The Joyner Family

A Bike for Christmas!

2012-01-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

This is for you Bonnie!

Rachael wanted a "pink bike with a pink helmet" for Christmas. Santa thought Rachael could wait until her birthday, because she couldn't ride it all winter anyways! But Rachael has a special weapon...Uncle Ben! Uncle Ben got her the perfect pink bike. She loves it and can't wait to ride it all summer long! Fortunately, we had VERY nice weather while in South Carolina, and she could ride to her hearts content! (Thanks Maureen and Earl!)

Uncle Ben helping with the test ride.

Rachael and her cool Barbie bike!
Notice the small bike on the handlebars especially designed for Barbie to ride in!

Growing Up

2012-01-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Today was registration for 4 year old kindergarten. They go for 2.5 hours in the morning or afternoon for a year before they start kindergarten. Rachael is VERY excited. She wants to go and get her a backpack TODAY! We had the opportunity to meet the principal and take a tour of the school. It was bittersweet. I am very ready for her to go to school and yet a part of me wants to keep her home forever! It was just yesterday she was this old...

I guess we all go through that. So, here is to our kids growing up. May we all take a step back and remember how dull our lives would be without them!

Pictures and a Haircut

2011-12-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

Rachael got a cute haircut.

I love it and she loves it.

Both mom and daughter happy...priceless!

**************************************************

For years my sisters and I had a sisters only picture taken for my dad. With families and life in general we have not had one taken for many years. Before Cindy left for the Azores, we had some candid photos taken. This year, we included our daughters and mother. It was fun to be with all these girls. (Hope you enjoy. Let me know which one is best, so we can have that one framed!)

SueAnn and Rachael

Cindy and Megan

Kate with Grace, Olivia, and Claire

Rose with Granddaughters

Grandma, Moms, and Daughters

Kate, SueAnn, Cindy

Kate, SueAnn, Rose, and Cindy

**************************************************

We will be taking our family pictures this week too! Hope they turn out as good as these!

Cousin Fun!

2011-11-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

We have been able to get together a lot with my sister Kate recently, so Rachael had lots of fun playing with her cousins. After a visit with Kate, we brought Olivia home with us for a visit. Oh boy did these girls have some fun.

Here are the girls and their babies! They loved playing with the babies and often played "doctor" and helped their babies "feel better."

Here we are at the zoo in Davenport. It was a chilly day, but the kids had fun playing! And they HAD to wear their sunglasses!

We have had more cousins here over the Thanksgiving holiday,
so more cousin pictures to come!

2011-10-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

I can never remember to start from the end and go forward for these all to be in order. Sorry ;) You get to do the work now!

Disney World...Part 3

2011-10-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

The rest of the week was a whirlwind of parks and rides. Sunday through Tuesday, we spent at different parks and had lots of fun laughing and just being together! Great times.

Here we are in front of the "Tree of Life" in Animal Kingdom. They had an awesome Ride called Expedition Everest. We went on this one lots and lots! Definitely a favorite.

On Monday we went to Epcot and had a princess breakfast. it was fun to see the princesses. I had never been to any Disney park and was especially excited for this.

Epcot was ok. We did the "Wine and Dine" half marathon, which is the kick off to Epcot's Wine and Dine Festival, so it was pretty busy there with not much else to do.
I would not even take Rachael there, she wouldn't understand or like it.

Of course there is always Cindy the CRAZY viking!
(I should post this picture all over the internet!)

We left Epcot and went to the Magic Kingdom. We got there just in time to see the parade. Now Rach would LOVE this!! We saw all of the princesses and most major characters.

Claire being such a good baby!
We had a wonderful time and it was really nice to be with just the girls.

We are planning another one!

February 2014. Disney World. Princess Half Marathon.

Any other ladies coming with us????

Disney World... Part 2

2011-10-23T16:32:00.001-07:00

Saturday was race day. We bummed around the hotel and picked up our race stuff. The race didn't start until 10 pm. We tried to nap and take it easy!

Here we are before the race. At Disney races people dress up. We tried to match up our shirt color to a character. I was Cinderella, Cindy was Minnie Mouse, and Kate was Snow White.

Mile 3

Mile 6

There were characters along the way for us to take pictures with.
(Flora, Fauna and Meryweather)

AND Darth Vader of course!

Mile 9

Our Medals! My feet were KILLING me by the end. We got back to the hotel and were in bed at 4 am. but we were up and ready to go the parks again the next morning!

A Trip To Disney World...Part 1

2011-10-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Last October my sister, Cindy, came up with an idea to do a sister trip and run a Half Marathon. We all decided to do it and began planning and training to go. We all had bumps along the way but we did it!

Kate drove up, met me here and we flew to Orlando together on a Thursday. (Kate has a 8 month old still nursing, so she was the only kid there! We left all the others at home! Because we needed someone to watch the baby during our race, we brought along our niece Hannah.)

We met Cindy at the airport and went to the hotel. We then proceeded to go to Downtown Disney. We looked around and went to dinner. Our good friend Erin, that we grew up with, works at Disney World and met us for dinner. We had a great time with Erin and it was so nice to have someone show us the ins and outs of Disney.

This was in front of the Lego Store. It was made of the small Legos. How cool would that job be?

On Friday we went to Hollywood Studios. So much fun. We rode the rides all day and had a great time with out kids!!

We met some green army men from Toy Story! He kissed each of our hands.
Hannah was in love!

We caught the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular! Cindy got picked to be an extra in the show. She did a good job running around the stage staring at Indiana Jones. (He was kinda cute!)

Of course we met Mickey Mouse!

Claire getting in some much needed crawling time. She really was a good baby being hauled all over the place and stuck in a stroller for most of the days!

Surgery

2011-08-23T11:39:00.001-07:00

Last Monday, Rachael went in to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. While the surgery went well, recovery has been long and painful. (For both patient and parents.) We are still trying to sleep through the night. Hopefully when all is healed, she will sleep better, her constant cough will not be so constant and she will just feel better. But, until then we are grateful for tylenol, Carnantion Instant Breakfast (the only place she seems to get any calories from), and a humidifier which keeps her face and throat moist (In theory anyway).

We had an AMAZING nurse that gave Rachael all the things that she would see or feel in the operating room. From the mask that she was put to sleep with, to the stickers that they put on your heart and other places to keep track of your vitals during surgery. When the time came, Rachael went with Nurse Erin and we were told she did great!

