First Day of First Grade!

What an exciting day at the Murphy house was August 25, 2010. First day of school for Max and Bella at Arrowhead as First Graders, and first day of school for Brighton in the Bees classroom at Center for Generations - as an official preschooler. They were all excited and looking forward to a great year!

Max's first grade teacher is Mrs. Wilson. He really likes her so far.

Max and Bella outside of Arrowhead, lining up with their new classes.

And Miss Bella with her new teacher, Mrs. Pinter. I cannot believe my babes are already in First Grade. How time flies. It's moments like these that make me sit back and think about how lucky we are to have healthy, happy children, and how very much we need to treasure every minute we have while they are still young. I hosted a baby shower for a friend last week, and her mother-in-law gave her a cross-stitch that my mother had hanging in our house as a child. It was so weird, as I hadn't thought of the words stitched on that fabric for years, but when I saw it, I immediately remembered the words from reading them as a young child:
"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow, as babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep, I'm rocking my baby and baby's don't keep!"
It choked me up, and reminded me that I better sit down on the floor and play a quick game of Uno with Max, or enthustiastically admire Bella's choice of outfit for the next day, or stop to tickle the dickens out of Brighton, which she loves, now, while they are still young. I just turned around and my twins are SEVEN and in FIRST grade!!!! So, I vow to work less and play more, while my children still want to play with me.

Montana Fair 2010!

We had soooo much fun at the fair this year. Auntie Kendall was in town and joined us, and the kids were beyond excited, jumping up and down and thrilled to be riding each of the rides. We were lucky enough to run into cousins Connor and Carter and even got to go on a few rides with them! It was the first year that Brighton was old enough to go on all the rides, and she loved it! She kept yelling, "I am having too much fun!!!" I don't think I've ever had so much fun at the fair - it was a ball.

Connor, Max, Brighton and Bella on the Dizzy Dragon ride.

I love this picture of Max, Brighton, and Bella. This was before they took off on the first ride of the day - and you can see the anticipation on all of their faces.

Put your hands up!

Carter, Uncle Joe and Brighton on the Ferris Wheel.
Daddy and Brighton on the air balloons!

I was able to ride with Max and Bella on the Tornado - holy dizzy

And Auntie Kendall (pregnant - see that little bump) took Brighton on the balloons as well! What a great day.

Bella (FINALLY) Rides a Bike!

Well, our Bella finally took off on her bike this summer. We were thrilled, as Max has been riding circles around her for years now. She needed to do it in her own time, however, and once she was ready she literally did it on her own. Gavin and I have been utilizing traditionally means of bike-riding training (holding onto the back of her seat or sweatshirt) for a long time. It was quite miserable for all involved - as she would cry the entire time we were hanging onto her wobbling form, screaming, "It's so hard, I'm so scared, I'm going to fall, don't let go, don't let go, don't let go." Meanwhile, her father or I, were running along behind her yelling, "it isn't hard, think positive, don't be such a wimp." This was fun for neither Bella nor her parents. We finally gave up (after one serious tumble that resulted in a hospital trip and a long run of several antibiotics for an infection that resulted from one of the falls I took while "training" Bella - I never claimed to be graceful).
One afternoon in early July, Miss Bella decided that the problem was everyone ELSE was making her nervous. So, she took her bike outside one afternoon (I'm clearly behind on blogging, since it is now the end of August), put her feet on either side of the bike, carefully lined the pedals up in a way that made her feel comfortable, and...took off. She's been riding like crazy ever since, although she hasn't mastered the brakes (she is required to wear old shoes as she uses the toes of her shoes to stop) and it still takes her a good two minutes to line those pedals up just so before she starts. We are very proud of our Little Miss Independent. Go Bella!

Fourth of July Parade in Red Lodge!

Waiting for someone to throw us some sugary goodness!

The renegades.

Bella and her little friend Emily.

My three little Munchkins.

Fourth of July Extravaganza!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July Weekend up in Red Lodge this year. We were lucky enough to spend the entire weekend with great friends, and essentially went from barbeque to barbeque, with lots of kids in tow and new adventures waiting at every cabin/home. On Saturday, we continued West family tradition by having many of our friends for a barbeque at the West Cabin before heading up to the rodeo. Interestingly, the candy fairies visited the Cabin once again this year, leaving a legend and some painted rocks and trees to guide the kiddos to their sugar-infused happy ending.We started the afternoon with some smores in the HUGE fire pit that Brian built.

The Murphy girls spent some time relaxing with the Beers girls as we waited for the "reading of the legend."

And Uncle Tom, the kids' godfather, lead an inspired narration of the Legend of the Candy Tree for the kids before they embarked on their treasure hunt.Here is one of many of the mystical painted rocks, which guided the children on their journey.

"THAT way!"

And they're off to find the next clue.

Finally, the candy tree. Thank you fairies (and Gavin for an extraordinary adventure).

Bella and Max's 7th Birthday!

Max and Bella had a spectacular birthday part at Kids Klubhouse on Saturday. The theme: Avatar (although Max's friend Drake informed me that the party was not very Avatar-y). Lots of Max and Bella's friends came to help them celebrate! Bella's Neytiri cake.Max's Jake Sulley cake (sorry, I cut into it before I remembered to take a pic).

Bella singing "Happy Birthday" to herself along with her friends.

And blowing out her candles.

Now it's my silly Max's turn.

It was a great day!

SAN DIEGO!!!

Wow! Did we ever have fun with Grandma Barbi and our cousins in San Diego. We traveled once again to the Sunshine State (we did Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's in March) for the beautiful wedding of Gavin's cousin Alyssa to Steve Swall. While we were there we hit Seaworld and Legoland, as well as the beach and the fantastic pool (with three waterslides) at our hotel. I wish I took more pictures of Seaworld, as it was fantastic. The kids especially liked the "Shamu Splash" cheer they did during the Shamu Show. It was all the more fun because Antie Lisa and our cousins Cierra, Ariana, and Jaysha joined us.

Brighton waited in line, all by herself (the other kids were not all that interested) at Seaworld so she could meet Elmo and Zoe. It was very exciting, and Brighton talked to them for some time before she finally faced the camera and allowed a picture.

Grandma Barbi, Cierra, Ariana, and Bella and I enjoyed going on the Atlantis ride. Max elected to hang out with Dad rather than join us.

The night of the rehearsal dinner the kids took a moment to chill before we joined the rest of the party. Max, Bella and Ari spent a lot of time on their DSs throughout the weekend (an excellent purchase, Santa), and Ari and Max were caught mid-game here. Jaysha is passed out on the bed behind them.

Alyssa and Steve's wedding was stunningly beautiful on Coranado Island. It was the first Jewish ceremony I have been to, complete with Steve breaking the glass at the end, and it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've witnessed. As you can see, the scene itself was breathtaking. Combine that with the joining of two beautiful people who love each other very much, and it was perfect.

Bella, Brighton and Max before the ceremony. They are getting so big!

This picture was actually taken at the end of our day in Legoland - which was a lot of fun for all three of the kids. We were disappointed that our cousins had to leave us to catch their plane at about 4:00, but the kids enjoyed closing the place down.

Before we entered the park, we stopped next to a lego family to say "hi" and take a picture of these beautiful kiddos. Miss Cierra, Ariana, Bella, Brighton, Max, and Jaysha. How lucky we were to get spend some QT with our cousins!

Brighton loved the lego statues througout the park. It was pretty amazing.
This was a pretty cool little fountain. As the kids jumped on the circles, the instruments (made out of legos, of course) would spit water and play music.