Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Girl Hair

I love girl hair. I always have. Growing up I was surrounded by boys--I am the oldest of six kids and I have four brothers. I always wished one or more of them were a girl so I could do their hair (sorry guys—I still love you). By the time my sister Tiare was born and her hair was long enough to do something with, I went away to collage (we are 14 years apart). However every time I came home for a visit, I forced my hair creations on her. The school bus driver always said that he could tell I was in town by what her hair looked like. I never imagined that one day I would have FOUR daughters of my own to play hair stylist with!

Kyndall’s hair length leaves a lot to be desired, at the moment, but Kaydence and Kassidy finally have hair long enough to play with (though they aren’t very good at holding still!) Recently they reached a very important milestone in a girl’s life….her first FRENCH BRAID :-) Here are some pictures from the occasion


Kassidy



Kassidy Top View


Kaydence


Kaydence--side view


Kaydence--top view


Ryder and Kaydence---I just love the expresson on Kaydence's face


Rustin doesn't want to be left out...

The kids were being so cute that day, that we decided to get the backdrop out and take some group shots.


Kassidy, Kyndall, Ryder, Rustin and Kaydence


Kaydence, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder and Kyndall


For the most part they were less than cooperative!


I wanted to get a group hug with all five babies, but only Kyndall and Kaydence cooperated!


Notice the three babies in the back who are trying to knock over the backdrop!


Kaydence, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder and Kyndall----with five kids, there is always at least one who is unhappy at picture time!


The girls: Kyndall, Kaydence and Kassidy


Kaydence


Jayson brought in the big guns---animal cookies to use as bribery, but not even that worked!!


A hairstyle I tried on Kaiya a few weeks ago. I had seen a girl in the mall with a similar hair-do and decided to copy it!


Isn't she cute??


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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Trip to the Fire Station


The first time I saw the fire truck from our local Cedar Park fire station, I wanted to take pictures with it. The name of the fire truck is the "Quint 2"--how perfect is that? Apparently "quint" fire trucks provide five functions--pump, water tank, fire hose, aerial device and ground ladders---hence the name. Whatever the reason for the name, I knew I needed a picture of my quints on the Quint!

With my mom in town this week, it was the perfect opportunity to go. I called earlier in the week to set up an appointment with the fire station. They were so friendly and even offered to bring the truck to us! I could just imagine the neighbors reaction if a fire truck showed up at our house-----I assured them that it would be no problem to bring the kids to the fire station!

The kids had a blast at the fire station. The firemen gave each of them a fireman hat and badge and they climbed all over the fire truck.



The back of the "Quint 2" fire truck


The Cedar Park Firemen with Rustin, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy and Kyndall


Future fireman Rustin tries out the hose


Ryder, Kyndall, Kaydence, Rustin and Kassidy


Kassidy


Kaydence


Rustin


Kyndall


Ryder


Not to be left out, my mom and I took a turn "driving" the truck too. They even let us turn on the lights :-)


Checking out the inside

The whole gang

The local Cedar Park Access station heard about our photo shoot and showed up to video the event for their news broadcast. You can see the video here. Ours is the second story and starts at about 00:57 minutes. If you are local and have Time Warner Cable---the story will be broadcast all week on CPTV-10 at 6:30am, 11:30am, 5:30pm, and 10pm daily.


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Friday, September 18, 2009

Two Years Old Pictures

My friend and favorite photographer, Kristen Duke, took some pictures of the quints last week in honor of their second birthday. They turned out so cute!! Here is one of the pictures she took: Kristen is amazing! She got some great group shots and individual shots. She also got some shots of the kids just playing. To see more pictures from the photo shoot, click HERE.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Arizona Vacation--The Quints First Road Trip!

At the beginning of August, we embarked on our first-ever road trip with the quints. You are probably thinking 16 hours in the car + 5 two-year-olds + 2 big kids + 2 adults = TORTURE, and I have to admit that I was thinking the same thing before we went. In actuality, things went MUCH better than I expected! We had a great set-up with a dual screen DVD player (thanks to a Christmas present from my parents). Plus Riley and Kaiya had their own DVD player in the backseat. The entire 16-hour drive went pretty much like this: watch a movie, eat a snack, sing some songs, REPEAT. We stopped only to get gas and change diapers, but despite everybody being strapped in a carseat for hours and hours, there was not a lot of complaining.

Jayson’s biggest event of the year for work was happening right when we planned to leave, so I talked my friend Virginia into driving out with me and Jayson flew out to meet us a week later. Virginia is a saint!

Once we got to my parents house, we had a great time! My parents had just moved into a new house--and when I say “just” I mean the moving van got there 4 days before we did. This was great in some ways (they hadn’t unpacked everything yet, so there was less for us to break!) but it had its downside too (no hot water, no stove, no phone, no internet, no TV, and most importantly---no trash service!)