A trip to Nauvoo

2011-08-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, Jason took a day off work and we spent a long weekend with my sister, Kate, and her family, in Davenport, IA. While down there we took a day trip to Nauvoo. We had lots of fun, and wore ourselves out! Here are some fun photos!!

Rachael dressed as a pioneer girl!

Rach took the babies and lined them up ready to learn!

Making rope!

We had a great time and Rach asks me everyday when we are going back to Kate's house! One day I will say....today! See you in a couple of hours Kate!

Before and After

2011-08-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July, my parents went to visit my sister, Cindy, in Alaska. While they were gone, my other sister, Kate, and I decided to redo the kitchen. With the help of our brothers, and some good old fashioned elbow grease we got it finished. Barely in time though!!

So I can't seem to find any good before pictures, so we will just do the after ones!

We painted the walls a pretty green, and had orange accents.

We took mom's plates and spoons that she brought home from Romania and arranged them into some wall art. (HGTV should be proud!)

And the brother's installed a new sink and faucet.

We had a busy week or so, but we had lots of fun. Mom and dad were sure surprised when they walked in from their trip and came into a new kitchen. They work so hard, they sure deserve it! We love you mom and dad!

Family Time!

2011-06-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

We had a great time while my sister was in town! It is always fun to be with cousins. We are SO HAPPY they are moving closer to us!

We played outside, had Rachael's birthday party, went to the zoo, ran/walked in a 5K, went to Home Depot and made a Father's day gift, and had an all around GREAT time!

Enjoy the photos!

Rachael's birthday party! Princess theme of course!

The cake. I learned that you should NOT use cream cheese frosting to decorate with.
It softens quickly and then starts drooping!

Jed's AWESOME pose getting ready for the kids 1/2 mile race!

Grace's awesome running skills!

The group!

Oh what fun...

2011-05-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

It is to play in the mud!!!

Happy Birthday!!

2011-05-03T11:46:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my little 3 year old! It seems like yesterday! (I am sure we all say that!)

Rachael is such a fun girl! She makes us laugh and has a great sense of humor. Rachael is also very smart! She tells me things and I wonder where she is learning these things. She knows all her letters and is learning numbers. She catches on very quickly!

Rachael chose her birthday dinner, which consisted of noodles and broccoli!! I also made a giant cupcake cake. Purple and pink, her favorite! She especially liked the frosting!!

We have family coming into town in early June, so we will have her "big" party then. She wants a princess party and will be inviting some of her "friends". She is pretty excited!
We did have a few presents for her to open!

I think she had a very fun 3rd birthday.

Chef of the Day

2011-05-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Jason was Chef of the Day in his class last week. That meant he was in charge of the entire kitchen. (Each day they have a different job and they rotate through each job, during the semester.) Rachael and I were able to go to his kitchen and enjoy lunch with him.

Rachael loved seeing him and watching all the people in the kitchen! I even made a shirt for her to wear that said..."My compliments to the chef!) Jason really liked it!

Easter

2011-05-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

My favorite picture of the bunch. She loves her bunnies!

Easter Sunday was a bit chilly here, but much better than the weather we have been experiencing. The sun was out!! We have 1pm church, so we had our Annual Easter Egg Hunt in the morning. Family came in for brunch and while they guys were cooking we unleashed the kids! Of course it was all over in a matter of minutes, but the kids had fun.

Rach in her Easter dress. It turned out beautifully in my opinion!

3 year Pictures

2011-04-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

I took Rachael to Penny's today and had her 3yr. pictures taken. She did pretty good. She liked the flowers and liked jumping. They didn't turn out as cute as I had hoped, but the did get a bunch of good shots.

The purple dress she has on, is her Easter dress. I saw the purple fabric and LOVED it. The idea formed from there and I got it made. Thanks to my mom (AKA Yoda) for doing the zipper. Rach loves it and she is a pretty, pretty princess in it!

Click HERE to view pictures!

Happy Easter to you all.

A Beautiful Day in Our Neighborhood...

2011-04-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

We had a BEAUTIFUL day this past Wednesday and the kids learned a new trick!!

Doesn't this look fun? I am sure we will spend lots of time on this hill.

I was hard work pushing this car up the hill. Especially in flip-flops!!

The Home Depot

2011-04-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks Home Depot, for giving my child a hammer next to my fingers!!

Thanks Home Depot, for making Rach pretty good with a hammer.

Thanks Home Depot, for helping Rach get excited to "build" things.

And Thank You Home Depot, for giving us some excitement on a Saturday morning!!

Family Time

2011-03-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

(Blogger would NOT upload photos, so this post is a few weeks old!!)

Jason's Grandma passed away in February, so we have had the chance to be with family. Rachael and I drove down to South Carolina in hopes of seeing Grandma Gentry, but she passed the day we got there, early in the morning. We helped get things ready for the funeral, and then drove to Dallas, Texas, where the funeral took place. We were met there by the rest of Jason's brothers and families and by Jason.

The funeral was nice and it was great to see family again. We then drove back to SC and had a memorial service there. Jason flew home on the 6th and Rach and I are here until Monday. We have been helping Grandma Joyner go through Dale and Grandma Gentry's stuff and get rid of or donate it. It is really quiet here at the house. It was always a busy place with all the boys, but with them all gone and most married, it is pretty quiet.

Before everyone left we went to the South Carolina Zoo.
It was fun and we went on a beautiful day!

When I came home from SC, Jason had this cake for me! My birthday happened while we were down there and we had birthday cake. We went to the store to get carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, (my fave), but they had nuts and raisins in it. (Not my fave) We went with a different cake.

Jason had someone in his class make me a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting!! It was YUMMY! Thanks babe!

Swimming!!

2011-01-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

We signed Rachael up for swim lessons at our local YMCA. She loves to go swimming and she learns so fast. The class is for 2-3 year old's and we do lots of singing and working on the basic movements needed for swimming. Rachael's current favorite thing to do is to creep along the side of the pool singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." She could do that all day!

I love swim lesson day because she is so worn out that she usually has a really good nap!

Pretty, Pretty Princess

2011-01-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

Rachael LOVES anything princess. She likes to watch all the videos and has lots of fun singing all the songs. The other day she decided she wanted to pick her own clothes. (I knew the day was coming, but I have been able to convince her to wear clothes that match.) It was an at home all day day, so she chose what to wear. Here you go...

Introducing Princess Rachael!

Blast from the Past

2011-01-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

While perusing Walmart the other day, I came across the foam rollers our mom would put in our hair to curl it. (I hated them. They hurt and we always had to sleep with them in, which really meant no sleep.) I decided to get them as Rachael's hair curls nicely.

