The Peterson Princesses

Halloween Overview

2011-12-29T09:08:00.004-07:00

This year for Halloween Holly dressed up as Cinderella and Taylor dressed up as Boo from Monsters Inc. I made the Boo costume last year for my niece and thought it was too much work to only use it once.
On Oct. 28 we went to the Peterson Halloween party. The girls had a lot of fun. Taylor couldn't move very well in her costume so she didn't keep it on for very long.

The Monster and the Princess...

At the party they played the game where you have to eat a donut off a string. The girls thought that was great.

Our ward trunk-or-treat was on the 29th. They had games for the kids to play and then they did most of the trunk-or-treat inside because it was pretty cold. It was fun, but there were a lot of people there!

The whole family. I dressed up as Boo's door (Thanks to my fantastic sister!) and Holly told Neil that he was going to be a square, so he made a die costume.

On the 31st we went down to Payson and did some real trick-or-treating with Misty's family and my parents. The older kids couldn't get to the next house fast enough . It was a lot of fun.

We had a great Halloween this year and the girls are already planning next year's costumes.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-11-26T10:39:00.005-07:00

After picking out the perfect pumpkin we had to carve them. The girls were a little unsure at first about sticking their hands into a slimy pumpkin.

I love this picture of Neil! Totally sums up his personality.

Taylor's face in this picture cracks me up!

She finally got up the nerve to try scooping out some of the stuff.

And then she didn't want to let anybody else have a turn.

Neil pulled out this chunk and thought it would be funny to put it on the girls. Neither of them were amused.

Holly still wasn't sure about touching it, so she used a spoon to scoop it out.

Holly cleaning out her pumpkin.

She loved helping Neil cut out the face.

Can you tell she takes after her dad? She thought it was hilarious that she pretended to eat this.

Holly's new smile.

The finished product.

Taylor cleaning out her pumpkin.

And helping cut out the face.

Instead of a new smile, she thought the mouth was a telephone.

Her finished product.

All three pumpkins outside.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-26T10:00:00.004-07:00

On Oct. 25 we took the girls to the Red Barn in Santaquin to pick out some pumpkins. It was pretty chilly, but we had a blast. The girls were so excited to ride on the wagon!

I have never seen two little girls who were so picky about their pumpkins. We walked all the way up and back through the patch and Holly still hadn't found one that was acceptable.

Taylor kept saying she wanted a really small one. Every time she would find a small one she would get all excited and say "This is it!" Then she would pick it up and say "No, I don't want this one."

Finally, she decided that this one would do.

Holly still searching for the perfect pumpkin.

After we had walked all through the patch and Holly still hadn't found a pumpkin we went over to a truck that had a pile of pumpkins on it. She found one that she said was perfect.

Even Neil found one.

We had so much fun doing this as a family, and can't wait until next year when we get to do it again!

Taylor is 2!

2011-11-26T09:36:00.004-07:00

This year Taylor wanted a horse birthday. She loves horses! Luckily her birthday was on a Friday this year so we got to celebrate on the actual day. We just had a small get together with my family. Neil's family celebrates birthdays once a month, so we celebrated with them a different day.
We bought some balloons but they only stayed outside for about 10 minutes because they kept popping.

Here's the birthday girl, all ready to party.

Of course Grandpa Brickey made her cake and once again it was A-Maze-Ing! Taylor loved it and still talks about her horsey cake.

She had fun opening presents. When she would open each gift and I would tell her "This is from ___. Tell them thank you." she would walk over to them and try to give them the gift. It was pretty funny.
From Holly: A coloring book and My Little Pony book.

From Uncle DJ: A big stuffed horse.

From Aunt Misty and Fam: A barn with a horse, pig and dog.

From Uncle Fronk and Aunt Sammy: A Carousel horse

From Grandma and Grandpa: A Cinderella barbie with a horse.

Blowing out the candles.

Enjoying the cake and ice cream.

She decided that it would be fun to actually ride one of her new horses. It was so cute to see her trying to walk around with it like that.

My big 2 year old!!

Need a New Post

2011-10-11T13:42:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of my beautiful girls on Holly's first day of school.
I just needed to put up a new post because it was too hard for me to get on my blog and see the post about the baby.

We Interrupt This Blog...

2011-09-20T12:40:00.003-06:00

Ok, I guess it's not really interrupting since I haven't posted in about forever. Someday I'll catch up....
We have started a new adventure that I thought I would put on here for all of you who don't already know.

Princess Party!

2011-05-11T07:56:00.006-06:00

Every year Feb.-April all the Paul Mitchell schools do our annual fundraising campaign. There are about 6 different charities that the proceeds are donated to and the 20 schools that raise the most money get a day of training with one of the top professionals in the company.
One of the activities that my school chose to do was a princess party. As soon as I heard about it I knew that I wanted to take my girls to it. We also invited my niece, Evelyn, along for the fun.

Each girl got to decorate a frame to put their princess picture in.

Then they were able to get their makeup done and their nails painted.

After that they got their hair done.

After all the princesses were ready, a special guest came to visit. Princess Belle took pictures with them and then signed their pictures.

The girls all had a blast! Holly still talks about it. She told me that the next time she goes to my school she's going to see Princess Ariel.

St. Patricks Day

2011-05-04T12:50:00.008-06:00

I love St. Patricks Day! I'm not sure why, probably because it reminds me of my Grandma Brickey.
We started the day off with some Lucky Charms.

Then we got dressed in our Green garb. My sister and I started a tradition of having the kids make a new shirt to wear on St Pattys Day. This year we helped them make a 4 leaf clover with their hand prints.

I attempted to style Holly's hair in the shape of a clover. Didn't work so well, but it still looked cute

I decided to make myself a shirt also. I just bought a green t-shirt and printed out the outline of a clover. I laid the clover on the shirt and spray bleach around it and let it process to the lightness I wanted then I threw it in the washer. I love how it turned out!

I thought that it would be fun to send Neil and the girls on a hunt for the gold at the end of the rainbow. I saw the idea on another blog and thought it would be fun.
I started by buying some of that foamy craft stuff and cutting out shamrocks. I wrote up some clues to put on each one.

After the clues were in place I got some rainbow yarn and stretched it in between each clue. It was quite the sight.

The hunt pictures aren't in order, but I don't want to deal with trying to move all the pictures around, you get the gist of it, right?

With the clue that was in the fridge I got them all a "green" drink. Neil got a mountain dew and the girls both got a bug juice.

At the end was this lovely pot that I found at DI and spray painted black. It was filled with Miniature Reeses and a movie.

For dinner that night Neil made chicken alfredo and colored the sauce green. They ate down at my parent's house

Aniversary

2011-03-29T20:46:00.007-06:00

Hey everybody this is Neil HE HE He I just wanted to post, so that I could make Amanda happy and mad:)
Mandy Just so you know some of the people who read this blog, know what you are getting for your aniversary present HE HE He:) Oh wait the happy part let me think... oh yeah it was that I LOVE YOU, NOW AND FOREVER. Have a good day, if you don't know what she is getting call me and I will tell you:) If you do know, well do her a favor tell her you know and don't tell her what it is:)

Paul Mitchell Schools Caper 2011 - Las Vegas

2011-03-19T00:25:00.000-06:00

A closer look into what it was like to be there:

CAPER!

2011-03-18T23:00:00.012-06:00

On February 8 at 5:00 am I got on a bus with about 40-ish other future professionals to begin the long journey down to Vegas. The bus ride wasn't anything exciting because almost everybody slept 90% of the ride.
I had never really been to Vegas before this. I had driven past Vegas, but never actual been to Vegas. It was fun to see the strip and all the fun lights. It was not so fun to smell cigarette smoke 24 hours a day. Since it was my first time there, of course I had to take some pictures of the usual things.
The strip

This awesome fish tank. I mostly took this picture because I thought my girls would get a kick out of it.

We stopped and watched the water show. This was very cool.

Tuesday was a free day, so we spent most of the day shopping. Or, rather, looking at everything and wishing I could buy it! Since I don't drink and I don't gamble, shopping is really all that's left for me to do in Vegas, but I was a very good girl and only bought one shirt, and it was from the Paul Mitchell mall.
Wednesday the fun started! We had an opening session where we got to hear from a lot of great stylists in the beauty industry. Donny and Marie Osmond were there and performed for us, Fran Drescher came and talked to us, a lady named Kathy Buckley talked to us. Really, I can't describe how awesome it was, it's just one of those things that you have to experience, you know what I'm saying?
This is John Paul DeJoria. He is one of the owners of the Paul Mitchell systems.

This is Angus Mitchell, the son of Paul Mitchell.

This is Robert Cromeans. He is one of the Best stylists! He is also a co-owner of the Paul Mitchell systems.

Most of my pictures didn't turn out since I didn't have a very good camera. This is one of the few that did. In one of our large sessions a bunch of Paul Mitchell salons put on a hair show for us. This was the ARCS salon, owned by Robert Cromeans. Their models had balloons tied into their hair and they cut them out on stage. It was pretty cool to watch.

We also had the opportunity to have hands-on classes-a cutting class, and a coloring class. I didn't get very many pictures during the classes because they were really advanced and really fast paced. Most of the pictures I took in the classes were of the diagrams so that I could go home and put them on paper, and I doubt you would be interested in seeing those. :)

You can't see the hair very well, but I did a really cute haircut on this doll.

Wednesday night we had a white party. They just played music and everybody danced and talked. It was a lot of fun.

