Easter Dresses

I have to thank my Mom and Dad for these adorable Easter dresses my girls are wearing!

I feel so blessed and thank my lucky stars everyday for my three girls and my hubby!

Easter Weekend!

We were so lucky to be able to fly to Utah over Easter weekend. My brother Steve and his wife Angie have been fostering Caileigh for the past year and a half. With the adoption finalized, they were sealed together in the Salt Lake City Temple. It was one of the most amazing, spiritual, experiences I have ever been apart of! These pictures are all mixed up so I apologize! Below is the Easter Egg hunt we had when we returned back home to Santa Barbara!

This is Madison, Ashley and all of my nieces taken right before an Easter Egg hunt we had at my sister's home in Sandy, Utah.

Joe's brother Ryan brought his adorably handsome boys, Caleb and Mason, to the Easter Egg hunt we had in Utah.

During our stay, we took the girls and their cousins to the Aquarium! It was so much fun. The girls loved the touch tank and the sting rays.

We were so bummed we couldn't have stayed longer in Utah, but had so much fun in the couple of days we were there.

Ashley loved coloring Easter Eggs. She would have stayed at the table coloring all day if we would have let her.

Tori is now six months old and such a little (well, not so little) sweetheart! She is an amazing sleeper, eats like a champ, and keeps us all smiling!

March Happenings!

March isn't over yet, but I had to post some fun pictures that we have from the past couple of weeks.
Madison and Ashley are always asking if they can camp out or sleep on each other's bed. We always check on them before going to bed to see where they have ended up.

Ashley really adores her little sister Tori. She really is being nice to her in this picture!

Madison's kindergarten class gave out the assignment to make a Leprechaun Trap. We chose to make a Leprechaun Hat Trap. Hopefully the Leprechaun will be enticed by the rainbow ribbon, jewels, and climb the ladder to the gold and fall through our trap door. It was really fun to make with Madison and Ashley!

Ashley is so excited to start ballet. She wishes she could go every day! I'm really excited that she has something fun to do and it will now be Madison's turn to take a back seat and go and watch Ashley perform!

We also celebrated my Mom's 73rd birthday. I have the best Mom on earth and consider her my best friend too! I could call and talk to her about anything for hours. Love you Mom!

Madison has been taking a "Hip Hop" class and this was her performance at her school's Talent Show!

Tori's Contagious Laugh and Butterfly Preserve

We are so lucky to have a Butterfly Preserve so close to home. The girls and I love to walk along the trails and find as many clumps of mating butterflies as we can.

As you can tell from this picture my camera doesn't zoom in very well.

Tori just turned 4 months old and at her appointment we found out she is in the 110th percentile in height and 95th in weight. She has such a contagious smile and laugh that I had to post a little video of it!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!!

Today was a very special day in the Holbrook House. Ashley has been waiting and waiting to celebrate her birthday for many days now. We were supposed to have a birthday party for her this past Friday, but I came down with the worst food poisoning ever and had to cancel the party. I have felt awful about this, but we made today very special and I think she has forgotten about it. This picture was taken right before Ashley left for preschool. Her preschool teacher gave her a little princess doll, made her a princess crown to wear while at school and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. She was thrilled!

Madison was very excited to give Ashley this "Sleeping Beauty" present.

A birthday just isn't a birthday to Ashley without a new dress that "swirls" around as she twirls!

And of course she loves her shoes too!

In typical Holbrook fashion, Ashley continues to grow upward and has outgrown her bike. She was totally overjoyed when she saw her new pink, princess bike.

Being the very awesome, fun daddy that Joe is, he allowed Ashley to have a little frosting war on his face.

GARDENING!

Our neighbor across the street, who was also our Bishop when Joe and I were in highschool, has been amazing in helping us landscape our front yard. We have a little area sectioned off where we let the girls choose what flowers they want planted. They love going to OSH and picking out different flowers every few months and then helping to plant them. They even get excited to help keep the flowers in bloom with weeding and watering.

DISNEYLAND 2009!

We were able to get back to Disneyland again. I can't believe it has been about a year since we last visited the happiest place on earth. I guess that is due to being pregnant and throwing up for nine months and then having a new born. So, we are finally done with all the drama and got our annual passes again. We had a total blast and we were able to walk on almost every ride. I love going when it isn't so croweded. Having little Tori with us wasn't so bad at all. In fact she was an angel and just went with the flow!!!

As you can see, the girls were exhausted after a very fun-filled day at the Happiest Place On Earth!!!

GOOOOOOOO LAKERS!!!

We got our studly husbands tickets to the Laker/Jazz basketball game for Christmas! They, of course, had too much fun and loved sitting close enough to see the beads of sweat coming off the players!!!
From left to right: my twin brother Gary, my brother Steve, my dad, and my hubby Joe!

Christmas in Utah!

We just got home from one of the best vacations ever! This was the first Christmas, in a VERY long time, when all the Holbrook Boys could be together. Due to missions, which all five boys served, getting together just never happened. So you can imagine the joy and fun we all had being under one roof on Christmas morning!

Because I posted my pictures backwards, you can see our week starting with the visit to the cemetary to see Joe's Dad and my Grandpa! Due to the snow we weren't sure where exactly Joe's Dad was buried and it had been several years since we had been there. The snow was about 8 inches deep and nothing had been plowed. Joe walked back and forth for about 20 minutes trying to figure out where to start digging first. I kept trying to tell him that he didn't have to find the grave and that just being there was what really counted. Finding the right place was like finding a needle in a haystack. After much deliberation Joe started to dig and miraculously the first place he tried was the right marker. Can you believe that? Talk about being led by the spirit. It was such a neat experience!

Joe's Dad's family all lives in Utah. Aunt Tracy invited everyone to her home for an amazing dinner. It was so fun to see everyone and get all the cousins together to play. Below is a picture of Joe's Grandma, his mom, and Aunt Lexie. Just beautiful women.

We were able to meet up with Emily Winslow and her cute daughter Elena for lunch and take a picture of the girls. It was just like old times!!!

We found out while in Utah that Ashley is allergic to cats. The first night we were in Utah Ashley had an allergic reaction and couldn't stop itching her eyes. We took her to urgent care to get some type of drops that would take the swelling down. I am so glad we did so that we had the drops for later in the week when she got even worse.

My girls had never seen the snow before. You can imagine how excited they were to get all dressed in their snow gear and go outside, everyday I might add, to throw snow balls, and play!

My girls are with their cousins Caleb and Mason who are Ryan and Julie's adorable boys. Madsion and Ashley just love their cousins and miss them dearly.

This is the amount of snow that we woke up to on Christmas morning. I have a much better appreciation for everyone who lives in the snow. It takes forever to shovel your car out before you can go anywhere.

Christmas Eve Joe's mom gave everyone matching jammies.

We are also thrilled to have Joe's Unlce Kurt and his wife Lexie, and their son Hayden over on Christmas Eve.

Tori was there too!