A couple things

Yesterday Mom was gone a lot doing church stuffs. Ashlyn and I found fun things to do. One of them was watching youtube videos of violinists of different levels. Ashlyn was excited to see that this really great girl had the same grip on the bow that she is learning!

We went to Vala's on Friday night and had a good time. Brinley and Ashlyn were both having lots of fun on the bouncing balloon.

We have been enjoying our fall routines!  

Ashlyn is our little violinist and absolutely loves playing!

My two little dancers!  We were getting ready to drop off Ashlyn at dance class and Brinley wanted to be just like her bigger sister!  While Ashlyn was at her dance class, Brinley and I had our own dance party!  Ashlyn is also enjoys her gymnastic class.  She is always wanting to do the bridge and even trying to get Brinley to do it as well.  I'm glad she can do all these classes while we live here at Village Green.

We enjoy going to the forest and participating in their Mud Pies Program!

Now that Brinley can walk, she is into everything and anything.  It is a whole new place for her even though we have been coming weekly all year long. 

Ashlyn doing the Bee Craft at Mud Pies.

She always works so hard on her projects.

Ashlyn is also enjoying her two preschool classes.  She does a class in the morning and then another in the afternoon.  I guess that is what you get when your mom is the teacher!  

I am so glad she loves it!  She is learning lots and having so much fun with her new friends!

This is my favorite season: FALL.  Ashlyn has been asking all year long when Vala's will be open.  It is finally here!  We have enjoyed it so much!!!

 Brinley's favorite part is petting the goats, sheep, and camel.  

She just squeals when we see them.

 My two cute Halloween Pumpkins!

My dancer performing dance moves while swinging. 

 The piglets were Brinley's favoirte.  She loved to pet the piggy's nose!  These piglets were only 5 days old.

On Saturday, I took the girls to a fair/livestock show.  They had a lot of animals that little kids could pet.  The donkey was Ashlyn's favorite.

They had a kid's section and the girls had fun venturing through all the activities.

Apple picking.

Finding Chicken eggs under the chickens and straw.

Playing Baa Baa Black sheep with a musical stand that you play by patting your hands on the notes.

Brinley was entertained forever with putting the balloons in the air tube.

Ashlyn was getting upset that she was too small to drive the tractor.

Grandma Martinson was so sweet to send the girls a Halloween package.  They loved their Halloween outfits and new pjs.  On Sunday they got in their pjs at 5:30 because they were so excited to try them on!

Ashlyn is so so excited to have them be Frozen!!!

Fall 2014!

Ashlyn met Princess Elsa at the Labor Day Parade!

Last week while skyping with family, Brinley was getting frustrated because she was having a hard time scooping up her chocolate ice cream with her spoon. She managed to get a little of it in her mouth though (contrary to evidence in picture).

Before dessert though, she had a good time talking to Grandma and Papa Martinson.

Ashlyn and I (Derek) have gone to Home Depot a couple times now to do their kid projects that they have on Saturday mornings. The first time we built this birdhouse that was decorated like Dorothy's house on Wizard of Oz. Ashlyn hadn't seen the movie yet so we rented it on YouTube and each time we saw a new character we would pause it and put the sticker of the character on the birdhouse. Ashlyn loved it!

As soon as she saw the goggles she asked if she could put them on. Safety first!

Good times walking around the botanical gardens! We just love how beautiful it has been the last few weeks. This is one of Ashlyn and Brinley's favorite spots in the gardens.

Fun at the Children's Museum! Brinley is loving being active and involved with many more activities as we go to the same places we always have. She is a little busy body!

VALA'S!!! We have been anxiously awaiting the day that Vala's Pumpkin Patch would open back up! That day was this last Friday and I just happened to have the day off of school due to Alumni week (thank you for giving back)! We had so much fun!

Riding around the track "like a family".

 Ashlyn was picked to bet on a pig in the pig races! She didn't win but she still enjoyed it!

 We loved going down these slides together!

At the bunny farm!

There are these huge "bouncy balloons"!

CARS! This week we should be getting a van and a car! And putting the expedition up for sale! It will be a lot of changes but we are excited. We will be sad to see this baby go.

Chiefs and More

We like to read a book of story rhymes. This is one of the rhymes. 

Ashlyn one day said, "Look, its Little Johnny!"

Uncle Skyler came and visited us last week. We did a lot of fun stuff. On Saturday, we rented a car (Chevy Spark (it was cheaper than driving the expedition)) and Skyler and I drove down to Kansas City to see a Cheifs game. I made sure to take him to Oklahoma Joe's before the game.

Arrowhead Stadium was super cool! It was big!

Our tickets were on the 14th row! It was awesome! The beginning of the game was really exciting. Music, the team coming out of the tunnel with fire blowing! It made me want to be a big fan of some team. I just haven't followed anything real closely the last few years except for golf... and its just not the same has having a team to root for.

On Monday one of my patients told me that it was National Banana Split Day and that Culver's was selling banana splits for $2! So we went for family night! You'll notice Ashlyn's face doesn't look great. Well, she had a bit of the banana split and got some pecans. She did not like the texture and might even be allergic to them because she threw up not too long after that. She was coughing the rest of the night and somehow picked up a cough for the next few days. There have been several times over the last few days that she has thrown up while coughing hard.

Jenny and I saw some people dancing in a parade during the summer and called themselves "the jitterbugs". They were listening to old jazz like Ella Fitzgerald. I have always loved watching movies of people dancing back in the black and white days, so the jitterbugs caught my eye. Jenny and I have planned on going since then and finally went this week on Friday. We had SO much fun! We showed up early where they taught the newbies how to dance the jitterbug. We got the basics down and a few little moves. We are excited to learn more and go back again!

Yesterday we had a few things going on in the morning and in the afternoon we went to the Fontanelle Forest "like a family" (as Ashlyn would say it). We always have fun when we go there. We like to hike to the Missouri River and throw rocks and have some snacks. Well, the water was too high so we couldn't do much at the river. There were bugs out and it was humid. But we still had a great time.

Just look at that foilage!

Brinley loves walking! She is even getting to the point where she can run a little!

Ashlyn never fails to find little treasures wherever we go.

My four cute girls! (one still in the womb)

We are on the search for a minivan. We have test driven 4 and have a good feel for what we want but are struggling deciding how much money to spend. We have loved driving the Ford Expedition for the last year but realize that we could save $1000 a year in gas by switching to a minivan. We will be selling the Expedition back to Jenny's parents and getting a van. I never thought I would be a dad with a minivan as I grew up with a Jeep and Suburbans. Below is our top choice for the budget we have chosen.

Just kidding... Not really. We won't be getting top of the line, but hopefully still something that is somewhat nice and has low miles. Wish us luck!

Jenny starts preschool this week! She is nervous about some of the students she will be getting as they seem a little out of control. We will see this teacher use her magic.

Ashlyn has begun dance and gymnastics and enjoys them both. In a couple of weeks she will start a violin class! We are excited for that!

Brinley is starting to say more words and become more active. Church has become increasingly more difficult as her mobility increases.

I am having fun in the clinic in school. I love being with patients and love dentistry!