The Zoo

Last year I bought a zoo pass so we could take advantage of going whenver we wanted to, so a few fridays ago we ventured out to the zoo for the day. Ashlee was excited to see the animals again. We went really early in the morning so there was still fog in the air. We had a fun time exploring and playing with the animals and our friends.
This was an amazing experience as the llamas were out for the children to pet. They weren't very into it so I approached one with Hyrum. He wasn't having any of it, but it was still a great photo op. Fun times...

Ashlee turns 4!

My baby girl is 4 years old. I still can not believe it. She is just getting so big. Here in Fresno it feels like Spring has hit so for her actual birthday we had some of her friends over for a playdate and cupcakes in the backyard. It was so fun watching all of the little ones shoving their faces full. Then the next day we had a birthday party with just us and my mom (busy time for everyone!) My mom and I attempted a castle cake, but we iced it before it was cool so it was sliding apart. We were laughing as we did the very FAST birthday song and candle lighting. The best thing is that Ashlee didn't even care she just LOVED that she had a castle cake with all of the princesses. She was a little upset that I didn't put spiderman on the cake. Which just shows that she is a little tomboy at heart! The truth is she really is such a joy for us and makes us laugh constantly!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My New Best Friend!!

Don't be offended my old"best friends" but I have acquired a new one. For Christmas this year I got a Swivel Sweeper - yes the swivel sweeper from the land of infomercial and I must say I LOVE IT!!!! My husband laughed when I opened it from my mom but I was coveting this small device. The cool thing is that it is rechargeable and therefore cordless. When I am faced with a bag of overturned popcorn strewn throughout the living room ("but mom I was making Snow Angels"...thanks Mickeys Christmas) or a bowl of goldfish dumped off the high chair I simply walk over to the closet pull out the swivel sweeper and in two seconds it is all gone!! No need to pull out the big guns. Honestly I may never vacuum again. Another great thing is it is kid friendly. After the aformentioned popcorn incident today I came in the living room to find:

Hyrum trying to clean up the mess. He knows how to turn it on and push it over the mess. Really is there anything better than that??????

New Year's Eve 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas

Christmas Eve was a pretty eventful day. So many last minute errands that we ended up doing our family thing after Hyrum went to sleep. I must say it is different living here because I was surprised to find stores closed for Christmas Eve. In Vegas everything is 24/7 so it was a bit of a shock to do last minute grocery shopping at Longs Drug!!! A lot of other people were surprised, one poor guy told us he had no food in his house and all of the Save Marts closed at 7:00. Don't get me wrong I think it is terrific, but I will just have to remember that for next year!!It also rained all day. Ashlee found Grandma's umbrella and had to hold it up wherever we went and so while we were listening to the Christmas story we had to have an umbrella - it is Ashlee's new favorite thing. Crazy times!

As for Christmas Day it was great. We had a little family get together with just us and Grandma Christmas morning Hyrum and Ashlee both just loved their gifts and are still enjoying playing with them. Hyrum's big thing was a basketball stand (Jed is still hoping for an NBA star!) He walked into the room saw the ball said "Ball" ran to it, picked it up, and started making baskets. He still does it all day! Ashlee just loves to ride her bike around as much as possible. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. She got the little baby doll too, but wasn't interested until I told her it was a baby Cinderella. Now she carries her everywhere. This was her rocking the baby to sleep. It was so cute, she rocked and sang to her. Anyway we had a good time.

Later in the day my sister, brother and his family came over to open gifts and do Christmas dinner. My mom and sister went crazy for all of the kids! Ashlee was on overload opening all of her presents. Marlena got her a Caring Corners doll house which she LOVES playing with and my mom got her Princess barbies and horses. Ashlee has such an imagination it is adorable watching her play. One of the funniest things was while she was playing with the dollhouse she started making these weird gaging noises. I said "Ashlee are you okay." Here reply - "Mommy it is her she is sick!" I looked to see her with one of the dolls hanging over the toilet -Throwing up!! We all were laughing so hard. She really puts her life into her games - I hear a mimic of myself many times and think - Is that what I sound like?"

Cookies and sick kids!

The Monday before Christmas my niece and her mom came over to bake cookies. We had a great time and I was very impressed with how well they came out. Ashlee and Brianna had a blast! Fun times!

The next day Ashlee woke feeling sick to her stomach and was throwing up all morning. I kept taking her temp and got normal every time. The last time I did it I put the thermometer on Hyrum to compare and it said he had a fever uh-oh. Anyways they both just laid around all day until we took them in to the doctor - ear infection for Hyrum, nothing for Ashlee. She actually started eating at around 2:00 and was fine after that, it must have just been something she ate. Hyrum was cranky all the way until the day after Christmas (more Christmas coming up!) Fun times though! At one point during the day they both got really quiet. I went into my bedroom to find this:

Poor little dears - sick kids are just hard to watch.

Christmas Pictures

So I am showing off two things here. First the cute Rudolph and Clarice that we bought last year and the kids absolutely love this year. (I hear they are being auctioned on Ebay ya for Aunt Lena!!!) Second my adorable little kids. It is so funny because I used to get Christmas cards with just pictures of the little kids and think to myself - okay yes they are cute but where are the parents? I don't even know who these kids belong to? Well I have turned into one of those people. I realize now the main problems with Christmas pictures are that it is next to impossible to get a good one with kids, and also who holds the camera for Mommy and Daddy? So the result is a Christmas card with just the kids. Below are some of the outtakes and cute pictures from Sunday morning.