Happy 3rd Birthday!

Today is the girls' 3rd birthday!  We flew home from Utah today after a wonderful family reunion vacation (pictures to follow later this week) which made for a busy day so we celebrated with a birthday dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  Here is Lauren eating spaghetti, one of her favorite foods!

 Emily is pretty good at twirling her spaghetti on a fork!

The girls had ice cream for dessert and the restaurant staff and nearby diners sang happy birthday to them!  Lauren was embarrassed and excited at the same time!

Emily was so excited she couldn't stop moving, so this picture is a bit blurry but you can still see her big grin!

Lauren and Emily outside the restaurant playing with flower balloons that were made for them right at our dining table.  Happy birthday girls, we love you!

First Visit to the Dentist

The girls had their first visit to the dentist this week and they did great! Here is Emily sitting in the chair with a cuddly stuffed dog under her legs for comfort.

Lauren getting her teeth examined.

We love going to Bob's Red Mill for breakfast, and this weekend we met Grandpa and Grandma Rufener and Aunt Tian there which made it extra special!

The girls got a new table and chairs set this week!  It was handmade and painted by a local couple we met at a farmer's market.  The furniture is meant to be used outdoors, but it is so pretty we decided to move it inside into the girls' playroom!

Daddy's Birthday

The girls love Daddy and birthdays, so when they found out it was Daddy's birthday, they became SO excited!  They helped bake a chocolate birthday cake for him and decorated it all by themselves with M and M's and colored sprinkles.

They spent the whole afternoon preparing for Daddy's birthday celebration! Lauren made the card on the left and Emily's card is on the right.  The presents were Daddy's favorite Dark Chocolate Chile Variado bars from Moonstruck Chocolatier.

We went out for a celebration dinner at Red Robin and then came home to eat the beautiful cake!

Later in the week a huge shipping box arrived on our doorstep... Lauren (left) and Emily (right) decided it would make the perfect boat!  They sat inside and sang Row Row Row Your Boat and giggled.  

Splash Pad

This week we met our friends Melissa and Gavin at a splash pad in Wilsonville!

The splash pad had shallow running water and tiny fountains to play in...

Lauren (left) and Emily (right) had so much fun!

Happy Fourth of July

We had a wonderful Fourth of July celebration at the Rufeners!  The girls were so happy to see Great Grandma, both sets of grandparents, Uncle Lane, and Aunt Tian.  They had an especially fun time jumping on the trampoline before dinner.

Taking a short rest break with Uncle Lane.

After dinner and dessert, the girls came home and got ready for bed. They were still feeling peppy so we lit some fireworks for them in front of our house.

Emily quickly became frightened and went running into the house yelling, "I'm afraid!  Fireworks are scary!"  She felt more comfortable watching through the dining room window.

Emily finally agreed to view the fireworks from the garage while being carried by Mommy.  Lauren loved the fireworks and kept saying, "More! More!"

After the girls went to sleep, we watched fireworks from the comfort of our back deck!  It was a great Fourth of July and there was an extra reason to celebrate this year... Emily used the potty for the first time today!

Summer Days

Summer is here and we couldn't be happier!  Here is Lauren (left) and Emily (right) riding back to the car in their wagon after a successful trip to the Portland Farmer's Market.

 Emily running wild through the backyard sprinkler.

 Sweet Lauren riding on the swing.

Emily (center) and Lauren (right) dancing to live music with another little girl they met at the Tigard Farmer's Market!

 The girls LOVE bubbles!  They literally scream and laugh with delight.

Emily decorating sugar cookies... she spent quite a while decorating them very carefully and with great concentration.

Lauren joined in later and ended up quickly covering her cookies with a thick layer of pink sprinkles.

Both of the girls enjoy helping out in the kitchen... Emily in particular. Here she is preparing roasted carrot coins for dinner.