The Rogers' Neighborhood

Baby Jack

2010-06-28T19:25:00.002-06:00

What we’ve been up to…

2010-06-11T10:06:00.001-06:00

Well, I’m checking off the things on my list of things to do before baby brother, (or as Auston wants to name him, Crackers), gets here, and one of them is to update the blog, so here it is!

Steve has started his internship in Indianapolis and is really enjoying it! The firm is awesome and he likes everyone he works with, and we really love Indianapolis! We’re staying at a place right downtown, within walking distance of the zoo, so we got a year pass, which has been really fun! Steve also was able to go to the Indy 500 and hang out in a VIP suite, because the firm represents the track and owner, so that was pretty exciting for him (sadly, we weren’t invited). He was able to go down on the track, meet some drivers, and get this, Danica Patrick looked at him. So cool (I’m rolling my eyes at that last one :) Just kidding babe). Anyway, we’re really enjoying it out there.

Also, Steve’s mom came out for a week and we were able to get a lot done to prep for the baby, and it was so great to have her here to help out with the kids while Steve was in Indy!

Another thing we did was plant a garden, and Steve made the container and fence around it all by himself, and I think he did a great job! The garden has really taken off, so we’re excited to start enjoying the rewards.

Last week, some of friends out here threw me a shower, which was so nice and a lot of fun! Thank you so much for it, I loved it!

So that’s a quick recap of what’s been going on, and here are some fun pictures and videos, so enjoy!

Touching the Elephants after their show

The Dolphin show at the Zoo

My Baby Shower

Our Garden (it’s now huge! The fence is to keep the rabbits out)

Auston and his girlfriend Grace. He’s always asking for her and showing off for her when he sees her, doing karate moves (which I have no idea where he learned them. Very manly)

And here’s our future yoga master (I came downstairs from getting ready, and BYU TV was on somehow, and Audrey was doing the yoga on it. She was so into it, she didn’t even hear me come down or start filming her! It was adorable! And as a side note, the teacher who was teaching it turned out to be a yoga teacher I had at UVSC, and she is awesome! Good taste Audrey)

Happy Mother’s Day!

2010-05-09T22:48:00.001-06:00

Can I just tell you how much I love being a mom? Today was so great, I woke up this morning to some awesome breakfast in bed, brought to me by my hot husband and two gorgeous kiddos, and then Steve surprised me with an cute scrapbooking tote, and I wasn’t expecting anything, I was so excited! The kids were so good getting ready for church, they actually were cooperating, and we were able to talk to Steve’s brother Matt whose on his mission in Italy via a conference call with the family. Then at church, Audrey fell asleep on my lap (or at least what she could of my lap, since it’s pretty much taken over by my belly), which was the best Mother’s Day gift she could give me! Church was great, the primary kids were good, sharing time went well, Audrey didn’t have an accident (she’s potty training), I got cookies (awesome!), Steve made dinner and one of my favorite pies, and the kids haven’t gotten in any really big fights. Such a great day!

It was funny, today we were out in our backyard on our swing set, and Steve was swinging the kids on the little two-seater swing thing where they face each other. They kept asking Steve to “Go higher, Daddy, go higher!”, which he of course did, when they went so high, Auston kind of flew off the seat a little, which scared me to death, but of course didn’t faze the kids. I told Steve to stop, and Audrey said to stop too, and when they did, this is the conversation we proceeded to have.

Audrey(waving me away): Go away mommy, go away

Me: Why?

Audrey: Just go away to the other side (of the yard)

Me: K, but don’t go high

Audrey: I won’t

I then start to walk away, then she says to Steve,whispering

Audrey: Mommy’s going away

Steve: Do you want to go higher?

Audrey: (still whispering) Yeah, go higher!

Isn’t she a little stinker? And she’s only two and a half! It’s scary to think about what she’s going to be like as a teenager. Ugh! Oh well, I still love being a mom! I wouldn’t trade it for anything, even on those days when Auston empties out every basket with every toy, or when Audrey has about 10 accidents in one day, or when Auston tries to play the Wii and throws the remote at the TV and brakes it so we have to get a new one (but hey, at least he has a good arm? :), or Audrey decides to get into Mommy’s make-up and jewelry. I still love it, and I love these babies! It makes me so sad to think we’ll only be able to share these fun moments for just a little longer, and then they’ll be all grown up and I’ll be wishing for these days again. But I’m so excited for this new little munchkin to join our family in 6 (yes 6!) weeks, I can’t wait to meet him! Here are some fun pictures to enjoy of the past however long it’s been since we last put up pictures :) And Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there, especially to my mom and my mom-in-law, I love you both and am so thankful for you!

I love these kids so much!

The

Best Family in the World!

We are SO proud of you Daddy!!

2010-04-14T08:29:00.002-06:00

Well, Last week, Steve went to Hong Kong to compete in the International Competition for Client Counseling, and out of 22 countries, he and his team-mate James took 3rd! We are so proud of them, they did such a great job and really did a great job of representing our country! They also had a great missionary experience, where they were able to hand out 61 Books of Mormon, pretty amazing! I'll have him tell about that experience, because it's much better in his own words :). We are so excited he's home, we all really missed him! My mom was able to come out and spend the week with us while he was gone, and I am so thankful she did! We had so much fun with her, spending time in St. Louis, doing/finishing projects, shopping, and just hanging out. Pictures will come really soon, I just wanted to make this quick post to let you all know what we've been up to and how Steve did in Hong Kong. Congrats again Daddy! We love you!

Congrats to Daddy, the National Champion!!!

2010-03-23T13:28:00.004-06:00

A quick little update, Steve and his partner/best friend/evil twin (to quote my friend Monica, the evil twin’s wife), James, won Regionals in their Client Counseling Competition in February, and this past weekend competed in Nationals in Texas, and they WON!!!! Yay!!! We're so proud of you!!! To quote my Dad, it's like he won the NCAA championship in Client Counseling :) The craziest/coolest thing is, though, that next they're going to HONG KONG to compete in the World Championship, representing the United States of America, so now it's like they're going to the Olympics of Client Counseling as Team USA!!! Whoo-hoo!!!We''re so excited for them!!! And thankfully, my mom will be coming out for the week while Steve is gone, so life is good :) Anyway, congrats to Daddy, we love you so much and are so proud of you!!!

Our Monthly Opine

2010-02-25T10:37:00.004-07:00

If you couldn’t guess by the title, Kristen is not the updater this week. I am not usually one to tend the blog and worry if we are up-to-date, but we have some pictures that were too cute not to post. These really cute pictures were taken at a friend's house. This friend is the type of friend everyone looks for, they have amazing, cutting-edge electronics and a photo studio in their house. On top of all the cool gadgets, they are easy going, faithful people, just the best! We’ve met a lot of families out here in Champaign that are great. We couldn't survive without friends out here, Kristen and I would probably have killed each other by now! Another exciting announcement, although not quite as big as the one we made over Christmas (but close to as big), is that I am training for a sprint triathlon out here called Tri-the-illini. It’s a little tri around the U of I campus. So I have been swimming, biking and running. Hopefully it starts to get a little warmer so I can train outside. I'll let you know more as it gets closer, but I expect a fast and prayer session the weekend of the event, the last thing I need is to try and bike/run into a 30 mph wind. Anyway, here are the pictures – Enjoy!

Grandpa and Uncle Dave are in Haiti

2010-02-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

This news clip has an interview with Steve's dad, (kind of at the end), we're really proud of him! He is in Haiti right now, along with Steve's brother Dave, helping to do surgeries and provide medical attention, and Dave is helping and will be flying back with the orphans. We love you and are keeping you in our prayers! When Audrey saw this, she got all excited saying "Apa! Apa!", it was so cute :)

ksl.com - Utah Hospital Task Force on its way to Haiti

Time For a Little Catch Up!

