Emma's Baptism

On September 30, 2011 Emma was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are so proud of her and the decision she made! This is our family before the baptism. Emma and her Daddy!
A very good friend of mine made Emma's dress. It turned out so beautiful. Typically the little girls wear white, but she didn't want white, she wanted this silvery purple material. I think it was a great choice. Something tells me she's not going to want a white wedding dress either.

Emma and Ryan in their white baptimal clothes. Ryan baptized her.

Emma's church teacher made her this amazing towel to use when she was done and needed to dry off. It has CTR (choose the right), her name, and the date of her baptism. She loves it and thinks it is one of the most beautiful gifts. Thanks so much Dortha!

Thank you to all our wonderful friends and family who were able to come and make this special day even more special for her. She loves each one of you and so do we. We appreciate all the love and support we feel from each and every one of you!

Typical Emma and Jax

During the afterparty at our house, after Classis Skate, this is where you could find Jax, with his awesome buddy Callum. Typical Jax!
During the afterparty this is where you could find all of Emma's friends and cousins. And where was Emma?

Oh here she was!

Typical Emma! ;-) We love our book worm!

Birthday Party

For her birthday this year Emma wanted to take her friends to Classis Skate. For their birthday they birthday kids get to go into the money tank. They have money in this tube and the child gets to colect as much as they can in 60 seconds while a fan is blowing it all around. It was her favorite part of the entire day. Go figure! For the party favor Emma helped me make scarves for all her friends. It's fun to see them all using them this winter!
They also each got Emma's two favorites...Pixie Stix and Unicorn Pops!

Emma blowing out her GF pan of browies. No one even knew they were GF! Sneeky!

Emma with all her friends and some cousins from Phoenix. PS-She doesn't normally wear glasses. She got them as a favor from Classic Skate and she still loves wearing them around. It's the little things in life.

Hope you had a great birthday Emma! We had fun planning it for you!

September 5th

For about a year Emma has been eyeing this charm bracelet at the Kids Gap. You pick our the bracelet and then pick charms to go on it. So this year we decided to get it for her along with several of her favorite charms. Needless to say she was VERY excited. This is Emma holding up her bracelet and one of her charms.
Emma blowing out her candles on her GF cake. It actually turned out pretty good.

Her Grams made her a dress for her birthday. It was the same one her two cousins, Lily and Lexie, got. They also got to all help make them with her.

This day is so special to us in our home. It's the day Ryan and I became parents to the most wonderful daughter ever. She is truly a joy to be around and just wants to always make those around her happy too. We love and adore you Emma!

Happy 8th Birthday!

Jax's Preschool

This is Jax on his first day of preschool this year. He was so excited for it to start. It started the first week of September so he had to wait for 3 weeks after Emma started and lets just say he was less than patient! He was so excited to start using his backpack again!
We are so blessed to have the most amazing preschool right here in our neighborhood. I mean, I literally can see the home from my back bedroom window. Just down the hill. Ms. Jani's Cottage Preschool is amazing and she is the best teacher. Both my kids loved it and Jax couldn't wait to get started again this year. This is Jax explaining his All About Me Poster to his class and to Ms. Jani.

His poster was all about blue and trains. Surprise...surprise. He did such a great job I was so proud of him and his art work.

Have a great year in school this year bud! Love-Mommy and Daddy

Second Grade of Bust

Emma started 2nd grade this year. I can't believe how fast this is all going. She picked out her outfit and even got a new backpack and lunch box. She really didn't need the traditional tennis shoes this year so she decided for her new school shoes she wanted silver sparkly Toms. So that's what we went with.
I seriously can't get over how big she is getting.

She was so excited she was literally jumping for joy that morning.

Emma and one of her very best friends, Daixa. They have been in the same class together since preschool. We were so excited to find out they'd both be having Mrs. Gabrielsson too. Emma didn't even ask me who her teacher was going to be, it was only, "is Daixa in my class?" They are so great together.

She is having such a great time this year and we couldn't have asked for a more incredibly teacher. Thanks for being such an awesome student Em! Have a great year!

Happy Birthday Ryan

This year Emma helped me decorate the house for Ryan's birthday. She had some good ideas. She even insisted on using this very Lisa Frank-esk birthday banner. Thankfully, for the picture Ryan stood in front of it where half of the word birthday was missing. ;-) This day is very special to us in our household! It's the day when our very most favorite person was born. Happy birthday Ry!
The kids also helped me decorate the front steps.

Ryan isn't much of a cake person, so this year we did an apple fritter instead. He definetly enjoyed that idea!

We love an adore our Ryan! Happy Birthday love!

Back Yard Love

I have to admit, I LOVE my back yard. I think it is such a beautiful spot right here in the middle of the city. One of my good friends told me she loved it because it was like having our own person park just outside our back door. I love it because it's so green and has the most beautiful big trees and except for the middle of winter we don't see any of our neighbors. This is a look straight on from off our back porch. This is at a slight angle looking slightly north/east.
This is the south side of our property in the back.

In the second picture if you look hard you can see the tops of the fireplace on our lower patio. This is the lower patio that is at the very north/east corner of our property. This is one of my favorite places on our lot! Love having marshmello roasts and just enjoying the quiet!

I have to admit, this yard is a lot of work, but man, in the middle of winter when I look back at pictures like this, it makes every minute worth the effort.

A Fishing They Will Go

One Saturday this past July Ryan took Jax to a little pond near our house and took him fishing. Jax thought it was the best day ever. He was so proud of his catch.
As soon as Ryan took the picture the fish flipped up in front of Jax's face. I think it looks kind of cool.

Love Daddy/Son bonding day.

Cake and Ice Cream

For their take home prizes this year, I made little hobo bags using sticks and animal print bandanas. They each also got a safari hat. I think it all turned out so cute. The cupcakes were SUPER yummy. I made cake batter and icing from scratch. Seriously, I drooling just remember how yummy they were.
The kiddos helping Jax open his presents.

Here they are enjoying their desserts.

The little explorers all ready for adventure.

Thanks to the parents for allowing us to take their wild animals on our safari.

Zoo Expedition

This year Jax decided he wanted to take his friends to the zoo for his party. Unfortunately, due to going to the zoo and space he only got to pick a few friends. One ended up not being able to come, but we still had fun. This is in the van on the way to the zoo. My sister, Jacque, was in town and help me rangle them. This is Jacque on the train with the kids.
The little explorers in front of the dinosaurs that were being exhibited at the zoo this summer.

Taking a break for a little R&R.

I made Jax's invites and I think they turned out pretty cute. The arrow actually spins.

I hope they had fun, I know Jacque and I did taking them.

Happy Birthday Continued

Jax's adorable Primary Teacher, at church, made him this amazing little crayon holder for church. He loves it and takes it in his church bag every week. There aren't enough good things to say about this amazing woman whom our son adores. PS-yes, I know my kids look like lobsters. We got annual passes to the waterpark this year, and this particular day we went with cousins and stayed for over 6 hours. I know worst mom ever. I totally forgot to reapply the sunscreen. But that was the one and only time we forgot last summer. This is the inside of the crayon holder. Just amazing!
Jax blowing out his candles. Next to him are Aunt Jacque and cousin Mally.

I love this grin. He was so excited by his presents!

After it was dark, we went outside and did fireworks in honor of his big day. Since his bday is 2 days after Independence day they are still legal to shoot of in Utah. He loves them and thinks they are awesome.