I wish I would have brought my camera. . .

So Thursday night, or should I say, early Friday morning, was a very interesting time. It was around 12:30 a.m., and I was just headed to bed. The girls were asleep and Justin was on his way home from the school. Just as I lay down Riley started screaming and coughing. I ran into her room to discover her sputtering like she had just thrown up. I climbed into her bed to check for throw up, but couldn't find any. She continued to cough and her breathing was very labored. By this time, Justin had come upstairs to help me. He had turned the hall light on so we could see better. Neither of us could figure out what was causing her to have such labored breathing. Then, Justin picked up her sippy cup--it is a small Thermos with a plastic straw. Justin noticed that the top had been chewed off. I asked her if there was something in her throat. She opened her mouth and then began to claw at her throat. She still couldn't breath very well, and Justin and I began to freak out. He went downstairs to get a flashlight to check her throat. When we realized that wasn't going to work, I suggested calling an ambulance. We pulled her out of bed and took her downstairs to watch a movie until it came. By this time we were frantic and she was calming down. She wanted to lay down, but we told her she had to stay sitting up. We didn't want to risk having her choke on whatever was in her throat. When the paramedics arrived they checked her breathing and agreed with us that there was something in her throat, and that she needed to go to the hospital to have it checked out. So Riley and I got on the stretcher and they put us in the ambulance. The driver asked us if he could use the lights and the sirens. I told him sure. He was afraid the sirens might scare Riley, but the exact opposite was true, she thought they were awesome. She liked looking around the ambulance and thought the little finger monitor was cool. She liked the little red light. She was somewhat disappointed when the ride was over. They took us in the hospital. By this time Riley was completely calm and her breathing was somewhat normal. It was still a little off, but she was doing much better. In fact she was chatting and pointing out interesting things. They took us into the waiting room, since it no longer looked like an emergency; she was thrilled when she saw the TV. There was no rush to get us in anywhere, which was fine with Riley, she liked watching the George Lopez Show. She was a little upset when they took us into our room. She brightened up rather quickly when she saw a get well balloon in the room. "Look mom, happy birthday to me!"
For the next several hours we sat in the room watching the Disney Channel, which was exciting because we don't get that channel at home. Several nurses and/or residents came to check on her and decided that she needed and x-ray. She loved the elevator ride up to the room, but was not excited about the x-ray machine itself. When we walked in the room the machine was resting on the table. The technician moved the machine up and then moved the table up. I told Riley that she had to lay down on the table so that the big camera could take her picture. She yelled in response, "No mom! I don't want it to squish me!" I explained that she wasn't going to be squished, she was just going to get her picture taken. She didn't like the idea of me leaving the room either, but she made it. After another exciting elevator ride, we went back to our room to resume our TV watching. By this time I was exhausted and Riley was totally wired. She was running around our room, balloon in hand, and going crazy. Finally, the doctor came in and told us that the x-ray was inconclusive, because if she did swallow a plastic piece it wouldn't show up on the x-ray anyway. So her diagnosis was that Riley had croup. She said the only way to test the theory was to give her something to drink. If she could drink it, then it was croup; if she couldn't drink it, she had something in her throat and they had to put some fiber optic something or other down her throat to check things out. So, they offered her the juice. Riley was so excited for that juice box. She drank half the box in one gulp. The doctor concluded that it was in fact croup and recommended a steroid to help the swelling in the throat. When the lady that we hadn't seen before came in to give Riley the medicine she noticed that there were pictures of cake on Riley's pajamas. She asked Riley if she liked cake and if she would share a piece of cake with her. Riley "took" a piece of cake from her pajamas and gave it to the lady. Several minutes later the nurse showed up. When we first got there, Riley wouldn't even look at him, but when he came in and said that he wanted a piece of cake too, Riley wasn't sure what to do. She looked at me and then down at her pajamas and found a Popsicle and "gave" that to him. He ran out of the room yelling, "See, I told you she would give me something too!" Shortly after that we were discharged. We called Justin for a ride home. They had taken us to Women and Children's hospital, which for those that know where we live, is a good twenty minutes from our house, so we had awhile to wait. Riley and I sat by the automatic front doors and waited for him. Riley was still pretty wired, even though it was approaching 4 a.m. She would run past the door, which would open, laugh and then run over to me. When Justin finally showed up he drove right past the doors. We ran outside to wave him down. I was afraid he hadn't seen us and was going to keep on driving. Riley started crying and said, "No daddy, come back. I want to go to Riley's house!" Then we realized he was just turning around.
Riley talked the whole way home and told Justin about her balloon, watching cartoons and riding in the elevator. When we got home I told Riley that she had to go back to bed. She said she wasn't tired and didn't want to. She wanted to play or watch something downstairs. Again, she insisted that she wasn't tired. I told her to climb in bed and try to sleep. Thankfully she slept until 11:00 a.m.

