FALL!!!

the family at Bounce U!!!

LOVE the is time of (=

more pictures to come!!!

could life be any better?

Brennan and I went to look at apartments today and found a really great one for us! We get the keys 2moro!!!!!

I started a 2nd job on sat.!!!!!!

joined Weight Watcher this evening with my mom!!!!!!




could things be any better???.....well....I could meet a super hot super sweet super rich man 2moro, but lets not push it (=

Look-alike Meter

I WIN!!!! haha

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

WE'RE ON THE NEWS!!!!

Last Friday we found out the the school district was going to cut the choir program from Durango High. Everyone was crushed, choir has made us all into who we are today, it gave us motivation to go to school and do well. The students sent a letter to the Governor and...IT WORKED! The choir was saved! YAY!!!!
We were on news 5, 8, 13 and a Spanish channel.

here is a link, watch the video (= Ivy is holding a sign that says, "don't rob me of music" CUTE!

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11179811

on this link u can see my bro Andrew and I holding signs. Brennan's boyfriend was interviewed as well and its showed on this video (=

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11180796&nav=menu498_2

Ivy's new favorite thing is animal sounds, she has been repeating them back at me for a long now. I always ask her, "what does the ____ say." Now she asks me haha its cute (= here is a qiuck video, she didnt want to do it at first, its pretty quick (=
enjoy!!!

Thanks Crystal for the video!!!

my dog needs a new home )=

this is my doggie, Jax, he is such a sweet dog. My mom is moving soon and I will need to as well so I am trying to find him a good home now. I dont know where I'll be living in a couple months so even though I would like to keep him its prob not practical. He is about 4 years old, hes a little fuller now then in this picture. My mom got him for me on my 18th birthday. (= I want him to go to someone I know if possible.

2nd job!!!

I'm sooooo excited!...............I'm getting another job!
I have been looking for a night job for some time now. What I am making right now is just not enough to support Ivy and I.
It looks like I will be working from 9pm to 3am with my new job and 9am until 3pm at As You Wish catering (= I'm sooo sooo sooooo blessed that this new job just presented itself out of the blue! Its been so hard trying to figure out bills and trying to move out on my own with only a part-time job and no kind of child support. I get to keep my catering job which I LOVE! Plus I get food everyday!!! (= YAY!!! I'm very excited right now!!!!! Can ya tell (=

bored!

I feel like its super late....its only 11pm!
I just found this, didn'ts even look it over so lets see if its fun or not....

Are you a single mom? yep

How many children do you have? 1

Whats their name(s)? Ivy!!!

How long since you became a single mom? umm since I have been a mom so 20 months

Were you ever married to the baby's dad? NOOOO!

What are their birthdays? her birthday is Jan. 2!!! Coming up! oh wow! this will be her golden birthday! I just realized that! hmmm party planning in my head!!!

Whats the ratio of boys to girls? one sweet sassy little girl

Whats their names?...Ivy, I thought we just went over this...

How old are they now? she is 1

Are they named after anyone in particular? No

What grades are they in? she in nursery!!!

Are any of them honor roll students? not yet (=

Do any of them have any special talents? YES! she knows her animal sounds, she can spin VERY well, she can do some sign language, and she plays the harp!!! (ok that last one isnt true but I want her to play one day!!!)

Are you a good mom? YES

What is your favorite way to spend time with them? playing, shopping, I love taking her out to eat but that rarely happens...any time with her is a good time.

Do you have nicknames for them? goose, Lucy, Loo Loo, lady GA GA, 2-loose, googly bear(that's an older one) Loo Lee, and monkey is the newest one.

How old were you when you had your first? 20

How did you feel when you first found out you were preggers with each of them? ummm haha I dont remember my feelings exactly....scared/happy/shocked

Do they ever drive you nuts? wal mart temper tantrums!

Name one unique thing about each of your kids. she was born at home....thats a lame on for this topic but I cant think of anything.

What do they call you? mom, mommy, ma ma, ashley haha (=

Do you want more children? yes

Whats your bedtime ritual? UGH! working on that...

Bathtime ritual? I give her one when she needs it (=

Do you think you spend as much time as you can with them? I work part-time and I miss her tons but I do spend lots of time with her!!!

How do you feel about the phrase "super mom"? every mom that is resposnibly raising kids should be called that!

Are you a working mom or stay at home mom? part timer

Do you have a special needs child? nope

Name your kids fave toys: my phone!

Who are your kids best friends? me, uncles and aunts, grandparents!!!

What are their favorite hobbies? singing, playing, dancing

What are their favorite subjects in school? not there yet...

Are you involved in school activities? .............

What size do they wear in clothing? haha 9-12month...some 18month

Favorite colors? donno

Where are your kids right now? she is snoozin (= looks so cute with her squishy face and sponge curlers!!!

my baby is not a baby anymore )=

20 MONTHS!!!!

It seems like Ivy has always been around but at the same time like time is flying by.

She is sooooo polite! Before we eat she always says, "blessing" and she folds her arms for the prayer. (=

When someone sneezes she either says thank you or bless you, or both haha.

Every time someone gets hurt she comes up with her arms open for a hug and says sorry.

Everyday after work when I knock on the door I love to hear her call for me. She gets so excited! I hate leaving for work :/ I call her at lease once everyday while I'm at work.

Her new thing is animal sounds, so far she know what the dog, cat, cow, horse, fish and bear say (=

She has not had any problems in nursery, in fact I spend half the class time in the hall looking through the peek hole. haha she does great!

I am definitely so proud of her and all her accomplishments (=

dance dance!

Please ignore the mess and boxes...we are getting ready to move (=

visiting the 801

Brennan, Ivy, Anita (our friend) and I went up to Utah for our best friends wedding, we had a great time. We drove up Thursday, Friday we got to do a lot of site seeing. Anita had never been past Ceder city so we took her to temple square. We had sooo much fun! Ivy loved the Christus...well we all did but Ivy was amazed by it! At home and at church I always ask her where Jesus is and she will walk over and point to his picture, its so cool! So I'm sure seeing this 11 foot statue of Christ was soooo awesome to her! She wouldnt leave the statue, I'd walk over to get her and she'd walk right back, so after a few attempts I let her be. It seemed that everyone there enjoyed seeing her pointing at it and saying, "Jesus, Jesus!"

After we left Salt Lake we went to the Mayan for dinner. I had been there before and I wanted Anita to see it. They have cool clif divers and its a fun atmosphere...Ivy was a little scared though. After dinner we took some fun pictures and then it started POURING!!!!!! Like CRAZY!
Later Friday night we went to Provo to see our friend Dave!!! It had been over two years so it was great to see him!!! We watched StarTrek at the dollar theater.



Ivy was AMAZING the whole trip, she was silent in the car! I'm so lucky to have such a great traveler! Brennan kept her entertained with her MANY bracelets and exciting jewelery!!!









Of course the highlight of the trip was seeing Jen! She looked amazing! We went to the temple and it was pouring rain again! But it cleared up just in time for her pictures!!! It was still cold (55 degrees!) though. Bren and I got to spend some time with Jen before the reception because we fixed her hair, that was so fun! We can't wait to do it all over again this weekend at her Vegas open house!!!! (=

Jen's MARRIED!

Jennifer is married!!!!! Bren and I went up to Draper UT. for the weekend to see Jen (=
She looked amazing!

I am so happy for her and James!!! I have only met James a few times but its easy to see that they are perfect together, he is the sweetest guy!

