Life in the Herbrandson House

Goodbye Blog! :(

2011-03-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

I've so loved updating my blog over the last couple years...and was so hoping to have a really great record of our family's events over the years, but....

A couple months ago I started getting updates saying I couldn't post any pictures because I had reached my limit and I would have to pay for extra storage. I didn't know what to do and a couple people suggested clearing out the storage area where blogger stored my photos. I did that and it worked! :) ...but I just realized (after deleting almost all the pictures) that it was deleting the pictures off my blog as well. So after 3 1/2 years of posting, it's almost all gone. :( I'm so frustrated I could just cry. I have lost all desire to keep up with blogging (at least for now), maybe I'll decide to start a new blog one day??? As for this one though, I'M DONE!

December 2010 pics

2011-03-11T09:43:00.000-08:00


Alyssa and her fancy dance moves. :)

The girls playing Cinderella...they were SO cute pretending!

Now it's Emi's turn to be Cinderella. :)

Cardinals game!!!!

Dress-up

Day at the park with friends. :)

They sat like this for the whole movie! LOL

Making cheesecake with daddy!!!

My friend found this really fun 'frosting' recipe...the girls got to paint on the sugar cookies, they had so much fun!

The finished designs. ;)

This was my rocking horse when I was a little girl...Emi LOVES it!!!

Fun day at the zoo!!! I tried to get a cute pic of all the kids...this is what I got! LOL

I finally just said, "give me silly faces!"

Almost perfect. :)

Christmas morning!

My new ornaments this year. :)

The girls were being so cute and snuggly!

On our way to Flagstaff for some sledding, WOOHOO!!!

It's snowing!

So beautiful!!!

We got snowed in and had to stay at the hotel an extra night...killing time with a movie right here. :)

The drive home the next day.

It's hard to see because our window was so dirty, but there was a huge storm on the left side and perfect blue skies on the right side...very cool!

Celebrating New Year's Eve with sparklers for the 1st time!

The girls did so great!!!

The rest of November...

2011-01-20T13:15:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to get to blog again!!! :) I had a problem with not being able to upload pictures, but I think I got it figured it out now (thanks for everyone who helped!)

Here are just some random pics from the end of November.

Alyssa put her two 'friends' to sleep next to her - face down of course, since that's how Alyssa sleeps! :)

Thanksgiving

Alyssa w/cousin Ava

Emi w/cousin Emma

Zoo lights w/our sweet friends!

Alyssa was really scared of this lion!

Ahwatukee Light Festival ...waiting for the motorcycles to come.

Here's one of our favorites this year!

My sweet girls in their footed pj's. :)

2010-12-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

This is a really long post, I just thought it'd be easier to put all the November pics in one post. :)

State Fair with my mom and the girls.

The many faces of Emi. :)

Alyssa's 1st time on the bumper cars...she loved it! Daddy's girl for sure. :)

The girls loved this climbing thing!

They were so hesitant about spinning the tea cup the 1st time they went on it.

Then the 2nd time they really got into it, spinning like crazy & having so much fun!

The next week we went had a day with my mom while Nate was out of town.

1st stop, a Pumpkin Patch in Glendale.

Next Stop, Tea & Antique Shopping in Glendale.

Also while Nate was out of town, I decided to repaint our kitchen cabinets.

Here's the before picture...

In progress...

Which color??? (it ended up being the one on the right)

I was able to finish the bottom half while Nate was gone.

It's done!!!

This was too cute...Alyssa went to bed and put her 'Holy' (what she named her Raggedy Ann doll) and her Koaly (her little Koala Bear) face down on the pillow next to her so they could sleep too. ;)

Spending an afternoon outside 'painting' with water and chalk.

Emi's 'person'...

Alyssa's pumpkin...

Cute pj's, cute sisters. :)

Daddy's home!

My 1st race!

Here I go!

YEAH, I finished my 1st 5k!!! :)

We did it!!! Thanks girls for a fun morning!

Free Fro Yo and a bunch of friends makes for a fun night. :)

The kids loved having Shag at their table! ;)

Day at the zoo...

