Quick Update

I haven't been very good at updating our site... but here are a few recent pictures for your enjoyment.

Concerning our family's plans... we are moving out to CA from the end of July through November for a new position we are taking. You can check it out at firefacts.org.

I am much better at updating our facebook, but I will do my best on this site as well.

Here are some pictures of the girls enjoying the pool at Grandma B's!

The girls are here sitting with their cousin Katy.

Girl Fun

Even though it has just begun to warm up, we are already thinking ahead. Grandma B. got Katrien a swim suit! Mike will flip, because it is a 2-piece...haha, but it is still cute! Look out boys!

Kiera was having fun on the school bus the other night.

I couldn't decide which video to put up, so I just put them all up. Katrien is reading her favorite books. The first one is the "No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed" story and the second one is a kitty book that her aunt April gave her! Thanks April!
Hope you enjoy!

By George, She's Got It!

It is amazing to see how Kiera gets better and better at crawling every day. Hope you aren't tired of all the crawling videos! It is just fun to watch, to me. Hope it is to you too!

Almost Crawling

This is from the other night. Kiera is just about to take off! It is fun watching her figure it out!

Here are some pictures from today. They are just being cute, as usual!

Katrien is reading one of the books that I had as a child. (Sesame Street)
It is so much fun to remember reading them and then see them doing the same.

Homemade Baby Food

This time around (with Kiera) I've been trying some new things, one of which is making most of my own baby food, thanks to a few lessons from my sister and some help from a few websites.

It works great to make a big batch and freeze it in ice cube trays for easy defrosting for weeks to come!
My latest combo is sweet potatoes and zucchini! It was a hit!

This is Kiera's version of crawling at this point.
It won't be long until she gets it down though!
Just thought I'd share!

Valentines Day Lovin'

Valentine's Day was a great day, mostly because we were all together!

Mike was able to be home, yeah!!

Katrien and I made chocolate truffles for Daddy and Grandma and Papa!
Here is Katrien holding one:

Mike is a great Valentine to have! He bought us girls each a rose!

Katrien is quietly singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
So cute!

Little Drummer... Girls?

Daddy has taught them well!

Christmas and New Year's Celebrations

This is very past due, but I wanted to put up our Christmas/New Years pictures. It was a great year, and to make it even more special, my sister Terra, her hubby Jason and their daughter Anoush were with us this year: It was so great to have us all together!

This is what our mantel looked like (minus the wreath that wouldn't fit in the picture. Katrien has her Christmas PJs on.

Katrien didn't scream like she did last year, but wasn't really thrilled about Santa. He was ok after he gave her a candy cane though.

Then, it was off to California! Here is a pic of the girls on the plane. They both are great travelers, thank the Lord!
We were so glad to get to Grandma and Grandpa Stricklands!! Here are some pictures of Christmas morning:Aunt April (this was actually Christmas Eve)

Katrien loves to help in the kitchen!

We celebrated New Years with the Bazans! Here is our family New Year's kiss!
MMMMMMWWWWAAA!

Aunt Cindy making faces with Kiera!

There are just some of the kids in the Bazan family! There were 40 of us at the gathering and 13 were under the age of 14... if I remember correctly!

Katrien with Grandpa!

Cuteness!

We also took a trip up to Grass Valley, were we were living when we had Katrien.

Again... a great traveler!

This is some of Derek's handy work with my camera!

Katrien was rocking out!

Neil (a former youth our ours) with Kiera

Kiera playing with Tyler Bartsch!

Me and beautiful Amanda!

The girls!!

Jamie has Kiera and Kim has Katrien (some former youth staffers)!

Katy got to meet Kiera for the first time!

The Manoguerra boys are showing Katrien what to do with Play-Doe for the first time!

I also got to meet up with some of my great friends from college!
(Lindsay, Allison, Steph and Jenn)

We simply had a blast! We miss all our California friends and family and can't wait to visit again! You all are welcome to come and visit us too!!