Disneyland - Adelynn turns 4!

Adelynn turned 4 on September 26th and we celebrated at Disneyland with Grammy, Aunt Laura and both Uncle Jasons. Here is just a preview, many more pictures to come. We have been sick since we got back from California - first Adelynn and I both had swine flu and now Addie has croup! So far, Cordell and Eiley are healthy.

"BaanHofman Creations"

Margaret and Roy gave us this shirt when Adelynn was born and now it fits Eiley!

Wink Taught

Addie figured out how to wink a couple of weeks ago. I still can't wink, so now she is trying to teach me!

Eiley loves Rice Cereal!

Last week we started Eiley on rice cereal and surprisingly, she seems to love it! Below are two short videos...1. Mommy feeding Eiley her first couple of bites. 2. Daddy feeding Eiley (Be sure to watch the end, so funny the difference between Mommy and Daddy!)

Camping at Spruce Grove with Gammy & Gumby

Last weekend we went camping with Margaret & Roy, aka Gammy & Gumby. We had a great time and Eiley did great on her first camping experience. I learned a lot about what to bring for a baby, especially when it's cold and rainy!!

First of all, we are totally spoiled when we go with Gammy & Gumby because they take care of all of the food. And they know how to make amazing meals around the campfire! Somehow, even though we didn't have to bring any food we still seemed to pack up our whole house. I thought I brought too much, but after it rained most of the day on Saturday Addie had gone through all of the clothes we had brought.

We attempted two nights, but after all the rain on Saturday and temperatures approaching the low 30s we all decided to head to Margaret and Roy's for the night. (This was a GREAT decison, we were all dry, warm and cozy at their house!) We headed back on Sunday to get our tents and everything we left at the campsite about 9:00 the night before.

We had a blast and are looking forward to next summer, but will probably go a little earlier in the season:)

The BaanHofman Girls by the campfire.

Addie collecting pine cones for the fire.

Gumby and Eiley hanging out.

Cuddling in the morning...

Ahhh, cute sisters!

Saturday morning, attempt at a family photo.

A little video of the girls on Saturday morning.

Preacher Addie

Cordell was out of town at the men's retreat and both Eiley and I got sick. Since we both had fevers, we decided to have church at home on Sunday morning. Adelynn and I sang some songs and then we learned Proverbs 3:7 together, "Don't be wise in your own eyes." After my mini "sermonette" Adelynn decided to preach, apparently she didn't quite take that verse to heart because she had a lot to teach me! :)

Lake McConaughy

We had a blast on our 2nd annual trip to Lake McConaughy in Nebraska. What a difference a year makes...we had three new babies this year bringing our total to sixteen (8 adults and 8 kiddos)! So fun to just get away with no schedule. It was great to laugh, stay up late, play games and just catch up and talk. Here's a short 30 second video with some highlights. Hopefully, I will have time to blog about the trailer incident on the way up soon.

Sitting Up

Eiley likes to sit up and look around, but still loses her balance at times. She wobbles, but sits up longer unassisted each day.

She loves her fingers and her toes!

Bathtime

Eiley loves her baths and in the last couple of weeks has started to really splash and play.

Snow Cone Fun

For my birthday, my sweet sister sent me five bottles of snow cone syrups and all the accessories (cups, straws and spiral stands!) The funny thing is, I wasn't sure if the gift was for me or her...Laura loves to eat snow when she is visiting. She always "flavors" the snow with different things like juice or soda and always wishes that I had snow cone syrup. I think she secretly sent me all the snow cone stuff so that she could use them on her next visit:)

For Grace's 3rd Birthday she got a snow cone machine, so we decided to break out all the accessories one afternoon! The girls favorite flavoring was blue raspberry.

Thanks Aunt Laura for the fun gift! We will save you some!

Uncle Jason and Addie - Ironing Buddies

When Uncle Jason was here visiting, he had some ironing to do. Adelynn was so cute... she went and got her ironing board from her room and set it up right next to him.

Conversations in the Car - Almost four, going on sixteen!

