Let the birthday festivities begin!

Baily's birthday is coming up on Thursday the 4th but coming from a pretty big, blended family- we pretty much get spoiled for birthdays and holidays. Baily's birthday festivities began on Saturday the 31st with a mini party at Peter Piper Pizza to celebrate with Robert's family. We had good food, fun with games and good conversation. Baily was excited and thrilled to be able to hang out with her cousins and loved her little cupcakes. She got a digital camera, pink glasses and cookies from me and her dad (she'll get the rest of her gifts at her party in Show Low next weekend) and an awesome Dora book with a little MP3 player that goes with the book. What a lucky girl! Let the fun of the birthday week begin! I love you so much Baily Bug!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

My top 5 favorite things about my nephew Isaac who turned 16 on the 30th:

5. He's so health conscious

4. His sweet smile.

3. How he wants to learn how to cook

2. He's always been so respectful and sweet to me

1. He's so kind when he wants to be!

We love you Isaac!

Happy Birthday Loren!

My top 5 favorite things about my SIL Loren who's birthday was on the 30th:

5. She's always been so nice to me.

4. Her sarcasm and sense of humor.

3. Baily adores her so much!

2. She's always been such a supportive sister to Robert.

1. She's loves her kids so much and is an awesome mom!

I love you Loren. Hope you had a good birthday!

Even More Blessings!

I'm so grateful that I have so many blessings. Here's some more to get caught up on!

#232- Having a tea party with Baily

#233- Chit chatting with my awesome step-mom Patty!

#234- My dad's love for me

#235- Kissing my hubby!

#236- Fresh produce

#237- Feeling a portion of my Heavenly Father's love for His Primary kids

#238- Super helpful Visiting Teachers

#239- Baily loving Pre-School and being able to send her there

#240- My SIL Martha

#241- A really fun Enrichment Night

#242- Getting my Internet turned back on!

#243- Baily's strong bond with her cousins

#244- Being part of an awesome, helpful and supportive ward family

How blessed I truly am!

My Baby's in Pre-School!...and more catch up.

So on August 26th my little baby girl started her first day of Pre-School at Jumpstart Academy. She was so ready and thanks to my dad and step-mom helping us out, we were able to get her into a really nice pre-school that my VT Companion suggested. The teacher's name is Mrs. Jen and she's awesome. Baily was so excited and not scared even one bit. I had to go with her on her first day to fill out paperwork and for an orientation and Baily was so bummed that I had to go to school with her. She kept saying "Mom, you stay home. Don't come to school with me ok? I'll be ok mom." Well excuse me...lol. Mrs. Jen runs the school out of her home and it's not too far away but I'll still have to be finding rides for Baily. She has school every Tuesday and Thursday from 10A-12P. I'm so grateful for an awesome Visiting Teacher who helped us out with rides this week as well as a helpful VT Partner to help out. Hopefully we should have a permanent carpool plan soon. Baily had a blast and was so excited to get homework. She was excited about bringing her Show and Tell which she'll get to do every week. The school started 3 weeks ago so she was 2 weeks behind with the letters A and B and numbers 1 and 2. But she had fun learning the letter C and took a C-C-Cowboy hat for Show and Tell. She was saying the sound c-c-c all week. She's so smart! Joaquin and I missed her though and even though Baily didn't cry I might have shed a few tears. Why does she have to grow up so dang fast? I thought I would be so excited for the break but the time dragged on and I really missed the little stinker. When it came time to finally go pick her up I was so excited. And Joaquin was so excited to have his sissy back. It was so precious. Baily couldn't stop talking about her school and she was singing and dancing all day. But it must have worn her out because she crashed for a nice, long nap. I can't believe she's in Pre-School already!
Baily had so much fun playing outside in Wisconsin that that's all she wanted to do when she got back home. Too bad it's so stinkin' hot! But she did manage to get a few minutes of outside time on this day.

Here's a few cute shots of my lil' man. He fell asleep in the car with a french fry in his mouth. The boy loves his food!

And here he is with his cousin Bryan. Awww!!

This was our super fun Primary Talent Show we got to put on. I got to be the MC and it was so fun. Oh how I love our Primary kids. This was such a fun talent show!

This last week I got to go out with my SIL Martha and my niece Emely to celebrate a late birthday for Martha. It was just us gals at Olive Garden and it was so fun. It was nice to talk without interruptions and the food was DEE-licious! Love these girls!

