An Olympic Birthday!

Yesterday we celebrated Chris' 33rd birthday with cul-de-sac olympics. Yes that is right, in honor of the beginning of the Olympic Games, we decided to have our own version of the Olympics here at home. The events included: trike racing, water balloon toss, hobo golf and tournament Mario Kart on the Wii. We had a great time! Happy birthday honey!

What better pre-game food is there than a maple bar? Carbo loading is so important.
Maple bar and beer, just the right combo for a successful race.

Gold medalist Staci on the trike track.
Ready to race!
Susan took a spill before the race even began!
Chris...the serious Olympian
Water balloon toss gold medalists Roselli and Dwyer. Can you guess where their balloons ended up?Lexi and Bryn were in charge of keeping track of the standings...
...or maybe just playing with their balloons!

A Budding Artist!

Last Christmas, Lexi received an art easel from Grammy and Papa. She immediately fell in love with it and has spent countless hours "writing" on the chalk and dry erase boards. This nifty easel also came with paints...very messy paints (in mommy's opinion). She has asked several times to use it. Chris and I (okay, mostly me!) always come up with some clever reason why now "just isn't the right time". Well, we decided to embrace the mess and let her go for it. One of daddy's old t-shirts worked as an artist's smock. Why did we wait so long? It was the cutest dang thing we've ever seen. Her art work is proudly displayed on the door of her toy closet.

Random Pictures and Thoughts...

Where have the past 2 weeks gone? I swear that I just posted something, but already it was two weeks ago. Oh how fast time goes...

The biggest news at the Roselli house, as most of you have probably heard by now, is that Lexi is going to be a big sister in the beginning of March! We are absolutely thrilled to add another little one to our family and know that we will be twice as blessed! We have been talking to Lexi about the baby and she knows it's in my tummy and is WAY excited. I don't think she quite understands however, that she will be sharing her parents, toys, house and life with a baby. It will be interesting! Below is a picture of her kissing the baby (so sweet!). Most days when asked she says that she wants a baby boy and wants to name him Baby Boy...probably not! A couple of weeks ago, we had our first ultrasound and the doctor said that everything looks perfect so far. The baby has a strong little heartbeat that we got to see. It is absolutely amazing to see a little baby, only the size of a grape, on the screen and know that it is a new life growing inside of me. I get teary every time I think of it. Our bodies are amazing, aren't they? We took Lexi to the appointment with us and when the baby was on the tv screen during the ultrasound we told her that was she was seeing was the baby. Well for several days after that when we asked her where the baby was, she would say "on tv!" So cute! We have another ultrasound on Monday, which will be cool. All of this feels just as exciting the second time around. So, between trying to nap when Lexi does (I am WAY more tired this time), playing, attending a conference all last week at Western and keeping up with my family, I haven't had time to blog. Here are some random pictures from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Big Sister giving baby a kiss.

Playing dress up with mommy's heels! Please note that they are on the wrong feet!

All bathed and smelling good before bed.

Go Vikings!

Thanks C.J. and Finn for my new train set! I love it.

Cheese!

She decided to put her tights on her head. She looks like she has floppy puppy ears!

Toddler Gymnastics class!


A future Olympic gymnast.

Lexi's first zip line ride. Thanks Teacher Jill for helping!

Gym buddies, Lexi and Kira!

We've been on vacation!

We have just returned from 9 days of vacation! We started out our trek with a surprise 40th anniversary party for Byron and Mary (Chris' parents). They were completely shocked to see 80 of their closest friends and family all in the same place to honor them. It truly was a wonderful tribute to their marriage. A good time was definitely had by all! In addition to all of the people, Adam (Chris' brother) prepared a slideshow of their parents' life together. To top it all off, Chris and each of his brothers prepared a small speech on what it meant to be raised by their parents. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

Byron and Mary watching the slide show.

The Roselli boys as they shared what it means to have Byron and Mary as parents.

And then, it was off to Black Butte for 4 days! We spent our time in the pool, bike riding, going for walks, feeding horses, napping and reading. It was just perfect. With a set of grandparents and uncles around for 4 days, you can imagine how spoiled Lexi was. She is re-learning how to just have mommy and daddy around!

Lexi and Daddy snuggling in the morning before the day's activities started.

Look what happens when Uncle Adam is in charge for awhile...I end up wearing mommy's jammies!


That's a really big horse, you want me to feed it?


Daddy and Lexi trying out the new bike trailer for the first time.

On our bike ride through Big Meadow.

Check me out, I love this thing! "Go fast daddy!"


Endless hours of playing in the pool! What a fun time at Black Butte!


Then...we came back to Vancouver for the weekend to stay with Grammy and Papa. Our nephews Layton and Tanner were in town from Idaho and so we got to see them and play for awhile. The kids are so cute together. While we wish they could see each other more often, we cherish the time that they get to spend together and miss them every day.
The three grandchildren!


"Do you think Grammy will care that we are taking all of the rocks out of the candle garden? Of course not, we're grandchildren, we can do whatever we want!"

Grammy and Papa with all of their babies!

We even got to see Great Papa and Great Grandma before we came home. We had a nice dinner and visit with them. Great Papa even took us for a spin in his "dolf tart". So fun!

Potty Training

Lexi is very excited about using the potty. Whenever she is asked if she wants to sit on the potty, she runs into the bathroom as fast as she can to try and get her diaper and clothes off. She doesn't go every time, but she is interested. I think this is the first step. It is amazing how excited she gets when she actually hears something go into the potty. Wouldn't it be great if we still got so excited about little things like that???

A girls gotta multi-task!
This day, she sat down and said "Mommy, newspaper?" Like father, like daughter!
Such a big girl!
Who said 2 year olds can't do chores?
So fun to play dress up in mommy and daddy's closet!

Summer Fun and the 4th!

Since the weather has been nice, we've had lots of afternoons in the backyard playing in the pool. Lexi just loves it, she is a bit hesitant at times to get completely wet but once she sees someone else do it, she likely will follow suit.

Thanks Uncle Adam for this cool pool that you got me! Daddy almost passed out blowing it up!

On the 4th, we invited some friends over for a backyard bbq and some fireworks fun. Chris and our neighbor went out to the reservation that morning and purchased some goods for the evening's festivities. Lexi thought the sparklers, snakes and pop-its were fun. Everything else was "too loud Mommy!"

Lexi and Auntie Staci enjoying the show!
Xander and Baby Clare came to our house. Lexi loved giving Clare kisses.
"Too loud, Mommy!"1st sparkler!

She got a little more brave!

Lexi and Qy-Ana hanging out together! What a fun day.