I love Alyssa's face in this picture! LOL

The 1st part of the morning we got to hang out w/some friends from church.

The 2nd part of the morning I got to catch up with some old friends and meet baby Isaiah!!!

SO good to see you Andrea & Amy!

The girls were so cute in their dresses & tights one morning at BSF, I had to take a couple pictures. :)

These girls are so silly!

Super fun girls dinner put on by Amy so that we could all hang out with Andrea some more before she headed home. What a great night!

I miss you!

Misc. October & Halloween pics

2010-11-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

We went to our friend Evelyn's 2nd birthday party at a really fun pumpkin patch/farm in Glendale. Daddy and Alyssa were at another party that morning so I had the whole morning with just Emi! :) We had a great time!!!

Here's Emi playing in a bunch of corn.

She loved the baby chicks!

The cupcakes looked amazing and very delicious! Farm animals and pumpkins, PERFECT!!!

I think she could've played in the corn maze and on these bales of hay all day. :)

Nate and I were able to attend the Cardinals game against
the Saints, thanks to a sweet friend who gave us tickets. :)
We had such a great time!!!

We were so thankful to be able to have Mercy & Laney over for a day and a sleepover, we miss them so much!! The girls had such a great time!

The little ones are SO silly! ;)

The next morning we got to play with our friend Devin too! They all did some fall crafts and did such a great job. :)

We copied their hand and then made a tree. They decorated it with 'leaves' (colored tissue paper).

Then we made jack-o-lantern faces.

Gotta include rain pictures when it rains! ;)

Pumpkin carving!

The girls did such a good job cleaning out their pumpkin this year...they shared one (thanks Wendy!), since I forgot to buy some! oops :(

Emi was loving cousin Zach and wanted to help him with his pumpkin the whole time!

Usually we all line up after we're done and get a picture taken with our pumpkins...but Nate & I were in urgent care w/Emi. She fell backwards on the pool decking and got a HUGE 'goose egg' on the back of her head. I never fully understood that phrase until Saturday night...it was literally like she had an egg sticking right on the back of her head. SO scary! She's ok though, praise God!!!! ...so anyways, here's pictures of the girls at our house with their pumpkins. Minnie Mouse (kind of hard to see the bow) and a heart.

Beautiful, silly cousins :)

My little Rapunzel :)

My beautiful Rapunzel & Snow White
(Derek was nice enough to let us borrow a real Rapunzel wig for Halloween night, this wig is my attempt...not so good! Thank you Derek, Alyssa loved wearing the 'correct wig' on Halloween!) :)

Our family! :)

All the kiddos at Kami's Halloween night.

Time to trick or treat!!!

We had to wrap the Rapunzel wig around her neck so she wouldn't trip over it! LOL

The girls LOVE Miss Alex and were so excited to trick or treat with her. :)

Alyssa's Barbie Sleepover Birthday Party!

2010-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

2nd year attempting the "Barbie cake"...SO happy it didn't crumble this year!! :)

Getting ready for the party to begin!

Each girl brought their favorite barbie and got to play in 'Barbie land'. :)

Barbie play time! :)

Miss Alex was SUCH a big help at the party...helping cook dinner, cleaning up, taking pictures, doing hair, and helping get breakfast ready for the morning! :)

Dinner's ready.

Alyssa picked the menu...mac n cheese, strawberries, and cheez-its. :)

The girls got to have their hair done and nails painted. Thank you Kristy & Alex!!!

Ava and Eliana were so cute...as soon as they realized they were both 4yrs old, they were inseparable!

Barbie game - 'Stick the glasses on Barbie'

All the cutie patootie's. :)

Time to sleep...Alyssa's room was FULL!

Good morning!

Princess pancakes, unicorn pancakes, and PINK pancakes (thanks to Alex for that fun idea)!

Alyssa and all the girls had a great time...SUCCESS! ;)

Happy 5th birthday Alyssa!

2010-10-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

My little girl is getting so big, I can't believe she's FIVE!!! She is such a sweetheart, I love her so much!

