The weekend in pictures

This is our new family activity- extreme strolling. A rather steep trail in the hills near our house.

Dane enjoyed a smoothie after the rough ride. He actually hiked much of the way himself, except when it was very steep.

Playing with cars together.

Happy little scooter.

Again!

Squirt gun fights in the backyard with Daddy.

Scootin' the stool across the kitchen floor.

Out for a little bike ride in the driveway.

Videos galore

Here are some videos we have taken recently of our little monkeys.

Dane convinced Daddy to let him have a sip of his fizzy soda.

Don't you think Nora's a bit young to kick the bucket?

Waking up happy after a nap.

Learning to dance.

Tickling the ivories.

Recent shooting near Lake Las Vegas

The most nonviolent sort, of course.

Derek Pearson Photography.

Happy Anniversary!

Our very best friends have now been married for eight glorious years! Tonight, we had dinner with Jeff and Renee to celebrate the occasion. We're so glad for the love they have for one another and for the encouragement they are to us! Here's to eight(y) more!

Before and After

We had our house painted last week. The old paint wasn't in real bad shape, just starting to get dingy around the edges. Plus, the price was right. I guess times are a bit tight for painters these days, so they're just looking for a little work. Here is the previous color. And the new, fresh look. For more details, you'll just have to come visit!

Love one another.

The Dane and Nora version of London Bridge.

It's so fun to see how much they already love to play and interact with one another, even though Nora's abilities are so limited when compared to Dane's. I don't think that there's anything that brings a bigger smile to my face than the smiles that my children have for each other!

Double Joy

The Nielson twins are here! Trenton William was born last night at 8:44 pm, weighing 6 lbs. 1 oz., 18 3/4 inches long. Emma Dianne followed at 9:02 pm, weighing 6 lbs. 15 oz., 19 inches long. Congrats to the happy family!

10 months

Yesterday, our little girl was ten months old. She has changed so much in the last month. Where to start? She loves her finger foods and is wanting less to do with pureed baby foods. She still only has her bottom two teeth, so she gums away at all those finger foods! She has started talking a little bit. She will throw things on the ground, just to say, "Uh-oh!" She also says "Da-da and Ma-ma" pretty clearly, and it seems she is working on saying Dane. She still doesn't officially crawl, but she is all over the house on her little bottom. She is a real little scooter! Grammy says that princesses don't belong on their hands and knees, so that's why she refuses to crawl! She also now loves to walk by hanging on to our fingers. She gets so excited that it sounds like she is panting when we help her walk. On Sunday evening, she was even daring enough to let go of Auntie Renee's fingers to take a step to Mommy! And she sure is Mommy's girl; she will be happily playing in a room, but the moment I walk in she'll start to fuss and want to be held. I'm glad for my little snuggler, for all too soon she'll be too big or too busy!

Discovering Teddy's tail.

Getting mobile enough to make messes!
Happy to play with brother.
The pretty girl in the mirror.

From the lips of Dane

Daddy: "Dane, should we go make your bed and have some breakfast?"
Dane: "Daddy, why do you ask so many questions?"
(Do you think he has heard that somewhere before?!?)

Daddy was holding Nora this morning, and she was reaching out for me as usual. Mike said, "She sure loves her Mommy."
Dane piped up from the background, "No, she loves her brother."
Well, that she does!

And this one is from a couple of months ago, when Dane had finally decided that he was going to be potty trained, but I wanted to post it for my own memory.
Dane (while sitting on the potty): "Momma, I'm going to be three in March."
Me: "Yes you are, Dane."
Dane: "Threes don't wear diapers, Momma. Threes go on the potty."
That's when I knew he was trained!

Easter

Pictures of the kiddos outside with their Easter baskets. The pictures aren't real great because of the sun streaming through the trees and causing funny shadows. Notice the pretty blooming flowers, however.

Our little scooter scooted herself under her jumper. Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Such a big girl, walking with some assistance.

Jeff and Renee and boys came over for a little playtime last Sunday evening. Our boys are continually asking, "Mommy, can we go to Carter's/Dane's house?" We are glad they are such good buddies!

All is fair

Yesterday afternoon we decided to head out of town to the Clark County Fair in Logandale for a change of pace. Daddy stopped to get some cash and also this chocolate milk for Dane. Soon, he was handing me back the empty carton. He drank the whole pint in under 5 minutes, so we knew we would be needing a rest stop before we were very far down the road.

Luckily, a few miles down the road we came to a nice pullout with an outhouse and a little hike as well. After duties were taken care of, we headed up this trail to see the sights.

Pretty views, but hard to get good pictures because of the gray skies.

We hit the road again and soon arrived at the fair. Of course Dane (or was it Daddy?!?) had to have some cotton candy.

There were many animals to see. Checking out the chickens.

Meeting a friendly little goat.

A big pig.

We ended the night with some rides for Dane. He was in his glory.

Nora happily watched from Daddy's arms.

Time to head home to bed!

Around here...

...we take pictures of the little princess because she is just so sweet and pretty (even with a yucky runny nose),

...our little conductor still spends multiple hours daily running his trains,
...and sometimes he plays "drums" in his undies for his captivated sister while wearing his "mining hat." (He has the greatest imagination these days, and it makes life so fun!)

The end of a performance.

MIA

Missing in action, that's us. Emphasis on the action part. Life has been quite busy, but we can't complain. It just means we've had lots of time visiting with friends and playing with our kiddos in between work recently.

A little synopsis of recent days:

Last Saturday brought beautiful sunshine, 80 degrees, and no wind. We headed out the door with the kiddos in our rugged jogger strollers and explored the desert landscape just blocks from our home. And to think we had never been here before... we'll be back again soon. So nice to escape the city so close to home.

It's so amazing to see wildflowers blooming in the dry, rocky ground.
Dane loved running along the rocky trails.
If you squint, it almost looks green.
Family shot.
After we got home, Jeff and the boys came over for dinner. These handsome dudes cruised around the backyard for a good portion of the evening.
On Monday, Tyler and Kim called to let us know they were back in Vegas for a couple of days, so we were glad they could stay with us. We went out to Peter Piper Pizza to let the kids run since it was so windy outside that day. Little Miss Avery was our ticket collector.

Dane loved the air hockey table.

Carter and Camden took the motorcycles for a spin.

Avery joined Dane for some air hockey.

Nora thought the tickets were the prize- so fun to chew!

On Thursday, Mike turned 35. We have yet to celebrate properly. However, Derek and Sara arrived that evening, so that was a treat in itself. Friday, Kari and Kyle got married, and Derek photographed the beautiful event. Yesterday morning, Dane helped Daddy make smoothies for breakfast. His favorite part is licking the peanut butter off the spoon!

After breakfast, Derek did our family photo shoot, and we can't wait to see the results!

Sweet Nora after her nap yesterday.

Train time!

Now, we're just catching up for another week of work ahead. Thank goodness for Sunday afternoons!