Easter

Okay so I figure it was time to finally blog about Easter. We have been so so busy I haven't even had time to upload the pics from that weekend.

Friday night we dyed Easter eggs. My Aunt and Uncle had a ton of fun. They said it had been about 30 years since they had done that!

The Easter Bunny found Peyton!!! But Peyton struggled to find her basket!

Peyton LOVED finding the eggs. Uncle Jim did a great job at hiding them.

Bella was a big help in finding the eggs!

Some of the eggs Jim had to help because he was such a good hider.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

Yes, We Did it Again!

That almost sounds like a Brittney Spears song title, but that is not what it is! What we did again was get a dog. Okay I know what most people are thinking after what we went through with Zoey.......But this time around I really looked into different breeds and read up on them and what one would suit our family more! I was debating from a Shih Tzu, Maltese, or a Yorkie. And I wanted a pure breed. So after about 2 months of researching and deciding we went with a Yorkie.

Meet our newest addition to the family.........

Her name is Bella! We got her yesterday and just love her so much already. She ended up sleeping with us last night and I was amazed at how well she did. She slept between Joel and I on her back with her paws up. It was so cute and funny to see her like that. She is still adjusting to us and to Peyton. We are excited to have her and know she will have a forever home here!

Some Serious Update Time!!

Okay so a lot has gone on in these last couple weeks. I have totally been slacking at this whole blog and am sorry for everyone who checks frequently and there's still no update.....Let me start with Valentines day!! Peyton and I had a great one. We hung out all day and did take out for dinner. It was fun and I probably had the cutest date on the block!
Peyton had her first party as well at school and had so so much fun. If you would like to see pics from her school party and see more pics you can go here

Then just 3 days after Valentines day Peyton turned 3. She ended up going to school that day and taking cupcakes for everyone to celebrate. Since Joel was still out of town Peyton and I had a low key birthday that night by having a picnic in the living room watching her new movie that daddy got her.

Then the day after her birthday my parents came to town! It was there anniversary that day so we all went out to dinner at the Melting Pot! It was great fun. I only have 1 pic of that night and my scanner is not working so you'll just have to imagine the fun night we had that night.

The day following that we headed down to Twin Falls to meet the rest of my family there and celebrate my Grandmas 90th birthday......pics to soon come as soon as my dad emails them to me! While down in Twin we did a little celebrations for Peyton's birthday with this wonderful cake that she HAD to have......

A week after all that fun Joel came home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even tell you how great it is to have him home. He has been home for just over 24 hours and I am still trying to get use to having him here. We had missed him SO SO SO SO much and are so glad he is safe and home with us for good.

Which brings me to today.........Joel and I decided to wait to have Peyton's friend party so he could enjoy the fun and screams from 3 other little girls!! Peyton decided she wanted to have a Tinker Bell party. It was a lot of fun to plan and a lot of fun to have her little friends over. Here are the pics from day and all the fun we had

This was the table decor. Each little girl got her own wings and wand just like Tinker Bell

We had lots of yummy food the two favorites were Grandma Bigg's fruit dip and Tegan's famous pasta salad!

The girls being crazy and having fun!

They had so much fun playing and NOT eating there lunch

Peyton was super excited, just look at her face

Peyton was struggling to blow out her candles

Then it was present time

Peyton got a lot of fun stuff from her friends! She had several birthday celebrations and had fun with all of them. Thanks to everyone who made her birthday special.

Yes, Im Alive!!

I know it's been so long since I have posted so here goes......

Since I got back from Washington I have been really busy playing catch up at work. I picked up an extra day for the last couple weeks to help me finish all my reports at work. Today is the first day I felt caught up. Leaving for 2 whole weeks really puts a bind in things.

I have also been super busy with projects!!! I have been counting down the days till Joel gets home and to keep me busy I have found new projects to be working on. One of my favorites that I did was this.........

I also have gotten so bored I had to purchase this great piece of furniture at Tuesday Morning for an unbeatable price

I always seem to find myself organizing and re-arranging something to pass the time........Did I mention Joel comes home in 19 days?!

We have also found time to make our own crafts and have fun with this........

We have found many ways to stay busy, but at the same time we are SO ready for Joel to come home!!

Seattle Center and Imax

Today we headed down to Seattle to spend the day. I haven't been to the Seattle Center since I was in middle school. We had a ton of fun hanging out and seeing a lot of the exhibits there. We also went to the Imax theater and saw Dinosaurs 3D. What a fun day to spend with Peyton and her Nana and Baba!! Here are some of the fun things we did today..........

Seattle Here We Come!

Yes, you read right!! I am head to Seattle on Tuesday so just 2 short days away. I am super excited and can't wait to see my family. It has been awhile since I have been there. The last time I was there was my brothers wedding which was last summer. I use to travel a lot more often but now that I have a full-time job I can't just run "home" whenever I feel like it.

Peyton can't wait to see her Nana and Baba!! She's been talking about them non stop. She also can't wait to see Gretchen!! We will be up there visiting till the 24th of this month and are glad we get to spend nearly 2 whole weeks with them.