Here's some pics of the family (and 'kind of' like family!) birthday party we had a few days before her actual birthday.

Alyssa and as she says, her 'handsome boy'. ;)

Papa & Grandma K

Grandpa & Grandma H

Birthday morning!

Breakfast with the whole family at Liberty Market (what a special treat it was to have Nate be able to take the whole day off of work!). :)

Emi could've stood in that window all day long, it was just her size! LOL

Her 2 new barbies, Sea World trainer Barbie and Wedding Barbie.

Birthday phone calls. :)

Grandma brought cousin Ava by the house for a special birthday visit. :)

Miss Alex was so kind to draw this sweet birthday message on our front porch the night before Alyssa's birthday for her to see on her birthday!!! We were all shocked to see it when we opened the door, what a fun surprise! :)

Misc. September pics...

2010-09-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

Emi LOVES to just sit and play hungry hippos by herself. It is so cute to watch. :) ...and I love that she'll just wear her backpack around the house for no reason at all, I love this girl!

Here she is at the Children's Museum. She was so excited to be able to paint the castle, I think she could have stayed there all day!

Alyssa has been loving the puppies lately, it is so adorable! I love that Bailey lets the girls snuggle up with him. :)

1st day of BSF 2010

Dinner w/Zach and Amanda...the girls were so cute with them! Alyssa loves Miss Amanda, she went to sit on her lap and then she fell asleep within minutes. :) Emi just ran up to Zach after dinner and then just sat on his lap with the biggest smile until we left!

My grandma who died when I was 4 had a pottery wheel and kiln in her basement. I don't know the story behind it, but for some reason it always gave me a desire to learn how to make pottery...well thanks to a good Groupon deal my wishes came true! Nate was so kind to agree to go with me, we had a great time!

Alyssa got a new-to-her bed for her birthday (thank you Myers family!)...she was still in her toddler bed prior to this, which was just her crib with the front panel off, so this is a lot more sleeping space! You think she'd be all spread out, but she actually sleeps across the two pillows, just like she was still in her toddler bed. Funny girl! :)

A commercial came on with this music and Alyssa just started dancing to it...we kept playing it over and over without her realizing it and she just kept on dancing. It was so cute, I had to get it on video. :)

Misc. August pics...

2010-09-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Emi is so goofy, and I love every minute of it! Here she is already for breakfast, with her backpack on and wearing these hilarious sunglasses that she has (the flower lenses open to the side - and that's how she mostly wears them! LOL). :)

My cutie pies. :)

Blowing bubbles before heading into the zoo.

Emi's favorites, the zebras!!! (Alyssa's favorite is coming soon, the KOALA'S!)

The elephants were so cute that day!

Alyssa's learning how to take pictures, she did a great job on this one! :)

I love how Emi runs!!!

Playing in the rain!

Flagstaff Training Camp!!!

2010-08-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah for football season starting and YEAH for getting away with friends for the w/e to see the Cardinals play! :)

Friday practice

Emi really enjoyed the practice! LOL She spent the whole time lining up rocks on the bench. ;)

Kenny enjoying some food on the patio with the kiddos.

Love this pic!

Look at this beautiful girl in her special Cardinals tutu - THANK YOU so much Amy for making these for all the girls! :)

Amy also made these Cardinal Football hair clippies for all the little girls! :)

Kenny finally got his black DRC jersey!

Breakfast in downtown Flag on the last day.

Enjoying some beautiful sunny weather at the local farmer's market before heading home.

Misc. July pics

2010-08-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a Diamondbacks game with some fun ladies! :)

Yummy fondue dinner with friends.

4th of July...The girls were adorable doing little cheers before the fireworks started. Evi choreographed them! :)

There's always a dress-up picture to include. :)

Fancy tea party!

Nate got an iphone this past month and it is amazing to me how fast the girls learned how to use it!!! Here's Alyssa & Alexis playing with Nate's phone while waiting to be sat at a restaurant....

...and the younger sisters playing w/Kristy's phone!

Seriously, this is what I get when say look at the camera and smile???

A little better! :) ...This is the first class the girls got to take together.

