod and I are flying up for her wedding. We're really excited for our little getaway!!

Christmas Gift Exchange

2008-09-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Ok - Lynnea helped me and we drew names for the cousin gift exchange. Here's what we came up with:

Jenna gives to Brooks
Kaylee gives to Lizzie
Nathan gives to Caitlin
Lisette gives to Ashley
Talia gives to Lynnea

Caitlin gives to Talia
Lizzie gives to Garret

Erica gives to Nathan
Ashley gives to Jenna
Brooks gives to Lisette

Lynnea gives to Kaylee

Garret gives to Erica

What's the amount? $10?

As for the siblings - I think I have Crystal this year which means we go 3 down. This also means everyone has their opposite (I have Crystal & Crystal has me).

If I'm wrong - the right way is to give to the person directly younger than the person you gave to last year, but I think I had Leticia last year though, so this should be right.

2008-09-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

It's been fun to hear of the Las Vegas Lambourne activites - It's hard to keep a good man down is definately true about Rod & biking... Dad has caught the bug and now he's biking with Adam. Crystal wants everyone to know her birthday's coming up - We had Mother Lambourne here with us for much of August. She kept me hopping. She really likes to get out and do things. She seems in pretty good health. We got to share in some of the HUGE chocolate strawberries Tiffany got - one was a meal (Crystal & I shared one). We're getting ready for a youth fireside at our house tomorrow. My pineapple sage (herb) is just coming into bloom, so I'll need to cut the branches & dry them to use this winter - my favorites pineapple sage & cinnamon basil. The pineapple sage got so big that the rosemary didn't get enough sun and is relatively small this year. MOM

Christmas among the Cousins

2008-09-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

So who wants to figure out what cousin has what cousin this Christmas? It's almost October, time to start crackin'!! There's 12 now, so that's a nice and even number. I'm just wondering what nieces and/or nephews to start shopping for. Also, does anyone know who has who among us siblings? I know Kim already sent out the extended info, but I forgot how it works among our immediate family.

sorry it's underlined

2008-09-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend Rod did a bike race! It's called the Cactus Cup, it's a 3-day stage race of various events (Cross Country, Super D, etc). There were pros there and everything! Rod even recognized a few from his magazines. The serious people do all 3 days of events, for a chance to win the overall awards. Rod did the Super D on Saturday. The girls and I got there right after he finished the race (I didn't think the girls would do well waiting in the desert for an hour for Rod to finish the race). It was fun to see all the competitors and bikes. Afterwards they had a big event at a park with booths and vendors and things, so we made a day of it. The girls really enjoyed playing at the park, which had a water part to it. Rod entered in the Beginner class, and finished 6th overall out of 21. Rod's doctor told him this week that he needs to have 2 more surgeries on his arms...so Rod figured he'd better do stuff like this as much as he's able!

Caitlin pretending it's cold outside!

Lizzie LOVED the water park!

The "coach" at the midwestern-themed park

The finish line (the women were just finishing)

The girls think their dad is sooooo cool!

2008-09-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of us lately, starting with the most recent. This weekend we had a fun ward activity at some natural warm springs owned by the LDS Church. It was a lot of fun, and the water is incredible- no chlorine! Just natural springs circulating throughout the huge pool. Someone told me the whole pool is replaced every hour or so by the circulating springs. And the water is perfect! Our ward had a bbq and the girls really enjoyed swimming around:

Caitlin was really hard to get a picture of- she was always on the move!
Lizzie max-relaxin' in her tube.

Bug goggles! Caitlin made this in preschool. She LOVED them, she thought they were so cool! Preschool is working out well (a lady in our ward does it out of her home), I'm really glad about that!

This is part of our Labor Day. Rod had the day off, so we filled the day with wild and crazy adventures like painting terra cotta pots (even Rod had one to paint!). The girls loved it. Then they set up a reading picnic after swimming in the little pool- they were just so happy to read books while frying in the sun.

Last but not least, my friend had her baby at home last night! And I was there! It was exciting and short- I got there at 2:30 am and she had her baby at 3:45! I'm glad I got to see sort of how the whole home birth thing works, and exactly how it's different from a hospital birth. It was a neat experience!

Braggin' on my hubby!

2008-09-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I just realized I forgot to tell you guys how awesome Adam was for my birthday this year. I got SPOILED!!!

We took advantage of Labor Day (the day before my birthday) and went out to a nice dinner, with no baby! I had some amazing lamb chops. Yum YUm! Also Adam gave me tickets to go see Wicked, the musical!!! I am soooo excited! It's not until May, but I've heard so many good things about it.

On my actual birthday (Tuesday) I had to go back to work. After a long 2 hour meeting I had a voicemail from the front desk that I had a package. I went up and Adam had sent me a beautiful arrangement of flowers.

Wednesday afternoon I got 2 dozen roses delivered to my work. Thursday he sent me chocolate covered strawberries, and Friday I got a Bath & Body Works set. It was a whole birthday week!

I feel so loved!!!!

It's a...

2008-09-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

We're going to have a GIRL!! The estrogen in our house is going to tangible! We are excited, and the girls can now bury their fears of having a brother (for now)!

