Moments

Happy Spring!

2009-04-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

We had a nice March 2009. Tara and Brad began the month with a fun trip to Boulder City and Las Vegas, Nevada. They were able to get in some good mountain biking and visited the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, and spent one evening in Las Vegas. The girls are well and are eager to have some warmer weather so they can play outside more. Tara's sister Anne is in town again for another rotation for her physicians' assistant program, and the girls are enjoying spending time with their Auntie! Enjoy the March photos.

Tara

Brad

Winter Rolls On

2009-02-17T15:05:00.000-08:00

With Christmas, New Years and Valentine's Day behind us, we can't help but turn our thoughts toward the coming spring and warmer days. However, as we continue to play in the snow, the lingering days of winter don't seem so bad and we are reminded of all of the fun winter has left to offer. Carly has been skiing up a storm. She rides the chairlift (with someone to help lift her on and off) and skis down on her own with no edgie wedgie. She even rode the gondola at Snowbasin in Utah and skied all of the way down the mountain! Lizzy is not skiing yet, but is eager to start. Next year, Lizzy! Tara and the girls went to visit Grandpa D for several days last week and had a nice visit with a lot of quality snow time! Enjoy these photos, and the few remaining days of winter!

December

2009-01-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Has December come and gone already? We had a good and bad month. Lots of holiday fun, but Tara's grandmother passed away on the 26th. It was a very sad loss, but she had been ill for some time and we know she is in a better place.
We had our second annual kids' cookie decorating party in the middle of the month. We had twice as many cookie artists this year and it was so much fun! We celebrated Christmas three times with various family combinations. We love the holidays and feel very fortunate to have so many loved ones to share it with. Enjoy the photos.

"I'm Two!"

2008-11-20T14:17:00.001-08:00

Lizzy is two years old! Hard to believe. She had a nice party with family over the weekend. She also moved into a "big girl bed" and is doing very well with it. We are so proud! Happy Birthday Lizzy!

Dressing up in some birthday gifts!

Just right!

Big Girl!

Halloween

2008-11-02T09:51:00.001-08:00

We had a great Halloween this year! The girls are at such a fun age for it. We put a lot of effort into Carly's astronaut costume, and the whole family contributed. We made a helmet out of paper mache using a punch balloon for the shape, cut out the neck and face holes, spray painted it silver and printed NASA patches off of the internet to apply to the helmet. The jetpack was made out of an empty Cheerios box, two litre bottles, and more silver spray paint. Carly received a lot of compliments while Trick-or-treating. Lizzy was in the spirit as well and dressed up as a doctor. By the way, we now have enough candy to last the whole year!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

We grew our own pumpkins this year and the girls were a big help in making Jack-O-Lanterns. It's nice to know they aren't afraid of a little slime!

Guts...

...guts...

...and more guts! (Photo by budding photo-
grapher Carly)

2008-10-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

October has been a busy month and it isn't over yet! We started the month off by adopting a stray kitten that Brad, Carly and Lizzy brought home from a walk. We also went camping early this month with Brad's family. Brad and I have done a couple of cyclocross races this month (no pictures, though). Also, we spent last week in San Diego. We still have Halloween coming up this Friday, but that will deserve a post of its own!

Best friends!

Sullivan ("Sully")

Camping

Sea World

San Diego Zoo

The fam

Lizzy makes a new friend

Ice cream break

Beach Babes!

Love for Lizzy

2008-09-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, in order to avoid being accused of giving more attention to one child than the other, and in looking back through recent posts, this one is all about Lizzy...

Lizzy is now 22 months and full of personality. She is starting to talk a lot more. As far as she is concerned she can speak clearly in full sentences, and you are clueless if you can't understand her! Here are some recent photos. Enjoy!

Lizzy enjoys some corn on the cob in her favorite outfit!

Lizzy counting up the plums,peaches and nectarines she, Carly and her mom picked at a local orchard.

This was the scene one day when I went to check on Lizzy after a concerning span of silence. Expecting to see her into some sort of trouble, I instead found her having a nice breakfast she had prepared for herself and her Care Bear!

Showing that she is a big girl by having a snack at the table.

Tight jammies. BIG slippers!

This is the Lizzy we know and love!

Happy Birthday Carly!

2008-08-16T14:58:00.001-07:00

Carly is 4 years old! She had a family party and a kids' party the next day. It is hard to believe she is a true little girl now!