2010-01-29T22:30:00.002-07:00

Ok, now you know that we don’t keep promises made on the Blog . . . You really shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Since it’s been forever since we last updated, I thought we might be due for one :). We had a great time over the Holidays, and it all was kicked off with Auston and Audrey’s birthday! We had their party at an indoor playground nearby with all of their friends, and they had such a great time :).

They turned 2 years old and it almost seems like they instantly grew up! They just started talking a ton, putting words together into sentences and saying the cutest things! It seems like everyday I’m cracking up at something they said. For example, the other day Audrey’s tummy was hurting, and she let us know by telling us “My button’s hurting” (meaning her belly button). It was so cute, poor thing. Audrey’s actually more talkative than Auston, but he’s constantly making me laugh, with the funny faces he makes and mischief he gets into. Audrey has a very strong little personality and definitely knows what she likes, wants, dislikes, etc. She’s so funny. Auston is a little sweetheart, (most of the time), but he’s also a little troublemaker. He climbs on everything, is constantly throwing balls, as well as other things, (and he actually has a pretty good arm), but don’t you worry, Audrey’s always right there to help him with whatever trouble he’s getting into, and then to come get me and tell on him right after (don’t worry, I know the real story going on here). It’s pretty funny. Anyway, I could talk forever about these two, and you’ll probably hear a lot more about them in the future, but I’ll move on to finish updating!

Before we left for Utah, we had an Ugly Sweater and Mustache party with all of our friends here, which was so fun. Steve won one of the prizes, and looking at his picture, you’ll see why (he kind of looks like a creepy 40 year old man, no offense to any 40 year old men out there, or Steve for that matter :) Love you Babe!). So here some pics:

We then drove out to Utah (thank heavens for the dvd player and Cinderella, Audrey’s favorite! Although we can now quote the movie almost by heart) We had such a great time out there (see the albums below), spending time with our families and seeing friends, it was so awesome! We shopped, went on dates (finally!), went to the temple, went snowshoeing (actually really fun), went skiing (well, Steve did), saw movies in the actual movie theater, and had a great Christmas and New Years. We loved our time in Utah and were sad to leave, but it was nice to come home, and another fun thing is that we actually bought Steve’s brother’s van, so now we have two cars :).

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Now why did we buy the van, you might be asking. Well, here’s the most exciting news of all, WE’RE EXPECTING!!! That’s right, we are 20 wks along (half way there!), and we found out yesterday we’re expecting a boy!!! He’s due June 20th, right in the middle of Steve’s internship in Indianapolis, so we’ll see how that all works out :) Indy’s about 2 hrs away, so hopefully he can drive really fast! (I have to stay in Illinois because of insurance) Anyway, we’re super excited, even though we’ll be one of those fun families with 3 kids under the age of 3. Yee-haw!

Anyway, so there’s our update! Sorry so long, but we had a lot to include :)

What the Halloween in December?

2009-12-13T17:55:00.003-07:00

Surprise, Surprise we are over a month late in updating our blog.Oh well, I promise it was worth the wait. From Halloween Costumes, to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, the pictures are cute and kids are cuter. Plus- IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!! So let’s get right into the pictures!

Halloween!

The cutest Witch and Wizard on the Block. Auston’s Costume is hand-made, by Kristen.

New York City and THE Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

You can see we had a great time in the Big Apple with Steve’s sister Minde and her family.

Skating in Rockefeller Center, and Steve And Kristen in the Central Park Mall, Yes the Mall is in any Chick-flick set in NYC.

The World Famous Brooklyn Bridge!

Jimmy Fallon is an old friend, I mean, Look- He’s pointing right at us. He was looking the other way, but Steve started to scream, “Jimmy!, Jimmy! We love you!” So we became friends. Oh and it was a little packed.

Santa rolled into town and ushered in the best time of Year! It was so awesome to be right down on the front row of the Parade. The clowns would come right up to Audrey and give her a handful of confetti, both the kids loved it.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Kristen’s maternal instinct was needed to keep a tenacious Grandma at bay. We were standing there, enjoying the parade, when we started feeling major elbows in our back. We tried to ignore it, but when the pushing got so bad that Kristen almost fell on top of our kids and two other families’ kids we had made friends with from standing there for two hours before the parade. The instincts kicked in and Kristen turned to this old lady that had pushed her way up till she was between Minde and Tyler and us,(mind you, this wasn’t your typical sweet looking old grandma, this looked like a mean, mean grandma, so don’t start thinking “How mean of Kristen”), and said “Look, I can’t go up any further. We are as far up as we’re going to go, and there’s no way you’re going to cut in front of us and separate us from our children.” We then turned around to continue enjoying the parade, and again, elbows in our back. Kristen turned around and asked “Seriously? You’re going to keep pushing?” This Grandma then uses the lame excuse saying “ I’m trying to let my Granddaughter see” and her Granddaughter looks like she’s about 13 and she could care less about anything going on around her. And then we notice that this Grandma is using her to push through, she’s got her arms around her neck with her elbows poking out so she can push her way through. So Kristen says, “See that family behind you? They are with us, but you’ve pushed your way through so that now we’re divided and they can’t even see the parade now.” That’s when this lady next Kristen, who had also been getting pushed, starts going off on this lady, saying “That’s right, they got here at 6 o’clock to save places and have waited here this whole time with their kids to save a spot, and here you just barely get here and you push your way through, separating them from each other, and you think that’s ok? Now they can’t enjoy the parade together.” Then the Grandma starts going off saying something about this is Thanksgiving and we’re not being very giving, blah blah blah, and the lady starts yelling back about how it is Thanksgiving and the grandma has ruined all of ours, and they yell back and forth for a little longer, well, the Grandma didn’t just give up, she tried to go around Steve. But Steve just stuck out his elbows. So the Grandma says the same thing, “My grandkid can’t see.” Steve just looked at her and said, look, My two years olds are up there and you are not going to separate me from me kids, you could have come earlier.” The grandma again tries to elbow through, but Steve just stood there with his elbows out for the rest of the parade. Crazy old tenacious New York Grandma! Sure it was a long story, but so worth reading, right?

This is the Origami Christmas tree at the Museum of Natural History. All of its ornaments are Origami and they have examples from all the exhibits in the Museum, It was named one of the 10 Must-See-Christmas trees, Yeah we saw two, Rockefeller and the Origami Tree.

We also think our tree is a must see!

Birthday Pics to come soon . . . before Christmas . . . We Promise!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2009-12-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Utah, Illinois, California, and New York!

2009-11-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

We are updating! I know it’s only been two months, but we thought, “What the heck, let’s update early.” So we are! Here’s a run down of what we had going on, pictures included!

Kristen braved the two-day trip in a car out to Utah with Auston, Audrey and four of the five Noonans.

She stayed for over two weeks and was able to visit lots of family!

After Everyone arrived home safely, we visited Chicago. We spent some time on the shores of Lake Michigan and also went to the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry!

October didn’t slow down at all. Steve was interviewing in Chicago, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, St. Louis and Indianapolis. We also spent a week in California.

In California, Grandpa and Grandma Ririe were in Newport for the first half, then Steve’s family came down for the last part to go to Disneyland.

With Grandpa and Grandma Ririe we went to Church and got to see the beautiful Newport Temple, we cruised around Balboa Island on a Duffy, walked along the ocean and went to Disneyland.

Yeah, the convertible was the only car the rental place had left!

We even found time to celebrate Steve’s Birthday.

When Steve’s Family Arrived it was more Disneyland, it really is the happiest place on Earth (until it’s naptime)!

The absolute cutest little Princesses Dancing! ( Audrey and her cousin Taylor)

The next day we just re-cooped at the beach, and did a little shopping in Downtown Disney!

Just three days after getting home, Steve had a Trial Team Tournament in NYC! Of course he didn’t take a camera, but he had a great time. He hasn’t found out his scores yet, but felt good about his performance. He and his teammate when to a Broadway play and got to spent a day with Minde, Tyler Chase and Riley.

