Ashley's 6th Birthday and Disneyland

It's hard to believe that my second child just turned SIX years old and is in Kindergarten. Ashley has grown up so much this year and has learned TONS in school. It is so fun to see the joy in her face when she has sounded out a word or has found a sight word she knows.

I LOVE this picture below of my beauties at Ashley's birthday party. So glad we were able to capture Tori picking her nose! Priceless!

Madison and Ashley really have become best friends. Of course, they still have their sisterly moments, but it is such a joy as a parent to see them together. To see them share and care for each other totally makes all the hard work of parenting worth it.
We have been talking a lot in our family about daily scripture study. Ashley has really been trying to do this and I loved that she fell asleep while reading her scriptures. She doesn't know all the words, but she loves trying! And that is all that counts!
Madison picked out a piggy bank for Ashley for her birthday! She is really excited in the picture below to give it to her to open.
We decided to get season passes again to Disneyland. Wow, we are so glad we did. We went last Wednesday and the park was practically empty. We were able to literally, walk on every single ride. The girls had a total blast and didn't mind playing "hookie" for one day of school.

Dinner at the Blue Bayou. Every time we go on the ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" my girls want to eat at the restaurant you can see inside the ride. So this trip we finally were able to get a table. If you want my opinion, totally over-rated. A fun atmosphere, but we probably won't ever go again. At the end of the day we decided to stay for California Adventure's new water show called "World of Color"!!! Seriously, so awesome. It was so fun to see all the Disney movies displayed on a screen of water. My girls loved it! We video taped most of the show, so we don't have the best pictures, but I definitely recommend going if you ever make it to Disneyland!

We had amazing seats (or I guess a great spot to stand) and stood in awe! Spectacular!

Daddy Daughter Dance/ Nojoqui Falls/Christmas 2010

I haven't blogged in forever and have so many pictures that I need to upload that it has been hard to know where to start. At the very end of summer we bought a home, renovated, and moved in. We have been super busy, but lovin life. Well, I guess I will just forget about the past few months and start with the most recent pictures.

Joe took the girls to a Daddy Daughter Dance that the community had. The girls had so much fun getting dressed up, having their Daddy all to themselves, going out to dinner and dancing all night long.

We hiked to Nojoqui Falls. A really beautiful place!

Christmas 2010!

FIRST Day of School!

I can't believe that Summer vacation is over and it's time to head back to school. My girls have been counting down the days for the first day of school. Ashley was super excited this morning to finally start Kindergarten. She has been waiting a LONG time to be in elementary school. Everyday we would drop off Madison, she would ask to stay. Let's hope now that she is old enough that she still wants to be there. :)
Madison started Second grade today. She loves school and couldn't wait to see her friends that she has missed all summer.

The girls and their Daddy!



This is Madison's best friend, Boe, who lives up the street from us. We are actually moving this weekend so Madison is bummed she won't be able to walk to school with Boe. We are only moving a few blocks away to a home we just purchased. I will blog more about that later.

Basketball

Basketball season is over and Madison is very disappointed. This was her first time playing and she loved it. She ended up playing in a league where the girls were 1 - 2 years older than her and these girls were GOOD . I was surprised by their dribbling skills and their ability to make their outside shots. In the beginning, I thought Madison might be in over her head, but I think playing with girls that had more experience only made her try harder. I can't wait for next season and hopefully Ashley will be old enough to play too!

Brad Paisley Concert

Last Friday night we headed down to LA and went to a Brad Paisley concert at the Staples Center. I am not a huge country fan, but thought it would be fun since my two brothers and their wives were going, and my parents were going too. Brad did not disappoint. He was so entertaining and of course it helped that we had great seats!

My twin brother Gary, his wife Jen, me, Joe, my sister n law Angie and my brother Steve! My parents didn't get in this picture, but they were sitting with us too!

My parents!

Happy 5th Birthday Ashley

Ashley is turning FIVE this month on the 27th. It's hard to believe that five years have gone by since she was born. We celebrated her birthday a little early this year since this past Saturday, January 16th, was the only free Saturday we had all month!