Even though this was one of the longest nights of my life, and I was afraid that some terrible thing had happened to my daughter, I still found several moments that seemed magical in a way: my first ambulance ride, which I got to share with Riley; watching Riley run around her hospital room in her pajamas and rain boots, with the balloon in hand singing "Happy Birthday;" watching her excitement with each room we went into--"Look at THAT mom!" All of this made me realize how great my life really is and how grateful I am for the things I have and oh how I wish I would have brought my camera to capture it all!




p.s. the only other time that we went to the emergency room with one of our children was when Valen stuck a peanut up her nose. she later sneezed it out and there was no harm done. apparently my children don't know how to have a real emergency. . .thank goodness!

Pictures of Fall

We decided that we needed to take to opportunity of the beautiful fall colors and take some pictures of the girls. We went to the Amherst State Park. If you live here and you haven't been, I highly recommend it. It is set in front of an old monastery. There is a set of really cool stairs in front of the building that are really old and neat looking. We thought this would be the perfect place for some pictures. We were not disappointed.




This is our picture we took to capture the beautiful fall colors.


I swear I have the cutest girls in the world!


These are the steps. They look even better when adorned by two very cute girls.


This is one of my favorite pictures. It's moments like this that make me enjoy my time as a mom.


I love this picture because it shows Valen's cuteness and Riley's inability to focus more than three seconds.


This is their model pose.


Valen was trying to school Riley on how to pose properly. I think it worked!


Every time I look at this picture I can't help but laugh. I think Valen is sneezing, and I'm not sure what Riley is doing, but she looks kind of evil and it's just hilarious! I think this picture more than any of the rest of them capture the true nature of my girls!

Yellow Balloon

Dear Grandma Doreen,
The other day while Mom and I were shopping, Mom got me a yellow balloon and I was very excited. However, when we got outside and I tried to hand it to Mom, she accidently let go of it. At first, I was upset and I cried. But then, Mom pointed out that my balloon was headed toward a flock of geese. I think the flock of geese caught the balloon and began to head in your direction. I don't know how long it takes for geese to fly from here to Wyoming, but when they get there will you make sure that you get my balloon. I'll get it from you the next time I see you. Thanks so much.

Love,
Riley

P.S. Mom took me to the store again yesterday. I got an orange balloon. This time I held onto it.

Another Inspirational Thought

Highlights from the October Ensign

Blessings of the Temple

By Elder Robert D. Hales

The primary purpose of the temple is to provide the ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Temple ordinances guide us to our Savior and give us the blessings that come to us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Temples are the greatest university of learning known to man, giving us knowledge and wisdom about the Creation of the world. Endowment instructions give guidance as to how we should conduct our lives here in mortality. The meaning of the word endowment is "gift." The ordinance consists of a series of instructions on how we should live and covenants we make to live righteously by following our Savior.

Couples who maintain strong and vital marriages:

First, these couples know individually who they are--sons and daughters of God. The set eternal goals to once again live with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They strive to leave the ways of the natural man behind.

Second, they know the doctrine and the importance of the saving temple ordinances and temple covenants and their necessity in achieving eternal goals.

Third, they choose to obtain the eternal blesings of the kingdom of God rather than the temporary possessions of the world.

Fourth, these couples realize that when they are sealed for time and all eternity, they have chosen an eterna companion--their days for courting others are over! There is no need to look any further!

