Ty's First Dance Recital

Ty had been dreaming of dance....well....as long as I can remember. She has watched her sister go to dance and longed to be just like her. Finally she turned three and was old enough to go. One of the first things I did was find her a dance class. She was in heaven! She would ask to be able to go several times during the week. She had so much fun!
She did awesome at her recital. She was knew her dance and didn't even get stage fright! I loved seeing her so happy.

Ty loved her costume! Lucky for me it was pink and girly. Everything Tyli loves.

This is Ty's friend Aubrey. Ty loved being in the same class. They had a blast together!

Daddy gave her some flowers. Of course they had to be pink.

St. George

Heading for St. George was a quick, spontaneous jaunt. We were in desperate need of warm sunshine, so we had to drive to find it. :)
The only pictures you are going to see of us here are where we are swimming. That is because that is pretty much all that we did. We lived at the pool. It was just what we needed. We had the perfect, relaxing weekend. Now if I could only do that every week...

These girls barely let Jon out of the pool or out of their grip. It was great for me, I read three books. :)

He was used as a surf board.

A splash pad.

And a flip maker. The girls had a blast with him around.

I ran into some old friends staying at the same hotel. We had a great time catching up. Kathy and I served in YW together and Ashli was one of my beehives. That makes me feel really old saying that, but she turned out pretty amazing. It was so great to see them!


I love swimming and inbetween books I managed to get wet a couple of times.

This is Madi's new bff "pinky". It hasn't left her sight for a week. The best $15 I've ever spent.


Ty chose a mermaid. Perfect for the pool.
These two were definitely the envy of the pool.

Blog. Check!

When you haven't blogged since February, and the post that you did in February was trying to catch up for December, well, you can get a little overwhelmed by the idea of trying to catch up anything. I wonder where to start. I think of all of the things I should probably be doing. Then I start looking at photos and I get lost. Yes I get lost in all of my millions of photos. Well, maybe not millions exactly, but A LOT!!

You see, I like photos. I have always liked taking pictures. It was a hobby that my dad loves and he passed that on to me. It was always a link between the two of us. I remember helping him take pictures when I was little. I remember when he gave me my first camera. I am sure I have some of the pictures that were less than wonderful, but I thought they were fantastic!

I remember my high school photography classes. The magic of a dark room and developing a picture. (Yes I'm old!) I remember college photo classes and tromping around with Jon to bizarre places to take pictures. Then this hobby got lost a little while I was busy in school, then busy working. I was still taking pictures, you can look through my stacks of them if you don't believe me, but I was just capturing moments to store in a box.

With the birth of my children, the camera was constantly going. I think I have pictures of people taking pictures of my girls. (I know! I'm out of control!) One day I attended a photography class and the pictures were AMAZING! I suddenly realized what I could have, what my pictures could be! It has been a journey since then. It still is. But I'm enjoying it!

So I've been a more than a little engrossed in photography the past few months. And it's funny that I picked that topic to rant about considering the pics I chose for this post are just random photos. They just tell a little of what I have been doing.

Back to the pictures, where to start, or end, or even find the middle. I don't know. I'll just pick a couple.

These are some of my primary peeps. They honestly saved my life during Dec. and Jan. as Jon was MIA and I had so much to do. They rolled with my last minute stuff and helped me through the new year preparation and activity. I could seriously cry with gratitude. I doubt anyone else looking at it will cry, but it's a tear jerker to me.


Need I say more about this. My girls adore these two people! Can you tell why?

So this winter was a little rough and never ending. (Even now I'm wondering, will good weather ever come?) This little girl holds my heart in her hands. Her kisses, her "I wuv you"s, her dancing, her art work, and let's be honest, her naps, they were little rays of sunshine through these long months of gray. Just when I thought I couldn't take the cold anymore, she'd snuggle up with some love.

This little girl has definitely kept me busy. Music class, dance class, tumbling class, violin lessons, soccer, home-work, volunteering, not to mention the social life of a sixteen-year-old. But her smile makes my day, her love for her sister is overwhelming, and she is the best helper any mom could ask for.

I'm going to reach my arm way up, put it behind my back, and give myself a little pat. Blog. Check!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was great. We got to spend it with the Browns. Christmas is always our favorite day with them. Cindy always makes the best breakfast. We get to see all of the presents. Jon gets to play with Michael. It's just a very relaxing day.

This year Cindy had a stuffed bear made out of Steve's clothes for each of the kids. She is always amazing at thinking of the best ways to remember him.

My mom crocheted these beautiful bags for each of the older girls. I always love to give the girls a home made gift. This year I cheated a little. Thanks Mom!

Tyli got lipstick. Just don't tell her it isn't real.

Kate performed some of her beautiful violin music.
We also spent some time with Jon's parents. It was nice and cozy. The girls always love snuggling up with a book and chasing the kitty.




At the end of the day I got to snuggle with these monkeys . It was perfectly perfect.

Christmas Morning

This year we decorated our tree a little differently. I loved how it turned out. I know that I have a sweet little humble family room, but all decorated for Christmas it made me happy! On Christmas Eve Jon bring it down by the fire so we can celebrate Christmas morning by it. I liked it there so much I think next year we'll need to trees.


The girls were so excited. Tyli kept asking where Santa was. We had kept telling her that Santa was coming. Of course she was disappointed! She was planning on seeing him! Luckily she had all of her presents to distract her. The both got what they wanted. Ty had been asking for a Snow White dress and Madi wanted a Didj. Nothing like getting just what you wanted!

Christmas Eve '09

Every Christmas eve we visit the lights. It might be cold, but we love it. Then we come back to grandma's for a treasure hunt to look for our Christmas jammies and open cousin presents. This year we were accompanied by tired Jodi drama, but everyone was happy (namely me) my the end of the night.

Getting Ready for Santa and his Reindeer

On Christmas Eve day the girls and I were busy making preparations for Santa and his reindeer. We decorated cookies and put some water and food outside for the reindeer.