Wheww! What a month, Steve was gone more days in October than he was home, and now it’s time to gear up for Finals (even though they aren’t until the second week in December). I guess that’s life, busy busy.

We’ll update soon with Halloween pictures, I promise, at least within a couple of months!

Our Quarterly Update

2009-09-03T17:06:00.002-06:00

Well, we had a crazy summer and it has not let up now that Law school is in session. I, Steve, am doing the update because I am family-less. Kristen, Auston and Audrey are in Utah visiting family while I get settled in to school. Here is a picture recap of some of the stuff the you missed because you weren’t in the Beautiful Midwest:

Nauvoo

The Kids had great time playing like the pioneers. They are the cutest pioneers I’ve ever see.

I met my match in the stick pull!

It was great to go to such a beautiful Temple and Pageant. We were reminded of the sacrifices of those who came before and were strengthened in our efforts to be better.

The Bloomington, Illinois Children’s Museum

Our little scientists!

They had an awesome time exploring everything, Sadly I wasn’t able to go, but I heard it was fun!

The Circus

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The trips we've taken in the past 2 months:

2009-07-27T11:53:00.010-06:00

The past two months have been super busy, we've tried to cram everything in, because our thinking is, this is our last summer here, so we need to see everything that's within driving distance while we're here. So we have. And it's been crazy. Ok, maybe not everything, but a lot. So here are the trips, and later I'll post the fun things, (and our trip this past weekend to Nauvoo for Pioneer Day), that we've done here in Champaign.
(Believe it or not, there are fun things to do here!)

For Father's Day, we went to Indianapolis for the weekend. We left Champaign while the tornado warning sirens were going off, and as soon as we got into our hotel room in downtown Indy, the sirens started going off again. The tornado had followed us there, and the whole time driving we had some crazy weather. But the next day turned out beautiful and we had a great time! We went to the NCAA Hall of Champions and the Zoo, where they had a great dolphin show! Unfortunately, shortly after arriving at the zoo, in the middle of the dolphin show, our camera died. But we still had fun!

The dolphin show
The bears

The monkeys (Audrey's favorite)

Playing at the Hall of Champions

On the bridge connecting the Zoo to downtown

For the 4th of July weekend, we went to Springfield with some friends for Lincoln's 200th birthday celebration. It was so awesome, visiting the places where Lincoln had been, he was such a great man. We had a great time with our friends, even if the fireworks did get rained out on the 4th. We ended up coming home early on Sat and had a indoor BBQ at our place, complete with sparklers, and the next day they did the fireworks. Luckily, we could see the fireworks from our backyard, so it worked out perfectly!
Lincoln's tomb

Outside of Lincoln's tomb (it's really impressive)

"Lincoln" giving a speech on the steps of the old capitol
(Steve was experimenting with our camera)

Our family with Lincoln

The Ladies of our group with Lincoln and Mary Todd
l-r: Me and Audrey, Melanie and Paige, Stephanie and Ellis

Our group on the lawn of the Old Capitol watching the totally awesome laser show
(I'm a bit sacrcastic :) I think the laser show was made in the 90's, but the Cold Stone ice cream made it totally worth it) It really was fun

Standing in front of Lincoln's house

The exact desk in the exact place in Lincoln's room that he wrote "A House Divided" on

Watching the fireworks on our lawn

Steve's a co-pres, with our friend James, of the Federalist Society in the Law School, and as a result, he was able to go back to D.C. for a Federalist convention, and had a great experience!

He met Orrin Hatch, a Federalist Soc. member

and Justice Clarence Thomas, of the Supreme Court, also a Federalist

Our friends, Greg and Katie, invited all of us law school friends to go camping at Greg's parents' farm in Northern IL, and let me just say, it was Awesome! His family has this huge farm (that's been in his family since the mid-1800's), and in the middle of the corn fields, they have this grove of trees with this large field mowed down where you can camp. Greg and Katie planned and did everything, the food, games, and even fogged the place so there were no bugs. It was completely perfect! Thanks so much you guys, we had a blast!
Daddy, Auston, and James playing some 'tunes 'round the campfire

Mommy and Audrey

Ring around the rosy....

We all fall down!

Taking a walk through the grove

Swimming at Greg's parents' house, the perfect way to end a camping trip

Holding Auston and our friends' baby, Liam

Playing basketball
(I think Audrey's about to commit a flagrant foul)

Utah: Part Two...

2009-06-23T10:39:00.006-06:00

So big! Swinging at Gma and Gpa Rogers' house

Riding Lady, my parent's sheep, she is so sweet, Auston loved her! Muttin' Bustin' here we come! (It's where all the little kids ride sheep at the beginning of Strawberry Days Rodeo in PG, in case you were wondering)

Swinging at Gma and Gpa Ririe's house
Gpa Ririe

We went to Gardiner Village with our friends, Andrew and Missy, and the kids loved the petting zoo!

We went to Idaho falls for Dave (Steve's brother) and Britten's sealing. It was so beautiful, Congrats you guys! Here are 10 of the 13 grandkids:

Audrey with Taylor and Hailey
(poor Hailey broke her leg, but she got to get a cute pink cast)

We were able to stop in Rexburg and see my brother Seth and his cute family
l-r: Audrey, Paige, Auston, Ethan, Cole, Olivia, and baby Hazel

Yellowstone and all the buffalo

Old Faithful

The Stroller Brigade at Yellowstone:
Auston, Hailey, Taylor, and Audrey

Here's what we've been up to...Part One...(warning: lots of pics!)

2009-06-01T09:32:00.014-06:00

This past month has been pretty busy, with Steve doing finals, getting together with friends before everyone leaves, and then going to Utah for two weeks. Busy but so much fun! (Except for the finals part :) ) Oh, and our anniversary was thrown in there also, which was fun too :) Here are some pics of all the fun we've been having!

We had a BBQ with the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (the LDS students) at Prof. Stancil's house. We're really going to miss all of our friends, the Parrys, Andersons, Logsdons, Watkins, and Gutkes, who have graduated and are moving away to start their real-life adult lives :) Congratulations everyone!Here's a picture of our last girls night out all together. Every week we'd get together for a movie night and/or craft night, and we had so much fun!
Playing on the computer: Laney, Auston, and Audrey
Steve's up-to-bat in the law school softball tourny
Watching Daddy play softball, one of our favorite things :)(It was a long day)
Where's Auston and Audrey?
Caught ya!

Little Miss Cool
Just like his dad, he can sleep anytime, anywhere!
UTAH
After arriving in Utah, we went swimming at our neighbor's pool and we had so much fun!
Audrey found the googles and loved having them on! She didn't even try to take them off :)
For Steph's (Steve's sister) husband Spencer's birthday, we went to Crown Burger and a Bee's game in Salt Lake, and had a blast! Here are the four cousins who were born within six months of each other: Audrey, Hailey, Auston, and Taylor. They're quite the troublemakers when they all get together!
Audrey couldn't stop dancing, everytime a little clip of music came on, she'd start shaking! It was pretty darn cute when her cousin Taylor joined in!

With Aunt Stephy
The Pink Ladies: Hailey, Gma Rogers, and Audrey
There will be more pictures to come in the next couple of days. Our camera broke, so since I don't have any pictures besides the ones from our trip, I'm trying to stretch these out till we get a new one. Recommondations on which camera to get?

Spring Break, Chicago, Easter, Oh My

2009-04-15T10:06:00.010-06:00

Well, here's a quick update on our past month or so and I'll get to the pictures. Spring Break, we just took it easy, but we did do a day trip to Nauvoo with our friends, the Bednars, and were able to go to the temple and see some of the great sites :) The temple is beautiful, we had a lot of fun!
The following weekend, we went to Chicago and met up with Steve's parents and brother, who were there for a conference. We stayed up there for the weekend, and had a blast! We did shopping on the Magnificent Mile, ate at some really great resteraunts, went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, Wrigley Field, and the Field Museum. It so much fun, and the best part was seeing Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Scott!
Easter was fun, except for the fact that Audrey and Steve were sick, and I was in charge of our big Primary Easter activity, but other than that, it was great!
The kids are growing up so fast, they both are walking around and getting into everything, talking and jabbering away! They're so much fun, I love watching them figure things out and put things together. The other day, I started singing "Old McDonald", Audrey was singing along going "E-I-E-I-E-I....", when I got to the horse, Auston just got up and walked out of the room, and I could hear him in his room moving things around, then he comes walking in holding his toy horse! I was so surprised and proud of him! He's so smart, they both are! Anyway, enough jabbering, here's the pictures, which I know is the reason you all came here. Enjoy!