Our friend Alaina's 5th birthday party - dress-up tea party. :)

Saying good-bye to sweet friends. :(

We couldn't get them to smile so we just had them do a goofy face!

Ready to go running with mommy...Emi actually did a great job, despite the 'face' in the picture. ;)

Such a good helper Emi is!

Enjoying a movie with Miss Pam & Miss Amanda! :)

San Diego Trip

2010-08-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of July my mom, the girls, and I took a quick trip to San Diego. We were able to go the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and hang out for a little bit in Sea Port Village. It was a fun, fast trip! :)

Here's my mom on our way in...going to the San Diego Zoo has been something she's wanted to do her whole life!

They loved getting their face painted!

The Polar Bear was one of my favorite exhibits!

Alyssa loved sitting on top of the double-decker bus!

It was so cool to get so close to the giraffes!

Emi loved the trampoline show, her face was like this the whole show...too cute! :)

The Koala Bear was one of all of our favorites!!!

This sky ride was the highlight of the day for the girls!!

Sea World

Emi's 1st 3D show...she kept the glasses on all the way until the show started! LOL

This seal was hilarious, he constantly kept begging people for food. He would wave his 'hand' like in the video and then slap it against the water to get people's attention. :)

They loved feeling the ice wall.

Just as we were leaving we saw Elmo and Zoe, the girls were so excited!

This is how we all felt after a long 2 days! :)

Emi's 3!!!

2010-08-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

My sweet little girl is 3! I love her so much, what a joy she is.
*She is the funniest little girl, always making everyone laugh by her funny looks and words! I can't wait to see how God develops this characteristic in her over the years. :)
*She has such a sweet heart, whether it's by sharing whatever she has with others or just making sure someone is ok...and I love watching her play with babies - sweetness to the fullest!
*I love how she runs...random I know, but it really is the cutest thing! ;)
*I love how she loves puzzles! LOL
*She is so smart, just like her daddy...I love how you can just watch her thinking and learning.
*She's been getting herself dressed in the mornings and the outfits she picks are hilarious...i.e. a dress, pants under her dress, rain boots, sunglasses, and mittens!!!
*It's amazing how fast she catches on to things, like when she tried to ride a bike with training wheels a couple months ago and got it right away, and she learned to write her name the first time I showed her how!...it's crazy, you just show her how to do something and she does it!
*She loves singing and dancing, her favorite songs are Jesus Loves Me and How Great is our God...and during her 1st year of BSF this year her favorite to sing was Holy, Holy, Holy. I love hearing her little voice sing these precious songs!

Here's pics from the day of her birthday and her birthday party...

She loves 'no white' (aka Snow White, LOL!)

I really wish I would've realized her Snow White tutu was sideways throughout the whole party, oh well! :)

We love you boo bear! :)

Rest of random June pics

2010-08-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Seeing Toy Story 3, Emi's 1st time at the movies.

Toy Town play date

Alyssa - acting & ballet

2010-08-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Alyssa has taken a couple classes over the last month or so (ballet and acting). Here's some random pics/videos from the classes.
*I'm having a very hard time getting the videos to post so I'll have to try to post them in a separate post. :(

Acting class #1 - random skits and games

Acting Class #2 - Swine Lake

Alyssa took a ballet class, she did a really great job paying attention and learned some new steps. The best part though was the end of the classes when the teacher would have family/friends come down with the girls and do 'cool-down stretches' (which were more like crazy yoga moves!). It was hysterical to see the kids trying to do the stretches, but even better was watching the adults!!! LOL

Emi made sure Alyssa's dolly 'Holy' was able to watch Alyssa dance, so cute!

The stretches...

Miss Alex got to come join in on the fun too during one class!

Miss Alex did a great job...even when Emi jumped on her back! LOL

Quick trip to Cali!

2010-06-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were able to take a quick trip to Cali. The Miles' were able to join us and we all had a great time! There was some shopping, lots of good eating, puzzles, games, and of course playing at the beach. :)

Walking around town.

Alyssa was pretty much attached to Kamille the whole weekend!

