Maylee's 3rd Birthday!

Maylee's Birthday is the first of April, which is always fun for me because it always falls right around easter, so there is a lot of excitement and festivities for her birthday. This year she wanted a Tangled birthday. The weather was cooperating, so we had the party at my parent's house and did one of our first bbqs of the season. My parents have a great deck/ yard for big gatherings, so it was perfect. I can't believe in just a few months we will be celebrating Maylee's birthday again. So much about her has changed this past year, but she is still our sweet little Maylee. Her speech has gotten a lot better, however, we are still going strong with speech therapy and have a long road ahead of us still. But everyday she talks more and more and more people understand her. So I am very hopeful that by the time she starts kindergarten there won't be a trace of an impediment at all. Maylee is so thoughtful and caring. She is very sensitive to others and is concerned when others are sad. She definitely is a mother at heart, just like I was. Her favorite things are babies and playing dress up. As tender hearted as Maylee is, she definitely has a stubborn streak that can match anyone I know... myself included! She really is a mini me. We have so many of the same characteristics, and tendencies... which I think is good, because as I see undesirable traits come up in her that I know she has gotten from me, I am more aware of how I act, so hopefully I can change both of our undesirable qualities! She really is such a twinkle in my eye though. She has enriched our family's dynamic so much. She always comes and gives loves and thinks of those that I don't think normally a child would and makes sure they get loves too. Already she is so excited to be a big sister, and  I know she will be a great one. She is so talented, she loves to sing, and dance, she loves to help me in the kitchen, and her drawing technique is really improving too. She's very careful at what she does, and I think already she shows the capability/ possibility of challenging Kaleb in their talents. I can see some competitiveness in them already. However, I think Maylee's is more of just wanting to do everything that her brother does, instead of trying to do it better or even just as good as him. She just wants to be with him. She is such a happy girl. Whenever I come into the room she jumps up and yells my name, greeting me with hugs and kisses. It doesn't matter how many times she has already seen me that day! In the mornings she is a ray of sunshine... until it's time to eat.... then it's a battle because all the girl wants is to eat cereal and I don't really like them eating cereal everyday. I've gotten in the habit (and like to) make warm breakfasts that are a little more nutritional. I like to save the cereal for the mornings after I work.... so we sometimes but heads with that one. :) I love my little girl and look forward to watching her grow up and to develop into an even more beautiful young woman. Now on to the party festivities....... :)

Grandma's hot tub served as a great stage for her to open her presents! The balloons in the background where actually for a balloon release in honor of Maylee's birthday. Because Rapunzel was so special to her parents, they wanted her to know that they never forgot her, so they would set lanterns off for her birthday. So we set balloons off for Maylee, everybody thinking of something they loved about and hoped for for Maylee. It was my favorite part of the party. Unfortunately we didn't think to take pictures of it! Probably because we were all sending off our balloons! 

Maylee coming down to see a surprise gift !

A new princess bike complete with a baby seat, streamers, and a basket!!

Taking it for a spin....

Rapunzel Tower cupcakes... thank you Pinterest!

Maylee was singing Happy Birthday to herself! We sure love her!!

I will be forever catching up!!

Ok, time to get back on the blogger mobile! Lately even thinking about blogging overwhelms me, but we have so many pictures and our life has changed so much, that I know I would regret not documenting it and keeping track. To briefly go through the past year basically, here are a few pictures of the holidays last year... now that we are about to celebrate the same ones this year! THANKSGIVING 2011

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last year. Blake's little brother Tyler has just returned from a 2 year LDS mission in Brazil a few weeks prior. It was fun to be together as a family again and to have him home. His sweetheart, Moryah, had written him his whole mission, and I can't remember now if they were engaged by this time or not, but they were married less than a month later, Dec. 20! So that was our excitement last year at this time!

Maylee and Grandma were so surprised that they matched and they didn't even call each other! 

 TY & MORYAH'S WEDDING

Ty and Moryah got married Dec. 20, 2011. He returned home from his mission Nov. 19, 2011! It's all good though, because we love Moryah and were all hoping that she wouldn't find someone else while he was on his mission. They met the summer after their senior year at a Stake Trek Youth Conference, and had been dating ever since. So I think with the mission, it was over three years. They were married in the Draper temple, it turned out beautifully despite how fast they had to pull it all together!

Tyler never really proposed to Moryah, so that was the joke at the temple... it was her first time receiving the ring! So he made the proposal official after they were already sealed for time and all eternity!