Nauvoo Temple

The kids love the playground, once they're there, we can't get them away

Chicago, We back the bid! (for the Olympics)

The view from Grandma, Grandpa, and Scott's hotel room. Ya gotta love Lake Michigan!

Auston's pointing something out to Audrey, not sure what...

So much fun at the Zoo!

Here's a really cool video of the lion roaring, be sure to mute the music before you push play

Here, the monkeys were going crazy, swinging around and fighting, and one of them only had one arm, it was amazing to see him swinging. The kids loved them!

With Sue, the T-Rex, at the Field Museum

Easter Time!

They loved the balls we got them

and their "house"!

Easter best!

Ancestry

2009-03-23T12:19:00.004-06:00

I was approached in Church to see if I could start helping out with Family History, so I joined Family Search, a Church website, and we have become addicted! It is so amazing to see how far back our ancestry goes, and where it originates, and actual names of people, instead of just a vauge idea, and also to see if their temple work has been done. My family, the Riries, originated from Scotland, mainly Aberdeen area, while Steve's family, the Rogers, originated from Wales. To keep it simple, for right now, we mostly followed the patriarchal line, following our last names. we then googled names of family members, and we found some pretty neat stuff. Here's a picture of Steve's direct grandfather, Rev. John Rogers, who was born in Wales and immigrated to Massachusettes sometime before 1691:
We think he looks a lot like Steve's grandpa.
Also, something of interest to my Arizona friends, Steve's grandpa was William Jordan Flake, the man who founded Snowflake, AZ with Erastus Snow. Small world, huh?
This is a picture of my grandpa, James Ririe, who immigrated from Aberdeen, Scotland to Utah in 1853, after joining the Church in Scotland and serving as a missionary there:

Anyway, hopefully this doesn't bore anyone, but we thought it was so interesting!

Short but Sweet

2009-03-11T15:37:00.002-06:00

Well, this past weekend was Steve's little brother Matt's mission farewell, so we decided to fly home and surprise him, and everyone else! We flew in late Saturday night and my parents came and got us and we stayed with them, and then Sunday, we walked into Sacrament meeting, (don't worry, we were a half hour early, so we didn't cause too much of a commotion!), and I wish we could have taken a picture of everyone's faces! We were all crying and hugging, it was so great! Steve's sister Minde also flew in from New York, so all of the kids were there to see Matt! He did such a great job, he's going to be an awesome missionary. That night, his friend, Conner, came over, whose a little autistic, and he had written a song for Matt as a gift. He and Matt have been good friends from kindergarten, and Matt's always been kind of his protector, standing up to him to bullies and always looking out for him. Conner sang about how Matt is his best friend and how he always had his back, and he'll miss him and love him. It was so touching! All of us were crying, it was like something you would read in the Ensign or New Era. It really said a lot about Matt and what a great brother and friend he is. We'll miss you Matt, but we're so proud of you and can't wait to hear about all of the amazing experiences you'll have! We had such a great time seeing everyone, we wish it wasn't so short of a trip!

Matt and Steve a couple of days before Matt went into the MTC

Matt with Auston and Audrey a couple of days before he heads into the MTC

Steve's Immediate Family

Our Little Family

It's About Time

2009-02-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since we last updated. I've been meaning to for awhile, but it seemed like things just kept coming up, like the two weeks in January, everyone in our little family got a really bad flu bug, which I wouldn't wish on anyone! Also, someone, who wishes not to be named (but it wasn't me), lost our camera card with all of our Christmas pictures on it, and me being the kinda neurotic person I am, can't blog out of order, so we've been trying to find the card so we can post. We found our small card with the last couple days of our vacation on it, so I guess it'll do, on to the update, and I'll try to make it quick and get onto the pictures.
Christmas was great, all because we were able to go back home to Utah for three weeks! It was so great to see all of our family and friends and the mountains again : ) Christmas was great, we had Christmas Eve dinner with my family, and then we slept at Steve's parent's house, which was fun because 7 of the 8 kids in his family slept over! It was crazy but so much fun, especially with all the grandkids! We also had pictures taken of all the Rogers grandkids together, plus family pictures, which were freezing, but fun. We were also able to go skiing and after the first bumpy run it was a lot of fun and a beautiful day! One of the most exciting things that happened while we were there, was that my sister Amber and her husband and kids were able to be sealed in the temple. It was such an amazing experience, especially seeing Ryleigh and Braydon walk into the sealing room and seeing them kneel all together around the altar. I'm so happy for them and love them so much! Some other fun things that we did was go to the aquarium, which the kids absolutely loved, went sledding and played in the snow, (while we were there, it snowed more than I think it had since we moved there), and went to the Body Exhibit that was in Salt Lake (so interesting! but I'm into that kind of stuff). Overall, we had the best time, and we owe it all to our families! We love you guys!
Since we've been home, we all got sick, Steve started school and entered a client-counseling competition at school with our friend James, (the same partner from his other competition), and they WON Again!! So exciting! So they were able to go to Milwaukee and compete in Regionals, and they're automatically going to Regionals next year and are in charge of the competition at the UofI next year. So that left a weekend where I was all by myself with the kids, which was filled with lots of playdates and dinners with friends, and one eventful day at church with Monica (James' wife) and their girls! Valentines Day was so fun, we ate at this great resteraunt called Bacaro, and it was delicious! And we were able to go do some shopping without having to spend twenty minutes getting kids in and out and pushing an incredibly huge stroller around! It was heaven!

On to the kid-os: They're both walking! They're still both a little unsteady, but Audrey can take about ten or so steps, while Auston can take about 4! It's so exciting, but I'm a little worried about what this may bring! But no matter what, it'll be fun (I hope). They're also jabbering away, with Audrey being a LOT more vocal than Auston, but that's to be expected since she's a girl! They are both so funny, and so fun to watch! They both LOVE to dance, especially Audrey, the minute they hear music, they're bouncing all over! They fight big, but love big, which makes all the fighting bearable! Funny story: They were fighting over these two stuffed animals, Auston kept taking them from Audrey, and when she finally took them from him for the fourth time, she just started hitting him with them over and over! Auston just started laughing and rolled onto her lap while she was hitting him, but then she started laughing and rolled over on him! Steve and I were laughing so hard, I know I know, we probably should have disciplined, but it was just too funny! Anyway, there's an update on us, sorry so long! Enjoy the pics and vidoes!

Lovin' thier spaghetti!

Audrey loved her tutu that her Aunt Cara made for her!

Auston's first haircut, he looks so old!

They weren't afraid to touch anything!

Audrey loved my parents' sheep, Lady

This video is of Audrey and Auston in the bath, and Audrey was telling a big story. She tells stories like this all the time, and it's too funny!

Posting

2009-02-19T21:57:00.003-07:00

Well . . . As you may or may not have been able to see, we have been slacking in or blog updating duties. Many of our, or should I say Auston and Audrey's, faithful fans are enraged because of the lack of updates since Christmas. Rest assured we still think about our blog and plan to update sometime, hopefully soon. Thank you for your patience and we are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused you.

Birthday Cake!

