Happy Birthday Lila!

I know it has been about two and a half weeks since my little Lila girl turned one, but I have been lazy and haven't posted yet.  I got her birthday pictures back today, so I decided I better get on the ball and talk about my baby, mainly so I don't forget what she was like at one. 

Lila is such a happy baby, except for when she is away from the comfort of her own bed!  We just spent a week on vacation in San Diego (more to come on that topic later) and she was so incredibly happy to be back in her own bed!  

She loves being "pretty."  This started several months ago when she figured out how to put necklaces on by herself.  The birthday pictures with her cousins is a great example of this.  She had no problem keeping the pretty headband and necklaces on the entire time.  She often puts things on and comes to me a says, "pee-dee."  She is totally a girly-girl, which is why I decided to make this cake for her birthday...

I've always wanted to try to make a castle cake, so this was a good excuse.  I think it turned out fun.  Now back to the birthday girl!

Lila loves to dance, and has quite the moves!  She wiggles her little bottom and moves her feet quite a lot for a one year old!  She can't resist moving when she hears any type of music.  

Oh, I failed to mention that she is a fast little stinker!  She practically runs all over the place and is quite busy.  She likes to empty my cupboards every day. 

She loves to snuggle and likes her mommy time.  

She loves her doll and any soft stuffed animal.  

She loves giving kisses and playing peek-a-boo.

She absolutely loves our golden retriever Sadie.  Sadie is really good and gentle with her too.  

Lila's smile can melt anyone's heart and she knows it.  I was changing her in a public bathroom during our vacation and I heard some ladies chuckling behind me.  I looked up from the diaper and saw that Lila was giving them her charmer smile.  I guess it worked!

Lila absolutely adores her sister, and her sister is learning that she is better able to play with her now.  My favorite sound is when I hear my girls giggling together!  Seriously the best sound ever!!!  

Lila loves any type of fruit and wants a bite of anything we are eating.  She really loves to eat and will get excited whenever she is near our pantry.  She loves to share her food too.  

Lila is a climber!  She master the stairs months ago and climbs on and off anything she can reach!  

Lila finds joy in everything.  Sometimes when she smiles I think to myself, "if that smile gets any bigger it won't fit on her face."  She really is a sweetheart and I can't imagine our family without her!  

Oh how we love our Lila Girl!

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Lila has two cousins that were born within a week and a half of her.  For their birthdays, we decided it would be fun to get some pictures of all of them together.  They turned out so cute, I just  have to share.  Thanks again Manda Jane Photography!  They are so fun!  

Mini Golf

I know it is probably a HUGE shock that I am blogging again so soon, but we had so much fun last night, I just couldn't resist!  

We went mini golfing and my girls couldn't have been happier! 

Amanda loved hitting the balls and did a pretty good job!  Lila loved getting the balls out of the hole and was very proud of herself!

Amanda also got to ride a pirate ship and bumper boats!  It was a fun night!

What We've Been Up To

Since it's been a while since my last update, here's what we've been up to, in no particular order:

Fell asleep watching the lightning

Tried to take a family portrait while watching fireworks... NAILED IT!

Ate lunch with Uncle Josh on his way to the MTC

Watched Grandma say goodbye to her boy for two years

Played games with Grandpa

Built tall towers

Learned to walk... or should I say RUN!

Parked next to this giant in Scipio of all places (that's our car next to it... or should I say beneath it!)

Fun with sisters! 

Life has been busy lately, but it sure has been fun!!  I love my little family!

Gerald

Anyone who has been around us lately has had the pleasure of meeting Gerald.  Gerald goes just about everywhere with Amanda and is her best friend.  He even has his very own blanket for bedtime.  Here is a picture of the best buds :)

 Amanda will speak through Gerald a lot of the time.  For example, "Gerald really wants a fruit snack!"  Gerald has a really high pitched squeaky voice.  I have found I can convince Amanda to do things sometimes  by talking through Gerald myself.  He does get into things though.  I walked in the kitchen last night and found Gerald eating popcorn on the kitchen table.  Silly giraffe! 

They sure are cute together!

We love the Zoo!

So far, this summer has been much different than last summer!  I'm not huge pregnant and we are not using every spare moment to fix up our house!  This means we get to play!!! We have already had a lot of fun.  One of our favorite spots is Utah's Hogle  Zoo.  We were there three times this last week alone, and each time was so much fun!


We got to go to the preview of the new Rocky Shores last Thursday with our favorite zoo cousins Lizzie, Josh, and Millie!  These cousins have so much fun together and always LOVE the zoo!

the best picture I was able to get of all of them

 Amanda and Lizzie were very proud of their face painting!