I wish I could have said something like this at the toast.....I made a fool of myself! I'm TERRIBLE at speaking in front of a crowd!

I hope the best for Jen and James on there new adventure as husband and wife!

Jen-see how much better I am at typing then speaking hahaha

bridal shower pictures to come!

bye bye bunny ) =

Over a month ago my sister and I found a bunny that had been a banded.....so we saved it!!! (= there was another one (that we know of) who had been hit by a car. It was very obvious that they were pets and they didnt know how to live in the "wild." I named her bugs (bunny) my younger siblings all had a different name for her. A couple weeks ago we decided that with everyone moving we could no longer keep her )= so we found a nice family for her! The day that she had to go was very hard on the kids, especially Alan! My mom took everyone to the Springs Preserve but Alan decided to stay home and play with the bunny before she had to go.
He was such a strong boy that day! He came with me to meet the lady who would take the bunny.
We waited for over an hour for the lady to show and finally she called...turns out she had been waiting in the wrong parking lot the whole time! So she drove over and took her, I wish she would have been nicer and more considerate about Alan's feelings but she just grabbed here, said thank you and left! Didn't offer to let him hold her and say goodbye! B WORD! O well I'm sure they are great, they were just anxious.
We miss you little bunny!!! (=

happy (late) birthday AARON!

AARON IS 19! WOW!

sobe!
Cards from Andrew (=
MJ
High school musical singing card!!!
LOVE YOU LITTLE BROTHER!

Ivy is 19 months today! Its so crazy how much she has changed! Her vocabulary has literally doubled within the last minth! She is putting more words together and other people can actually understand her (=

Shes likes to ask where her uncle Andrew is, but she calls him something else, Its a weird noise that I can't even attempt to spell out haha. She also asks where Daniel (my friend) is, she'll sit there and for five minutes straight she'll go, "wheres Daniel? wheres Daniel? wheres Daniel? wheres Daniel? wheres Daniel?..." Its funny!

Ivy is always copying the things I do, EVERY TIME I finish someones hair she climbs up on the chair and pulls the cape over her and says, "hair, hair." Or she'll grab a brush or comb and do someone else's hair.


She always asks me to paint her nails and to do her hair! HAHA When we out she likes to take her cell phone (toy lol), babydoll and purse (=

family pictures

Ivy Girl! (= she posed herself haha

I posed myself too!!!

mom and dad (= SOOO cute. moms hair by ME!

Ivy and I (=

the kids

The whole gang (=

My hair grew 12 inches in 10 mins!

I tried Brennan's clip in extensions yesterday to see how they looked, the color actually almost matched! My hair is at such an awkward length right now so I'm thinking of getting some extensions. Bren does custom clip-in extensions which is prefect for me right now! I need something easy. Brennan is very good at cutting and blending them so if anyone is interested I'll give you some more information!!! Note: these ones are not customized to me thats why they dont look that great, we just clipped them in for fun (=

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY BRENNAN!!!!!!!!!!

Brennan's birthday present!!!

Gettin ready for the party

Brittany made Brennan cute cupcakes!

Water balloon fun!

Uncle James swinging Ivy around!

Blowing Bubbles 101

Ezra! He was feeling sick )=

YUM!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS! Funfettie and coffee cake!

Singin in the park (=
I love you Bren! Your the best!

West Side Story

My dad is leaving in a week for Australia so each for the kids on a little date for some one on one time with dad. My grandma had a couple extra tickets to Spring Mtn. Ranch on Thursday. It was a pretty good play, not amazing but good. I actually had auditioned for the play a few months back. (=

Ivy had a LOT of junk food to keep her quite (= she would lick my fruit bar and then turn around and have some of my dads....it was funny.

It was fun to go with my grandma!!! Shes such a sweet lady (=

Australia!

Some people have asked...YES! My family is moving to Australia. My dad is leaving next week and my mom, Bethany, Alan & Andrew will leave either August or Sept. My dad was got a chiropractic job up there. This will be a HUGE change for us! We have such a close family, we do everything together! It will be hard, but it will also be an exciting adventure! i cant wait to go visit! (= This is why I am sooo desperate to find a job! So Ivy and I are not homeless!!! haha!....its not that funny...

day at the museum

We went to the Lied Discovery museum today!!! It was Ivy's first time and I had heard that it had been re-done and had lots of improvements. My brothers have been participating in a reading challenge at the library and they get prizes for the amount of books they read, they picked museum passes as their prizes and they gave me one to use for Ivy. We had lots of fun!!!

Here is Ivy in front on the "Gross"ology room! It was VERY interesting! We learns all about snot & farts! SWEET! haha

In the "little Leaner" activity room

Ivy watching the boys in the hurricane machine!

DIVA!

Fun room!!!

Trying to play like the big kids.

Shopping with grandma!!! (my mom's favorite part of the museum!)

Blue Man/Girl Group

This was Ivy's favorite part!!!! Driving the plane!

giving mommy her own personal plane ride!!!

home alone

My family went up to Provo last week which left Ivy and I here all by ourselves. I know I'm going to have a hard time when they leave for Australia! We did have a pretty good week though. My grandma used to help us make hand shaped sugar cookies every Christmas and we would have so much fun decorating them.....I found out after we made ours that we didnt have any decorating stuff, well at least not that I could find, so ours werent that great (=

We were a little scraggly that day (=

We went to my friend Anita's house as much as we could so we wouldnt get too bored. Anita's birthday was on Thursday so we surprised her with balloons! (=

Ivy rockin her sweet shades

Angelique and I

Ivy and Nita

CHEESE! (=

When I'm rich........

I will buy my own house.

I will give to everyone and anyone I can.

I will get meals at restaurants...not just order off the kids menu and share with Ivy.

I will get Ivy everything she needs and wants!

I will get pedicures.

I will buy a radio for my car...no!...screw that car, I'm getting a new one!

I will volunteer!

The End

HAPPY FORTH!

I didnt wear make up so black and white was the best choice for this picture, it always seems to help (=

Ivy and the fireworks

Jon and Ezra!!!

brothers

Sierra helping Ivy with her 1st sparkler (=

Ivy and Ezra

18 months!

Ivy is 18 months today!!!!!

Thats weird!

Shes old enough for NURSERY which means I will get to sit through church again! I hope I'm ready for that, I'll probably be pretty antsy because I'm not used to it anymore, but it will be nice.

(=

Ivy's new favorite words are "walk!" and "boys." She yells then all the time! haha

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I have been dreading this day from a long time!

yesterday I went up to Ivy and told her I needed to change her diaper and she said, "NOOO!" Maybe thats not such a big to some but to me its a sign that those terrible twos are right around the corner! Oh boy!!!

more disney pictures!!! AND a video!!!

we killed Indiana Jones!

bugs life ride, well one of them

going into the haunted mansion

Ivy's first visit to DISNEYLAND!!!!!

Nobody believed he was actually playing!

chocolate cake face!

waiting....

she was a little scared in the rides

worn out!

sass! just like her mama

playing at Goofy's place

I LOVE this picture!!! look at that cute smile (=

hmmm who is this crazy guy dressed in this bunny suit? I don't think I like this

still doesnt know what to think of Pooh and Rabbit

she has no idea whats in store!!!

update!...i fell off the bloggyland! but im back!

its been a while....i need to let ALL my followers (all 2 of them) know what i have been up to!!! ( ;

TEMPLE-....NO, havent gone yet. when i went in to meet with the stake pres. he said i was too young and then he asked me to come back a few days later so he could talk to my bishop. so i did, and when i came back he said he wanted me to go though (if my new bishop thought i was ready) with my new stake. so thats where im at now. once my records are transferred i will go to my new bishop.......to be honest i felt like my old one didnt want to deal with me, but oh well. IM GOING THERE SOMEDAY! someday soon (= and i cant wait!!!!!

