He Made their Day

Julia, Findlay and Elsie were playing in the yard. Their favorite spot is the gate next to Stephens' so they can see Mira the dog. Well, Brett Stephens heard the girls calling out to Mira, so he leashed her up, and brought her over. He held her while the girls petted, loved, ran from, and squealed at Mira. Thanks Brett! You made their day!!

I not Tired!

Can you believe this picture, cause I can't! Elsie "not tired" and "onna cuddle with gamma". The end result is above.

If they were awake, I would call this double trouble.

This picture really makes Elsie a minnie me. My favorite thing in the world, is getting my back scratched. She is really eating it up, and gets so relaxed that she just finally falls asleep. And so does my dad, during the whole process. Pretty cute!

May Fun

Singing in the rain :) Finny and her friend Julia won't let the stormy weather stop them from having fun!

Should I mention that Elsie goes down this slide head first? Fun with friends! Liza, Julia, Findlay and Elsie have some girl time :)

Clancey is loving the one on one attention she gets when Craig and Kelsey come around.

Clancey and Grandpa spending some quality time during a RARE May 2011 sunny day.

Big Enough

Clancey is big enough for the "neglector"!

She loves to grab the toys and make noise. When she is sick of that...

she chills on her favorite bouncey seat. Its insane fast they grow!

Happy Birthday Grandpa

My dad had another Happy Birthday! The girls helped him open all of his presents...

Frost his birthday cake and eat the extra icing...

and finally play on/with his favorite toy!!

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!!

The Vacation

I went to visit Nate in the Bahamas. Oh it was fun! The first night we were there, we went to the port and hung out til 1:30a. Wow, took me back to my college days. Around 10p I kept looking at my watch, like when are we leaving cause I am tired!! It was so fun though. Needless to say, I crashed when we got back to the apartment. Nate has some good friends down there, so it was fun to meet them and just relax!

Day 2 we headed to a private resort,courtesy of Ross University. All the students loaded in buses and partied all day long. We went kayaking, swam in the water, played sand volleyball, and just enjoyed the sun. Not to mention, all you can eat food!

Sunday was so fun. We went to the Branch where Nate has officially been called to Sunday School Teacher. That day, he spoke in church, so I got to hear him. The Branch is mostly one family with a bunch of converts, so its very small. I got to teach sharing time. The branch president and his family are amazing!!! I was able to spend lots of time with his wife, I just love her! She is primary president and what ever else she needs to be that day. Pretty amazing! Little Kurtis is their 2 year old, who just loves Nate. So he gets to hold him a lot, which helps him cause he misses his babies!!

Sadly, the trip had to come to an end. It was back to reality. I went home to our girls, and Nate stayed to keep on studying. We both just wanted me to head home, get the girls, and come on back. It's time to be a family again!

Special thanks to Lindsay, my Mom, and Robin for helping us with our babies. They had so much fun with you guys and Nate and I never worried about them at all. It was a much needed vacation!

My First ...

Ponytail and Bow!!

Clancey has some hair!! This is a first for me, because the other 2 girls didn't get hair until they were 2 years old! I had to try the ponytail and it worked :). Clance is gooing more each day and just eats up any attention she gets, especially from her older sisters. It is pretty cute. I just love my little 3 musketeers!

Fun with Friends

It was too wet to go outside and play today, so we had a little party inside. Findlay and Elsie had Molly and Julia come over to play. It was so much fun! We had a picnic - toasted cheese, pears, and bananas and some tootsie rolls on the family room floor. Thank heavens for picnic blankets! Lucky for me, Clancey slept the entire time, so it was a fun easy morning!

Melt Your Heart!

I told Findlay today that Mommy was going to go on an airplane to see Daddy and that she was going to sleep and Molly’s house. She looked at me and said, “You go get my Daddy and bring him back home!?!” Ya, tear jerker! I told Nate and it just melted his heart. What a sweet little girl!

Party, Party, Party!