Saturday morning rolled around and I thought it would be a great time to test the rollers. Rach did great sitting while I put the rollers in and she had fun handing me which color I needed. We waited about 2 hours for her hair to dry and I also used the blow dryer a few times to give it a boost of heat.

Her hair didn't curl very well!! She used to have great curl to her hair, but it seems to be going away. Even the ones that did have curl to them started going straight. Sad day. I had dreams of beautiful ringlets in her school pictures. Oh well, I suppose it is not the end of the world! AND she had a wicked case of frizz and static all day to boot!

Hoodie

2011-01-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

Last week I put a shirt with a hood on Rachael. She wore it with the hood up everywhere. She even slept with it on during nap time. It was even a battle to remove it for bed. The next morning while watching her "show" (Mickey Mouse) she decided that she needed to wear that shirt. She found it, in the dirty clothes, and immediately told me to take her pajama top off and put this hoodie back on! After much coaxing and a promise to find another shirt with a hood on it, she took it of to change for the day. Luckily, the next hood didn't stay on as well and she forgot about the hood by the end of the day!

I haven't decided if this shirt will be put away permanently or if it was so cute that she loved it so much, that I should let her wear it more often. (Cindy, the shirt is the cream one with deer, hearts and is long john fabric. Remember? Thanks, I think!)

This is a picture of the second day hood. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the other one.

Maybe tomorrow?!?!!?

Presents!!!

2010-12-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

Rachael got into Christmas this year. Although she was still terrified of Santa, she did enjoy all her presents!!

On Thursday Jason, Rachael and I went to see Tangled. Rach loved it and was really good. She tells me that Rapunzel starts with "R" like Rachael! And that Rach is going to grow her hair long like Rapunzel! Any way, about 30 minutes away from the end of the movie she starts to get snugglie and cuddly and warm. I knew she was getting sick but hope it wasn't going to be too bad. She now has a bad full blown cold that has started an ear infection. She does pretty well during the day, but as usual, nights are pretty bad. She lives on cough syrup, Motrin, and Vicks these days.
On Christmas day we got lucky enough to sleep in until about 8:30!! ( well we were up from about 3 to 5:30) So we ate breakfast, showered and waited for my Brother Aaron to come over. Rach would go to the kitchen window and look over to Aaron's house and call..."Aaron wake up!! Come over so we can open presents!" It was pretty funny. Finally she called over to him and he said he was just getting ready to head over. She was pretty excited. She knew just where she needed to rip the paper open and get her stuff. I wrapped a lot of things individually so she had lots to go through. All in all she had a good day and had lots of fun despite being sick.

Jason got her Toy Story 3!!

Dad and Rachael in their robes they got!

Grandma got Rachael a nursery for her babies!!

Rach and her new baby!! She looks like she's feeling great!

Nativity Set

2010-12-14T15:31:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with the Little People Nativity Set many years ago. I love the simple look and the sturdiness to it. I have looked forward to buying it for many years. Last year I saw it at Walmart and got it on the spot. Rach liked it then but did not really play with it. This year, however, she plays with it all the time. She rearranges the kings and people in the stable. She carries all the parts around in her shopping cart and will set it up all over the house.

I love it that she likes it so much. She even says "I have one of those!!" when she sees other Nativity sets. I love it!

Snow Fun

2010-12-09T16:03:00.001-08:00

For the past few days Rachael has been begging to go play in the snow. I get all the gear out and we head outside. She Loves it! She likes to roll around, go down the slide, play on the swings, anything that she can do outside is fine with her. So, when Jason promised to take her on the 4-wheeler in the snow, she did NOT let him forget. Matt was here too, so we got them all ready and hitched the sled behind the 4-wheeler. They had so much fun they did not want to put it away. We will definitely be doing that some more!

Chickenpocks????

2010-12-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

This outbreak was caused by a red marker. She had fun coloring though.

I Love You Mommy!

2010-11-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

Who knew four simple words would sound so amazing! As much as she drives me nuts with all her questions these days, I love to hear her tell me this as we snuggle in bed in the morning. I love you too silly girl, I love you too!

This is for you Sarah!!

2010-11-22T17:27:00.001-08:00

I have been busy doing a bunch of nothing these days. The weather fluctuates between warm and cold so we play outside or play inside. Not much exciting is going on.

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. Rach was playing outside and was sitting on a dog kennel and decided that she should take it everywhere. She lugged it out to the swing and would hold it while she was "swinging". She also tried to take it up the ladder to the slide. That did not work so well.

Jason has been very busy with school and work. This past Saturday he had the opportunity to go to Brennans. (A local store that specializes in fruit, veggies and wines.) His culinary club does demonstrations for them every couple of weeks. He and Sousha made a peaches and bluberry glaze that was put over icecream and chicken.

Like I said life is pretty exciting around here!!

We want to wish everyone a very
Happy Thanksgiving!

The little red coat...

2010-11-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

I found this treasure at Target yesterday!! (The coat not the kid!!) As I was trying it on her a lady walked by and said..You HAVE to get that for her! She looks beautiful in it! She has always looked good in red, so yes I got it for her. I am such a sucker!! I asked her if it was warm and she said... it's cute mom. At least she knows her priorities!!

Halloween

2010-11-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

This year we went to the Zoo on Saturday night. They had treats to give away and we thought it would be fun. We had a good time and the kids had fun as well.

Then on Sunday we did our family tradition of going to Palmyra to my brothers house to trick or treat, and have some tasty soup after. We had a fun weekend and Rach really liked being a pink butterfly!! She picked up the whole trick or treat thing pretty fast. And she asks me every day for some of her "trick or treaties"!!

Rachael would NOT kiss me with the black lipstick on. She did not like it one bit!

Riding with Uncle Rob on the 4-wheeler!!

Dad, Rach and Mom!

Jack-O-Lanterns!!

2010-10-25T08:19:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Jason, Rachael,and I decided to carve our pumpkins we got from the pumpkin farm. We had fun and will be baking seeds today!!

Jason decided to do a cyclops, I did a ghost and Rachael's was a plain old face!

Rachael kept asking what daddy was making and he kept telling her he was making a cyclops. One time he asked her what I was making and she got excited and shouted..." A Holy Ghost!!" It was awesome! I guess she is learning some things in her nursery class at church!!

Enjoy our fun pictures!

Mom showing her how to scrape with a spoon...Mommy, my turn!!

YIKES!!!

It's slimy!