Robin, Ally, Jen, Allie, Morgan, me and Cassie. This is the group I hung out with most of the time.

Me and one of my roommates, Diana.

Me and Morgan. We were roommates also and became pretty good friends. It's always nice to find someone that you have a lot in common with.

The ride home was fun. We were all pretty pumped from the experience so we talked a lot. Then we watched some movies.

I'm so glad that I made it a priority to go to this event. It was such a great experience and made me even more excited for the career that I have chosen! It was also great to get out of my comfort zone and make new friends.

Chug-a-Chug-a-Choo-Choo

2011-03-16T01:17:00.001-06:00

The other night Neil and Holly built a train track. They did a really good job and Holly was so excited!

Strike?

2011-03-12T01:58:00.002-07:00

The last weekend of January we had a family date night. We went bowling and the girls absolutely loved it! I'm a huge slacker and didn't write down what our ending scores were, but everybody did a good job.
Holly loved waiting for the ball to come back through. She was very independent and wanted to carry the ball all by herself.

Taylor did a lot of dancing around while she was waiting for her turn.

She liked to carry the ball also.

Both of the girls thought it was great to push the ball down. Holly especially got really excited about how many pins she would knock down.

We had to get a picture of Neil and I taking our turns also. :)

After we were done we had a family picture taken. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until we decide to go again!

The 14 Days of Valentines Day

2011-02-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

This year for Valentines Day I decided to do the 14 Days of V-Day. I got most of the girls' stuff from the dollar store, so it didn't cost too much. I bought little boxes and would put something new in it everyday for them to find when they woke up. The girls loved it! They were so excited every morning to see what was in their box. I did it for Neil too, but didn't take pictures like I did with the girls. Then, when I told Neil that I was going to do it for the girls he thought it was a good idea and did it for me! I didn't put the pictures in order because, honestly, I can't remember the order that I did it in.

The first day was a card with a "love note" written in it.

A couple of the days they were at my parents house because I was in Vegas. One of the days they got Conversation Hearts. Another one Holly got a jump rope and Taylor got a book.

One of the days they each got a coloring book.

I bought these cute V-Day socks for them.

This was the best picture I could get of them with their socks on.

One of the days Holly got a Disney Princess puzzle. (Can you tell she was excited?) Taylor got a stuffed monkey.

Don't you just love the face she's making??

We gave them balloons. They LOVE balloons!

We gave them little boxes of chocolates. Holly's had the Disney Princesses on it and Taylor's had Tinkerbell.

One of the days they each got a book.

One was stickers and ring pops.

The dollar store had these cute aprons and I couldn't pass them up. The girls love them!

The day they got the aprons we made sugar cookies. They did a great job helping out.

The next day their gift was a sugar cookie.

So, apparently I'm missing 2 days, but I'm sure you get the idea. :)

This bamboo plant is part of what Neil gave me.

Happy Birthday Neil!!

2011-01-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

I'm skipping a few things, like Christmas, because those pictures are on my laptop and we can't get them off right now. I will catch up with those posts when I can.

Neil's birthday was on January 19. I had a hard time deciding what to buy him this year, so they were kinda lame. :(
We bought him balloons. I think the girls were more excited for that than Neil was. :)

I made him a gift certificate for a new wallet. He had been saying that he needed one, but I didn't want to pick one out that he didn't like, so that weekend we went shopping for it.

I also wanted to get him some new shoes. He had a pair picked out, but when I went to get them they didn't have his size. :( He still hasn't found a pair he really likes, so that present is still coming...

I had to go to school as soon as he finished opening his presents, so he and the girls celebrated the rest of the evening.
It was kind of a boring birthday for him, hopefully I can make up for it next year.

Holly is 3!!

2010-11-06T10:11:00.001-06:00

Holly wanted a princess birthday party. She dressed up in her favorite princess dress and got a new crown. We bought dollar store crowns for the other girls and got some crowns from Burger King for the boys. Neil even made a "Castle Entrance" out of paper. We don't have pictures of that because they are on the laptop. :(
The people who came to party with us are: Grandpa and Grandma Brickey, Aunt Misty, Uncle Adam, AJ, Aaron, Melia, Uncle Fronk and Aunt Sammy, Uncle DJ, Tildie, Ben, Issac, and Katelyn, Ben and Amberly, James, Lyndsay, Jayven and Luke, Uncle Jed, Aunt Tiffanie, Drake and Phoenix.

Grandpa Brickey followed tradition and made Holly's cake. He did an awesome job of making her a castle! I got the figurines from the Disney Store, but don't look too closely because they look like hoochies!

We fed everybody Little Caesars pizza. Here's the birthday girl enjoying her dinner.

After we ate we opened presents. Holly was so excited about every present that she opened! I wish we would have been recording it, because her reaction to every present was priceless! She would unwrap it and as soon as she see what it was she'd say "(Gasp!) A BARBIE!! Thank you So much!!" It was so funny! She got 4 barbies, a princess dress up set, a snow white baby doll, a stroller, a cell phone, other princess stuff, and some movies.

Then it was time to blow out her candles. She was SO excited for this part!

Breathing in...

And Blowing!

We ate cake and ice cream and then we just visited for a while.

It didn't take the kids long to start playing with all the fun new toys.

I can't believe that my little girl is already 3!! She is so fun and can always make me smile. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks she's more like 15! :)
Happy Birthday to my Princess!! I love you!!!

Read On...

2010-11-01T05:38:00.001-06:00

I have added quite a few new posts so scroll down to see them all! I also added one towards the beginning of October if you are interested in seeing it. I will be updating again soon, I'm just waiting for some pictures, so check back. :)

Bragging

2010-10-31T05:28:00.000-06:00

My sister had this brilliant idea to do a Monsters Inc. theme for her family this year. However, she couldn't find a Boo costume that she liked and was affordable. So, she turned to me...

Don't they all look so cute??!

See this beauty? I made the costume that she's wearing!! With a lot of help from my mom I managed to have it turn out pretty good. I will be writing up a tutorial on how to make it, in case any one else is crazy enough to try, so stay posted for that...

Halloween

2010-10-31T05:11:00.000-06:00

We had a lot of fun this year for Halloween. First, my parents invited us to go to their ward's "trunk-or-treat" activity. The girls really enjoyed getting dressed up and spending time with Grandpa and Grandma, Misty's family, and Ty and Sammy. I thought that I had pictures from my mom, but I can't find them, so you just get to look at the few that I took.

I think Taylor was more excited that she got a balloon than she was about the bag full of candy.

Holly walking around with Grandpa aka the Hulk.

Taylor walking around.

Holly showing off her loot.

Taylor dressed up as Cinderella. When we were trying to decide what to dress Taylor up as Holly informed us that she should be Cinderella because "she has yellow hair like her!" I thought that was really cute! (I know, she doesn't look very happy in this picture...)

My handsome prince with the two cutest princesses ever!

Snow White!

On the 30th we took the girls to Jumping Jacks because they were having a lot of fun activities there and Tildie's sister works there. They had tons of fun and didn't want to leave!
We also took them to the Main Street trick or treating. They got a lot of stuff, but it was super cold and super crowded! It started pouring as we were walking home.
Later that night we took them to our ward's trunk or treat. Needless to say, they got way more candy than we would ever need, but they had a lot of fun!!

This was my costume for my school Halloween party. I dressed up as naught-or-nice. You can't really tell in this picture, but I did half of my makeup normal and half out-of-control and I put half of my hair in ringlets and the other half I ratted out.

Taylor Turns ONE!!

2010-10-22T04:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that it's been one year since Taylor was born! She is such a bright spot in our family! She is so smart and fun to be around. She LOVES Holly and always wants to be just like her big sister. I'm so grateful for her and the blessing that she has been to our family! Here are some highlights from her birthday celebration.

Enjoying dinner. The people who came to her party: Grandpa and Grandma Brickey, Aunt Misty, Uncle Adam, AJ, Aaron, and Melia, Uncle Fronk and Aunt Sammy, Uncle DJ, Tildie, Ben, Isaac, and Katelyn. We ate pizza and then opened presents.

Her reactions were so cute! This is a doll from Uncle Fronk and Aunt Sammy.

Our neighbors, Ben, Miranda, and Amberly, couldn't make it to the party, but they brought over a gift. They gave her a set of toy bottles and silverware, and a book.

A jewelry box from Tildie, Ben, Isaac, and Katelyn.

A monkey from Aunt Misty, Uncle Adam, AJ, Aaron, and Melia.

They also gave her a bunch of books.

Yes, we did this to ourselves. Don't ask us what we were thinking... :)

Another monkey from Uncle DJ.

A doll from Grandpa and Grandma.

And a stroller, also from Grandpa and Grandma.

She loves pushing her stroller around!

The monkey cake that Grandpa made for her. He did an awesome job!!

Blowing out her candle. She wasn't quite sure what to think about this ritual.

Digging in to her cupcake.

The proud big sister!

Neil got out our dancing Frankenstein. It sings the Monster Mash song. All the kids had a blast dancing to it!

Opening more presents from Dad and Mom. We gave her a couple movies and two books.

Random Fun

2010-10-20T03:51:00.000-06:00

Holly got a Princess bed! She was so excited, now we're just working on her actually sleeping all night in her princess bed. :) Since she got a new bed we moved Taylor into her old toddler bed.

What cute girls!

They both LOVE brushing their teeth!

I love Holly's crazy hair in this picture!