Party 1 - The Buckalews

Can I just say how much I LOVE my old neighborhood!?! If you ever want to buy a house, live in Woods Cross! I miss my friends! Well, those friends invited us back for a little Easter egg hunt. It was so fun! Probably around 100 eggs were hidden outside for about 8 kids to have a tons of fun finding. It was pretty cute. Then it was good food and games. My little girls ate their candy until I put it well above reach. The other kids ate a few pieces then went and played. My girls noticed they left and Mom took their candy so they started to finish their little friends treats off. Soon those went above reach and it was off to play. That worked until Elsie discovered the swedish fish bowl on the game table. She shoved an entire handful in her mouth, then a second. One of the Dad pointed her out to me, and Els new her time was short, so she grabbed a 3rd handful and tried to shove that in her mouth. This all happened in about 20 seconds. You should have seen her mouthful of fish! Too funny! Thank you Buckalews!! We had so much fun!

Party 2 - Payne Family

This party was lots of fun, and bittersweet at the same time. This is Nate's side of the family and we just miss our Daddy! Luckily Nate was able to skype ... the bittersweet part. It made it so he was apart of Easter, but we all got a little bit homesick for Daddy and Daddy was homesick for his girls!! The fun started with an easter egg hunt. Findlay found purple eggs and Elsie found yellow ones. They just loved it, and Daddy chased them around on the computer watching them the entire time. Next was dying eggs. By the time we were done, Findlay had purple hands and Elsie was covered in yellow. Luckily google suggested to was your hands in vinegar, then soap. That made is so by the end of the day their hands were stain free :) Clancey enjoyed being held by Grammy and Papa. Grammy got her to laugh harder than I have ever seen. Lots of smiles and giggles!! And finally a Payne family party would not be complete without games. Grammy did an egg race for adults, it was pretty funny to watch. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I didn't participate because it was a team effort and my other half was gone...I figured someone needed to take these glorious pictures and I firmly believe I had more fun watching them kill/swat their eggs. By the end of the 3 lap race a portion of the yoke was all that was left. Its always a fun adventure with the Paynes.

Party 3 - The Extended Cook Family

This party is always a fun one. Grandpa started out with a great story, he always has the best teaching stories (see my Easter Post). Then it was off to their back yard where everyone young, and young at heart (everyone else except my parents, aunts and uncles and me), searched for the Egg with their name on it. Grandma said she figured I had my hands full with the 3 girls so they didn't want to put me through an egg hunt. Thank you!! Although I do love to find the egg, my girls didn't want to watch me hunt for my Easter egg :) Findlay and Elsie's eggs were hidden in front of a bush. The eggs had princess cell phones (a total hit), princess lip gloss (another hit), and a chocolate bunny. Can you tell my girls like anything "Princess?" Go Disney! After some delicious food, it was play time. There was not a shortage of little bodies running around outside and jumping on the tramp. Grandma says the best part of a Cook party is that everyone whether they are there or not, wants to be there. That is the total truth! Everyone loves to be together. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! What an example they are to all of us on how to raise a family!

Easter Sunday

I have to say, a few thoughts touched me today in church.

1. Everyone needs to start doing/being their best sometime and it might as well be now.
2. Our Savior Jesus Christ will take you as you are. (He just wants the best you!)
3. He is Risen!

At the Cook family Easter Egg hunt, Grandpa also shared a great story that one of his friend's had shared with him. This friend of Grandpa's was traveling on a bus to the airport one morning heading off on a business trip. Sitting in front of him was another well dressed business man. As the bus pulled up to the airport, the business man stood up, turned around and announced to the crowd ,"Have you heard the news?" The crowd waited to hear what had happened. The man replied, "The Savior Jesus Christ is Risen and has atoned for our sins! Just something to think about on this wonderful morning." The business man smiled, then got off the bus.

What a wonderful morning each morning is! Just something to think about.

This morning was also full of Easter Egg Basket hunting. The Easter bunny hid Elsie's basket under the table and Findlay's on speaker behind Grandpa's chair. Both spots are favorite playing places for the girls. Elsie found her blanket pretty quick, but Findlay just couldn't see the basket right in front of her eyes. She kept going behind the couch then turning the corner instead of looking straight in front of her where the basket was. Too funny. The girls also kept asking if they could go outside to find more eggs. We had 3 easter egg hunts in the last 2 days and they couldn't get enough of the eggs full of treats. They looked adorable in their easter dresses, and we had a low key fun Easter Sunday.

Pumpkin Patch

So this happened back during Halloween time, but I have to share. Growing up, one of my favorite memories was the pumpkin patch. Every year in the spring time all my Cook cousins and I would go to Grandpa's huge garden and plant corn and pumpkins. We ended up eating the corn all summer and come fall time we'd pick the pumpkins. There would be lots of pumpkins so we'd set up shop and sell to all of our neighbors. It was so fun. Oh the memories!! Well, Great Grandpa Cook has kept up this tradition with his great grandkids. This year he planted enough pumpkins for every great grandkid. Findlay and Elsie had so much fun romping around his garden picking out their pumpkins for Halloween. I'm so glad my girls are able to see that fun tradition.

