My few weeks off

I just went back to school. I really enjoyed my time off. It was interesting to go back. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. I have a really great class this year though so that makes it nice. While I was off Kaylie and I had a blast! I love my time off because I get to have more time with her and I always have so much fun playing with her and doing my hobbies which keep some how expanding. So here is a list of some of the things Kaylie I have done:

Played tea party
Got a new piano
Went to the zoo
Worked on Kaylie's Scrapbook
Sewed some PJ's for Kaylie
Went to the park
Cleaned the house
Finger Painted
Watched some cute movies
Cooked a lot

Needless to say we had fun. Kaylie is such a doll and it was great to be able to spend some Mommy daughter time with her.

Kaylie saw this pillow at Sam's Club and just had to have it. She loves how soft it is.

This is Kaylie when she climbed up on the table because she wanted the chips.

Kaylie has been learning sign language and is actually picking up on it quite quickly. She has more and please and has the cutest little way of signing cookie. She will also say thank you with prompting and eat. I think we will work on drink soon. She also tries to verbally say the words and it is just really fun to see.

Oops!

Please note that the last 3 entries were supposed to be entered in chronological order but it did not work out that way. So really we went on vacation, had an adventure with bees and then got a dog.

Bees, Bees, Bees

Okay. Bees are very pretty as a decoration on a wall or a cute little scrapbook embellishment but not when there are thousands of them in your attic!!! So Erick saw some bees and thought humm that's not good they look like they have a hole they are going into so he called a bee exterminator to come and look at it. (Me I was thinking why? Its just a few bees) Yeah turns out there was a hive in our attic. So we had they guys spray what they could then and then they came back on Saturday to remove the rest and the 40 or so pounds of honey right above our closet. Here are some pictures of the process:

Step 1
Notice an unusual amount off bees around your house

Step 2
Call an exterminator Step 3
Kill the bees
Step 4
Extract the honey

Step 5
Discard the honey (sorry all you honey lovers we didn't get to keep it)

Vacation

Erick and Kaylie on family picture day

Kaylie Ella and Adam loved the sand toys

Kaylie watching the fireworks

Kaylie and the pinata

Our day in Spokane at the park with Meghan

At a beautiful garden in Spokane

Kaylie is a little over zealous in her kiss for Mommy

Kaylie on her way to Spokane

We were able to take a wonderful trip to Washington State for a family reunion. We had a lot of fun. It was great to see everyone and on the way up there we enjoyed a stop in Utah, Boise, and McCall Idaho where we spent the night and enjoyed the view of Payette Lake. I seriously wouldn't mind retiring there. Here are some pictures from our wonderful trip.

New with the Cortes Family

So here is an update on the Cortes family. We got a new dog and named her Chloe. She is a totally mellow awesome dog and with the exception of a little bit of nipping at Kaylie she totally is great! We still love our house and enjoy having a place of our very own. Erick has kept busy fixing sprinkler heads and keeping up on the lawn. I'm attempting to get used to cleaning a bigger house. It seems like there is always something to be done!

We are busy as always, but right now Kaylie and I are busy having fun! I'm off work for the next week or so and so I am taking time to do some of the things I really enjoy but get to distracted for during the school year. I've been learning to sew and have made Kaylie 3 pairs of pajama pants that actually turned out!!! I also am working on an apron but I didn't realize that when you are supposed to line it up with a fold it is so that they can stay together! So that one will probably have a few more hems than necessary but hey there is always a learning curve. I really am starting to appreciate Ether 12:27 which is about turning weaknesses into strengths. I couldn't cut for anything when I was younger and now I'm sewing with some success. It is such a great feeling to watch a project come together and actually look good. I'm very proud of myself. (Well the good kind of proud).