Five little monkeys

Logan and Emmy love it when we sing
"Five little monkeys swinging from a tree
Teasing Mr. Alligator, Can't catch me, Can't catch me
Along comes Mr. Alligator quiet as can be and
Snaps that monkey right out of that tree!"

As you can see, the adults like it as much as the babies!
We got some pictures of Emmy in her Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland.


Chris also really liked the Minnie Mouse ears. I wonder if he is thinking, "I'm too sexy for my ears"

Celebrating . . .

We are celebrating Emmy's half birthday. We can't believe it's been six months since she was born. Time flies! It has been the most rewarding six months of our lives. Here's a picture from Valentine's Day. We are so excited that the builders are breaking ground on our new home on Monday. I ran 5 miles with Chris at Daybreak today and can't wait to have our own home there. This is a picture on our property. Sorry about the poor light. It's the best we could do. We are happy that we just had good food with good friends, Drew and Alesha. Thanks for the fun night. Can't wait to do it again.

Is it always so dark in here?

My family went to Disneyland over the weekend. We got to play at Disneyland and California Adventure, visit the David Brems family, and cheer for our runners at the Huntington Beach Marathon and Half Marathon.

On Saturday night, we went on the Storybook Land boat ride. It was awesome riding a boat through the whales mouth. Then, the boat emerges from the whale in a quiet atmosphere where we see well-lit scenes from various Disney stories. After puzzling about it for half the ride, I finally ask, "IS IT ALWAYS SO DARK IN HERE?" It took everyone a minute to figure out what the heck I was asking. When they discovered that I thought we were inside, I got a lot of laughs, even from the strangers and the Disney tour guide on our boat. Dani kindly explained that I really do have a college degree. Oops, that was embarrassing! Now Gib tells me to come out of the dome when I am gullible.

It was a blast to have Emmy and Logan at Disneyland. Emmy loved it. She enjoyed looking at everything; the bright colors and lights. The weather was fabulous. When we got off the plane on the Long Beach Airport runway, there was a warm breeze that blew through Emmy's hair. She looked into the breeze and smiled and giggled as if it was the greatest feeling ever.

Her favorite ride was Toy Story. She loved the sharp turns. She smiled the whole time and she didn't even chew on the lap bar. Good girl!

The gift of Good Health

My parents gave each of their children a VitaMix blender for Christmas. I have to say, I love it! I made a green smoothie for dessert and it was incredible. If it wasn't dark green we wouldn't even know there was spinach in it. Gib was skeptical before he tasted it and asked, "What did you do, put a tree in it?" But even he loves it and highly recommends it! Here's the recipe for anyone interested. Healthy and Oh So Tasty!

8 oz frozen spinach
1 orange
1 jonagold apple
1 cup green grapes
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1 cup cranapple juice
1 cup ice cubes

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. These pictures are from Grandma Sommers party. Emmy looks excited about getting her present. I love this next picture I got of Logan and Ashley because of the way Logan has his eye on Santa. He wasn't too sure about him this year.Dani, our professional family photographer, had a photo shoot with Emmy and Logan on Christmas eve. She got some great pics. Here are my favorites of Emmy. Isn't she cute!
We tried to get a cute picture of her in a wreath the way they did with McKinley, but Emmy wouldn't have any of it.
Notice her crazy hair! She got that from her Namie Gilbert!


Here are a few more pictures from Christmas day.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Gib's sister, Jolleen and her family, Justin, Nick, Grace and Natalie are here from Pennsylvania. As a family, we went to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Forests over the weekend. It was a fun vacation. I was surprised by the beauty and wildlife we saw.

The highlights of the vacation were the Old Faithful Geyser and hot springs in Yellowstone.


We also drove through the Grand Tetons. We stopped at Jenny Lake and rode a 10 minute ferry across the lake to hike half a mile uphill to a beautiful waterfall. I was proud of Gib's mom and sisters who successfully hiked up the steep hill over glaciers and slippery mud in flip-flops. 4 year-old Grace also hiked the whole way in flip-flops. It was hard but worth it.

Several buffalo walked beside our car when we were driving through Yellowstone. We could have reached out the window and touched them. Gib got some great pictures.

Kitties

We are looking for a temporary foster home for our cats. We are moving into my parents' basement for about 9 months and are unable to keep them during that time. We love our pets and will be excited to give them a good home after we leave my parents house but need some help until then. Let me know if you are interested or know anyone who could help. Needless to say, we will provide food, kitty litter and compensation for a good home. They might look mean in the pictures but they're just camera shy. Both are box trained and have front paws declawed. Ichabod, the black cat, loves to play and stretch on his back. Carma, the calico, is friendly and loves to cuddle. Below is a rare belly picture of me. It was taken in March so imagine how much bigger I am now!
By the way, if you haven't heard, we are having a baby girl named Emmy, short for Emmarique Rose. Aimerique is a French name that Gib loved on his mission, so we decided to use the name but spell it phonetically. Hopefully, to make her life easier when her teachers call her name in class.