Happy Birthday, Hailey!

The first thing Hailey wanted to do when she woke up was "blow candles." If there is one thing she knows about birthdays, it is that you get to blow out candles. So, we improvised...



...and it worked out fabulously.

Josh took the day off and we decided to take Hailey to the Hogle Zoo. Every school in the valley decided to go too, but we still had a good time. Hailey loved looking at all of the animals.

(Big Horned Sheep Habitat)

After the zoo, we stopped at Wendy's to get lunch...including frosties with fries. Hailey has discovered you can dip fries in your frosty.

Home Beautification

Remember these ugly bushes? They were ugly, prickly, and it looked like someone had sat on them.


Now they look like this...


I am so excited about our new plants. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to buy and how to plant everything. I've never done anything like this before, so today when I finished mulching everything, I felt very accomplished. Inside the semi-circle of stones is an herb garden. It's been fun picking fresh herbs to go with dinner. I haven't ever really cooked with herbs before. Hopefully everything will survive and fill in nicely.

I can't take credit for the whole thing. Josh came up with the herb idea, and did most of the hard work when we pulled out the bushes.

In addition to our new flower garden, Hailey and I made a fun Summer wreath to go on the front door.


Now Hailey regularly asks to paint rocks.

Two Years Old

Somehow this...

...turned into this

...right in front of our eyes. It's been an amazing 2 years.

Happy Birthday, SweetPea! We love you.

Pandora's Box

Josh went with Randall & Ryan down to do Pandora's Box. I'm not really sure where it is. South somewhere. Josh said it was really fun. It took them 13.5hrs, thankfully no mishaps. I'm posting a lot of pictures because it just looks so awesome.

Happy Mother's Day!!

President Gordon B. Hinckley on motherhood:

“Most of you are mothers, and very many of you are grandmothers and even great-grandmothers. You have walked the sometimes painful, sometimes joyous path of parenthood. You have walked hand in hand with God in the great process of bringing children into the world that they might experience this estate along the road of immortality and eternal life. It has not been easy rearing a family. Most of you have had to sacrifice and skimp and labor night and day. As I think of you and your circumstances, I think of the words of Anne Campbell, who wrote as she looked upon her children:

You are the trip I did not take;

You are the pearls I cannot buy;

You are my blue Italian lake;

You are my piece of foreign sky.

(“To My Child,” quoted in Charles L. Wallis, ed., The Treasure Chest [1965], 54)

You [mothers] are the real builders of the nation wherever you live, for you have created homes of strength and peace and security. These become the very sinew of any nation.”

****

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, especially ours. We love you.

Happy 21st Birthday!!

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit older than that. Because we have been gone for a week in a constant state of doing things, we decided to have a chill evening. Josh and I went out to dinner at Zupa's and brought home a delish brownie to celebrate. Hailey kept singing "Happy Birthday" to me so she could eat some brownie.


It was a great day.

No More Crib!

Hailey is now in a big girl bed. She was soooo excited to put it together. She was so adorable shouting "Yipee!" and shaking her fists in the air. It was a great daddy-daughter project.





The first night was an awesome success, but night 2 she ended up on the floor screaming at 1am. Hopefully night 3 will be better.

Ensenada Mexico

Our other stop on the cruise was Ensenada. We ventured off for a few hours to see the sights. Hailey scored a maraca.

Shaking the maraca

Catalina Island

Our first stop on the cruise was Catalina Island. Josh and Hailey decided to take a nap instead of venture on hard soil, so I had an adventure on my own. It's a cute little island.

On the Boat

The famous towel animals...not really sure what the last one was.




We got in a little bit of swim time (luckily there was a heated kids pool), followed by icecream.




70s Dance Class




Dinner was probably the most exciting part of the day. The food was great and the wait staff was exceptionally entertaining.

Our waiters

Jose from the Phillipines

Prayuda (something like that) from Indonesia

We got to celebrate May birthdays and anniversaries

Hailey just blew out her candle.

Every night the wait staff would sing or dance. It was hilarious.

The waiter in the back wasn't ours, but he was the most entertaining when it came to dancing.

Hailey would get down and dance. Jose is trying to get her to dance with him.

We also just had a good time hanging out together.

Kristen

Sam

Mickey, Olin, Kelcie

Hailey likes lemons. Jose thought it would be funny to bring her a whole one. She tried to eat it.

When dessert came, there was a special treat on Mickey's plate. Jeff surprised her with a new diamond ring.

Here are some random pictures from our boat adventures.

Love that 18mm closeup

Papa & Hailey

I hadn't brushed my hair yet.

Watching the waves

Between brushing teeth and getting fluoride, Hailey fell asleep on the floor.

The motorcycles defaulted to "Free Play" so we got in a few good rides.

The Atruim

Just hangin' out