Welcome Kate

Katherine Haupt was born this morning! 

She weighed 7lbs 15 oz, and was 20.5 inches long. We named her after Catherine Clark Smith Harrison, and in honor of Levi's Grandma Catherine Haupt, and Torrie's Grandma Mable Harris. The story of Catherine Clark Smith Harrison can be found in Women of Faith in the Latter Days By Brittany Chapman. 

Torrie and Kate are doing great! Here are a few pictures for all those that have been anxiously waiting.

Her sisters want to take her home now!

 She has lots of dark brown hair like her sisters did.

We think she looks just like our other two precious girls and fits right in!

Welcome Kate, we are so excited you are here!

Charlotte is 3

I'm not sure whether it was a good idea to have my kids 6 months apart during the calendar year. Emma of course is in April and Charlotte is in September. Here lies the problem, from October til April we hear about Emma's upcoming birthday, ( forgetting completely that Dad is in October and Mom is in November, obviously we don't count) and from May until September we hear about Charlotte's upcoming birthday. Although, I think if I would have had them closer together I wouldn't get rest, I just would be hearing about both birthdays year-round. Anywho, its now past Charlotte's birthday, she's officially 3, old enough to get the whole present thing. We were grateful that Grandma and Papa Word were able to come visit during this time, we had a mini-Rapunzel party, no need for friends, it means more cake for us! She was soo funny to watch open her gifts. Enjoy the videos.

Beautiful Birthday Girl, Charlotte! I can't believe you're 3

Happy birthday to you! Thanks for saving the cake Papa! 

being a big girl and opening her cards first.

Cards! You gotta love her interpretations.

Singing Cards! These are the best for little kiddos! 

Thanks Grandma for the presents!

 our favorite! She is a chocoholic after all.

Gifts from Sissy

Emma was such a great friend and went and wrapped Charlotte several presents. It is so rewarding to see them as best friends.

Chowing down on her cake, courtesy of mom.

Shhhhhh, I'm a Secret!!!

I don't have a Facebook account, don't speak of me there!

First Day of School!

The first day of school is always memorable. On September 7th Emma had an orientation that she attended with Levi, followed by the first official day on the 8th.

If you can't tell she was excited!

 She has been on a big Curious George kick and was pretty pumped to wear this shirt.

We were blessed to have Grandma and Papa Word here with us. They were able to send Emma off on the bus with us.

 We're not sure if Charlotte and Mommy are ready for their bestie to be gone for half the day, but they are coping well.

Emma was just as excited the first official day as she was the day before.

She was super brave and excited to ride the bus. We tried to give her a ride, but she was adamant that the bus is the only proper way to ride to school.

She is the first stop for the bus in the morning, and gets to ride in the front (where all the really smart kids sit). Near the end of the bus ride the bus stops to pick up some family friends, the Fredericksens. Each day they high five Emma and make her feel like a true big kid. Thanks Carson and Chelsea for being such great friends! 

She couldn't contain her excitement! Its time to learn!

What surely is a Woodward tradition Grandma and Mommy jumped in the car and followed the bus all the way to the school. At the school Mommy tried to be sneaky and caught a peek of Emma lining up ready to enter the school.

Meanwhile at home Charlotte was having a difficult time coping. Thankfully Grandma and Papa were there to distract her. As they waited at the best stop for Emma to return Charlotte said "Oh! My Emma, I love her!", as she grabbed Emma's hand.

 The held hands the whole 1 1/2 blocks home!

 The memory of these two best friends walking together will forever be etched in Mommy's and Grandma's hearts. It is amazing how much joy simple things can bring.

Easter Fun

We decided to celebrate Easter a day early this year, and by early Emma thought that meant wake everyone up at 6 am. 

The girls were excited to find new scriptures, and movies in the baskets. Then Emma decided we needed to have an Easter confession as well.

The girls caught onto the Easter Egg hunt concept quickly.

And hit their stride before we could catch up.