Alyssa's favorite: a perfect smelling rose. :)

The boys playing football.

The water was pretty cold, Kamille was such a trooper to go in with the girls. :)

I think Alyssa splash around in the water all day!

Kamille getting a 'how to throw a football' lesson...

She did it! :)

Mr. & Mrs. Miles :)

After all the swimming she was SO cold, she stayed wrapped in her towel just shivering for a long time.

Emi likes weird things...like getting dragged around in the sand! :)

...and getting buried in sand over and over again.

Emi also got to play catch with the football, she did such a great job!

My beautiful family!

The last morning the girls and I went exploring at one of the neighborhood parks so we could let everyone else sleep! :) It's such a cute little park in the midst of a lot of trees and with a great ocean view.

Me and my girls. :)

Not the best video (I think they were a little tired!), but it's still cute...I was just so happy to actually be able to catch them singing this on video. :)

Playing around

2010-06-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from June so far of the girls just playing around. :)

Alyssa's been very into playing hair stylist lately. Here's her beautiful hair-do...

...and her doing Emi's hair.

The finished product! :) I love how careful Alyssa is with her placement, she thinks out each clippie and tries to be so gentle when putting it in, SO CUTE!

One morning we had fun sorting beads. (Inspired by my friend Heather's blog.) :)

YEAH, we finished!!!

Celebrating w/a lollipop. :)

Dress-up and stroller fun with Eden. These 2 girls are too cute together!

My goof ball! I love this girls sense of humor!!! ...her new thing is pants with dresses and shoes that totally don't go with what she's wearing, and she always wants to be wearing a hat and gloves??? ;)

Sprinkler fun!

So peaceful. :)

Bouncing fun. :)

Weeeeeeee!!!

Just a little bit of Emi. :)

Misc. May pics...

2010-06-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here's some of my favorite misc. pics over the last month....

Emi was so cute pretending to actually be riding the duck! :)

I love sleeping pics and haven't taken any lately...Alyssa was so out during naps one day I had to take a pic. :)

I was going to take pics of Emi's 1st dentist appt, but my camera died after this one of Alyssa going first! Oops :)

Celebrating Eliana's birthday :)

Emi loves playing Hungry Hippos! I think it's so cute when she gets it out by herself and plays...her 'concentrating' faces crack me up! :)

Fun day at the Children's Museum!

2010-05-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last week a friend invited the girls and I to come to the Children's Museum and be on the news! Fox10 was going to be there doing a segment on the new climbing structure. So we were able to go an 1 hour before it opened and check it out. Then when the museum opened we got to go enjoy the rest of it. The girls had such a great time!

Here's the link to the news clips if you want to check it out...the girls are shown a couple times throughout the clips.

Goofy pic. :)

She tried so hard!

Alyssa in the flying tub. :)

I love how Emi found a puzzle in the midst of a huge play room (the kitchen/grocery store area) and that's what she choose to play with, that's my girl! :)

They LOVE picking flowers, this entertained them for quite a while!

They loved painting the castle. :)

Riding on a pony!

2010-05-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

The girls had such a fun time at their friend Alexis' birthday party this past weekend. They had pony rides and each child got to ride a couple times and pet/brush the pony! :)

Emi looked so confident, what a big girl!

Pretty princess on a pretty pony. :)

Ballet with Alyssa

2010-05-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday Alyssa and I went to see her first ballet performance - Cinderella. She really enjoyed it, but was confused as to why they kept dancing, with no talking or anything...it was too cute!

She asked to have a ballet bun. :)

Waiting patiently for the show to begin.

I think her favorite part was the intermission where she went down in front of the stage and danced. :)

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple pics from Mother's Day. Every year we go to my favorite little breakfast place to celebrate Mother's Day, what a special treat it is! :)

Tutu girl :)

2010-05-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Alyssa was able to be a tutu model for my friend's new company, Tutu Bug. She was so cute! These are just a couple quick pics that I got, the professional ones are on her website in the photo gallery. :)

Peach Picking

2010-05-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went peach picking at Schepf Farm. We had a really fun time...but they only had the little ones ripe at that time, so we're heading back this week for the BIG ones! :)

Free TUTU!!! :)

2010-05-18T08:35:00.003-07:00

My friend Melanie just began her new website for her company 'tutu bug'. The tutu's she creates are so beautiful! Enter the contest here.

