Friday, May 14, 2010

Kyler Turned 4!

Kyler turned 4...two months ago! He turned 4 the first week into our house. On his actual birthday we did cupcakes. He decided that he wanted to wait to have his cake until his girlfriend Bubble Gum (Rachel Barney!) came to visit the next week. Rikk made his cake as usual and it was the super hero The Flash. Kyler LOVES The Flash and some days that is his name! We had his party at our house. The kids played all day and we did cake and presents that night. Thank you Barney family for helping make his birthday party special.



Hunter and Walker worked really hard on this robot made out of Trios and were really excited to give it to Kyler who carried it around all day.
Who needs wrapping paper when you can close your eyes and pull your present out of a store bag!





Or pull your present out from under a fleece blanket!


Kyler we can't believe that you are 4. Kyler is definitely sweet, mischievous, loveable and silly. He is so friendly and will literally talk your ear off! Happy birthday Kyler, we love you!

Hunter's Spring Concert

Hunter had a spring concert this year where they sang 4-5 songs. There was one song that he was fretting over like crazy. He had to shake his hips side to side and he didn't think that was very cool. We all practiced with him at home to make him feel less self conscious...Walker loved doing this, mostly because Hunter didn't! Hunter was so worried about this one song that he asked if he could move to his new school (he will attend a different school next year). We told him that they would be having the same concert on the same day at the other school (who really knows). He then informed us that he would not be feeling well that day and would have stay home from the concert. We assured him he would be feeling just fine. Hunter went to school that day and sang in his concert. He did great, but as you will see, he was very stiff. He is in the top row, fourth in from the left. His friend Kellen on the other hand who is in the front middle and plaid shirt was WAY into the concert. And it is a really cute song too! Sorry the video is grainy, it's with our old camera, we haven't found our video camera yet. And it's shaky because Rikk was holding one of the babies while filming.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Our Move

When it came to packing up all our precious belongings, I think we forgot how much stuff we really had. When we sold our house on Mandeville Loop and moved into our rental on Blessing, we thought it was going to be for just a few months and then we would move to New Mexico. We put everything that we wouldn't "need" for the next three months into two rental units and kept everything else. Then we got pregnant with the twins and the Air Force was kind enough to extend our stay and give us orders closer to home...Elmendorf. We started moving things down to a storage unit near Elmendorf a few months before our move. I can't believe how much stuff we have. I wanted to purge before we moved but Rikk's famous saying, "We need the weight" kept us from doing that. Here is what we used to move our stuff...

This isn't the Barney's trailer, but they have a 26ft long trailer like this that was filled with our stuff. They were nice enough to make a special trip to Anchorage with us, pull this and help us unload it. Thanks guys!

This isn't out trailer, but we have a 16ft trailer like this. Back in October our friends the Browns were nice enough to tow this completely full to Anchorage for us when they were going on a temple trip that we had to cancel because of sick kids. We also towed it completely full on the same trip to Anchorage with the Barneys and again the day we officially moved.

The day that we moved my dad drove this 17ft. Uhaul for us. I think he was just happy he didn't have to ride with any of the boys. My mom and I started out in my Yukon with the twins and Kyler. She then ended up driving Rikk's truck with Hunter and Walker because we had to put the trailer on my Yukon. Rikk's truck blew it's transmission, but my mom got her all the way to Anchorage.

When we got to Anchorage we stayed in TLF for just over a month and then moved into this house on base.

This is our house, really nothing to look at right now from the outside. The snow is now gone and Rikk is working on bringing back the front lawn that we share with our neighbor. It is apparent that the yard hasn't been taken care of in years (not neighbor's fault, they just moved in right before us). He can't wait to plant flowers, and he has already got most the brown turning green. I forgot to take pics of the backyard and basement and will post some when I post one of the house unpacked and moved in. We really got lucky with this house. It is 2600sqft to include the basement. It has 4 bedrooms on the same floor, and 2 and 1/2 baths. We also have a fairly decent sized entry, large one car garage, and tons of closets/storage space.

One side of the living room

The other side of the living room

Our dining room/area and door to back porch/yard

Our kitchen

Our entryway, a little more space to the right of the door that you can't see and there is a door there that leads out to the garage. And you can kind of see the coat closet that is the size of a regular closet there to the left.

Our half bath on the main floor

View from one side of the living room. Go straight and on left is half bath, then entry way. Go straight and turn right corner and there are stairs to basement and it also leads into kitchen.
Boys bathroom

Boys bathroom, I wish mine had this much counter space!

Kyler's room

Kyler's room

Twins' room

Twins' room

Laundry room

Laundry room...I LOVE my laundry room. I can just pull clothes out of the dryer, fold them on the counter and put them right into the boys' buckets. Rikk also added a few clothes lines in there too, he's soo handy!

A walk-in closet in the hall way, there's more room off to the right of it.

Hunter and Walker's room

Hunter and Walker's walk-in closet, more room off to the left.

Mine and Rikk's bedroom

We have our own closets which I think can sometimes be nicer than sharing a walk-in

Our bathroom...I need more counter space!
We LOVE this house. It used to be an 8-plex that they turned into a 4-plex. It is taking us a bit getting used to living on base. There are about 30 kids on our block and it is a total free-for-all. Rikk and I are the only parents outside with our kids and the neighborhood kids think that every yard and toy is their's too. So far we haven't heard out neighbors, we have some on each side and I hope that they haven't heard us. And sorry about the horrible house pictures, taking pictures of rooms is apparently something I am not really good at. I was trying to hurry before all the furniture was moved in. When we get things all unpacked and put away I will post some pics then, although you may see some of the house in random pics in posts to come.

One last get together...

Before our move to Elmendorf we got together with my family to celebrate my grandparents' 64th wedding anniversary. My grandparents are so sweet to each other. I love to hear my grandpa call my grandma "his sweetheart" and "my Annie," it just makes me smile.

Grandpa and Grandma


Grandma and Conner

Kooper and Conner

When we are done eating, this is where you can find Uncle Kevin...asleep in the recliner

Conner and Nana

Grandma, Kooper, Grandpa and Conner

Walker LOVES to make these babies laugh (Conner)


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Walker Turned 5!





























Walker turned 5...back in January! On his actual birthday we went to the fire station to have dinner and cupcakes with Rikk. Then for his birthday party Walker decided he wanted a race car cake. Rikk did a great job on the cake (as he always does) and Walker loved it. We had his party at the Community Center on base with some of his preschool classmates, family and close friends. As you saw by the pics, he had a great birthday. This last year Walker has really grown up. It has truly amazed us how much of a "little man" he has become. He is kind and loving, a really big help and an awesome brother. Happy birthday Walker, we love you!

SWAGGER WAGON

Saturday, April 10, 2010

"You want to hear my...."

Hunter and Walker had sport physicals today to play baseball this year. Rikk went in with them and they had a female doctor. The doctor is doing Walker's examine and this is part of the conversation...

Doctor: While lifting Walker's shirt she says, "Now I want to listen to your heart."

Walker looks at her really confused and then turns and looks at Rikk really confused.

Rikk: "What's wrong buddy?"

Walker: Whispering says, "Why does she want to listen to my fart?"

Rikk: While laughing says, "No, she wants to listen to your HEART!"

Walker: Giggling his cute little giggle says, "Ooohhh!!!"

I can totally see his confused little face thinking, "Why is she pulling up my shirt if she wants to hear me fart?" And just so you know, the doctor laughed too!