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

An Italian Valentine

Kissy Kissy, as Miss Piggy would say...Happy Valentine's Day




Gabriella is so fun. She is at the age where she wants to do everything "by herself," wants to help me clean, cook and craft. We made Valentines, and used them to decorate our small wall of hearts.
I decided that we could do better than the traditional Spaghetti we have almost every Sunday. This time I went to an Italian marketplace and got some yummy stuff. Pork tenderloin stuffed with pepperoni and mozzarella, garlic bread and of course some gelato for dessert. Thanks to target we had some Italian Soda to complete our meal.

Red Cheeks

Why are my cheeks so red?

Maybe because of this....

And then I did this...

Playing in this...

So cold!

Nice and Warm

Bon Appetit

We had a wonderful Christmas!

Santa came and brought us goodies, gifts, packages and a very special little girl got her kitchen.

Friends across the sea

I decided to sign up for a two stocking swaps this year...I was paired with two wonderful ladies: one in Italy and the other in New Zealand.

The first package arrived from Italy.

Since my great-great grandfather came from Italy and I know very little about him or what happened to him (however, I heard he may have left KY and traveled to New York to start over) what a wonderful opportunity to make a new friend and learn about such a beautiful place.

Here is Gabriella with La Befana--a witch who brings goodies to good children or coal to naughty little ones. You can read more about her here. It really is a wonderful Italian tradition and with the commercial product driven Holiday here in the States I am happy to incorporate La Befana into my home.

As you can see she also sent us the most wonderful assortment of chocolate. Unfortunately we didn't save much (because it was so amazing) but I plan on finding some and bringing it back home to Kentucky along with La Befana to share a piece of our heritage and her story.




She sent a beautiful necklace that Gabriella and I fight over and a lovely purple stocking...Purple is my favorite color!
Thanks again Michela for the package and making this holiday so special for me and my family.

I also got a wonderful package from Alison in New Zealand. A large stocking with such wonderful goodies, and I can't wait to get crafting. Again Gabriella claimed the necklace and keeps asking me to open up the little bags of beads. I'm excited to start making something with the yarn and fabric.
It has been such a great experience to get to know these ladies better. Thanks Alison!