Into the bowl to make pumpkin seeds!

The completed jack-o-lanterns!

It was a fun night with Rach and she kept us laughing. We were surprised how much she liked pulling the "guts" out. She get so excited to see her jack-o-lantern!

Last Year...

2010-10-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

One year ago Tuesday we became a family of three!! My how time flies! Our lives have been immensely blessed because of this little lovely Rachael.

I think of how last year at this time we were sitting at an Applebees in nowhere-ville Montana celebrating our lives together.

We had spent the weekend packing all our belongings into a 17 foot truck and as much as we could fit into the car for a move from Idaho to Wisconsin. We spent a fun Monday night celebrating at Lazy D's, and saying goodbye to many friends.

On Tuesday we woke up tired from a restless night of sleeping on an air mattress. We hurriedly got showered and dressed for a trip to the courthouse!!

The whole thing took less than 10 minutes and we hadn't realized we were done until the judge said, well that's it. We looked around, and I thought... that's it?

Jason and I feel so blessed to be Rachael's parents. I think of all the "pieces" that had to fall into place, and am so very thankful for our Heavenly Father for guiding us to her. I know she was meant to be our daughter.

I pray for her young birth mother, (S) who courageously lived though her ordeal and is still a bright and happy person. I am so grateful we got to spend so much time with S. I see S's "Latino fire" (as I call it in Rachael) everyday. S always had us laughing, and is a jokester at heart. I pray she is doing well. Although we have had no contact with her since, I am sure she is becoming a beautiful young woman. I am excited for the day when Rachael asks me about her birth mom. I will be able to tell her how funny, beautiful, and kind she is. One day I hope to meet up with S again, and I can tell her how funny, beautiful and sweet her birth daughter is.

We love you S and we love you Rachael. Thanks for blessing our lives more than we thought possible!

(L to R)
Lee (CASA Worker--Child advocate), Marci (Rachael's Social Worker), Jason, Rachael, Rod (Our Social Worker), SueAnn, Jill and son (S's Social Worker).

We had the great privilege to work with these people closely and appreciate all their hard work and dedication to helping us and the children in our case and many others. The see many things that I am sure we would never see in our lifetimes and yet they were always willing to help however they could. Thank You for your hard work!!

Another Pumpkin Farm...

2010-10-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

***This post has LOTS of pictures, so beware!!***

This past Saturday we went to another pumpkin farm. This one was awesome!!! Rachael and Matt loved it and the grownups had lots of fun too!! Here is my picture story of events!!

Fall Fun

2010-10-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of going to a pumpkin farm with some friends. Rach and the kids had a great time! (We had 3 two year olds, and an almost 4 month old.) The kids all did great and we had a fun time. The farm had lots of fun things to do. We...

Jumped in a giant pumpkin.

Rode a "horse".

Played in a corn box.

Found cool hiding spots.

Went down a giant slide!

Went on a hay ride and a train ride!

Looked through a sea of pumpkins to find the perfect one.

We will be heading to another pumpkin farm in a couple of weeks. This time daddy will be with us!! I love fall and am excited to share the fun experiences with her. Rachael loves being on the "farm" and we are so very happy to have her in our lives.

Farm Fest

2010-10-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Rach and I went to Farm Fest last Saturday. We had a fun time and Rach got to ride a horse, pet baby cows, "drive" a tractor, ride a hay wagon, paint a pumpkin, and make a scare crow! She had a really fun time and we are excited to take her to a pumpkin farm in a couple of weeks.

She is really into the Disney princesses. She is starting quite a collection of princess things. It makes me laugh to think she has such a strong opinion on certain things. We went to a fabric store the other day and she saw this sparkly princess fabric and refused to walk away from it. Luckily it was on sale and I was looking for fabric to make some jammies so it worked out; But it makes me laugh that she loves them so much.

Our new baby...

2010-09-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

Still trying to think of the perfect name! Any ideas?

Sorry I forgot to mention it's a she! We think molly. But not definite yet.

Better Late than Never...

2010-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago was Matt's birthday. Bonnie and I took the kids to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee. It was terrific. They both loved it and they had great things for kids of all ages! The museum had a fun "grocery store", a house to build, cars to put together, music stations, gravity fun with golf balls, and all sorts of stuff. The best part was a 3 and younger area that had ramps. Rach and Matt played forever on these ramps. They would slide down them and push things down it. They thought it was great fun!

Bonnie asked if I would make Matt's birthday cake. I thought it would be fun and I told her how we could make a train cake. So the Friday before the party, my mom and I set out to make a train cake. Here is how it turned out. We thought it turned out pretty cute. (It was a Thomas the train party.)

Thomas the Tank Engine--At least my version!

The caboose. And a car with a digger on it!

Here is the whole train. We used kit-kats for the "log" car.

Mom and I had lots of fun working on it! Thanks Bonnie for asking/letting us make it!

PS-We are now taking orders!!

Excitement!!

2010-08-25T12:22:00.001-07:00

Just a few minutes to post about our exciting morning. I spent a few hours in the ER with Rachael! While I was sewing this morning Rachael was playing around the kitchen. Things were going quite smoothly and I hear Rach cry out. I look over and she has an opened can stuck on her finger, which she had pulled from the garbage. (I think it was a green bean can with the lid still attached.) I try to get to her before she pulls it out, but did not make it. She sliced her finger pretty good on it. Most of it was not too deep, but there were a few spots that were questionable. So, we get it all wrapped up and jump in Aaron's truck and go see Grandma at work to see if she thinks it is as deep as I think it is.

Grandma thought it was questionable, so off to the Hospital we go. Everyone was really nice and we had the BEST nurse. (Rach fell in love with her and gave her hugs a we were leaving.) The doc looked at it and said he thought it needed stitches. He said they could just numb her and go to town or sedate her before numbing. She was pretty worked up after having 3-4 people looking at it, so we opted for sedation. They had an oral solution they had me give her and she drank it right down. They told me it would be about 30 minutes and they would then start. It only took about ten! She was very relaxed and just watched them stitch her up. Although she did cry during the actual numbing shot she did not try to fight them much and was quite funny the rest of the time.

All in all she did well and we now have 4 stitches on her finger. Even though she knows we do not play in the trash, she gives it a wide berth now. I guess some things we have to learn the hard way.

On another side note, we are fully potty trained and she wears big girl undies 24 hours a day!! Not changing diapers is W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!!!

Silly Girl...

