Livi Love turns 2!!!

 Our baby is 2 now. Sigh. It is going by sooooooo quickly. Here are the det.'s of her Second Birthday Celebration:

 We celebrated it on July 21, instead of the 23rd because we were flying home to Hawaii on the 22nd...we don't have to pay for a 1 year old to fly :) We gave her an entire day of birthday. It started with balloons and sprinkles. I think I know my daughter and what makes her smile.

 We threw a fun party for the little lady. It was going to be a "candy land" cake and party, but thanks to the leftover cake from Jen's b-day, we made a few quick changes and ended up with a rad "Yo Gabba Gabba" Birthday. Micah is awesome for things like this:

 and this:

 not this, because I made these:

 but he did make this:

 Livi got into the spirit of things and showed me her funny face:

 

Above is a picture of someone elses party. We copied the ballon idea, only our balloons were way better. Micah did them so you can believe me. Unfortunately it was really windy at the party and the balloons blew away before we even got a picture. Livi enjoyed watching the balloons fly away. She is such a sweetheart and has a way of putting things in perspective for us.

 Here she is practicing using Gramma Lala's high heeled slippah. Oh, this girl has my heart! We love you Livi! Happy Birthday!

 

Party For My Sis

It was fun, silly, crafty, and totally perfect for my favorite big sister, Jen. I love you Sis. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Nature

I always look forward to goin up the Canyon near us while we are in Utah. I crave nature when I'm away from home. The trees, streams and dirt do the trick.

Pop Pop and Taj coming back from a nature walk. This was after Taj got his first lesson on using a hatchet.

Livi in jeans and Converse. Melt me.

They love each other, but I can't blame Livi for questioning Eden's intentions.

The best way to cook a hot dog. Maybe this is where I'll mention that the canyon went up in smoke a couple days after this. I haven't seen it since they got the fire out.

She Did It!

She said that if we painted Taj's old bike she practice every day and would try riding without training wheels. We took the trainers off and on the Fourth of July, Eden was declared her independence from training wheels. She caught on really fast. We are so proud.

The Best

Summers are long and exhausting for Micah and I. The kids and I play hard while he is stuck in the office working hard. This is a sweet ending to the day. Everyday.

*Taj wears nose strips and sleeps in his own room now because of his snoring. He can't breath in Utah.

Princess Festival

Eden got her hair and nails done. Livi noticed the nails right when we got hom.

Her fancy face painting. And ring pop paintng :)

It wasn't fun for me, but I love an excuse to be one on one with my kids. She was so sweet. I love my little princess.

Summer Bunnies

 We got bunnies. Three of them named Chester, Rex, and Rosetta (originally Eden). They are super fun. And stinky. The kids run out to make sure they have food and water everyday. Eden loves to hold Rosetta while the other two hop around and send Taj and I running after them.

This summer we also got Spike, a Horned Lizard. Some kids were going to have to set him free after their Dad brought him home from St. George. We agreed to take him because we were on our way to St. George a week later. We had to feed him live crickets. He was so gross and amazing all at the same time. The kids loved him, especially Taj who would hold him (I refused). We would find him burrowed under his sand, which surprised me.
When we got to St. George we kept him for a day, then found a great big dessert area for him. Taj got him out of the cage and we said our goodbyes. T set him down and he didn't move. We were starting to say how sweet that was and that he didn't want to leave us, then Spike pooped and ran off as fast as he could. Classic.
It's been a fun summer of animals.

Birthday Bash

 The birthday celebration came and went. And now I am older. I really wouldn't do much, but the kids love a good party. They got together with Nana and after a shopping spree at the local party store I had a really fun/silly/memorable birthday.

There were 2 pinata's, party blowers, leis, party poppers, leap frog games, pez, cake, and more. I'm so old I can't remember what else there was :)

I was totally spoiled. I'm lucky to have such a fun and sweet family.

May Day 2012

May Day is kind of a big deal here. The schools statewide have elaborite celebrations where usually the student learn dances from cultures around the world and perform them. I have fond memories of May Day from when I was little and loved watching Taj participate in it this year.

Taj's grade represented China and killed it! I was super emotional watching him and all his friends. It was obvious all the time and love that went into these little peoples performance, and from the music, to costumes, to props, it was amazing.

Taj did a great job. He wasn't nervous at all. He showed us bits he was learning every night for weeks and was super into it.

The video wouldn't upload... I'll keep working on that one. It was incredible though. I am already looking forward to next year when Eden will be in it too.