2008-12-19T13:14:00.004-07:00

Drum roll. . . . Here is the video of Auston and Audrey eating their birthday cakes. You can see that Auston had no problem figuring out what to do, Audrey was a little more timid. But, after the video was taken Audrey really started to dig into the cake as you can see in the pictures below. (Make sure you pause the playlist on the side)

A Christmas Blessing

2008-12-18T21:02:00.004-07:00

Well, tonight we were the recipients of a Christmas blessing. We took the kids to see Santa Clause at the mall (pictures to come later). And decided to grab some dinner at Chile's. We were seated by an older couple. Nothing really seemed special. We ordered and were talking while helping Auston and Audrey to eat some snacks before their favorite meal arrived, grilled cheese. Anyway, Auston and Audrey always seem to draw a crowd, and a few people made comments to us, of course the standard "Are they twins?" and "Oh! Boy and girl twins?" The older couple leaned over and talked with Kristen for a little. They asked how old the kids were and commented that they were beautiful children. The lady talked to Auston and we tried to coax him into saying "Hi" but he just stared at the lady and smiled. We noticed the couple leave and it seemd like the older gentleman was having trouble or something with his credit card because he took the server aside and was talking to her about his credit card. Kristen was about ready to offer to pay, but they got it figured out and left. When we asked for our check our server informed us that the couple had taken care of our meal and told her to tell us "Merry Christmas!" We couldn't believe it and wanted so badly to say "Thank you". It was so amazing to see the potential for good we have. We felt truly blessed and were impressed with the spirit of the season that motivates all of us to give gifts, whether big or small, in rememberence of the Ultimate gift.

The Big ONE!

2008-12-14T12:21:00.013-07:00

Happy Birthday Auston and Audrey!!!!!
This past Monday, Auston and Audrey turned the big One!!! We were so excited, but also sad that our sweet little babies aren't so little anymore, so it was a little bittersweet! Last Saturday we celebrated their big day by inviting a bunch of our friends over for their Mickey and Minnie birthday party, where we watched Auston and Audrey blow out their candle (with a little help from their mom and dad) and then dig into their Mickey and Minnie cakes, making a huge mess! As soon as Auston got the cake, he knew just what to do, he started mashing, kneading, and smearing it everywhere! Audrey was a little more like, "what is this pink blob in front of me", just kind of pinching at it with her thumb and two fingers, but after a while of watching Auston having his fun, she decided to have some of her own, and also made a huge mess! During the mess-making, everyone else had a cupcake and ice cream, and then we made "gingerbread" houses, only with graham crackers, and then I made the icing and we had all sorts of candy to decorate, (which is so bad, because we now have all sorts of candy left over, and I'm forced to eat it all). It turned out really great and we really appreciate everyone who came, it made all the more fun! We crammed almost 30 people into our little house, so it was a bit tight, but we like to think of it as "cozy" (although those of you who were here might think otherwise :) ). Now that our babies are one, they've moved on to bigger and better things and are growing so big, so here are their stats:

They are now riding in their booster seats! Yay!
They are now completely off formula and bottles and totally on sippy cups and whole milk
They're favorite food, as we just found out, is a sun-dried tomato pasta salad. We seriously couldn't get them to stop eating it, they ate so much! It was crazy!
Auston is 20 lbs and 29 and 3/4 in long
Audrey is 23 lbs and 30 in. long
They both had their first ear infections this week. I took them in for their 12-month check, and they had runny noses, and were a little cranky, but not bad, so I just thought they were teething. Turns out they have ear infections, so we'll have to go back next week for shots, once they finish their antibiotic. I felt so bad, because I didn't even realize they were sick! It was funny, though, because it seemed like once the Dr. said they were sick, it was like they were given the ok to act like it, so the past several days have been awful! They weren't near this cranky at all before. Hmm, strange how that happens... J/K! They're doing really well now, though, thank heavens!
Auston got his first haircut, and now he looks like a little man!

So this week has been a little crazy, and add in the fact that Steve's been studying for and taking finals, and I was just called into the Primary pres., we haven't been able to get a lot done, so I feel bad that I'm just now getting around to doing their birthday blog, or updating our blog, period. Anyway, just to do a quick update, my parents and my grandma came out for Thanksgiving, and it was so much fun having them here! My mom and I made a big dinner, Steve really hurt his ankle at a Turkey Bowl game, we did the whole Black Friday thing and got some great deals, and we went to Springfield and saw the Lincoln Museum, (which was so awesome), and the other Lincoln spots. We loved having them here, and can't wait to see them in a week! Anyway, onto the meat of the post, the pictures! There's also a really funny video at the end, so don't miss it : ) Enjoy!

Our Gingerbread house

The Noonan's winning house

The Parry's Bomb Shelter (Jack smashed it)

The McCubbins' cute house

The other Rogers' cute house

The Bednar's cute house

All tuckered out after a big dayThanksgiving

Auston is our stairmaster
Audrey loves to play peek-a-boo with her shirt

Us and the Lincolns

Steve's ankle injury, it was swollen for almost two weeks, crazy guy wouldn't go to the dr

This is a video of Auston and Audrey riding this airplane thing we got them for their birthday. Audrey screams everytime she's on it like its a roller coaster, it's too cute! Auston gets mad, because he likes to have it all to himself, and so, it's begun.

And Now We Have 'Happy Feet'

2008-11-23T16:14:00.005-07:00

These past two weeks have been pretty eventful, but thankfully they've been growing and faith-building experiences. To start off, two weeks ago, Steve's backpack was stolen from a gas station where he was filling up. His backpack was basically his entire school life. It had his notebook, his books for law school, and his laptop with all of his notes and outlines on it, so he was really in trouble. He asked everyone in the parking lot, no one knew anything (of course). He went inside the gas station, and what do you know, there's two cops inside that are stationed there, but they didn't see anything. So Steve files a report, then drives around looking at everyone walking the streets, looking in dumpsters, he drove to the library and walked around inside, wondering if someone may have taken his laptop there to try it out, just doing anything he could think of. After realizing that there was nothing he could do, he drove home. The whole time he was praying to find his backpack, but as he drove home, he felt hopeless, which is hard for Steve, since he loves feeling in control of himself and situations (those of you who know him, know exactly what I'm talking about, and I love him for it :) ). Suddenly he had this thought that he shouldn't be praying to find his backpack, but he should be praying that the goodness that is inherent in all of God's children be stimulated in the person that had taken his bag. He thought about the 'light of Christ', that's in all of us, and how God really does have power to influence His children to to good. He prayed that God would use his power to stimulate the goodness that was in this person and they would feel the need to return the bag. The spirit really confirmed that that was exactly what he needed to pray for. Anyway, so when he told me this, me, being the completely supportive wife that I am, said, "that's great honey", when inside I was thinking 'yeah right, there's no way that's going to happen.' I know, I'm awful. So the next morning, Saturday, I talked him into to going to buy another laptop, since it's required for his school, and he reluctantly agreed, so we bought that, a new backpack, new law books, etc. We then continued to go through the process of filing a claim with our insurance company, putting a fraud alert out on our credit, and all that fun stuff. Steve also emailed all of his classmates, explained what happened, and asked if they would be willing to send him their notes. He wasn't expecting anything, since law school is really cut-throat, but the next morning, he had so many emails where people had not only sent him their notes, but their outlines and stuff as well, so that was pretty amazing. Also, that Sunday, as a side-note, Steve was asked to speak the following Sunday on Unity and how we're all connected. Well, that Wednesday, Steve gets a call from the police officer saying that his backpack was turned in, and not only that, EVERYTHING was in it!!! I know, it's a miracle!!! All of his books, his notebook, and most importantly, his laptop, were all there and intact. The only things missing was a dollar in change and his ipod's headphones. And the weirdest thing of all, in his laptop was the movie 'Happy Feet', which we don't own, (but we do now, and the kids absolutely love dancing too it!), so we know someone was at least trying to get into his laptop, but because of security features, they weren't able to. (Good old Windows Vista) Isn't that so amazing? Luckily we were able to return everything, so we aren't out any money. So, to sum it all up, for whatever reason, maybe the person's 'light of Christ' was 'lit', they turned it in, and Steve was able to give his talk about how we all have the 'light of Christ' within us and we're all connected. We definitely learned a lot and grew from this experience, especially me! (I need to have a lot more faith and be more supportive of my husband :) )
Well, so I realize this is a really long post, so I'll the post the rest of our eventful week later! Love you all!