2010-08-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the first night Rachael used an excuse to not go to bed. She called me about 10 minutes after being put in bed saying...I need to go potty!! So of course I go in there and we run to the potty. She sits and immediately grunts/pushes and says "nope. I go bed mommy." Little stinker!!

Since Monday we have been potty training. She has done very well and I think we are diaper free!!! Hooray!! She had a few hiccups along the way, but I must say it has been pretty smooth sailing. I told her we don't have any more diapers, so she needs to use the potty. She seems to be OK with that so I just use that every time she asks for a diaper.

Of course she has only had 1 BM in the potty and that terrified her. She screamed like she was dying! Has any one's kid done that? How do I calm that storm? I guess we will see as time goes on.

So alas my days have been spent at home with a pantless child. We did go to the mall today and have family pictures taken. She did wonderful and we got some great pictures. (Those will be posted as soon as I get them.) I took her to the family bathroom with the itty-bitty toilet and she thought she was hot stuff going potty and washing hands in her size things!

One Picture...

2010-08-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Says it ALL!!

Wish us luck!!!

Alabama!!!

2010-08-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Following our family reunion Rachael and I traveled back to Alabama with my sister, Kate. We have been having lots of fun and we try to keep busy with 5 children. (Matt came with us too!) It has been VERY hot and VERY humid, ( about 112 degrees with the heat index) so we have been indoors a lot and when we are not we go play in the water!! Here is what we are doing.

We went bowling one day!

This is at a place called Water World. They have a wave pool and the big kids taught "the littles" how to jump the waves! They love it and we are going to again this week.

Here we are at the ocean in Panama City. We parked at a state park and were able to pick a spot that was by a jetty. The waves did not come in and pull us all away! There were tons of Jelly Fish around!! The kind that don't hurt you. The kids had lots of fun catching the jelly fish. A little while later, we went over the hill beside us and found that the wave side was just over the hill! We had a fun day switching between the two!! We will go again this week as well, when Bonnie comes here to go home with us!!

Life has been Busy!!

2010-07-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last month my sister came for a visit from Alaska. We have been busy doing all the fun things sisters do. We shopped, took the kids to the park, swimming, zoo and lots of other things.

Around the 4th of July my family had a reunion. We had lots of games and fun things to do as well as visit with everybody!! Here are a few photos.

Rachael liked to play with the sparklers.

All the grand kids. (Not officially all. We are missing 3.)

She had the best time playing big girl with her cousins!! I think she will miss them all.

This past week I was able to go to Girls Camp for our stake. It was VERY hot and muggy, but it was a fun time. Jason came to camp too, to be the chef. I think he had a good time, and I know all the girls loved his cooking. Thanks to my sisters who watched Rachael for us!!

Things might get back to normal, and I might be able to keep up again!!

Family Trip to the Zoo!

2010-06-04T15:43:00.001-07:00

Jason had the day off of work on Thursday. We decided to take a trip to the zoo. Rachael is old enough now to watch the animals and enjoy seeing them. She loved to watch whatever each animal was doing and say the sounds over and over.

She really liked the fish!

ROAR says the lion!

Pretty Peacock. He was strutting for a peahen nearby him.

Rachael LOVED the carousel. She did NOT want to get off.

All in all it was a very fun day at the zoo. We will be going often this summer, so if you want to come too, just let me know!!!

Park and Ballerina!

2010-05-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we went to Bonnie's house and had a picnic at the park. It was a great park, and the kids had a great time. It was a fun day!! Thanks Bonnie!

Like most kids, Rach loves to swing. Jason was playing with her, so she was laughing really good, which made for some great pictures!!

While sitting on the park bench I was playing with my camera. I put it into panoramic option and learned that I could take 2-3 separate pictures and it would "zip" them together. I had fun playing with this option.

While in SC during Christmas, Grandma Joyner gave Rach this Tutu. She has recently fallen in love with it and enjoys wearing it throughout the day! Today I showed her how to put her hands over her head and twirl like a ballerina. She is really into dancing. I will need to look into dance classes for her in the future!!

Warm Days=Sprinklers!!

2010-05-22T18:23:00.001-07:00

One day last week it was nice and warm. I decided it would be a great day for playing in the sprinkler!! The kids had lots of fun and we got some great pictures.

We will be having lots more sprinkler days. It is supposed to be almost 90 all next week!

Babies!!!!

2010-05-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Rachael does love her babies. She has them all over the house. Upstairs, downstairs, bags, beds, strollers etc. Everywhere! I found these small itty-bitty babies at Wal-mart and I try to keep one in my purse so she can play quietly if I need her too. She decided one morning that she needed to carry four of them around. They kept falling out of her arms, so I helped her out a bit. We wrapped a belt around her several times and then stuffed her babies in. She loved it. She even ate breakfast with them attached to her. It was too cute.

A week or so ago, Bonnie and I took the kids to the Milwaukee Public Museum. We had lots of fun and the kids liked looking at all the stuff!! Here are a few pictures of that!

Rachael turns 2...Part 2

2010-05-10T15:19:00.001-07:00

We combined our family may birthday dinner with Mother's Day dinner. So we had a "party" yesterday!

I made a Milk Chocolate cake with melted caramel drizzled into it. Super Yummy!

She didn't want to blow out her candle!!

Such a girl!! She was super excited for new clothes! (She must take after her mother?!?!?)

She loves Books!!

Thanks to our family who loves her so much. We love that she has the best cousins around!!

Happy Birthday Rachael!!

2010-05-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Rachael is now officially a 2 year old!! She makes our life interesting, and enjoyable, Most of the time. (She is 2 of course!)

We got her a pink tricycle for her birthday and she is learning to use it. She is still trying to figure out that she has to push her feet down to make the pedals move. She loves it though and she drags it wherever she wants! It also has a bucket in the back for her to store her things. Yesterday, it was her bread that was stored there!

A while back Papa, Grandma, Rach and I helped a gal that Papa works with, move. She had this adorable little chair. I told her that I thought it was cute and she gave it to me! Mom and I went shopping for new material and recovered it. We finally finished it! So here it is! Rachael likes to sit in it and "read" her books.

I have found another project. I am making family birthday calendars. I have found some websites that I can download free digital scrapbook stuff, so I am making them for family and friends. Here is an example of one! If you want one, email me your family birthdays and I can get one to you!! I send them as a pdf and you get to have them printed or print them yourself! They are 8 1/2 X 11 in size.