*Check out Alyssa's pics in the photo gallery section on her website. :)

Play group with a donkey!

2010-05-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago someone from church hosted play group so the kids could meet her miniature donkey. The kids loved getting to see him, feed him, and hear him (he says 'hi' very loudly)! :)

Our host also had a lot of toys and bubbles for the kids to play with. It was such a fun morning!

Cali Trip - Part 2 The Beach

2010-05-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time at Disneyland...but we're SO thankful to end the vacation with a couple low key days, just eating, sleeping, and building sand castles! :)

Here's some pics of 2 little bunnies playing in the grass right outside the window. The girls loved watching them walk around and eat their carrots.

Yummy donuts for breakfast!

We found a great beach, 'baby beach', in a little cove so there were no waves. The kids loved running in and out of the water.

Emi tried so hard to fill this little pail up with water and carry it up to the sand castle, but it'd be empty every time. What perseverance this girl has! :)

Our little mermaid!

Our pathetic sand castle! LOL

Emi 'reading' her books on the patio. :)

Dinner at the wharf.

Looking at an otter (or something???, i can't remember) that followed a fishing boat in.

Ice cream and a beautiful sunset to finish a wonderful trip!

Cali Trip - Part 1 Disneyland

2010-05-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we got to head out to California for about a week. We had so much fun, enjoyed great weather...but best of all we got to see Nate for more than 1 day in a row, it was awesome! The first part of our trip we went to Disney...below is a lot of pictures from those couple days (it's hard for me to choose which ones to put in the post, so I just put all the ones I like! LOL).

This is what I get when I say "look at the camera and smile"!?!?

I love Carousel pictures! :)

Watching the fireworks from the hotel balcony!

Emi was very excited to meet, as she calls her, No White. ;)

Pixie Hollow

She didn't quite grasp the concept of 'decorative flowers'! LOL

One of our favorite new rides, Peter Pan...I can't believe we've never gone on this one before!

Alyssa was scared to walk through Sleeping Beauty's castle at first...

...but we eventually made it through! The book was really cool because the dress in the picture kept changing colors from pink to blue.

Ballerina even on the carousel!

Alyssa's special treat...a Minnie Mouse candy apple. It was so pretty!

Emi loves Snow White, so we were very excited to find these Snow White & Seven Dwarf statues to the right of the castle one day when they had blocked the main entrance of the castle. I think she could've stayed there all day. :)

YUMMMM!

One of my favorite pics! :)

We were able to meet up with some friends during the last 2 days at Disney, here's Alyssa & Alaina putting on a pre-parade dance show. :)

Emi's new favorite ride!

We went on It's a Small World many times, the girls just loved sitting and looking at everything! :) Alyssa was so cute, she kept saying "why do they call it a small world...it's a BIG world!"

Look, look...they're BOTH smiling and looking at the camera!!!! ;)

Soarin' over California was definitely one of our new favorites! I thought Alyssa would be so scared once the ride started, but she loved it. :)

This 3D show was not a hit with Alyssa, I don't think she knew what was going on (things flying at her, poking her in the back, water spraying, etc.)! LOL

Emi was so cute with Mickey...she would look at her shirt and then at Mickey again and again. :)

Fun times were had by all! :-)

Amanda & Zach's Wedding

2010-04-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful, fun, and God-centered wedding it was! Nate and I had a great time, but it was nothing in comparison to the fun time had by the girls. Alyssa was one of the flower girls and had been dancing in her dress throughout the day during pictures and in the room while we waited for the ceremony to begin...but the reception was the best! Emi & Alyssa danced and danced and danced. I think fancy puffy dresses, music, and a dance floor is pretty much the best thing they can imagine right now. :)

Alyssa and Susannah had so much fun together, they talked, played & danced together the whole day, it was so cute!