News, News, and More News!

2008-11-05T09:20:00.008-07:00

Wow, talk about an eventful couple of weeks! So much has happened, I feel bad I haven't been keeping more on top of things.

~First off, how amazing was last night? Even though I didn't vote for Obama, I couldn't help but feel excited and proud to be an American and to have been able to take part in a major piece of history. I can't remember who said it, but on some show they said that there wasn't really a loser last night, everyone won.(Whoever it was said it a lot more eloquently than I did :) It was also really cool to be here in Illinois when it happened. Steve and I were so close to driving up to Chicago just to be part of the excitement! We didn't, but a little part of me wished we had. :)
~On to an equally important and exciting announcement, Auston started crawling for real yesterday! Break out the baby-proofing! I say for real, because he's been a professional army crawler for a long time now. Also, not to be left out, Audrey's our professional scooter. She'll sit and scoot around on the floor with her legs, or if she's on her tummy, she only goes in reverse, but with both, she's really fast!
~They both have also been teething almost constantly for the last month or so, and they both each have 8 teeth now, and I swear there could be more, with the way they're carrying on! (It's been a really rough time!)
~Also, our little family has a new addition! Last week, we got a dog. I know, we're crazy, but we always said if we found the perfect dog, we'd consider it. Well, we found him. :) He's a two-year-old Miniature Australian Shepherd named Maximus. He's out of the puppy stage, so he doesn't bark or whine a ton, he's already house-broken, he's trained, he's small, and he's so gentle and cute with the kids. We just love him!
~Also, Halloween was a ton of fun here, we had a big Halloween party with all the LDS law students, and our ward trunk-or-treat, so it was non-stop fun! Audrey was an adorable ladybug, Auston was a freakin' cute bumble bee, I was a witch, and Steve was,....Captain America! You know, because he really is Captain America, since Captain America's alias is Steve Rogers. :) At our Halloween party, we had dinner with "mashed brains and eyeballs" (spaghetti and meatballs), "bones" (breadsticks cut like bones), a skeleton veggie tray, spider cupcakes, cookies, and other treats! After dinner, we had a haunted ghost "walk" and story, (the kids walked up our stairs that we had covered in spider webs, and then we set up our little tent in our guest bedroom and had our friend, James, dress up like a ghost and tell a spooky story. It was totally cute! Then we decorated cookies and trick-or-treat bags, so all in all, it was pretty fun! Thanks so much to everyone who helped out and brought food!
~Another exciting bit of news, is that in the past couple of weeks, Steve and our friend James partnered up and took part in their school negotiation competition, of which they took FIRST! So exciting! As a result, they had to go to ST. Louis this past weekend and take part in the regional competition, which included other law schools from Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin. They did really well, and ended getting 8th! We're really proud of both of them! ~After Steve's competition, we drove up to Chicago and stayed with Steve's dad, who was in town for some meetings. It was so great to see him, and it's getting us more excited for Christmas break! We stayed over night with him and had breakfast with him in the morning, before his flight left. Afterwards, we drove and walked around Chicago, seeing the different sites. It was so fun, I really love that city.
~Steve's law school softball team was in the tournament, and out of 30 teams, they made it to the top 8, a little better than his last softball team. :) His team was made up of all the other LDS law students, so we were known as the Mormon team, known by the facts that we were pretty much the only sober team and the only team with kids! Our friend Zach made everyone on the team baseball cards, so I've included Steve's on here. His nickname is 'Captain', after Captain America. Well, that's about all the news of our family for the next little while. Hope you enjoy the pictures! Sorry so long!

Where to Mom?How cool am I?

My head's too big for my shirt!Our newest addition, Max!

Getting Ready for the donut eating contest at the trunk-or-treat

Chowing Down

The Avengers, led by Captain America (or something like it)

The kids lined up, once again, on our couch R-L: Ellis (John McCain), Auston (bumble bee), Grant (lion), Charlotte (kitty), Eliza (princess), Audrey (ladybug), Laney (skunk), Jack (eggs), Cadence (toast)The kids (and parents) decorating their Trick-or-Treat bags

Audrey chowing down on our friend Tanner's necklace (he and his wife Carli dressed up as each other for Halloween, hence the necklace)

Captain America and Laney showing off the cookie they decorated

Our Day in Chi-Town (pronounced shy-town, just in case you were wondering)

Wrigley Field

Bleachers on houses across from Wrigley

Navy Pier

2008-10-20T14:33:00.014-06:00

Okay, there's a lot of pictures in this. Since the last post, we've done a few things. I put some really cute pictures of our times at the parks, and they're so cute! Auston and Audrey LOVED the swings! Then we had Steve's birthday, and I made him a Lemon Meringue Pie, his favorite. To celebrate, we went to the University of Illinois football game, Go Fighting Illini! (Pronounced ill-line-eye. I struggled with that at first) It was pretty fun, and the stadium was really neat, since it's pretty old and made out of brick. I also took the twins to Curtis Orchard with some friends and their kids. Curtis Orchard is a big apple orchard near our house that also has a big pumpkin patch and a petting zoo with ponies, goats, chickens, etc. It was pretty fun, but it really made me miss my parents' apple orchard and the apple chips, juice, the smell, and everything else that goes along with apples and fall at my parents' house. Anyway, We also went to Lake of the Woods, a forest preserve about 10 minutes from our house, and we tried to take some family pictures, but we ended up just taking a bunch of pictures of Auston and Audrey. They had this really cool old red covered bridge that a bunch of people were having professional pictures taken on, so we decided to have a little photo shoot ourselves. As soon as Audrey got out of the car, she couldn't stop shrieking, she was so excited. It was so funny! There's a couple of pictures where you can tell she's just screaming as loud as she can, which is how she expresses herself! Auston played it a little more cool, but he was completely enthralled with the leaves on the ground, since it was basically the first time he had seen them. We could hardly get him to look at the camera, it was so funny! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Our day at Lake of the Woods

So excited!

Still so excited!

Mini me

Steve's birthday pie

Having fun at Curtis Orchard

The gray goat looked exactly like my old pygmy goat, Daisy, miss her too (never thought I'd say that, we had a love/hate relationship :) )

Auston is so happy

Having fun at the park

2008-10-06T09:51:00.005-06:00

This past weekend was really fun, on Friday we went to our friends' little girl, Ellis', 1st birthday party, and it was too cute! It was at a park, and we could hardly get Audrey off the swings, she loved them so much! Then Saturday and Sunday was conference, which I always love. All of the talks were so great. In between sessions on Sunday, we invited all the other law students over for a potluck brunch. We had a great turn-out, and the food was awesome! It was a pretty tight squeeze, but that made it all the more fun! We had 18 adults and 10 kids running around, so I'm sure you can imagine! Anyway, thanks to everyone who came and brought stuff, it was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Packing everyone in

The cutest kids ever!
L-R: Eliza, Laney, Grant, Auston, Audrey, Jack, Cadence, Ellis, Eliza, and Paige

2008-10-03T09:11:00.005-06:00

Hey everyone! I thought I'd do a little update, since it's been a while. Steve's mom, Gainell, came to visit and just left, and it was so much fun to have her here! We spent time in Chicago, did a lot of shopping, went to the Amish country, and made lots of strawberry and raspberry jam! It was a lot of fun, and we miss her already! It was my first time to actually spend a long time in Chicago, and I absolutely loved it! I can see why it's so easy to fall in love with it. It was clean, friendly, and beautiful, even downtown on Michigan Avenue, the "Magnificent Mile". It has parks, trees, the gorgeous lake, even beaches, right downtown. It was awesome. And Gainell was the best tour guide. :) Since she lived there for awhile, she knew where everything was, the history behind it, and the best shopping! If anyone goes to Chicago, they should go with her! So we really had a lot of fun. Also, since my last post, we went with some friends of ours and went paddleboating on one of the many ponds in our city, and I also had my birthday , the big 25, which Steve really made Awesome! We went to the movie "Ghostown" (our first movie in a long time) and we loved it! Anyway, so here are some fun pictures from our eventful last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Cute Pictures!

