Christmas Pictures

We had such a great Christmas with all of Chad's family here in town. We are thankful that they live within driving distance. (Weather permitting.:) All of the nine grandkids had a great time playing together and it was fun to see them interact as they grow out of the toddler years!

Chad edited and put some Christmas Eve pictures on Philldog Photography website. Check them out; he did an awesome job.

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone so quickly, but it has, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

24 1/2 weeks

I was so good about growing belly pictures when I was pregnant with the first two, but this is the only one I have so far of this little lady.:( I figure that posting them will keep me accountable. I don't want her to be left out already; she isn't even out yet!:)

By the way, I am taking any good name suggestions that anyone has! Chad and I are having a hard time finding the 'perfect' name, so bring 'em on!!

It's a GIRL!!!

I guess unless you are an ultrasound tech, you might not be able to appreciate these photos!:) They always look so... well....scary! But we are so thrilled to be welcoming another GIRL into our family this March.:)

Halloweenie

For Halloween this year, Emme went as Stefanie from Lazy Town ( I think it's a cartoon on some weird channel! I'm not sure:)! And Levi went as, of course, SpiderMan. They had such a fun time at the Fall Fest that Calvary puts on at the Fairgrounds, and I like that they have activities to do for the evening! They played bowling, did a cake walk, went fishing, and did lots of other things like jump in bounce houses and slide down huge slides. Here are just a couple cute pics.

Spidey and Stef

Packing up the baggies

Then I got this awesome idea from a friend named Kim Hanson (hi Kim!). At the end of the evening, since the kids have gathered the amount of their body weight in candy, each child packs a baggie full of their favorite candies to keep and the rest of the candy gets collected by the "Candy Fairy." The "Candy Fairy" then takes the excess candy and gives it to Operation Christmas Child to be sent overseas with their holiday packages. In turn, the "Candy Fairy" will leave each child a book or paints or little car or something thanking them! I really loved this idea and the kids were excited to be generous with those less fortunate.

Will

Congratulations to Nat and Adam! William Scott Renstrom born last night weighing 8 lbs. 13 oz. And what a cutie!

I think he's practicing for his hearing test. The little genius.

We love you Will and can't wait to meet you next month!!

ummmm......

The day I gave birth to Emme was in the high 80's.

The day I gave birth to Levi was in the mid 70's.


On the eve of the kids' birthday party this is NOT how it is supposed to look.



Not 27 degrees today.


Oh my, good thing I didn't get ponies this year!





"Something tells me we are not in Kansas anymore Toto."-Dorothy

Emme's Soccer

Here are some pictures of Emme's first soccer game! Can you believe that she is old enough to play an organized sport? Kids can actually start at 2 1/2 years old in this league. There are some on her team still in diapers! What a crack-up.

I wouldn't say that she loves the game (which only lasts 15 minutes), but it's fun to watch her run around, or pout on the sidelines at the very least, like she did last weekend. :)

She does a great job with the drills though!

Em and Pressly, soccer buds

Who let this little guy on the field? Levi loves to think he's part of the team. "Where's my soccer ball?" he says.. We've started bringing a second ball to each game so he can play on the sidelines..he loves it.

Wedding Pictures

Chad has been working feverishly on getting some of Erin and Brandon's wedding pictures ready for viewing. They look fabulous if I do say so myself. You can view the first batch here! Click on Galleries and it should take you right to the wedding section. (And don't forget to comment! It boosts his confidence.:))

First Day of Preschool

My little "big" girl on her first day of preschool! She was so excited she couldn't even eat her favorite breakfast cereal that morning. She acted like a pro when we got to the school; she hung her backpack up on the hooks (never happens at home), found her name and seat and sat down immediately. She didn't even give us a second glance as we walked out the door.:) I'm so glad everything went so smoothly. She was definitely ready for this big step into the world.:)



This 3 mile down the road, 3 hours once a week step into the world.



And not a toenail further.

1+4=5

It seemed only fitting on Labor Day to announce the soon-to-be new addition to our family! We are very excited and our looking forward to this little one joining us in March.