The Easter Bunny forgot how tall we are, but we improvised.

We gorged on chocolate, then headed to Mt. Vernon Washington to go see the Tulips!

 It was a perfect day to go for a drive and walk through the tulip fields.

We were surprised by the array of colors!

It's official, this will now be a family tradition!

After seeing millions of tulips, we now have a new favorite flower

We even gave the Claritin a run for its money.

 We couldn't help ourselves, so we bought the Birthday Girl and her Bestie some tulips to take home (FYI they looked gorgeous even before they opened). 

We had a wonderful time enjoying this beautiful world our Lord has provided us. We hope everyone gets that chance to think of Him today, and all that He has done for us.

Busted.

Or this post could be titled, "From the mouth of babes".. whichever you prefer.

Every year that we've been married Levi and I have picked brackets and "competed" in March Madness. I use the term competed loosely since no money is involved just bragging rights and a few times, surprisingly, they've been mine, yahoo.

HOWEVER, this year as we began our ritual we decided to let Emma pick her own bracket (see video) and she did it..... ALL BY HERSELF.

I helped Charlotte by doing hers, and Levi and I both completed one for ourselves. We were ready when the bracket closed and tip-off began on March 17th for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. I should have known I was gonna have problems, March 17th isn't my lucky day, I ain't Irish.

My Dad ( Papa) and Grandpa and Levi's brother Isaac all joined in the fun

Here's our group results

BYU Bias


• Group Type: Private

• Group Creator: Im just an engineer

• Group Motto: "Just cuz they are your alma matter doesn't mean they'll win"
• Group Size: 7

RNK ENTRY, OWNER       E8     FF     NCG     CHAMP.      TOTAL    PCT

1 Emma,            Emma             0       0         0            Kansas         570       76.4
2 OnlyInFranklin  Grandpa       0       0         0            SDSU          520        53.4
2 I only know futbol, Isaac       0       0         0            BYU            520        53.4
4 Jimmer Show 2011, Papa     0       0         0            Ohio St         510        48.5
5 Cougar baby, Charlotte        0       0         0             BYU            500        43.7
6 Im just an engineer, Levi       0       0         0             Pittsburgh      470       29.6
7 cupcakes to the winner, Tor   0      0        0             Kansas         420        12.0


I think its HILARIOUS that we're ALL busted before the "elite 8" round. and Its even Funnier that Emma is at the top. The best part is that while she was doing this she said, "Dad, this is boring." Little did she know it was going to pay off. If you don't believe me, check the video.

Run, Charlotte, Run!

Grandparent ( I mean great-grandparent) reminder: if you can't see the videos in your email, go to the actual blog, they don't play in the reminder email.

These videos are so fun! they remind me how much fun kids can have with nothing at all. Emma begged us to play "duck, duck, goose!" after dinner. As we were finished she counted us up and said "we only need 4 people" So we adjourned to the living room that is vacant except for my lovely "treasure" chest and some boxes and played a few rounds. I don't think we explained the rules to Charlotte, which makes these videos so funny. These are the second and third rounds the first round I was on the floor laughing so hard I was crying... I think you'll get the gist.

Kids.....

Our kids are having identity crisis', perhaps its because of our new addition. Charlotte has learned to spell her name, or is it Emma's.... who knows :)

As for the new addition:

Introducing: Jr.

(my substitution until I can produce an heir)

He is a healthy 1996 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 xtcab

The girls have welcomed him well, they have even nicknamed him "cougar truck". They love sitting inside and pushing every button possible. I have had to reset the stereo presests several times now., and yes, the horn does work. I can't wait to do all of the normal stuff one would do with the one who will carry your name through the generations, such as going camping, taking him on a bike ride, playing in the snow. It was a little difficult settling on a name since naturally I could only think of girl names.... But thanks to Arianna there is now a grandchild in the family with a little testosterone.