Job-I NEED ONE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BADLY! please let me know if you know of anything!!! i have to move out in a month...but im not even working :/ i love working the catering job i have!!! i helped at a party on sat. i considered it my first real catering job cos its not just serving hot lunchs, which i do enjoy too, but i had a blast!

Ivy-is 17 1/2 months! uh...WHAT!?!?! yep! she and i have this mommy toddler thing we do....we both say "I....." then i say "love..." and she goes, "YOU!" its so cute I LOVE HER I LOVE HER I LOVE HER!!!

The girl I consider like my best girlfriend is getting MARRIED!!!! i love her and am super super happy for her!!! she deserves great guy and i have heard nothing but good about him!

thats it pretty much....its late i cant think but i'll be posting more often!

MOVIN..............

I am moving out on June 14th!!! During the summer I am planning on babysitting a couple of kids....only problem, I NEED kids to watch! I charge from 5-9 an hour depending on different situations and how many kids. Please let me know if you will be needing a babysitter at all this summer. (=

rub a dub dub, two silly girls in the tub

Ivy and Jade CRACKING UP in the bathtub!

And A child shall lead.

Bethany's school put on a play about the children in the concentration camps during the holocaust. It turned out AMAZING! I was actually pretty surprised because its a middle school play but it made everyone cry. The play was written using mostly journal entry's found hidden in the camps. Bethany got to work the sound and spotlight and she did a great job!!!

This is what the T-shirt say's....

Between 1941 And 1945, More Than 15,000
Children Were Residents Of Terezin Concentration Camp In Czechoslovakia.
Hundreds Of Poems, Musical Composions,
Stories And Drawings Created By The Children Were Discovered Hidden At
The Camp After The War.
Fewer Then 100 Children Survived.
This Is Their Story.

hmmmm...

wait!

SUCCESS!!!

Jen & Ivy. They are both so happy....

that correct friends BRAID PIG TALES! I love it!

happy 16 month birthday IVY!!!!!!

1. first day ivy used conditioner!!!!
2. blew her first bubbles!
3. she said the "f" word....hahah not but it really sounded like it.
4. cousins bridal shower
5. shopping shopping shopping!!!

fun filled day!!!

temple date

ok i will be going through the temple on may 9th at 10am.

............you are all welcome to come!!!...........

yeah thats a week from today!

hello! anybody listening?

i use blogging for my journal as most people do...but of course i love hearing (seeing) peoples comments and i swear everyone else blogs have tons and i have none...it pretty retarded that i am actually typing this right now but oh well...DOES ANYONE READ MY BLOG?

I'm going there someday....

I got my temple recommend on Sunday! Now I just need to meet with the stake Pres. and I'm good to go (=
I was planning on the 15th of May but now I don't know, but I will be sure to keep y'all posted.

"lil" cousin!

SAME SIZE!

just outside Brit's house

After the 5k this morning we went to Brittany's to rest then we went back to TS mall...they had a free ice cream social thing....I really wasn't anything exciting. Here is Ivy with her first ice cream sandwich. hehe We saw a HUGE dog and had to take a picture....if you can't tell....this dog is taller than my stroller! DANG!

5k

Brittany, Ezra, Ivy and I did our 1st 5k today!!!! It was pretty good. Its nothing huge, but its a first and definitely not last for us! We got to the Town Square mall a little after 8am, registered and looked around at the booths for a while. It was fun. Lots of cool things to see. Then we started....I was right behind my old Weight Watchers leader...luckily she didn't recognize me! haha. We kept a pretty fast pace, walked and jogged (mostly power walked). This is us at the finish!!!

Brittany won a free membership to this met up group....?.... (=

At the end of the race Wal-mart was trying to give away all the left over water, granola bars, and bananas....we aren't trying to be pigs but they said they needed it gone... (=

random....

Just took these while I was waiting for the boys to get out of scouts...

Savior of the wolrd

My mom and I went the the Savior Of The World show last night. My friend Jessica played Mary in it and did an AMAZING job! I couldn't believe her husband when he told she was really sick, she just did such an awesome job!!! It was fun to go with my mom. David, Jessica, and me
Jessica's mom and grandparents...and my mommy (=
Jessica and I

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!!!

On April 16th I hit the big 2-2!!!! Crazy! Brittany told me she felt so old at 22, she said it felt so much older then 21.....I didn't think that until she said it and then I was like WHOA!...22 does feel OLD!!! I'm an older unmarried maiden hahaha! (= JK I love where my life is right now!!!
practicing.....
she got a taste when I wasn't looking, hence the black frosting on her face (=
I had a horrible toothache ALL day. The girl I babysit was sick :/ I had to go to go watch the boring video to get my health card.... Not the best of days....but at the end of the day my family got me a really fun cake and HEATH ICE CREAM!!! I didn't have any that night because of my tooth but they saved some (=
THANX FAMILY!!!
I LOVE U!

go aaron!!!

April 16th (my birthday (:) my brother Aaron had an all day honor choir thing...I didn't know it was anything big....but I guess it was auditions for all state and HE WON!!! "Command performance," basically saying he is the best male singer in the sate of Nevada...WOW!!! Go Aaron! (= The girl I babysit was sick so I missed the performance :/ my mom videoed it...it was So good! YAY CONGRATS ARRON....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pinewood derby round 2

yay uncles!!!

My brothers did a pinewood derby race right before we moved a few months ago and Wednesday was our new stakes race. They were lucky they got to do two races. They are always so fun!!!

getting ready
Yu-Gi-Oh...of course. (=

Alan's car won his heat...its the one in back, it bounced back (= he was very excited in case you can't tell by the picture above.

HaPpY EaStErS!

Easter is big for my family. After church we always go to my Grandpa's house. We have a nice meal and then the games begin.....We start with the egg hunt. The Easter bunny comes and hides the eggs and then we go out in order of age. Ivy and Ezra had fun by themselves for a few minutes. It was a great picture opportunity too. After that we count up our eggs and the winner gets a prize!!! Steph won this year (=

Then we do our coin toss. The last couple of years we have broken it up into two games. We have a chocolate coin toss and then a penny toss in the grass. Its tons of fun. Lastly, we all go find our baskets and once they have all been found we open them.

My parents got us a basket, and then later that day the Easter bunny brought one as well. We were pretty spoiled.

Here are the winners of all our Easter events!!!

I got Ivy a basket too. Inside of using a basket I used a toy stroller and filled it with fun things (=

We had an amazing Easter weekend. After 2 fun days at the fair and staying with my Grandpa we spent Easter Sunday in Mesquite with him. We don't get to go to his house very often so it was nice. It was great to have ALL of us there like old times!!!

TEETH!

Ivy has 12 teeth now! Holy cow! I didn't even notice she had more than her front 8 (4 on top & 4 on bottom) until I was changing her a couple weeks ago and she had for more =D

HYPNOTIZED

I didn't hate it (;
I don't kno the guy but he smelled nice and was pretty cute haha...

sleep

Mario!!! He started to go under but came out of it...LAME! We were almost in the show together.