And I'll end on a super sweet note. Are these not the cutest little cheekies you ever did see?! Front and back!! Love this boy!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

My top 5 favorite things about my little nephew Tyler who turned 2 on August 22nd:

5. His sweet little countenance.

4. He always gives me the biggest hug when he sees me.

3. His little gruffy voice.

2. His sweet smile.

1. Baily adores him!

We love you Tyler!

Wisconsin Trip Part 2

This was just more hanging out around the house and the kids having fun with this little kiddie pool that Grandma H. got them. Good ol' summer days.
Baily had this little tea set and she would set up her chair at this little end table every night and have a tea party with me. She was so animated about whatever it was she was talking about and it was just the cutest thing. Man I love that girl!
Baily absolutely adores her Grandma Patty and soaked up all the time and attention she could from her while we there. So sweet!

Me and the kids and Eyan (my lil' bro) had a blast at this fabulous park and I went on picture overload. It was just so gorgeous out and just so perfect. I love days like these!

This was at another awesome park on another beautiful day and this time my stepmom Patty was with us. Check out this green grass! Baily was pretty tired and pretty rotten so she didn't enjoy as much as she would have normally but it was still fun. And the first pic is my dream house. Isn't it bee-u-tee-ful?!
Here Baily is having fun with her friends Eyan and his little friend Adam who spent the night one night. She kept calling him "madden." They were so good with her and she just loved hanging out with "her friends."

This just shows how spoiled my little Bug got from her Grandpa & Grandma H. She got a ton of much needed new school clothes along with lots of books, computer games, movies and toys. I guess that's what they say grandparents are for!

And here's Baily having so much fun on the slip n' slide and Joaquin just chillin'. Summer's actually nice when it's not too miserably hot outside!

While we were there Baily and I also got some awesome haircuts and I got color from my dad(thanks dad!), went on a fun walk, enjoyed lots of chit chat, got spoiled with all sorts of things, got some much needed assistance and just had a pretty fantastic trip all around. Thanks again Dad and Patty!

Wisconsin Vacation Part 1

So as I previously mentioned, my dad and step-mom finally sold their AZ home and were able to surprise me and my kids with a week-trip up to see them in Wisconsin while Robert spent his final week job-training in Florida. It was a very welcome surprise. It was a whirlwind trip and I'm so grateful I got to go see them. I don't get to see my dad's side of the family that much so when I do it's a very special treat. It went by fast but was fun and I was also grateful for the extra help with my kids. We were spoiled while we were up there which is always nice. We had fun creating memories and building stronger bonds. I wish we all lived closer together. I also gained a stronger appreciation for having the gospel in my life and a greater desire to keep our family strong in the church. Thanks dad and Patty for such an awesome trip and the chance to end our summer with a bang! Here's a pic overload for ya'!

The weather while we were there was absolutely PERFECT!! We seriously couldn't have asked for better weather. It was like 75-80 the whole time we were there and it was crisp and fresh with no humidity. Perfect! This was our first day in town and we had a lovely time at the beach. It was Joaquin's first time at the beach and as you can see, he loved it. Baily had a blast too!

This was when we went to my cousin Sarah and her hubby Matt's apartment. It was a lovely visit and a lovely day. After that we went to this adorable little market and I fell in love. It made me want to cook up a gourmet meal with such yummy, fresh ingredients. I wish we had such a charming market around here. It was really good to see my cousin and enjoy spending time with her.
Here we are enjoying some sweet corn on the cob and Okee Dokee (cheddar popcorn that's oh-so-yummy!)- 2 Wisconsin must haves. Joaquin enjoyed his grandpa time and it was just so sweet!

We got to go to the Renaissance Fair while we were there and it was awesome. It puts our lil' AZ Renaissance Festival to shame. It's seriously like as big as Disney Land. I forgot to load the stroller like a dummy so it was little rough carrying the Chunksters and having a 2 yr old walk the whole way but with lots of help we got through and had a good time. Next time I will definitely make sure to bring the stroller and it would also be so much funner with my hubby there because I know how much he would love it. The highlights were riding the elephant (it was a little scary), the mud show, watching Baily and my dad ride fun little rides, the jousting and my dad and Eyan sword fighting. Good times!

When you can't bring all the toys you improvise. This soda bottle was one of Joaquin's favorite toys while we were in Wisconsin. I love a simple boy!

My dad and step-mom have an awesome deck out back and we spent many a hours out there on this trip. The kids loved it as well as the dogs!