....to be jolly.... ra, ra, ra, ra, ra,

Another year has flown by. 2010 brought a lot of changes. We moved yet again cross-country to Washington state just in time for the holidays. The ONE good thing about moving at that time is that our Christmas destination was a mere 5 hour drive away, gone are the days of 6 hour flights, and for that I am excited. I will miss the east coast and the memories are fond, but we are west coast people and being closer to all family is important.

With this all said, here is a glimpse of our Christmas 2010 courtesy of Nana and Grandpa in Portland, Oregon.

MY engineers hard at work, the engineer-in-training double-checking the degreed engineer ;)



Trimming the tree, our first live tree, at our house. Dear Grandma, Mommy was an abysmal steward of the tree, she'll do better next year.

Very excited for Christmas, the energy in our house was more palpable than usual.

Yes, that is child-labor. No, they did not have to wrap their own presents!




Last minute Santa cookies with Uncle Jordan!

Very excited to set out Santa cookies, I think she's got the concept down.

Charlotte and Woody




Lo, and behold the pull-string!




Another boyfriend of Charlotte's, Buzz Lightyear




Yes, we finally bought enough "clickies" so little girls aren't struggling over one pair.




Cougars forever! Cougar shirt # 2 was a big hit!




Magnet Doodle excitement



Thanks for getting up early to share with us Uncle Adam!




Hanging out in Christmas jammies, I couldn't resist giving them early. and Yes we're still wearing them. Every morning Charlotte asks for "no-mans", as they're too warm for bed.


I've heard from a lot of friends who are also parents that having kids makes Christmas magical again, I couldn't agree more.



Two of the best gifts I've ever received, and I didn't even have to wait for Christmas.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a wonderful 2011!

whirling, whirling.......

My life has been a COMPLETE Whirlwind..........

Since Labor day:

we've had Levi's cousin, wife and baby come to visit.

then my in-laws for a long weekend,

then my mom for a couple of weeks,

then Levi was offered a job with a previous employer,

then my mom came again to babysit while Levi and I flew out to see the area we would
live in if we took said job,

Levi's birthday,

then my brother-in-law Adam came,

then Halloween,

then packing up to move to said job.

then traveling CROSS-COUNTRY from Lynchburg, VA to Everett, WA for the new job.

while on the Cross country trek we stopped in Utah to visit family,

My birthday ( I got to go to the last BYU home game and was on the field for the 3rd quarter!!!)

I got to witness my niece's birth and blessing ( welcome to the fam, Miss Averie!)

Had Thanksgiving with my family

Then we got stuck in Utah for a while because of the WEATHER.

I am really exhausted and I don't EVEN have Christmas handled yet..... holy moly. Thankfully, its just down at my in-laws who are now a driving, NOT FLYING distance away.

Before I sound like a complete ingrate, I would like to let everyone know how grateful I am for so many things about the last couple of months.

I'm grateful for the people who drove or flew to visit, we had a blast with everyone and we appreciate the effort.

I'm grateful for the many many hands who helped in our move from my mom who babysat the girls on the initial "house-hunting",

For my VA friends like Dacy, Christina, and Jessica who watched my kids while I got things done.

For my fantastic kids who were EXCELLENT travelers,

and my wonderful hubby who, in three days, secured us a place to rent.

Also grateful to my sweet in-laws who drove up to help unpack us.

Very grateful to be back on the west coast ( I am west of the I-5 for those of you who care ;) ) closer to all family.

Here are a few pics to catalog our last few weeks. I do know that I mentioned more, to see pics for everything outside of November you need to reference older posts.

Westward Ho!!! ( us at the Independence, MO Visitor's Center)

Random entertainment




Some had good days....


While others.....well, not so much.

The "would be" triplets, Emma and Charlotte's adorable friend Maddie, we miss you already!

My kids are a LITTLE comfortable with the presence of boxes....

Dear Cougs, you were ROBBED!!! I'm so sorry.

Sweet Miss Averie. So glad you're here!

Hope you had fun catching up, Now its time to go back to more boxes.....