Fifth, these ccouples think of one another before themselves. Selfishness suffocates spiritual senses. Communicating with the Lord in prayer, they grow together and not apart. They converse with each other, thereby never letting little things become big things. They are willing to apologize and ask forgiveness if they have hurt the one they love. They express their love for each other and become closer. The lift and strengthen one another.

We voluntarily came from the presence of God the Father to this mortal probations with agency, knowing we would have "opposition in all things." Our objective is to take upons us the whole armor of God and withstand "the fiery darts of the wicked" with the shield of fatih and the swaord of the Spirit, to endure to the end, and to be worthy to stand and live in the presence of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, for all eternity--to achieve what is called eternal life.

Truths and Lies

By Jenifer Nuckols

President Boyd K. Packer said, "Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ."

Spiritual Thought of the Week

Lessons From Liberty Jail

by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

~. . . you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life--in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced.

~. . .every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through it. These difficult lessons teach us that man's extremity is God's opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitation prisons of our lives into temples--or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace.

~. . .when we promise to follow the Savior, to walk in His footsteps, and be His disciples. we are promising to go where that divine path leads us. And the path of salvation has always led one way or another through Gethsemane. So if the Savior faced such injustices and discouragements, such persecutions, unrighteousness, and suffering, we cannot expect that we are not going to face some of that if we still intend to call ourselves His true disciples and faithful followers.

Justin's Birthday

i know i have posted this before, but now that it is getting closer, i thought i would post it again. i am trying to collect 30 dvd's for justin's birthday this year--he's turning 30. by babysitting and through the help of others i am up to 22. if there is anyone out there who is interested in helping me reach my goal by september 30th--his birthday--i would greatly appreciate it! i really want to make this year special for him and making a dvd library that he is proud of has made him very happy. he gets very excited each time he is able to claim that he owns a certain movie or box set; or when he can show something in class and doesn't have to borrow it from the department at school.
again, i would appreciate any help that anyone is willing give!

i know i'm begging, but what are friends and loved ones for!?!

life lesson. . . i think

The other day Riley wandered into the bathroom while i was using the facilities. she noticed me opening a tampon and asked me what i was doing. so i explained to her what it was and what i was doing, which i assumed made no sense to her whatsoever. the next time i was in the bathroom she wanted to help me open the tampon. today she found one in my purse and came to find me. i didn't understand what she wanted and thought it was her that needed to go potty. when i asked her if she need to go potty she said, "no, mom, i all better. you go potty." she then held up the tampon, "here mom, you use it." while i sat there laughing, she opened it and held it up to me. i told her that i didn't need to go potty, but she held it up and insisted. she then began to play with the tampon and realized that it was covered in cardboard piece, and tried to pull it out. once she got it out, she began to pull it apart. after several more minutes, in which she mutilated the tampon, she insisted that i go potty. again i told her that i didn't need to go. "yes mom, you go potty." finally i obliged. while sitting there, she handed me the pulled apart, waded up tampon and told me to use it. i told her that i didn't need it, but thank you. she then sat there for a moment, looking at it, and then threw it away. i would say that she learned something about life, but i'm not sure what.

Oh, Riley

I know I have posting a lot about Riley, but she has been funny a lot lately.

Riley likes to twirl anytime that she gets into a dress or skirt. Last night, after her bath, I put her "dress" pajamas on. Before she would let me comb her hair she had to twirl around for me. Every time she twirls around it is mandatory for someone to tell her that she is gorgeous, so of course, I did. "Yes, Mom, I'm beautiful. I'm a princess."

Head, shoulders, knees and. . .nipples?!

This morning we were invited out to the playground to play with Molly and Anna Eccles. While getting ready to go out, Riley, who has been obsessed with this body part lately, lifted up her shirt to point out her nipples to me. Then she pointed to Justin and said, "Daddy has nipples." Yep, Daddy has nipples. "Mommy has nipples." Yep, Mommy has nipples, too. "Molly has nipples." She then lifted up her shirt again, pointed out her nipples and said, "Riley show Molly nipples." We then explained to her that, yes, Molly did have nipples like Riley, but no, she couldn't show them to Molly. To say the least, she wasn't thrilled with this answer.