2008-09-21T14:42:00.005-06:00

Flexing for the camera

Chewing, not sucking, on his pacifier

Playing paddy-cake, sang the right way (inside joke)
Bad hair day

Superwoman!

I've done this same pose so many times in school
Audrey tilts her head all the time, it's so cute!

Our friends Eli and Stephanie came over and Audrey and Auston had fun playing with their little girl Ellis

Auston and Audrey all tuckered out after playing with Ellis

2008-09-07T20:41:00.005-06:00

So last weekend was Labor Day weekend, and for us, it really was a Labor Day. We decided to put up our fence around our backyard, and it proved to be more difficult than we originally thought, especially since our yard turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought. Luckily, though, we had a TON of help from all of our new friends here. Funny story, Steve rented an auger to help dig the fence posts and he decided to have the missionaries, who were helping, poor guys, dig the first hole. Well, they just so happened to cut our neighbor's phone line. And that was how we introduced ourselves to them. Great, huh? Then, a couple holes later, the same phone line was cut. Even better. Well, it all turned out ok, the phone line was fixed, and we didn't end up having to pay for it. We were so happy. Anyway, our fence turned out Awesome and we Love it! So a big thank you to everyone that helped! You're the best!

Crazy Audrey

2008-09-06T20:01:00.000-06:00

In an effort to love and praise our children equally here is a video with Audrey as the main feature. We Don't know where Audrey learned this, must be something in the water out here. We think this is so funny, maybe that 's why she does it so much!

2008-09-06T19:09:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone! This is a really funny video of Auston eating turkey for the first time. It's so funny! Hope you enjoy!

The Slideshow

2008-09-02T22:26:00.005-06:00

As you can probably see, we have added "Slideshow of the Unspecified Time Period". You may have also noted that we haven't been able to update our blog regularly, so we can't promise that the slideshow will be changed at any regular interval, hence, the name of the slideshow.
Well, this slideshow is of our recent trip to Hawaii with my (Steve's) family. We had the best time. It was a great way to connect with my family before we left Utah. The twins were with Kristen's parents so we had a true vacation. We loved it and are definitely going to make it back there, but probably not too soon. We saw Kristen's sister, Paige, and brother-in-law, Joe, as well as their kids, Joey, Andrew, Mike, and Becca who had recently moved there. Hawaii was absolutely wonderful.

The next slideshow will be of our family reunion in Yellowstone with Kristen's family, so check back because you never know when we'll update the slideshow!

By the way you can click on any picture to see it bigger.

2008-08-28T15:14:00.007-06:00

The Move to Champaign, IL

My sister Amber came out with us, she rode with me and the twins while Steve drove the moving truck, and it was so much fun! She helped us so much and we are so grateful that she came out with us! On our way out, we stayed in Fort Collins, CO, where my sister Kendall and brother Theron live with their families and we were able to spend some time with them, which was so fun! We then continued on, staying the next night in Missouri, and then stopping to see the Carthage Jail and Nauvoo, and then finally arrived in Champaign. It was a really long trip, (and very emotional on my end), but we made it and we love it!

Steve and I getting ready to go at his parents' house

Amber, me, and Steve in front of our huge truck (the twins were already loaded up in the car)My brother Theron and I

Me, my sister-in-law Marla, my sister Kendall, my sister Amber, and my nephew Cameron My brother and his family decorated our truckOur family in front of Carthage JailStanding in front of statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at CarthageGraves of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum in Nauvoo

The Nauvoo Temple

Us in front of the Temple

2008-08-28T11:14:00.012-06:00

We're going to go kind of backwards. Here are pictures of our house here in Champaign. We haven't completely finished painting and putting pictures, drapes, shelves, etc., but we love it! Sorry, there's a ton of pictures, but you know me, perfectionist that I am, can't leave anything out! (It's a curse)

Living Room

Hallway to garage and laundry room/bathroom

We took the mirror off our dresser and hung it in our living room, just in case some of you were wondering. (Or maybe you weren't...) We're almost done!

2008-08-28T11:10:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone! So I've finally gotten around to loading all of our pictures, so now I can finally post them! Yay! Anyway, so here they are

Champaign

2008-08-21T21:13:00.002-06:00

What a crazy last couple of months. We made it to Champaign. I'm going through law school orientation and so far I think that I'm in the right place. We are setting up our new house. We'll take some pictures and post them. Don't worry, more pictures of the twins will be posted too! Stay tuned, we'll update soon.

Time For An Update!

2008-07-10T00:18:00.004-06:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've last updated! So many things have happened since last time! It's definitely been a couple of months of "firsts"! I'll try to make this short, so we can get to the good stuff, the pictures!

~We bought our first house! It's in Champaign, IL, and it's a 3 bed, 2.5 bath townhouse! We got a great deal on it, and we couldn't be more excited!
~Auston and Audrey ate their first foods
~Auston and Audrey went swimming for the first time
~They had their first train ride
~They also had their first trip to Lake Powell with Steve's Family
~The twins had their first 4th of July
~And we took the twins to the Zoo for the first time

We've had so much fun these past couple of months! We only have one more month left before we move, and two of those weeks will be spent in Yellowstone for my family's reunion, and Hawaii with Steve's family! It's gonna get crazy, but it'll be so much fun! Hopefully you all enjoy the pictures and slide shows!

First time at the Pool!

2008-07-10T00:00:00.003-06:00

First time to the Zoo

2008-07-09T23:51:00.006-06:00

Walk to the Pond

2008-07-09T23:47:00.004-06:00

Ready for a summer walk to the pond at BYU

What a beautiful day the twins love it outside. A little walk always calms them down

All tuckered out!

2008-05-19T13:04:00.004-06:00

Our family at Steph's wedding
Auston
Audrey

Steve's Graduation

2008-05-19T12:49:00.003-06:00

Hey Everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but life's been a little crazy! First off, Steve graduated from BYU! Yay! We're so proud of him. A week later, Steve's sister, Steph, and her then fiance, Spencer, both graduated from the U, and then the next day, they got married at the Timpanogos Temple! Congrats guys! Then two weeks later, Steve's brother Dave and his fiance, Britten, got married last Saturday! Congrats to them too! So life has been pretty hectic. That's pretty much what's been going on these past couple of weeks. Also, this Sunday is Steve and I's anniversary, so we're going to Salt Lake to the Anniversary Inn, which I'm excited for! Anyway, there's a little update, and I'm going to post some pics of the wedding and such, so enjoy!

