Our Girls

These girls are too much fun. Avonlea likes to follow Mckay and Gensie around and learn about everything they're doing. They are both very sweet to her. When I'm getting these two ready for there naps I will often lay them next to each other to drink there bottles. It's so cute. They are good little buddies. Gensie has to remind me she gets "da warmy bottle and Abahyee gets da freezen bottle." I guess some like it hot, and some like it cold.

As you can see in this first picture Avonlea always has her feet up in the air. When I'm trying to take their picture Gensie sees to it that Lele puts her feet down.

So they do this

And this

And this while drinking their bottles.

When Avonlea decides she's had enough of the leg wrestling she starts to roll away. Then she decides she likes it there next to Gensie so she stays.

I really like dressing these two alike. Today when I dressed them I was noticing that their hair tells there age. I tried and tried to get them to look at me at the same time while smiling so I could get a great shot but you know how it goes. Mom just ends up regretting she ever tried while the kids get utterly frustrated that mom is making them sit there.

Gensie says to me a lot "Dat's my baby siser, I just love my baby siser."

See their hair tells there age.

It all started out with fun and games

Then it got a little more serious.

Then they realized mom might never let them go. They might be stuck doing this forever.

Then mom would holler and yell trying to get them to look at the camera. But instead of looking Avonlea would just yell back.

Then mom would get after her for trying to crawl away and she doesn't like being got after.

Their last resort was to just try and entertain themselves while they were stuck in this prison. Mom, are we done yet?

Horse Sale

On Sept 6th Tasha's Dad had a horse sale where he sold 70 of his horses.  We traveled to New Plymouth with the kids to help with it for the weekend.  The kids had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's (as always) and the horse sale just added to the good times.  It was a quick trip where we arrived there Friday night and left Sunday afternoon, but it was well worth it.

That is Tasha's dad in the background with the blue shirt.  When we first asked Gensie if she wanted to ride the horse she said, "No.  I'm gonna ride with Grandpa".  Grandpa's horse was not kid friendly enough so she had to settle for a solo ride...until Lele joined her.

This was Avonlea's first time on a horse and almost immediately she started rocking her hips and shaking the saddle horn trying to get the horse to go.  It must be in her blood.  :)

McKay wears these clothes all the time.  He is always dressing up like a cowboy and telling us he's "a real cowboy.  Just like Grandpa Pearce."  Recently people have seen him in the store and will comment on how they love his Halloween costume.   He says nothing to them and after they walk past he says, "Mom, this is not my Halloween costume.  I'm a real cowboy!"  This kind of thing really is in the blood and this little boy will grow up with many summers spent with Grandpa Pearce on horseback.

This is Lele and Quinn with Sarah (Logan's wife) and our newest Pearce niece, Kayslee Ann Pearce.

Kayslee's big sister Brindee.  She is just 4 months younger than Gensie and is such a darling little girl.

This is the sale arena.  The guy on the right is the man who spots the bids.  The man in the corral is there to keep the horse moving.  On the stand:  on the right is the auctioneer, in the middle is Dad who would give a pedigree and explains all about each horse, and on the left is McKay.

When we first got to the sale the first thing McKay said to me was, "Ok. Where is Grandpa?"  We explained to him that Grandpa was going to be very busy today and he was not going to be able to play.  So right after the luncheon, minutes before the sale started, McKay found Grandpa.  McKay took his hand and was determined to be with him.  So when Grandpa went up on the stand for the sale McKay went with him and received a special introduction as his first grandson. McKay sat up there with him for about the first hour.  Every once in a while Mckay would take out his guns and shoot the horses in the ring.  :)

Can't forget a picture of this cowboy sam.  Doesn't he look good?  What a stud.

In the back of the truck (under the canopy) was where the internet camera was set up for the online feed.  Autumn, Nani, Tasha, Quinn, and others were taking calls on their cell phones for online bids during the auction.  The auction portion of the sale lasted for nearly 5 hours.

ANDON'S BIRTHDAY

On Sept 10th (four days after the sale) was Andon's 18th birthday.  Since everyone was home for the horse sale we celebrated it that night after the sale.  He may have been turning 18 but in many ways he is more like a 3 year old.  :)  He was SO excited for his birthday.  It was a daily conversation topic while he was staying with us in Washington for a couple weeks.  We all had presents for him and Mom had made homemade ice cream sandwiches.

When Andon first got to our house in August for his visit he started talking about our Lion King 2 movie.  He has been wanting one for a long time but we have not found one for him.  So McKay came to Tasha and asked if we could please give ours to him.  Tasha was so touched that he wanted to give it away that she said "Sure, if you want to."  Andon was SO excited and put it right in his backpack (that he takes on every trip).  When Tasha was wrapping his birthday presents she thought, "Why don't we give this to him for his birthday instead?"  So we snuck it out of his backpack and wrapped it.  He knew by the shape of it that it was a movie.  He would pick it up and shake it, and then with the biggest grin on his face would say, "AWWWW!  Lion King 2!"  It was almost more exciting to him that he knew what the present was.  We are so glad to have such a sweet boy that would give his movie to his Uncle Andon because he loves it so much.  :)

Gensie LOVES her Grandpa.  She is never bashful when she sees him for the first time.  She is always seeking him out for EVERYTHING and is content to just sit on the counter as he makes dinner or sit on his lap as he talks on the phone.  This was just another time she sought him out to hold her as she drank a bottle. 

There seems to always be a batch of pups when we go the Grandma and Grandpa's.  The kids LOVE it.  We have to remind them to take the pups back to their Mom to eat so they don't starve to death.  Even Avonlea had to really get involved.  She would squeal and yell and get right in their face to really investigate them.

I didn't get a great picture of Kayslee.  She was relaxing here and was a darling little girl.  She is just 2 months old.

This is what happens when you tell Gensie we have to put the puppy back because it is time to leave.

The face behind the puppy in the previous picture.  :)

Avonlea really has an attachment to Grandma.

McKay begs us every time to please take a puppy home.  We have explained that we can't have a dog at our house.  So now in his prayers he says, "Please help Dad get a better job so we can move and get a dog".

The kids had to wrestle Grandpa before they left.

This picture tells it all.  Gensie did not want to leave her Grandpa or her puppy.  2 days was NOT enough for these kids.