Birthday Girl!

Well she finally turned four! She's been waiting for a while. All her friends are four and she felt like she should have been! She was surprised by Papa coming for a visit for her birthday (how did we not get pictures?)! That made her pretty happy. Here are a few pictures from her actual birthday. Can't believe how old she is getting. Such a sweet little girl. Love her.

 Grandma Karen got her the much wanted cupcake game!

 She chose cinnamon toast for breakfast. Of all things. Easy for me at least!

 Dishes! For a kitchen to come later in the evening. :)

 Tangled. Thanks Papa and Grammy!

 I didn't want to make a second cake, so here is her magnum bar. :)

And finally the kitchen. She loves cooking, so we finally got her a kitchen.

Yep, they are big!

Well they sure are growing up. Carter made his move into his big boy bed a couple weeks ago. I was terrified because he has always gone to be so easy. It worried me it would cause a problem. I am happy to report that he goes to bed like normal. What a big boy!

This is Ella's preschool group. They are doing awesome. She LOVES going and often tells me it is too short. She comes home and immediately finishes whatever she didn't complete while there. She's growing up on me also (tear).

This is just a really cute picture of her and her friend Jagger. It's from last May, but was too cute not to share. :)

Dancer girl

Here are a few pictures of Ella from last dance season. I keep meaning to put them up here. I can't believe how old she is getting. Just a couple of weeks from her 4th birthday now. In some ways, I can't believe this girl is only turning FOUR! She seems so much older to me. Guess that's with a lot of oldest kids. Today was her first day of dance class for the year. She seemed so much older than last year. She did such a good job with all the new things they were learning (forgot my camera, was one of those mornings). She loved every minute of it and told me it was "too short" on the way home. I love that she is enjoying dance as much as I do. :)

After dance class we dropped her off at her first day of Preschool! Not sure if she will go to Kindergarten or not next year (she hopes so, but she has that awful late birthday). For now, she is excited to do Preschool with a couple of her friends. She was so excited to go today. As I dropped her off today I caught myself wishing that for a moment, she would stop growing so quickly. On the other hand, I am thoroughly enjoying watching her grow into the little girl she is. Love my little dancer girl. :)

He did turn two.

I just forgot to blog about it. Carter's birthday was two days after we got home from our month long trip (August 23). I didn't have my act together so we made some boxed cupcakes for his real birthday and then had a little party on Saturday. Can't believe he's two already. Cute two year old pictures to come (as soon as his massive bruise on his forehead goes away). Until then, here's a few pictures of his party.

His real birthday. He LOVES singing and blowing out candles. He made us do it three times this night. He's pretty much a pro. :)

 His cake. Please ignore the tinfoil. I need a bigger cake plate.

 Ready for his party. Man he looks old now.

 He had a blast. Thanks to all who came.

Little Carter is talking quite a lot lately and acting like he is one of the "big kids". He has amazed me at how much he has grown up in the last month. He is pretty much potty trained  completely (still haven't gotten brave enough to take him for long outings in underwear but we are close). He is such a good helper, always cleaning up stuff. Except when he's not. :) He is independent, yet such a momma's boy. Or daddy's boy. Depends on the day. He jumps off of EVERYTHING he can. He torments his sister (aren't they supposed to?) and loves her at the same time. I love this boy. So happy he is a part of our family.

Idaho-The last leg

So our last stop was Idaho for a sibling reunion with Brady's family. We had a lot of fun doing summer things and hanging out with the family. The cousins especially had a grand time together. 

 Looking at the Llama's (or whatever they were) at their neighbor Marilyn's. She was so kind to let us stay in her home while she was away.

 Levi brought his guns so we could shoot. This year Ella decided to give it a try!

 We spent a day at the pool. Levi bribed Ella with a slurpee if she went on a slide she was afraid of. She did it as you can see. :)

 And who can forget Brighton. He loves his slurpees! Do he and Carter look alike or what?

 Ella had so much fun seeing her cousin Emily. They have lived far apart most of their life. It was fun for her to spend some time with her.

 Most of the cousins. There are two missing, but these are the oldest of the gang. 

 Ella LOVES horseback riding. She would do it everyday if given the opportunity. (Me, horses and I apparently don't mesh well. Try as I might. Maybe next year)

 She's a natural!

 Brady and I took off on a four wheeler ride. Thanks Marissa!

 The kids spent a LOT of time on Nana's mickey mobile. This was after their ice cream run to the Arctic Circle!

 Aunt Amy was so kind to put together a fun night around the Charlotte's Web book. Here they are watching a movie on the big screen outside!

 Lake day! There were canoe rides.

 And sand castles.

 And noodle fights.

 And this. Well, the boys thought they could put this together. What they didn't know was how to do it.

 Needless to say, Don had to save them. :) They made it down wind, just not back up. Good faith effort!

 Isn't she just cute? :)

 Stopped on our way out to see the view of the lake. 

 On Friday it was Brady and my anniversary. Six years! The family was kind to let us take of for a few hours. We rented a jetski and had a blast! The above picture was of the marina. There were huge fish everywhere!

That's all folks. Until next year! Next up...Carter's birthday!

St. G

Next stop for the kids and I was St. George! Brady had to go home and work for about 10 days so the kids and I drove up to spend a week with my grandparents/brother. Spent lots of time in the garden and at splash pads trying to keep cool. The kids loved every minute of hanging out with their cousins, uncle, Brittany, grandparents and great grandma. Consider yourself warned, this is a picture overload!

 Oh the deliciousness. =)

 Ella stayed in California for a couple days to play at Auntie Cass' and Uncle Bryan's. She had a blast! Carter, Marco and I headed to St. George.

 A truck on our drive. 

 And the splash pad. St. George was HOT!!!

 Cousins. <3

 Uncle Allan teaching him to jump off the top (thank you for that!)

 Somehow they convinced ALL of the adults to run through with them. We were all soaked. None as soaked as Brittany though.

 My sis came to bring Ella back so we got to hang out one more time!

 Picking from Grandma Karen's garden!

 Carter and Jaren.

 Isn't she cute? Maybe it's just me, but I think she's a cutie!

 Yes, he was trying his hand at skateboarding. And yes, he fell flat on his face directly after this photo. Yes I grabbed the camera instead of getting him off the board. I am a good mom. =)

Got to hang out with one of my bestie's Maria. =)

 Grandma took the kids out to dig the day before we left. They were in heaven! Thanks Grandma!

 Duck pond, every kids dream.

 Cousins hanging out.

 Possibly the cutest cousin picture ever!

 Grandma took the kids on the carousel at the park downtown!

 And more splash pad. Had to stay cool somehow!

 My great grandma Nora. It was so good to see her everyday while we were there. I miss her!