Don't mind the gross nose. Just look at how stinkin cute she is!

Holly wanted to take a picture with my business card.

Holly thought it would be fun to put on Taylor's "Cinderella" dress. This is Taylor's real Halloween costume. Holly wore this dress to Ty and Sammy's wedding almost 2 years ago!

Neil gave Holly an apple and she shared it with Taylor. I think these pictures are SO cute!!!

I love that Taylor's mouth is ready for a bite! Did I mention how cute my girls are??

Uncle DJ brought out his long board and all the kids had to have their turn standing on it.

Holly was a little wary at first, but when we told her she either took her turn or we were putting it up she had to have a turn.

It was a really nice day outside so we went outside to play. As much as we miss Rute, it's nice to be able to use the front lawn!

The kids all wore out Uncle Fronk by chasing him in circles!

All the grandkids! What a cute bunch!

What a Great Dad!

2010-10-19T13:50:00.002-06:00

The other night I came home from school and Neil told me of a deal he had made with Holly. If she would let Neil paint her finger and toenails then he would let her paint his toenails. She did a great job! :)

Cute Taylor supervising.

Harvest Moon Hurrah

2010-10-19T13:31:00.003-06:00

On September 18th Spanish Fork had their annual Harvest Moon Hurrah. We went last year and had a blast, so I was really excited to go this year. They had all sorts of fun games for the kids and great entertainment.

The girls got to paint a square of a mural. They liked that a lot.

Helping Daddy clean the brush.

The fam.

I didn't take very many pictures because we were running around all crazy.

AJ and Aaron.

Aaron with his laser gun.

Melia with her butterfly.

Holly with her Dog.

Taylor with her Ladybug. (And her sucker! :) )

AJ with his Ladybug.

They had hay rides, but didn't start them until later and we had a birthday party to go to, but next year we will definitely be doing a hay ride! They also had Cheri Call performing and I had to miss that too. :( We had tons of fun while we were there!

Safety Fair

2010-10-19T13:05:00.003-06:00

One Saturday morning Neil and Holly went to Macey's to get some stuff for breakfast. When they got back Holly looked like this:

They were holding a Safety Fair in the Maceys' parking lot. We decided to take the girls down there and let them play for a bit, and on the way we kidnapped Isaac. :)

They had balloon animals and face painting, a big blow-up slide, food, and the kids were able to go inside an ambulance and fire truck. They had a lot of fun, even though the lines were pretty long.

Peterson Halloween Party

2010-10-11T03:18:00.001-06:00

Every year Neil's family has a Halloween party. This year it was on October 11. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been, so Taylor wore a costume that we had in our Halloween box, instead of the costume she wore the rest of our Halloween celebrations. Holly wanted to be a Princess for Halloween and finally settled on Snow White. I found a costume on Ebay for dirt cheap, so that made it even better. :) Holly told me that I had to be a princess too, so luckily my mom still had one of my old high school dance dresses that I was able to squeeze into. Neil was going to wear a devil costume because we already had everything for it, but when he started getting ready for the party Holly said to him "Daddy, you're supposed to be a prince!" So we left early so he could stop at Partyland and get a "prince" costume. (Can you tell he's wrapped around her little finger?)

Snow white sleeping on the drive up to Lehi.

Neil's mom had these pictures that you scratched off the black and there were rainbow colors underneath. Holly loved it!

All the Peterson grandkids that were at the party. (Gage didn't want to sit still, so he's only halfway in the picture.
Neil's mom took pictures of all the families and then the kids got to choose a magnetic frame to put their picture in. I haven't scanned in the picture of us yet.

As part of the party we celebrated the October birthdays. Taylor had her first cupcake.

She was really excited to open presents.

Onion Days Parade

2010-09-22T23:23:00.004-06:00

Labor Day we were able to go to the parade in Payson. The girls LOVED it!!! They waved like crazy at all the floats, Taylor danced along with any float that had music, they got Tons of candy, and they got to spend time with their cousins.

The older three spent most of the parade with Grandma and Grandpa.

Smokey the Bear!

Sadly, I don't remember who gave out the otter pops, but they were not stingy--even the adults got one!

After the parade we went to the park and let the older kids have some fun on the rides. I did not have my camera at the park, so I need to get copies from my fabulous sister... :)
It was a great way to end our awesome weekend!

Annual Peterson Camping Trip

2010-09-10T14:05:00.007-06:00

This year for the Peterson camping trip we went to Ferron Reservoir. Most of the family was able to make it this year and we had a lot of fun!
The directions we were given were horrible!! The road we were told to take was this little dirt trail that you needed 4-wheel drive to get through. We kept thinking that it had to get better so we just kept going. (We got the directions from Google Map!) 5 hours, many dents, and half a bumper later (on the Mazda. Jed lost the muffler off his van!) we made it to the campsite! (I didn't think to take pictures of the road until we were through the worst of it!)

The guys (and kids) did a lot of fishing. Neil caught 4 and Holly caught one!

Holly was really excited about catching a fish, but Neil had her touch it before they let it go, and she did. not. like. that!!

Even Grandpa Taylor went down to the water.

Holly played in the dirt. A lot! She really enjoyed spending time with her cousins!

The girls were both down for a nap and I went to check on them. I couldn't see Taylor through the window, so I opened the tent door and Taylor had moved from laying next to Holly to laying head to head. It was so cute!

Holly was obsessed with the doggy door in the tent. She kept trying to climb through it, so I had to get a picture.

We also spent a lot of time playing horseshoes. I didn't get any pictures of Neil and I playing, but here is one of the kids watching us.

The girls had so much fun that they were almost instantly asleep when we got in the car. If you look closely you can see how filthy they got!

Salem Pod

2010-09-10T13:50:00.002-06:00

Awhile ago we went to Salem Pond with Tildie and her kids to feed the ducks. The ducks weren't very interested in eating, however, so Holly and Isaac entertained themselves by throwing dirt into the water.

Dad came over to spend time with us. Taylor especially was so excited to see him!

Cute Miss Katelyn!

Mommy and Taylor!

Holly and Isaac playing on the playground.

We missed Misty and her kids, who were sick. :(

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-08-26T09:21:00.000-06:00

I want one of these SO bad!!! I have entered about a billion giveaways to try to win one. If I don't win one I will eventually buy one, I just have to wait until it works with our finances. I would much rather get one for free. :) Check it out, this is the coolest machine EVER!!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-08-11T14:05:00.002-06:00

The other day Neil was watering the grass and the girls decided that they wanted to play in the sprinkler. They both had a blast and were very sad when we decided that it was time to go inside.

Sitting on the car waiting for Daddy to move the water.

Children's Activities in the Park

2010-08-11T13:33:00.003-06:00

On July 17 Spanish Fork City had the Children's Parade for Fiesta Days and then they had some activities in the park. It was *free* which makes it even better!
The first booth Holly went to was the "Buried Treasure" one. She got to dig in sawdust and find two treasures.

She also got to do the "Fish Rodeo". She wasn't so happy about having to go with a stranger to catch her fish. She didn't want to be put down in the water so the girl had to sit Holly on the side and catch a fish for her.

Holly caught the "prize" fish (I don't remember what kind it was, but a specific type of trout) so she won $10! She was so proud of her fish.

Both the girls got their faces painted. Neil had the camera at the fish rodeo when Taylor got hers painted which is why we don't have any pictures of her getting it done. Taylor got a flower and Holly got cherries.

They both also got temp. tattoos.

Then they got to go "fishing" at the fish pond. The pictures aren't great because it was in a little space and I was trying to get it from a weird angle.

Taylor was fascinated with Holly's fish!

Fun on the Fourth

2010-08-07T17:03:00.004-06:00

On the 3rd we celebrated with the Brickeys. We had a barbeque, played volleyball, and set off some fireworks. If you read my post about our camping trip you will know that I am a huge slacker with my camera and I have not gotten pictures from my mom yet, so you don't get to see all the fun we had.
On the 4th we went out to Neil's parents house and celebrated with them. Neil's dad goes all out with fireworks! It was great, but with young kids who don't have long attention spans it gets a little difficult.
My crazy husband with fire shooting out of his hands!

Holly with Syrena and Gabby.

The whole group.

Grandpa Taylor enjoying the show.

I love this picture!!

Taylor hung out with Uncle Toby most of the night. I was a little surprised because she usually won't go to him. He even got her to go to sleep!!

Can you tell Holly was sleepy by the end?

Hogle Zoo

2010-08-07T16:22:00.007-06:00

On July 2nd we met Misty, Adam, AJ, Aaron, Melia, and Grandma Brickey at the zoo. The girls had so much fun seeing all the animals!

Taylor especially loved the monkeys. She would get so excited and lean forward as far as she could.

They got to ride the Carousel. Holly rode on a buffalo and Taylor rode on an elephant. They loved it--me, not so much! Since when do I get dizzy on something like that?? Taylor was hanging on by herself and was being so cute!

After the carousel we rode on the train. This is the first year we've done the train. The kids really liked it, I thought it was a little overrated, but we do what makes the kids happy, right?

After the train ride Misty's family went home since they had already been through all the exhibits. Grandma stayed with us so that she could be with the girls.

Holly and Taylor watching the baby elephant roll in the mud. Hopefully they didn't get any ideas...

Taylor trying to get at a monkey.

Penguins are Holly's favorite animal. She was excited to see them. Too bad you can't see any of her facial expressions...

Neil showing Holly the tiger.