Aaron showing off his muscles

My uncle Damon

Charlie doing ballet

voodoo

SLEEP!

no...shes not hypnotized...just sleeping.

fair....more pics

Ezra rockin the sweet shades Aunt Ashley got him! Right on!

BIG MONEY!

Everyone won a prizes for spinning...magnets, beads, stickers whatever...but I won THIS.....

Thats right!...a sweet clown nose! .BE JEALOUS. We all tried it on (=

sexy

FAIR!!!

Clark County Fair

It's been a tradition in our family to go to the fair ever since I can remember. We used to live in Logandale and we'd enter our chickens, ducks, pot belly pigs, and goats in the small animal tent. I always get so excited for it!!! Ivy had such a great time this year! Way better than last year because she was too young to understand what was going on. The past few years have been fun but we finally had everyone here again. Last year Aaron was on a choir trip and Brennan was in China. This year we had everyone!!! Even our 5th sister, my cousin Stephanie who came down from California with her boyfriend Mario.

She LOVED the pigs! The first thing we did
when we got there Friday morning was go to the pig races. Ivy was cheering for the little piggy's, it was so cute! Then we went to the small animal tent where they had baby pigs. She couldn't get enough of them.
Ivy made her own stick house!!! Well she colored by herself at least. They had a stick horse race but we didn't go because I had the see the hypnotist show of course!

cousinly love

Ivy LOVES Ezra!!! She is always saying his name and she gets so excited when she sees him. But she can be a little rough with him...she doesn't understand because they are about the same size. We weighed them the other day Ezra was 16lbs and Ivy was 19lbs...they are a year apart and almost the same size (= I love it!

She tries to help, here she is helping him with his sock. When he cries she tries to pick him up hahaha

Easter pictures are in!!!!

I am pleased with how they turned out....even though I love outdoor photography these are ok for now. One day when I'm rich....or at least have a job (=
Ivy's hair looks fake in the top picture haha...amazing what sponge curlers, a mini straightener and some hair spray can do!!!

The scanner was a little dusty...
I can't believe she is 15 months (14 1/2 in this pic)...still seems so tiny.

Panda Man!

My brother Aaron dressed up at Panda express for a school fundraiser so we thought we'd go support him and Durango High!!!

Ivy was so scared so I didnt get a picture of her and the panda but my little bros were good sports :)

EGG HUNT!!!!

Nate (=
The egg hunt turned out great!!! It went smoothly and quickly like I hoped. The little kids were so cute!!! I was surprised at how fast Ivy caught on (= Thanks Tiffany, Brit and Alyssa for coming
at such short notice!!! (=

"little" Josh

15 MONTHS!!!

Last night I went to bed after Ivy's birthday party and when I woke up she was almost 1 1/2!!!! Um WHAT? The first year didn't go by fast...but it is flying by now!

So whats new?....

I bought Ivy a POTTY!!!!!
We laugh a ton together lately (=
She throws tantrums! haha
Such a sass! Just like her Mama
I love that its just her & I right now!

I GOT A CAMERA!!!!

I went to Target the other day so my little brothers could buy something. As we were leaving we walked by the cameras so I took a quick look. I saw a camera with the orange tag (which meant CLEARANCE as you target shoppers know) It was normally $130.00 but on sale for $109.00 it was the last one because it was the display camera and the rest had been sold. I started taking money out from my pocket and digging in my purse. Mind you I have been looking for a nicer camera for a while. I came up with $80 something....ugh! So the guy said he'd see what he could do. He gave me 15% off which made it $97.00. I ended up having to use $13.00 from my brothers to buy it, even though the reason we had gone in the 1st place was so they could buy something. But I paid them back took them to Target the next day

Its not the nicest thing but it works GREAT for me!!!! I love it!!! (=

i'm back in business! and no more ghetto phone pictures!

YOUR INVITED!

LIL TOTS EGG HUNT

when: april 4th (2MOMO!) 5:00pm

what: Toddler egg hunt!!! (=

where: my house

-please have each child bring 12 eggs filled with there favorite snack or treat. (gold fish, cheerios...whatever they like). Parents and siblings welcome (=

my cell (702) 461-1839. I prefer texting if possible during the day.

uh huh. oooo

This was the day after Ivy's birthday party....so, Jan. 13th.
I'm so happy I found the camera with all these videos and pictures!

OORA!

This was when Ezra was only a couple weeks old (I was just able to retrieve some pictures and videos). Ivy LOVES her new cousin so much!!! She even says his name, "Oora!" So sweet (=

FAMILY!!!!

Brittany had to catch up on her blog a few weeks back so they came over and she worked on it ALL DAY just about...I so would too after not having computer acess for so long, and having not posted since before her baby was born (=
Ezra and Ivy are almost exactly a year apart but I know he is going to pass her up height wise very soon!!!

1st happy meal!

This was a few months ago but I wanted to post it for journal purposes. This was Ivy's FIRST happy meal!!!!
It was at Jack in the box next to the Town Square mall!!!!
She look extremely miserable...maybe because she couldn't reach her food, I promise she liked it though (=

scootin'

Brennan got this scooter a few weeks back. It scares the crap out of me but its cute (= Ivy decided to give it a try...well Brennan decided for her. I'm not sure what that face means. And I was in the house when they did it. Did she like it? She looks a little confused (=

Happy Birthday DAD!!!/GRANDPA!!!

My dad's birthday was on the 19th...I don't know how old, I think 47 or 48. We didn't get very many pictures so this is the best I can do...Bethany picking her teeth, dad reading, Alan looking at who knows what and all I have to say about me is, "do do do do do" (SNL joke)

Bren and I got dad trail mixy stuff, guava soda & chocolate covered pomegranate pieces.
Ivy gave him a "I LOVE GRANDPA" bookmark and lots of pretty pictures she colored.

NURSERY?

(picture taken at another nursery visit when Grandma was teaching)

Ivy is almost 15 months so she'll be going to nursery VERY soon...thats so weird to think! I used to bring Ivy in when my mom was a teacher there but Ivy was younger and I had to be right next to her 100% of the time. On Sunday I tool her in to see what she'd do. I thought she would want me to be near her but I swear she hardly even noticed I was there. Turns out she is NOT good at sharing yet....but all in all, she did well. At snack time she stood in line to wash (sanitize) her hands like all the other kids, and sat like a big girl (= shes deffinatley ready...I just don;t know if I can. I don't think I can sit though classes anymore I get so antsy....I have a few motnhs to work on it I guess (=

FREE!!!

Cafe Rio had their costumer appreciation day last week and they gave away free entrees and if you've been there you know how big their serving are...it was great!!!

The lines was kind of long but they had so many people working that it went buy very fast!

I am not a huge fan of the food so I took mine home to my dad.

They also had a little self serve area with all kinds of things to try, I enjoyed the sweet shreaded pork.

Ivy got a kids quesadilla

Brennan works at Einstein Bagels and gets free bagels at the end of the day!!!!
Sometimes she brings home over 100 bagels!!! We have become pretty creative in how we use them (=

A couple months ago they had FREE grand slams at Denny's. The wait was well worth it, Ivy got her own too!!! (= And recently IHOP had free pancakes!!!!

west side stroy.....

