Andrew Tamara and Emma

September Fun!

2011-11-14T15:37:00.007-06:00

The month of September was full of fun for us. We were able get to know our little man more and spend a fun two weeks with Nana!

Emma loves to lay right next to Luke and snuggle and kiss on him.

Building a stable and fence for her horses to play in. Emma is so fun to watch play with her animals. The conversations she has are too funny. Her animals are the only toys that she can keep her attention for any amount of time. I can just sit and watch her play, seriously love it!

Every day occurrence with my little lady asking to hold her "handsome boy" ;)

His 'scowl'

Emma and Nana making and decorating cupcakes, well... Emma eating more of the sprinkles than anything ;)

Luke with Daddies mitt and bat ;)

Her favorite place to hold him.

Luke is such a snuggly little guy! I absolutely love it! It is amazing to already start to see his little personality and how different he is than Emma was. It is so fun how they are both so unique.

She looks like a giant compared to him ;)

It was so great to have Nana here with us. We played, cooked, talked, and just had a great time with her. Now that we live so far from family it is so special to us to have visitors. We love it!! Thank you Nana for coming and helping and making memories with us!

Getting so strong with his little head..

Nana and Emma were almost daily out in the pool on Emma's insisting ;) Emma couldn't get enough! Nana would make 'small' and 'big' waves for our little fish to swim in and she loved it.

Luke sitting pool side enjoying the warm weather while sister swims ;)

Love my boys!

Emma playing in the sprinkler with Nana.

And taking a little drink.

Getting chunkier!

I just love squeezing on this little man!

One of Emma's favorite things to do... jump!

In the runner sound asleep. This boy is amazing. He is fat and happy and such a great sleeper. If his tummy is full and diaper clean he is pretty content. Not to mention he is amazing traveling in the car and running errands. If he isn't sleeping he just looks around hanging out in his seat ;) So in love with this little man!

She wants me to take a picture every time she holds him, so I have LOTS of these shots but I figure it will show how quickly he is growing and getting so big!

At Lukas's 4 week appointment he weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches! Growing like crazy!

It is so much fun having these two little ones in our home. They bring me such happiness and joy. Being a mom is seriously so amazing to me and I can't get enough of them!

Emma the Preschool girl!

2011-10-01T20:06:00.002-05:00

Emma started Preschool the first week of September and has loved everyday since. She goes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for 3 hours and seriously can't get enough and wants to stay longer every time I pick her up. Thank you "Mrs. Wilson" for making her days so fun!

It has been fun to see her learning and the excitement she shows when she comes home to tell me all about what she did. She is such an animated little girl that sometimes she talks so fast and wiggles so much when she is telling me that I have to tell her to slow down!

I am so proud of her and her love of learning, she is full of energy and life and I love every minute of it.

Here she is with her buddy Jojo.

Her and Abi checking out the toys.

Color time...

The past month has been absolutely wonderful. Emma loves not only school but is the most amazing big sister. She really can't get enough of Lukas. She wants to hold him a lot and is always talking to him and giving him kisses. She hasn't had one moment of "take him back" business. I just love my little ones! I am beyond blessed.

Lukas Daniel Walton!

2011-09-02T16:34:00.020-05:00

Morning of August 18, 2011! Picture of me before our little man enters the world. My mom came into town the night before and stayed with Emma as Andrew and I headed to the hospital for our scheduled c-section at 1130!

Yes these are my feet before.....completely NASTY!! I was so excited to have my feet and legs back!

After getting checked in and gowned up!

Waiting...and waiting... Because of emergency surgeries we ended up not getting in the OR until after one. Needless to say Andrew missed his class ;)

Prepped and ready! I was freezing, hence the pile of blankets!

And at 1:31 pm our little Lukas Daniel entered the world! Unbelievabley amazing! This time they pulled down the drape when they pulled him out so I got to see him ( I didn't get to with Emma, so I was SOO happy)!!

Everyone couldn't believe how clean and big he was! I love this scowl ;)

Cutting the cord!

His foot prints...they are long little feet!!

Weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and 19 2/3 inches!

All ready to go to dad!

Now my turn and off to recovery we go!!

We had to hang out in recovery for several hours because there wasn't a room available but I was pretty out of it due to the meds they gave me in the OR because I became nauseated when they were closing me back up so seriously the whole recovery is quite a blur! Thanks to my hubby for standing FOREVER by my side while I was in and out until finally he got a chair! At one point the monitors kept beeping, I figured it was my heart rate but wasn't too concerned but I looked at Andrew and he had this worried look on his face and said your heart rate keeps going into the 40's. I love him for being a little worried for me, I wasn't but thanks handsome for loving me!! Finally it was our turn and I was off to my room. I had sent Andrew home to get my mom and Emma, I was sooo excited to have Emma get to see Lukas!

Our little man, there is just something so special about new little ones! Undescribable!

When they finally got there Andrew went to get Lukas while my mom, Emma, and I waited to see him. Emma was so sweet and cute when she saw him! Melted my heart!

She couldn't wait to hold him! Yikes I am so swollen...but my two cute kiddos are too adorable in this pic to not post!

My mom got us flowers and Emma decorated them with her cats. If you look close you can see them sitting in the flowers ;)

Emma enjoying the cake they brought in to celebrate his birthday!

Proud daddy who stayed with us both nights and snuggled with him when he didn't want to eat or sleep! Such an amazing dad!

On our way home after his circumscision, definitley different with a boy! I felt so bad for him and he was so sad ;( Good thing they do it when they are so little!

My three loves!

Emma was sooo funny when we brought him in and put him in the swing! He was asleep but moves a ton in his sleep so every time he would move she would squeel and say "he's moving he's moving" It was seriously so cute!

First sponge bath..

Big sister so excited to help!

Always wanting to hold 'baby Lukas' !

Snug as a bug!

Sunday became a sad day when Emma started sneezing and had a runny nose! Poor girl was pretty much exiled from Lukas and he was confined to our room for the next four days. He was a gem! Ate and slept while our little lady recovered! I couldn't imagine him getting sick so we took every precaution ;)

Emma fell asleep playing with daddy.

This is how you know when my little lady is sick...she naps! She isn't a napper so when she does you know she isn't feeling good, sick kiddos seriously break my heart!! Thank you to the priesthood and a husband worthy to hold it to give my kiddos blessings, I know that they were blessed and are loved by our Heavenly Father more than I can comprehend! I saw a miracle following the blessings, Emma recovered so quickly and Lukas didn't get sick. So simple to many but such an amazing blessing to me. How I love the gospel and knowledge and power we receive by living worthily to receive the blessings He is so willing to give if we but ask and have some Faith. I am truly blessed in so many ways!

Love his scowls!

Emma keeping her distance but still keeping an eye on him ;)

Hanging out with mom in our room on one of the exiled days ;)

I could just squeeze him to pieces!

Look at his skis! He really has long little feet ;)

Finally out of the room and relaxing in the heat while Emma plays in the pool with Grandma.

So sweaty..out of the seat we go.

Lukas found his thumb! I thought it was pretty cute, he instantly loved it! Andrew told me to pull it out because he didn't want him sucking it ;) I made him take a picture first!

So sweet and precious..

Kisses for brother! Emma seriously has been so sweet to him and is so concerned for him. Every time he makes a peep she goes running! She is always asking me "hows baby Lukas feeling?" I just love them so much!

Grandma with Lukas. Because of Emma being sick and keeping Lukas away she didn't get to hold him as much as she should have but I couldn't have done it all without her! She was so great to keep Emma entertained. They played and played and played! And when they weren't playing she was cooking or cleaning for me! Thank you soooo much mom for all your help and Love!!

His cheeks are getting chubbier!

His first official dunking bath...I decided to just put him in the sink, he wasn't so sure of this ;)

"mom his nose is so cute!"

When Lukas was born, he had a scab right here where you can see the hickey. He must have sucked on it lots while he was in me! The scab fell off after several days and then I heard him sucking as I was burping him one day so I laid him down and this is what I saw...he had found it again and had given himself a hickey!

Hi mom!

Tummy time...he is really strong with his little head!

Caught a smile while he was sleeping! I could just eat him up!

His 2 week appointment went great! He weighs 8 pounds 13 ounces and is 21 inches long! Yay I am actually making enough milk to make him grow..wahoo! With Emma not so successful so this made me so happy!

We are truly in love with this little man and feel so blessed to have him in our home! Welcome to our family our little Lukas, you are loved so much!!

Fun with Grandma

2011-09-02T16:30:00.004-05:00

My mom entertained our little lady for hours and hours during the 10 days she came to help us with Lukas being born! Here are a few pics of what they spent time doing.

I LOVE my mom's sugar cookies! They made some and brought them to me at the hospital and then made another batch when I got home because I ate them all! She learned a lot about making cookies with Grandma! Sugar cookies are my favorite but boy they are so time consuming, so when we make cookies we do easy ones!

Even wearing her little apron Grandma made for her for Christmas last year ;)

Hours were spent making, molding, and playing with playdoh animals. My mom really showed some artistic talent making all these little animals! Emma still has some and plays with them, all dried out ;)

I have a video that I have tried to post but can't get to work but it must be noted that many many more hours were spent pretending to be animals. Grandma had to be many different animals, one a horse where Emma was the 'cowboy' and got to ride her all over the playroom telling her to go and move faster 'grandma horse' at one point my mom said she told her she needed to rest so Emma got down went behind her and pushed on her butt to help her move and said 'ok now your through the mud' ;) Funny girl! Also a bit easier on grandma was playing puppy, especially when Emma was the puppy. She would do all the tricks you would ask her and stay in puppy character really well, it was so quiet while she played puppy ;) Many laughs were made by watching these two! Thank you mom for being so great and playing so hard with Emma! You are amazing!