Taylor fell asleep, so she missed out on half of the animals. Next year she'll be old enough to really care.

Holly was lucky enough to ride the carousel a second time. This time she talked Grandma into riding with her.

Measuring up to a gorilla.

Since we couldn't really measure Taylor we just took a picture of her next to it.

I love that smile!!

Measuring up to an Orangutan (I have no idea how to spell that...)

The girls were pooped and slept all the way home.

It was a really fun day!

Annual Brickey Family Campout!

2010-08-07T15:29:00.004-06:00

On June 18 we headed up Payson canyon for the annual Brickey campout. Neil wanted to make sure that we traveled in redneck style, so he tied Holly's 4-wheeler to the top of the car!

The girls were all packed up and excited to get to the campsite.

The morning of the 19th. This was Taylor's first camping trip. Trying to self-shoot a family picture is a little difficult, especially when you have somebodies fingers in your mouth!

We celebrated Fathers Day up there since everybody (except Amy :( ) was there. We got Dad a Porter Rockwell book and a new softball bag.
The grandkids got to "help" him unwrap his presents.

Taylor playing with Uncle Fronk!

Saturday afternoon we decided to hike up to the grotto. The kids had a Blast!!

I was really surprised that Holly went into the freezing cold water, but she was loving it!

On the way back to the car Neil, Adam, and Dad would swing the kids off the "bridges" while they walked across. I'm sure you can imagine what kind of heaven the kids were in. It took us a lot longer to get down than normal because they didn't want to stop swinging.

So, I'm a big slacker and don't take a ton of pictures when my mom (aka personal photographer) is around so this is all the pictures I have at the moment. We had a lot of fun on the camping trip this year!

For Tildie

2010-07-07T15:52:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry that you're best friend is a big fat liar! Hopefully on Friday I will have a real post for you. Until then you can enjoy this:

I always thought you were the best, I guess I always will.
I always felt that we were blessed and I feel that way still.
Sometimes we took the hard road, but we always saw it through.
If I had only one friend left I'd want it to be you.

Sometimes the world was on our side.
Sometimes it wasn't fair.
Sometimes it gave a helping had.
Sometimes we didn't care.
Cuz when we were together it made the dream come true.
If I had only one friend left I'd want it to be you.

Someone who understands me, and knows me inside out.
And helps keep it together, and believes without a doubt
That I could move a mountain [And something goes right here...]
If I had only one friend left I'd want it to be you.

One Friend by Dan Seals
Love you Tildz!! :)

**Disclaimer** I wrote this really fast from memory, so it's not perfect, sue me!

Driving Home

2010-06-09T10:57:00.005-06:00

Monday morning we started the long drive home. We made a few stops along the way. First we stopped at the "Welcome to Utah" sign. (We stopped at the Colorado one too since it was dark when we drove into Colorado, but I cheated and put that picture at the beginning of the first post.)

Next we stopped at the arch. In the 2 1/2 years we lived in Durango Neil and I never stopped there. We thought it would be fun to stop with the girls and give them a chance to get out of the car for a few minutes.

Holly was getting a little restless in the car before we got to the arch, so I told her that we were going to stop at a cool rock and to look out her window and see if she could find any other cool rocks. Boy did she find some! She would point at any rock, no matter the size and say "Mom, look! It's a cool rock!" It was so cute and kept her entertained until we got to the arch.
Then she saw this rock when we were out walking up to the arch and thought it was the coolest. She told me to take a picture of her with the cool rock. I love her smile in this picture!

Neil and the girls hiking up to the arch.

Enjoying the drive.

We also stopped at Hole in the Rock. Like the arch, we had never stopped there. It was a pretty neat place.

Holly saw this old truck and said "Look, it's Mater!"

She also had to get a picture taken with the Lion.

She was so excited to sit in this chair because it was like the chair at the Minkler's that turned. She was a little disappointed that these ones were stationary.

The girls finally fell asleep.

It was such a fun trip! I wish that we could have had more time to spend there. I told Neil when we pulled into Durango that it felt like we were home! We had such a great experience living out there and made so many friends. We grew so much as a couple and I'm so glad that we were able to take our girls out there and introduce them to all the wonderful people there.

Saturday and Sunday

2010-06-09T10:09:00.006-06:00

Saturday was Bayfield yard sale day. This was one of Neil's favorite things when we lived there, so of course, we had to go find some treasures. We found a few good things--a safety net for Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline, a clay pigeon thrower, a bread maker, and my personal favorite- Cinderella on DVD for only $2!!!
After our yard sale fun we went swimming. I only took a few pictures at the pool because I was holding Taylor most of the time. Holly had a blast! She was a little scared to go down the slide, but once Neil convinced her to go down with him she didn't want to stop!

After swimming we took Fred and Becky's kids back to their house where Becky's mom came and watched them while we went to dinner. We went to my favorite place in the whole world! Oh how I miss Cuckoos!!

My yummy food. Doesn't it make your mouth water??

On Sunday we went to church. It was great! The ward in Bayfield is so awesome! Even though we've been gone for 4 years it still felt like "home". Everybody kept asking us if we were moving back. We would love to, but it's just too far from family.
After church we followed our old tradition and went to Becky's parents house for lunch. We had a barbeque and were able to visit with all of Becky's family. It was super hot and so after lunch Fred pulled out some squirt guns and let the kids go to town. Joel thought it was cool to spray all the adults who had nothing to defend themselves with.

Uncle Ted pulled out his old 1938 Harley Davidson and took Neil for a ride in the side car. Neil was in heaven!

Aunt Gail got out some beads and let the girls make necklaces.

After a few more visits we went back to the Newhall's and packed up our stuff. Holly did NOT want to leave and was very sad to say goodbye to Kylie. Amaya was asleep so that's why she's not in the picture.

Sunday night we stayed with Will and Reese. Holly and Danica had so much fun playing together! Will got called out a couple hours after we got there, which was a bummer. Neil had fun with the kids by starting a pillow fight. I left the camera in the car, so I need to get all the fun pictures from Reese.

Visiting Good Ol' Bayfield

2010-06-08T11:54:00.007-06:00

This past weekend we were able to take a trip to Colorado to visit all of our friends. It was such a blast!!

We left around 7 pm thinking that the girls would sleep most of the way. Boy were we wrong! They stayed awake for more than half the drive!! Luckily they were happy most of the time.

We got to the Newhall's around 1 am. Freddy told us he would leave a pair of underpants on their mailbox so we would know where to turn. We had to take a picture of them!

The kids hit it off right away! Holly and Kylie were best friends the whole weekend! Poor Joel was surrounded by girls all weekend, but he still played and had a blast.

Taylor and Amaya.

The lovely roads of Bayfield. Driving around on all the dirt roads reminded us why we bought an SUV while we were living there.

Charlie and Katie Minkler. They were really good friends when we lived out there. Holly loved their house-they had a huge slide, horses, and a really cool table that Charlie made. Holly didn't want to get down from the table because the seats turned and she was having too much fun!

Friday afternoon we went out to Allison to Willie and Leeanne's house. We ate lunch and the kids played. Holly, Minnie and Kylie had a blast playing together. They have a pot-belly pig and the girls loved it!

Friday evening after Fred got home from work he and Neil had their own fun on Fred's go-cart. Neil was salivating over it and informed me that he was getting one for Christmas.

To convince me that he needed one Neil had Fred take me on a ride and go off a couple jumps. It was pretty fun!

Taylor playing on one of the toys outside. She looks so old sitting on it!!!

Then it was the kids' turn to go for a ride.

Friday was a great start to our vacation!

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-10T21:49:00.001-06:00

I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right?

I had an awesome Mothers Day! Neil and the girls spoiled me rotten! When I woke up Sunday morning they sent me on a scavenger hunt. (Please look past my "recently woke up" look.)
I got a bunch of clothes that I can wear to school. (I can wear them now too, but I have to have all black for school and surprisingly have very little black.) I also got candy :), 2 movies, and a book.

After we went to church we went to Lehi to celebrate with Neil's family. We watched a video that Alecia put together about Rod to acknowledge the 1 year anniversary of his passing. Then we went to the park and had yummy ham sandwiches and visited.

After that we rushed down to Payson for a hot dog roast with my family. Misty's family couldn't be there because of illness :( but everybody else showed up. We had a lot of fun, even though it was pretty cold.

I hope that everybody had a good Mothers Day. There's nothing better than being a mom, or having the best Mom in the world!

Reward

2010-05-07T22:37:00.003-06:00

About a month ago we rented "The Princess and the Frog" and Holly LOVED it!! She watched it 3 times in the 24 hours we had it. Ever since then she has been asking to watch "The Princess Tiana movie" and when I tell her that we don't have it she says "Daddy buy it for me?" Needless to say, it has been on our list of things to buy since then.
One day I was really frustrated with the fact that Holly will not stay in her bed all night. She will start off in her bed but sometime in the middle of the night she comes into our room and sprawls on our bed leaving Neil and I about 6 inches for the two of us. So, as I'm tired and cranky one day I decide to be productive and figure out a way to get her to stay in her own bed.
Here's what I came up with. Since we were planning on buying this movie for her, why not make her earn it? So I hopped online and found a Princess and the Frog picture that I printed out and also found a puzzle template that I printed over the top. I also printed a blank copy of the puzzle template so that Holly could see where she needed to put the pieces. I cut up the picture and told Holly that for every night she stayed in her own bed she could put up a puzzle piece and that when she had earned all the pieces we would buy her the movie. The template I chose had 7 pieces, because a) I wanted to be realistic and b) I thought it needed to be fast enough that Holly didn't lose interest.
Holly was ecstatic! She was so excited to tell Daddy all about it when he got home from work. Every morning when she woke up she would remind me that we needed to put up a new puzzle piece. I'm not saying it was an instant cure-there was at least one visit a night from her, but we would remind her about our deal and put her back in her bed. So, seven days later, Holly is the proud owner of her very own "Princess and the Frog" movie.