Presents!!!!
Carly chose Spaghetti for her birthday dinner. Uncle Jeff could not resist playing with the food!

The princess accessories, compliments of Aunt Jen, Mack and Abe, were a big hit!

Kids' splash party

Happy Birthday Carly! We love you very much!

Ballerina Carolyn

2008-08-05T16:13:00.001-07:00

Carly took a one week ballet class last week. It was so fun watching her and her classmates dance! She enjoyed it. Lizzy picked up some moves too. She is always wanting to follow in her big sister's footsteps. Here are a few pics of Ballet Week!

4th of July in Pennsylvania

2008-08-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

We travelled to PA for the fourth of July and attended a family picnic. All of Tara's grandpa's siblings were there. It was fun seeing a lot of relatives we haven't seen for a long time! We also spent some time at the beach, and Lizzy got to meet her great grandma for the first time in person. Here are some photos from our trip...

Back: Grandpa(Jerry),
Dave,Jack,Joe

Front:Eleanor,
Rita, Dorie

Fun at the beach!

Summer is going Swimmingly

2008-07-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

Carly started her second round of swimming lessons this week. She is practicing kicking, stroking with her arms, jumping into the water and the all important holding her breath!

May photos

2008-06-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

No major events since the last post. We have been very busy in our yard with landscaping, gardening and general maintenance. The girls are enjoying getting outside more and love to play on their swingset and trampoline. Carly is starting swim lessons this week.

Here are some recent photos of the girls. Enjoy!

Lizzy displays our new tree: "It's a Globe Willow" she says, "and can grow to 35 feet tall!" Lizzy, however, will most likely be more in the 5 1/2 to 6 foot range.

Quality swingset time

Carly gets some early practice in for those Little League portraits!

See how much we love each other and how nice we are to each other all of the time?

Have you seen my Cheerio?

Last Day of School

2008-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Carly had her last day of pre-school until next fall. She will be going at least two days a week next year. She really enjoyed going to school and learned a lot. She can write her name and a few other small words like Mom and Dad. She is reading beginner books and also reads words just about anywhere she sees them. For example, we will be driving in the car and all of a sudden a little voice in the back seat shouts out "That says Pizza Hut!". We are very proud of her.

And of course we can't forget Lizzy. She is ready to follow in her big sister's footsteps!

Cinco de Mustache

2008-05-12T11:29:00.001-07:00

Brad was fully prepared for our friends' annual "Cinco de Mustache" party. Unfortunately we were uable to attend at the last minute due to a sick little one. However, it was still fun to have a tough-guy around for the weekend!

How would you like to cross paths with this guy in a dark alley?

Practicing for Summer

2008-04-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

Lizzy is practicing hard so that she is in peak condition for the ice cream cone eating season!

New spring flock

2008-04-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

We visited grandma and grandpa Turpen last weekend and saw their new flock of lambs. There were 12 babies when we were there and they were expecting more! The small brown lambs are very cute.

Carly and Lizzy meet one of the lambs

Brad receives a lesson on how to dock a lamb's tail

Carly gives a mama sheep a much deserved treat

Easter

2008-03-28T13:28:00.001-07:00

We spent Easter Sunday up at Brad's parents' house. We had a tasty brunch followed by the annual Eleven Rock Ranch Easter egg hunt. Fun was had by all.

And just in case you may wonder if it was a fun-filled day...

Trampoline

2008-03-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

We have a new (used) trampoline and the girls absolutely LOVE it! They want to play in it everyday rain or shine. Lizzy walks to the back door saying "nump! nump!"(translation "jump! jump!"). Carly is already asking to camp out on it overnight, although we think it may be just a tiny bit early for that.

Teeth

2008-03-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

Lizzy is slowly but surely sprouting teeth. She has had her two bottom teeth for a while, and her two top front teeth are still coming in. If your lucky you can catch a peek at them!

You can look all you want, I'm not showing you my new teeth.

I SAID I'M NOT SHOWING YOU MY NEW TEETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooops! I just did, didn't I?

Ready for Spring!

2008-02-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

With some nicer weather the past few days the girls have been able to get outside more and play. I think they are ready for Spring!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Carly and Lizzy attended a party at their friends' house on Valentine's day. The party involved valentine making, heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate cupcakes! A good time was had by all!

