Love this!

We made a spur of the moment decision to pack up the girls after naps yesterday afternoon and head out!

Yeah, we did it!

The great MN get-together!

It was packed, but we expected as much.

Gorgeous, cool, Sunday evening... who wouldn't want to be there?!

The girls were pretty good.

We had some yums (fried pickles, caramel apples, a beer... )

We took the girls through the barns,

and this...

My FAVORITE part of the evening!

Lila had a blast on the Merry Go Round and talked and grinned the whole way through it!!!

It made my heart happy to be there next to her!

That alone made the trip worth it!

Couple quick snaps from our trip, didn't take too many

I just enjoyed the day!

Darling!

Baby lambs~  is there anything sweeter?!

Mama cow working on having a baby!

Lila loved the horses~!

Cold Turkey

 The Nuk
The simple contraption that Ryan and I once loved,
the thing we never left home without.
Well, 16 months later,
it was becoming more of an issue than it was worth.

Needed not only at naps and nighttime, 

but in the car, around the house...

even at the fair.

She'd cry for it.  Hunt for it.  Stand by the cupboard where we kept them and scream.
So, after one particularly irritating day... Ryan and I made a decision.

Time to go.

And Elle being, lets just called her "strong-willed", 

I didn't believe there would be any "weaning her off"

That first night she cried for about 20 minutes before falling asleep.

Not too bad, right?

Well, yeah. 

She woke up at midnight-ish, and proceeded to scream obscenities at Ryan (I was at work) for denying her the company of her beloved Nuk.

He caved.

(and lets be honest... after 45 minutes of screaming and crying in the middle of the night, it's exactly what I would have done too!)

Day 2.  No Nuk all day.

20 minutes of crying before falling asleep at nap.

Went down to bed like a dream... probably because she was wore out from throwing a tantrum in the shower.

Slept all night!!!

Day 3 (Today)

No Nuk today.  Nap was a little rougher, and she diddled around for 45 minutes before finally falling asleep.

We'll see how it goes for Ryan tonight, since I'm back at work.

Pray for him!

Good bye old friend(s)!

This is probably only half of them... she's got em' stashed I tell ya!

August Stuff (photo overload, beware!)

This would normally be a Friday where I would be preparing to head back to work.

NOT TODAY!!!  Woot Woot!

I took a day of vacation, just because it's the last Friday of the summer!

I can't believe it's over!

The summer is gone.

Now, don't get me wrong...  I LOVE the fall, 

but still.

Where in the heck did the time go?

Since I haven't been great on keeping you up to date on what's going on in our world

(and I know you haven't been able to sleep at night because of it...)

here's what we've been up to in the month of August!

~Went to a Birthday party for this little girl, and had tons of fun playing in the water!~

~Hitting the county Fairs (Dakota & Carver)~

This was by far Lila's favorite part of the Fair!!

Her "tattoo" she got!  Pretty impressive, huh?

~ Framing our basement~

(Thank you so much Rich & Matt)

The bookcases are currently in what will be our bathroom!

~Playing tee-ball, taking naps and being cute, and eating fresh homemade "pizza"~

~Doing crafts, playing, and enjoying summer like you should!~

Lila's birdhouses

Boone "loves" giving Baby horsey rides, can't you just see the excitement on his face?

I love that you can see the reflection of our house in the bubble to the left!

Gotta love the popscicle drips down to the elbow!  ;)

We also went to visit my Dad at his new place last weekend while Ryan was gone 4-wheeling up north,

but as I was "single-parenting", I didn't snap any pictures.

I did however, pull over on the side of Hwy 8 to snap this on the way home!

Visit

I got to go visit this sweet girl today!

It's her 1 month Birthday today!

I'm amazed that a month has gone by since this little wonder arrived!

I'm amazed by how strong she has been, even with all her little body has gone through!

I'm amazed by her parents, and how they handle each new little bump in the road!

This sweet babe is one tough cookie!

We should all take a lesson from her!

Jilanne, it was great to see you today!  I'm so happy to see her doing better, 

and to know that taking her home, isn't such a far off dream!

Love to you and Jason always!

Update on Kaiya

A quick update for those of you following!

Kaiya did well through her second surgery; now has her chest closed, 

 and has her breathing tube and chest tube removed!

She continues to amaze us all with her strength and will!

Her mommy and daddy sure could use continued prayers,

as this still leaves a long road ahead.

Hopefully, a little less bumpy one!

Follow their story at

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/traynor

Heart

Kaiya is scheduled to go back into surgery later today for the second time in 3 weeks.

Her little heart is struggling to work the way it should and the surgeons have to help it along.

This is a frusterating setback, but hopefully a step in the right direction.

I will confidently say, the past month has been the most stressful time in her parents lives.

Jilanne has rarely left Kaiya's side, and needs our prayers as much as her daughter does.

Please pray for the whole family in this time of stress and uncertainty.

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain,

but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

What a suprise!

Remember this one?

Well, a pretty neat lady thinks that it's a pretty neat photo!

What an honor!

I heart P-Dub