Halloween 2010

Halloween this year was awesome!!! We spent it at Aunt Cindy and Uncle Bret's house in Casa Grande, Arizona with lots of family and friends. The girls were Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. They were adorable...especially the hair. Unfortunately, the 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2' were a little big on their costumes (my fault - I fit it to the PJ's and not to the baby) - but it still worked. I did my best....afterall, this is a whole new thing for me :)

Jason and I didn't dress up this year. We just wore some funny hair pieces/hats that my mom and I found. We still look cute together though!

But...the girls look even cuter in them than us!!

Jason and Andrew had a blast sitting on the porch scaring the trick-or-treaters that came to the door. I think they had more fun than the little kids!

Aunt Cindy found a Ginger Bread 'Haunted House' kit so we thought we'd give it a try. It was MUCH harder to do than it appeared and nothing would stay together (hence the toothpicks holding up the sides of the roof). However, we had a great time building it even though it didn't turn out that good!

Fall 2010 Pictures - Just for Fun

We had some 'Just for Fun' Fall pictures taken of the girls. I can't believe how big they have gotten!!! The first pictures are of Ella.

Here are some of Ava.

Halloween Costumes 2010

Ava and Ella are going to be Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss's 'The Cat in the Hat' this Halloween. You can't purchase the costumes so I took on the task of making them....yes, another 'domestic' project for me (can you believe it???). I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I love the blue hair the best. Can't wait to see them in their costumes on Halloween!!!

Wholesome Homemade Food....Yes, Homemade

I've decided to make the girls baby food....yes, make it! There were two reasons we went down this road: (1) for the health aspect and (2) for the cost. Basically, you take fresh fruits and vegetables and either steam or bake them and then puree with water. The pureed food then goes into icecube trays where it gets frozen to be used for future meals. Here is the great website that a friend of mine gave to me: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. All of the details are there. Although a little time consuming and messy, it was quite easy....AND....the girls actually like it!!! Another added benefit is that it cost about 1/3 of what store bought baby food is!!!

LAKER SEASON!!!!!!

Today is the first official Laker game of the season and what do you know....you're looking at the newest Laker Fans! Aren't they adorable???

Halloween Pumpkin Carving 2010

Being that it is Ava and Ella's first Halloween, we had to carve pumpkins. The girls got to touch the 'seeds and pumpkin inners'....we couldn't tell what they were thinking - they just had blank looks on their faces. The years to come will be more fun I have a feeling!

Here is our finished product. The pumkin on the right looks the best, right?? :)

New Fun Toy!!!

Grandpa Cassady bought the girls a stationary jumper....and as you can see they LOVE it!!!!! Thanks Grandpa!!!!

Biking Fun

Those of you who know us know that we are fairly active and love biking. We recently invested in a double bike trailer and the girls absolutely LOVE it!

Ava and Ella vs. The Carrots

I think the Carrots won!!!

Jenny Jump Up!

The girls received a Jenny Jump Up at the baby shower and now have finally reached the age where they can try it out. This jumper simply hangs from any doorway and the girls can then jump up and down in it (or twirl around as they were doing). They are still a little small for them as you can see, but none-the-less, they seemed to enjoy it! Here is Ava just chillin'...she seemed to be very comfortable.

Ella liked the jumper more in the sense that she tried to jump up and down and twirl around.

Girls together!

Big Girl Bed

The girls have finally transitioned into their big girl cribs. Yes - it was about time...but I had a hard time with it. I must say though...they are MUCH happier being that they have so much room. I should have made the move for them sooner! They are still in the same crib though with a crib separater. However, I don't think that will last for too long being that they are getting so big.

Zion Hiking and Sight Seeing

We spent one of our days at Zion National Park...it's only about 80 miles from Bryce Canyon so we had to take a trip there. Zion is amazing and the sandstone rocks/mountains are something to marvel over....they are huge!!! We took a shuttle to see all of the different look out points and hiking trails. Once again, the girls were in their Bjorns having a great time!

At one of the stops, the 'Narrows' as it's called, we decided to go for a hike. It was a mile in and a mile out, but well worth the trip. You hike along side a small river...it was beautiful!

Ava got to ride along with Uncle Matty for most of this hike. By the end, she was completely tuckered out.

Ava and Auntie Jen sitting together as we waited for the shuttle to pick us up!

More beautiful pictures as we were driving out of the canyon....there were simply too many to include them all!

Tropic Reservoir

Just outside of Bryce Canyon there is a small town called Tropic. About 10 miles down a dirt road you come to a reservoir which was not only beautiful but so peaceful. The only people we saw all afternoon were a couple kayaking with their dog. Needless to say, we enjoyed another day out in nature. The girls were in heaven with all the fresh air!

Hiking and Sight Seeing in Bryce Canyon

We took the girls on their very first hike ever (and the first one for us in quite some time). Thanks to Jessi we had our new Baby Bjorn's so we were able to carry the girls along. They did great and actually didn't cry at all. They were, however, quite heavy by the end of our hike.

This is the Navajo Trail that we hiked. We hiked down into this canyon which was amazing! The pictures don't do justice to how beautiful the red rocks really are.

Later in the week we all drove to each of the look-out points in Bryce Canyon. You could see the incredible 'hoodoos' (the specific rock formations found in Bryce Canyon), arches and gorgeous valley below.