Ashley wanted to do a "Princess Parlor" theme so we invited all her friends and glamored them all up with finger nail painting, princess art on their arms, crafts, etc! And of course, you can't forget the Princess Castle Bounce House, piñata, and the game "Kiss the Frog" (same idea as Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but with HUGE lips and a frog). You get the idea. I had two of my favorite babysitters come and help me with all the "Parlor" stations, Elena, and my niece Cori!

I dressed Ashley in the same outfit for her 5th birthday party that Madison wore at her 5th birthday party. It's funny to see how they both look so much alike, but so different! :)

Here are most of the little "Princesses" that came to the party. Two little girls had to leave before I could snap a picture of the group!
Ashley wanted a Barbie cake! This was probably the ugliest one I have made to date, but it still tasted amazing!
The only boys invited to the party!
Ashley enjoying her bounce house.
Joe getting the piñata ready from the balcony.
Ashley getting ready to take a WHACK at it!
Ashley was in heaven having all her friends over and opening up all her treasures.

Birthdays and Christmas

The month of December is absolutely crazy around here. There are so many birthdays in my family to celebrate and Christmas to get ready for. But, it is so much fun and I love every minute of it. In fact, I really wish Christmas Day would actually never come around because the preparations, the decorating, the Christmas lights, the excitement on my girls' faces, etc, that leads up to Christmas is magical. I never want it to end!!!

This year for Madison's birthday (December 15th, seven years old) she chose to go to Disneyland. Well, that was easy on us parents since we have annual passes. We planned to go the Saturday before her birthday and it was POURING rain. We spent the day wearing ponchos, but it wasn't crowded. It was pretty awesome to walk on every ride. To make it extra special we got reservations at "Ariel's Grotto" and got to eat with all the princesses. It was so cute how all the Princesses stop by your table, chit chat with the girls and sign autographs. My girls were in complete shock!!!

Christmas was filled with tons of family, food, and fun! What better F's can you ask for! :)

We spent the morning at our home. I made an awesome breakfast with hot chocolate of course! My parents came over and opened their presents with us too and later ALL the family got together at my brother Steve's house. I love my family so much and I am so grateful for parents who have been so faithful in the gospel and been such an example to me and Joe. I thank my lucky stars everyday to be a part of such an awesome family and I hope my girls will look back on their childhood with such love and excitement as I do!

My parents with Tori! Tori sat on this toy and played with it the whole day!
This isn't the best picture of my girls, but I want to make sure I always capture my girls with their grandparents.

The girls were in the Christmas pageant that our Primary put on at our church!
Madison's birthday, December 15th. She turned the big SEVEN. It is hard for me to believe that she is seven years old already and will be baptized next year. Where has the time gone?

This was taken during the Princess dinner at Ariel's Grotto. Too many pictures were taken so I will spare you all and only post one of them with Princess Aurora!
Like I said before, it was pouring rain that day and we all wore ponchos. We still had tons of fun!

Thanksgiving 2009

Last minute, this year's Thanksgiving turned into a FAMILY REUNION. My sister Julie called and said she was coming out for Thanksgiving with her family which lead to my other family members wanting to come as well. Being one of the youngest of nine children I have always admired my older siblings. They are smart, funny, successful, and most of them are great examples! ha ha :)

When all of us girls get together we can talk, shop, cook, etc all day long. The boys can do the same, but also love to watch football. The BYU/UofU game was of course on that weekend!

My sister n law Jen talked me into getting up before dawn to go Black Friday shopping with her. Don't get me wrong I love to shop, but I HATE going out the day after Thanksgiving. It just doesn't seem worth it to me with all the lines and people. But, we had so much fun and we have some good stories to remember of people out shopping for the deals!

Here is a picture of most of us! We are missing Doug and his family due to work obligations. I have so many wonderful nieces and nephews and it's hard to believe that a lot of them are in highschool or graduated already!
Some of the boys. My brother Steve is standing up, my brother n law mark is giving the "thumbs up", my twin brother is in the middle of the couch, and of course my hubby is holding Tori who is freaking out in this picture!
The cousins having tons of fun!
My sister Julie and my MOM!
The girls! My sister Julie, Karen, my Mom, me, and my sister Janine. My sister Karen might kill me for posting this since she isn't dressed up or wearing make up!