Santa was here!!!

Well, the holidays are over and I'm kinda sad to see it go...but very ready to move on to the next caotic thing in our lives.

Santa arrived at Nathan's school the on the 19th and he was so excited about it! He finally sat on Santa's lap (and he didn't scream or cry) and told him what he wanted for Christmas. I have a great picture of it. The 6th graders at his school buy presents for the Kinders and then help then open and play with them. It's great for both sets of kids to get to do this. Nathan really had a great time with his 6th grade buddy.

The entire family had a wonderful Christmas and got lots of great stuff! The girls will have toys to play with until they are 3! People have just been so generous and we want to thank you for loving our children. Nathan has so many toys that we are going to try and ask for gift cards and clothes for his birthday. I think if everyone brought a toy we'd have to buy another house to give them all a home. We do plan to go through all of his stuff and donate to charity what he can live without.

The girls really had no idea what was going on at Christmas except they were exhausted!! Poor things just got too tired from all the hustle and bustle.

The patio has yet to be finished and we are hoping that shortly after the new year it will be finished and we can possibly host a small party to celebrate the house and it's completion with friends and family. We got a fire pit for Christmas and are dying to try S'Mores with the kids.

I almost forgot to tell you about our trip to Sea World San Diego. Thanksgiving was almost a complete disaster when Nathan and Tara woke up sick Wednesday morning before our trip to Sea World for the Thanksgiving Holiday. San Diego also saw record rainfall on our first day at the park. Both kids recovered pretty quickly from being sick, it stopped raining just in time to enter the park, and we ended up having a pretty awesome trip. We got to have breakfast with Santa and Shamu, fed, trained, and pet a dolphin, had a close up encounter with a few penguins (got to pet them and go into their enclosure), make Christmas cookies, saw and fed so many more animals (including a camel and a reindeer). It was a trip of a lifetime!!! Here are a few pictures...

Just a few things coming up for the Dunn Clan in the near future...
December 30th - Kami has surgery. Pray that all goes as expected.
January 5th - Nathan and Kami go back to school & work. WooHoo!
January 7th - The girls will have their 6 month check up. Can you believe that they are already so old? Geez, it went quickly!
January 16th - Annual Dunn trip to the cabin in Shaver Lake. I'm looking forward to seeing how the girls react to the snow...hope there is some at the cabin when we arrive.
January 25th - Look for invitations for Nathan's 6th Birthday Party (Pump It Up) to arrive shortly. 6 years? Where does the time go?

It looks to be a busy month. Nathan is so excited about the cabin trip, skiing and his birthday. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and we look forward to a great (and less hectic) New Year! God Bless.

Dedication Cancellation

Pastor Rodger had unexpected surgery and will not be recovered enough to perform the dedication. When he is able to, we will reschedule it and let you know. Please pray that he recovers quickly and completely.

Well...

It's been a crazy bunch of days since I last updated the blog. Ria is sick and in the hospital and we're hoping she gets better soon. Please keep her in your prayers.

The girls had their 4 month appointment and they are getting HUGE!!! Tara now weighs in at 14 lbs 1 oz and Kate is 12 lbs 4 oz. They are just doing so great. They are just such a blessing to this family. A lot of work , but a blessing.

The Dunn clan all met in Santa Clarita yesterday to celebrate my nephew's b-day. The kids had a great time at a bouncy house type place and everyone got to love on all the new babies in the clan! We got to see the in-laws new house. It's a bit tore up right now as they had a small disaster and are just getting the house put back together. It's beautiful though and we can't wait to spend some time down there in the hot tub and seeing the new puppies when they arrive. Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you but the in-laws are having Yorkie puppies! WOOHOO! Nathan just can't wait til they get here. We're expecting them around the first week of December.

The girls will be dedicated to the Lord on Sunday the 23rd of November. We're so excited to share this news with everyone. For those of you who need a little help in understanding the dedication thing..here goes:

The parent part is a dedication of the parents to raise their children according to the Biblical principles. The child dedication part is a "setting apart" of their children unto the Lord.

We welcome anyone to attend.