Warning: long-winded post ahead

2008-09-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

So I think most of you know we're planning on a home birth for this one. There's lots of reasons and I could list them all, but that would be a long, detailed, boring post. I just wanted to post my midwife's webpage, in case anyone's curious: http://sweetmidwiferycare.com/

It is nothing short of awesome having a midwife, though. My prenatal appointments go like this: she comes to my house (no driving! no babysitters!!), has all her gear in a little rolling suitcase, I get weighed, urine tested, blood pressure taken, belly measured, baby's heartbeat listened to- absolutely everything they do in the doctor's office. Except it's personal and my kids can be involved. She asked Caitlin if she wanted to do the jelly on my belly for the baby's heartbeat- she said no, but I bet she will next time. She's at my house about an hour, talking about nutrition, exercise, any questions I have, etc. She has books and videos I can borrow about birth. Contrast that with my ob/gyn appointments- 20 minutes driving to/from, waiting 1 hour in the waiting room, waiting 20 minutes in the exam room, the doctor comes in for literally 5-10 minutes, talks to the nurse ABOUT me rather than at me, and barely takes the time to confirm all is well before hustling to his next appointment. Most ob/gyn's do about 30 births/month. My midwife limits herself to 4. This is because she'll come as soon as I call and say I'm in labor, vs. my doctor who comes the last 5 minutes to catch the baby after the nurses have done all the work. Granted, you have to be having a low-risk, normal pregnancy for any responsible midwife to take you, and it's smart to be in close driving range of a hospital (we're 15 minutes away). If anything in the course of my pregnancy turned high-risk, she'd refer me back to an ob/gyn.

There's a couple of good, qualified midwives here in Vegas, these women aren't hippies. They are educated, qualified professionals who are credientaled and very experienced. I'm a little partial to mine, of course, because she has a few perks: 1)she comes to my house! all the other midwives I know of have offices for their patients to come to. 2) she's a full-fledged MD from Venezuela, where she's from, so she has a very strong medical background and knows how to spot an emergency. She's not anti-medicine or anti-doctor. 3) she lived with an LDS family for a year as an exchange student, so she knows quite a lot about our religion. She knows what garments are about and if I needed a priesthood blessing or wanted to say a prayer or whatever during labor, she knows what those are and what they're for, and is very respectful of our religion. Those are just a few perks that led me to choose her over others, plus she's just very personable and friendly, so it's more like a friend/midwife which was important to me since this is a pretty personal experience.

So that's a basic rundown. Sorry, this wasn't supposed to be boring and detailed! There's lots more I could say...but I better stop here!

Also, we're getting our ultrasound on Monday the 8th!! So look for a girl-or-boy post!!

Pics from California

2008-09-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Adam and I just got back from California. Here are some pictures.

Us and Deagan at Columbia, an old mining town in CA

Everyone, but Tami and Sean at Pixie Woods Park

Cute Cousins - Deagan, Lynnea, and Kaeli

Jail bird baby

Grandpa Sweet and Lynnea at Micke Grove Zoo

Uncle Adam and Deagan

Uncle Jason and Lynnea

Grandma Sweet, Lynnea, and Ashley

Lynnea was playing with chalk and ended up looking like Charlie Chaplin

Adam, his brother Jason, and his sister Tami

Lynnea's just so cute

Adam and his boys

Auntie Tasha and Uncle Jason, Lynnea, and me on the horse-drawn stage coach in Columbia

Aunt Tasha and Lynnea

The Sweet ladies

Lynnea was sad to leave

Flight of the Concords and U.S. Volleyball!!

2008-08-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

So, you've probably heard of these guys. Some of their songs are hilarious. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and look up our favorites: Business time, Think about it, Tape of Love, and Brett You've Got It Going On. They're hilarious!

Also- CONGRATS U.S. Men's Volleyball!!! Maybe it's because there's 2 BYU grads on the team. Maybe it's because one was still playing at BYU when we were there. Maybe it's because one of their names is Lambourne (very cool to see your last name on an Olympic jersey!). Maybe it's because we love to watch it. Either way, we've been following the volleyball this Olympics and are STOKED that U.S. Men's Volleyball won GOLD!!!! I confess, they were in my prayers. (side note- U.S. rocked volleyball this Olympics- no small feat considering Brazil, the #1 ranked teams in the world, was also in 3 of the 4 final matches. U.S. Women's won silver, and both U.S. men's beach volleyball and U.S. women's beach volleyball won gold!!!)

Fasting

2008-08-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! A month or so ago we had a family fast for Rod's work that I just wanted you to all know the outcome of. So the Wednesday previous Rod had a talk with his boss- trying to explain the overwhelming nature of his job. They've had this talk before to no avail, but Rod felt his boss "got it" more this time. On Sunday many of you fasted with Rod about his job. On Monday, his boss redistributed Rod's heavy job load among some of the other project managers, thus significanting reducing his workload. He can now sleep at night, not be stressed out all day, and is even finding time to work out! It's been a night and day change, and we are so grateful for all your fasting, faith and prayers on his behalf. We just wanted you all to know the outcome of that fast, and how our testimonies and faith have been strengthened as a result. We are so grateful for your support!

baby bump

2008-08-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show everyone my baby bump!

Camping this Weekend

2008-08-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

We went camping this weekend to Mt. Charleston, about 40 minutes from us. It's a great break from the summer heat, and the girls love just roaming outside and playing. They were excited beyond belief to sleep in their sleeping bags in the tent! It was really fun. We even made peach cobbler in our dutch oven!!

Caitlin contemplating why they heck we live in the desert when if we lived in a cooler place she could play outside like this all the time...Caitlin...I don't have an answer for you!!

Putting rocks in a cup...what else does a girl want??

Hanging in the hammock with dad!!

Myrtle Beach

2008-08-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

We also went to Myrtle Beach, SC. While we were there we went to Ripley's Aquarium, the Beach, and Alligator Adventure. Alligator Adventure was really cool - it's a 15 acre swamp land with over 1000 alligators. They're not really in cages either, just in a semi-natural habitat. Super cool!