The whole group. Lizzy makes her best attempt to escape!

Carly and her friend Emme make valentines as Levi gives pointers

Carly made lovely valentines for her grandma and grandpa Turpen and for her Dad

Shreddin' Betty

2008-01-28T08:11:00.001-08:00

Carly completed her four ski lessons this month. She had a new instructor for her last lesson who was excellent! She had Carly's group going up the chairlift by the end of the lesson. Carly had a lot of fun and wants to continue going up to the mountain with her mom and dad.

Carly catches a ride up the "magic carpet"

Carly works on making a pizza with her skis

With true speed and skill Carly evades the Bunny Hill Monster!

Carly took her fist chair lift ride at the end of her final lesson!

There she goes, our little girl. (sniff,sniff) They grow up so fast! (sniff,sniff)

Carly masters the bunny hill on her first try. She's a natural!

The Amazing Turpen Sisters!

2008-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Carly and Lizzy are always up to something. They are quite a pair.

Go Bolts!

2008-01-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

Lizzy is a true Charger fan and cheered them on throughout all three of their playoff games this year. Following their loss to the New England Patriots she stated, "We had good momentum coming into the game and it was a disappointing loss, but we'll get 'em next year!". What a fan.

Carly hits the slopes

2008-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

Carly took her first ski lesson today. She was in a really good mood after the lesson and said she liked it. She said she learned how to make a pizza and french fries with her skis. I didn't get any pictures of her today, but plan to get some at one of her lessons this month.

Carly's first time Bowling

2008-01-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Carly went bowling for the first time and loved it! She bowled a whopping 66. She told her Grandpa D she wants to go bowling everytime she visits, and everyday!

LIzzy is walking!

2008-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

Lizzy started walking at just over 13 months-old. She is quickly mastering the skill, and is especially proud of herself when she carries something and walks at the same time! Press the play button above to see her in action.

Sisters

2007-12-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

Lizzy's favorite pastime is climbing the stepstool in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror and pretending to wash her hands. If you don't catch her doing it, she ultimately gives herself away anyway by shouting "ta-da!" Sometimes her big sis decides to join her in the event.

Cookie Party

2007-12-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

We hosted a kid's cookie decorating party over the weekend. It was inspiring to see all of the little artists at work (and some of the big artists too!). All of the kids did such a fantastic job! Thanks to everyone who came. It was a great time!

Ready for Christmas

2007-12-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

Carly and Lizzy are expert tree trimmers! They are excited for Santa to come because they know what perfect little angels they have been all year!

Tea Party

2007-12-04T19:08:00.001-08:00

Carly attended her first tea party last week at her friend Emme's house. The girls all played together so nicely and looked cute in their dresses. We will be hosting the next event: the doctor/lawyer/career tea party!

First Snow!

2007-11-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow on November 20th. Carly woke her mom and dad early in the morning saying "What is that white stuff?". She wasted no time putting on her coat and snowboots to go outside.

Happy Birthday Lizzy!

2007-11-18T20:35:00.001-08:00

Lizzy is now a one-year-old! She had a fun birthday. This girl knows how to celebrate...

She ate some good food...

Got dressed up...

Had a few drinks...

And shook her booty! (Push play and tilt your head to the right!)

Happy Birthday Lizzy! We Love You!

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

We had a fun night trick-or-treating around the neighborhood for Halloween. Carly was a butterfly and helped make her costume. Lizzy donned a Tigger costume. They were both pretty cute (if I do say so myself)! Carly now has enough candy to last her until next Halloween!

Lizzy's Walker

2007-10-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Lizzy seems to have found a new use for her activity table! (This is a video. Click on the arrow below the picutre a couple of times to watch it.)

Squash anyone?

2007-10-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is one of five or six banana squashes from our garden! Let's just say we have enough to get us through the winter!

Brad-cyclocross

2007-10-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

Brad raced in the State Cyclocross Championships this past weekend. He had one race Saturday and one race Sunday. It was a challenging course and he had a great race!

Anne's Visit

2007-10-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Anne came to visit us this month. We had fun and the girls got to spend some good quality time with their Auntie.

Welcome to our Blog!

2007-10-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

I have been searching for a way to share information with family and friends on a regular basis. This seems like it may be a nice way to do it. Give me feedback and let me know what you think.

Tara