Crazy girl Emma ;)

2011-08-18T06:12:00.009-05:00

This little lady never stops and is always making me laugh! I seriously just love her!! Nana sent a package for her and had some clothes for Lukas and she thought it would be fun to put them on ;) This is an 18 month outfit and she fit into it ;) I think she looks adorable!

This bear was purchased on our trip to Seaworld and she loved it!

Fell asleep with her new dolphin..

Emma LOVES to watch movies on the computer over the tv for some silly reason. She can even pick them and start them now! Enjoying one of her many movies with her stuffies and yoo-hoo!

Goggle girls..

Emma found this frog outside and fell in love, we chased it all over trying to catch it!

No prince in this frog...

This pool has been a lifesaver. We have spent countless hours in it playing and staying cool! Thank you Wilson's for the great idea!

She has become quite the amazing swimmer! She LOVES her goggles!

She loves to splash and get us all wet!

Emma likes to get in this floaty and tell us that she is 'just relaxin' and 'it's so cozy here' !

Emma has come to several of my appointments and every time while we wait she has to get up on the table and have me be the 'doctor' and listen to her baby! Love this girl! And can't wait to see her with her baby brother Lukas!!

Summer fun with friends!

2011-08-18T05:35:00.006-05:00

Our Summer has been filled with water fun with friends! Here is Emma with her best bud Jojo. They both love the water and have so much fun playing together! They could be twins!!

Beach fun with the Wilsons!

Hunting for shells..

Warming up on the hot cement!

More beach adventures...

The men tending ;)

Jojo eating his cookie while still playing in the water!

She had so much fun with daddy playing on the boogie board1

And the crash...

Texas summers are so hot the only way to stay outside and feel pleasant...especially being pregnant...is by playing in the water, and boy have we done this! I love it!!

Sea World Again!

2011-08-17T18:00:00.009-05:00

We headed off to San Antonio again to go to Seaworld and it just happened that some good friends of ours from Cedar City were going to be living in San Antonio for the summer so we met up with them! It was great and we had a fabulous time!

Here is Emma after a great swim in the pool!

Feeding the dolphins again!

My little dancer..

She was in LOVE with the scuba divers feeding the sting rays!

She was making us laugh hysterically by pretending to be the announcer on the podium! Funny girl!

The girls watching the dolphin show! I was surprised Emma actually shared her dolphin and shamu stuff animals considering she is in love with stuffies but she did great!

Emma is just barely to short for the bigger rides so she only could ride 3 but she seemed to love them anyway!

Floating down the lazy river. The water was FREEZING and Ems wasn't a huge fan...strange she loves water!

After the busy day she was passed out in the car and stayed asleep bringing her in the hotel and actually stayed asleep the whole night..wow..crazy for this little lady!

Such a great time with my little lady and hubby as well as great friends!

Daddy's B-day!

2011-08-17T17:55:00.003-05:00

We sure love this guy!! Andrew turned 27! We did something simple with just Emma and I at the house but she absolutely had sooo much fun decorating the cake and the kitchen for daddy!

We love you handsome! Thank you for being so amazing, we are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Easter in Texas!

2011-08-17T17:36:00.006-05:00

Easter was a lot of fun this year. Definitely different than being in Utah but still fun. This is Emma in her Easter dress.

Coloring eggs!

She even made one for Lukas ;)

Her beauties..

Found all her eggs in the house and now is off to find them outside!

Great eyes little lady.. She was so much fun to watch as she would get so excited each time she would see an egg!

Her loot!!

She played with the eggs forever! At one time this is how I found them ;)

Emma and I went to an Easter egg hunt with people in our ward. This is Emma and her little friend she loves!

I just loved watch her run to find her 6 eggs!!

Even her elephants made the whole hunt! She loves these elephants to pieces!!!

IT'S A...

2011-04-30T13:35:00.003-05:00

We are super excited to going to be having a little boy, and I think Emma will love him to pieces! She was so funny during the ultrasound, at first she just pointed and said "It's a dolphin!" We laughed... a little while later she says "No it's a lion!!" Funny girl! Now she will pat my belly and her little brother hugs and kisses ;)

The BEST SuRPriSe!!!

2011-04-22T08:08:00.021-05:00

I was sitting charting at work on a Saturday night, thinking about how I was really not looking forward to working Sunday night actually really bugged...when I got a text from Daph asking if I would be ok with them if they came to visit on MONDAY! I couldn't believe it!!!! Thinking..are you serious...of Course!!!! So it all started from there, she was able to get great tickets and the kids had the week off for spring break so walaaa they were on their way Monday!! Heavenly Father knew what would be going on so having me work Sunday night actually worked out fabulous with them coming into town because that was one less night I worked while they were here, He really does LOVE me, I love being reminded!!

Emma woke up to find Lex, Mitch, and Daph and immediately gave hugs and started playing! These are a few pics around the house during the week. They entertained Emma a ton and she absolutely loooovvved having them here!

Spotting a Gekko...

This became a fav for emma...blanket rides, after they left she was constantly asking me for rides;)

Getting clean after the beach...

Lex was a good sport!

They all love to look at the daily pics...

Not sure what Ems pants were doing??

All 3 captivated with Tangled!!

Creative kiddos...Lex and Mitch made these faces with the letters of each of our names, I am the only one that looks dead ;)

Makeup beauties... Lex got some makeup and helped put some on Emma too ;)

THE WEEKS EVENTS: ZOO

We had lots of fun at the zoo once again ;) Emma absolutely loves going!

This guy was awesome, he loved just hanging out by the window eating and putting his hand up to yours!

Mitchel's face..love it!

Emma was spoiled and got to ride twice, once with Lex and Mitch! Lucky girl! Thanks guys for taking great care of my little lady!

Once Emma picked these out from the gift store the zoo was no longer as interesting... she wanted to sit in the stroller and just play with them ;) I honestly can't tell you how many animals we have around our house...wow this girl is addicted!! ---side note---she is so funny with them lately, she will basically pretend house with them instead of dolls, she talks about baby brother, momma, daddy, take them potty and just talks and talks with them. I could seriously just sit back and watch her all day, she just makes me SOOO HAPPY! Any hoo onto more fun...

The petting zoo, of course the kids enjoyed and big cuz Mitch talked Ems into hugging them...not sure if that was the best idea but she didn't seem to mind! (good thing no flesh eating bugs..right Melissa ;))

She like the little ones much more than this big one, but the kids loved trying to get her to pet it.

I LOVE this pic of Mitch! You can actually see his cute smile...a rare thing these days in pics..thanks Mitch we need more!!

AQUARIUM

The aquarium was great, a little chillier day only in the low 70's I think with a breeze so this was perfect!

Emma wanted nothing to do with touching these guys this time...weird! Last time she was all for it.

Emma holding onto "Jack" for dear life when the BIG spider came into view as well as the snakes! I think I have seriously scarred her for life when it comes to bugs and snakes...I wasn't always so lame but I have become that way and she catches on so quick! Oh well you can't blame me when Texas has HUGE bugs and we found a GIGANTIC snake in our back yard...yes I made Andrew kill it...nasty! --Another side note, for some reason the whole trip Mitch was often called "Jack" by Ems, I have know idea where she came up with it!

Our backyard snake was about half this size!!! ok..not really but to big for comfort with a two year old running around!

This octopus was amazing! Daph and I sat and watched it forever, Mitch finally walked back to us and couldn't believe we were still watching it. Heavenly Father's creations never cease to amaze me, beautiful in strange ways!

Their pic was a favorite at the gift shop and stayed displayed for a long long time;) I think they look great too!

BEACH

Lex and Ems ready for a fun day at the beach. Lex had been asking all week to go and we were finger crossing hoping it would stay warm, it was a titch on the chilly side but very fun and enjoyable!

Daddy braved the cold water with our little lady! Daph and I enjoyed the view from the Beach watch them play in the chilly ocean.

Lex and Mitch enjoying a slippery game a catch..

Love this MAN!!! His classes were cancelled this day so it worked out perfect! He seriously is sooo good to Emma and I, I know when he really could be studying he will take time to play with us...we love these times!!

Daph's true Beach bum...yes those are his bum cheeks showing through, wow! Very good laugh for us ;)

And... my very own adorable beach bum;) Her swim shorts got wet right as we got there and of course they were cold so she thought it was better to run around shortless... we let her for quite a while considering hardly anyone was around! This girl would run around naked all day at the house if I let her...silly little lady!

More of my little lady's behind...suit was a bit big;)

This is where Daph and I spent most of the time, laughing and enjoying the relaxing moments! With my little lady fast asleep on my lap, I LOVE it when I get to hold her as she sleeps...it doesn't happen often!

BRAZOS BEND

Fun adventure with Mitch and Lex around!

Everyone with smiles :)

Then the heat set in...

Me not really thinking didn't carry along a water bottle...thinking we have done this before and didn't even need water... well turns out the three kiddos REALLY LOVE water! Poor Mitch and Lex only got to wet their 'whistles' and Ems got to drink as often as she wanted from the one water bottle Daph brought! Lex really thought she might die of the heat and just couldn't believe how unfair it was Emma got more water! She gave me a good laugh...I love this girl!

We told Mitch and Lex if we just hurried back to the car we had lots to drink so Daph and I took off... They didn't find us funny in the least ;) Emma loved every minute going fast! (It wasn't fast..picture prego me with little lady on the shoulders...yes very slow but still joyful to my 2 pint;))

We all made it back in one piece and got to enjoy some cold fluids! Yum! Emma got her first chance of trying fire cheetos (I think that's what they were) and she kept asking for more even when she would need drinks in between ;) She definitely gets that from her daddy!

