It's Finally Finished!!

So we are all back now and finally got some time to finish our new website....so without further adieu, here is the link to our new (and much improved!!!!) website:

http://web.me.com/calvin04

We will keep this blog open until blogspot kicks us off for not using it......probably just easier for you to bookmark our new webpage though...

We had some things come up that made us both leave town for a while, so the new site might not be ready for another week or two. Sorry.

WE ARE CURRENTLY MAKING A NEW WEBSITE FOR OUR FAMILY THAT WILL INCLUDE OUR BLOG.....IT WILL BE READY SOON......CHECK BACK FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SWITCH!!!

Celebrating the Fourth

So I know the 4th of July was nearly a month ago, but I'm finally getting around to getting a post up and wanted to show ya'll (there's some southern talk for you) how we celebrated the 4th. We started the morning early and began tearing out the carpet in our dining area--who ever thought it was a good idea to put carpet in a dining room!--and putting down laminate flooring. I took control of the little ones and Brian went at it with the help of the elders in our ward. Thank goodness for their help, we never would have made it otherwise!

We also put the laminate floor over our linoleum in the kitchen; it looks so much better now. Thanks to my brother Kevin for all his flooring tips and advice!

This is what it looks like now!
We love it!

Later that afternoon, we headed off to a BBQ with a bunch of our SCO (Southern College of Optometry) friends. Sam had fun playing in the sand....

and dancing with her friends.

I made a fourth of July cake, which looks ok unless you check out the one my niece, Heather, made.

The guys had fun playing Bocce Ball outside, while us ladies tended the
little ones and chatted inside.

And Aubrey was intently watching everything that was going on...and looking adorable while doing it, or course.

Plans for next year

Just thought I would let everybody know that I just got my extern sites for my fourth year. We will be in Colorado Springs, CO next summer and back in the Tri-Cities, WA for the fall semester.

So if you're close to one of those locations, look forward to see us next year!

Eating Peas

"Mmmm...peas should be good!"

Maybe not!

A Good Laugh

Amongst the potty-training and 'two-year-old' trials, I am grateful everyday for a little girl that can make me smile and laugh no matter how tired or frustrated I may be at the moment. Here are just a couple examples:

I had just finished putting some laundry away in Sam's room and had brought the basket and put it on the floor in the family room. Sam was talking to me about something, I can't quite remember what, when she stopped all of a sudden. You could see the little gears in her head turning and she turned to me and said, with all the excitement her little two-year-old body could hold, "I get in the basket and read a book, ok?" "Ok!" I said and off she went to find a good read. Before long she was having the time of her life, reading a book in her most favorite reading spot. How our Sam loves books!



The other day I was outside picking up some leaves from some hedge trimming I had done. Sam was helping me pick up the leaves, or was rather pulling some of her own off of the bushes. After a minute or two she turned to me and said, "I'm going to work. Goodbye." I waved goodbye and watched to see what she was going to do. As she walked down our front steps she turned back and said, holding up one of the leaves she had pulled off, "I take one leaf with me." (or rather, "I take one weaf wif me"). I smiled and told her that was a good idea. I continued to watch her as she walked down the driveway to her little bike. As she climbed on I asked her what she was going to do at work. Without hesitation she said, "I play with Nick and Jordan" , who are two guys that Brian carpools to school with. And then a second later she says, "....and....daddy". I laughed and told her to hurry home.

CA Pictures: Stage 3

Here is stage 3 of our great trip. The weekend before we left, Becky, the girls and I drove over to my sister's house in Visalia and stayed a night with her and her 4 kids. It was a quick trip but a lot of fun. Sam loved spending time with her cousins and still talks about them frequently. Just today she said she wanted to see Zack and she talked with Cambria, Danielle and Rod while they were visiting my parents last week. It's amazing how much a 2 year old can remember!

Zack tried to give Sam a little guitar lesson while we were there. Surprisingly she liked holding the guitar more than actually learning how to play it.

Danielle and Sam getting comfy on the ottoman.

There is this great little play area under the stairs and the girls loved 'hiding' in there with their toys. This is Sam telling me to go away so she can play some more.

My sister has a pool and it was definately the highlight, for Sam anyways. The girls love their auntie Becky! (sorry this picture is out of order)

Sam hanging out with Zack and Rod.

Aubrey getting ready for her first big swim, which turned out just to be a big 'sit on the steps.'

It was a little chilly...ok, a lot chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind at all. Aubrey, Becky, and I, on the other hand, just hung out on the steps.

A friendly wave from Rod.

Danielle looking as cute as ever!

There's nothing like having a cousin to share a towel with.

Enjoying a picnic lunch outside.

The girls set up this tent inside and made their own little house. It was complete with a bed, table, chairs and baby with all the accessories . It was so fun to watch them. They played in here for about an hour. Oh, Sam will be so happy when Aubrey is big enough to be a 'playmate'.

