Free to a good home....

The night started just fine...with presents from Great Aunt Carol.

And she almost smiled for pictures.


And then, mommy made cheesy noodles (aka tortellini) for dinner. And this is what happened.

And it lasted for a LONG time....

So mommy did this....

And everyone was happy again.

Ok...so Claire didn't drink that, but I'm pretty sure the above smile is the only one I've seen all night. Except maybe when she saw her daddy walk in the door. She even cried for daddy tonight. Now she's bringing daddy her chore boots and she thinks she's going to see the cows at 8:36 p.m. We'll see how that goes.

Meet Kempton

Yesterday we had a little meet and great for our nephew Kempton. Kyla and the kids came back for the weekend so what better time to introduce the little guy to everyone!

Great Papa was the first one there. He and Kempton got along great!
Kempton was giving out lots of smiles! He seemed pretty content in Cousin Kent's arms!

Claire wanted to hold the baby, but that doesn't last very long. When she's done, she's DONE!

Tonight when I got the camera out, Claire thought she needed her picture taken, so here she is!

Trever's Vegas/Utah 2011

A few weeks ago, I learned that I had won a trip to Vegas through work. It was a working vacation, but it was a blast.

Last Saturday, Krista and Claire drove me to Chenoa, where I carpooled with a coworker to Midway airport. After an early Sunday morning flight, we were picked up by a limo and taken to The Paris Hotel. We had an amazing lunch, and were off to see the sights on the strip. That evening we had appitizers in the hotel suite, and went to the Peppermill lounge for drinks.

On Monday we were in meetings until about 1 pm, and had more free time that afternoon. Monday night we ate at Todd English's Olives, one of the premier restaruants in Vegas overlooking the Bellagio Fountains.

Tuesday morning we had another brief meeting, and continued to check out all the various shops, casinos, and shows around the city. That night, we had tickets Human Nature. They were an unbelivable Motown group and put on a great show.

After the show, we hopped in a cab and went to the VooDoo Lounge at the Rio. It is a rooftop nightclub 50 stories up. From here you can see the entire city, and it is quite a site.

Wednesday morning we got our rental cars and drove to Cedar City, UT to meet up with our agents from the western states. The drive was beautiful, and We were surrounded by 360 degrees of mountains while we worked the rest of the week.

Sunday morning, we drove back to Vegas and caught our flights back home. It was an amazing trip, but I was so excited to see my girls when I got home. I hope to take them with me next time!

Claire's 1st Haircut

Yesterday, February 23rd, we took Claire to On Stage in Onarga for her very first haircut. Here is the before picture...
Claire did really well, with a little help from daddy. She made herself right at home until Ms. Heather tried to get her up in the chair. She wasn't too sure what to think but kept the whining to a minimum during the whole process.

She liked to look at herself in the mirror and watched as Ms. Gwen cut another ladies hair.

She didn't get much cut off, but she looks a lot more even now. She still has a mullet because she's apparently inherited Uncle Kirky's "reclining" hair line. Hopefully things will start to even out soon.

It's not much of an after picture, but she was sure proud of herself!

Daddy's story is that this morning when Ms. Cierra asked Claire about her haircut, Claire whipped her hat off and shook her head like a super model!

A Saturday at Home

This weekend we had zero plans except for church on Sunday. That meant Claire had to help daddy do chores.

She got to play in the snow.

Daddy taught her how to slide down a snow drift.

She helped mommy bake cookies, and licked the beaters.

She put her Valentine's day money from Aunt Jeanie & Uncle Steve in her piggy bank. This is one of her all time favorite activities (although the look on her face doesn't prove it)

And she checked on her cookies!

Kempton Robert

Last weekend we traveled to Ohio to meet our first nephew, Kempton Robert. He was born January 17th and it just about killed me to have to wait 3 weeks to meet him. He seems to be a pretty good baby, but he really doesn't stand a chance with a 2 year old sister and his cousin Claire running the show! :)

Aunt Krista had a good time surfing the clearance racks last fall when I found out Baby D was going to be a boy! Between my shopping sprees and some of his great neighbors and friends in Ohio, this is going to be a well dressed little boy! We dressed him up for a photo shoot in his preppy Ralph Lauren outfit!

One of Kempton's Great Aunts made him these cute shoes.

Maddi is a pretty big fan of her little brother, but Claire wasn't quite so in to him. In fact, she was VERY unhappy that her daddy picked up the baby Friday night. She's quite the daddy's girl and wouldn't even sit on his lap that night!

Kempton did a lot of sleeping, but when he was awake he was WIDE awake and a pretty good sport for the camera.

Uncle Trever wasn't sure what to think about a little boy. He's use to lots of little girl things, and even gave Claire & Maddison pedicures while we were out there. He figured things out pretty quickly though.

Sunday morning we all beat Maddison out of bed. Claire thought it would be fun to wake her up.

After a short wrestling match they were back to playing hard together. They played so hard that Claire fell asleep less than 5 miles down the road on our way home.

Kempton got a very special present from Aunt Krista at Christmas. He had to model it for me Sunday morning.

Claire started to warm up to Kempton about the time we were ready to leave. She would say "I hold" but it didn't last very long before she would say "All done" and let go.

Maddison was a little more in to holding her little brother. But it didn't last very long either.

And of course I had my share of snuggle time as well! After all, Kempton's Auntie is Awesome!

Happy 90th Birthday, Great Papa

Claire's Great Papa Kuipers, and her namesake, turned 90 on December 30th. We celebrated yesterday with an open house at the church.

The cake looked awesome and every last bit of it was edible.
The preacher caught Claire drawing on the wall with a crayon so she let us use some of this newsprint. Claire has been addicted to tracing her hand on paper thanks to Papa Wayne, so when we told her to lay down and we'd trace her whole body she laid SO STILL! She thought it was so cool that she tore it in to confetti!

Grandpa Kuipers with his birthday cake. Not too shabby for 90!

4 generations of Kuipers.

He had a very nice turn out during the 2 hour open house.

And Claire slept for about an hour and a half of it. That's her on the floor covered by daddy's coat.

And a picture of my good lookin' husband.