Putting up her last puzzle piece.

Showing off her finished puzzle.

Very excited about her new movie! We walked in the house after buying it and the first thing she said was "I want to watch my Princess Tiana movie."

Tonight at bedtime she mentioned her puzzle-here's hoping she will stay in bed without this extra motivation! However, this worked so well that I'm trying to think if there is anything else we can bribe her to do. :)

Sharing a Room

2010-04-25T23:09:00.002-06:00

We finally got Taylor's crib set up in Holly's room. Tonight is the first night that the girls will share a room...Wish us luck! :) Holly was super excited that Taylor was going to be sleeping in her room, but after we got it set up this morning she kept climbing into it and trying to play. Hopefully she doesn't try to climb in tonight!
Taylor looks so tiny in her crib.

Upalco Fun

2010-04-24T22:38:00.006-06:00

Today the girls and I hitched a ride with my parents to Upalco for my cousin, Leland's, baptism. It was a long drive (2 hours one way), but we had a lot of fun. We were able to visit with some family that we don't see often.
The girls also had their first experience with horses. They both loved being able to pet them!

Holly wasn't too sure about it until she saw Uncle Fronk petting them, then she didn't want to stop!

Holly watching the horses "kiss".

The second Taylor saw the horses she started shaking all over from excitement!

Holly had fun playing with all the toys!

It was a fun day, but very tiring! Holly was lucky enough to sleep all the way home. Taylor, on the other hand, talked our ears off part of the way and then screamed part of the way. She finally fell asleep after we were most of the way home!

Busy Day

2010-04-18T22:20:00.004-06:00

Saturday was a full day for us! We spent Friday night at Grandpa and Grandma Brickey's house so it didn't have to start out too early.
Misty told me about an activity at Payson park for the kiddos. The "Help Me Grow" festival was put on by the United Way. It cost us $5 for breakfast, a t-shirt, and all sorts of fun games for the kids. Holly had a blast!

Enjoying the breakfast.

They had a man going around a making balloon animals for all the kids. Holly got a butterfly.

Taylor enjoying the sunshine.

Running under the parachute.

Tired Taylor.

Playing in the jump jump.

I love this picture!

They had a story time station with a bubble machine. Holly loved it! They also gave each child a book. Holly got "If You Give a Pig a Pancake".

Making a bubble picture.

Jumping with AJ and Aaron.

After a fun-filled morning at the park we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's and hung out with Uncle Jed, Aunt Tiffanie, Drake and Phoenix for a little bit. Then we all went to Grandpa Taylor's 94th birthday party! It was fun to visit with all the family and celebrate Grandpa's birthday!
After the birthday party we had a few hours of free time. Holly played outside with Grandma while Daddy, Grandpa, and Uncle DJ did some mechanic work. Then it was off to softball practice. Games start the beginning of May, and we are all excited to watch Daddy and the rest of the guys play!

The Big Six

2010-04-12T16:43:00.004-06:00

Friday was our Sixth Anniversary!! It 's so weird how time seems to fly, but at the same time go so slow!
We were able to go to the temple on Thursday and do some sealings. (Thanks for watching the girls, Mom and Dad!) When we got sealed we made a goal of doing sealings every year for our anniversary--that hasn't gone too well. Between not living close to temples and not having people who could babysit we haven't been able to do this for the last few years. It was so great to get back in and do sealings. I love being reminded of the covenants and promises we made to each other!
We didn't do anything on Friday because Neil took his Journeyman test on Saturday morning and he wanted to be able to relax and get to bed early.
Saturday he surprised me with reservations at Rodizio Grill. I ate there for my Sr. prom and loved it, so when I saw that they had one in AF I told Neil that we needed to go--and he listened! It was Super Yummy!! We both ate until we were sick, and ate some more! After dinner we picked up the girls and rented a movie to watch after they went to bed. It was a pretty small celebration, but all that mattered is that we were together! <3

Neil-Thanks for putting up with me for the last 6 years! I love you with all my heart and I can't imagine what my life would be like without you! You are the best husband anybody could ever dream of having! I love you Forever and Always!!!

Easter

2010-04-12T16:10:00.004-06:00

We had a great Easter this year! On Friday we got together with some family and friends and had a barbeque and Easter egg hunt. Holly LOVED looking for eggs and especially loved what she discovered inside the eggs! It was tons of fun, and great to visit with Grandma Bird and the Durtschis.
Saturday in between conference sessions the girls and I went down to Payson to color Easter eggs at my parents. Misty's family came over to add to the fun. It was a lot easier to color eggs last year when Holly wasn't quite so opinionated and independent! It was fun and the kids enjoyed it.
Unfortunately my mom has the pictures of the hunt and the coloring and I haven't gotten copies yet, so you will just have to use your imagination.
Saturday evening we went out to Cedar Fort for the Peterson get-together. We had a barbeque and then walked to the elementary school where the older kids had "hid" the eggs. Holly insisted that our niece, Sammy, help her and she raked in the eggs. Luckily we had help getting rid of most of the candy.

Taylor finding eggs.

Holly finding eggs.

Saturday night Neil's parents watched the girls while we went dancing. Since that makes for a late night we opted to stay the night at their house and luckily the Easter Bunny knew where to find us.

Holly putting out her Easter basket.

What the Easter Bunny left for the girls.

Holly checking out the baskets.

Taylor checking out the baskets.

Holly got a reusable coloring book with window markers, lots of candy, and her dress. Taylor got a pair of earrings, and her dress. There was a book and a stuffed bunny that was left for both of them.
Sadly, the girls didn't get to wear their new dresses until yesterday, but they looked SO SUPER CUTE if I may say so.

I hope you all had a great Easter, just like we did!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

2010-03-18T09:56:00.007-06:00

On Monday we went to Misty's house and the kids decorated t-shirts for St. Patrick's Day. The shirts say "Pinch Proof" and they have a clover on the back. I bought some fabric markers and we let the kids go to town on them. We also bought some paint and the kids put their hand prints on the shirts. They LOVED being able to color on the shirts and we had a few melt-downs when it was time to be done. My camera battery died after this first picture, so Misty has all the fun decorating pictures.

Yesterday I put Taylor's shirt on her when Holly was still asleep. Doesn't she look adorable?!

When Holly woke up she saw Taylor in her shirt and got all excited and started laughing and jumping around. I asked her if she wanted to get dressed in her new shirt and I got an emphatic YES! from her. She too looks adorable, even with her bed head.

Then I got some pictures of the girls together. Don't ask me why I didn't wait until I did Holly's hair...

For breakfast Holly had green eggs. I was a little worried about her eating them because green just isn't the most appetizing color, but she Loved them and ate better than she does most days! I may have to start using food coloring more often.

For lunch we had chicken, so I gave her green ranch to go with it. The rest of the day that's all she wanted when I asked her if she was hungry.

After lunch we went down to Misty's so Holly could play outside with AJ and Aaron. Grandma and Grandpa were there also and Uncle DJ stopped by for a few minutes. Holly loved being outside and all the kids had tons of fun.

We didn't plan very well and Miss Melia was taking a nap when we took the group picture. :(

The kids showing off the back of their shirts.

For dinner I made green french toast and bacon. Holly wasn't as excited about the french toast as I hoped she would be, but she's not a huge fan of french toast to begin with... I thought about trying out a traditional Irish dinner, but the only one I could find that sounded good to me had to marinate in the fridge for 8 hours! Maybe next year.

We had to let Taylor in on the fun food, so we colored her before bed cereal green. I don't think she really cared, but it was fun for the rest of us. :)

Misty and I also made rainbow cupcakes, but we had a last minute request to run an errand for our landlord, so we will enjoy those tonight.

Hibernation

2010-03-12T09:26:00.003-07:00

Lately I feel like I've been in hibernation mode. I wish that I could just sleep through the winter and pretend like it wasn't happening. In case you can't tell, I have Spring Fever!!
I believe Holly is also infected--She is being a little pill lately! Her latest favorite activities include hitting, kicking, biting, scaring, smashing or any other form of torture her little mind can come up with. Most of the time these little antics are aimed at Taylor. I often find myself wondering where my sweet angelic child went. I know that part of this is to be expected from siblings, but please tell me it won't always be like this!
I will soon be posting about all the fun we've been having in the last month, but for now I will be praying for sunshine!

Happy Heart Day!

2010-02-15T13:21:00.004-07:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentines Day. Ours was great! Neil and I had our date on Saturday night. We went country dancing and it was so much fun!! We were only there for about an hour and a half, and we both came away extremely sore! It was quite a different experience from when we were dating and would dance for 3-4 hours and not even be tired! It was nice to have some "couple' time. I can probably count on one hand the number of times we've been on a date since we had Holly, but we definitely want to make it a more regular thing.

Neil's parents watched the girls for us so instead of driving home from Cedar Fort at 11 pm we just stayed the night there. Sunday morning Neil and his mom made breakfast for everyone. It was scrumptious!