On St. Patrick's day Brennan, Aaron & I decided we were going to audition for the musical West Side Story that night....kinda of last minute. :/ So Aaron & I went to see Mr. Isbell my former high school choir director, he let us borrow a couple Broadway music books. Then I had to hurry home because Ivy had an appointment to get her Easter pictures taken. When you see the pictures you'll probably be able to tell I was in a big hurry, her hair was so messy...oh well. Anyway so I went to pick up Brennan and take her to our friend Meagan's house to get music for her. Finally we got home & had very little time to make resumes, get headshots and learn our music....WHAT WHERE WE THINKING?


When we got to the audition we filled out some paper work and waited around a while...we started out with the dance portion of the audition. It was SO crowded they had tp break the group in half and teach one group at a time...which didnt help much because I was still running into the directors table the whole time lol. They tought us a dance from the orignal chorograhpy....which is FAST!!!! Then we auditioned in groups of 4...I can dance but I am a slow learner so it was messy...I did horrible at the dance haha.


Then came the vocal part, we had a while to practice outside after the dancing. I was singing I could have danced all night from My Fair Lady. When I went outside I heard this other girl singing MY SONG! Be-och! haha so I chaged my mind and sang a different part of the song Brennan was singing, On my own from Les Miserables.(we only had about 12 measures we had to song). So we went in...at this point we hardly cared about how we were going to do...it was almost 10:00pm and we got there at 6:45pm! blah! We had to sit and listen to everyone sing before us...we were numbers 80, 81 & 82(me). There were some REALLY good singers and some "American Idol" she bang type people :/ I didnt want to impress the dance guy, he was SOOO cute and I needed to make up for my horrible mess I did on the dance floor. Aron was 1st and he did well...but forgot the words haha, then Brennan, she did well....then me....I cracked in the first measure! EWW! and I barely got to sing before they cut me off (which they did to everyone...but I didnt even get into the good parts at all).......on the way home we decided to erase those last few hours from our minds and decided that next time we need to prepare a little more and not decide to auditon for something the same day of the audition....The End



-oh and in case you didnt figure it out...we didnt make it hahaha (=

family pictures

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that these are our first professional (wal-mart haha) pictures but with me still on the hunt for a job this is the best I can do for now. They did turn out pretty cute though. I only wish I would have taken time to get ready instead of taking forever getting Ivy ready...she always looks cute anyway (=

She is such a stinker. I LOVE her chesssy smile (=

1st 5!!!

The first five people...to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations:

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make :)
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done within a year (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be
5. I reserve the right to do something really fun.

There is a catch. If you choose to do this, you must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN MARIE!

March 1o, 09

Yesterday was my friend Jennifer's birthday!!! I didn't get to talk to her because I was planning on going to hang out with my sister Brennan and I thought we would call her together and be silly, like always especially with Jen.
I guess I should have told Bren my plan because when I get there Bren told me she already talked to her on the phone...ugh! So I just texted her in case she was busy....just for the record I thought about you 1st JEN! haha. Anyway...

Things I like about Jen:

smile
fun
loving
cute
sweet
silly
real
genuine
respectful
sexy!

We have been close friends for a long time! Jennifer gets me, and sometimes that can be hard. I tell her basically everything, and I never get embarrassed around her. I hate living in a different state then her! I will always love you Jen!

You just wouldn't understand...
"...and when I say butter..."
"...yeah our parents sent us on a bus cos neither of them wanted to deal with us...." (=
"...oh mr. sun..."
..."I'll be your bridge over troubled water..."
"...and then there's me..."
"...oh, what movie was that from?....YOU!"
..."WHAT! I have never hairspray my face!..."

happy birthday jen!

so i never forget...

I always mean to write down all the cute things Ivy does and all her words and signs she knows.

Words:
mama, mom, umpa (grandpa), umma (grandma), Oora (Ezra), E-ya (see ya), bye bye, up, DAY-DO! (thank you), hi, dog, bom-ba (blanket).

Signs:
more (signs and say "MO"), please...those are her main ones that she uses lately she knows a lot though.

Favorite toys:
grandma's church shoes, purses (she put one shoe on, holds a cell phone to her ear and a purse over her should and say "bye bye"). she still lone water bottles. combs.


Food:
she is SO picky lately, probably because people gives her bites of random foods so she wont eat her sweet potatoes or green beans after shes tastes something better tasting. a couple weeks ago i went to Chucky Cheese and got the salad bar so i could give her some healthy snacks....i walk aat for 10 seconds and come back to see my friends friend giving Ivy SODA! I was pissed to say the least but I kept my cool....this was her reply. "but it's diet." O MY GOSH, thats even worst with all the fack sweatners and stuff! And, yes I am very picky about what she eats, at least now thats she is so young and usually cant really tell the difference.

Ivy loves to copy everything I do, the other night after Brittany put sponge curlers in her hair (1st time!!!) Ivy went back and forth from Aaron to Alan combing their hair and talking a lot just like I do when i'm doing hair. (= She even put her hand on his head so he wouldn't move HAHA

Ivy LOVES chocolate....I have never given it to her but she got into her Hershey's kissing after Valentines day and since them shes been hooked! I still don't let her have it though.

She is so fun to watch, she surprsies me everyday with things she does and wors she'll try to reapeat. We were on our way to Wal-Mart with "Oora" and Aunt Brittany and Ivy was crying so I saod, "Ivy, don't you want to go shoppin at Wal-Mrat?" and she said, "Wa-Ma," which sounded just like Wal-Mart hahaha.

hoping for the best but expecting the worst....

I finally found my sisters camera!!! So I turned it on to see some older pictures, mostly for Ivy's birthday & birthday party. I wanted to get some prints......That camera holds a LOT of pictures and after a while of looking I realized that I had looked through all of them already, but I hadn't seen the pictures I was looking for. So they are GONE! I am guessing they were put onto our computer, which crashed! My friend Crystal tried to retrieve them but it didn't work (thanx 4 trying Crystal I love you). Today my friend Kyle is coming to see if there is anything he can do.....otherwise all I have is this one cell phone picture from my friend, which is better then nothing but )=

I hope they can be retreived somehow....if anyone knows any comptery stuff please help!

a look back...high school AHH!

9th grade

school: Sierra Vista

SORRY NO PICS (=

best buds: Crystal Sanders, Meagan Connor, Colorguard girls

crush: Brett Runion & Erik Fish (I think I have the names right)

clubs and activities: girls glee choir& colorguard



10th grade

school: Durango

best buds:
Jennifer Stewart, Brennan Waldron,
Tunner Williams, Brian Hale etc....

crush: Brian Hale...hahaha

clubs and activities: concert choir& colorguard







11th grade



school: Durango

best buddies: Jen, Bren, Jami B, Britni T,
Ericka Burt, Quinn Lindi, Christina Deppler...

clubs and activities: Colorguard captian,
Concert choir, Madrigals
crush: Brian Hale (part of the year)
and Cody Kettner lol

dances:
Sadie's, Jared Engleheart

12th grade

school: Durango

clubs and activities: Concert

choir, Madrigals (I was madrigal queen at the madrigal dinner that year with Cody Stover as king). I also got the solo part with Angeli for our end of the year song tradition.

dances: Homecoming, William Carlson. Sadies, Zack Hollis. Prom, Daniel Douglas (prom was on my
18th birthday and thats when I got my 1st kiss, very fun day!!!)

best buddies: Christina Deppler,
Benjamin Webster, Crystal Straight,
Monica Warren, Bren& Jen of course,
Dan Douglas, Alex Bravo, Wes Bradley,
Jami B, Will....

sissy?