We remembered at the end of the reception that we still needed to get a picture with the newly weds... unfortunately, most of the decorations were already taken down at that point so you can't see how beautiful it was. 

My favorite picture of Maylee from the night

One of my favs from the day. 

CHRISTMAS 2011

This was our first Christmas that we woke up to Santa coming in our own home! It was so fun! OUr yearly traditions include spending Christmas Eve with one of our families and then Christmas day with the other. This year we celebrated Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas day with Blake's. With both of our families Christmas Eve is the big night of the two. We always reenact Luke 2 with the kids, and have a big dinner, usually stake (with Blake's family it is always stake on Christmas Eve). My family started the tradition when we were kids to open all of our family presents on Christmas Eve, and then wake up to Santa Christmas morning. We love that tradition! So we always spend a couple of hours on Christmas Eve doing our gift exchange at the end of the night. No matter who we are with though, Christmas is always a special time full of family and love. 

We made them sit at the top of the stairs and take pictures before they could go down and see if Santa came :)

I love that face! I can still hear the sound coming out of it as he saw all those superhero costumes just for him!

Maylee got everything she'd need to be a good mommy... and then basically everything she'd need to be a princess too! She was hilarious because everything was so awesome and exciting for her! As you can tell by her reaction to her very own lotion!

Merry Christmas!!!

Fall Family Pictures

So for a long time now I have wanted to get some really great family pictures. Last April Blake and I bought a nice camera so that we could do a lot of our own picture taking. It has worked out well for the most part, especially with the kids. This year (as in 2011) I really really wanted it to be the year that we got a family picture on the wall. If fact, for the past three years at least I have had the perfect space in our living room for a family picture, and it remains blank because we have yet to get one that we want to blow up that big!! We have had so many attempts at family pictures... none of them turning out well. I think it may be because we try to do the easy/cheap route... or maybe try too hard for a good picture and then we just end up being disappointed! Well... this year proved to be no different! We went a bought a remote for our camera so that we didn't have to bring anyone up with us... thinking we could take on the task of posing ourselves, etc. Well somehow, despite blake spending, I swear, 15 minutes at a time behind the camera for one shot and trying to make sure everything was perfect, we still got unfocused pictures! The worst part about it was Maylee was being a buster that day so the ones that are in focus, she is pouting or doing something silly, and then the good ones that I would love to hang up are out of focus! Go figure! Just our luck!
But enough time has passed now where I can laugh about it and actually enjoy looking through them and seeing the comical relief in them! So here is a little glimpse of us trying to take our own pictures!! (p.s. I THINK we have learned our lesson!)

Halloween 2011

This year Halloween was so fun! Mostly because I thought my kids were so adorable!! Maylee was Minnie Mouse and Kale was Iron Man. This year we went to my parents neighborhood and went trick or treating. It took us 2 hours to do both sides of their street and then half of the one over! I was shocked! The night was beautiful, and the kids were in no rush! We made out like bandits though! I will make sure to hit their neighborhood again!!

It is time to catch up on the blog!!

oh my! It has been over SO long since I have blogged!! I have missed it that's for sure, and I have had so many things that I have thought to myself I need to blog about that.... but I just haven't found the time or energy until now! I'm still trying to figure out how I'm goona do it... all in one post or a bunch of separate ones.... I guess we will find out soon enough!

So why such a busy life nowadays?? Well, I think the biggest factor is that in November I went back to work. I now work part time, nights, at the hospital as a unit secretary. Things are going well. It took a lot of prayer and searching and even turning jobs down trying to find the right job for me and for our family. I think I found it! I can't say that I love working, but if I have to work, this is where I want to be. The people are so nice, and I have fun at work. Also, adapting to the night shifts has not been as horrible as I thought it might be. My kids have done wonderfully, Blake has really stepped up to the plate and taken on a lot more house work and domestic duties, and really hasn't complained much at all! So really, I think in our case we are in the best case senario. We definitely have goals and a purpose for me going back to work, so the pressure is on to make this time worth it!

It definitely has been an adjustment trying to "re-prioritize" my priorities. There are things I have to let go of now that I want to do, and make sure the things that really matter get pushed to the front burners and get done. I'm mostly concerned for my kids and making sure that me working nights and having to sleep during the day doesn't have to impact them any more than the bare minimum. I think that has been the biggest adjustment of all. Trying to remember to still have fun with them and get them out of the house even when I am tired and want to sleep more. OR going to bed on my nights off even though I am in a groove with whatever I am doing so that I can wake up and be with my kids in the morning.