They're married, woohoo!!!!

This is pretty much how it went all day...

They were so cute sitting there watching the 1st dance.

There was a time while everyone was dancing that everyone got in a circle and someone would go in and dance and then someone else would go in after. A couple people were break dancing and right after they were done Emi jumped in the middle and started 'break dancing'! It was hilarious and so adorable...I so wish I had my camera ready to get some video of it!!! :)

Dance play date

2010-04-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

Alyssa and Mercy had a really fun time playing together the other day. They got all dressed up in ballet attire and danced to a 'learn to dance ballet' video. It was so cute to watch them...Mercy paid attention to the video and tried to do everything they did, while Alyssa pretty much wanted to just dance around. They play so cute together, we're going to miss these play dates soon. :(

Shamrock Farms

2010-04-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we got to go take a tour of Shamrock Farms with part of our play group. It was really fun, I was very impressed with the program they have there...I'd definitely suggest going if you can. :)

The fake cheese smiles...at least they're both looking at the camera! ;)

It was STINKY! ;)

Feeling what it's like for the cows during the milking process.

Enjoying yummy ice cream and milk after the tour. :)

Cute story from Alyssa: After the tour, on the way to lunch with Nate, I was asking the girls what their favorite parts were. The play ground and baby cows were their favorites. Then Alyssa said, "I know what your favorite is." (I'm thinking, yeah the ice cream! LOL) I asked her what my favorite was and she said, "getting to go see daddy for lunch!" So true. :) I love how sweet this little girl is!

Our friend's 1st Anniversary Party

2010-04-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Our friend Sudhakar married his beautiful wife, Aneela, last year in India. Since his friends weren't able to fly back to India for the wedding, he decided to throw a 1st anniversary dinner party. It was such a great time!

Morning at the Science Museum

2010-04-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

Last week we got a culture pass for the Science Center. It was our first time going there and it was so fun! I can't wait to go back. :)

They tried so hard to get it spinning fast, what cutie pies!

This time...not so fun for Alyssa, Mercy was great at getting that thing going!

I thought Emi would love this, but she wasn't too sure about it!

Emi loved this, I think she could've stayed at this exhibit all day. :)

This exhibit was really cool...I could've stayed at this one all day! LOL

Ok, so ignore my talking, I obviously can't tell Alyssa from Mercy (the order is opposite from what I said)...oh well, it's still a cute video! :)

Easter :)

2010-04-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love Easter! God's salvation plan is so amazing; it makes me so thankful, so in awe of Him and His power to do anything (like raising Jesus from the dead!), and so glad that His plan is perfect.

It's so great to be able to tell and retell the wonderful Easter story with the girls in the days preceding Easter. I had planned to do a really great Easter project with them before Easter but ordered the book I needed too late, but I still want to do it even though it's after Easter...stay tuned for pictures, hopefully soon. ;)

We also had a great time singing about Jesus' death & resurrection...here's part of one of my favorite's, In Christ Alone:

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

The girls and I making Easter cupcakes. :)

Easter morning

Celebrating with family. :)

Grandpa telling the Easter story.

Time for the Easter egg hunt!

Heading in to check out what they found...

...one was empty! That person got a special basket, which included candy, a stuffed animal, and a sign saying "He is not here. He has risen!" What a cute idea that was. :)

What a cute, goofy girl! :)

The girls with Grandma & Papa after finding the Easter baskets at their house.

Easter Baskets & Disney on Ice

2010-04-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to do Easter Baskets on Friday morning instead of on Easter morning. We hid their baskets and they had so much fun finding them. One of their presents were light up Disney princess shirts...just perfect to wear that morning to Disney on Ice! :)

Alyssa found hers in the closet.

Emily found hers in the bathtub.

Her 1st Barbie! :)

After Easter baskets we headed to Joe's Farm Grill for breakfast with some friends and then we were off to ride the light rail downtown to Disney on Ice. We had a great time, it was so nice to spend the day together as a family.

I love Dylan's 'cheeeeese' smile :)

Some more March pics...

