Raylee's Birthday

Happy 10th Birthday Raylee! Raylee turned 10 last Friday and Rikki had a hot dog roast at Dan and Carole's on Saturday to celebrate. One of Raylee's gifts was an Easy Bake, hope you haven't burned anything yet, Raylee! We're expecting great desserts next time we're at your house! Thanks for the invite Mark and Rikki, we really enjoyed ourselves. Hot dogs always taste great over a fire! Here's the photos.

Raylee and a few of her friends

Mike supervising Mark's cooking. Good job, Mike,

the hot dogs and hamburgers were delicious

Gavin and Hayden, 2 wild and craaazy guys!

Roasting hot dogs and singing (not really)

around the campfire.

Gavin, Hayden, and Grandpa Dan

Dad, lighting all 10 of those candles

Happy 10th Birthday, Raylee!!

Blowing out the candles

Uncle Tim's Visit

It had been too long since Tim had seen his nieces so Uncle Tim requested a visit from Alyssa and Olivia. Doug and Julia just happened to be along with them! They met at our home Friday evening since we're about half way between both families. Steph was in Chicago and wasn't able to come.

A few new things Olivia and Alyssa are doing: eating cereal, babbling, squealing, and laughing, putting weight on their legs, sitting in high chairs, rolling over and over, pushing with their legs getting ready to crawl, becoming aware of each other...will be fighting over their toys soon, sleeping on their tummies and sides, holding their blankets when sleeping and feeding, and trying to hold their bottles. Both of them look like they will have strawberry blonde hair, and their eyes are darkening and will probably be brown or maybe hazel. But no blue eyes from the Ayers/Hays side. We think Alyssa looks more like Julia and altho Olivia does too she may have a little bit of Doug in her, too.

Just an update on Alyssa--looks like she will be fitted for a helmet in the next couple of weeks. Although she has improved somewhat her head is still a little bit flat on one side. The doctors left it up to Doug and Julia to decide but ultimately they decided that Alyssa should probably be fitted for one. Of course insurance decided it's cosmetic so won't be paying for it but we think Doug and Julia have made the right decision. We have seen the photos of Alyssa when the Drs were casting her head for the helmet. Altho it looks pretty spooky (photos later) Julia said that Alyssa was laughing thru most of it and didn't cry until the very end. We'll keep everyone posted.

Olivia, bonding with Uncle Timmie. Zzzzzzzzzz

(actually it's just Olivia sleeping, not Tim)

Playing with Uncle Tim

Alyssa eating cereal

Alyssa, Yummmmm!

Olivia, eating cereal

Olivia, mmmmm, good!

Both girls, napping!

Alyssa, hand over eyes, trying to nap!

Sept 11-14, New Carpet for Tim and Steph

Mike and I hadn't done much for Tim and Steph in the last year (blame the grand kids) so we took a couple of days off work thinking Mike and Tim would work on his fence that encloses his yard. Mike thought he was going to replace some posts, power wash the fence, and maybe restain it. Notice how I always just hang out while the guys are always working? Anyway, in the meantime Tim and Steph got new carpet which was going to be installed while we were there.

Because of the bad weather Mike and Tim weren't able to work outside so we spent a lot of our time moving furniture for the carpet installation. Steph was at work when the carpet layers were there and unfortunately the kitchen was so full of furniture I wasn't even able to help prepare dinners. Darn! The carpet layers didn't finish until late Friday evening and we thought for a little while that a tornado was going to come thru right where Tim and Steph live. Fortunately, the storm went a little north of Tim's home but for a while we were glued to the TV for tornado warnings.

The weather broke for a little while on Saturday long enough for Tim and Mike to replace a few posts in Tim's fence and the rest of the time was spent trying to put together their home again. Amazing, what a mess everything is when an entire house is recarpeted. There was furniture in the kitchen, the storage room, and even the garage. Here's some photos of the new carpet and Tim and Steph's home especially for those of you who've never visited him.

Taking up the old carpet

Getting ready for the new
carpet and pad

Installing the pad

Mike and Tim, taking a short break


The finished product:


The Family Room

The Front Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Stairway to the upper floor

Labor Day Weekend

Mike and I went to Doug and Julia's over Labor Day weekend. They had a to-do list for Mike and asked us to watch Alyssa and Olivia on Sunday while they went boating on the river with some friends. Of course, Mike and I were delighted. We drove down on Saturday and got there by mid morning since we were anxious to see the girls. Mike and Doug installed some lighting downstairs which took most of the day and I spent the day with Julia enjoying the girls. We barbecued that night and then relaxed with some TV watching. The girls continue to amaze us. They are supporting their heads so much more, are spending a little time in the excersaucer, and interacting with us a lot more. It's fun to see how much they can now track us. They will look towards the sound of our voices, especially Doug and Julia's. Both girls are really growing and at the last Dr's appointment weighed around 14 lbs. They are continuous motion, especially moving their legs, and are now able to grab rattlers and move them from one hand to another, and everything tends to go to their mouths. Julia thinks maybe they're teething because they are drooling so much, but no teeth yet!

Mike and I had fun with Alyssa and Olivia on Sunday while Doug and Julia were able to spend some time with friends. We were able to go out on a little walk with them in their stroller but the weekend was so hot it was hard to do much outside. Monday was a short day and Mike and Doug worked around the house but it was one of those times where everything they needed to finish the job they didn't have so we made a list for next time.

Here's some of the photos we took over the weekend of the girls. I'm probably boring you with all my photos but I can't help myself! Enjoy!

Believe it or not, this was not posed! Alyssa on

the left, Olivia on the right.

Holding their heads up, Alyssa left, Olivia right.

Alyssa, all smiles, melts my heart!

And Olivia, all giggles!

Olivia, using her exersaucer.

And Alyssa, concentrating hard.

Mike and Olivia, Sunday evening,

outside of Doug and Julia's.

Great photo of Julia and Alyssa.

Stars with their shades! Alyssa left, Olivia right.

Olivia, always on the move, I couldn't

hardly get a picture that wasn't blurred.

Doug and the girls, in their Spurs outfits, a gift

from Carol and Lisa. Alyssa left, Olivia right.

Alyssa, in her outfit given to her from Carol Chappel.

Oliva in her outfit. How cute!