Music DIVA

Aivree has decided she is going to sing I Love to See the Temple on American Idol. For weeks now she's been practicing her Bristle Block guitar with her more than helpful backup singer Raleigh Anne. She even pretends like I'm Simon, Paula, or Randy. She asks me to give her comments or helpful information so she can practice singing better. It's pretty funny.

The Summer Harvest

The summer/fall harvest is my favorite time of year. I love all of the canning, bottling, and preserving that comes with it. For me it is the sweet reminder of my childhood days when I'd wake early in the summer months to see my mother in her garden picking, pruning and tending to her beloved fruits and vegetables. She had a way of making gardening seem artistic, pure, and beautiful. Even weeding was an art to her. She taught me to love the smell of perfectly tilled earth, freshly picked corn, and even to love all the work that gardening entails. In fact, this last summer was no exception...for one full week my mom took time to come to my aid to remind me how to can, bottle, and freeze. It was a wonderful time. Here are a few pictures of my two girls getting their hands dirty while helping freeze corn and pick cucumbers

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Daddy's Birthday -- last August

Last August 25 Marcus turned 33. Aivree and Raleigh Anne spent the whole day decorating the house, coloring a HUGE birthday poster, and of course making a cake for their Daddy. All three of them made a wish when blowing out the candles.

My Two Little Chefs

I love how my girls love to be with me in the kitchen. Many of my fondest motherhood memories thus far include cooking with my two little chefs. Aivree considers herself a 4-year-old cooking star. She often times will pretend she's on TV hosting her own cooking show. Raleigh Anne likes cooking mainly for the taste testing portion. We've had a few mishaps such last Christmas when Aivree took it upon herself to turn the stove on to 500 degrees while I had Christmas cookies in the oven. Needless to say the cookies were well done. We've had whole eggs thrown into bread mixtures (shells and all), extra TBSP of salt and yeast included into several recipes, and on occasion a Raleigh booger has shut down a whole batch of cookies. Overall though, the joy of cooking is just watching the two of them learn, laugh, and tease each other. It's a perfect day spent together.

Aivree and Brenner

Aivree and her cousin Brenner are the best of friends. In fact, Gizzy and I keep saying it's going to be a very difficult day when the two of them realize they can't marry each other. Until then we love to watch the two of them interact. Here are a few cute photos of their infatuation.

Photos of the Girls

I love these photos!!! It was so much fun watching Aivree and Raleigh Anne get their photos taken. At first the two of them were quite unsure about the camera. Raleigh Anne even pretended to be very shy -- but trust me, that didn't last very long. She got sassy pretty darn quick. Aivree just enjoyed the whole experience.

Baby Number 3 -- It's a BOY!!!

Well, today was truly a grand experience for our family. Our Dr confirmed that baby number 3 is MOST CERTAINLY a boy. Marc nearly did a Toyota jump in the Dr's office. It was quite cute. Here are a few U/S photos for those of you interested. We're pretty excited.

Updating My Blog

I haven't posted anything on my blog for so long I've nearly forgotten how to do it. Only fair since it's been nearly 7 months since my last posting. I hope those of you reading and looking at my family photos will be patient with me...as I have much to catch up on. I keep promising SHANNON that I'll be better -- so far that has been a pie crust promise. So I'm going to really try harder to keep this site up-to-date (I guess only time will tell). Since I wrote and posted last, our little family has moved again. This is move number 15 I believe. But who's keeping track. The current plan is to stay in this house for a couple of years or until Marcus finishes his MBA. Then who knows where or when we'll move again. It's always an adventure. Anyhow, just wanted to update my viewers (if there are any left after my long delay).

Fun Pictures of the Stott Fam

I love random family shots. Here are some from Matt and Nicole's wedding.

Branding at the Ranch

Nothing brings a smile to my face faster than hearing Aivree tell the story of branding Grandpa's cows. She always begins by saying, "Branding is sure hard. It stinks and the cows are really loud." These are a few photos from our trip to the ranch to brand cows. The best part was seeing Marc back on the ranch.


Grandma and Aivree.

Cousin Cory with his son Tanner and Marc with Raleigh Anne. So cool to see the two cousins together again.

Aivree kissing on Raleigh in the corral.

My handsome honey!! Ooo lala.
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Sweet Moments

There were a lot of sweet moments with Granny and Poppa. Only a few got captured on camera. Here are some of my favorite moments (I have a few other photos that I love -- however, they are on Granny's camera -- I'll add them later).


Cousins and best buddies!!!

Poppa reading bedtime stories. Pretty sweet!

Granny and Kinzlee posing for the camera.

Lots of Being Wet

While at Granny and Poppa's we spent a lot of time wet. We went boating, swimming, ran through the sprinkler and rode uncle Rob's slip n' slide. Here are a few photos highlighting the wetness.

Trip to Granny and Poppa's

We just returned from our FABULOUS trip to Granny and Poppa's. It was wonderful -- boating, relaxing, eating, laughing, cooking, visiting and overall just doing nothing important...just being. The kids spent the week playing, swimming, playing, swimming, and getting VERY tan!

The trip began on Thursday night around 8 p.m. We left Sheridan very late after Marc worked. Within a hour of being on the road, both girls were fast asleep. What sweet sleeping angels.

Two Thumbs Up

Aivree thought she was pretty cool riding in Daddy's truck with his sunglasses on. She gave me two thumbs up for the experience.

Mornings with Daddy

Saturday mornings at our house usually consist of Marc and the girls hanging out on our bed reading stories, having tickling matches, and yes, playing dress-up. These pictures say it all. Marc being a fabulously patient dad with his obviously two adoring girls.

Lotion -- Modern Art

Aivree loves lotion. In fact, she loves lotion, shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, makeup etc...Not only does she love it but she loves to make art with it. Here are a few of Aivree's finer art pieces. These were obviously done with Johnson & Johnson Cucumber baby lotion. Notice her attention to detail:)



Caught in the act.
Happy to show off her artwork both on the cabinet and on her own face.

Dishwasher Diva

We call Raleigh Anne the "Dishwasher Diva." She spends nearly every waking moment climbing in and out of the dishwasher. Not only does she enjoy playing in the dishwasher but she enjoys using the dishwasher as her stage to practice her various dramatic talents which include singing at the top of her lungs, dancing (usually it's her bottom just bouncing), screaming (we've learned to call it 'Squally Raleigh"), and our favorite, The FIT (this is just a series of dramatic movements that end in Raleigh thrashing and head-butting the dishwasher door. It truly is a sight to behold). Anyhow, our little Diva keeps us VERY entertained.

The Carlin House

Well, here are some photos of our latest renovation project, "The Carlin House." It's been a lot of work, but hopefully worth all the craziness.

This was the entry way we added on with Rob.