It was soooooo sad to say goodbye to these guys! I absolutely LOVED having them around. I can't remember the last time Daph and I got to really hang out for more than a couple of hours, so having her come with the kids was sure FUN!! Thank you Daph, Mitch, and Lex for the fun week and even better memories and many Laughs!! We love you guys so much and are so grateful you came to visit!!!

And Now...

2011-03-19T03:08:00.002-05:00

We are excited to let everyone know that Walton baby #2 will be joining our family!! Due August 27th ;) Emma's mind changes daily on whether she wants a baby brother or baby sister...we will get to find out in 3 weeks! Everything is going good with the pregnancy, I have been more sick with this one but not enough to complain too much about...except to my poor hubby..good thing he loves me so much!! It's still hard to comprehend two kiddos...wow...we are really excited and happy for this little one, it will be fun to see Emma as a big sister!!

February and another special visit!

2011-03-14T11:55:00.015-05:00

She loves to wear daddy's hats...and helping mom clean! Her jobs are usually mirrors and toilet seats;)
February..meant a visit from Nana and Pops! We were so spoiled to get visitors two months in a row! Love love loved it! I was a very big slacker and didn't take many pictures but our time with them was much more warm and lots of visiting and having fun!
Pops helped Emma climb the tree...she thought this was pretty neat!

Much time was spent outside...blowing bubbles;)

These two pics are classic Emma expressions;)

Our cheese ball...

Poor Nana and Pops didn't know what they had gotten themselves into when they brought her bike outside and started pushing her around... she never wanted to stop and loved every minute!

What a look...

Deep talking I am sure...;)

The thief and his side kick... Pops decided to pick some of the fruit from our neighbors tree to see how good they were even after our freezing nights, and Emma helped right along;)

I am guilty as well, I guess, because I tried them and wow they were amazingly juicy and delicious!!! It was sad again to see Nana and Pops leave, the time always flies by way too fast! Thank you both for coming..it means the world to us!!! We love you!

This little lady has made a game out of stealing peoples seats when they get up..so when you come back you find her sitting in your chair with all smiles!! It is never ending with her, she finds it funny every time!! The funny thing is..is that I used to do this to my dad when he would watch tv and then get up for something I would lay in his spot and he would come back and pick me up and spin me and put me on the floor and I thought it was so fun...I guess it is a little more of me coming out of our little lady!
How cute are these two...

Look at their faces! I could squeeze them both to pieces!! They are good little pals and we love going to the park to play together! His mom's company isn't bad either;)

Zoo time! We love that the weather has warmed up and we are able to go and play!

Feeding the giraffes ;)

After the Zoo we were able to meed daddy and go on a train ride around the park by the zoo! Emma thought it was great!!

Emma loves to wear mine or Andrew's sunglasses...if it is sunny she will yell "it's too bright...it's too bright I need mommy/daddy's sunglasses";)

We spent a few hours one Saturday at a state park close to us called Brazos Bend going for a bike ride checking out the alligators. They were everywhere and didn't care that there were people all over the place. These guys would lay right next to trail...

We have loved having this bike trailer..it has gotten much use since our little lady was just tiny! We would put her whole car seat in here at first until she could sit up enough to not slide all over, very fun for us!

We stopped and had a picnic and got attacked my bees...3 different tables and they followed us everywhere!! Emma enjoyed searching for sticks! My booty was hurting soooo bad though and the way back was brutal on my toosh, I had to try to sit only on one cheek at a time! Because of it though my great hubby got me a new cushion seat with padded biker shorts...yes I look goofy with a padded bum but much better!! Thanks love!

More Zoo this time with friends! Big Emma, little Emma, and Jojo:)

A must to go on for Emma when we go..the carousel!

Chips and dip in the back yard loving the warm weather!!

And playing in the water...supposed to be watering the garden;)

She thought is was soooo funny to try and get mom all wet!

She was much more wet than mom by the end though... I am absolutely loving the weather! It just makes me so happy!!
Besides all the fun we are having things are going great. Andrew got an internship with a Federal Bankruptcy Judge, which he is so excited for and will be awesome experience for him when he starts in May. We are so proud of him and how amazing he is doing!!! Good job Love! I am working and as it shows loving being at home with Emma and playing and playing! Life is good and we are so blessed!

Grandma and Grandpa visit!!

2011-03-14T11:22:00.008-05:00

Random pic.. she loves to get in with all her stuff animals and us her binoculars to find "animals in trouble" ;)

January was lots of fun for us! My parents came to visit! We basically hung out and visited because it was sooo cold here! 40's during the day...maybe low 50's..made it sooo cold to go out in but we enjoyed all the time playing and visiting in the house! One day we did venture out to go to the USS Texas battleship. This was the ship that my Grandpa..my dad's dad..was on during World War II. It was really neat to see and imagine what my grandpa did while being on the ship!

These guns were everywhere on the decks and it took 12 men to run one...crazy huh!

Emma loved sitting on them and exploring but the metal was soo cold..much braver than her mama!

Inside the ship was much much warmer;) Look at these beds...I can't even imagine a ship with tons of stinky men and then sleeping this close to everyone! Amazing what they did for us and our freedom!

The little 'store' on the ship to get treats, smokes, and magazines;)

There were all these massive ropes everywhere..

Barber shop;)

The little lockers they had to keep their things..

Yes...the bathrooms..

Mess hall.. There were all sorts of little places that we didn't get pictures of but it made me amazed at what my Grandpa lived with ;)

Tight places to up and down to different levels.

You were able to climb all the way up to the top of this:)

The ship was amazing and so fun to get to go see with my mom and dad!
At the house there was much playing going at Emma's insistence, she was in heaven! I came up to find Grandpa playing playdo with our little lady:)
Emma, Grandpa, Grandma, and I also took a day and went to San Antonio to see the Alamo. I forgot to take pics but we had a great time!
Funny story I don't want to forget...my mom and dad decided to take Emma to McDonald's to play since it was too cold outside while I stayed home and slept for a while after working. So I sent them with the GPS set to get to there and showed them how to put in to get home. Well they got there and played for couple hours and then decided to go for a little ride. It turns out the GPS was dead..I forgot to put the charger in the car..so they were on their own! It was completely over cast so they couldn't tell at all where the sun was...which my dad figured if he could have seen it he would have known which direction to go;) And it also doesn't help that it is completely flat so no natural land marks to show you anywhere to go. They didn't want to call me to wake me up, so they figured they could just find their own way...well two hours later they decided they had to call me;) Andrew and I tried to explain to them how to get home and which direction to go...still didn't work! So we told them to stop and not go anywhere and we would find them;) We did and had them follow us home! We got a great laugh at it!!! Poor mom and dad..lost in Texas!! Thanks for the funny laugh!!
Thank you Mom and Dad for coming to visit!! We LOVED having you here!

Christmas!

2011-03-14T10:52:00.006-05:00

Christmas this year was definitely different not having tons of family around but it was still a success and lots of fun;) We were able to have my parents as well as Andrew's on skype Christmas morning so it still felt like fam was with us! Our tree...Emma would take the bulbs off and redecorate them to where she would want them by matching bulbs to bulbs on the same limbs..I didn't care it gave it character;) Here are pics of the morning before the mess began...

She has loved playing with this drawing lots of "snakes"

Opening up presents...

Her animals that she plays with on an hourly basis at home;)

She got several books and loves to 'read' them..

Her kitchen has been lots of fun for us to play with. She makes us lots of different fun things to eat;) As well as a place to play with her animals on it...of course!!

More books! I LOVE that she LOVES books!

Her cousin Aja gave Emma a Dora book with little figures, they have become some of her favorite!

This igloo is great for playing, sleeping, and reading in;)

Daddy with his new "manly apron";)

During Andrew's Christmas break he spent lots of time in our back yard pulling out bushes and making our garden area...it looks great!

A couple days after Christmas we still had everything in our family room...yes a giant mess! Her are her animals all trying to fit on the clock...

She used the clock as her personal little stool for her art masterpieces;) And she is bottomless because this was during our potty training week! As soon as she would get unds put on her she would pee...so for one week she basically ran around with only her shirt on, but if she did this she would go to the potty all by herself or tell me she needed to but the second she was wearing anything she would quit! Thankfully this only lasted a week and since she has been amazing! She always tells me when she needs to go or goes in by herself and then yells when she needs to be wiped! We tried for a few days after she had turned 2 and she had no desire so I just decided to wait...and she was definitely ready this time..she basically did it all by herself! I can't say she is completely trained though...we still make her wear a diaper at night because she always wakes up wet, but during the day she is great! Much more work for mom..since I have to be much more aware of bathrooms where we go but I am so proud of her...she is getting so big so fast! Side note though....she HATES wearing her diaper at night! She tries to talk us out of it every single night telling us that it is "too bumpy"!! The things she says these days are constantly cracking me up!! ;)

San Antonio!

2011-01-05T11:26:00.017-06:00

A few days before Christmas we left for San Antonio for a little get away. We had so much fun and it was soooo nice to go and relax and have fun! Since we have moved here this has been the longest that Andrew and I have been at home without going SOMEWHERE even if it was just home for a weekend! So I was in need a few days away!
We enjoyed walking around the famous Alamo;)

Starting to check everything out...

The trees in San Antonio don't get really tall but the span out crazy like this..

We played follow the leader a lot...with Emma being the lead!

Of course much time spent at the water...

Our attempt at a fam pic;)

Then off to the river walk. It was beautiful and a lot of fun! Lots of eating places along the river.

We took a river boat ride, which was great because they gave you a little history of the area and it was super fun!

Enjoying the mall play area!

Now at Sea World. This was our anniversary day! Yip we spent it at Sea World with our little lady...perfect day! We had so much fun!! Married 5 years...I can't believe how fast it has flown by! I love you handsome!!

Azul was Emma's favorite show! She sat/stood clapping, pointing, and eating popcorn the whole time!!

These people are amazing at what they do!! Wow! Talent!

