Easter 2013

The lack of blogging has been weighing on me lately.  I love looking back and seeing all the pictures and stories from when the girls were little.  I know I am going to regret not keeping up with the blog as much as I'd like.  So occasionally I'll make an effort to catch up.  Too many great pictures and great stories to not document...and share.  Also too many times I've declared the blog is back!!... so no promises this time, just know I'm aware and will make an effort.

The next set of pictures along our journey is late March...specifically Easter weekend.  Our neighborhood puts on quite the Easter egg hunt the Saturday before.  We knew there would be a lot of kids show up but we had no idea it was going to be like THIS!  

Girls patiently waiting for the word GO!

Scoping out the loot.

While we were waiting, I was looking around and found what appeared to be a deranged Easter bunny. 

Girls are getting ready....

Ready??

SET......

GO!!!

Lisa and I were trying to comprehend what we witnessed later and we both came to the same conclusion; it was like watching a swarm of locusts devouring everything in their path.  It was surreal!

The girls did pretty well. 

One of their kindergarten friends was willing to trade.

Then it was time to sit around, enjoy some treats, 

and take in the sights and sounds of an awesome neighborhood.

Like this one a lot of Alyssa.

Time to meet the deranged Eastern bunny.  Yes, it was just as scary close up.

The girls didn't seem to mind.

 Victory pose!!

That night, we decorated some real eggs for a hunt of our own!

Waiting for them to dry is SOOOO hard!!!!

Easter Sunday morning; the hunt is on!

I can remember the girls hunting for Easter eggs in Anchorage just a year or two ago with snow still on the ground.  What a difference this year!  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  It was a bit chilly in the morning but it ended up being a perfect spring day.

And what a blast it was to have a good sized back yard for the girls to hunt and hunt.  That Easter bunny must have had a lot of fun hiding those eggs!

Tons of smiles all the way around.  I have a few more pictures from that day but it will have to wait till another day.  Hopefully not too far from now.

first visit from Anchorage friends

I have to admit that I'm a little addicted to posting on the blog again.  Last year (and maybe the year before that) I pretty much stopped posting after the fundraising was done.  Well I'm at that crossroads again and this time I'm choosing to keep it going!   The biggest reason is I have some great pictures/stories that I still want to share.  First non fund raising pictures are from mid March when our good friends from Anchorage visited us.  We had just the weekend but we managed to squeeze in a lot in those short few days.  One of the highlights was taking them downtown to show off our park.  Such an awesome downtown.

Sure do love our carousel.

Although not everyone was as enthused.  Such beautiful eyes.

It was great being able to share our new home with old friends.

Plus me, Lisa, and the girls got to do something we had been talking about for a long time...

finally play on the giant radio flyer!!!

This may or may not be our Christmas card picture this year.  :)

We went down to the riverfront so the kids could get some energy out.  

This guy looks like he was not amused with the kids...like he's stalking us!

Great picture... but have to confess that this picture took a LONG time to get.  The girls were so excited about the blocks, it became quite the bit of drama for them to just stand there and look at the camera!!

The river was ROARING!  We had seen the falls many times over the winter but never like this.  And apparently the peak flow isn't until about now in mid May.  We need to get back downtown and check it out.  As impressive as this was, it would probably blow our mind! 

Standing on the bridge, we couldn't hear ourselves.  It was so impressive.  I think Alyssa even asked to get off the bridge because it was too scary!

Another view of the falls from the bridge. 

I didn't know Lisa had taken this picture of Andy and I (apparently twins) outside grilling.  No idea why we were both decided to wear the exact same thing.  Pretty funny.

Crazy amazing time having our very close friends visiting.  We're going to have some more Anchorage friends come see us this summer.  Can't wait to share Spokane with you all!

Mission Accomplished!!!

Time for a celebration!!  You all did it!  Here we are again on the 6th anniversary of the day the girls came home from the NICU.  May 13th has turned into an annual celebration....because of YOU!  Thank you to everyone who has contributed this year.  You helped us reach our two goals we had this year.  While we didn't match last year's $6700, I am VERY proud of our $5900!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!

On our last day, we received 5 more donations....icing on the cake!  Thank you....

Wise family, 

Emily,

Josh,

 Sherri, 
and Dan!!

To keep us in the festive mood, I'm fast forwarding the blog time to mid February when the girls' movie was released on dvd.  I already shared some of these pictures on facebook but it's worth showing here.  This was nearly two years in the waiting.  Since we wrapped up filming early July of 2011. we have been on a roller coaster of guessing if it was going to be a movie, a TV series, or a combination of both....then if it was going to be released in the theater or straight to dvd.  FINALLY in mid February I went to the local Target and picked up 3 copies of Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel.  

Since we couldn't be in Anchorage or LA with all of our friends from the film, we decided to have our own red carpet movie premier right here in Spokane.  What an exciting night!!

First, a little red carpet action.  The girls got all dolled up for the big night.  I thought they looked great and played the part of movie star even better! 

Alyssa already tired of the paparazzi.

Katy....equally beautiful and ready for the camera.

Whoah... WORK IT GIRL!!

I got the girls some flowers for their big night.  They certainly deserved that....and more.  I think back at the long days, hard work, and how much they matured during that two months.  They started filming as toddlers and finished as little ladies.  I am SO proud of them for taking on this adventure and thriving.  

It has been the theme of their lives so far.

I love this shot of the first time "Gabi" showed up on screen.

If you've seen the movie, this might surprise you....but it was better than I thought it would be.  I had my doubts but they did a great job of making a very silly kids movie.  It's clean and full of action.  Yes silly....but I thought appropriate for the target audience; 6 year olds.  

Our favorite part...seeing the girls names on the credits.  Just absolutely surreal!!

Things got a little crazy after we watched it.  There are many more pictures but too crazy to share here.  

So that's it for our 2013 March for Babies fundraising effort!!  We'll do it again next year from April 5th to May 13th.  Can't wait to see what we can accomplish.

In the mean time, I promise to keep the blog going this year!  

No more catching up on a years worth of pictures and stories.

Thanks again everybody for making this a very special and memorable year!

Andy, Lisa, Alyssa, and Kaitlyn