Okay so I thought I would do a little update on Joel and how he is dealing.....and Peyton and I for that matter.

Joel is doing really great with his work training. He has been so so busy with studying every night he doesn't have much free time. Which is probably good because I can't imagine how boring it must be to live in a hotel. He is currently in Virgina where he will spend another few weeks there and on the 30th he will be headed back to Tuscan where he will finish up there. He then flies home on the 28th of February which we are all excited for. Peyton and I are so proud of him and the hard work and dedication he has put into his new job. I know the stuff is hard to learn and that he is excelling well. Just to give you and idea of how hard it is there are about 30 people in his class and half of them are failing.........you have to have a 85% to pass and if you don't after this course they send you home without a job. I'm very thankful Joel is so smart!!

As far as Peyton and I we are hanging in there. We are almost half way through this hell which gives us something to smile about. I have been enjoying my "me" time and feel like Joel and I have both gotten to work on who we are as an individual. I truly think that this whole experience has grown our relationship and and made us a stronger couple. Peyton has been missing her daddy a lot lately and I think by us going to visit my family it will take her mind of him being gone. In the past week I have found her sobbing saying "I really miss my daddy!" It breaks my heart to hear her crying so hard about something that I can't fix. It won't be long till he is home again with us and we can't wait!!!!!!

Frosty

It was long overdue for Peyton and I to head out in the snow and make a snowman! To be honest I hate going out there. I remember when I was younger I would spend hours in the snow especially at our cabin. The funny thing is I always wanted my mom to come out and she never wanted to........now I know why!

Peyton had so much fun in the snow. She tried so hard to make a snow angel, she is still learning how that is done!

After that Peyton asked me if we could make Frosty. I figured I would put worth some sort of effort in helping her little wish come true. I gathered a scarf, hat, sweet tarts for the mouth, a carrot for the nose, chocolate circles for eyes, and good ol' sticks for arms!! The snow was not as cooperative as I would have liked. I wanted to make a big snowman but after struggling with the snow for some time these was all we could manage to do!

After he was all done I realized a little snowman was way better then a big one. Peyton acted as if he were alive and was her friend. After coming inside and getting warmed up she ran to the window and said "mom, Frosty is cold, can he come inside and watch a movie with me?" How cute is that? Little kids have such great big hearts even when it's a man made of snow!

Christmas '08

We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else had a great one too!!! Once again this Christmas Peyton got TONS of stuff. She is so spoiled. She really is a lucky little girl with lots of people that love her very much who like to spoil her. Just to name some of her favorite things she got.......

*Her Barbie Bike
*Her Red Retro Kitchen
*Her new Table and Chairs
*Her Easel for Painting
*Mouse House
*Princess Tea Set
and so much more!!

It was also so wonderful to have Joel home for Christmas. We have missed him so so so much and are sad he has to leave again tomorrow morning. Here are a few of the pictures from Christmas morning. Looking through them I just found out I didn't take any of Peyton in her Christmas dress. So sad because she looked so so cute. She wore a fur coat that I had when I was her age that my aunt and uncle gave me. Hope you enjoy the pics!

.....Family Photos.....

My best friend Nicole took our family pictures while we were in Logan for Thanksgiving!!! They turned out pretty cute.....way better then I thought!!! Thanks again Nicole you are an amazing friend and photographer!!!

Time w/Bobba!!

We got the pleasure of having my dad stay the night with us a few nights ago. He was just headed home from a hunting trip and wanted to have a little relaxing before he took the 9 hour drive home. We enjoyed so much having my dad here just hanging out!!! Peyton got her first look at a dead deer.......she was pretty amazed by it.

Here is Peyton and her Bobba showing off the deer he shot

The morning before he left Peyton wanted my dad to read a story. Peyton loves hearing stories. I thought this was too cute of them not to post. They both had there camo on!!!

Even though my dad couldn't stay every long we had lots of fun.....mom we wish you were there!! Thanks for the fun time dad and making memories for Peyton of her and her Bobba.

Sara Evans Concert

Friday night Joel, Peyton and I headed out to a concert with some friends Jodie and Trevor and there little girl Maycielyn!!! We had so so so much fun!!! It was an outside concert and the weather was perfect. The little girls actually did really well for it going so late and with how many people there were. The concert started with One Flew South, then James Otto, and then ended with Sara Evans!!!! We had a great time and a lot of fun!

The girls dancing!

Jodie and me

The cutest girls there!

Goofy Joel and me

By the end of the night the girls were tired and the guys were ready to go.

Jodie and I were still ready to party!!

4th of July

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I know I am late at posting but with a 2 uear old and working full time I never feel like I have a free minute. We had a pretty good 4th. Peyton and I got to spend it wil my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my grandma Tegan!! Joel was suppose to meet us for a fun weekend but he was deathly ill and couldn't make it. Here are some fun pictures of a fun weekend.

Cousin Time

Over the last few weeks Peyton has got to spend a lot of time with her cousins. Peyton and Faith, my sisters daughter, have had a lot of fun times together! They may not always get along and fight from time to time but they love each other so much and had a lot of fun together!! Here are a few pics I took over the last few weeks!