We rushed home so we could go to church. {Side note: Neil got released from his calling as the Assistant Varsity Coach and was put in as the Young Men's First Counselor. Our neighbor, Josh was put in as Neil's assistant and Neil is super excited!} Tildie, Ben and Isaac came to church with us-it was good to see them.

After church we rushed up to American Fork for the Peterson Valentine/Birthday party. It was great to see all the family and there was lots of yummy food.

When we finally got home we gave the girls, and each other, V-Day gifts and then relaxed for a little bit before bed. It was a fun, but tiring weekend!

Holly showing off her new earrings.

Taylor with her new outfit.

Neil got a waffle maker. Sounds kinda boring, but I promise he was excited!

I got a new necklace and earrings. I think that Neil wishes I had never heard of Lia Sophia cuz I've become a jewelry fanatic!

Holly showing me how her earrings look on.

Taylor in her cute new outfit. She is so smiley!

Taylor's Blessing Day

2010-02-07T19:26:00.003-07:00

We blessed Taylor today. It was great and we had a lot of family and friends that were able to come and support us. She looked so beautiful and was very good for the blessing.
Our pretty girls! Holly is at the stage where she doesn't want to smile when we ask her to...

Our cute little family!

Daddy, Mommy, and Taylor

Taylor with Grandpa and Grandma Brickey

What a Daddy's girl!

I love her blue eyes!!!

Following in Isaac's Footsteps

2010-01-28T15:55:00.002-07:00

She wanted the room to smell powder fresh, and she was spreading it around just like Daddy does.

What Are We To Do?

2010-01-27T16:20:00.002-07:00

We have been trying really hard to get Holly to go to sleep in her room after just a few songs. Last night we read a story, read scriptures, said prayer, and then I sang her a few songs. After I finished singing I told her that I was going out so that she could go to sleep like a big girl--which is what I normally do. She usually will cry for a few minutes and then calm down and go to sleep--or talk to herself for a few hours. So I go to the living room, turn on the monitor, and start feeding Taylor. I was just finishing up with Taylor and Neil had gone back to our bedroom to get ready for bed. He walks back into the living room and asked "Did you put Holly to bed in her room?" "Yeah" was my response with a weird look.
"Did you close her door?" Again I said "Yeah, why?"
"You need to come look at her."
So we go back to our bedroom, and this is what we see.

The door between our bedrooms is open...

...and the little sneak is fast asleep on Mom's pillow.

Luckily she was out so she didn't wake up when Neil moved her. So, needless to say, we are still working on a way to convince her that she needs to sleep in her own bed.

On Saturday Taylor was lucky enough to get her ears pierced. She wasn't too happy with us, but she looks dang cute--in my personal unbiased opinion.

On Sunday we went to my parents house to celebrate my mom's and Neil's birthdays. I made cupcakes for everybody and Holly wanted to help me decorate them. She is such a big helper!

Happy Birthday...

2010-01-22T17:15:00.002-07:00

...to the best mom and grandma EVER!! :) We love you!!

You're Older Than You've Ever Been, And Now You're Even Older!

2010-01-20T20:33:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was Neil's 26th Birthday! His celebration consisted of going to work and going to scouts. Such is life when you have to grow up... We celebrated with his family on Sunday and we will be celebrating with my family this Sunday, so it's not all boring.

Happy birthday, Neil! Thanks for being such a great husband and daddy! We love you!!

Cousins are the best! and other fun stories...

2010-01-16T15:26:00.003-07:00

Taylor and Melia are getting to the point where they will interact with each other. These pictures were taken on Christmas Eve. Melia tried eating Taylor and taking her socks.

Holly decided that she wanted in on the fun.

This is Holly's new favorite spot to sleep--right next to our bed. Unfortunately I started this one night and now every night she drags everything in (including every stuffed animal she has!) and falls back to sleep instead of waking us up.

Holly and Taylor love each other! This cute picture is when Holly decided that instead of posing for the camera she wanted to tickle Taylor! Taylor's face lights up whenever she sees Holly!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

2009-12-26T16:12:00.003-07:00

Our Christmas this year was so much fun! Holly is old enough to be excited and understand some of the fun things. She helped Neil decorate the house and was super excited every time she saw any lights.

Our Christmas Jammies.

Our Stockings. Holly got to decorate hers this year and really enjoyed that.

Christmas Morning. Holly started getting a cold on Wednesday and Christmas was the when the worst of it hit. She still had fun, but it wasn't quite what it would have been if she had been well.

Holly looking at what Santa left in her stocking.

Opening presents. Holly had some really great reactions, but unfortunately she was looking down most of the time, so I didn't get the full effect with the camera.

Holly with the blanket I made for her.

Taylor "opening" her presents.

Charmed! :)

Neil opening his tie tac that I made. I also made the girls necklaces.

Our girls were spoiled, even though we thought that we hadn't bought that much.

After breakfast we all took a nap.

That evening we went to my parents to open gifts with everybody. Once again the girls got spoiled. It was nice to visit with everybody.

We hope that everybody had a great Christmas!

My attempt at a catch-up post...

2009-12-24T15:35:00.002-07:00

For any of you who have noticed that the last post I did was Holly's birthday almost 2 months ago, here is my attempt to catch you up on my life.
Since we don't have internet at our house yet it is kinda difficult for me to post anything. Hopefully we will be getting internet soon. There has been way too much that has happened in the last little while for me to remember it all, so I will just talk about the basics.
Holly is a 2 year old--need I say more?!? :) We are potty training her and it has been going really well for the most part. She even wakes up dry most mornings! She is learning so much and amazes us every day with all the things--good and bad--that she knows. She is very excited for Christmas. She saw one of her presents under the tree and asked me who it was for. When I told her it was for her her eyes got really big and she said in her little mischievous voice "Open It??..." Her favorite movie right now is Madagascar 2 or in her words Move It, Move It. She likes Moto Moto and will tell Mom or Dad that we are "Hot, Hot." She has started saying prayers with help and is FINALLY sleeping in her bed all night long!
Taylor just had her 2 month check up. She weighs 10 pounds 14 ounces and is 23 1/4 inches long. She is very strong--the dr. said her neck is as strong as most 4 month olds. She is very smiley and happy. She loves her daddy and will coo at him non-stop. She also loves her big sister and will smile at her when Holly talks to her.
There's not much new for Neil or I. Neil's working and I'm taking care of the girls. Neil just got a calling in our new ward as the assistant to the varsity coach in scouts so he gets to go to Young Mens on Sundays and Scouts on Tuesdays. He is excited--mostly that he has an excuse to go camping a lot. We've been asked to speak in church on January 31.
We hope that everybody is doing good. I'm on my sister's computer, so unfortunately I can't post any pictures, but I will get on soon and show off my cute girls.

It's Party Time!

2009-11-11T11:02:00.004-07:00

On Friday night the Brickey side of the family got together to celebrate Holly's birthday. We had pizza and cake and ice cream and just had fun visiting.

Holly opening her presents. She did very good and was so excited to see what each present was.

She got SPOILED!! Grandma and Grandpa gave her an outfit and a set of 6 puzzles. Aunt Misty and family gave her some shirts and a Giant Coloring Book. Aunt Savannah and Uncle Dan gave her a baby doll. Uncle DJ and Aunt Amy gave her the Ultimate Princess dress up set. Neil and I gave her a couple outfits, some bath toys, and a Veggie Tales movie.

Grandpa made her a Care Bear cake. (Thanks Dad!) She did really well blowing out the candles.

The three kids had to sample the frosting. :)

Aunt Sammy shared her ice cream with Holly, or the pink part at least.

Neil and Misty took the jobs of serving everybody. Thanks guys!!

The birthday girl eating her cake and ice cream.

And here is a picture of Taylor enjoying the festivities.

On Saturday night Neil and Holly went up to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate with the Peterson side. Neil forgot the camera, so I have to beg copies off of his mom, but he said that everybody had a blast. Holly is still talking about the dancing bird that she saw.

One again she was spoiled! I don't have my list with me and I can't remember everything that she got, but she definitely raked it in. Thanks everybody for going and for the gifts!

Happy Birthday Holly!!!!

2009-11-06T12:23:00.003-07:00

Today is Holly's 2nd birthday! I can't believe that it has been 2 years already! She has grown so much in the past year, I think that at times she thinks she's 15! :) She is such a sweetheart and so smart! I can't wait to see what the next year brings. I love you, Holly!!
We are having a birthday party tonight and tomorrow night (yes, she's spoiled!) so stay tuned for pictures.

Halloween

2009-11-05T12:55:00.002-07:00

For Holly Halloween lasted a week this year. On the 24th Neil's family had their annual Halloween party. Holly got to do all sorts of fun craft things there. On the 30th my parents had their ward trunk-or-treat party. Holly raked in the candy there. Then on the 31st she got to go out with AJ and Aaron and do some trick or treating. She was a very cute pirate and Neil said that she did really good.

Their first house.

Taylor was a frog this year. She was in her costume long enough for pictures and that's about it, but I couldn't pass up the cute costume.

All the grandkids on Halloween. Holly the Pirate, Taylor the Frog, Melia-aka Catwoman, Aaron as Spiderman, and AJ as Batman.

Holly loves Taylor so much!

DJ and Amy came over dressed as devils. Holly tried on Amy's hair--I think red's her color. :)

Quick Update

2009-10-29T17:15:00.003-06:00

I'm starting to adjust to having 2 kids. Taylor is a great baby and Holly loves her to death! Holly is very helpful with everything and loves to hold her.