And of course Shamu! These guys were so fun to watch..especially baby Shamu! Emma kept calling them hump back wales...we would say no they are killer wales but she insisted they were hump back wales!!

Pit stop at the park to let out even more wiggles;)

Can you even imagine carrying all that around...wow!!!

Emma has fallen in love with lots of different sea animals...penguins being one of these!

Emma was trying so hard not to smile...she thought this Shamu was sooo cool!

Eating... Emma put her shamu on a chair and gave him a drink and she sat next to him with her drink!

So happy with her dolphin and Shamu...

The next day we came back to feed the dolphins and it was amazingly fun! Emma was sooo Excited!!

Dolphins just make you smile...

If you had fish they loved you... we ended up feeding them 7 trays of fish....Daddy was loving it just as much as Emma;)

Em's wanted to watch Azul again...they would get so high!!

Our attempt at sitting with Santa...for some reason she will go to anything and everyone stuffed or real except Santa...so strange! Maybe next year!
We had such a great time and can't wait to go again!! Not to mention it was lots of fun seeing Andrew's uncle and aunt who live there..nothing like visiting with family even if you don't know them well!!

Random fun in December

2011-01-05T10:46:00.007-06:00

A few random moments at the Walton house with our little lady;) She loves animals...actually LOVES them!! She plays with some type of animal daily. These animals went everywhere with us for weeks...store, bath, bed, church..everywhere!

Goofy moments with mom and Ems! She loved wearing my socks;) And thought she was sooo funny! I just can't get enough of that smile!

This was her favorite hiding place while the tree was up!

She was able to meet Red Robin at a little thing that Pearland was putting on and boy was she in love! She followed her around the entire time;) The 'body guard' with her said that she was the #1 fan and got to stand by her the whole time, Emma was in tears when she left. I can't imagine how many pictures she got in with other peoples kids;) Thank heaven Red Robin was such a good sport;)

Our Makeup Beauty!

2010-12-01T18:46:00.003-06:00

Ummm time to hide the makeup ;) She is too pretty for it anyway..right?!!! She is great though, only on her face..nowhere else! The fun moments of little ones...I love it!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T09:13:00.005-06:00

Thanksgiving is such a great time to take the extra time to be thankful for everything! This year I am especially thankful for so many things, the past few months since we have moved have been some of the most fun and some of the hardest times for me! I am grateful for both. It makes me realize how thankful I am for the gospel and the peace that it brings!!

I am thankful for an amazing husband who even though he is busy with school he takes time to spend with us and listen to me whine on those tough days ;)I am thankful for a beautiful little girl who is healthy, smart, and full of life, who brings us so much happiness on a daily basis! I am thankful for family who constantly give us support and love even without them being close in proximity to us. I am thankful for the freedoms that I get to enjoy from living in this beautiful country and for those that have served and continue to served to keep our freedoms..Thank you to all of you! I am thankful for so many little things on a daily basis from good weather to clean house to food to eat to a good day at work to cuddle moments with Emma to singing and dancing in the kitchen to a home to live in and keep us safe to constant love that I feel.

Even though my job and workplace isn't my favorite and has been the biggest struggle for me since we have moved here, I have had those horrible days when it takes all I have to go back, there are days when it isn't so bad and I am able to recognize the blessing I have from working with the patients that I get to. I have become so much more thankful for a healthy body. I know I have taken for granted that I can do pretty much whatever I want and my health doesn't get in the way so seeing those that are sick and struggling really makes me grateful for my good health and the health of my family, and makes me really want to help those that I work with. I have also gained an even greater testimony of how blessed I am to have the gospel and the knowledge of the plan of happiness. I have had a few patients when I walk into the room I can just feel that they have made decisions in life that have led them so far away from our Heavenly Father's plan that the distinctive peace and happiness isn't there, these patients my heart goes out to and at the same time it is difficult to go to the room because of the feelings that you feel by being in there and then looking into their eyes and seeing the sadness and emptiness is hard and makes me say silent prayers right there and then for my gratitude for my Savior and His love for me. These experiences and the moments that you get to hear that you have made a difference in someones life makes my struggle of my job more bearable and I know that it is Heavenly Fathers way of strengthening me through the good and tough times. So even though it is hard I have changed my attitude to look for the tiny miracles He sends to me!! He is teaching me and it is my time to learn!!!

A few years ago in a relief society class our teacher shared a story called the "Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet" I thought it was a great story and had a great perspective on gratitude. I decided at that time that I needed to be more grateful for the thorns in my life and not just the flowers. I know that when we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for ALL and recognize His hand in everything that things are better and you can feel His love so close to you. So I decide that I wanted to start the tradition in my little family that we each Thanksgiving we would have our own 'Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet" to help remind us to be grateful for the good and tough times! Here is our bouquet this year! I know the lady thought I was crazy when I called to ask for a bouquet with thorns still on the rose stems and no flowers ;)

This year we got to have Thanksgiving at our house with lots of fun guests! I am so bugged with myself that I forgot take pictures of all of our food and friends!!! But even without pics it was great! Thanks Haley, Scott, Weston, Becky, Elder Schatt, Elder Black, Little Braden and Kade for sharing your Thanksgiving day with us! We had to use both leaves for our table..it was HUGE but we were able to fit everyone on one table!! We enjoyed tons and tons of yummy food, our first time baking our own turkey even turned out great!! Thanks for a fun evening!!

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving!!

LADY ANTEBELLUM!!

2010-11-08T09:49:00.002-06:00

After the heart walk went home got ready, picked up the babysitter and Andrew and I had our first official date night without our little lady since we have moved to Houston! Andrew took me to see Lady Antebellum! The concert was amazing..they were so fun to watch and sooo good with the crowd! Such a fun night!

David Nail opened for them..I wasn't sure who he was till he started singing and then I realized I knew a lot of his songs! Amazing voice!

Our seats were amazing! Nobody standing directly in front of us...loved them!

These guitarists were sooo good! I kept thinking about how amazing it is that Heavenly Father blesses us each with different talents and how I could never do what they do but I am grateful they do it and share it with everyone! The only bad thing the whole night was I took my small camera and the batteries were dead so we got a few on battery save mode but not much...next time I must check them..oops!!

Thank you babe for such a fun night!! I love you!

Heart Walk!!

2010-11-08T09:25:00.006-06:00

The Houston Heart Walk! This is our crew from our Unit at Memorial Hermann. From left to right: David, Me, Haley, Cherylann, her daughter, Jill, and taking the pic..Scott (Haley's hubby).

Andrew couldn't come with us because of school ;( but Emma and I still went and had a good time walking and visiting with Haley and Scott! Emma was a little angel..I was a little worried she would get bored in the stroller but she made it the five miles and was great! Yes we are wearing sweat shirts and coats...it was in the 60's to start with but ended up warming up, Andrew thinks I won't ever be able to survive again in Utah ;) I assured him I would!

Emma fell in love once again with this beautiful dog!! She followed it everywhere!

After the walk they had a bunch of blow up toys for the kids and of course emma wanted to join in so here she is with all the BIG kids...if you look close you can see her little blond hair in front of the kid with the memorial hermann shirt on...

Getting higher..

On her way down..

She went up and down tons and tons and held her own with all the big kids ;)

Fun little pond with ducks everywhere!

This park is in the middle of downtown. Some pretty buildings around us! In the car on the way, when downtown comes into view so Emma can see it from the back seat she pointed and yelled "Castles!" I guess they could be castles;)

After we had parked and I was coming out of the parking garage she looks up at them and says 'wow mountains!' Yikes! We really need to take her to see mountains again ;)

Random picture of Emma later after church yesterday..I was fixing dinner and I had her candy bag hanging in the pantry when I turned around it wasn't there and I found my little lady behind daddy's desk checking out her candy ;)

Halloween Weekend

2010-11-08T08:56:00.004-06:00

The 'Farmer' with his 'pet cat' and 'prize pig'!!

Friday night of Halloween weekend our ward had a ward party with games, food, and trunk or treating. It was a fun night seeing everyone dressed up and having fun;)

Of course Ems found 'Nelson' to pet and love on!

The balloon room was a definite favorite of our little lady!!

Emma and Abbie who are the best of buds! First time seeing each other dressed up..priceless, not sure why they each look so funny ;)

I love these two!!

Water...so of course we spent the rest of the time here 'fishing'!

Then Saturday night I had to work so Andrew took Emma trick or treating with some friends to a bunch of people in the ward! The only pics I got from the night... but I am sure they had lots of fun! My mom made Em's trick or treat bag..so cute!! Thanks Mom!

Sunday the official day of Halloween we went to our friends house with a few couples and their kids and had yummy Halloween dinner! Lots of fun! I took my camera but didn't take a picture..oops!

Pumpkin Carving!

2010-10-26T11:32:00.002-05:00

Last year Emma loved to play in the pumpkin goo but this year was another story... she didn't want to touch it... so this is what our little lady did while we carved pumpkins!

Working in progress. . . and the final projects! Mine a little lame and un-original but still a fun FHE ;) We love having dad around to hang out with us!

Showing me her red tongue and keeping far enough away from the "hand" Andrew had to get it because it scares her. . . ;)

Train Ride ;)

2010-10-26T10:48:00.002-05:00

This is a little train ride that I took Ems to with our friends who have a little girl the same age as Ems. They are little pals together!! So it started off and I didn't think Emma would have any issues with it considering she is an adrenaline junkie . . .

Our caboose. . . little Abby!

And they are off. . . by this time Emma is getting a little concerned mom isn't coming. . .
Meg running along with the girls ;)

By this point she was REALLY worried and starting to cry! And just around the corner...screaming!!! Charlie (our friend) went to help but she only wanted mom soooo... I got to get in and ride;) Silly girl, but fun for us both!

Softball!

