Trick-or-Treat

Anna decided to be "Anna Montana" this year, but she had to ask me what Hannah Montana looked like, since she's never seen her before. Madeline was very excited to be "Winnie Tah Pooh", especially since Eva was her pot of honey and Ella was a honey bee. The girls had fun at Anna's Fall Festival at school last night. We also went trick-or-treating with some friends tonight which was a lot of fun. There's a pic of Madeline with her preschool class, too. I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

"Cute Lil' Pumpkins" Patch

We were brave yesterday and took our cute lil' pumpkins to the pumpkin patch. Of course, we couldn't have done it without Grandma and Grandpa Grow. Everyone loved it. Eva and Ella (6 months old now) were so excited to be out and about, with lots of fun things to look at. They were squealing and screaming because they were so excited! We got the cutest shots of them smiling. We hope you are all enjoying the new Fall season!

One week of Kindergarten

Anna has had one week of Kindergarten and has met lots of new friends. There's one friend in particular that has grown really close to Anna in a short amount of time. His name is John and we met him after school today. He was quite enamored with Anna. (The first part of the video is Eva and Ella a week ago, but it got cut off.)

4 months old

Eva and Ella are getting so cute! Here are a few pics, we are having a lot of fun with them! Eva is to the right of Madeline and Eva is on the left in the polka dot outfits. Eva is also on the right in the sunglasses.

Eva & Ella - 3 months old

Eva and Ella are three months old now. They are a happy babies and love watching their big sisters. Likewise, Anna and Madeline love to hold or feed them any chance they get. The babies are so fun for all of us to watch and play with. They are very entertaining with all of their facial expressions, smiling, and cooing! We love squeezing their cheeks - and they love it, too! Ella is the first three pics and Eva is the second two pics.

Blessing Day

The twins were blessed on June 22. We had lots of family there to join us for this special occasion. Dan did a great job blessing them. Ella kept smiling at her daddy after the blessings were over, as if to say, "Thank you, Daddy!" Thanks to everyone for coming!

We also celebrated Courtney's , Caden's, and Lydia's birthday that same day. It was fun to have Joel, Bonnie, and her out to visit us. The girls loved playing with Lydia!

2 Months Old!

Today was Eva and Ella's first day at church. It only took us all morning to get ready to go, but amazingly we were on time! Yesterday they turned two months old. Eva (we call her Ms. Skinny Minny, although she's not so skinny anymore)now weighs 8.5 lbs and Ella (a.k.a. Ms. Chunka Chunk) weighs 9.5 lbs. They seem like newborns now. We are starting to get into a routine with them (hoping to get more sleep). They are starting to smile which is so worth all the craziness we've been through. They are cuties!

Tired, tired, tired

This is how we all feel at the Rhyasen house! Anna is holding Ella. She and Madeline can't get enough of the babies!

Madeline's 3rd birthday!

Madeline turned 3 on May 16 and she was ready to be 3! She actually wants to be 5 like her sister, but she's getting used to the idea of being 3 for at least a year. She had a Tinkerbell birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Grow's (her favorite place to be). She loved all the presents she got, especially the princess/ballerina attire. She's such a big helper with the babies. Everytime she sees them she laughs and says, "Cute, cute, cute". When she talks to them she says, "Hi honey, honey, sweetie, sweetie!" She always wants to hold "Tah (the) babies".

A Trip to the Park

We were feeling adventurous on Saturday, so we went out to the park to take some pictures now that Eva and Ella are 1 month old. the twins did really good for being out and about.

Anna has ben wanting to go to a park to pick up litter, so we brought a bag and spent time finding trash. It was like an Easter Egg hunt without as much good stuff in your bag at the end.

Madeline loved going on the swings at the park. The only downside is that somehow, despite the 80 degree weather, she managed to catch a cold.

All in all, it was a fun family outing!

Eva and Ella Come Home

Eva and Ella came home on April 17 after spending 11 days in the NICU. We're so glad to have them home!

Now, we're just adjusting to new eating and sleeping schedules. Anna and Madeline can't get enough of their new little sisters.

Our baby girls are here!

That's right, the girls came early at 35 1/2 weeks. Kerry went in for her weekly check up on Monday and her doctor sent her right over to the hospital. Eva was born at 2:51 PM and weighed a 4 lbs 13 oz and Ella was born at 2:52 PM and weighed 5 lbs 13 oz. They both screamed a lot as they entered the world. Hopefully that's not a trend they'll continue.

Since the girls came a bit early, they were rushed off to the NICU for some help with breathing and keeping their temperature constant. They're stable, but we're anxious to get them out so we can hold and feed them more. It was hard to get many good pictures before they were hooked up to the monitors and tubes, but we'll hopefully be able to post some glamor shots later.

Anna and Madeline met the girls today and didn't want to leave. But Madeline wants to know when we can take the machines off the babies. Daddy wants to know too. Mommy is doing well. She's a little sore and tired, but mostly just anxious to have the girls out of the NICU. We're so glad they're here!

Anna invited all her princess friends to an Ariel Princess party for her 5th birthday. They made necklaces, colored, painted their nails, played a game, and ate cupcakes. It was a fun party for them.

We can't believe our baby Anna will be a kindergartener next year! She is quite the little mother and is ready to help take care of the babies. She'll be a big help!