2008-04-15T12:20:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone! Well, it certainly has been a while, sorry about that! I meant to update our blog earlier, but Steve has been holding the computer hostage, writing his many papers for school. But the good news is, he is done! He just had his last day of school last Monday, and now he's just getting ready for his finals this weekend, and then graduation is next Friday, the 25th! YAY! We are so excited! After that, it's off to law school! We have finally decided where we're going! About a week and a half ago, Steve and I went on a trip for 8 days, touring different law schools. We left the twins with my parents for the most part, but they did stay for a bit with Steve's parents as well, but it was so hard to be away from them! I was calling all the time, just to check in, so it probably drove everyone crazy. But Steve and I started our tour at the University of Illinois, in Champaign, and we loved it! We stayed with a couple who is graduating this year from law, and we were able to meet all of the other LDS couples who are going to law school, which was so fun! After a couple of days there, we flew to D.C. and then drove to Lexington, VA to look at Washington and Lee University, and we loved it there as well. It was absolutely beautiful and so full of history! For example, Robert E. Lee's house is on the campus, since he served as the school's president from the time after the "War of Northern Aggression" (as the locals called the Civil War :) ), to the time he died. It was pretty cool. After this, we drove to Williamsburg, VA to look at William and Mary, and the school was really neat. After a day there, we drove back to Washington D.C. and met up with Steve's parents, who were there for a conference, and his sister Minde and her husband Tyler and little boy Chase, who came down from New York City, and hung out with them for a few days. It was really fun. We were able to see all of the sites, and we timed it perfectly so we were there during the Cherry Blossom Festival, and was absolutely beautiful! In the middle of all this, Steve and I also ran over to George Mason University for their open house. Then on Sunday, we flew home. It was a crazy couple of days! But it also helped us to finally decide where we wanted to go, and we decided on the University of Illinois, and they also 'upped' Steve's scholarship, so we were really excited! Anyway, to the U of I is located about 1 1/2 hours away from Chicago, 3 hours from Nauvoo, 21/2 hours from Springfield (where Lincoln lived), and 45 mins from Amish country. It's really neat! Plus, Steve's really excited about being close to the Cubs and Bears, and being at a school with Big 10 sports, which, I guess, is cool too.:) But also, because the cost of living is so cheap there, we'll be able to buy a house, which I'm really excited about! Anyway, so overall, it's a perfect fit for us, despite the fact that's completely flat out there. After we got home, Steve's cousin Rob Whiting died at age 53, which was really hard. He was the closest man we knew to being perfect, and we really loved him, and will truly miss him.
So now we're hoping things will settle down for a little bit, until May 3, when Steve's sister, Stephanie, is marrying Spencer Randle, so we're really excited for that! Then after that, we'll celebrate our anniversary, start packing, go to Lake Powell with Steve's family, have family reunion with my family in Yellowstone, then go to Hawaii with Steve's family, and then we move! I'll upload pictures a little later, but I just wanted to let you all know what's been going on in our lives! Thank you again to everyone who has left comments! Sorry I haven't gotten back to you, but I will! Love Ya!

2008-03-14T19:54:00.008-06:00

Audrey and Auston so cute, and matching!

Audrey and her cousin Hailey

Auston and his cousin Taylor

Auston, Audrey, and their friend Kaleigh

Well, Audrey found an arm rest!

2008-03-14T14:49:00.008-06:00

Well, its been a long time since we've updated our blog, so I thought I'd finally sit down and do it. We have been having a lot of fun in the past couple of months, and a lot of firsts! We had the twins' blessings, we went to Arizona for Spring Training with the Cubs, which was the twins first trip, the twins first smiled and giggled, and they had their first play dates, Their first BYU game, as well as all of the fun things that go along with watching the twins grow! Our trip to Arizona was a lot of fun, we stayed with my Uncle Bill and Aunt Loretta out in the desert and saw some really fun wildlife, including jackrabbits, a coyote, and tons of different birds! We watched the Cubs play two games, and they won both (yay!), all while it was almost 80 degrees outside! We loved it! While down there, we also saw my Uncle Dick and Aunt Suzy, and my brother Derek and his kids Talyn and Tyvan. The twins did really well on the trip, and we didn't have any problems, except for a little accidental detour we took on our way home, due to my faulty directions :). Auston and Audrey's blessings went really well, and we just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped out and came to it! Steve did a really great job, and afterwards we had a really nice lunch at Mark and Gainell's! The twins' first playdates were with our friends, Trevan and Megan, and there little girl Kaleigh who was born a month after them, and then my friend Charee came down with her little girl Chloe, who was born three days after them. It was so cute to see them all together! We'll put pictures on the next post. Also the twins went to their first BYU basketball game, so that was fun! They both really like to watch basketball, both in person and on tv, which has me a little worried! The twins are both smiling and giggling now, and it is just so dang cute! They are so much fun, it's amazing how every day you love them just a little bit more than before! It's going to be hard though, in two weeks, Steve and I will be going out to visit schools in Illinois, Virginia, and Washington D.C., and the twins are staying behind. Hopefully we survive, since after driving to Arizona, I went about 4 hours without holding them at a time and I was missing them! I know, its pathetic, but what can I say? But it'll be good for Steve and I, and we are really excited to finally see these places and start deciding where we want to go! Anyway, so that's all that's going on in our lives right now. And I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has commented or emailed us! We love ya!

Babies' Blessing

2008-02-21T09:30:00.004-07:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know about the twins' blessing this Sunday! It will be in our ward, the BYU 54th Ward, held in the church over by Costco in Orem. Our church is the east building, but the west chapel, and our ward meets at 12:30. Afterwards, we'll be going to Mark and Gainel's house in Lindon for lunch. We invite everyone to come if you're able!

The Fam!

2008-01-26T12:39:00.001-07:00

Funny Pictures

2008-01-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

We're all doing great! The twins are growing so fast, I can't believe it! Audrey is just getting over a little cold, but she and Auston are doing great! Auston is so active, he's constantly moving around and always holding his head up, (unless he's really sleepy)! Audrey is also pretty active, but she's also really good about just relaxing and watching everything going on around her. They are both so fun, and constantly entertain us! Here's a little info on the pictures. The first picture is of Steve and the twins on our first walk that we took them on, just down the street from us to the BYU duck pond. The next two are of the funny things the twins do to entertain us, Audrey making a funny face, and Auston wearing one of those footless gowns and he had slid down on his bouncer, which caused the gown to go over his head! The last two pictures are of the twins together, and the one of them in teal and cream are so typical of their personalities! Auston's always doing something, holding his hand in the air, kicking his shoes off, etc., while Audrey is so dainty and girlie, and she's almost always holding her hands together like that! Hope everyone enjoys them!

2008-01-09T12:50:00.001-07:00

Mirror Images
Best Friends
Cute Auston
Sweet Audrey

Pictures

2008-01-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Audrey (on left) and Auston (on right) holding hands

Our Updates

2008-01-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Our New Year's Resolution: This year we felt that we need to keep in better touch with our family and friends, so we set up this blog to try and do just that! Here's a little info to catch everyone up on our family:
Starting tomorrow, Steve will begin his last semester at BYU! He'll be gradutating in April, and then it's off to Law School somewhere, but we probably won't find out where until about March or so. We've applied to several schools, and so far we know he's accepted to the University of Illinois with a scholarship and to Lewis and Clark in Oregon with a scholarship. We have yet to hear from the rest, so we'll be letting you know, although we're leaning towards U of I because of its high ranking, and maybe even for a bigger reason, the close proximity to Chicago (Go Cubs and Bears!). Along with school, Steve's currently working as a quality assurance intern at Nextpage, a computer company, and doing an excellent job as a new dad! Which brings us to our newest and most exciting news! Our twins have arrived!!! Auston Mark and Audrey Grace were born on December 8, 2007! Auston was born first at 2:13 pm, weighing in at 5 lbs, 11 oz, and measuring in at 17.5 in. Audrey was born after him, at 2:36, weighing in at 5 lbs, 14 oz, and also measuring 17.5 in. They are so fun and so adorable, but they're lots of work! They're really good babies, though, since they sleep really well :) It's so fun to see they're little personalities come out and seeing how different they are! Auston is a little noise maker, just like his dad! :) He's always making some sort of noise, whether its grunting, groaning, squeaking, or crying! Even while he's asleep, he'll be grunting away, which sometimes makes sleeping for us kind of hard. We figure he just loves to hear the sound of his voice. :) Audrey is just the opposite. She's quiet and happy, and can be completely content to just sit in her bouncer or be held and just look around, taking it all in. She's a great sleeper, and when she does cry, it's the most adorable girly cry! Both of them are so fun, and the faces they do make Steve and I laugh so hard! We're so thankful for these little ones, and can't imagine our life without them! As for me, it's been quite an adjustment, as I'm sure any mom can understand! But it's really been fun, getting to know these two! I'm so excited to be a mom! I can't believe life is changing so fast, and I can't wait to see what it brings us this year!