2010-10-26T10:33:00.007-05:00

Andrew's school put together a softball team for a fund raising event for breast cancer so we got to go watch. It was beautiful weather and lots of fun! The day started with Em's doing this cause she wanted to play with dad! ;) Eventually she got over it but sad for a few minutes.

Andrew's team was all made up of his class mates so it was fun for me to get to meet some of them. They were all really nice and fun to be around!

Emma loved exploring and entertaining the girls in Andrew's class that weren't playing ;) They were great sports to let her sit by them and play with her toys!

Almost caught it!

Everyone played really well especially for never practicing together. By the last game they played everyone was exhausted! Andrew was quite sore for several days...using muscles he hasn't in long time ;) Thanks babe for an entertaining day!

I love this Little Lady!

2010-10-26T10:23:00.007-05:00

Emma and I have lots of fun hanging out around the house! She came running to me one day so excited because she was wearing my socks...see that smile!

She loves to play in Yankee's crate...completely sicks me out! Hair everywhere when she is done... I sweep and sweep and sweep and vacuum and still I find hair!

A day playing at the park in turn equals 'dirty little lady'!!! She was absolutely filthy, this park has rubber for the ground so it doesn't help keeping them clean, I realized after this day how much she wipes her face!!!

Cute little bunny! Our friend let us borrow this bunny costume thinking that Em's could be a bunny for Halloween, but when I got home and tried it on her it fit but a little tight and she wanted to hop around like a bunny and every time she did I could hear the Velcro coming undone...so no little bunny for Halloween since we didn't want to ruin their costume but fun for a few minutes!!

I just love this little smile ;)

An Update ;)

2010-09-21T10:50:00.007-05:00

I have decided that it is about time I do an update. I have been enjoying everyone else's blog updates and not doing mine ;) The past couple of months have been great! We were able to have Andrew's sister Kelsey come and stay with us for a couple of weeks and loved having her! Lucky Emma got to play lots with aunt Kels! We headed to an Astros game, the beach, shopping, and just hanging out. Thank you Kels for coming it was so much fun having you!

Emma's classic "O" mouth ;)

Look at the nasty mess Ems and her daddy made..she loved it!

The Beach! We sure do love it here and have spent much time playing on the sandy shores;) Yes Emma STILL loves to taste things...I should really be worried shouldn't I??? Oh well...just building up more antibodies...

Just relaxing . . .

Sand sand and more sand. . .

This beach is particularly fun because you get to drive right to where you want to go and jump out and you are there... no more packing EVERYTHING through hot sand! I fell in love with it. . . and much easier to leave with less sand! We went on a Saturday and wow it was packed. . as far as we could see down the beach were cars and umbrellas, surprisingly enough though it didn't seem too busy and we enjoyed it just as much! It was fun people watching ;)

Kels and Ems ;)

We dared it and parked by the dead turtle . . . so sad! I didn't want to bring Emma's attention to it, afraid she would try climbing on it..yikes that definitely wouldn't have been good! It brought tons of people to see it! I hope it had a long happy life!

Thank you Kels for all your help and for all the fun we had with you!!

Other random pics of our little lady growing up. . loves to color!

She is in love with these little animals and lines them up everywhere and talks with them;)

Silly girl and her headband!

We love having these two missionaries at our house! This particular day was especially fun cause it was Elder Michaelson's b-day! Elder Michaelson on the left (from Richfield ;)) and Elder Schaat on the right (Idaho boy)

Emma had to be right up there helping him blow out the candles ;)

The surprise. . .

Andrew had my car this day since I was already at work and he had to drop Ems off at our friends house, when he came out this is what he found! My back window smashed in . . . all for a 70 dollar GPS (which by the way I loved!!!!) Good thing I don't keep much in my car, so it could have been much worse but what an inconvenience and not a way I wanted to spend $300! But I am grateful that was all that happened. . we are blessed! We will probably be finding glass forever in my car though. . . it was EVERYWHERE!

We have been enjoying the end of the summer and now Andrew is in school and loves it!!! This makes me so happy, I don't necessarily get everything he talks about but I can tell he loves it and is passionate about it and that is what is great! He is constantly doing homework, but finds time for us as well. It is crazy he is half way through his first semester ;) The weather is cooling off. . . we decided the other day we are becoming true Houstonians when we were saying " Boy it sure is cold out there today" and it was 82!

2 Years Old!!!

2010-07-25T14:06:00.005-05:00

My little girl turned two! It is amazing how fast these last two years have gone by. She is so much fun and we feel so blessed to have her in our home! She brings us so much joy and we love her tons and tons! She is growing like a weed and learns new things daily, constantly making me laugh with things she does or says;) Some of her favorite things right now are:

Anything and everything to do with water...pool, tub, sink, mud, rain..basically anything, we are constantly drying her up!

Playing with Yankee, they have become the best of buds and she just loves telling him what to do!

Being outside...even in the heat;)

Any bug she sees she screams 'buggy' and tells me she is getting it;)

Climbing up and down EVERYTHING..she just learned she can climb up our trash can to get on the counter to play in the sink;)

Reading books

Making lots of messes

Helping mom with everything I do as well as being daddy's little helper

Loves to dance!! I love watching her start to dance around when she hears some good music;)

Favorite movies at the moment are: "mogley" (Jungle Book) "Trzan" (Tarzan) "Bear" (Brother Bear) "Ferd" (Cliford) "Bears" (Carebears) and "Cat" (Oliver and Company)

She has began to love her baby dolls..so she got a stroller for them and now loves pushing them around

Anytime she wants to leave the house comes with her shoes and tells me "car?"

She is getting really good at puzzles and loves to play with them

Still isn't the best eater in the world but eats enough to keep her crazy amount of energy up;)

Social butterfly around any kids

And so much more...we love our little Angel!

For her actual birthday I had to work so we celebrated it the day before and we were going to go to the beach, since she absolutely loves it but the weather said possible tropical storm so we decided to play it safe and took her to 'Chucky Cheese' She loved it and had tons of fun!

She was a little short, so I had to climb in and help her up so she could go around the cat walk..

She had to keep her bear with her the first little while...

She played on the merry go round the most...around and around and around...probably 20+ times;) her favorite!

Big girl..with dad's help!

The BIG truck..

Gets a little scary when it tips, she wasn't so sure about it at this point!

Daddy teaching her how to play:)

Afterwards we went home, decorated and had a little party for her with Nana, Pops, and Kelsey on Skype;) She picked out her cake..a little dog! Here she is blowing out her candles..two and one candle to grow on;) I need to be better next year and try to make her a cake..I plan on practicing;)

Present time...

Yummy yummy cake;)

Her baby stroller she immediately started playing with! She is becoming more a little girl;) I love you Ems tons and tons and am so grateful I get to be your Mommy!!! xoxox

Before...middle....and AFTER!

2010-07-25T13:41:00.005-05:00

This last week Andrew and I took on our kitchen;) After three days of putting holes in the wallpaper, soaking it down, peeling it off over and over, fixing the horrible places and holes, we were then able to paint! I can't even describe how much better it felt walking into the kitchen just when the paper was off...I didn't feel overwhelmed..so weird!! Andrew started when I was at work and we finished it the next few days! It was tedious and long but fun to do with my hubby;) And it feels so much better!

We did most of the painting when Emma was asleep, good thing too because she thought she could do just as good of job;)

When we were peeling the wallpaper off I had to use a glove on my hand because the dried mud was driving me crazy, so Emma wanted to be just like mom!

We found this spot where Ems decided to paint with the dark green;) Good thing it painted over well!

Thank you Love for all your hours and patience with me! I love the kitchen and you tons for going to all the work to fix it!!!

4th of July Weekend!

2010-07-10T11:01:00.003-05:00

This 4th of July was my first not being in Richfield Utah with all my fam including aunts, cousins, and grandparents..it was sad for me but we still had fun! I do hope somebody ate a cherry slush with ice cream on it for me...it sounds heavenly...Daph hope you ate one for me!!!! The other downside to not being in Utah is that the 4th is celebrated on the actual 4th ;) and because this year it was on Sunday we didn't go the bbq's, games, concerts, and things but after church we relaxed (which seriously was super nice...I haven't really seen Andrew because of our schedules, I leave before he gets up and when I get home he takes off to work and I am in bed when he gets home..but it should calm down here soon...I CAN'T WAIT!) then we had the missionaries over for dinner and played card games with them (they were excited for the ok from their mission president to play games)! Elder Michaelson is from Richfield so he and I were sad together on not being in Utah for the 4th..his first time not being there too!! Small world as well...he knows people I know from wayne, that's one thing I love about being a member of the church even when you aren't home you find people to help remind you of home! After they took off we illegally helped Emma play with some snakes and sparklers..yes..we found out you technically aren't supposed to have any fireworks in Pearland but I couldn't handle not doing some fireworks for our little lady! I figured we would be safe with snakes and sparklers;)

Emma wasn't so sure about the sparkler at first as you can tell..scared her;)

But she loved the snakes!!!

CHEEEEESSSSEEE!!

She loved lighting them herself;)

It only took a couple sparklers before she decided that they weren't too bad and she could do it!

Yankee thought they were awesome..he would run and jump and try to catch the sparks! We had to watch the little pest so that he wouldn't get burned;)

Finally we had Ems stand on the chair so Yank couldn't get hers as easily..He still tried;)

After we did our little fireworks we decided to drive to where Pearland setting off their city fireworks just to watch some big ones, but we got to the high school football stadium and WOW it was packed..and it even fits 20,000 people..isn't that crazy for high school!!! So we ended up going further away so we weren't around as many crowds and watch with a bunch of other people parked in another school parking lot. They were a little far away but probably better..ems wasn't a fan of the loud bang;)

The following Monday Andrew worked all day and I had it off :) So Ems and I decided to go to the park for a little while to play, when we left the house it looked pretty good outside and then all of a sudden we felt a couple rain drops and 30 seconds later....down poor...we were drenched trying to get to the car ;)

It's kind of hard to see how wet she was but..we both were soaking!! What I love at least about the Texas rain is that it is warm!! But it sure does hit quickly;)

I hope everyone had a great 4th and thank you to those who have made it possible for us to celebrate our freedom here! What an amazing country we live in and what a blessing it is to be able to have the freedoms we have, especially to worship what we want, how grateful I am for this and for those who have made it possible with the Divine guidance from our Heavenly Father! We love and miss all of you!!