Funny Little Girls

Elsie became my little helper today. I was trying to get my hair done and Clancey needed a bottle, so like a good mom, I propped it :). Elsie scooted over on the couch and grabbed the bottle and fed Clancey. Talk about cute!! A few minutes into the feeding Clancey started to fuss. Pretty soon I heard "Ssh, Ssh. It okay little darlin'. It okay." She was totally soothing and feeding her! ADORABLE!

Findlay has decided to have a reason for everything. Today she told me, "I need a drink of water cause I'n cold." I also heard, "I can't have a pickle cause I'n sick." Another line lately is "I have to have my medicine!" That line is used as she gets the candy, "Reisens", out of the candy drawer that she is not supposed to get into. :)

Cute Things

I thought I would post some cute things the girls have done as of late

Findlay:

Findlay prays for her Daddy to be a doctor every night, meal, and in between. She also prays about her dreams and things that happen. She has been playing with a friend that has a huge cat named fat cat, and he isn't the nicest. I bet you are wondering how these are related...yesterday in a prayer for lunch, Findlay said "Bless Daddy to be a doctor and bless mCAT be nice and fat cat be nice." She totally thought the MCAT was another cat. It was cute!! Findlay also blesses "Uncle Nate's bottom feel better" in every prayer, with out fail! My bro was having "issues" last weekend and told his 3 year old so she understood that Daddy didn't feel good. Well, Molly told Finny that her "Daddy has a sore Bum Bum" and now he is blessed! Watch what you tell your kids!

I just have to say Finny has turned into such a little helper and is so thoughtful. Yesterday we were trying to leave and she had been playing with her castle in the basement. Without me even asking, she cleaned it up then said "Look mommy I cleaned my castle up. It looks good Mommy? You like it?" I just gave her a big hug. She also tattles on Elsie who scales anything and everything that she shouldn't scale. That means I now have eyes in the back of my head :) Finny will also give you an ego boost whenever you need it. All day today, she kept saying "Mommy your hair is so beautiful." She said it at least 4 times, and today my hairs was in pig tails. It was a good boost :) Finny also gives grandpa hugs on demand which he just loves.

Elsie:

Els Bells loves her sister Finny. She copies anything and everything Findlay does, and wants to be with her every second. Every nap and night time, I tuck Elsie in first. Without fail she says "Go get Finwee" then shoves her blanket in her mouth.

Another cute girls moment is when I will be driving somewhere and Elsie will say "Hol' my hand Finwee?". I'll look back and sure enough, there's my girls holding hands in their car seats. That happens almost every time we drive somewhere. I am so glad they have each other! Gotta love it!

One of Elsie's favorite things to do is drink pop. She knows exactly who will give her some (grandpa) and right where he keeps it. The other day Bells decided to go to his mini fridge and turn Grandpa's drink to really cold. Well that really cold turned to frozen and to about a dozen cans of pop exploding inside. Lucky for her it was just full of Elsie's pop. My dad had already drank most of the kinds that he liked. All that was left was Sprite Zero and a crappy form of diet Gingerale. He lets the girls have and play house with those cans of pop.

Did I mention the girls have the cutest playhouse in the garage? Its a kitchen with a table and chairs that sits inside an empty crate, which my mom used for work. That is Elsie's favorite place to play. She loves to get Elsie's pop and play house with her babies in the garage. Its pretty funny.

Clancey:

My baby rolled over!!! She is growing up too fast. The day Nate left for the Bahamas (April 4), was when the big event occurred. I was changing our other 2 girls into their clothes for the day and Clancey decided to roll over on the bed. The best part was that all 3 of us saw, and the girls noticed that she moved. They cheered for her too. It was really adorable.

Another cute thing is that my baby is getting bigger. I changed her in the middle of the night 2 nights ago, and I swear she had grown. The next morning I weighed her, and I did it again the next day. Clancey put on .5 lbs in 2 days! Insane! She smiles on demand and gets mobbed by her sisters. The best part is that she just grins every time they give her lots of love.

What can I say, girls are the best!!