Spring Has Sprung

 Springtime for us means, watching the earth renew it's beauty, planting flowers, and Steve's birthday. We enjoyed a nice little party, just the four of us.

  

 I'm not a very good gardener, but I do like to try!

 I patiently watch and wait every day, until my flowering tree flowers!

I had to add this picture.  Kelsey brought these to me to hang in my office.  It's our family's portraits. (7 months later, they still hang there.)

Kelsey's 10th Multi-Birthday Party

Kelsey ended up with 3 parties this year! School starts about one week before her birthday, and things start to get so hectic that we usually let the friend party "slide". She is ALwAyS wanting to have a swim party, so this year, we let her have a few friends over to swim and "celebrate" her birthday a little early.

Ashlynd, Kelsey, and Taelor

The girls thought it would just be hilarious if they went head first into the whipped cream on their plates.

Silly girls! They had a blast....

Thanks for coming over to party Ash and Tae! You girls are just too cute!

Kelsey's AcTuAL birthday was two days after my surgery, and I wasn't feeling up to doing too much. However, I wanted her to still feel special on her day. My parents and sweet friends, Rhonda and Jeff came out to the house and we had dinner.

The one thing she's been wanting for quite some time was a BB gun. And yes, this all made me think of the movie "Christmas Story" and the whole "you'll shoot your eye out!" Well, she sweet talked Grandpa (it doesn't take much with my girls), and he surprised her with a BB gun. (With a long list of rules, of course!)

Thanks so much for bringing a cake Mom! (Especially from Roger's Bakery... YUM!) About one week later, we had everyone out for a big birthday BBQ bash. By this time, the THIRD time, Kels was loving it!

Kelsey, I hope you know how special you are to us and how much we love you! Keep smiling and always be yourself. Your sweet spirit, loving personality and love of life is such a blessing to your family. We hope you had a FABULOUS birthday!On a side note, we had a visit with Kelsey's doctor at Primary, and things appear to be going really well. Her doctor has moved her from 3 month checks to a 6 month check up. It was very exciting news for us, and Kelsey was just thrilled!

Aly's 13th Birthday Bash

My sweet Aly turned into a teenager this year! She has grown into such a beautiful young woman with amazing qualities and talents. To list a few: her laughter is contagious - especially her giggle. She is helpful and hardworking, which I am so grateful for! She is fashionable and expensive (look out future husband!). She is responsible and loves to try new things. She is social - VERY social, and has many friends. ALL of this, plus - she is modest, holds her morals and values above all else (another blessing!), and has a beautiful self-esteem about herself (something I like to tease her about, but really couldn't be more grateful!) Aly, I hope you never take yourself too serious, don't be afraid to try new things, don't give up when the going gets tough, never compromise your beliefs for someone else, and always be yourself. Dad and I love you so much and we are so proud of you!

Aly wanted to go with the youth to the temple that night, so, she opened her present when she got home.

The next day, she had a few friends over for a sleepover.

I surprised her with a very cool cake - that she wasn't expecting. (Thanks Becca!)

Thanks Kylie, Bailey, and Chance!

We had family and friends over that Friday night to finish off the festivities.

The wind was picking up, and when you live in the country, there's no wind block. So, we moved our party to the garage just to be safe.

After dinner, the wind let up and we moved to the back patio. The kids jumped in the pool while the rest of us just relaxed and enjoyed each others company. We brought out the kareoke machine and got a few laughs out of our "exquisite" performers.





I made Aly's favorite cake - white velvet. It wasn't as fancy as Becca's cake, but Aly liked it.

After almost everyone else went home, Steve and my cousin McKell teamed up to perform "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". It was so funny! The sad part is that they were really good...

Big ThAnKs to all of our family and friends who came out to help us celebrate Aly - We LoVe you so much!

Happy Birthday Aly!

On Tuesday, Aly turned 12 years old! It doesn't seem so long ago, that mine and Steve's prayers were answered when they laid a precious, sweet baby girl in our arms. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast-- she's going to be in with the Young Women on Sunday, and in Jr. High next Wednesday! With this being such a special birthday for her, I wanted to do something fun - just the two of us. So, with the help of Heather, (Kelsey's friend's sweet mom), Kelsey was with them for most of Tuesday, so I could spend time with Aly. We started off with glitter toes on Monday (because that's when they could get her in). She has been wanting her toes done like mine since I started, so it was a fun birthday treat for her to finally get them! She absolutely LOVES them!!

On Tuesday, we started with yummy lunch from Costa Vida (our favorite place!).

Then, we headed to Fashion Place mall for a fun afternoon of shopping at all her favorite stores! And believe me, she can SHOP! I love it!!

After 5 hours of shopping, we had a nice party at the house with our family. Aly's sweet friend, Kylie joined us too. Thanks SO much to all who came - we love you!

This is her "surprised" look.... (we don't call her Drama Queen for nothing!)

This is one of her surprises from Mom and Dad. After I jokingly told her she looked silly on her little bike, I should've known she'd never get on it again. So, we replaced it with this.


Al, I hope you had as much fun as I did. And, don't worry about Dad, he'll eventually recover from all the "sticker shock". Hope you had a fabulous day! I love you. Love, Mom

Happy Birthday Aly! I hope you know how special you are to us, and how much joy you bring in to our lives. I love you. Love, Dad