Also in honor of Labor Day, I've seen this fun post floating around from RocksinMyDryer. Play along if you like! I would love to read your answers.:)

How long were your labors?

#1- 17 hours (yikes! I was induced)

#2- 9 hours (mucho better)

How did you know you were in labor?

#1- Doc told me to come in for induction, 3 weeks early

#2- Water broke at Dream Dinners!, 2 weeks early

Where did you deliver?

#1 and #2-St. Luke's hospital, right where the drugs are kept..

Drugs?

Praise the Lamb for epidurals. Seriously. Just in case though, I memorized the anesthesiologist names just in case they jacked it up. That way I could scream at them with more accuracy. Loved, loved, and will love it again with this next one.

C-sections?

Nope.

Who delivered?

#1-My awesome Doc

#2-My more awesomer hubby. (yes, I know that's not a word.) Doc let Chad actually guide Levi out and catch him. What a surreal moment.

Go to Rocks in My Dryer if you want to play along! Happy Labor Day!

She's Here!

Gretchen and Phil's baby girl, Elli Marie, made her grand entrance into the world last night weighing 9 lbs. 5oz. and looking EXACTLY like Gretchen! Go to her blog and check out some pics and say congratulations! Welcome to the world Elli!

The Fair

This past weekend we braved the heat and headed to the local State Fair with our friends the Histands! I love the Fair- the animals, Fair food, rides, and checking out the local night life. Serious night life peeps. Anyway, that will have to be a different post.

As kids, we LOVED the fair. Dad would always stop and check out some new gadget which we would inevitably end up bringing home with us (Living Air Purifier anyone?) or we would watch the waterless cookware demo for a solid 1/2 hour. Anyway, I hope my little guys have such fond memories when they become adults.:)

Owen and Levi driving the jeep. Kelly and Em ridin' shotgun.

"See I think this goat likes me! He is licking my face, eating all of my leftover food!" Levi, 22 mos.

"Hmmm, the quality of this wool is a little shabby; not good enough for me. Thanks anyway."

"Can you give me the specifics on this particular breed Ma'am? I'm interested in getting one for our backyard. Our lawn is a little long. Thankssomuch." Owen, 22 mos.

Perfect dinner at the fair! A Pronto pup corndog, and a nice tall strawberry lemonade. Delish.

Soule*Mama Wannabe

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a wannabe. I am impressed by a few blogs of people that I don't even know, but have linked on my sidebar. Have you ever checked out Soule*Mama? Her photography is generally awesome, and she always has great handiwork that she is crafting, and well, I could go on! But instead I'll show you pics that I tried to make look like hers!



See how I focused on the plant and not the tomato? I did that on purpose. Yes I did Chad.


Yay! Our first red tomato! We were very proud.


I mean seriously, who takes this many pics of a silly tomato? Again, very proud.:)





I love little feet pictures. And well, Kiki has little feet too, so she's included in these shots.

30

Well, I'm 30 now!! And no, I don't feel old. I think 27 was an "old feeling" for me. Plus, I bought some expensive face cream that I was wishing for, courtesy of some gift cards!, so I will be looking 29 again in no time.:)

My parents came down for the weekend on their Goldwing! Seriously!:) They allowed Chad and I to go on an overnight date which was a real treat. We got to try out golfing (really fun!), Chad bought me a massage, we went out for a nice dinner, saw the Batman movie, and stayed downtown at the Grove. Then on Friday morning we saddled up Jay and Heather's trailer (thanks a million!) and headed up (took 4 hours!) to Yellowpine, ID to check out Idaho's finest citizens. It was more fun just watching people than anything. My mom has quite a few pics on her blog you can check out for laughs. I had a really great time overall just spending time with family. Thanks for all of the birthday calls, cards, and emails yesterday; it made me feel so special.:) I would turn 30 again anytime!