CA Pictures: Stage 2

Ok, so I know I'm really slow, but here is the second batch of pictures from our trip. There are so many fun ones that I'm having a hard time picking which ones to use; so I hope you don't mind a whole bunch of pictures cuz that's what you get when I can't decide:)

These sisters really do love each other.

Making snickerdoodles with grandpa. Good thing none of us are afraid
of "Sammy germs" because there was a lot of finger lickin'.

Sam trying her hand at a little car racing. This arcade game was at the
warehouse where we got to watch Auntie Becky play indoor soccer.

Another great smile from a beautiful girl

Playing with Dakota was Sam's favorite thing to do
at my parent's house. Luckily he is sweet and kind and
tolerated her really well.

This is the house that our family built when I was twelve. My parent's are planning on selling it and downsizing to a smaller home. I had to take a picture just in case it was the last time I would see it. I love this home and I, along with the rest of our family will be sad to not come home to 'home' when we visit mom and dad. But we are grateful that dad will finally be able to retire once they do sell the house:)

Here is Sam, very proud of our chalk art. Smart little girl that she is, she
recognizes her name and will sound out the letters when she sees them.

Sam thought it would be pretty fun to taste the chalk...turns out she
didn't like it much. I just loved this picture though, crazy hair and all.

Finally, pictures from our trip to CA and WA-stage 1

The girls and I got to spend all of April in CA visiting family. We had a blast but missed daddy very much. Next time we won't be gone quite so long. Although a bit overdue, here is the first installment of pictures from our trip. Enjoy!


Showing off our pigtails.

This is my grandma, she is simply amazing! She is nearly 96 years old and everyday she walks for 40 minutes on my parents deck. She is such a trooper. Here she is bundled up a bit to brave the cool Spring morning. We love you grandma!

My sister Becky gave Sam her first haircut to trim things up before the mullet got too bad.

It turned out so cute, thanks Auntie Becky!

We got to spend lots of time enjoying the wonderful CA weather. The girls loved it! Here is Aubrey looking intently at....something, not sure what; but ain't she precious?

Sam, cruising on her wheels.

Sam loves to ride in the basket of the stroller. It worked great as I was racing to my gate, running through Denver airport:)

Spending time outside with grandma and great grandma...and of course the dog, Dakota.

A view from my parents road. Man, I'm going to miss that place when they sell the house.

Spending some time with grandma.

My mom makes an AMAZING potato salad. So we made one while we were there in hopes that I could learn how. She doesn't use a recipe so we just had to guess on measurements as I wrote the ingredients down. I haven't tried it yet...I'm guessing it isn't going to be nearly as good.

Sam was eating straight out of the bowl. A combination of mayonnaise, mustard, and pickle juice. Mmmm, tasty! You'd think it was chocolate the way she was eating it.

Whoa! Apparently the local grocery store sells celery on steroids. Sam of course had to take a bite for herself...which shortly ended up on the counter.

Book Tag

Thanks Meg! Sorry I've been so slow to post this....the girls and I were enjoying the wonderful weather in CA while visiting my parents. And with email slower than I can run these days :), I wasn't able to check any of my friends' wonderful blogs while I was there. So here it goes...

1- Get the nearest Book to you, or one your reading that contains over 123 pages.
2- Go to the 123 page.
3- Find the 5th sentence.
4- Post the 5th sentence.
5-Tag five people.

So the first book on our book shelf I saw is "Your Child's Health" by Barton D. Schmitt. It was laying out from yesterday after getting it out to check the dosage of Tylenol to give Aubrey after she got her immunizations (poor girl, 3 shots!).

"Once children reach 3 to 4 months of age, they can usually tip the infant seat over, so discontinue using it."

Alright, I tag Jen Brown, Jenise, Emily (sorry I know you just got tagged), Liz, and Heather


p.s. BTW, this is a great reference book for sicknesses, injuries, sleep troubles, etc. My sister told me about it when Sam was a baby and I've used it many-a-time!

A Tribute to Samantha

Since we started this blog around the time
Aubrey was born, I thought I should make a
slide show of Samantha, so you can know
just how she came to be that bundle of joy!

I found my favorite video of Sam from her
first two years. Just so you know,
we didn't put her like this.

Sam Teaching Aubrey Some New Tricks

Singing Sam

Sam loves to sing to us.

Lower Lid Concretions

For all you optometry guys out there,
here are the two concretions on Sam's
lower conjunctiva. You have to click on the
picture to make it larger to see them.
For all you non-optometry folk, don't
worry....they are benign.

Look Out!!

Sam got a little too rough with her
baby stroller and accidentally dropped
it on Aubrey's head. Oops!!

Sam sure does love her baby sister.
We're hoping that Aubrey will be able to survive.

"Scared of Bunder"

We have had a few severe thunderstorms
here lately. Sam has woken up, scared from
the sounds of the thunder. She always
likes to tell us about it in the morning.

Those Fabulous Finley Girls

Sam just can't get enough of Aubrey. Sometimes
she is a bit too rough with her, but we know
it all comes from that big heart of hers!