Wednesday the girls and I went to sushi for a little date (Cordell had been out of town all week on business). On the way, in the car Addie said, "Mom, I am getting older now, so I think I need to get my ears pierced." I asked her why she wanted to get her ears pierced and she said because she would like to get more jewelry. I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with a little girl who is not even four yet!

A couple of weeks ago, we were driving in the car and Addie said,"Mom, what car am I going to learn to drive in?" After I asked a couple more questions, it became evident that she thought she was ready to learn to drive. She didn't understand why she would have to wait until she was a teenager to drive, she thought she was ready now. What a little squirt, she thinks she is pretty grown-up :)

In talking with my mom, the stories seem a little too familiar to what I was like when I was three. Uh-oh!

PARTAY! Grad party pictures part 2

More graduation pictures in this 30 second video.

Let's Party - He is Done!

Cordell was finished with school and we were ready to CELEBRATE! So, I decided to hire a band for his party. They played a bunch of 80s and 90s cover tunes and really were fun. We had a blast celebrating with our family and friends his accomplishment. We took a ton of pictures that night, so check out this 30 second video with some highlights. Part two coming soon!

Cordell - the DU MBA Grad!

We are so glad that Cordell has completed his degree. The last eighteen months really have flown by! I tried a new website and made a video of the pictures from his graduation ceremony on Friday, August 14th - Enjoy!

In the Hood

On Wednesday, August 12th the graduation festivities began with the "hooding ceremony" for just the Daniels School of Business. It was a neat ceremony that allowed for a little more of a personal ceremony. After each graduate was presented with their hood their family was allowed to join them on stage for pictures.

My brother Jason and Cordell's sister, Amanda joined us for the festivities.

Addie did wonderful during the ceremony and sat on Aunt Amanda's lap the whole time. She was very excited to watch her daddy get his hood and then join him on stage for a picture.

This is Bob Williamsen, the c0-CEO of Cordell's new company PES. We were glad he attended the ceremony to celebrate Cordell's accomplishment with us.

Me and my little bro! (He's so handsome)

Addie loves her Uncle Jas.

All of the graduates announced their name, degree and where they were from. Not a great picture, but shows the idea.

PAYDAY!

On August 12th Cordell got his first paycheck from the start-up company he has been working for since March. God is so good and has provided abundantly for us. It has been so wild to ride this ride since Cordell was laid off in January. (I will write more details about his new venture soon, but it has been going well and is VERY exciting!)

A couple of fun stories of God's goodness and provision...

Our tax return

We filed our tax return early after Cordell was laid off because we knew we would be getting a refund. We received our state return pretty quickly, but then hadn't received our federal refund. We logged on and it said there had been an error in our return. Cordell and I both were thinking, "Oh great." When we clicked on the link to investigate further we were informed that there had been an error and they owed us more money. This is unheard of - they found an error, corrected it and then sent us MORE money! Needless to say our tax guy probably won't be hired again, but can you believe that God worked through the IRS?!

Thanks Obama!

We have Cobra health insurance through Cordell's previous employer and thanks to Obama we have only had to pay 35% of the premium. This has saved us a ton of money every month and even though we don't agree with everything Obama is doing, we have enjoyed taking advantage of this program.

TV

Right after Christmas, Cordell and I had bought a flat screen TV as a present for each other. His brother, Justin did a ton of research and thanks to him we had found a good deal. We have a built-in entertainment center in our family room and everyone always made fun of what a little TV we had in that space. So, after seven years in our house we finally got a bigger TV! Well, after Cordell was laid off the first week of January, we decided to return the TV. At that point we felt that cash in the bank was better than a TV on the shelf. This is just a silly thing, but in March a new friend of ours was getting rid of their large TV, not a flat screen, but definitely fills up the space in the shelf! Fun that God decided to give us a bigger TV anyway. Now, Cordell's brother will come over to watch Broncos games!

God has more than provided for us and it is so fulfilling to watch for ways that He is working. I've shared a couple of little stories here, but there are many more.