My friends always joke about all the silly things I am afraid of. It really is nuts when I write it all out like this....

These are things that cross my mind multiple times a DAY!

1. thinking someone is under my car
2. windows at night ( you can see in but not out)
3. I'm constantly checking on Ivy while shes sleeping, checking her yummy and under her noise to she if shes breathing. Actually I check anyone around me at night when I cant sleep if I cant hear them breathing.
4. walking down the stairs, mostly at night...I always thin someone is going to be up there & they'll try to shoot me or something! :/
5. getting in and out of my car at night...my heart goes nuts & I run!
6. when I dont have the TV on at night I get terrified!
7. being lined up next to a car at a stop light....I wont have Ivy's window lined up with another cars window...
8. scary commercials...I freak out!


Its late...I know there are more...these things really control my life! Its nuts!

Ciao Elder Yi

The two first pictures are from when I first cut Chris' hair. This was right after I chopped it, I cut it shorter after Please ignore the guy in the back, I was mad he messed up my picture.

It was SOOOOO long!

Here is Bren about to cut it "missionary style" a couple nights before he left












Mom saying her goodbyes, the rest of us went to Fudrucker's for dinner before he went to the church.







It hard to read but the post it says. "Remember Elder Yi (in bold letters) Soro, Williams, Carlson, Webster, Sis Leavitt...ect.



I don't know if he was sick or just being Chris. Notice the ribbon Brennan got him, "I can dress myself." And there is a penguin on it, I guess he loves penguins.

Its about time!

yay for me!!!

i figured out how to get cute layouts!

i'm still trying to figure it all out, i am a little OCD when it comes to things like this,

EVERYTHING has to match! i'll get there eventually (=

no phone

so it doesnt really matter that my phone died.......

or that it got turned off because some of us forgot to pay my dad on time......

cos ivy broke it yesterday :/


so no more ghetto pictures, no pictures at all because i also misplaced my sisters SUPER expensive camera....great

valentines day!!!....PLAN C

Last Saturday my buddy Steve asked me if I had been to the Top of the World at the Stratosphere. I said no so he asked if I'd go with him on Saturday (today).



A while later he told me they were booked that night....which I guess we should have figured, being that it was Valentines day (= so he booked a reservation at André's in Monte Carlo.



About an hour before he came to pick me up Ivy started getting fussy...but not a normal fussiness...she wasn't feeling good and would not let me put her down. I told Steve I thought she might be getting sick and I didn't know what to do, I really didn't want to leave her knowing she'd cry until either she fell asleep or I got home

So he called and had to cancel, they couldn't make an exception for a child under 5 to go because of the day, which males perfect sense.


)= I felt really bad...but he was sweet about it, he said it dint matter where we went he was happy to be with the most beautiful ladies there.

We decided plan C was Olive Garden. So we got there and the wait was 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours...fabulous haha so we stood in that crowded waiting area for over an hour (= it wasnt bad, we just chatted and this cute little boy was baby flirting with Ivy most of the time (=

After dinner we drove to......the top of a hill and sat and looked at the city, it was a very pretty sight, and the temple was not too far to the right of us.

After a minute or two he got out of the car and opened my door....


BRRRRR it was freezing!


Than he asked me to dance
(he had a v-day/love song playlist playing all night).


I had a fun time!!! I tried not to show that I was FREEZING! But I was

shaking so it was kinda hard (=

Thank you for such a fun night....and I'm sorry again!

valentine cookies yum!

"Mommy & me" aprons................$5.00

cookie dough......$3.00

smiling baby face...........PRICELESS

money cant buy SWEET memories like these (=

making valetines

I helped Ivy make valentines the other day and tried to take a couple cute pictures.......

she must be trying out a new smile or something.

now heres a cute one, i caught her when she wasnt paying attention (=

self tag i stole from kelly (=

Seven things I was doing 10 years ago...

1. going into young womans
2. playing with our many animals
3. probably in gymnastics
4. annoying people ( as most 12 year olds do)
6. becoming a big sister...AGAIN!!! (=
7. enjoying being a kid

Seven things on my to-do list...

1. find birth certs
2. cut missys hair
3. exercise :/ HA....hopefully
4. organize new room
5. help ivy hand out her valentines
6. get jax's shots
7. make ivy's doctors app


!Seven places I have lived...

1. TX
2. logindale
3. Provo, UT
4. Henderson, NV
5. Las Vegas, NV
6. gardnerville
7. purrrrrump EWW!

Seven things I would do if I were a millionaire...

1. pay off school
2. get a pretty car
3. laugh at a deadbeat father...i mean.....
4. give to people in need
5. travel
6. buy cool things for my family
7. try not to spend it all

Seven snacks I enjoy...

1. hummus and crackers
2. berries
3. fruit
4. candy
5. cinnamon rolls
6. breakfast cereals
7. snapped peas


Seven things I can do...

1. hair
2. sing
3. shop....
4. crafty stuff
6. spin random things while dancing aka colorguard but i was too embarrased to say it :/
7. walk on stilts

Seven things I can't do...

1. write neatly, i have "gangster handwriting"
2. sleep all thriugh the night w/o getting up to pee
3. be away from ivy for long periods of time (2 hours haha)
4. run
5. go without food for over 2 hours
6. stop dying my hair
7. sleep without ivy near me


Seven things that attracted me to my husband...

1. i'll
2. let
3. you
4. know
5. after
6. I'm
7. married


Seven Favorite Foods...

1. cream cheese ragoons from panda express
2. toffee
3. potatos
4. dark chocolate
5. fruits
6. veggies
7. breads


Seven things I say most...


1. probly yeah (which kinda bugs me)
2. HI HELLO HI!!!
3. ivy put those rocks down! (we have rock fountain in our house)
4. butt...i mean botton (trying to clean up the talk so ivy wont say words like butt, fart, crap etc.
5. dont touch
6. freak that
7. mama loves you...& i love your kisses


Seven things I hate...

1. these words: beastie, oldies (when they are talking about pictures which usually arent that old anyway) "seen" instead of "saw" and when people mispronunce thanks...
2. fish...except tuna!!!
3. fighting
4. open windows at night
5. judgemental people
6. hamburgers
7. needles

new years

I didn't know what to do for new years eve....do i stay home because its Ivy's first new year? Or go out with friends because Ivy will be asleep at midnight anyway? I worry about Ivy all the time so I usually take here everywhere with me but a singles dance is not really a good idea....I had to pick.....

I picked the dance.....

and Ivy slept through the whole night...all that worrying for nothing (=

I had lots of fun

Happy New Year!!!!

sour patch kid. 1st shes sour than shes sweet (=

Yes, Ivy is most definitely my child. Just recently she has been been screaming this SUPER high pitched scream when she doesn't get what she wants. She throws a little fit like a 2 or 3 year old, when my sister heard it for the first time she just started laughing because growing up I was soooo sassy and I had that exact scream haha

But she has also been learning to show her emotions in a good way. She gives me hugs everyday and says, "awwwww" while patting me on the back. She also gives kisses now, its so cute!!!

Christmas.....

parenting 101 haha

I'm so glad my friend Adam got to come down for a short visit from China!!! I really missed him.