Thank you Sponge Bob

Riley had to go to the bathroom during Sacrament Meeting today. She loves going to the bathroom because she gets to get up, run around, get a drink and because the bathroom echoes when she yells. I try to keep her reverent, but it doesn't always go so well. After choosing a stall--which can sometimes be a lengthy process--we went in and I asked her to pull her panties down. Her response was, "Ay ay captain!" After finishing, I asked her to wipe, again her response was, "Ay ay captain!" I"m beginning to think that our day of cartoon vegging may have been to big of an influence!

strawberry picking

here we are picking strawberries at greg's u-pick.



riley and i at our picking best!



valen inspecting her most recent pick.


i'm not sure what my thought is on this strawberry, but it tasted good when we dipped it in chocolate.


a good harvest and a good time!

riley

so my excuse for not blogging lately has been that our camera broke. once we got a new one we didn't know how to format the pictures correctly. now that i have let justin work out all of the kinks and figure things out, i can post stuff once again!


here is riley enjoying a hot dog BUN at valen's frienship day.



here we see not only riley's cuteness, but also justin's amazing photographic talents. i once told justin that we need to take more pictures of him, but he told me that in an artistic sense you can see him.



here is riley enjoying a store bought packaged brownie. i know, i know what you're thinking, but it was a special occasion.



here is riley enjoying a bath.

riley is enjoying the new camera almost as much as justin is. every time we pull it out, she insists on taking a "smile," and then seeing it afterward.

Simple Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf

This one has quickly become a favorite around our house. It is simple and packed full of nutrition and protein.


Simple Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf

~ ½ C wild rice
~ 1 C quinoa
~ 1 vegetable bullion cube
~ 2 T butter or margarine
~ 2 scallions, thinly sliced
~ salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Combine the rice with 1 ¼ C water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
2. Add the quinoa, bouillon cube, and 2 C water. Cover and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the butter and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Smoothies!

I needed to type these up for a friend, so I thougt I would post them. They are from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook--one of my favorite cookbooks.

Sunshine Smoothie
~ 2 ripe bananas, broken into several pieces
~ 1 C pineapple juice
~ ½ C orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
~ 1 C lemon or orange yogurt

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.


Cinnamon Apple or Pear Smoothie
~ 1 ripe banana, broken into several pieces
~ 2 medium soft apples (such as Cortland or Golden Delicious) or ripe pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
~ 1 C vanilla yogurt
~ 1 C apple juice or apple cider
~ ¼ t ground cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.


Nutty Chocolate-Banana Smoothie
~ 1 large banana, broken into several pieces
~ 1 ½ C chocolate milk (chocolate soy, hemp or almond milk works well too)
~ 1 heaping T peanut butter or cashew butter

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.


Hope you enjoy!

Justin's Movie List

so i thought i had better put Justin's movie list here, just in case anyone is interested in helping me reach my goal of 30 DVDs.

The Following are part of the Criterion collection, which he prefers
~Touch of Evil director's cut
~Complete Monetery Pop Festival (3 disc set)--cheapest at criterion.com
~Ikiru
~The Seventh Seal


The following are from Kino films, which he prefers
~The Last Laugh (deluxe edition)
~Avant Garde-20's and 30's
~Avant Garde-28-54
~L' Age d'or

~Peter Tscherkassky compilation--www.index-dvd.at/en/program/008/index.html
~Yellow Submarine


several of these have multiple discs and each disc counts toward the total. the criterion collection can be found at criterion.com and the kino films at kino.com. amazon.com is also an option for the others. if you would rather contribute money, i'm willing to take that as well. i thank all of you in advance for your help and willingness to celebrate justin's birthday and his love of movies.

Hearty Seitan Salad

Several people have requested that I share vegetarian friendly recipes with them. Instead of emailing them separately, I've decided to put the recipes up on my blog. So when I find a good recipe or try an old favorite, I will try to remember to post it.