 

Such cute cousins!

on the train
Monday we were able to take "Grandma and Grandpa Blue Car"  to the Zoo with us!  My mom has always loved giraffes, which also happens to be Amanda's favorite, so we  had to get a picture by them!

  

Both girls were pretty tired by the time we got to the line for the train.  They both wanted Grandpa.  He is such a fun Grandpa! 

Wednesday we were off to the zoo, yet again!  This time my cute cousins came down from Cache Valley and brought their cute kiddos.  Amanda thought it was cool that we were going to the zoo with Mom's cousins!   I was terrible at taking pictures that day, but here is one at the beginning with all the kids (+ Avree holding Kate) ready to go!

It was so much fun spending the day with this group!  I really don't see them enough and it was so fun to see how big all the kids had grown.  It's still crazy to me sometimes that we are old enough to have seven kids between the tree of us!  CRAZY!


I'm sure we'll have more trips to the zoo this summer, but I might wait a few weeks.  Three times in seven days was pretty fun though!

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

I realized today that I'd better get on the ball and post about our weekend before it becomes old news that I don't want to take the time to catch up!  


We were originally planning on going up to visit my brother and his cute family in Rexburg, but when our other brother found out he got leave and was coming to Hurricane, we all changed our plans and headed south!  It was so fun to have everyone together.  It really doesn't happen as much as I would like, and it probably won't happen again for a while.  Jacob's schedule is really crazy with the Air Force and they are stationed in Tucson, so it is a long drive.  Josh is expecting his mission call any day now and then he will be off on his mission, wherever that is going to be.  Life just gets crazy and we are all over the place these days. 


One of the things we really wanted to do, was get a family picture.  We had fun taking them and I think they turned out fun.  Everyone that reads this blog has probably already seen them on Facebook, but here are my favorites anyway.

The whole group!

I don't remember who's idea this was, but I think it turned out pretty funny!

I'm pretty sure Billy was going crazy trying to get the girls smiling.  Looks like Grandma and Grandpa were the ones getting entertained! 

We actually started our trip by spending the night on Cedar Mountain.  Amanda was so excited!  Billy made her a little bed in the cabin and when I came to see it, she just beamed up at me.  She was so proud.  

sound asleep

finally sound asleep, after getting in with mommy!

It was a little too cold to do all that we would have liked, but we had fun visiting in the cabin and Billy and Amanda were able to catch some fish!  Billy also caught a frog for Amanda and she LOVED it!  She kept wanting to hold it and wasn't creeped out all!  Afterward, she was telling me about it and said, "I hold the fwog and I didn't squish him!"  


Sunday was spent with family and playing games (and church of course!).  It was nice not to have to race back home after church. 


Monday morning we were able to go to the Hurricane Splash Pad.  I thought Amanda would love it, but I think it was a little too cold.  She did play for a while though.  I really think Billy and Erik had more fun than the kids.  Lila and Audrey got in for a while too, but I decided it was enough when Lila's little teeth started chattering.  

We left for home after lunch and made it through Utah County without incident (traffic and construction were horrible).  It was a quick trip, but it was fun to see all my family.  

My Dad and his girls!

The Amazing Karla!

I really do have the best Mother in Law in the world.  I feel very lucky!  Today is her 65th birthday and I am so grateful for her.  She is the most unselfish person I know.  This last Saturday we surprised her with an "Amazing Race" birthday party.  She loves watching the Amazing Race, so what better theme could you ask for? :)  Bill worked hard to put all the clues together, and I volunteered to watch all the little kids so the adults could race!  I talked my sister and her good husband into helping me babysit, and I was sure glad I did!  They were so much help!  Thanks again!


Everyone had a great time at the race, then we went to our church building where we ate yummy Olive Garden food and watched a video tribute to Karla.  


Of course, I believe you can't have a birthday party without a cake, so after the video, Billy brought out Karla's birthday cake.  I think it turned out pretty fun!  

I had a couple of mishaps with this cake that I won't go into.... needless to say, it turned out WAY better than I expected.  Phew!  I was glad!!  

Amanda and Lila had a great time with their cousins too!  It is so fun when we all get together!

Millie and Lila - only 9 days apart!

 Amanda is the most coordinated three year old I know!  She really wanted to try the older cousins' stilts, and was able to walk all over in them!  I was impressed!  

 It was a busy but very fun weekend.  I was sad not to get to see my Mom this weekend for Mother's Day, but we are going to visit in a couple of weeks and I am very excited!   We were able to surprise my mom with a new chandelier over her kitchen table though!  I wish I could have seen her face when she saw it.  I love you Mom!  You are the best Mom and Grandma ever!  I can't wait to see you!