Fun with Dallin

Last week we had Dallin over to spend the night. His family and our family are both moving in opposite directions so the boys' time together is winding down. We will be so sad to say goodbye to Dallin and his family. Dallin gave Luke a picture of himself that Luke has carried around all weekend. Luke has been very sad to say goodbye. So the other night we had Dallin over and stayed up way too late and had TONS of fun with Dallin. Here's some pictures of the night.

Building Legos

Playing Lego Star Wars on the computer

And of course a battle with marshmallow guns

School Carnival

We had a blast at Allie's school carnival. They had lots to do, but the kids mostly played in the bounce houses.  

Luke won lots of tickets to earn prizes and bought these super cool sunglasses for Allie and himself.

Mmmm...cotton candy is the best. Good for your teeth too!

This is Allie's friend Gabby that lives in our apartment complex. They are inseparable and quickly found each other at the carnival. 

Luke's first try on the big slide. He loved it and went over and over again.

Allie and Gabby

Luke had to try the dunk and actually hit the target and sunk the kid. Here he is trying to show how cool he is with the rainbow sunglasses.

I Love the Internet and Power Sliding Doors on my Van

Today my love of the internet was reaffirmed. Here's a little background. In January during the big snowstorm the power sliding doors on our van got stuck and after trying to fix them only 1 would work. I "endured" that for 3 months thinking it would be a costly repair. Finally, too  concerned about safety and tired of the inconvenience I took the van in and had it repaired. I was elated--it only cost me $50 and two hours in the waiting room with a baby. I thought it was a good deal. Well, today the kids were playing with the door and it happened again. Nothing would fix it. I was thinking of $50 and another two hours when I decided to google it. Wow--I found the answer and it was free to fix it and only took me 2 minutes. It was actually kind of fun.

In case you are COOL  enough to drive a Honda Odyssey minivan and this happens to you, here is what you can do: 

1.) Disable the power door switch on the left dashboard.
2.) Remove fuse #13 for 30 seconds or more from the passenger side fusebox. This will reset the door and the clock. Fuse box is located under the front passenger leg area.
3.) Manually open and close both sliding doors.
4.) Restore the power door fuses located under the front passenger leg area.
5.) Enable the power door switch on the left dashboard.
6.) Try opening the sliding doors.

Thank you Google!

Happy Birthday Allie!

Allie is 8 today! She's been looking forward to this birthday for a long time. In a couple of weeks she will be baptized and can't wait. Allie is such a wonderful child. She's a blast to be around, is super smart, and rocks the piano. She is a super helper around the house and a great big sister. Happy Birthday Allie!

Kate's First Birthday

Kate is almost 15 months now, but I haven't had the chance to post some pictures from her first birthday party. Aunt Peggy got an ice cream cake and we had dinner with the Oregon & California Melansons at Pete and Julie's house. Poor Kate wasn't feeling to good (at the doctor's the new day I found out she had her first ear infection) but it was fun and she did try her cake.

Aunt Julie gave Kate her first haircut before so she would look good for her big party. 
With Aunt Kim, Connor, Josh, Mike, Grandpa and Grandma Melanson
Mike and Mike

She looks like she knows how to use utensils in this picture, but she doesn't. I'm not sure what she was doing. 
She wasn't very messy at all. 

Grandpa Melanson always loves to feed Kate!
Allie wore the same dress from Uncle Neil for her first birthday. Kate looked a lot like Allie. Luke did not wear the dress for his first birthday.

More of Kate

The other day she was really quiet, when we went to see what she was up to we found her sitting in a chair reading books. Usually when she is quiet that means a drawer has been dumped, or she has climbed up something--but this time it was something good (Of course she did climb into that chair on her own).  Hooray for Kate!

When Kate eats, she almost always puts that foot up.  It's always the same foot.  So we always have to wash her hands and her foot (I usually take her shoes off).  It's really gross.  One time I even saw her try to pick up some food with her toes. 

md

Here's an email I got from Allie today. This cracks me up--it's like she's a teenager texting me. 

Subject: m.d.

Mom-happy m.d.! I hope u have a wonderful m.d.