Hearty Seitan Salad

~1 pound seitan--this can be found in the refrigerated section of the health food section or you can omit this if you are unsure about it
~1 T light olive oil
~1 small head dark green lettuce, thinly sliced
~1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into narrow strips
~2 medium firm ripe tomatoes, diced
~1 medium avocado, sliced
~1/4 C sliced black olives
~2 scallions, sliced, optional
~dressing

1. Cut the seitan into strips, about 1/2 inch by 2 inches. Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Saute, stirring frequently, until golden, then remove from the heat.
2. Combine the lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado, olives and optional scallions in a mixing bowl and toss together. Add the seitan strips and enough dressing to moisten the salad, and toss again. Serve at once.


Here is the dressing that we used:

Tangy Tahini Dressing
~1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil
~1/4 C sesame tahini
~2 to 3 T apple cider vinegar
~juice of 1/2 lemon
~2 T natural soy sauce
~1 t dried dill

Combine all ingredients in a tightly lidded bottle and shake thoroughly. Shake well before each use. Keeps up to 2 weeks, refrigerated.

*We put the dressing on each individual portion.
*We also put the whole thing in whole wheat wraps and added fresh cut veggies to round out the meal.

Cooking School

Yesterday for Girl Scouts, Valen and her troop went to the Tops Cooking School in West Seneca. The girls had a great time watching the mirror over the counter and helping make the food.


Valen got to help chop the celery--with a plastic knife--for the chicken noodle soup.



I'm not quite sure how well the celery got chopped with a plastic knife, but she seemed to be having a good time doing it.



They also got to make banana muffins and mini personal pizzas. This is Valen shaping her crust. She was very methodical in saucing her crust and putting on the cheese and pepperoni.



This is Valen enjoying the fruits of her labors. She was especially glad to eat the pepperoni since we don't get them at home.

She had so much fun at the cooking school, that when I told her we were having pizza for dinner, she insisted that we buy mushrooms so that she could make her own pizza again.

Bicycle Museum

Last Saturday we went to the Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park. It wasn't quite what we expected--not sure what we were expecting--but at first Valen and Riley were very unhappy. Riley wouldn't let me put her down and she was screaming the whole time. After a few minutes we made it to this game and it was like magic:


Valen thought the game was cool--you paid $1 and the guy gave you 3 enlish pennies to play the game because it wouldn't accept anything else.



When Riley saw Valen playing the game, she wanted to play it too, and then she calmed down and let me put her down, and she actually started looking around at things.


At first, Valen was unsure about getting up onto the bike, but once we convinced her it was safe, we couldn't get her down.

Although Riley had calmed down quite a bit by this time, she really did not like the idea of me being up on the bike. She screamed the whole time I was up there. The guy that owns the museum even came back to make sure that everything was OK.

Justin. . .

We had a great time after all was said and done. I think the girls had the most fun in the gift shop area, but all in all it was really neat.

Valen's poem and non-boyfriend

~There wasan ice cream social at her school—Heritage Heights—tonight. Justin stayed home with Riley, while Valen and I went. She took off first thing to go play in the gym while I waited in line for the ice cream. Then, after eating the ice cream quickly, she headed back into the gym for rock climbing and stilt walking. She did really well with both.





Then it was time for the dancing. Valen really didn’t dance too much, she was spending most of her time with boys playing chase. One of the boys that she was playing with—Darrian—has a crush on her pretty bad. His parents told me that he randomly yells out that he loves Valen, and was heartbroken one day when he found out that she liked someone else. She played with him and Alex. After Darrian left, Valen and Alex hung out quite a bit. By the way that they were playing I could tell that there were some shared feelings between the two. When I confronted her about liking him, she just grinned at me. “But,” she informed, “he is NOT my boyfriend.”



Darrian is the one in the middle, Alex is on the right.

Valen got to read the poem that she wrote at school in AM Program today.

My Dad

My Dad is nice as three mice.
He is a sweet treat for me.
He has a smart heart in the family.
He is super duper.
He shares and cares like a bear.
He is helpful and caring.
He is friendly and courageous.
My Dad!

Mid Winter Recess

Valen had the week off from school and we tried to pack in as much stuff as possible. So here's a run down of our week:

~Monday--Valen got to hang out with Justin for the day at school and be his lighting model. Then she tested for and got her Green Belt in Karate. Riley loves going to Karate and playing out on the mat so much that she will invent a poopy diaper and need to changed--the bathroom is on the opposite side of the mat from where we sit.

