Summer Fun!

Today I feel like rambling. I love my family.  Each member brings me so much joy.  Dan is a wonderful husband and father, and I am constantly thanking Heavenly Father that our marriage brings me so much happiness.  We have learned that we have to go on a date together once a week if possible, to keep eachother first.  It's so easy to get preoccupied in our roles of Mom and Dad!  Here we are at an Orem Owlz game...it was so much fun.

Danielle is a sweetheart, and was placed as the oldest in our family for a reason.  She has such a strong personality, which is great, but can be frustrating at times when I want her to do things my way, but she's just like her daddy :) She loves to sing and excels at playing the piano...she's a natural.   She is even in the ward choir with Dan.  I also enrolled her and Avery at The Pointe for their summer dance session.  I can't believe she starts 2nd grade in a month...I'm going to miss her when she goes back, but I think it will be a nice break for her and Avery.  Here are our girls at their cousin Camryn's baptism last month, on June 30th.

Avery is always making me laugh with her antics, but she knows exactly how to press Dani's buttons and does so regularly...again, a trait from her daddy :)  Dan and I laugh, and sometimes get frustrated, at her non-stop monologue....seriously!  I am not joking!  When she is with you, she can't stop talking, and it's not just a one-way speech...she expects your full attention and quick response to each of her wonderments.  When she was 3, she was ornery.  As an example, she asked Dan one day, "Daddy, I wish we could hit!""  Dan asked her why.  She said, "Because I don't Yike people!"...she couldn't say her l's.  Come to think of it, she still can't!.  But since she's turned 4, her orneryness has faded somewhat, and she has the ability to be really sweet when she wants to be.

What can I say...Emery just spreads joy wherever she is.  She is the happiest child, and at 16 months, chatters non-stop!  I can't believe her vocabulary.  Her favorite show is Blues Clues, and she mimicks a lot of what they say.  Some of the things she can say...Where Daddy? (or mommy, or blankey, etc), Whas dat? Lets go!...she can do most animal sounds, and she even can put the little board puzzles together.  But her smile and sweet spirit are the best things about her.  She wakes up each morning full of happiness, and she is rarely ornery.  We went to the American Fork carnival and she went on this train ride 3 times, and cried every time it stopped.



We were able to welcome home my niece Whitney home from her mission on July 17th.  Before she came home, the girls and I were talking about Whitney coming home, as she was their favorite babysitter before she left, and Avery said, "When I serve my mission, I'm going to serve in Disneyland AND California!  It will be so fun!"  Of course I didn't tell her that's not really possible...she can figure that out later :)  I am so proud of the examply Whitney has given to my sweet girls.  I hope they all are able to serve missions.

Here are a few other things we have been doing this summer...

 Dan and I went to the American Idol concert...it was awesome!  What made it even more fun was our nieces were there, and my niece Ashton is IN LOVE with one of the musicians, Colton Dixon, and she got to meet him and get pictures with him.  So funny to watch how excited she was!

Avery went to her first dance class, and she is LOVING it. 




We have also been spending a lot of swim time up at my sister Laurie's house.  This is a picture of Dan and Emery...she loves the water...or WATA as she calls it.

We have done some fun things recently. We took the girls to the Sandy Aquarium, which they LOVE to visit. 

 This is a picture of Emery's first haircut...what a cutie!

I took a picture of my girls in April. This is one of my favorite times of year at our house...when our front trees are in full bloom...with my 3 favorite flowers posing for a picture :)

 This is a picture of Justine's and Chantelle's graduation from high school. We are so proud of these young ladies!

This is a picture of Avery and her Preschool teacher, Mrs. Clark, at Learning Dynamics.  She loved her preschool.  I got a little concerned because she told me she is going to marry Taggert, a boy in her class, but by year-end, she told me she will NOT marry Taggert, because he always got into trouble!  Thank goodness she doesn't seem to like bad boys :)

 Danielle LOVED her 1st Grade Teacher, Ms. Campbell.  I think that is a huge part of her loving the 1st grade.  Ms. Campbell is a real sweetheart, and absolutely LOVED Danielle.  She said that she could always count on Dani to be kind to everyone, and to always have her work done :).

These are pictures from the girls' soccer season this spring.  Danielle and Avery were complete opposites playing soccer...Avery did not like chasing the ball but LOVED being goalie, and was VERY good at it!  I think she only let 2 balls by her the entire season!  Danielle HATED being goalie so mostly ran around chasing the ball.  They both improved a ton by the end of the season, though sometimes I wondered what I was thinking...signing them both up for soccer AND immediately follow with softball and teeball.  We have spent many hours at the park, chasing Emery while the girls practice and play, but they love it.

Ok, only 2 more things to blog about...it's been a while :)

My nephew Chandler just returned from his mission to Barcelona, Spain on May 30th, and we were able to see him at the airport.  What a fun opportunity!  Dani has inherited my emotions and got really teary-eyed when she saw him for the first time.  So sweet!

Last but not least, May 31st the kids got out of school for the summer, so Dan and I made this banner to welcome Dani home when she got out the last day. Notice that the girls are ALREADY in swimming suits, ready to kick the summer off right!

California Trip March 2012!

So I haven't made an entry on this blog for 2 years, but I have been inspired by my sister Brie to start blogging again.  She has made awesome books from her blogs, and it's a great way to journal our family life.  My girls are growing up so fast, and I'm already forgetting all the funny things that happen along the way.  So here goes...
We just returned from our family vacation to California.  We normally wouldn't have gone, with money so tight, but I babysit 2 little girls for a single mom who also works for Jet Blue, and I traded training her in Quickbooks for her company for 4 buddy passes.  Also, we had $400 credit on our Disney card, which paid for our Disneyland day, and then we had points on our company AMEX to pay for card and hotel...SCORE! 
We flew down to Long Beach and got there at 8:00 am Wednesday morning.  We then drove down to San Diego and surprised my niece Whitney, who is serving a mission at the Mormon Battalion Center.  It was awesome...she was so excited to meet Emery for her first time, and Danielle and Avery were thrilled to see Whitney again...she used to babysit them a lot before she left.

Thursday we went to Disneyland!  It was so much fun, even Emery had a good time.  Her favorite ride was It's a Small World...she danced around the whole ride.  Dani and Avery went on Space Mountain for their first time and Dani LOVED it...Avery tolerated it..haha.  Avery's favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear...of course.

Friday we went to Huntington Beach.  Dan wouldn't even stick his feet in the water (and he calls himself a California boy!) so Dani, Avery and I frolicked in the water, while Dan walked the beach with Emery.
Saturday we visited our friends Tom and Cindy Tucker.  Their kids are right around our kids' ages, so we always have fun.  We also had to make a stop to get garlic bread at The Smokeouse in Burbank...tradition.  Unfortunately on Sunday, when we got to the airport at 7 am, we were told we probably wouldn't get a flight out until Monday, possibly Tuesday. So we ended up renting a mini-van and driving the 10 hours back home.  The kids were really good considering.  All in all it was a great vacation, though Dan and I were EXHAUSTED when we got home!