What's new at the Dunn House

Well, it's been busy and we have taken lots of new pictures. I have a link that will show a few of them and then I'll post a couple.

http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn69/hijumpn/New%20Pictures/

We went to Halloween at the Kelsey's house and the kids had a great time riding the hay trailer and getting lots of candy. Too much candy! The people in their neighborhood go all out and even give the kids full sized candy bars. I would prefer the smaller ones as it's easier to deal with portion control...but...Oh well.

The kids have been pretty healthy lately and things are moving right along. The house is pretty much in order and we are just waiting to get the back patio cover put on and the projects around here will come to a close. We never did get around to setting up an open house. Maybe one of these days we'll get it together enough to have everyone over to have a look see. In the meantime I'll try and take some pictures.

It's getting colder in Bakersfield and we are loving it! It's so nice to have it cool off. I get tired of the hot weather.

I will be having a minor surgery in December so I will have about a weeks recovery during Christmas break. We may not be able to do much in the way of traveling this holiday. We'll just have to see how things pan out. If you just can't stand not knowing what is going on, you can call me and I'll fill you in on all the details. Just not a good public thing ya know?

The Dunn Clan is heading for Sea World at the end of November. WOOHOO! It's our annual vacation and Nathan got to pick the place. He's so excited about getting to dine with Santa and Shamu, train dolphins, get up close and personal with some penguins, and have a picnic during the Shamu Show. We're really looking forward to our first family vacation with our newly completed family! The girls won't remember this but we'll have pictures to show them when they get older.

Don't be surprised if Christmas this year is a little slim. We have a lot more responsibilities this year and with the new house, money is pretty tight. What if we just bought for the kids this year? Let us know via e-mail what you think of the idea. I was thinking just Christmas cards for the adults and a $5 gift card. Quick, cute and fun.

That's it for now. I'll try and check in again soon! Love to all.

Family News

We're excited to say that John's dad and mom are moved into their new house! It's still a flurry of boxes but they are just happy to have "the move" over with. We haven't seen the house yet but plan to make our way down there soon!

Nathan will participate in his first ever jog-a-thon. He's already got a few people to sponser him but cold use some more (if you're interested in helping him out, e-mail me for details). He's really excited about next weeks events at school! The jog-a-thon is Wednesday and then they have a school carnival on Thursday. John and I are setting up Kindergarten's cake-walk booth. Woohoo! Doesn't that sound fun? The girls have new bows (Thanks Jill. Yes, can you believe that my sister made bows? It's still a shock!) and outfits to wear for the carnival so we'll update you with pictures next week.

We're planning an open house so that everyone can come see the new house...look for an invitation soon and save the date now! It's October 25th.

Those of you have volunteered to come and babysit can call us any Wed-Sun night to watch the kids!!! We'd love a dinner out. Don't be shy about visiting either, we want you to get to know the girls! See you soon.

Kate & Tara

The girls have traded being sick for the last couple of weeks or so. Kate was the worst and had to have blood drawn and antibiotic shots. She's doing great now! It's Tara's turn to be sick and she has a wicked cold. Poor thing can't breath and just hates the nose sucker. We'll make it through and they will be well in no time. We had to miss their cousin's first birthday but we are looking forward to visiting as soon as we are all well again. We had pictures taken again the other day. Yes, we did individuals. It's so expensive to get pictures of them seperate so it's going to be a rare ocassion. Enjoy these!

The new house

Okay...as if we didn't have enough stress in our lives, we've added another. We just bought a house. We've been moved in now for two weeks and it's slowly coming together. It would be nice to have the time and energy to get everythig done but we have two babies and they demand more attention these days. We'll try and get everything put away soon and have a little party to show everyone the house. John really wants to have a "shift" party at our house and I am trying to hold it off for a bit. The shift ends in December though so I have to get it together so he can have the shift over. He's just so proud of the new house.

Nathan Entertaining the twins

Nathan just loves to entertain and it's great when your audience can't get away!!!