We are still working on getting everything unpacked--I hate this stage of moving! Holly seems to have adjusted to the move well. There are moments where she acts up, but for the most part is still an angel!

We don't have internet at the apartment, so my posts will probably be sporadic for a while. Here are some cute pictures of my girls.

The Big Meeting

2009-10-24T20:08:00.002-06:00

We came home from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. We were anxious to introduce Holly to her little sister. She was more interested in cuddling with her mommy than meeting Taylor at first.
She wasn't quite sure what to think of Taylor. She just looked at her for a few minutes.

Finally she ventured a touch.

Neil helped Holly hold her for a few minutes.

And she even gave her a kiss.

At bedtime we all went into Holly's room to read a story and say prayer. For prayer Holly was laying on her bed, so we laid Taylor down next to her. Holly LOVED that! She was very sad when I picked Taylor up to go out, she said "Taylor sleep?" She was not happy when we told her that Taylor was going to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room.

Now that she is used to her she absolutely loves her! She is very helpful and is a great big sister!

Introducing...

2009-10-21T21:46:00.002-06:00

After 9 months of waiting and 5-ish hours of labor we welcome to the world Taylor Mae Peterson.
She was born today at 12:50 pm. She weighs 8 lbs. 10 oz and is 21 1/2 inches long. She has a little bit of light hair. She is absolutely beautiful!! We are so excited that she is a part of our family and can't wait to introduce her to her big sister!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-10-12T22:08:00.002-06:00

For FHE tonight we decided to carve pumpkins. We thought that Holly would enjoy it, which wasn't exactly the case, but we all had fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

9 Months and Counting...

2009-10-11T21:37:00.003-06:00

Here are my 9 month pictures. Mom and I did a little photo shoot the other day. I am counting down the days, hopefully it won't be much longer. :)

My Trip to the Hospital

2009-10-05T14:23:00.002-06:00

For some reason this baby likes to give us scares on Saturday's when I can't just run to the dr.'s office. On Saturday morning I thought that my water might have broken. So after a few hours of arguing with myself we dropped Holly off at Aunt Misty's and my mom and I headed for the hospital. (Neil was doing a side job.)
We got there and got settled into a room and the nurses came in and performed all sorts of torture. My water hadn't broke, but after I got there I started having some pretty big contractions so they kept me there for a few hours to watch me. Neil (who had met us there) entertained himself by saying things like "Ooh, that's a pretty good one!" or "Wow! That one went over 150!" Mom and I decided that next time around he gets to have the baby. :)
Well, after all that rambling, they sent me home and told me to come back if the contractions got worse/closer together.
So, for those of you who haven't yet and want to we are taking guesses for date, time, weight, length and gender. My official due date is 10/26. On Saturday I was 80% effaced and dilated to a 2. We will keep you updated on all the fun!

Harvest Festival

2009-09-20T21:55:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we went to Spanish Fork's Harvest Festival. They had a bunch of activities for the kids and some entertainment. It was a lot of fun to go and spend time with everybody that could make it.

We started out by going on the hay ride. Holly had a lot of fun.

After the hay ride we just had some fun taking pictures. It is not easy to get three toddlers to stick their heads through a hole long enough to get a good picture.

Neil had the bright idea to get one of our "whole" family. Everybody got a pretty good laugh at my attempt to get the baby in there too.

Holly got to make a fall bracelet that she was very proud of.

We had a good time and it was nice to get out of the house and have some fun.

(Sorry that the words are in weird places. I don't know what the deal is and don't have the patience to figure it out...)

8 Months

2009-09-13T18:07:00.001-06:00

Here's my cute 8 month belly. :)

Our Super Saturday

2009-09-12T21:46:00.006-06:00

We had a fun and relaxing day today. Holly tried to start it at 3:30, but Neil and I had other plans and after an hour and a half Neil finally convinced her to get a little more sleep. We had breakfast with Jed, Tiffanie and Drake and then came home for some down time.
While Neil and Holly took a nap I finished a quilt I had been working on for the baby. This one will be used if the baby is a girl. When I was pregnant with Holly I made a similar blanket for her, and I also made one with a truck on it for a boy.

After nap we went outside to play. Neil got out the three-wheeler that has Holly's wagon tied to the back of it and took Holly and I on a ride. It was a lot of fun!

For dinner we made navajo tacos. Holly helped me make the dough, then she helped Neil smash it. Neil and her even got into a little dough fight by smacking each other on the face with it! She loves to help us cook.

After dinner we drove over to Spring Lake and did a little fishing. It got dark really fast, but Neil was able to catch one fish and Holly caught two! She was more interested in throwing dirt everywhere and eating it, but we convinced her to cast a few times and then reel in one of the fish.

Needless to say, we are all pretty tired after playing so hard today. It was great to be able to spend time together just hanging out and having fun!

Onion Days Parade

2009-09-09T10:07:00.003-06:00

On Monday we went to the parade. Holly was very excited to see all the "pretty ladies' as she put it. It was hot, but a lot of fun, and all the kids enjoyed it.

Yay! Grandpa's here! My dad had to work, but he was able to bring some of the kids down to see the parade and they sat by us. The kids were so excited to see Grandpa!

Family picture.

Covering her ears when all the sirens were going.

Waving. She has the beauty queen wave down.

Waving to the "pretty ladies".

Firework Fun

2009-09-05T19:56:00.002-06:00

Last night we went to the Onion Days Fireworks show. It was great to get out and spend time with the family. We missed Sammy and Kelee! Grandpa bought the kids glow sticks and they LOVED them!

This is not a great picture, but I had to put one on that showed the cool glow.

What a happy family!

Yes, that is my daughter being thrown into the air--usually I close my eyes. :)

Watching the fireworks.

Holly wanted to go lay with Aunt Misty, Uncle Adam, AJ and Aaron.

Neil and Fronk wrestling.

Fishing

2009-08-19T13:48:00.004-06:00

Last night we took Holly on her first fishing trip. She got to use the fishing pole that she gave to Neil for Father's Day finally. At first she was excited to hold her pole and help Daddy cast it.

I had to take this picture of Neil with the cute little princess pole. :)

As expected, she got bored pretty quick and was more interested in the ducks and running up and down the bank than she was in fishing.

As Neil was reeling in her pole to clean up he realized there was a fish on it! Holly was excited to see what she had caught, until she touched it. We're not sure if it poked her or just scared her, but she didn't want to have anything to do with it after that.

It was a really fun night and hopefully we can get out and do some more family fishing before it gets cold.

A Birthday and A Belly

2009-08-19T13:31:00.002-06:00

August 4th was my 25th birthday! (I know, I know, I'm a slacker...) Unfortunately I was sick, so it wasn't all that enjoyable. But my present was AWESOME!! Neil gave me a gift certificate for a prenatal massage!! :) I went and had it done the other day and it was Heaven!! I wish we had the money for me to go more often.

Misty and her kids made me a rice crispy treat since they couldn't come over and see me. (New baby and colds just don't mix well.) It was really sweet of them to think of me and send over a nummy treat.

After everyone got over the germs we had cake and ice cream. AJ helped me blow out my candles. :)

I am now 7 months pregnant!! I swear this pregnancy is going by so fast! I feel like I'm getting HUGE and baby is moving around like mad! Holly likes to give my belly kisses and hugs and has even felt the baby move a couple times. We are getting very excited for him/her to get here.

Catching Up--Again!

2009-07-20T00:25:00.003-06:00

We have had a lot of fun in the last week--and of course I have to post it all in one night. Make sure you scroll down to get a peek at our crazy lives!

Baby Melia

2009-07-20T00:14:00.001-06:00

On Friday my niece, Melia was born. She is SO cute!! She was 7 lb. 13 oz. and 20 inches long and has lots of curly dark hair. We are so excited for her to be a part of our family. Hopefully she can help get Holly prepared for our new baby.

Belly Fun

2009-07-20T00:00:00.003-06:00

Thursday was our last chance to get pictures of Misty and I together with our baby bumps. Last pregnancy I was only about 4 months when she had the boys and hardly showing, so it was fun to get some pictures where you can tell we are both pregnant. :)

The kids decided that they were being left out and came and sat with us. We tried-and failed-to get all three sitting at the same time.

Swimming Fun

2009-07-19T23:50:00.004-06:00

Finally after months of saying "We need to have a 'pool party'" it happened! We took our swimming pool to Misty's, filled it up, and let the kids go to town. They loved it! The water was cold, and they were all shivering pretty good, but they had a blast!

6 Months

2009-07-13T17:08:00.002-06:00

I have a feeling that the next 3 1/2 months are going to fly by! The baby has started to move around A LOT more!! It especially likes to kick Neil in the back when we're in bed. The heartbeat is still "well in the girl range" according to the doctor and everything is looking good.

2009-07-06T23:35:00.001-06:00

I am attempting to catch up, so there are a few new posts below. Stay tuned for the 4th of July and my 6 month belly.

The Grotto

2009-07-06T23:04:00.005-06:00

During the camping trip a few of us took the opportunity to hike up to the grotto. We were hoping for a bigger group but it ended up being Neil, Holly, me, Kelee, Savannah, and Dan. It was really hot, but not very crowded. We had a lot of laughs, mostly at Kelee's expense, and had a great time.

Holly pointing to the water...

...and playing in it.

The water was super cold, at least that's what everybody else said, I stayed on dry land.

Holly was excited until she felt the water, after that she didn't want near it.

