Raleigh North Carolina

We knew we wanted to head down and visit our friends Jeff and Sheri in North Carolina and we heard that Outer Banks was amazing so we put the two together and one the best vacations ever! The only hold up was the girls had to miss the last week of school so we could get an awesome deal on this beach house. So on May 17th we started our long car ride. Both of the girls have always been amazing car riders and this trip was no exception...except the minor hiccup that we kept noticing Claire was acting differently than normal. She was being a little more needy and a little annoying, so after a bit we realized she had a fever of 102. at this point we were more than half way there and we decided to just keep going. We stopped and grabbed a few things I knew would help her feel better, then we were off again. She was such a trooper. She slept most of the way and really you could only tell she was sick when the medicine started wearing off. By the time we got there she was doing much better. The next day her fever was gone and we were relieved. Jeff and Sheri took us to the best spots in town and we had a lot of fun playing and eating amazing food. (I will apologize once again, I didn't take very many pictures. Sorry, I will try harder next trip. )

side note: little Claire's eyes have been wandering and turning out a little. so she has had to wear a patch every day for an hour.

Cella wanted to climb to the top, but then got a little nervous. I told her I would show her it was ok and that she shouldn't be scared...I don't think I made it any higher than her in this picture. :) It was a little more nerve racking than I thought.

Claire had a lot of fun with the idea of being in the boat, but then last sec changed her mind. hence why Cella has a different riding mate.

Cella kept trying though and succeeded in making it to the top!

Claire was great all day. Then Sunday morning before church she would wake up and then fall back asleep. She just couldn't stay awake. Then she threw up. Wasn't a ton, but her and I stayed home from church while the rest of the gang went. Poor thing she pretty much slept until it was time to get in the car and head to the beach. (I just kept hoping she would get better, but she ended up getting croupe again and although we had some pretty rough nights, poor thing, she was well enough to enjoy most of the things we did during the day with lots of random naps in between.)

Outer Banks,NC

Everyday I was in North Carolina, I found myself loving it more and more. It was so beautiful and green. I also am finding that I really LOVE the beach. It is my ideal spot to be with the kids and Jon. We have so much fun. Sunday afternoon we left Raleigh and headed to Outer Banks. This is the house that we stayed it. It was Beautiful and our host Anne, was so nice. I will let the pictures take over.

This was looking west.

Beach Day 1

 After breakfast we headed to the beach. We took off west to check out that side. They have a dock and you can sit and watch alot of kite boarders. It looked pretty fun. Then we loaded up our stuff and headed east to the other side and enjoyed the beach. It was such a beautiful place. The water was a little cold. It definately took your breath away, but that didn't stop us too much. Claire on the other hand would not even get close to the water, but enjoyed the sand. She had a lot of fun playing and digging. around lunch we went back and enjoyed playing in the pool. 

Beach Day 2

We are LOVING it here. Besides the fact that Claire has croupe again. (Seriously shouldn't she stop getting this by now? It is awful!) She has been doing pretty well during the day, but at night, oh boy. Today Claire and I played at the beach for a while, but went back sooner than everyone else so she could get some rest. I was loving the same type of plan we had yesterday, Wake up have breakfast head out to the beach. Come back for a late lunch and then play in the pool. Only today Jon and Marcella had caught a crab. They were call him Krabby Mcpatty and Having lots of fun feeding it different things to see what it would eat. Don't worry we ended up letting him go at the end of the day. Jon and Cella went back down to the beach later that evening to see if they could catch more crabs. The weather has just been gorgeous and when you are with good friends and yummy food, I just don't think it could get better than this.

Beach Day 3

 We decided to drive down to the end of the island. You have to take a ferry over to an island called Ocracoke. It was pretty fun, but a lot of driving and then an hour ferry ride. However the water was a little bit warmer and we had a grand ol' time. I think Claire was still getting over being sick, so she fell asleep under the umbrella. After she ran around collecting shells and not getting hit by the water, So she had a great time, poor thing.  Marcella and Jon started playing a game out in the ocean and they got me to head out and play. It was super fun. Marcella wrote about it, I will try to post it when I can. We ended up eating at a restaurant  that had super yummy onion rings. and then we headed back to the main Island.

The Ogdens!