Latest Happenings ;)

2010-06-23T08:49:00.003-05:00

Splash pad..fun! This water is Freezing!! It takes our little lady a while to really want to run through the cold, but eventually she braves it out!

The swing is her favorite thing at the park...who needs slides??

Our little helper! She wanted to wear daddy's gloves and help! We were cleaning out and organizing our garage...it was HOT and HUMID...can you see her hair and the sweat?? Poor little thing she plays outside and comes in drenched in sweat..she doesn't seem to mind, even with her cheeks blazing red!!

This last week Emma and I spent some time with the Boy Scouts! A lady in our ward was in a bind and needed someone to cover her shifts she had volunteered for at the medical tent and called me and asked if I could help out. It was fun, lots of little scrapes and scratches ;) They let me bring Emma and she LOVED it of course, outside for hours on end! She thought she was as big as the other kids, I should have taken a pic of the play ground that she would go and play on because the slide was Huge and she would climb up the play rock wall and go to the very top and go down all by herself...my little brave lady! It was funny watching the kids thinking they needed to help her ;)

I love the pic with her on the cot..look in the back and you can see a tired little man! All of a sudden I was sitting there and he came over and laid down and slept for a couple of hours..tuckered right out :)

I find her all the time playing with her toys and talking non stop to them..so cute! Here she lined them up on the couch...I have no idea what she was so intent on telling them ;))

Telling me to be quiet...her giraffe and dog were sleeping with Yankee :)

When we moved Andrew had this little baseball guy and Emma has fell in love with him. She saw a picture of Andrew in his baseball outfit when he was in high school and randomly started calling the toy baseball guy "daddy"....here she was putting daddy to sleep in her towel ;)

I found her laying on the floor after a fun day at the pool ;) She plays hard there!

Things are going well and we are having fun! Andrew is still busy installing and I just got hired at a hospital here..so orientation soon, I am sad about going back to work and leaving Em's but this job is going to be awesome and I am super excited about it! Once I get passed the days and can do nights..hopefully in time for Andrew to start school...it will be much better! At least then I will be home more with my little lady and hubby! Heavenly Father has blessed us soooo much and so many miracles have happened in front of our eyes that I can't deny that this job came at the right time and is something I will love!

Meet YANKEE!

2010-06-02T11:31:00.003-05:00

This is our new little addition to our home! He was a surprise brought home from daddy for Emma;) She was pretty excited! He got his name because he is a 'boston' terrier and Andrew is a huge Yankee fan and not the Boston Red Sox fan so he thought it would only be fitting to name him Yankee;) He is a lot of fun and cute! He hasn't even pooped on my carpets..that I especially love! He knows he can't push Andrew and I around but he is still testing Emma so we are teaching her to be tough and keep walking through him when he tries to block her way;) He is a small guy but thinks he is big with her! His first night with us he was a little nervous and would go to this corner and just sit there, now he acts like a little puppy and has lots of energy! We have been having to read and educate ourselves on training him, so we are learning lots but having fun doing it!!

Fun around the House!

2010-05-30T20:31:00.000-05:00

We were so blessed to have Dan, Kaye, and Kelsey be able to be here and spend some time with us to help the transition! Dan was only able to stay a couple of days after we got here and unloaded and then headed back to Utah but we were able to have Kaye and Kels stay with us for two weeks!! And we loved every minute!! Thank you guys for everything and spending the countless hours helping us and playing with us! So the next many posts are of all the fun we had with them here!!

This was the first night enjoying the nice weather and relaxing after their long few days of driving!

Dan and Andrew getting all the "man" stuff figured out!

Emma relaxing under the table while we work around her! Yes and if you look close do you see those beautiful flowers????? They are one of my favorite things about the house!!

My little helper!

Emma watching Nemo on the Ipod! She decided she wanted to use it, even though we had it for the flight and didn't need it so now she thinks it's fun to sit and watch it instead of the tv;)

Kels and Ems! Ems didn't leave poor Kelsey alone the whole time she was here...lots of gotch you, chase me, "KELS" and by the end yelling "KELSEY" for her to come and find and chase her, and piggy back rides! Thanks Kels and Nana for all the fun laughs and entertainment of the little lady!

Emma likes to sit by the door in this little window, and of course taste the shoes! I don't know if she is ever going to grow out of tasting everything!!!!

'Her' cupboard!

My little mini me chef helping me learn how to make rolls with my new Bosch from Dan and Kaye! Thank you guys...I love it!! There are those flowers again that I love;)))

I didn't realize that Emma loves apples so much! Kaye gave her one and she ate it down to almost nothing!!

Another little hiding place Emma likes in the kitchen and more of the beautiful flowers!!

Emma is loving having a yard and being able to be outside and help daddy even though the grass is thick and not very soft;( she doesn't care!! I think it's only me that wishes for soft grass to lay on...however I am not sure I would still lay on it, who knows what critters crawl around in it! I have to walk on it with shoes cause it creeps me out!

Her tree she likes to play in! Another place that I just shutter thinking of what new spiders live by it!

Relaxing after running around crazy!

This is one of Emma's little lizard friends that comes and visits her EVERY night when she takes her bath! She LOVES it! She constantly is pointing at the window and saying "lrds" "lrds go?"

She loves being under these tables and is enjoying lots of space for her toys only!

Fun surprise for Emma! We got this little blow up pool for her so she can keep herself cool out in the heat! She thought it was pretty cool to play in in the house but even better outside!!

Now about the flowers that I love....well truth is I really don't love them! At the moment I am tolerating them but really they are a little overwhelming and WAY to busy for me but for the time being they are here! They were even in my cupboards!! Yes flower power! However I have found that I can remove them so I am currently in process of taking them out and I am soooo happy!! Doesn't it just make you feel better without them??? Does me!! But in all reality I do love having a bigger kitchen with lots of cupboards and counter space!

KeMah BoArDwAlK

2010-05-30T20:00:00.000-05:00

We decide to check out the Kemah Boardwalk one day, which was cute and fun! Emma will love it even more when she gets a little bigger so she can ride all of the rides there! We can already tell she is going to be a roller coaster junkie!!

We walked around everything and checked out a few of the shops and let Emma play in the water to cool her off!

At one point I thought she was going to get ran over by all the big kids but she held her own;)

Afterwards we stopped at a local BBQ place and had lunch! Wow I agree Texans know how to BBQ...yummy yummy!

The Zoo!

2010-05-30T19:32:00.000-05:00

The Houston Zoo is huge and was a lot of fun to go and see! Kaye, Kels, Ems, and I headed out and were pleasantly surprised to have lots of cover as we walked around so the heat was not too bad, we were extremely happy;) Emma of course loved seeing all the animals and was super good!

Emma loved being able to go and pet all of the goats. The goats were amazing and just let all of the million kids sit around and play with them!

Feeding the fish!

These Lions were huge but lazy! Not nearly as fun to watch as the white tiger at the Aquarium!

Check out the horns on these guys!!

A grizzly bear sleeping.

Emma loves Elephants, so this is her first time seeing real ones! She was a little warm..rosy cheeks, sweaty hair!

Now this little guy was adorable! He was only one day old!!! Still had his baby hair, and was a little wobbly on the legs! We couldn't get enough of how cute he was!!

They are building a whole new African area in the Zoo that is going to be massive so these guys are getting a new home built!

A super fun day for all of us girls!! Thanks Kels for going and enduring the heat..thank goodness it wasn't too bad;)

Ocean fun;)

2010-05-30T17:32:00.000-05:00

We were able to go to the Beach twice while Kaye and Kels were here visiting us and we sure did have fun, doesn't this face just show it?!! Emma absolutely LOVES the water! She would stay in it all day if we let her!

Andrew finally lured Emma out of the water to come and check out his castle he built for her! She had fun playing in it, throwing sand, and finally demolishing it!

Kaye, Kels, and Ems jumping the waves, laughing, and having a great time!

This poor bird only had one leg!!!

I could definitely spend lots of time here, who couldn't with the joy it brings to this little lady!! I couldn't get the pics to work of the second day we went but the waves where way bigger and we took a float tube for Emma and she loved sitting in it to ride the waves, so fun!! We also saw a dolphin jumping right in front of us! Andrew yelled out "Look a dolphin" I look up and see nothing as say "Quit lying;)" and as I do I see it jump again, way awesome probably only 30 feet from us!! We love the Beach, if I can't have my mountains at least I have the beach!!!

Houston Astros!

2010-05-30T17:18:00.000-05:00

One Sunday afternoon all of us (Kaye, Kelsey, Andrew, Emma, and I) decided to take a ride downtown Houston to see if there were any sights we could see. Turns out we didn't really know what to look for so we drove around on streets that were pretty much free of other drivers...so nice, and saw some commercial starting to get filmed!! We ended up driving to Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros play and checking out the grounds! It is a beautiful park. And has small soft grass...what I would give for that;) (Andrew thinks I am obsessed, everywhere we go I look at the grass to see if it is like ours.;)) Emma loved all of the baseballs they have surrounding it, she spent lots of time running to each and jumping off of them!

