Party Time

Ella wanted some of her little friends over for a Thumbelina party complete with dresses, tutus, flowers and lots of pink .

Gabriella and I made party hats, candy, and flower headbands. The girls decorated their own butterflies and ate some wonderful mud cake....gummy worms included.

Thank goodness for ebay, it was the only way I could find Twillerbabies...the Thumbelina doll I found after Christmas. I think she was pretty excited.

The princesses ate out of flower pots and got some butterfly temp. tattoos.

Lets Party some more...after Church Gabriella got to open gifts and later she had her official cake.

I'm pretty sure she had a great time!

Nothing better than this....

Happy Birthday Gabriella! You are our greatest joy.

You say goodbye and I say Hello

Just a few hello's and goodbye's

Hello pain.

When I think of my thirties so far I think fairly often...."I am falling apart!"
My biggest injury at 30: my hip.

Apparently kick-boxing can be dangerous. I'm finally to the point it doesn't hurt all the time except once in a while when I'm walking, but pretty much always hurts when I work on the yard, but hey! I'll take it.

Goodbye 30: It was a pretty good year, lots of shopping, got to travel a bit, visit a bit, celebrate a bit but the best part is...now 30 is gone.

Hello Birthday: Had a fabulous time with my darling girl and handsome man walking the mall, shopping and capping it off at the Cheesecake Factory. So Yummy!
Hello metal in my food: Yep, as I was savoring the perfection of my perfectly seasoned mashed potatoes, my fork found an anomaly, something hard and metal. Interesting, what could it be? Not a ring I supposed, it was a round brass cap of some kind. The waitress was shocked, took my plate and got the manager. He didn't look very happy, but I was so surprised I just kept laughing. Ended up that it was part of something in the kitchen that just happened to end up in some of the best tasting mashed potatoes I'd ever eaten. Oh well, I got my meal for free (although I only got to eat half of it) and a free piece of cheese cake.
Goodbye diet: just for a little while :)

Hello Sisters: My little sisters came to stay with me for a few days...it was fun and Gabriella loves her aunts so much.



Hello Toy Story 3: it was great!

Hello Father's Day! a feast for you!
Hello newest injury: Dropped something hard and metal on my foot, Great! Cried, cried some more, Lauren got me ice and Erin took me to the doctor. Good news: not broken, just hurts A LOT!

Goodbye sisters: While they were here we watched movies, and played Rock Band...twice! So fun!

Mom and Dad, don't worry there was hardly any arguing :)
Goodbye June...

Hello to being 31, let's get this show on the road!

My song for now

About a year ago I did this and I had such a great time!

While there, we had a night of just watching different cartoons set to music. One song I really liked was Shoot the Moon, but I had no idea who sang it until finally Steve found it on itunes. Of course it had to be some tweenie Disney band Jump5, but I still really liked the song, so much that it has become my anthem this year. A few months ago I found this on you tube, Ella loves it and yes she likes the Pokemon too.

Now when it plays in my car she says, "make it louder, make the pokemon song louder!"




"Live your life,
Everyday is something new
See the light, find yourself
Get your feet up off the ground
Take the hand that you're given
And shoot the moon"

And so this is what I'm trying to do: make each day count, see the light, and love what I have, and I do!

It's about time

It's about time I updated our blog...
We all got new bikes! Sweet!


Family night with Hot Chocolate and yummy food full of sugar.
I really have the best husband! I was so hungry and needed something special, not the usually handful of chocolate chips I like to snatch from the cupboard once in a while so he took us out. It was so much fun.

Then we received a special package from KY! Filled with treats and some Derby plates, cups and napkins. Those Kentuckians are great! As Ella says, "they live in Kentucky, we live in America." I'm still working on that concept with her.

Biking

Here's a quick video I shot today of Ella riding her new bike. We just got a new point-and-shoot camera, so I was testing it out.

Easter in Utah

(My sweet husband!)

(My funny girl!)

Steve's family flew us out for Easter! We ate, listened to music, watched Ella play with the dog (Belle), and chase the cats. Gabriella kept telling me that Belle is a nice dog and Michael too but Maggie likes to bite (Geri and Lori's dogs). What a great memory she has.
Rachel and Stacey took me to Ikea and now I have some mighty cute fabric to make some pillows and a bunch of other Ikea goodies. Alane and Stacey took me shopping where I found some tops and a cute skirt. For girls night Alane took me to Panda, I had been craving Chinese food! and then to a fun store, Tai Pan, where she got me a yellow purse...Chinese food and a purse = two of my favorite things. I feel very spoiled.

Ella had a blast in Alane's craft room finding all the purdy treasures (buttons and anything sparkly), there were colored eggs and homemade bread. Yeah, I ate A LOT, but it was a holiday after all. Steve and Don went shopping and then Steve and Neil went shopping. Steve almost ran over Apolo Ohno, well not really he just saw him and waved. Don took us to General Conference and Alane made an Easter feast.

We are truly thankful for the blessings of family. Our year so far hasn't been easy and we are so grateful for the outpouring of love our families have given us. Thank you!


(Ella doesn't like to perform on command but after about 10 takes, I think we got some cute photos)

(She also likes to wrestle Grandpa)




Last night before bed Ella started reciting a scripture, it took me a minute to figure out what she was saying until I heard, "by the mouth of his holy prophets," then I immediately knew. She had to give this scripture in Primary and we had been going over it with her but that was over a month ago and we haven't really talked about it since.
Luke 1:70 "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began."

Here we are

Feb:
Flowers from my sweetie and
Party for a friend

March: Playing Dress up, Playing in the Sun and Playing Ball