Neil, Dan, and Kelee decided to walk "behind" the fall. Instead they got soaked!

Holly throwing rocks into the water.

Just chillin'

Camping Fun

2009-07-06T22:04:00.006-06:00

**WARNING--Lots of pictures below!**

A few weeks ago we went on a family camping trip. We had a lot of fun relaxing, playing games, eating, and visiting. The first day we were there it rained and hailed!! Luckily it cleared up and we were able to enjoy the rest of our time there. It was great to be able to spend time with everybody, and of course the kids had TONS of fun in the great outdoors!

Fathers Day

2009-07-06T21:39:00.005-06:00

We had a really fun fathers day this year. It started on Saturday when we went out to breakfast with Neil's family to celebrate. It was a lot of fun and great to see everybody.

On Sunday we got up and Neil and Holly made some muffins.

Then we let Neil open his presents. Holly got him a really cute book called "My Daddy and Me" and a princess fishing pole for her so that they can make lots of memories fishing together.

I got him "The Dark Knight" and a horseshoe set.

Later that night the whole family got together for dessert. Dad opened his gifts from all the kids. We got him a new CTR ring and two t-shirts. One has Oscar the Grouch on it and says "I Only Wear This Shirt When I'm A Grouch". The other one has Snoopy and says "Grandpa is Joe-Fix-It".

I am so thankful for Neil and the wonderful father that he is. I love that he and Holly have such a great relationship and I am excited to see that expand with the next child. I don't know how I got so lucky.

I am also thankful for my dad and everything that he has done for me throughout my life. He is the best dad any girl could hope to have!

Last, but not least, I am thankful for Neil's dad and all the positive things that he has taught Neil.

Potty Time

2009-06-15T13:24:00.002-06:00

We bought Holly a potty chair around the beginning of the year. She has loved to sit on it, but we weren't too worried about her actually using it yet. Well in the last 2 weeks she has used her potty twice! The first time was just a fluke. She likes to sit on the potty before bath time and she just happened to need to go while she was sitting there.
On Saturday I was sitting on the couch and she came up to me and said "Mommy, pee-pee." So I asked her if she wanted to go sit on her potty and she said yes. We go in there and sit and she starts pooping! I was so impressed that she had initiated it! I think that we are going to start getting a little more serious about the whole potty training thing...

Holly, Holly, and More Holly

2009-06-11T14:35:00.004-06:00

I haven't done a post about Holly recently, so be prepared for a few pictures.
Holly has been LOVING it at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She has so many people to play with and be spoiled by. :) She also loves living close to her cousins so that they can play together.
This is Sumo Holly. I was making a blanket and Neil took some of the extra fabric and made a diaper out of it. Holly loved wearing it and got very upset when we had to take it off of her to get ready for a wedding. We just need to practice her little sumo stomp.

Holly has a John Deere tractor and wagon. The kids think that these are the coolest things ever! One day Grandpa hooked the wagon to the tractor and pulled the kids around. They all loved it!

Aaron's not usually a fan of riding in the wagon, but he loves pulling it around. Holly wanted a ride so Aaron pulled her around the backyard with some occasional help when they got stuck.

Reading with Daddy. What a sweetheart!

This picture is from Holly's first time sleeping on the trampoline. She was so excited to sleep out there, and surprisingly went right to sleep instead of wanting to jump all night.

Daddy and Holly had the camera and were just taking crazy pictures. I love her face--so Holly.

Aunt Kelee has enjoyed doing Holly's hair most days. The past couple days she has gotten brave and done braids. It looks so cute, and lasts a lot longer than I thought that it would.

Five Months and an Ultrasound

2009-06-10T16:59:00.002-06:00

I am officially halfway through the pregnancy!! It's weird to think that in 20 more weeks I'll have another baby! I think that I am 18 weeks in this picture. (I know, I'm a slacker!)

Today was our ultrasound. It was amazing to be able to see the baby finally! When I was pregnant with Holly I had an ultrasound every month for the first 5-6 months, so it was really hard for me to wait so long this time.
The ultrasonographer (sp?) said that there is definitely a baby in there. :) Everything looks perfect and is measuring exactly where it should be. We did not find out the gender, so you'll have to wait until the end of October to find out. :)
Here is a profile picture of our little squirrel. It was moving around like crazy and not really wanting to cooperate, but we got some great shots. I am bracing myself for another crazy kid. :)

4 Months

2009-05-17T18:28:00.003-06:00

These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago, I'm just slow getting them on here. Here are some pictures of my "baby bump". If I'm on the ball there will be some new ones within the next week or two for my 5 month mark. Enjoy! :)

In Loving Memory

2009-05-12T17:02:00.001-06:00

We love and miss you Rod!!

Rodney Peterson 1975 ~ 2009

Rodney Peterson was born Aug 15, 1975 in Salt Lake City, UT, the son of Paul and LouDean Peterson. He passed away on Sunday, May 10, 2009 at the age of 33 in Lehi, UT. Rodney is survived by his partner, Alecia Collins, and sons Rodney Morgan, Gage Nathaniel, daughters Brianna Rae and Ariana Rose.Survived by parents, siblings: Sid, Jake, Toby, Austin, Soren, Luke, Neil, Jed, Nanette, Dane, Rhett, Janessa and Ruben, many sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews.Rodney worked with family and friends at Alpine Lock & Safe. Rodney was a loved man, a wonderful companion, father, brother, son. We love you Rod.

Funeral will be held at 11 am Thursday, May 14 at the Alpine Stake Pavillion, 98 East Canyon Crest Road. Visitations will be held Wednesday from 6 to 8 pm in the Anderson & Sons Mortuary, 49 E. 100 N., American Fork and Thursday at the mortuary from 9:30 to 10:30 am.

Donations are being accepted by the family for his children.

Feeding the Ducks

2009-04-28T14:19:00.003-06:00

Last Thursday Grandpa had the day off so he decided to take the grandkids to Salem Pond to feed the ducks. The kids had so much fun! If you want to read a great post about it go here, my sister is very creative!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Holly's Big Girl Bed

2009-04-28T14:12:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned before, Holly got a big girl bed when we moved. It wasn't too much of a change for her because we rigged her crib so it was more like a toddler bed a few months ago. So far she's done pretty good at sleeping in it. The pictures aren't great, but I didn't want to wake her up. :)

Easter Morning

2009-04-28T13:53:00.004-06:00

Holly putting her Easter Basket on the couch so that the Easter Bunny can come and fill it.

The spoils. I didn't get any pictures of Holly in her Easter dress (I know, I'm a slacker!), but it was the same dress that she wore to Ty and Sammy's wedding.

Easter Morning.

The Easter Bunny hid the eggs that Holly had colored around the room and she had to find them.

Peterson Egg Hunt

2009-04-28T13:36:00.003-06:00

Every year the Peterson side of the family gets together and has a big Easter Egg hunt for all the grandkids. This year was a little difficult because my sister's 16th birthday party was on the same night, but we were able to work it out so that Holly was able to join in on the fun. She had a blast! The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Mom and Dad had remembered to bring her shoes.

Coloring Eggs

2009-04-28T13:10:00.005-06:00

Holly had tons of fun coloring Easter Eggs this year. Saturday night Holly, Aunt Kelee, Uncle DJ, and Aunt Amy sat down and had some fun. Holly was fascinated with the dye and wanted to touch it all the time. She loved helping Daddy put the eggs in and take them back out.

After she was done coloring her eggs we let her play in the dye for a few minutes and she was in heaven!

Here is a picture of her masterpieces.

After the eggs dried she got to choose some stickers to put on them. She loved doing this and was very independent about it. (What else is new?)

The Peterson Princesses

Halloween Overview

Carving Pumpkins

Pumpkin Patch

Taylor is 2!

Need a New Post

We Interrupt This Blog...

Princess Party!

St. Patricks Day

Aniversary

Paul Mitchell Schools Caper 2011 - Las Vegas

CAPER!

Chug-a-Chug-a-Choo-Choo

Strike?

The 14 Days of Valentines Day

Happy Birthday Neil!!

Holly is 3!!

Read On...

Bragging

Halloween

Taylor Turns ONE!!

Random Fun

What a Great Dad!

Harvest Moon Hurrah

Safety Fair

Peterson Halloween Party

Onion Days Parade

Annual Peterson Camping Trip

Salem Pod

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Children's Activities in the Park

Fun on the Fourth

Hogle Zoo

Annual Brickey Family Campout!

For Tildie

Driving Home

Saturday and Sunday

Visiting Good Ol' Bayfield

Happy Mothers Day

*Reward*

Sharing a Room

Upalco Fun

Busy Day

The Big Six

Easter

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Hibernation

Happy Heart Day!

Taylor's Blessing Day

Following in Isaac's Footsteps

What Are We To Do?

Happy Birthday...

You're Older Than You've Ever Been, And Now You're Even Older!

Cousins are the best! and other fun stories...

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

My attempt at a catch-up post...

It's Party Time!

Happy Birthday Holly!!!!

Halloween

Quick Update

The Big Meeting

Introducing...

Carving Pumpkins

9 Months and Counting...

My Trip to the Hospital

Harvest Festival

8 Months

Our Super Saturday

Onion Days Parade

Firework Fun

Fishing

A Birthday and A Belly

Catching Up--Again!

Baby Melia

Belly Fun

Swimming Fun

6 Months

The Grotto

Camping Fun

Fathers Day

Reward