Teach him how to fish...

Jason and Gabbie have had a few fishing trips this month. The first was VERY successful and the second took a little explaining.

This is Gabbie after explaining what "catch & release" means...it did not go over so well.

She just really wanted to bring a fish home.

This is one of Finley's ONLY still moments while we were fishing. She just wants to do EVERYTHING that big sis does.

I love the worms???!!!

The Big Catch

Now that is a HAPPY face. We actually ate these trout for dinner that very same night. Good job Gabs!

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Lao Tzu

Tourists on our "Stay"cation.

I have tried to take advantage of every day that I am off from work. Sometimes the weather does not cooperate, but their are still a lot of things to do. (It's not like it's been blizzarding this month.) Being a native of Rapid City, I knew we had cool stuff around here, but now that I have kids, I am trying to see all of the fun that the Black Hills has to offer.

We will not be going on a BIG vacation this summer, but hope to pack in all the sights around here. We've done some things this week to get our tour started.

We planted a small (very small) herb garden with some tomatoes. I DO NOT have a green thumb, so I am relying on Gabbie to help keep this garden alive!

I really want to plant some tulips, peony bushes and dahlias this year!! If anyone has any suggestions or tips, PLEASE comment! I am gonna need all the help I can get.

OOPS! Gabbie got a little out of control with the hose. Sorry Fin.



I think Gabbie will survive! She had a little spill on her bike.
The first of many, I'm sure.

Gabbie is learning to ride the bike. It seems we are a bit behind, but Gabbie loves it! Our goal is training wheels off by her birthday in the fall.

Finley wants to ride a bike too!

Sorry Fin, that's a little big.

Gabbie had her "End of the Year Program" at school.

The pre-school program was great this year. They concentrated on ABC's & 123's.

These girls are her "best friends" and we enjoy watching them all grow.

ONE SHOT!

(is all this picture took!)

Good Job Gabrielle Amelia!

We visited Bear Country USA last week. It was a little COLD and REALLY windy, but it was fun. There were only a few other cars going through the park, so we really took our time.

Do you think the "DO NOT TOUCH" sign also means "DO NOT SIT"???!!!

The Buffalo

The Bear

Doesn't he look friendly?

The Reindeer

Our Mother's Day Brunch
Gabbie & Finley and Brayden & Hadley

The ER Kids at a baby shower
(and there are more to come!)

Finley at Reptile Gardens.

We love this place and they really give the locals a great deal! We will visit MANY TIMES!

One of the birds at Reptile Gardens. There large bird show starts this week.

Nana Betty, and us in the dome at Reptile Gardens.

The shy bald eagle and not-so shy Gabbie

We hope you are all having a fun Spring! I hope we can add many fun pictures to our Stay-cation album!

Swimming and Snow Drifts

As many of you know, South Dakota has made major weather news several times in the past month. We had a really nice week in March and then on the 22nd we had a record breaking WARM day. It all went down hill after that and we are currently digging out of our 3rd BLIZZARD since.

Gabbie is finishing up her first sessions of swim lessons at the YMCA. She has done awesome and we will probably sign up for one session, since we OBVIOUSLY won't be going to any public pools for awhile.

Self Portrait

Gabbie and friends in the pool at the YMCA.




Gabbie trusting her instructor, Jamie.

Finley is enjoying the snow. She doesn't have the snow gear to go outside this year and neither does Mom, so I opened the patio door and let her have a little taste...LITERALLY!

Our driveway being abused by the neighborhood kids. Gabbie loves playing with her friends and it will be so much easier once the sun shines.

Sisterly Love

Sisterly Unlove

Cabin Fever

Jason and I are doing fine, as well. Lots of work, kids and repeat! We really feel blessed to have a healthy family and to also have jobs during this time. We have no big plans for summer yet. Some old friends are visiting in May and July, so that will be fun. I am DREAMING of SUN!

All I can say is...WHEW!

J's bro got married to a his long-time girlfriend over the holiday weekend. They had a lot of very unique elements to their wedding and the end result was beautiful. We stayed in these huge, hotel-like cabins and the weather was AMAZING! (That is my kind of camping.) The girls were SOOO good. I was so proud of what a big girl G was.

My only request was that we get ONE family photo, since we were all dressed. All I can say is that I am VERY disappointed with the end result. This was the best we could do. I think that with the beautiful surrounding and all the HARD work, we could have slowed down and gotten a better shot. OH WELL!

This was G's debut as a flower girl. There were 3 of them and they did GREAT! The bride's mother made the dresses and they looked like woodland fairies, which fit perfect with the theme.

This is the entire wedding party in the heat of the moment. It's official...another female has been added to the Love Family:)

Whew...we made it through the weekend. I told J that I am praying that our girls hire a wedding planner when the time comes. Weddings are a lot of work and this one was worth it.

Well, I made a drastic change to my appearance this weekend...

Wait..

TAA DAAA!

What do you think? My stylist flat-ironed it for me, so don't expect it to look like this ever again, but it is fun!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Summer, where are you?!?!

We had a glimpse of summer last weekend and we went fishing, but it is rainy and yucky for the holiday :( We had plans to go camping, but we are taking a "rain" check.

In Like a Lion...

I know that March is supposed to come in like a Lion or Lamb, but that is exactly how our weekend was here in RC. It came in like a Lion and out like a Lamb.
We had a REAL blizzard on Friday. The snow was measured in feet instead of inches and Jason kept himself out of the office. We made soup and watched movies all day. It was actually nice!
On Saturday, the sun came out and it was BEAUtiful. We ended up packing the weekend full of fun things! The circus, a wedding reception and even a little time outside!
My picture really has nothing to do with our weekend, other than how lucky we feel to have two gorgeous, healthy daughters. We went to Applebee's on Sunday for lunch and of course Gabbie made friends with the 20-something girl sitting at the next table and attempted to entertain them the entire meal. We finally reeled Gabbie in and made her eat, when the family got up to leave the nice girl said good-bye and then her father came back to our table. He put his hand on Jason's shoulder and said, "I have 4 daughters...It is totally do-able. It takes a STRONG man to live in a house full of women." We had a good laugh and Jas took a little sigh of relief. Have a good day!!!!