Tag

Natalie tag
1. Where is your cell phone? charging
2. Your significant other? computing
3. Your hair? pony
4. Your mother? zoo
5. Your father? also
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? none
8 Your favorite drink? wcmocha (does that count as one word if i don't use spaces?)
9. Your dream/goal? perfection :)
10. The room you’re in? kitchen
11. Your hobby? crafts
12. Your fear? loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? vacation
14. What you’re not? tired
15. Muffins? poppyseed
16. One of your wish list items? jet
17. Where you grew up? Alaska
18. The last thing you did? golf
19. What are you wearing? shorts
20. Favorite gadget? weedsprayer:)
21. Your pets? Fang (rip)
22. Your computer? desktop
23. Your mood? content
24. Missing someone? always
25. Your car? clean
26. Something you’re not wearing? mustache
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? emerald
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? ??I'm a brick wall:)


I tag Heather, Heather Marie, and Mom.

I Heart Trivia

Check this out! You can tell how many people have your exact name in the U.S.! There are 34 Bridgette Phillips in the U.S. Who would have thought?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

As Promised

I really have been spoiled with our new camera; needless to say these pics did NOT come from the 5D. I didn't want to lug the big one along so I thought I'd capture some 4th pictures with our little point and shoot. (little meaning it weighs less than 8 lbs.)
However I don't want to be a Pouty Polly (as I call E sometimes), and I said I'd post some pics so here are some cute ones!









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Gretsky

Chad bought some new photoshop actions so I thought I'd play around with this picture of Greta. I love how the texture turned out!

4th of July

Here is my little helper putting the finishing touches on our dessert for the 4th of July BBQ at
The Hughes house! I'll post more 4th pics soon.

Hysterical

For any of you who know Chad you know that he is DEATHLY afraid of bees. He has been stung several times in his life, and I guess that just took a toll on him! Well, this poor little bee met his match today. Chad had out a tennis racket AND a fly swatter (for extra protection). He plotted and stalked this bee for at least 30 minutes. No one was allowed in the office while the bee was alive. Finally success! He nailed him and I love the last picture of him studying his prey.:) What a funny guy. And entertaining too.:)

A few wedding pics

Edit: I moved all the photos to Angie and Bernie's website and will continually add photos to this link: http://www.angieandbernie.com/philldog/

Mr. and Mrs.

Bernie and Angela are hitched! Go to http://www.chrisanddori.blogspot.com/ for some excellent sneak peeks. I just didn't want to leave you all hangin!

Ballerina Girl

Last weekend Emme had her debut performance as a bonafide ballerina. We were so proud of her. She bravely walked out onto the stage, scanned the crowd for us, and danced, danced, danced!



Scanning the crowd looking unsure


Being a fish

Being a wolf



I love how they are all doing different things in this picture!


Afterwards, when everyone was getting roses from their family, our girl got some lip gloss. Because a girl has gotta to look good for her fans! She ate the entire tube in the car. Yep, that's my girl.

Memorial Weekend in Ketchum

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go visit our friends the Duerre family in Ketchum! We had a fabulous time hanging out, eating, playing, laughing, being outside, and just catching up with them! Here is part of our weekend adventure in pictures.


We went to an outdoor festival in Hailey where everything was handmade. Right up my alley; loved it.





The kids LOVED this bubble machine. They were running all around into booths trying to pop every last everlovin' bubble. This picture Chad took turned out great.

Emme loves her a good face painting.

Ells was not so sure of the face painting at first. She came around though and got a stunning ladybug.

We went hiking one day in the Sawtooth Recreation Area. Here's Amanda and I getting our picture so you can know that we are really outdoors-ey people. Actually, we just slapped on the packs and posed for a picture then hopped back in the car.. not really, but wouldn't that have been funny?

The Chads and their dental work (or lack thereof)

Should we be seeing this stunning photograph on a Christmas card this year? I should hope so.:)

Umm, you will not being seeing this one on a Christmas card this year. Who is that naughty little boy trying to escape a perfect photo-op? Don't you know that mommy needs a scrapbook two-page layout? Silly boy.


Thanks a million Chad and Amanda! Thanks for moving to the mountains so we can have some mountain friends.:) We love you guys.