Happy 4th Birthday Cali!

Cali turned the big 4! I can't believe this girl is just about ready to start pre-k! Just 5 more months. . .not that I'm counting :) hehe. Kidding! For her birthday this year, Cali chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese(she looooves that place!). She was extra lucky because Nana & Tata were also in town visiting so we got to spend her special day with them. She had lots of fun using up lots of tokens and getting lots of tickets! And eating pizza of course. It was her family birthday year so it was just the fam. I love alternating between family party years and friend party years. With family party years, we all get to enjoy it a little bit more. No stress. Just us doing something fun together and letting the birthday kid pick an activity/meal of their choice.

Pics of the fun. . .

Our 3 beauties

I saw these two together and just had to snap a pic. Sweet daddy-daughter time.

She got lots of tickets! And check out the cool birthday crown Nana & Tata bought her. A monkey. Ella shootin hoops. Joey and I played this against each other. And I beat him. And set a new high score. Boo-ya! I still got it. Don't forget Joey- I played on the 7th grade B team :) Ammon meeting Chuck E Cheese with Tata. Dang, that mouse is huge. No wonder I was scared of him till I was 8.

Later, it was time for cake, icecream & presents at home. Cali wanted a Tinkerbell chocolate cake with chocolate frosting(thats my girl-chocolate!). I was lucky to find a Tinkerbell candle to slap on top(I'm not a cake decorator by any means!). Sprinkles and candles, thats all I got:) She loved it. I mean, doesn't that face just say it all? She told me later, "Thank you for buying me Tinkerbell plates and cups and napkins and cake Mommy." It made me feel good that she expressed gratitude for everything at the end of the day. She is growing up so fast.

She was so cute while we sang to her, lookin all shy:) Licking the frosting off of the candles was what Cali was the most excited about. And when she got to the Tinkerbell candle, nothing stopped her. Here she is, licking Tinkerbells butt.

Time to open presents! We got her a few small things and her "big" thing was a smaller version of the crane game candy machine, like the ones at the arcade. We figured it'd be perfect since she is such a candy freak(a great reward system for good behavior too:) Unfortunately, it didn't work very well and it just frustrated her(Made for some laughs though. It was so funny. I may post video soon if I get a chance). So she gets to go to the store and pick something different out soon. Fail. But she loved the candy:) And the little sleeping bag set and watch we bought her.

I love the faces of all 3 girls in this one :) She has such sweet sisters. They each bought her presents too.

A watch and a mini lalaloopsy. Whee!

Candy! Look at those little eyes all scrunched up in sheer delight.

Vannah White herself.

Ella giving her a book that is special to her. It was really sweet.

Nana & Tata bought her a few American Girl items. One of which was the cutest baby carrier for her Bitty Baby doll. So adorable!

She finished the night off resting in her new Tinkerbell sleeping bag/nightlight/pillow set. If you look closely, you can see a tuckered out birthday girl.

I think she had a great day. We even spent the middle part of the day outside, riding bikes, scooters, selling lemonade from their lemonade stand(and making 17 bucks!), and running around. It was a busy fun day celebrating Cali. And she also got to celebrate with Grandma & Grandpa and the Smith fam a week before while we were in Corpus Christi(future posts coming. . .). So it was almost like she had two birthday! Lucky kid.

We love you sweet girl and are so grateful you are part of this family. You are a beautiful little princess with the most gorgeous curls. Anytime I go anywhere, I always get lots of comments about how cute you are and how beautiful those curls are. People always want to touch them:) You are so funny and make us laugh at the hilarious things you say & your awesome little dance moves. And you are doing so great in dance class! I'm so proud of how much you've grown this year. You also have become such a wonderful big sis this year since Ammon's arrival-you've taken on that role perfectly. Ammon is lucky to have you! You help Mommy with him so much. I can always count on you to get me a diaper or to keep him happy with toys. And I know this year you will love going to school. I know you can't wait to be like your big sisters. You'll do awesome! Happy Birthday cutie patootie! We love you.

Happy Belated St. Patricks Day

~Ella

Till We Meet Again

Last Monday, March 14, 2011, my dear Aunt Jeanie passed away after a painful battle with bone cancer. For those of you that knew her, you know what an amazing woman she was. Words really can't express how much I admire her and love her. As the oldest of 11 children(my mom was #8), she was like a second mother to her younger siblings. She helped my Grandmother so much and was always thinking of others. Her whole life she always thought of others. I know my Mom loves her dearly and is grateful for the things her big sis taught her, especially things pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know part of my Mom's faith and testimony comes from not only her own mother, but her big sister Jeanie. And those have been the 3 most influential women in my life as well-my Mom, my Grandma Adams, and my Aunt Jeanie. They are all three amazing women with a strength beyond compare.