We then went to a game with Scott and Haley! Lots of fun! I didn't have my camera but I figure we will be attending lots of games;)

Our attempt to get a picture..Emma really didn't want to;)

Some of the buildings downtown.

On the drive home Kaye asked me where Emma learned how to pull the cookies apart and only eat the cream??? I had no Idea..not from us, silly girl knows what the good stuff is!

First Houston Rain Experience!

2010-05-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

This was our first experience of Houston rain! Nice and warm! Emma loved running out in it, well at least when it wasn't super heavy. At one point it was pouring down and flooding our gutters;) We actually didn't have it too bad, Andrew was in Galveston and he said it was flooding up to the doors of his car! One of the kids he works with was driving behind Andrew in his car and the force of the rain going over his hood somehow unlatched it and flew it up into his windshield causing it to break!!! Yikes, I would have been terrified...he was all right thank heavens! I guess what we get to look forward to!

NASA's Johnson Space Center!

2010-05-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

We were able to go to the Johnson Space Center and explore and learn more about what goes on there. Tons of fun, Emma was really sad when we walked in the door and she wanted to go play and I wanted a pic;)

Riding the train to take our tour, she thought she was such a big girl!

I couldn't believe this liquid nitrogen was negative 360 degrees!!

In one of the buildings they had all of this equipment where the astronauts used to train for going into space.

This was a REAL astronaut! Lucky us, we got to see him getting filmed for something!!

This building is 8 stories high and this filled the entire space, crazy big!

Those little white things are what they will be using to send to Mars to explore!

Now this guy!!! If you can't tell it is a robot and guess how much it cost.......32 million dollars!!!!! It was the most expensive piece of equipment in the entire building! Wow!

A monument of trees planted in remembrance of Astronauts that have lost their lives during their mission into space.

Completely amazing to see the life size of all of these rockets, and the details of them, it is mind blowing to my little brain;)

Now this was completely awesome and a once in a lifetime experience! Kels had informed us that the last Shuttle to the moon was going to be launch so we needed to go to the Space Center to watch and wow what an incredible thing! We were able to go in this theater room and watch from the point of the Houston control center and see what they were seeing as the ship Anastasia launched in Florida!! Completely amazing!! I had goosebumps as it took off, you could see part of the Earth from the ship and listen to what the astronauts were saying to the Houston control center! Even though emma won't remember it, I will at least be able to tell her she was there to watch!!

Then we were able to check out all of the exhibits which were fun and interesting!! Definitely a place worth visiting!

The Aquarium!!

2010-05-26T14:45:00.001-05:00

One of our first adventures here in Houston was visiting the Aquarium and Emma's face in this first picture should tell you how excited she was for it!!! I honestly haven't ever seen her as excited as she was when she started seeing all the fish! It was sooo funny to watch her enthusiasm!

Part of the buildings downtown.

It was hard..(even harder than usual, she doesn't like to look at the camera!!!!) to get a pic of her looking at me because all she wanted to do was point and talk about the fish!

This guy was awesome! We couldn't even tell he was there he blended into the wall so well, we thought it was just a log at first!!

When Emma saw this fish she yelled out "DORI" she LOVES 'Finding Nemo' and was extremely excited to see Dori!

This was fun getting to touch the rays..they were really soft not exactly what I was expecting! Emma thought that it was just the best!

Emma does this thing when she laughs or gets excited and covers her mouth...its stinkin' cute! But here she is excited over the rays!

Kels and Emma being sea divers!

At the end of the Aquarium they had this White Tiger! He was so much fun to watch...I have never seen one so active, he would play with the balls, try to catch a fish, climb up on the tree to rub, and just pace checking out everything, it was so fun to watch and the best part was we got there right after they fed him so all the kids before us had left and we got to watch him play! Emma loved that she could be right up next to the glass and just watch him, he was huge and beautiful!

So far Houston is turning out to be a fun place to explore!!

The Last weeks in Utah!!

2010-05-18T20:53:00.000-05:00

Our last few weeks in Utah were needless to say BUSY BUSY!! We were dealing with the house, packing, finals, graduation, and seeing family as much as possible! Graduation weekend was great, my mom and dad and all of Andrew's family were in town so we were able to spend time with everyone!! Thank you everyone for coming and supporting me..I couldn't have done it without all of you with your love, support, and PRAYERS! I know I only was able to make it through the last two years with divine intervention and angels helping me along the way! I loved it but I have to say it is nice to have finished;)

My Mom and Dad stayed with us during the weekend and Emma tried on my Mom's glasses and LOVED them! We had to hide them from her because she wanted to wear them everywhere! It was hilarious watching her wear them and try to walk and grab things...it magnified and distorted the distance so she would reach but wasn't even close...sooo funny!!

Then packing, packing, and more packing began! Wow it was sooo not fun packing up everything but we lived and tried to enjoy the moments! Emma found one of Andrew's old toy bears and fell in love! Andrew had all the fun jobs of taking apart everything! Emma loved running up and down the ramp of the truck over and over again! This week was full of no naps and late nights but she was a little trooper and didn't really get cranky! The house was a disaster everywhere...it drove me crazy..I hate clutter so it was really nice to finally get the truck and start loading things! Emma was in the bath one night and had the giggles and this is one of the pics...I love it so I had to add it;)) She loved to climb in and out of the boxes on top and through! Thank heaven for Andrew's sister Jess, she would take Em's everyday to play with her kids to let us pack! Thank you soooo much Jess!! We found her camp chair in the mix of packing and she loved sitting in it and watching her movies;)

The night before we left our YM and YW threw us a surprise BBQ! It was sooo much fun and so thoughtful of them...I looked a wreck--no shower for the day, scrounge clothes, no makeup but I had no idea what they were doing..so sneaky! I am going to miss all of you, but THANK YOU tons for the fun party, great food, and games! I love you guys!

Andrew, Kelsey, Dan, and Kaye took off and 6:30 am on Thursday morning for the big drive! Andrew and Kels in the truck, Dan in Andrew's, and Kaye in mine...it was cheaper to drive all of them than tow and we were lucky enough to have Dan and Kaye be willing to go so thank you guys soooo much!! Emma and I finished cleaning up, got ready (really hard for me..emma I think must have been a little traumatized because everything and everyone was gone..we were sleeping on the floor and only had a small suite case, she wouldn't let go of me..literally!!! I had to hold her as I showered;) did my makeup and hair..yes I looked amazing! Poor thing she just had no idea what was going on and why all of her stuff was gone!) then went and said goodbye to a few residents at Emerald Pointe, stopped and saw my friend and her new baby, went to the school, dropped off the final things to the DI, and then said goodbye to Jess and Emery! We are going to miss being so close to these guys they have been the best and we loved have Sunday dinners with them! Thank you guys for everything we love you! We then headed off to Salt Lake for a few days till we flew out on Saturday morning!

We had lots of fun in Salt lake! We were able to go to Daph's graduation of her getting her Master's Degree in Social Work! Way to go Daph...you are amazing! During the graduation Emma decided to try and climb under and through the seats we were in and got stuck!!! She was screaming with her head and one arm through a hole! I was trying to stay calm and keep her relaxed so we could pull her through but she wouldn't budge and was screaming more...I was getting nervous and shaking and Ty came to our rescue and pushed her back and she came out!! Thanks Ty you saved us!! Emma loved hanging with Lex and Mitch they played and played with her pushing her all over the house, she loved their tub as well....it makes the best bubble bath ever! Then Friday morning I was checking my email and it hit me like a ton of bricks.......I didn't have Emma's birth certificate to verify her age at the airport in the morning!! It was packed and on its way to Texas...what to do?? The state offices were closed because of it being Friday...I didn't want to call and tell Andrew cause it was a brain fart on my part, I knew I needed it..saw it and thought don't forget to take it..then packed it and didn't look back! So I call Andrew to tell him what was going on with Daph telling me on my side to say"Do you want the good news or the bad?" So I tell him and he says "either" I turn to Daph and say "What's the good news?" She says "You are still going to Texas you just don't know when;)!! so I tell Andrew "Well the good news is I will be coming to Texas just not sure when...cause.....I forgot Emma's birth certificate!" Daph, my mom, and I start laughing ( you have to look at the positive in everything right??) and he says "I really don't think its that funny..." Long story later after a few calls, medical release papers, and faxes we got her immunization records from her Doctor and we were good to go!! Wow what a stressor...then as we are paddling around the little lake in the back yard of Daph and Ty's house we got the news about this.......

Kierra had been in a four wheeler accident and was on her way to richfield..she had been found unconscious and was now not making any sense!!! The nurse in me thinks...trauma, no helmet, unconscious, now awake...worst case possible bleeding on the brain! They got her to Richfield did a CAT scan and sure enough she had bleeding, they decided they needed to fly her to primary's, before she left my grandpa and uncle Dave were able to go to the hospital and give her a blessing! They did another scan before leaving and it showed no additional bleeding so she was off. She arrived at Primary's my mom, daph, and Ty (I stayed home with the kids..it was late) headed to see her, to find her really out of it from all the medications...making funny comments and unsure where she was. They did another scan and found her body was breaking the blood down and absorbing it so she would be kept to monitor! What a blessing!! It could have been awful..she walked away with no broken bones and only a few scratches...the power of priesthood blessings and loving Heavenly Father. Moral of the story--Always wear your helmet! We love you Kierra!

Then Saturday morning Daph dropped Emma and I off at the airport for our flight to Houston! I was soooo nervous about taking a almost two year old on a flight thinking how hard it was going to be to keep her entertained...I had sooo much food and things for her to do! More little angels were with us and our prayers were answered...She was AMAZING!!!!! I only used a 10th of what I took! She played with stickers the whole way to Denver and then I had her run around the airport for the two hour lay over, fed her, and 5 minutes before we boarded she fell asleep even without Benadryl!! She slept the rest of the flight except maybe the last 15 minutes! She was sooo good I was so happy!! She was so happy to see her Daddy when he picked us up...priceless smiles, I wish I would have got a pic;) Wow long post but longer to come..we have been up to lots since we have been here so I will post pics once I go through the hundreds of them!