Eiley makes us work for her giggles

Eiley laughed for the first time a little before she was four months old. She is so funny because she is such a smiley little girl, but she sure does make you work for those giggles. Each night Cordell and I try for about 2o minutes or so to get her to laugh. We might get a couple of giggles, but then she just smiles so big like she wants to laugh, but NOTHING! We should probably video tape us and how silly we look - oh the lengths we go to hear those cute giggles!

Here is a little video of her laughing a little while we were playing peek-a-b00.

Matching outfits from Kellie

Our friend Kearsten's mom, Kellie sent us these matching outfits for the girls. Eiley's is still a little too big, but Adelynn woke up this morning and insisted that they both needed to wear their matching skirts. Lately we have been into matching outfits. I will get Eiley dressed in the morning and Addie will ask what do I have to wear that will match Eiley? I think it's cute that she wants to match her little sis!

Adelynn's Prayers

I always love hearing Addie's prayers to Jesus.  It is so fun to get a little glimpse of her heart. Lately she has been saying at the end of her prayers, "Thank you for this wonderful day and I will never let go of you." So sweet.  

Arizona Highlights

Here are some other fun pictures from our trip.  I am not sure why, but we don't have any pictures of my sister - I promise she was there.  

Addie getting ANOTHER treat from Uncle Jason :)!!

So this morning was awesome!  My sister came and picked up Adelynn as soon as she woke up, which I think was before 7am.  Then the two of them walked to a nearby park and after a while headed back to the apartments to pick up Uncle Jason and Eiley.  Then they went to the mall that had these fun fountains to run through.  Cordell and I slept in until 11am (I had to feed Eiley a couple of times, but still!)  How fun was that!  We haven't slept in like that together since before kids - thanks Aunt Laura!

The reason for our trip...  Cordell was installing 4 computers in the first "test" Doctor's office for the new start-up he is working for.  He worked until about midnight every night because he had to be in the office after hours.  I will blog more on his new company later.  

An attempt at a photo with Grammy Bev and her two Great Grand Kids.  

Great Grammy Bev and Eiley Jane.

Keri, my cousin Matt's wife holding Eiley.

Aunt Susie and my cousin Kathryn Jane with Eiley Jane!

Uncle Jason peeking in on Eiley!

Sorry Laura and Jane, I don't know where the pictures of you guys are!  I know we have some video.  

The girls and I had a great little mini vacation in Arizona.  So much fun! Bummer, Cordell had to work so much.

Princess Preview!

Uncle Jason loves movies and bought Addie her very first DVD when she was only a week old - Cinderella.  Adelynn is pretty sensitive to scary stuff in movies, so we have been very careful with what we have let her watch.  Well, Uncle Jason knew we were coming, so he previewed several Disney Princess movies and marked all the scenes that would be fun for Addie to watch, without any scary parts. Needless to say, Adelynn loved to see all the princesses in the movies.  I think her favorite was Belle in Beauty and the Beast.  What a sweet Uncle! 

Eiley's First Plane Ride

Eiley on her first plane ride at almost 3 months.

She did great.  I nursed her when we took off and then she slept the rest of the flight.  Cordell had a business trip to Arizona and we went with him.  It was a great excuse to see Aunt Laura & Uncle Jason and the Arizona Farrar's (Aunt Sue, Uncle Jeff, Matt& Keri, Kate & Jane). And Grammy Bev was visiting from California.  

Photos from Kiddie Kandids

I took the girls to Kiddie Kandids to get some pictures taken when my sister was here and they did a really great job. It's great because you get get a CD with all of the shots. Eiley is 3 months and Addie is 3 and a half. Here are a couple...
We used this one for her birth announcement.

Eiley goes swimming for the first time

Eiley liked the water, although I think it was a little cold for her at first. Check out the short video at the end of the post.Ahh, safe with Mommy and my paci!

Our little fam in the pool!
Cordell had a business trip to Arizona the last week of May, so we decided to go with him. After we had our weekend of fun and Memorial Day, Cordell had to work, but the girls and I had so much fun hanging out with Aunt Laura, Uncle Jason and the Arizona Farrar's! Grammy Bev was even there! We went swimming everyday, sometimes twice.

Aunt Susie meeting Eiley for the first time.

Hanging out with Uncle Jason.