Throughout my life, my Aunt Jeanie was always there for me. As a loving and supportive aunt, she came to many important events in my life: my HS graduation, Joey and I's marriage/sealing in the Dallas temple(pictured above, with her sweet husband and 3 of her 5 kids. It was a long 8 hour drive, but they came and it meant so much to me. They are just an awesome family!), she helped throw my bridal shower, came to my baby showers, the girls luaus, etc. If she could make it, she was there. And she always smiled. I loved her smile and her laugh. I can still hear it.

She was also an inspiring seminary teacher. I was so blessed to have her teach me for 3 of my 4 years in seminary(daily early morning scripture classes for high school students). She had a love of the scriptures like no other and she was an amazing teacher, speaker & writer. I left seminary each morning ready to watch out for those "fiery darts" of the adversary, as she would quote from the scriptures. I was determined to not let them get me:) She always made me feel like I wanted to be better and do better in my life. I love you Aunt Jeanie and will miss you more than you know. Thank you for being such an example to me of faith, strength & diligence in living the gospel & loving it. I never got to tell you personally how much your example affected me, especially during my teen years, but I hope you know. Maybe you are next to me as I type now:) But I am glad I was able to see you and tell you I love you earlier this month. I'm so grateful for that visit. I will miss you but I know I will see you again. I'm so grateful for the knowledge of gospel and that families are forever, thanks to the blessings of the temple and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

I always wanted my Aunt Jeanie to be proud of me. And I will live the rest of my life hoping she is.

Happy Birthday Joey

Today is my sweet husbands 34th! I just wanted to take a minute to wish him a happy birthday here on blogger. He is the best. I honestly can't think of anything bad about this guy(other than maybe socks on the floor sometimes-lol:). He is just awesome. How I snagged him, I'll never know!! A wonderful husband and an amazing father. And also my very very best friend. I love you Joey and hope you have a wonderful day! We are trying hard to make it so! :) Now, I better get off the computer and make your cake!

p.s. Isn't this a cute picture of my two men? I'm so lucky that I not only have one Joey, but now I have another one. Mini-Joey! :) These two make me smile.

Why haven't I been blogging?

Welllll, our house is on the market! We've been a little busy:) Meetings with our realtor, lots of emails, househunting trips, searching online, document signing, showings, notarizing, organizing, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Oh, and taking care of 4 kids on top of that, one of which is a little dude:) Joey just got some boxes from Sam's Club so we get to start packing away the stuff we don't use daily this weekend. Just getting a headstart. And we get to go look at a few more homes tomorrow with the realtor. Fun, but at the same time stressful also. Its been on the market about a week and a half and we've had two showings so far by the same couple(almost sold, but didn't, darn!). Got a call yesterday and we have another showing in the morning. That clients realtor said they were REALLY interested in our home, so we are crossing our fingers. We have found a couple of houses(one in particular) we really love so we are hoping this works all out. We just need another bedroom and bathroom(and a bigger yard too hopefully) and we'll be happy! We are leaning towards moving to a new city(really close though) so who knows? We may start a totally new adventure! Exciting times ahead! Wish us luck!

Proof, this is fo reelz.

Joey took these pictures for our listing. There are actually 20, but I just picked my favorite few to share here. Realtor pics aren't usually the best, so we decided to do our own. Online pics are important! Its what gets people in the door. I think he did a great job. They look smashing.

So, anybody wanna buy it? :)

Ammon: 6 months and his first food!

Half a year! Ammon continues to be a little sweetie. And by little- I mean little. He started off a big 9 pounder but is a little guy right now! He didn't even register in the weight percentiles at his 6 month checkup! But then again, all of my kids have gotten below the 5th percentile in their first year. Its normal for my kids:) Then they pick up. I don't mind, they are light on my arms! Developmentally, he is right on track. He can sit up with just a little bit of support-I know he'll be sitting up solo in the next couple of weeks. That will be fun! He loves to hold toys and chew on them. He also loves to grab my hair. And I can no longer wear dangly earrings. He got a hold of one at church today and luckily I was able to unclench his fist quickly enough so as to not remove my ear. Phew. He loves to laugh and will have some serious gigglefests these days. His facial expressions and reactions to things are so cute right now. And he is still our sweet cuddlebug. Enjoy this video of his first time eating baby cereal(ok, it wasn't his very first taste on this clip, but maybe the second? We used our actual video camera for the very first taste but I taped this on my digital camera just for you!) He was so funny and kept grabbing the spoon:)

Fingers are delicious