We are HOME OWNERS!!

2010-04-30T23:02:00.000-05:00

After the MANY MANY MANY hours my hubby has put into phone calls and emails, it is official and we can now call this HOME!! We are so excited and can't wait to move in...still a little bitter sweet leaving family but it will be an adventure!!!

Crazy to think that I haven't even seen it yet....I am dieing to actually get to go in it!!! Thanks babe for all your hard work...Emma and I love you tons!!!

Fun In Salt Lake!

2010-04-30T22:43:00.000-05:00

Haven't updated in a while..been a little busy! But a couple weekends ago we were able to go to Salt Lake and visit with family! A very enjoyable weekend..we will miss these weekend get aways! The weather was nice so we spent quite a bit of time outside for our little Lady to have some fun!

Absolutely loved the flowers Nana got from Pops!

We were able to spend time with Andrew's Nana before we left!! Priceless pictures to me!!

Easter!!

2010-04-07T15:34:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter weekend spending time in Wayne with Family! Emma got to color her eggs with some of her cousins at Grandmas house!

Everyone loving getting all messy!

The BLUE hand;)

Shelton and Mitch! This was Mitch's favorite egg...with liberty spikes;)

Emma had help from everyone to decorate her eggs...a lady bug, old man, hippy..and many more! They were super cute!

The egg hunt began with Mitch and Lex helping Em's to find her basket!

And she is off...

So excited to find more eggs! The Easter bunny was a little easier on Ems than Mitch and Lex..he hid theirs extra hard!!!

Then off to Goblin Valley with the fam! We missed my dad and Shane and Nycole and their fam and Dustin but everyone else were able to come!

We started off by rolling eggs! Only Aja and Ems rolled theirs because they weren't saving them to smash on Uncle Lance's head, like the other kids;)

A little broken by the end!

When I look at Goblin Valley it is just another reminder of how Amazing our Heavenly Father is and the creations that He has made, all so different!

We look cold but it really was nice especially when we started kick the can and were running everywhere...

Playing with the cousins in their hideout!

Emma loved climbing on the Goblins!

Lex, Julie, and Dest outside helping us ride the horses!

My bro Lance was super nice to get the horses saddled up to take the girls for a ride, even though the whole weekend Em's only gave him little scowls and no hugs or kisses! She was super silly with her uncle lance and grandpa..she gave some of the dirtiest scowls for no reason!! This must be her way of showing she LOVES them!! Thanks Lance for taking us!

The weekend was wonderful and so nice to be with family!! We love you guys!!!

Repelling!!!

2010-03-02T14:55:00.000-06:00

We had a great time with the YM and YW in our ward on Saturday! Andrew took the YM camping and invited us YW to come repelling Saturday morning..so of course we went and it was lots of fun!

Andrew helping a first timer...it is always a little nerve racking that first time;)

These are our cute YW that were able to go on short notice! I am sure going to miss all these girls..they are so cute and have been so fun getting to know!

Everyone was getting brave by the end and hanging upside down...thank heavens for good balayers at the bottom holding them up..putting their lives in someone elses hands!!

Now isn't she just the cutest little rapeller you have ever seen???

Andrew got her a harness a long time ago and has been dieing to try it on her and use it..so we did and she really loved it!! Not surprising since she is such a little outdoor girl;)

I was REALLY nervous sending Ems down with Andrew thinking "ok here go the two most important people in my life and they are going to be hanging from a rope...am I crazy??" Everything turned out great of course so.....It was my turn to take Ems down and once I felt how secure she was on me I was just fine!

On our way over the first ledge I heard a boy say to his friend "Man I wish my parents would have been cool like that!!!" I guess we are fun parents;)

Emma was laughing and waving at the girls on top as she was laying on me...so cute!

Such a fun day! The whole time we were there I kept thinking of how much I am going to miss doing this..I guess when we come home to visit we will have to make time to go!!!

Thanks Love again for taking us!! xoxo

Decision Made....

2010-02-16T19:43:00.000-06:00

It's official...we have made the decision we will be moving to HOUSTON, TEXAS (Unless something crazy weird happens;) !! We are really excited! Andrew will be starting law school in the fall, so we are hoping to move down in May to get everything situated and me working. It is pretty crazy how things have been working out and just makes us feel that Houston is where we should be going! Small town girl to 4th largest city in the U.S....a little nerve racking but exciting at the same time!

A little update on what we have been up to... very nice surprise from Emma and Daddy! I came down stairs to find our walls covered in little love notes from my two favorite people! Awesome Valentine's Day...I love you two! Thank you;)

We finally got to go to Salt Lake again for a weekend and had a great time with the fam! We really can't wait to get emma a dog..she just is drawn to them..and their food..crazy girl! I found her in with Sammie feeding him his food and tasting it herself..little stink! Should could have done this for hours!! That is one of our first goals when we move is to get her her very own dog..she will be in HEAVEN;)

This is what I get for giving a little girl some freedom when she isn't ready for the freedom!!!! Yip that's poop..all over our pillows;)

We got a lot of snow a while back so we took emma out sledding for the first time and she wasn't so sure about the sledding part..never cried but was a little hesitant! She loved eating it though!

I love this pic because Emma's expression fits her so well...she often gives us a look out of the corner of her eyes when she doesn't want to look directly at you!

First time down..kind of a smile on her face;)

Trying it alone..not so sure about it!

And...the result...a little crash! She got right up and started playing in it..our tough girl;)

As for everything else we have been up to has been about the same...school and work! I am getting super excited to be on the down slope of school but I still love learning...just really nervous about being a nurse...maybe one day I will feel adequate!! Andrew has been really busy getting everything going for us to be able to move soon after graduation..I never realized how much we really have to do...but it will all be worth it in the end!! We just feel so blessed to have guidance from our Heavenly Father to know that if we have faith in Him and His plan for us everything will work out for the best!

Emma's First BoWLiNg Experience!

2010-01-23T10:01:00.000-06:00

We took Emma bowling for the first time and she LOVED it!! She played the entire game..not only bowling her turn but mine and some of her daddy's! We had tons of fun with her and lots of laughs!

She thought she was so big carrying her ball to the ramp!

She would watch it go down the alley and yell "go go go" ;)

She was fascinated with ball return thing...

Daddy showing us up!

The final score! Good thing Emma and I had the bumper pads or it would have been zero!

Fun day for us..and the Hamburgers at the bowling alley really are super good..here in Cedar!

Christmas!!!

2009-12-29T17:49:00.000-06:00

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! We stayed here in Cedar for Christmas morning. It is so much fun with a little one! Especially now that she opens presents better! Every time she would open a present she would say "ope"...she wanted to play with EVERYTHING! When we were trying to get her to decide what Santa would bring her we walked down the Toys R Us doll isles to see if she would get excited about a baby doll...but nope...she saw some balls and that made her day....so she asked Santa for a basketball hoop...silly girl, but it didn't get delivered to our home Christmas morning b/c of snow earlier in the week so she opened all her other gifts and aunt Daph saved the day and brought it down to Grandmas where they boys and Emma loved playing it!!

Family pic..aren't we just beautiful!!;)

Her hair was CRAZY!! No time for bath Christmas Eve...we went to some friends and then read the Christmas story when we got home...I had to get ready for work..so she didn't get her bath and boy can you tell by the hair...got to love it!!

After opening gifts and eating off to Bicknell we went! Emma finally got her hoop and loved playing with it with the boys..

Mitch and Shel loved Emmas hoop it gave them entertainment for hours!

I even got in on the playing...still holding Emma..she was giggling and loving every minute!!

Mitch and Shel getting to do some hard work...not so sure at first but by the end they were laughing and having a great time!

All the big kids had their DS's to play with and they would let Emma "write" notes and send them to each other...she LOVED it and they were so good to let her play! She is starting young...yikes!!

She kept saying 'he he' (for horses) and so Uncle Lance saved the day and took her out to see them in the freezing cold!!! Mom wouldn't...I guess that's what good uncles are for;)

All of the kids drew names and gave a present to each other...Emma opening her gift..which she loves...and it's girly..even better;)

Haylie and Aja waiting to open gifts.

...More DS......

It was a fabulous weekend spending time with family..eating, laughing, and playing games!! It is always Crazy at the Durfey home when all the family starts playing game...loud, laughing, and some bantering...wouldn't change a thing! Thanks everyone for a great time we loved seeing all of you!

Early Christmas!

2009-12-16T18:25:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend we were finally able to head up to Salt Lake! We hadn't been able to go since July so we were pretty excited to finally go! We enjoyed the weekend spending time with Andrew's parents and sister. We did a lot of Christmas shopping and hanging out. Because we aren't going to be up there for Christmas they had us open up our Christmas while we were there and it sure was fun watching Emma! She is still just getting the hang of it but so cute! Thank you soooo much guys for everything!! Emma got this little bike and today was so absolutely beautiful---45 degrees...sooo fun, almost feels like spring---so I decided to take Ems out to ride her bike instead of pushing her all around our house! She loooovvved it! We decided to pick up the mail while we were out...perfect little carrier!

Opening up presents with Aunt Kels!

First time Emma met Santa and she was TERRIFIED!! Maybe next year we will get a better pic! She wouldn't even sit on my lap by Santa for a picture..oh well..still good memories!

Random pictures...her first pony tail!!! Isn't it just so cute???

She loves to un-decorate the tree! She pushes anything and everything to the tree to pull the bulbs off...she thinks they are balls and likes to play with them! So she takes them off and she helps put them back on several times during the day! Good thing its a kid friendly tree!!