Short Trip

2010-04-29T14:23:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday Jason got a call from his brother, that his Dad had passed away. We quickly packed and were headed to South Carolina about 9pm. Rachael slept all night and we drove straight to Parris Island, where Jason's little brother was graduating from Marine Boot Camp. We saw him graduate and then went to Columbia area to help with anything that needed to be done. Funeral arrangements were in progress, and we were waiting for all the other brothers and families to get into town.

The viewing was Saturday and the Funeral on Sunday. It was a nice funeral service. We will remember Dale Joyner fondly. We are sad that Rachael will not get to know her Grandpa better. We will miss him as well.

We then left on Tuesday and drove home. Rachael did really well through the whole trip. We spent a lot of time in the car and she was a good girl. She is getting used to people better and she was only really afraid of one brother. She loved her Aunts and some of the uncles (sorry guys).

Rachael and cousin Savannah

It is good to be home and we are gearing up for a 2nd Birthday!!!!

Zoo and Hair

2010-04-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

We went to the Zoo on April 10th with Aunt Bonnie and Cousin Matt. It's fun to remember how cool the animals are. They were really excited to see everything. They LOVED the fish and birds. Here are some cute pictures.

I also decided to cut/trim Rachael's hair. She still had a layer of baby hair that was longer than the rest, so I cut about an inch or so to make it all even. It turned out really cute!! It is a bob type cut, and frames her face nicely. She doesn't care what it looks like, but I really like it. :)

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

2010-04-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Our Easter was a fun one. We had a bunch of people over for dinner and we had an egg hunt for the kids. They had fun and the food was especially yummy. (Isn't it always?) Rachael loved getting eggs and continued to wander the house looking for more! Here are a few photos of the fun!

Running to get her eggs!

Rachael is also getting good at jumping on the trampoline. She has figured out how to get up and in all by her self and likes to jump and land on her bum! She loves to be outside and I like to be outside reading a book, while she wanders and plays. It will be even more fun when the cousins come for visits during the summer!

PS: I have called to find out how Owen and Oscar are doing and have not gotten a call back. :(

Owen and Oscar

2010-03-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my brother was cutting down some trees to clear some of his land. Down went many trees. Little did we know that there was an owls nest in one of the trees. We brought Owen inside and warmed him. It took a while to get him warm again and we didn't know if he would live through the night. He was a trooper and made it to Sunday. After church we found a wildlife rehabilitation place that would take him. We dropped him off and they said they would come back and put up a new nest in hopes that momma would still be looking for him. We had seen her early Sunday and hoped she would. The wildlife people said they would come Sunday afternoon and try to find the best place to place the nest. Then on Monday a tree climber guy would come and get it put up.

They kept asking us if we had found another one, but we had not. While I was walking around on Sunday, I spotted another baby owl. He was smaller than the first, but was quite warm, which led us to believe momma had spent the night with him. We learned that birds do NOT leave their young if a human touches it. So we got Oscar in a bucket and gave it to the lady when she came to check out the neighboring trees. She said they were the smallest owls they have ever gotten. They do not have their eyes open yet, and are the cutest things ever!!

Yesterday the tree climber came and put up a new "nest". It is basically a wicker basket bungeed to the tree. The babies were put back in the nest and were left over night. We are keeping a watch for momma or daddy, but sadly haven't seen or heard from them. The wildlife place will come tonight and watch for a sign of the parents. If they do not see any signs, they will take the babies back and try to find a surrogate mom. I hope they make it and grow big and strong.

Owen

Owen

Oscar

Oscar

Having these babies makes me want to do something more. I have always liked animals, and would love to have them. The wildlife place need volunteers, so I am going to find out what I need to do to help out. I am excited to do something for me, as well as something to help others in need.

I will keep you posted on what happens with Owen and Oscar!

Some Random Pictures

2010-03-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

Rachael's favorite pastime!

Grandma got some flowers for her birthday, and the best part was the BOX!!

Going to church. Grandma curled her hair!

Matt and Rachael at the Zoo.

Rachael with her new shades.

Little Miss Yuck

2010-03-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

On Friday Rach came down with a bug, that I thought was a bad cold. Friday night wasn't too bad, she seemed to wake every 4 hours. (Which also was the time between the cough medicine...) Saturday she seemed a little better and even enjoyed playing outside for a bit. But, she did not have an appetite, and was running a temp of 102-103. Saturday night was no fun at all. She was up most of the night as was mom and dad. She was coughing up a storm and her nose was running like a sink. I tried everything to help the poor girl. I propped her pillow, we tried to sleep in a recliner, humidifier, cold medicine, chest rub, etc. (I might add, that while she did do better in a recliner, she squirmed so much that I could not handle it anymore. I put her back in bed and made Jason get up with her!!) Sunday was no better, after a short nap in the morning, I took he to an Urgent Care Center. They checked her out and ran a strep test. The Doc said her throat was very swollen. She came back positive for strep and she also has bronchitis. So after a trip to Walgreens for some Amoxicillin, nasal spray, and some popsicles, she did much better last night. She woke up a few times wanting water, but did not cough as much and her fever has gone way down.

Needless to say I am glad the weekend is over. We are on the mend, and mom has finally gotten some sleep. Now if I could get her to take her medicine with out a fight, life would be grand!!!

Pictures

2010-03-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

My Sister in Law, Bonnie, and I took our babies to have their pictures taken today. The pictures turned out pretty cute. Rach and Matt were super busy, but we did get some good shots!

Rachael is 22 Months

Matt is 18 Months

They are funny kids!! It will be fun to see what the next few years bring!!

A New Room For Rachael!

2010-03-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

My mom and I have been working on redecorating Rachael's room. It was hard deciding what to do. I didn't want to make it too girly, but I also wanted it to be a room she could grow into. ( We might be here a while!)

Here is the inspiration for the room. Some fabric I found at Jo-Ann Fabric that I fell in love with. I was going to make a blanket with it, but my friend McKenzie made a beautiful one for Rach before we left Idaho. It is a twin size quilt and will be put on a bed as soon as she "upgrades!" I have been fond of lilac purple these days, so that was to be the base color. As I soon found out with Kate, there are LOTS of lilac purples to choose from. I had seen a similar idea to the one we used on a friends blog, but changed it a bit to suit our space.

The bottom 3/4 of the room are a medium brown. The color was called teepee brown. Then we put the lilac purple on top. The ceiling was painted a bright white. We added the stripe to bring in more white and to separate the colors. We added a shelf to the longest wall, and some other items for decoration.

Close up of shelf.

Thanks Grandma Joyner for the mirror. All we did was paint the outside and add the stickers from the other parts of the room.