The Kern County Fair

Because the whole stinking family has such bad allergies we really should avoid this place like the plague but we always manage to make ourselves go. Nathan has realized what it is and won't let us pass it up. He also had a little help this year because his class took a field trip there and he just had to go back. Jenny had her baby (sis-in-law) and my in-laws took her older kids for a few days. By the time Saturday rolled around, the in-laws needed a break so we took Braeden and Nathan to the fair for a few hours. They had such a great time and Jenny says we spoiled them! Sure we did and we bough a few noisy toys to send home too...oh, and a goldfish! Hey, people have always helped my kid along on the noisy toys...time for a little payback!

Kate and Tara Dunn

Gotta go feed the little darlings....more to follow!

Well, it's now October and I am just getting time to tell you about my girls. So far we have opted to take all of their professional pictures together and I have gotten razzed about it by some family members who think they should have some individuals done...maybe next time.

They are getting big and have started to smile and laugh. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Nathan dances for them and they just love it! They are a lot of work and worth every bead of sweat. Every time we go anywhere with them we get stopped fifty times. Everyone is just so facinated by them. We have to leave extra time to get anything done these days as we get held up a lot. I've been told by the other moms in my twins club that I need to stop making eye contact and we could get out of the stores faster! The twin moms have been a great source of information, support, and fun! We have a mom's night out once a month and it's so great to talk to other poeple who have been though this and survived.

The girls have been sleeping through the night now for a month and it's so nice to actually get a little sleep. Once they sleep I get a chance for a shower, food, and chores so we end up getting to bed later than we'd like.

John and Kami

John is working with the local Police department and having a great time! He's been on the force for almost 4 years now and was nominated, along with his partner, for cop of the year. We got to attend the Kern Law Enforcement's banquet at Stockdale Country Club. He didn't win the highest award but did get an award and we are very proud of him.

I have chosen to go back to work and am working a part time job at Old River Elementary. I am working in a 4th grade classroom and loving it. It's been a busy year and keeps getting busier!

John and I became parents again this summer. With the arrival of twin girls we are carrying on the family tradition of twins (John's a twin, his mom is a twin, and my great aunt and uncle are twins). We have been so blessed and are lookign forward to sharing the progress of raising a fmily with everyone.

As if having two new babies wasn't enough, John and I bought our first house. We moved in last week (Sept. 16) and have been trying to get everything organized and put away. It's been very hectic and stress inducing but we are sure that we will be loving it soon! We are still int he process of putting in a backyard and it's proving to be quite the adventure. We have the dogs moved over here and spend most of our day cleaning them (with all the mud, who's surprised?) , and trying to keep them in the yard. They have managed to find a way out no matter what we do. We're hoping that once the yard is in they'll have less incentive to dig out of the yard.

We plan to have an open house so that we can show everyone what we've worked so hard to achieve. The house is so nice and we rae looking forward to seeing everyone. I know a lot of you are interested in seeing the girls as well...they'll be here too!

Nathan

Nathan started kindergarten this year and is just loving it. He's in Mrs. Williams class at Stockdale Elementary and has made some nice friends.

On the third day of school we got a call from the secretary telling us Nathan had fallen of the scooter at school. He did indeed fall off and hit his forehead on the chain link fence causing a cut and a lot of blood. Poor thing. He's fully recovered now.

Nathan also had a busy summer with the arrival of his two baby sisters. He is such a great big brother and is always talking to and kissing his sweet sisters.

It's been really busy around here lately and we haven't had time for any sports just yet. Nathan is going to try his hand at baseball come spring. Hope he likes it! We'll keep you posted.

This is his picture with Kinderbear. Each day a new student is picked to be the "VIP" and gets to have special jobs to do around the classroom. The VIP then gets to take Kinderbear home for the evening and take him somewhere for an adventure. We actually have Kinderbear for the second time this year and he gets to spend the whole weekend with us! Nathan is pretty excited. We're hoping to get to take Kinderbear to the Kern County Fair and get soem pictures.

Nathan got to go on his first field trip this last Tuesday and had a great time at the fair looking at all the animals with his friends. He got to pet goats, cows, sheep, chickens, bunnies, pigs and even a baby chick. Wow! What a great day. He also got to ride the school bus for the first time. What an adventure!