~Tuesday--A catch up day from everything I didn't do on Monday. Although Valen did have Activity Days and Riley did have her music class.

~Wednesday--A day at the beach!--inside a shopping mall:


This is Riley surprised that I actually managed to catch up to her.



Valen and some of our friends. Hold still Jane!

I even fed my kids fast food! We had a pretzel, cheeseburger, and ice cream for lunch!


Riley being cute!

Valen also went to her first Sparring class for Karate. It was great watching her beat up other little kids and not get in trouble for it.

~Thursday we went to the Buffalo Science Museum:


Riley enjoying the boat sailing exhibit.


Valen putting a dinosaur puzzle together.


Yet another puzzle--this time with human bones.
This room is the one that I have a hard time getting my kids to leave--it contains most of the hands on exhibits. Riley likes the messy exhibits, as well as the live ones--"The bunny tickled me Mom." And Valen likes all of the games and puzzles and the ants.

~Friday--We went to Riley's new preschool class and had lots and lots of friends come over and play.

Somewhere in there we saw Justin a few times, watched a few movies--High School Musical 2 and the new Veggie Tales--ate out a few times and hung out at home a little bit.

All in all, it's been a great week! Can't wait till spring break!

Picture Princess Contest

Valen, age 8

Valen has natural beauty. She has piercing blue eyes and an amazing smile. She loves showing the worl how beautiful she is. She is very confident in herself and knows that she is special. She has a heart of gold and finds the good in everyone.

little girls and girls dresses from shabby baby

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-92-botanical.aspx

Riley, age 2

Riley is the cutest two year old in the world. She has a perfect button nose and beautiful eyes. She is full of life, love and laughter. She loves taking "smiles" and being in front of the camera and showing the world how cute she is. She is very tender hearted, happy and loves life.

little girls and girls dresses from shabby baby

http:///www.shabbyapple.com/p-79-china-doll.aspx

The Past Ten Days

Instead of blogging about all of these separately, I thought I would put them all together, and not necessarily in order.


Art Day
These are my little artists hard at work. We were making a birthday card for Valen's friend, and Riley wanted to join in the fun.


She had brushes, paper and cups of paint in the beginning, but we ended up just squirting the paint directly on the paper and using fingers.



Another look at the master hard at work. The cool thing about it was her asking for specific colors and telling me where to squirt them. I would suggest a color and she would tell me yes or no, and then tell me exactly where to squirt the paint.



This is Valen decorating the bag for the birthday present. She had more fun mixing colors and seeing what the outcome would be. She wasn't real focused on a design or picture, just color experimentation.

Riley's masterpiece.

This is Valen at the birthday party--for which we made the card and colored the bag--at Page's Party Paradise. She got to climb the rock wall, play games--her favorite being skee ball--and a game of laser tag. She was on the blue team and told me that she won the game because she shot the red teams target. She has requested that we go play laser tag again so that she can show me how to win.


Leaps N Bounce

On Saturday we decided to take the kids to Leaps N Bounce in Williamsville. Riley was absolutely obsessed with the slide. I think we set a new record of 40 slides in 20 minutes. She had a hard time climbing up to go down the slide, but after several runs she learned how to do it all by herself. She also insisted that she go down the slide all by herself. She was very good at going down the normal feet first, but when that got a little old, she was willing to try head first.

At the end of the day she was trying to go up the slide.

It's not a good picture, but this is me and Riley at the top of the slide watching Valen go down. Inflatable objects make it hard to take pictures.

Again, not a good picture, but this is Valen's "I'm having a good time" face. She really did have fun, I think she was upset that we were leaving.



Sun Day--or in other words, a Sunday with sun.

It was finally sunny today, and so Justin and Valen had to take advantage of it and play outside in the snow. This is Valen's snow bunny--my favorite part is the tail on the behind.

I'm not sure, but it might be a warrior bunny, maybe that's why it's holding the stick.

This is Justin's snow centipede--would that be snowtipede--and Valen's warrior bunny.