My sister in law Tina, let me borrow her white crib which turns into a toddler bed. I am surprised that Rach has not tried to climb out. She stayed in for nap and bed yesterday. I am NOT going to teach her how to get in or out for a while. We will see how long this lasts.

I am going to make a bed skirt out of my birdie fabric. It will then match her curtain ties, pillow case and soon this shelf.

I am going to hang some fabric covered wood pieces from this shelf. Each piece will have a bird from my fabric. There will be 3 separate "pictures".

I pulled out Rachael's old name picture and pulled off the paper that was on her letters and painted it the same purple as her wall. Mom and I found these stickers that covered the holes that the ribbon was though. These stickers were also placed on purple sparkly containers that will house small plants, and on here mirror.

We have had a fun time painting and redecorating her room. Now that this project is done, I am starting to think of ideas for the next room. Our bedroom needs a new coat of paint as well as the upstairs bathroom. Mom's kitchen could use some new paint as well. Who knows maybe the next time you come and visit, the whole house might be redecorated!!

Inspiration for the next room?!?!?!

Where Does The Time Go?

2010-03-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

I have been wondering where the time has gone. It seems just like yesterday that I was in High School, or on my mission, getting married, or even becoming a mom. Time has flown way too fast.

I have been working these past few days on my pictures. I am trying to get them organized. (Trying being the big word!) Here are some that show "time".

Rachael on the fist day we got her. She was about 4 weeks.

Rachael at about 2 Months.

Rachael at 12 Months.
(Sorry about this Picture. Don't know what went wrong and too tired to change it!)

Rachael at about 22 Months.

She is too funny and I love her so much. I love being a mom and I am grateful for the many blessings I have in my life!

How Can She...

2010-02-22T10:34:00.001-08:00

Sleep like this???

I Scream, You Scream...

2010-02-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

Grandma made Rachael an ice cream cone last night. She has had them before, but has never eaten one! Grandma's ice cream must be pretty special, because she ate this one down!!

Rachael is starting to pose for pictures now, it's too funny!

This past Saturday, our famiy came over for a fun night of Pizza! We were looking at pictures of my brother's and his wife's cruise they took, when my mom yelled for me to get the camera. This is what I found when I walked into the kitchen.

Rachael and Matt decided to climb on the table and empty out the salt shaker. They were "helpful" as can be when we cleaned it up!

Say Hello to my Little Friend...

2010-02-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Rachael and I were playing a game. A really fun game in her opinion, but just ok for mom. She would bring me her coat, throw it at me, then turn and run away. I would then throw her coat at her while she was running away. Exciting, I know, but she was laughing up a storm. Well, as she was running away from me she tripped and ran into the door framing/casing. She bonked her head, so I go over and see that she has a line up her face from the edge of the casing, and a smaller second line the was from the other edge of the casing. She scratched it a bit, and it bled just enough to make it red, but she has a pretty good bruise.

We now call her "Scarface"! It doesn't bother her at all, and I am sure she doesn't remember she even has a scratch on her face, but it looks worse than it is. That must be how it will be for the rest of my life. Things will look worse than they really are. At least I can hope!!

Sunday-after it happened

Tuesday-after it healed

Just a question for Cindy and Kate......

"Do I have anything in my teeth?"

Paparazzi

2010-02-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

While in Alabama Rachael's cousin Olivia would walk around the house saying Paparazzi. Lady GaGa (complete wierdo in my opinion) has a song called that. I do have to admit that the song has a fun beat and I can understand why kids may like it.

This past Sunday, almost 2 whole weeks since we came home, Rachael was saying something and I could not figure out what she was saying. (Words are coming each day and I am learning "Rachael" talk.) Much to my amazement it sounded just like paparazzi. That may not be what it she was saying, but it is now. So now Rachael wanders the house saying paparazzi. It is pretty cute. Jason isn't too happy about it since she still calls him mom, but she is quickly learning to call him dad. (He works on that often!)

***I also want to thanks Olivia for teaching Rachael the words NO and MINE!
She also uses those often these days and it is such a joy to hear!***

Cousins

2010-02-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

Rachael's cousin Matt came for a week or so while his parents went on a cruise,so we were pretty busy. We didn't do much and I only left the house alone with both of them once. Any other time I always took someone with me. After a bit it got pretty easy. They kept each other busy, but liked to dump ALL the toys and books. At least they were helpful when it was time to clean up. We did have fun playing outside and chasing each other around the house. They loved playing behind grandma's curtains and jumping out to "scare" each other. They thought they were pretty funny.

Reading books

I wish my bum was small enough that my pants would just fall off!!

Grandma bought them both striped shirts.

Silly Matt!

Wierdo Rachael!

Home Again, Home Again...

2010-01-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Rachael and I have made it home after our trip to Alabama. We had lots of fun and Rachael LOVED playing with her cousins.

Here are a few of the things we did!!

*Played at the park.
*Went to the art museum.
*Played on the trampoline!!
*Trimmed Rachael's hair.
*Played with cousins lots and lots!!

Enjoy the slide show!!

South Carolina

2010-01-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

We left Christmas day for our trip to SC. We drove all night and got there in the morning. My sister came from Alabama on Saturday as well and we had a nice visit and a fun time with family.

On Monday, we went to Charleston and took a boat ride to Fort Sumpter. We also walked around Charleston and took in some of the sites. It was FREEZING!!! The wind was blowing and it was very chilly!

L-R: Olivia, Jed, Grace, Rachael

On Tuesday we headed for the temple to get sealed!! It was a nice quick ceremony, but was very special for us. We are now a forever family and can't wait to see what the future brings!

Rachael is in love with her cousin Grace. She always wants to hold her hand anywhere we go. Grace is such a good sport and treats Rachie like her best friend. It is really cute.

We also had some fun times playing games, having a bonfire and shooting off fireworks. The kids loved "helping" shoot the fireworks.

Uncle Travis helping Grace Shoot Fireworks

Daddy and Rachael playing with a sparkler!

I was also able to leave SC and go back to Alabama with my sister and will fly home in about 2 weeks. I will have to get pictures from my camera for some of the other things, but that is for another day.

Rachael also had her first haircut this past week!! She had a nice mullet going, that I trimmed about 2 inches off. It looks like she has a cute bob now and looks more like one length. I will get pictures posted soon of that and Christmas!

Happy New Year and we hope for lots of fun and excitement for the upcoming year!!

Christmas Pictures

2009-12-20T20:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Rachael before church today in her pretty dress. We curled her hair and changed her earrings. (She showed everyone her new earrings today at church. She is too funny.)

