Newest family photo

Meet the Kellers. We saw a commercial this weekend promoting the new Simpsons movie with a website where you could "Simpsonize" yourself. I did the work of entering our pictures and customizing our features and Andy worked his magic to make this cool family photo.

I think Andy and Lauren are the most accurate. It was cute how they took Lauren's picture and came up with this little turned up nose (Lauren is the baby on her tummy).

If you've got some time on your hands, check out this website. It was fun to see what our characters would look like if we made a guest appearance in Springfield.

Simpsonize Me!

Silly faces and new discoveries

Since we've returned home from traveling, the girls are using their latest talent (crawling) to get them into rooms they never knew existed. They love coming into the kitchen and they've discovered how to open the cabinets.

I'm worried about them pinching their fingers, so I pulled some safe kitchen stuff out for them to play with. I can't wait to cook with my girls. It's never too early to start teaching them to stir and strain, right?

Have you met our new little puppy, Lauren? The girls like to get into Josie's bed and Josie is such a good girl that she doesn't seem to mind. Don't worry germaphobes, I just washed the dog bed.

But, the funny thing about these pictures is the faces Lauren has been making lately. She scrunches up her face all the time lately. I can't quite figure out why she's doing it, but it's so cute. When she's not scrunching her face, she's got her tongue out. Wednesday, I got their pictures taken and we could not get her to keep her tongue in her mouth. Silly girl.

This morning, I decided to try a pony tail in Lauren's hair again and it's getting better. There' s now enough hair up their to actually keep the rubber band in place.

Jillian's hair is still growing and is so beautiful. It gets in her eyes a lot, but I refuse to cut it. I think it will grow out so pretty. I just bought her some new barettes and she looks so cute, don't you think?

I also added these pictures, because these are the shirts that Nannie Joyce (my grandma) bought for them when we were in Kansas City last week. I wanted her to see them.

"Hi Nannie Joyce! We love our new butterfly shirts!"

Happy Travels

We're home now. At least for a couple weeks. But, we've had a great month and have seen and experienced lots of exciting adventures.

OKLAHOMA CITY

The weekend after we returned from North Dakota, I traveled with my mom to Oklahoma City for an Arbonne conference. In addition to the conference, we had a great time staying with my Aunt Connie and Uncle Bill. I was also able to visit with my soon-to-be, cousin-in-law, Crystal and her fiance (my cousin), Kyle. It was a great visit and I was excited to get all the details on Crystal and Kyle's upcoming wedding.

Back at home, Andy was on daddy duty and did a great job with the girls all weekend. I had to laugh at the fact that Lauren napped in the swing at Duane and Debbie's. I guess that's what happens when mommy leaves town. I'm sure she had a great nap, though. Andy is so awesome with the girls and it's great to know I can leave town and these girls never miss a beat.

KANSAS CITY/ST. JOSEPH

The girls and I spent this past weekend in my homeland and helped surprise my Grandpa Sonny for his 75th birthday. We were so excited to be a part of celebrating with him. He had no idea that we were coming and it was so much fun to get out of the car on Thursday morning and see the look on his face.

While in KC, we took the girls to my favorite mall (Oak Park Mall) where they rode the carousel for the first time. They were so cute.

Before we traveled home, I drove up to St. Joe to spend a bit of time with my best bud, Cassie and her girls. Lauren traveled home on the plane with my mom, so it was just me and Jillian.

I think she enjoyed getting exclusive attention from Cassie's girls and from mommy. In fact, since I only had one baby with me, Jillian got to ride in the cart at Target for the first time in her life. I think she thought that was pretty cool.

ESTES PARK, COLORADO

While we were in Kansas City, Andy headed even further west to Colorado for a camping trip with his college buddies. He had a great time, but we were all happy to be back together under one roof again last night.

Fourth Up North

Andy, Jillian, Lauren and I, along with Andy's parents, Mike (brother), Jason (bro-in-law), Shannon (sister) and Sophie (niece), spent the July 4 holiday in New England, North Dakota, where Andy's dad grew up on the farm. We had a great time visiting with all of Andy's family. His cousin, Melissa, got married (Jun 30) and then we spent the week enjoying the peaceful lifestyle of our North Dakotan family.

There are so many great things about a North Dakota vacation. Mosty that you feel like you're away. My cell phone didn't have service, and we couldn't get online. We just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and made cherished memories with family that we seldom see.

Andy and I stayed with Terry (Andy's cousin) and Lawana Wilhelm and their kids (Cory and Shelby). We had a great time getting to know their family better and sharing our girls with them. They were such great hosts and are truly incredible people.

On our trip, we went to the "Keller" butte (land owned by the Keller family, which Andy and I learned was the second highest point in North Dakota) and had a picnic and then climbed to the top afterwards (I was sore for days after that). We spent a day in Medora, ND and visited a wildlife park and saw a buffalo and some prairie dogs. That evening we went to a really fun musical at an outdoor amphitheatre. We went to "Burgers in the Park" in New England and then enjoyed some delicious ice cream from the creamery afterwards. On the fourth, we watched fireworks in Dickenson from a friends house across from Dickinson State University.

The week went by way too fast. In fact, I could have stayed at least another week. If you're reading this, ND fam, we love and miss you and can't wait to see you again!

Don't feed the buffalo!

Family pic in Medora

Ice cream break in Medora

Lawana and I showing the girls Lawana's horses.


Jillian with Lawana and Cory

The boys throwing rocks off the butte.

See the tractor to the middle-right? That's Doug bailing hay!

Carma's (cousin) son, Isaac, with Shelby, cousin Courtney and Lauren

A beautiful flower on the butte.

Uncle Andy getting Sophie - so sweet!