On Thursday it rained! I was so sad. Of course this was the day I was going to take family pictures on the beach and we were just going to stay until we couldn't take it any more then get in the car and drive away, but it rained. It wasn't just a little sprinkle either, or else we may have stayed. We packed up our cars and took some pictures with the house sign. As Jon and I were driving off the island. We both couldn't stop talking about how that was such a fun vacation. We LOVED it and hope to do it again.

We drove to David and Michelle's house to stay with them for a couple days. We had such a great time. We loved staying up late talking and getting to know each other a little better. We can't wait to come and visit again!

 

May

 In May we had a visit from the Wilson's! They are sure missed around here by more than just Marcella. We had such a fun weekend! I think you should come back soon!

Since the next day was Mother's Day Marcella let me do a "hair experiment" She slept in these. Her hair turned out super cute, but she requests no more experiments please. 

I had such a fabulous Mother's Day. I love these girls so much and they sure know how to make me feel like a million bucks. Thank you!

Random

Since I started with a December post today and am working to today I thought instead of trying to add these pictures where they need to go I will just write about them individually.

After months and months of trying to get Claire to go potty, this girl can hold it seriously forever. She finally went of course while I was gone to Arizona in December and she has been potty trained ever since. So the credit goes to Dad for that one. Hurray Claire!

 I made the girls Owl hats for Christmas. I thought they were super cute and they loved them. all this winter talk is making me so excited for colder weather!

This is usually how we find Marcella when we go in and check on her at night. She is an avid reader and she loves her "true books".  While we were in NC she was talking with our friend Jeff. He had asked what she had been reading, her respone: "oh, mostly non-fiction, lately."

Claire fell asleep one night while we were reading scriptures. It was so funny!

 Heading out on a winter walk. we had lots of these this winter, especially because it wasn't as cold as our first winter. At least until later in the season.

Lizzy came to visit! She came and spent a few days with us before she headed out on her Mission to Zambia, Africa. We had so much fun. Lizzy and Jon enjoyed these puppies:

 We made lots of bread

And checked out Jon's office. We sure are Missing you Lizzy!

Cella got her ears pierced. She was so brave. we have it on video and you can't even hear her say owie. It is actually pretty funny, because on the video it doesn't look like anything happened. Overall she has loved her earrings. Except for maybe the couple days they got infected, then the whole world was about to end, but we survived and she really likes them.

This is what happens when Daddy gets home early and gets to be the one to get Claire off the bus. She is always soo excited and happy. Plus they will build towers and play. She sure loves her Daddy

A Valentine's Day Picture, I actually don't remember what we did, but I remember having fun. I sure Love you Jon!

Jon made Marshmallows. They were so super yummy. 

The girls had a picnic lunch outside on March 20th. It was so nice. We were getting excited for Spring!

Marcella and Jon started playing Ni Nu Kuni the wrath of the White Witch. Jon saw this Drippy shirt (a character from the game) and and bought it for her. She was soooo excited. 

Meet Lizzy, or in Claire's words "Seeilly" Claire and I went to the toy store for a mommy daughter date. I guess I have engrained in her head that when you are done playing with a toy at the store you tell it bye bye and put it back. After an hour or so I finally convienced her that she could pick out a toy to take home. After playing with everything she randomly chose this doll. It is the ONLY thing Claire has ever named other than what it is. Example: her Baby doll is named baby. Her Cat is called kitty. etc. etc. This cute little doll is the last thing to go on her bed in the morning after she has made her bed. It looks super cute, but I find it a little funny she never plays with it. But she will always ask for it when she is done making her bed. 

Remember March 20th? This was March 25th. Back in the snow pants. I am pretty sure she didn't mind one bit. 

I loved that the cell phone said April 20th

Then April 21st. Are we sure it is the same person?

We had a really wet April. I should go take a picture of what these bridges and yards by our house look like now with no water, but yes those are bridges and they flooded just a little. actually more than once through out the rainy months.

Grandma came to visit! We love it when Grandma comes. This time we even got her to stay a few extra days longer. It was so fun! We were on a kick of going to the local frozen yogurt place down the street so we took my mom there while she was here. 

We also went over to the church and played some Basketball and shoot hoops for a while. We had a lot of fun. Marcella was on a Basketball kick for a while and wanted to play all the time. It was so funny because the next day our forearms hurt so bad and it took us a while to figure out why.