We got to see a lot of family while we were there. All of us were really excited to see my Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Rick again (whose house I stayed at when I went to Arizona to have the babies---they took care of me, and my kids at times, while I was on bedrest. They also let us take over their house as we brought all the babies home from the hospital). All but one of my siblings came for a few days while we were there, and my grandparents drove down from Utah for the weekend to see us. We also visited with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Lloyd and several of my cousins while we were there.

One of the highlights of our trip was spending time with Dr. Candice Park, the resident who delivered the quints. She just graduated and is an official doctor now, but hasn’t started her new job, which meant she had more time to spend with us!! Dr. Elliott was out of town, so we weren’t able to visit him on this trip.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the trip:
Arizona, Here we Come! Kyndall, Kaydence, Ryder, Kassidy and Rustin

Off we go!


Our first day in Arizona we had the "great" idea to take everybody to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

The babies had a fabulous time using the utensils as drumsticks, but I am not sure the rest of the patrons enjoyed their concert-----I think it will be a while before take everyone back there again!


Rustin and Mimi




Riley, Rustin, Kassidiy, Ryder and Kyndall play on the cart made out of Omagles (like giant tinker toys)


Lunch Time! No, you didn't count wrong---there are SIX two-year olds in the picture! My cousin, Cassie came over with her kids, including 2-year-old Jaeden who is only a few days younger than the quints.


Papa makes mashed potatoes in the microwave. Since the stove wasn't working when we got there, we all had to become very skilled at using the microwave---we learned how to make everything from pasta to scrambled eggs in the microwave :-)

We took the whole crew to visit my dad (aka Papa) at work. Picture above: Ryan (my brother), Tiare (my sister), Rustin, Kassidy, Papa, Gaile (my dad's secretary), Kyndall, McKay (my brother), Kaydence, Shane (another brother), Kaiya, Ryder, Rachelle and Riley


Papa with Rustin, Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy and Kaydence


Papa with Riley and Kaiya


It didn't take long for us to wear out our welcome!


After terrorizing my dad's office, we all headed to Rainforest Cafe for lunch.



Most of the babies loved all the animals, including these gorillas near our table.


Kyndall was so afraid of the gorillas that she put her head down on the table and wouldn't look up--even to eat!


Kaydence, Kyndall, Rustin, Riley, Ryder and Kassidy. The kids loved to run from one end of the hallway to the other.


Papa with Ryder, Kyndall, Kaydence, Kassidy, and Rustin


The babies were excited to see Dr. Park!


Twins, Triplets and Quintuplets (plus 2)! We got together with my friend, Christina, who has twin 4-year-olds and triplet 2-year-olds. Christina and I lived only a few streets over from each other when I was in high school. Coincidentally, her triplets were born about a month before my quints--at the same hospital with the same doctor.


Christina and I with all the kids



Superdad (aka Jayson) singlehandedly feeds Ryder, Kyndall, Rustin, Kassidy and Kaydence


Rachelle and Candice (aka Dr. Park). My mom, aunt Jeanie, Candice and I all went to lunch at Oreganos---when I was in the hospital, Candice kept telling me how great Oreganos was, so I am glad I finally got to try it! (The Pablo Picasso salad and Pizza Cookie were amazing!!!)


Our favorite pastime is going to Costco, so of course we had to check out what the Arizona Costo's had to offer :-)


Trouble Multiplied! Rustin, Kassidy and Ryder check out the new cupboards at Mimi's house


Kaiya and Kaydence---this picture really shows how much they look alike!


"Nakey" Time! Kassidy, Rustin, Kyndall, Kaydence, and Ryder


Kaydence really took a liking to Grandpa Curtis!


Rachelle and Candice with Kyndall, Ryder, Kaydence, Rustin and Kassidy


While we were there, Candice made the babies five birthday cakes---the same five cakes that she made for their actual "birth" day two years ago. Not only is she an amazing doctor, but she is a baker extraordinaire in her spare time :-) Click HERE to read about the original "birthday" cakes...


The Cakes--Strawberry, Confetti, Chocolate Fudge, Carrot and Lemon Meringue (my personal favorite of the five)


Yum--the babies dig in! (Kyndall, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder and Kaydence)


After Church on Sunday---Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin, Kaydence and Kyndall.


Kaiya and Carli. These two were best buds when we stayed with Jeanie while I was on bedrest. They were so happy to be reunited!


Riley the Pinecone Man


Rachelle, Betty Ann (my mom), Aunt Jeanie, and Ashlyn (my cousin)


Jeanie and Rick invited us over for brunch after church. It is a brave person who invites our family over to eat! They served pancakes (the quints favorite food) and even borrowed high chairs for all the babies to eat on.


Riley, Carli and Kaiya


The day before we came home it was my birthday. Anyone want to guess how old I am??? I celebrated by going out to lunch and getting pedicures with "the girls"!


Heading home! All good things must come to an end...


The awesome DVD set-up----how did people travel with kids before these were invented??


Arizona was awesome! We are already looking forward to going back next year!


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