2010-04-08T07:35:00.001-07:00

Here's the rest of March for us. :)

Getting ready for the first swim lessons of the season!

Alyssa jumped right in and did great!

Emi was pretty hesitant the 1st day, but is doing great now! :)

Enjoying a beautiful day at the zoo with friends!

Marcus & Alyssa walked around like this most of the day. Too cute!

The wedding!!! :)

2010-04-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Oh what a beautiful wedding it was! It was so wonderful to be a part of this day. Here's some snapshots that me and some other people took. Renee took the professional pictures so stay tuned for those awesome pictures! :)

Couple pics from the dress fitting.

The girls getting their hair done. :)

Thank you Kristy, you did a great job!!!

Uh-oh, tired already!

What a cute bunch!

My beautiful flower girls. :)

I love this picture! What a HOT daddy my wonderful husband is...he even looks cute carrying a flower girl basket!!! :)

My precious princess!

The lovely couple!!!

Beautiful weather = PARK!!!

2010-03-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

The other day the girls and I spent the morning at the park...having a little picnic, playing soccer/baseball, and of course playing on the play ground. It was such a beautiful day out and we had a great time! :)

Tyson loved being able to get out and enjoy the weather too. :)

...even Barbie got to come along and play! ;)

Some random March pics

2010-03-24T08:13:00.001-07:00

Here's what we've been up to this month so far...

Going to breakfast with Daddy on Sunday's in the convertible. :)

Watching our friend Devin...he loved Bailey (and Bailey was so excited that someone was paying attention to him!) ;)

The girls and Devin had a great time playing together!

Waiting while the bride tries on her dress...can't show those pics yet! :)

Fun Chuck E Cheese dinner play date!

I love how amazed they always are to see themselves on the screen. :)

Yummy cupcake treat afterwards!!!

When Emi's tired, she'll lay down anywhere!

I'm so excited that Emi is finally liking to 'move' in the swing, instead of just sit in it...she actually lets me push her pretty fast now!

I LOVE this girl! We were going to dinner at my parents house one night and when I asked her to get ready this is what she came out wearing! LOL

...and she wore it almost the whole night! What a funny girl. :)

My parents yard is big and has lots of fun exploring areas...the girls had such a great time running around the yard.

Some of our Bible Study girls.

Emi did a great job helping make fresh lemonade this year!

Alyssa playing dress-up...and of course the veil is always a must! ;)

Our last dinner at Steamers. :( They'll be closing w/in the week probably.

Alyssa working very hard on her scrapbook page for our wonderful new friend!

My sweet Joy-Joy

Emi loves to sing...here's some short clips of her favorite songs:

"Holy, Holy, Holy"

"Jesus Loves Me"

"I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart" ...kind of ;)

Sarah Groves Concert

2010-03-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago some friends joined Alyssa & I at a Sarah Groves concert. We had a really fun time...even though it wasn't really what we had expected (more of a Food for the Hungry event, than a concert...thanks Janet for keeping the kids entertained w/your phone through all the talks!). Kami did get to stay after and meet her though, which was so awesome for her! We didn't quite make it that long...Alyssa was so tired by the end that she just started crying for no reason so we left pretty quickly at that point. She had a ton of fun before that though so it was definitely worth it! :)

All smiles after some yummy pizzookie! :)

What cutie pies!

I love how Zoe and Alyssa are trying to look & smile for the picture but can't look away from the movie screen for a second!

Ellie was so sweet to share her blankie with tired Alyssa. :)

Starring...Alyssa!

2010-03-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

Alyssa finished her 1st acting class a couple weeks ago. She loved it and did a great job! She was the youngest person in the class, but held her own and didn't get shy at all. In the final performance she was Goldilocks...she had so many lines and remembered them all, it was SO cute!!! I'm so bummed because there are no other classes available right now for her until she's at least 5 or 6, depending on where you take them, and she's so ready to jump right back in!

Pics of the Goldilocks & the 3 bears part - my video didn't come out great :(

Tasting the porridge.

Sleeping in the baby bear's bed

Running all the way home! :)

Alyssa & her teacher