I don't leave Ivy very often but I decided to go on a hay ride down the strip with the Robindale singles ward, it was tons of fun!!! I didn't regain feeling in my hands until just recently though

Family Christmas Picture

Yeah I know its over but all the madness going on during the season I am just now getting around to blog. Brittany and Ryan had there baby on Christmas day, I got to witness it and I have a whole new respect for her now...Ivy's birthday is Jan. 2nd and I had a party for her on the 10th...and now with the very fast move.....life has been CRAZY! (=

Adopted a family for Christmas

This is an e-mail my mom sent out just a week before Christmas


Hi Everyone, I wanted to share an experience I had yesterday while accompanying my daughter's choir that went to sing carols to the senior center and patients at Sunrise Hospital. We were told that we had been asked to go sing on the fifth floor where usually no group is allowed to go as it is the section where the terminal dying children are. As you can imagine our mood went from happy and excited to that of a quiet respect and reverence as we passed rooms with babies and small children knowing that these children were dying. I could not ever imagine what these families must be going through. Then we were really touched when I mother and father carried their little girl out into the hallway to see the carolers and hear them sing. The little girl has pretty blonde hair with long loose curls. She was the sweetest little thing. She is 2 1/2 years old. Said to say the other outstanding feature besides her pretty blonde hair were the black circles under her eyes which made it very clear to me that this little girl's life here on this earth will not be for much longer. Her dad was holding her:she was not able to hold her head up for very long and she rested it on her daddy's shoulder most of the time. Her mother stood behind the dad holding the IV bag that was attached to the little girl's leg and she was leaning on her husband and looked so tired and worn out I don't think she hardly could stand up on her own. (it reminded me off how hard of a time it was when we had to care for my mother at the same hospital the same time of year). As I stood there I realized my problems did not seem that big: I don't have my shopping done and my house is a mess and I am really frustrated with my kids right now. I realized that this family won't be worrying about their daughter running around crazy and on a "sugar high" from eating too many treats, nor will they be frustrated because she does not clean her room. I also realized they won't be dealing with a sassy teenager that rolls her eyes and tells her parents they are so old fashioned. I realized that I have been blessed in so many ways and my troubles are so little compared to this family facing lossing there sweet little angel girl. When we left and said goodbye to the rest of the choir members and Bethany and I were alone I lost it and bawled my eyes out( I am not a big crier it takes a lot to get to me) even later that night when Todd and I were having dinner for our 25th wedding anniversary I could hardly hold it together. I wanted to share this experience with everyone so you can rejoice in your blessings and give your kids and extra hug even if they have not done their chores and are acting like spoiled brats at times. We never know at any time they can be taken from us. Life is so fragile. I contacted the Candle lighters about this family to see if I could get information. The women was shocked. This family is knew to them and has only been on there list for a week. No one has adopted them for Christmas as the deadline was Oct. 19th. so you guessed right: I adopted the family knowing I only have a few days to pull this off: I am hoping that some of my wonderful friends can help as time is so short. I will be meeting with Daniele from Candlelights tomorrow on her day off to get the families wish list. She said it is very modest compared to other families: the parents said they do not want anything for themselves only their daughter aged 2 1/2 and her 13 year old sister. If you would like to help us give this family Christmas please let me know and i will forward info to you. I know Candle lighters does a great job as a good friend of Brittany's that died of cancer had Candle lighter give them a Christmas one year. Love, Dorothy and Todd (who does not know that I have adopted this family yet but is always supportive)!


We had many responses from this e-mail. I sent messages to my friends on myspace and facebook. We were so pleased with how many people donated. Heres the update and pictures from when we met.....




Hi Everyone, I wanted to thank everyone that took part in adopting Kaycee's family for Christmas: especially with such sort notice! The Clark Country Children's Choir along with support from my ward church choir and some of our friends and family and my daughter's and their friends collected enough gifts to fill up the bed of Kaycee's family's truck but we also needed to put a few bags in the cab of the truck as well! The family had planned and hoped on meeting choir members at Whole Foods Market before driving home to Kingman, AZ. Unfortunately they were not able to do so. Kaycee had not been keeping any food or fluids down for several days so the doctor needed to give her some IV fluids so she could travel home for Christmas so DeAnna and I and some of our children drove over to take the gifts to the doctors office. When we got there dad, Joe came out to meet us: we had not noticed that Joe was using a cane to walk: this family has been through a lot. He took us back to see Kaycee and meet mom: Joy: she is so sweet. When Kaycee saw us she said: "My best friends are here" that was all she said to us as she is shy and was also weak. Joy explained to us that Kaycee did not want to travel to Vegas to go to see the doctor but when they told her the carolers were coming to see her she was happy and went without a fuss. We sang her a song or two and took a couple of pictures and exchanged a lot of tears. Joy said Kaycee is really touched by music and it has such an effect on her. We gave her one of our CD"s to listen to on the way home as well as choir t shirts for her and her sister. Joe and Joy have no family in the west and all their relatives live in the east. Many came to support them emotional for Christmas and to help out the older daughter. they were so grateful for everyone one and all of their willingness to help. She would like the names of each and every person that took part in giving them Christmas she wants to send out cards to each and every person that helped: (I don't think she will have the time as Kaycee needs constant care). Joy said the thought of having to go to the store and leave her little girl for even a short while is much more then she could bare. We went outside to fill up their truck with the gifts: Joy put Kaycee in a light little jacket and said she had not had the time to go get her a new coat. I told her that there were two new coats in the bags somewhere which of course led to more tears and hugs. We loaded up the truck and said our good bye's and Joe took Kaycee out of her car seat and pointed at all of the gifts her best friends had given to them. She blew us a kiss goodbye: her weak little head resting on daddy's shoulder. I felt such a feeling of thankfulness and peace and the true feeling of giving which is what the holidays are all about. I was so glad that we decided to take on this family: it was a lot of work in only three in a half days. I want the Clark County Children's Choir to know we had some extra help: my daughter Ashely that wrapped gifts and kept track of and what was needed. She and her friends from church gave over $200.00 cash and gifts. Thank You Ashley we could not of done it without you! My daughter Brittany and some of her friends helped as well. I also want to thank my family and friends that bailed me out as they know I often take on a bit too much. For those of you that do not know what the Clark County Children's Choir is all about please check out the website. I am not an expert but I can tell you that skill wise this choir is one of the best the country has to offer. As far as the people in this group: they are the best: it is no wonder to me that that is a big part of way their musical talent is due to the fine young people that they are and have been raised by wonderful parents. If you have children, know any children this choir is one of the wonderful positive musical experience that a child can have. I didn't mean to make this sound like a plug but we are taking registration for the new season and it would be a perfect time to join us. I am so thankful to have my children take part in such an amazing positive experience each week: it is their most favorite thing of the week! Please enjoy this picture of Kaycee and her family and have a wonderful New Year! I love you all!!! Dorothy P.S. Sorry it took so long to get back to you: Brittany surprised us with a grandson on Christmas Day!!!




This was such an amazing experience!!! Kaycee is the sweetest little thing and her parents were so amazing. We had over $500 in cash and gift cards and I tried counting all the gifts we collected but they just kept coming!!! Thanks to everyone who helped (=
-Ash

I love this Christmasy time or year

I was so happy it snowed this year in Vegas!!! Its very rare here and I needed it to help me feel that Christmas spirit. The last few years I havent felt it very much so this I was determind to.