I do think, however, that over all it has strengthened Blake's and my relationship. We are working more as a team now and it has really helped us in achieving our goals and feeling connected to one another. Of course there are rough spots where we have to remind ourselves of the big picture and re-center ourselves. But overall it has been good for us... who would have thought?! You never think that the wife going back to work would be good for a marriage... at least I never did! I think it helps us to appreciate the other more and what their role is to the family.

So that is my first post in updating! I have decided to make smaller, more specific post to update the happenings of the past 4 months... I think it'll be a little easier to digest and keep organized!

Health Conscious Mamas

So my sister in law and I started a new blog called Health Conscious Mamas, it's all about getting the most nutrients out of what you eat, and cutting out a lot of the processed foods that are in our diets. We have some pretty good recipes, you should come check us out!

You can also like our facebook page, Health Conscious Mamas!

We would also love to hear about your favorite healthy recipes too! Just send us a message on facebook with your favorite recipe, and we will try it, and if we like it we will feature it on our blog! We will be doing Feature Fridays, so every friday we will hopefully have a recipe from one of our readers to share! Hopefully this will become and fun resource for you and your friends!

Summer 2011

This summer has been SO busy, but so much fun at the same time! Blake takes every Tuesday off so there aren't any worries about him getting home on time for me to go to Young Womens (because he usually never gets off when he is scheduled to be off). So Tuesdays have become our "Family Adventure Fun Day" :) I love this tradition, I think it will really help our family unity as our kids get older, we've already decided that Family Adventure Fun day is a non-negotiable, if you are a member of our family, you have to attend. However, friends are welcome too!! :)
We have the "Pass of All Passes" this year, which is admittance to our local water park (Seven Peaks), two miniature golfing/fun centers (Trafalga), and then admittance to a local baseball and I think indoor football team games. So we have been found at least once a week at Seven Peaks since it opened! We also have gone hiking several times and camping. We like going to Trafalga too but since the water park opened we haven't been.
When Blake is working I am usually found at my parents house sun bathing by the pool with my sisters! The kids love their cousins and are always so excited to see them. I'm glad we were able to get so much family time in because...
This summer we have also had big changes around us too! My sister, Mandy, and her family moved to Washington less than two weeks ago, and Blake's brother, Wade, his family moved out to Nebraska about a month ago. Both these families I spent a lot of time with, so even though I have not moved I have been forced out of my comfort zone! Which I kind of think is not fair! ;) But it has been good, and I am enjoying doing things with my friends more instead of always hanging out with family. Both are good, but change is good too.
This summer I also got to go to girls camp!! I have been wanting to go back to girls camp since I left Young Womens, so I was so thrilled that I was able to go this year. When I first got the calling I wasn't sure if I'd be able too because they don't allow anyone who's pregnant at the camp. I figured with camp being 10 months away I would probably be pregnant by then, but apparently Heavenly Father wanted me at girls camp just as bad as I wanted to be there too! It was a wonderful experience, I got to witness things happen in girls lives that can only be explained by miracles, and that could have only happened at Mia Shalom. I'm so proud of all the girls who went, they didn't have to go, but they did, and I think all of our lives are changed because of it.
Like I said before, it has been a great summer, here are some pictures documenting some of what we did.

My 4 year old!!

My Superhero, Kaleb, had his 4th birthday this summer!!

He is totally obsessed with superheros! So of course, that was the theme! For about a month before his birthday (at least) he kept telling me he wanted a superhero cake with superhero toys on it. I tricked him and told him I couldn't find any superhero toys at the store, that they were all sold out, so he wouldn't be having any superhero toys on his cake. :( His face when he saw the superhero toys on his cake was priceless! He is such a cute boy!

To celebrate his birthday we spent the day at the pool with cousins, and then had his party that evening. This was the first time I attempted to use fondant on a cake, I even made it my self! However, my recommendation would be, if you've never used fondant before, then work with store bought first, that way you know what the texture should be. Mine was really soft, so it was a little harder to work with and then kind of sunk into the cake, so you could see the lines and everything from the cake through the frosting. If that makes sense. It was a little lumpy :)

