Sammy T has come and gone

Sammy T the clown finally arrived today at Ella's 5th birthday. It has been a greatly anticipated day to say the least. We've been counting backwards for 45 days. There's nothing quite like birthdays when it comes to Ella's birthdays. We through her a circus party. The highlight of the day was when Ella heard that Sammy T arrived. She was in the back yard and you've never seen a little girl run so fast. Once she saw him she was a little taken back...
Ella was the star of the show



Ella got her first "real" bike as Chris would put it. She will finally be able to keep up with her dad.
Ella has been dying to turn 5 show she could get her first real American girl doll. Her nanny gave her the table and chairs to match. Tonight they are watching the movie Kit after her doll.
On THursday we took Ella and Emma to see Lion King. It was such a special night. Stella and Lara were there who also have birthdays today.

WHAT A BIRTHDAY! Good thing they only come once a year or else I'd be broke and ran into the ground:) IT was all worth it.

New York

I just got back from New York. It was the dream "girls trip" vacation. I went with my mother in law, Kristy, and my 2 sister-in laws, Lara Kaitlin. We really had the time of our livesSince all we did was shop, we did try to fit in one day of sight seeing. It was by far our most exhausting day. We saw the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, the temple, Juliard, and Central Park. Our very least favorite was the empire state building. Granted it was 10:00 at night when we went, we felt like we were in line for a ride at Disney Land, only to get the front of line and find out there is no ride! We did have a lot of laughs!
This was by far my favorite night...seeing Wicked. We had the best tickets. It was the most amazing play. We also saw "In the HEights" which was fun as well.
This was our most favorite store to shop:) We each got something at Tiffany's....the cheapest item in the store. Probably the one and only time will see a little blue box.
There is nothing like Times Square. It was like seeing Las Vegas for the first time.

Lara and I just about died when we saw the Swatch store. It brought back our childhood. We each got a Swatch watch.
We didn't get to go see David Letterman. We were too late.
The Subway was our main source of transportations. Lara was our subway guide. We only got lost once.
We all went off our diets and we ate and ate and ate. This was my all time favorite thing we ate. It was a frozen Hot chocolate from Serendipity.

We also saw the US Open. We got see Venus Williams and Nadal. IT was such a cool experience. We had a hard time keeping Kaits eyes off Nadal!

If my in laws are reading this I want them to know how thankful I am that they invited me on this trip. I really had the time of my life. It will be a memory I'll never forget. I can't wait for our next girls trip!

Fun Lake pictures

Kristy and Tristan came to Lake powell with us. Kristy's food was the hit! We loved having them with us. It brought back a lot of good memories.
This is probably my most favorite picture. Seeing my dad on the banana. I think he secretly loves the lake, especially the banana. I haven't seen him have that much fun in a long time.
We loved having Sam and Hailey at Lake Powell. Sam found his new love...chips. Forget the tomatoes and avacados!
Kater bugs got to ride the tube. She cried to get off.

This was our favorite past time.
Kaits was such a great help. We loved having her around
Emma and Claire could have gone forever on the knee board. They thought they were pretty cool using no hands.

Does that not just look so uncomfortable! Kate was such a great sport.
I had to put this picture in. This just sums Kate up in one picture!

First day of school

Emma just started 2nd Grade. This year has been such an easier transition. Unfortunately my camera went dead when I went to drop off Ella to preschool. That's the story of my life.

Summer Fun

We had a party for Sam at the park. Kate had a cupcake and it was the messiest cupcake I've ever seen. It was like chocolate glue or better yet, chocolate poop!
Ella's dance costume (which came a little small).
This year Ella started to acutally like soccer. She still liked to pose as she ran.
Ella has conquered the two wheel bike after many tears. A trip to Michaels finally helped her to get enough courage to do it.

Our Trip to Hawaii

We were lucky enough to be invited by Chris' sister, Lara to go to Hawaii with them. I was on board from the minute she asked us to go. Chris and I always wanted to go back to Hawaii....alone. We were reluctant to take our girls, but it was the best decision we ever made. (I need to make it clear that we did not take Kate. I panicked the night before, but it turned out great.). We had the most incredible time. The girls had the time of their life swimming, swimming, and swimming. The place we stayed was incredible. It had a its own lagoon where you can snorkel without waves. It was absolutely beautiful. I've decided that if I could, I would live in Hawaii and visit Utah to see the snow. There's no where in the world I'd rather be.

The girls and the cousins were constantly looking for a chance to get their pictures taken.

There was nothing like the Hawaiian sunsets

The girls loved making sand castles
We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Chris wanted to "see the island". Our quick tour turned into a 3 hour drive. Atleast it was gorgeous scenery.
Cousins. The girls had so much fun with the boys.
This was my most favorite part of the trip...the shaved ice. They were to die for. Ella got to pick out a shirt from Hawaii and we walked out with this hat:)

Chris' new office

Chris, my brother, and my dad finally opened their second office. What a process it was. They worked so incredibly hard over the last 2 years to have this happen. It turned out so nice. We had our open house and we had a great turn out. I want to thank every person that came to it to support these guys. We were truly humbled to see so many of our friends and family came. We are truly blessed to live where we do, and to have the family that we do.