Hey Everyone!!! Yes... we are still here and very much alive. Time has just slipped us by. But I have FINALLY found some time to update. So without further ado... here is the rest of the story...(at least bits and pieces of it).

Summer...

We had a wonderful rest of the summer, (I am ashamed I haven't posted since last summer!) We played a whole lot, and worked only a little (at least me and the girls did.) Here are a few things we did.

Our next door neighbor has access to a fun blow up water slide. Abby loved splashing (not so much sliding...maybe next year) in the water with Abrahm.

Grandpa and Grandma Bates had brought this turtle pool with them when the visited. It quickly became one of Abby's favorite things to play with.

With lots of outdoor play... comes lots of outdoor injuries!

And here is proof that Hannah existed this summer!

Oh yeah! And Abby's first haircut occured this summer too!

How do YOU think it went?

Just a random summer night after getting cleaned up after a hard day of summer play! (I may be a little biased...but I believe I have the cutest little family ever!!!!)

Fall... Seriously my favorite time of year. It is so beautiful here. Sunny warm (not hot!!!) days, Crisp mornings, beautiful fall colors. We had quite the eventful fall. Mark finished up his Master's in Education Administration. Abby turned 2 (wait, what!?!), the holidays begin!!! What more could a mom want! Lots of canning. Lots of cooking. Lots of fun.

First things first... Abby's birthday party. We had a monkey themed party complete with monkey invitations and monkey cupcakes. I think the cupcakes were a complete success...If I do say so myself! She had a wonderful birthday with lots of presents. (*Note: The 49'ers hoodie was completely Mark's idea and my family despises it. Go Denver Broncos!!!)

Cousin Embree helping Abby open her presents. Abby waiting patiently for Uncle Mike to finish putting together her new stroller for her new baby doll.

The infamous 49'ers hoodie! I think Abby was in on the fun! The monkey cake Abby wanted nothing to do with. Believe it or not, but she was more interested in her stroller and baby to even take on bite of her cake! Next: The beautiful fall colors I was telling you about. The girls loved playing in the leaves. Abby...what a goofball!

Sweet little Hannah!

Canning with kids...oh talk about fun..

This was the byproduct....

of this!

And then it was Halloween... ...and a little of Hannah! Just because she is so dang cute!!!

Winter...

Phew!!! And just like that we are almost caught up. At least we are in the same season right!?!Well winter there's just not much I like about winter right now... looking back at all my summer pictures has not helped either. But a lot happened this winter that is blog worthy so here we go.

You may have noticed in some of the pictures of Hannah that sadly her eyes were crossed... a little something she inherited from her mother. Anyways during the month of December we decided to fix them. It took somewhat of a major surgery to do it, but as of right now they are looking great.

This was right after Hannah had gotten out surgery. She had to be on oxygen (the blue tube) for a while and had to wear arm braces (to keep her hands out of her eyes) for a week. We thought that she would hate those, because she was just learning how to crawl, but they didn't stop her.

We had just gotten home from the hospital. She was exhausted and pretty miserable! But such a trooper!

A couple days after... her eyes were a little swollen, but hey, we got a smile.

And then it was Christmas. We had a great Christmas. We spent it both here in Idaho and in California. Because Hannah did so well in her surgery the doctor cleared us to spend a week in the beautiful state of California. Abby had so much fun opening presents, and riding in her new wagon (Santa Claus had brought if for the girls.) And we were grateful for the time we got to spend with family.

Clearly Abby was not ready for Christmas morning.

Hannah admiring her new bath toys!

Just a cute picture. Mark got those ear muffs for Christmas

Well folks, we're there...at least up to the same year, that is. Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks to all for bearing with us.