I shopped during the crazy hours when the lines were out of control....which made me happy, odd I know. I did lots of baking...just anything I could think of. And it worked, its 2 days after Christmas and its still goin strong!!! (=

Ivy say, "hi"

DEC. 8, 08

Ivy has started to say a few words in this videos she says Aaron. Since then She has said Grandpa and Grandma...she has her own pronunciation

cookin

Brittany celebrated Thanksgiving with her in-laws this year, but the day before Brennan, Ivy and I went over to Brittany's and she taught us how to make her rolls and mini pies!!!

Ivy got a new toy. don't know what these things are called but you can put almost any food in them and the baby can chew on it and get all the juices without choking...Its amazing!!! Ivy had apple (=

Aunt Brittany made this cute headband for Ivy!!!!

11 months old...WoW

Thank you Kenna Copper for this cute Christmas dress!!!!
( I made the headband )

I can't believe Ivy is almost a year old already!!! I hasn't gone by really fast for me, I can't imagine life without her, but it still seems weird that she'll be a year. Ivy has accomplished a lot since my 9 month update post. She is WALKING!!!! She doesn't crawl hardly at all now. She looks so funny walking because she is so tiny, she only weighs 15 pounds and has since she was 5 months old. She just slimmed down when she started crawling. I think she is starting to get taller though.


Ivy has learned a lot of new signs, her 1st word was "more" I started teaching her that at 6 months and she started doing it herself at 7 months. She knows "more" ( and she says "MA") "eat," "drink," "milk," "tired," "bye bye," (and she says it). She just started doing "please" 2 days ago. Now we are working on "diaper" and "hurt." I recommend baby signing to everyone!!! It really helps us communicate and she crys hay less. She gets so excited when she signs a word and I say it back to her, I can tell shes thinking YES mom that is what I want, her face lights up and she smiles (= its the cutest thing ever!!!

Party girl

Sunday Ivy & I went to my friend Britni's little boy Nathan's 1st birthday party. This was the first time I've seen little Nathan he is such a cutie pie!!! We had a lot of fun at the party. Ivy rarely sees babies her age.

Heres Britni feeding Ivy hot dog buns, Ivy is signing "more"

Ivy thought she needed to help Nathan open his gifts haha

My friend Maryah gave this horse to Ivy, she loves it!!! RIDE UM COWGIRL!!! Thanks Ry

Ivy loves playing with my jewelry. The other night she put this on and I just wanted to put a picture up...by the time I got the camera she was ready for bed but I had to get one picture 1st!!! (=

This year for Thanksgiving we went up to Mesquite and stayed the night at my Granddad's house. It was so fun and really nice to get away. Heres Ivy in her New PJ's (= They were a little big.

this is one of my Granddad's paintings, he is an amazing artist!!!

I prefer the canned stuff!!!

yes, shes walking!!!! (= not happy in this picture though

don't know what I was making but I was in deep concentration...

mini pies Brittany makes, she taught Brennan and I to make them.

Pooped!!! (=

another painting. entitled, "Happy Thanksgiving." (sarcastic)

leaving Granddad's place, it was fun

As we were driving back from Mesquite we noticed some fog near the strip it looked really cool with all the light. The fog was near our house too, it was really neat looking while we were driving, you could barley see in front of you. when we got home we went out for a walk....you can tell we are from Vegas hahaha...

it got old fast for Ivy

Leftovers already????? YUM

TURKEYS!

For family night we made turkeys!!!! I used to make these as a kid around Thanksgiving so it brought back some fun memories.







Brennan made a peacock!!!!!!!!







My turkey is at the bottom!!!

BIRTHDAYS part 3!!!!

Brittany's birthday is on November 14th!!! We went to the town square mall to see the parade and all the fun Christmas decorations....unfortunately the 215 was backed up so far that by the time we got there we had missed the parade and we had to park across he street at fry's. But we had fun, after the mall we went to Brittany's house to have cake ( homemade snickers cake ) and give her presents!!!

BIRTHDAYS part 2!!!!

Here Ivy help me wrap Bethany's birthday gifts....

Bethany's birthday in November 12th, she turned 13!!!!! She is such a beautiful and sweet girl (=

BIRTHDAYS!!!!

November 8th is my mom birthday.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!






Mom lost her cell phone a couple weeks ago so we had no idea when she would be coming home...we got a little impatient and decided to all wear Brennan's wigs that she bought in China. It was a lot of fun!!!





Ivy wasn't a fan of the wigs...

Thank you Aunt Brittany!!!

Aunt Brittany has made so many adorable headbands for Ivy, here is the one she made for Halloween. THANKS BRIT!!!!!

Halloween part 2

These pictures are from Halloween night. Ivy LOVED trick or treating!!! She waves "bye bye" to everyone (after we had already left) and she signed "more" a few times when people gave her candy (= Here is a picture of Ivy's 1st house she trick or treated at, this lady was so nice.

(PICTURES TO COME......)

sneaky sneaky....(early October sometime)

I made Halloween cookies that were supposed to be for our family yard sale. I was rushing around trying to get everything in the car and find an outfit for Ivy, my little brothers were watching Ivy...I thought...and I found her by the door quietly licking the frosting off the cookies. I couldn't be mad, look at that face. HAHAHA

Ivy's 1st Halloween!!!

Last year I found a really cute horse costume at JcPenny's for only $6!!! It was size 6 months and I knew Ivy would be 9 month by Halloween but it was such a good deal I figured it will work for someone someday.

A month or so before Halloween I tried these cat ears on Ivy at Michael's and I had to get them (if you can't tell, sometimes I can be a little bit of an im

pulse shopper).

It turned out that Ivy was still in size 3-6 month clothes by Halloween so the horse costume fit perfectly!!! So I had her wear the cat ears to my brothers party I didn't get it finished but it was still cute. (=

We also got to got Trunk or Treating at my cousins

ward...I couldn't find either of her costumes so we compromise....PIRATES!!! not bad for the 10 minutes I had to find and put it together.

Oct. 2008

photo fun (=

Brennan and I got bored on day and decided to have a little photo shoot. We had lots of fun taking pictures of each other and I had fun editing them!!! I think we did a petty good job considering
we have no experience at all (=

NINE MONTHS OLD!!!

WOW, I can't believe it, Ivy turned nine months on the 2nd. I haven't posted anything in a while so I will tell about some of her accomplishments. She has 3 teeth!!! Her bottom 2 & a top one on the left side(not one of her front ones but one over from where it would be).

On Sat. October 4th Ivy stood up for the first time all by herself (= We were having a yard sell and she was playing in the grass with her uncles Alan & Andrew. They ran over to tell me and I got over there just after she fell down. Luckily she did it again, and again and AGAIN!!! I got to take a picture with my phone, but I can't retrieve my phone pictures and out them online )= some day...

1st haircut!!!

I was attached to her cute long hair but it



was getting pretty bad. No matter how



hard I tried it looked very scraggly....so I



had to do it. And I have to say, I am so



glad I did.






She was over it within the first few



minutes, but I was having fun (=

After a while we ditched the cap and sat her down

in the high chair with corn on the cob to keep her

busy.

It turned out good, by the time I was done

she was very hairy and unhappy so I did'nt

get a picture. Darn it.

1st bubble bath!!!

About a month ago Ivy had her first bubble bath (= she was a little nervous at first, she didn't know what to think about the bubbles but after just a couple minutes she was slashing around like crazy. She was wiggling so much that she slipped right out of my hands just seconds after I took this video.