So what do I say about Kaleb?? For one, I can't believe he is 4! He is so smart, and thoughtful. Ever since he could talk he has never let s get away with giving him an absent minded response to his questions. One of the quotes that has totally backfired on me is "Mom, because is not an answer!" :)
The other day Blake and I were talking about covenants in the car, and Kaleb pipes in from the back seat, "mom, what's a covenant?" So we explained to him that a covenant is a promise to someone who promises something else in return. We of course used the temple as an example, covenants we have made with Heavenly Father, covenants mommy and daddy made to each other, when we are baptized we make covenants too, etc, etc. So just after a second of thinking about it he said, "so when I promise you that I will make my bed, and you promise me that I will get a sticker, that's a covenant." "Yep, you're exactly right, Kaleb!" "and when I promise to read my scriptures Jesus promises to make me happy, that's a covenant too." "Yes! That's awesome Kaleb, good job!" "but when I promise to be nice, then that's just a promise."
Who is this kid?! He absorbs so much, and comprehends it! He is so smart! Sometime a little too smart for his own good! He is always analyzing and using logic, to get out of trouble. Poor kid just doesn't get that just because he is 4 he can't do everything mom and dad do and have those same rights. I can't tell you how many times we've had discussions on why he thinks he should be able to eat out in the living room, or why he doesn't need to take a nap, or why he can just help himself to food, etc, etc. He always has good points, and doesn't accept the reasoning, because you are only 4, and you still need to listen to mommy and daddy. You still have a lot to learn!
Kaleb loves playing outside, and being with the family. He and Maylee play a lot together, but we are entering the stage of sibling rivalry! Mostly, they get along pretty well, but if Kaleb looks at her wrong, Maylee screams, and Kaleb loves to look at her wrong! Their favorite activity now is Kaleb dresses up as a superhero, and Maylee puts on a princess dress, and Kaleb protects her! So cute!
Kaleb is a great big brother, and helps Maylee with everything. He is such a sweet , kind, little boy. He has great social skills, he can have fun with anyone at any age. Adults love him, kids love him, grandparents love him! I hope that he has a great year being 4, and that it is filled with lots of fun memories!! I love that little dude!

I had to add this! This is his first sidewalk chalk person!

2011 Half MarathonS!!!

So my big goal for this year was to do a half marathon, and I ended up doing two! So I am pretty proud of my self for that! Too bad I totally hammered my feet with the last one, and haven't quite gotten the courage up to go get new shoes and get back out there! I am getting the itch again, so hopefully it won't be too long before I am "chasing pavement" again! ;)
My first race was April 30th at Thanksgiving Point. I absolutely loved this race!! It was SO beautiful to run through the gardens at the height of the season, and so well organized. The only downfall was that it snowed that morning! And the night before it snowed like 6 inches!! It didn't ruin any of the scenery, in some ways, it actually made it prettier. But it definitely was cold!! A couple miles into the race, though, my hat and jacket were off! Apparently all the spectators were freezing, they obviously were not running 13 miles! :) Here are some pics...

I have the cutest fans ever!

Getting a congratulatory hug!

I felt like I was going to cry several times during this race! I would just get overcome with emotion, and have to fight back the tears. I should not have been able to do this race! I was really bad at being consistent with my training, sick the 2 weeks before, and just a crazy, stressful month! I was so nervous to run, I knew I probably wouldn't get hurt, but I just wanted to do well on my time, and I hadn't trained, so I knew it was a long shot! My goal was 10 minute miles, and I ended at 2:11 hours, so just 6 seconds a minute over my goal! The part that stunk was that I was doing really well and staying right around 9 minute miles for the first 8-9 miles. Then I started to get tired. I remember being at mile 10 and really starting to feel it in my legs. Mile 11 had a nice stretch of steep hill and that knocked the wind out of me! I struggled the last two miles, and gained all my time back! Once I hit mile 12 I tried with all my might to go faster, and I swear I could not move any faster! I was so glad to be done! You can tell by my pictures how tired I was!
But of course as soon as the race was over, the fever kicked in!! I was already thinking about what I could do if I trained consistently and really pushed myself. Then I found out that my two sister in laws had signed up for the Utah Valley Half Marathon in the middle of June. I decided that if I could find someone who was trying to sell their spot I would take it. Just so happens, two weeks before the race, my sister in law's friend ended up needing surgery the week before and had to sell her spot, so I was in! It was a fun race! Definitely not as easy as I thought it was going to be (I thought it would be all down hill), but it was good. My favorite part was running down University Ave, and having crowds of strangers cheer me on, and little boys sticking out their hand to give me high fives! It was really fun having that experience with my sister in laws too. Jolene is moving out of state in a few days, and that was probably our last opportunity to all run together. Hopefully, not, but all probability counts against us! Here are those pics...

Jolene and I before the race

Don't my children look thrilled?!?!

The three of us, this was Stacey's first race ever and it was a half marathon!!