We head to South Carolina on Friday for a visit, and while there we will have Rachael sealed to us. We are excited to see and be with family again.

Merry Christmas!

Grandpa's Birds

2009-12-13T19:36:00.001-08:00

Every winter my dad puts up the bird feeders. He puts them outside in front of the window where the dining table sits. Every morning we eat our breakfast and watch the birds. Rachael likes to watch them fly in and out and gets pretty excited to see them. And so do I. I watch for Cardinals and Blue Jays, and other pretty birds. We have seen lots of different kinds of birds as well as some very "special" birds!

Here is a finch. We get lots of these little guys.

One of our Cardinals. They are so beautiful.

The hard to spot squirrel bird. These little devils are quite the acrobats. I have seen the local squirrels do some amazing contortions to get to the seeds! Dad dislikes them immensely, to put it lightly, and is currently searching online for a pellet gun. Then it will get interesting!!

And last but not least, the deer bird. We have had the deer come and eat the bird feeders clean a couple of times now. The picture is bad, but all the lights were off and I didn't want to scare them away by turning the lights on. This one was a momma and baby. When the food was gone, so were they.

The birds are great fun to watch at our house and watch for more pictures throughout the winter!

Silly Rachael :)

2009-12-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

I need to be better at updating my blog. The craft fair went ok. It was a learning experience to say the least. But we had a fun time with the other vendors.

Rachael is getting to be really funny these days. She has a big personality, unless she is in a different environment. She likes to laugh and jabber. She is starting to talk more and more. Here are a few funny pictures.

Rachael likes to wear her bibs these days, except during mealtime. I was making dinner one day and found that she had put multiple bibs on. She found this great fun and ended up having 5 bibs on! She put them on and the went around a played as usual, but would not let me take any off. She would come to me and have me help her put more on! It was too cute.

I figured that Rachael would want nothing to do with Santa this year, and I was right. She started crying before she sat on his lap. I tried to get her to sit, but it did not last long. As we were leaving, I tried to get her to walk past the room he was in and she wouldn't even do that. She cried and hugged my legs, begging me to not walk past the room! I am so mean...I just laughed!

We have finally cooled down in good ol' Wisconsin. Snow came a few days ago and they say we are getting 12 inches tonight. So, this morning we suited up to shovel the walkway. Rachael loved it. She had fun walking all around and chasing mom. I am looking for my parents sled, so we can have some fun!!

We hope you are all well this Holiday Season and miss all of you who we are not near.

Building a Thick Winter Coat

2009-12-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

Rachael is helping the dog build a nice, thick winter coat. She feeds Xena everything, and Xena eats it all. They have become the best of friends and Rachie even tries to whistle for her. It's pretty funny.

We visited my mom at the bank the other day and Rachael fell in love with the pretty tree. I hope she will do well with the one we set up here at the house. I am making zillions of bows for a craft fair this week, that I hope to sell this weekend. After that is all over, we will get the tree up. Hopefully she will leave it alone!!

Here are a few pictures of Xena and Rach.

Crazy Girl!

Xena is a patient dog!

Xena is probably going to gain plenty of weight this winter!!

Big Helper!

2009-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

I was making dinner last night and Rachael decided to do some cleaning. This video is too funny. I guess we need to get her a play kitchen for Christmas.

I should also teach her how to clean a toilet, do the dishes, make beds fold laundry, and all the other things I do during the day!! Then I will be set!

Random Happenings

2009-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

We are settled in in Wisconsin. Jason has gotten accepted, and has registered for school. He will start in January. He is still looking for work, but is closer and has some things in the works!! He is very excited for school and all the fun he is going to have.

Rachael has adjusted well and loves to play with Xena, the dog. When she wakes up in the morning and we come down stairs, the first thing she says is "Hi Z!". She will give Xena hugs and kisses and sneaks food to her during dinner. Xena is quite happy and loves Rachael feeding her!! It's too funny.

We have had some nice warm weather this fall, which is not normal, but we love it. Here are a few pictures of our favorite daily activities.

Rachael riding her "bike."

Swinging is the best!

We spend lots of time "jumping" on the trampoline.

She figured out the slide pretty fast. She can do it all by herself now!!

"Helping" grandma with dinner!

We hope that daddy finds a job he likes and that Rachael continues to do well. She went to Nursery at church for the first time yesterday, and as long as mom or grandma was in there, she loved it. I did sneak out the last half hour and she did really well. She likes to play with the kids and the singing time. Hopefully she will adjust quickly, as Jason and I just got assignments yesterday as well! We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We send love to all our Idaho friends and want them to know we miss them lots!!

Halloween and a Blessing

2009-11-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went to my brothers house and had a fun afternoon of Trick-or-treating. Rachael was a kangaroo. (Thanks Kate!!) It was a cute costume and was very warm, which turned out to be the thing we needed that day. Here are a few pictures of our little roo.

Just Starting out.

I Love It!!

With Cousin Matthew. He was a cute puppy!

We also were able to give Rachael a name and blessing today. My mom made a beautiful white dress, that she wore. The top lacy part of the dress came from my wedding dress, which came from Romania. It is a very beautiful lace, and I have always wanted to use it on something else.

Mom and Rachael. I curled her hair so it flipped out. It turned out really cute.
Her hair holds a nice curl too, by the way!

Bad timing on the picture, but this shows the dress well.

The Joyner's

We are doing well in Wisconsin, and having fun. Jason is still looking for work, but I know he will find a job soon. That's the latest news here!!

Earrings!

2009-10-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we took Rachael to get her ears pierced. She did really well, and hardly cried. (I think the sucker she got afterwords helped a lot.) I think she looks so cute with them in!!

We are heading to my brothers house for trick-or-treating tomorrow. Rachael is going to be a Kangaroo. She looks so cute in the costume. We will take lots of pictures and post them as well.

Then on Sunday Jason will be giving Rachael a name and blessing. My mom made a beautiful, twirly white dress for her. She will be really cute. I am also making some cute flower hair bows for her hair. We will also take lots of pictures of this. More to come next week!!

Our New Family

2009-10-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, we officially added a daughter to our family. We have had Rachael in our home for quite sometime now, but we were able to adopt Rachael on that day!! We are so very excited to have her and look forward to our many adventures. Here are a few pictures of the occasion!--Thanks McKenzie!!!

Rachael's silly face!!

The Joyner Family with the judge!

Another silly face!

Outside the courthouse.

We love her lots!!