Sunshine here we come

We were lucky enough to be able to go to Arizona for my big brother's graduation from ASU with his Masters degrees. I am so proud of my brother and look up to him so much, thanks for being such a good example and congrats on your achievements! Here is Marley all smiles, only because she has 2 suckers, one for each hand, that would make you happy right? First stop, ASU for graduation! Yay family picture!

These girls played well and fought well too. Here they are happy because they both got pigtails in their hair. Playing outside and learning how to play golf with daddy.

It worked out well that Ari wanted to sit in the booster seat we brought and Marley wanted to sit in Ari's high chair. Good Morning!Playing with Uncle Zach on the slide. Aunt J trying to keep her bubble away from little fingers. Fun at the zoo! If you look closely you can see what Marley is looking at, there is a little monkey in the bush in front of her. Girls going round and round. Milking the cows. The udders on this cow are rubber and when you squeeze them water comes out, gotta put them to work on a real farm, they had fun.The famous frog in all the zoo pics. Here is one to add to it!And this is what we left to come home to snow. I know. Believe it or not I miss the heat!

Aunt J and Ashlyn reading a goodnight and goodbye story. This was the night before we left. Tear. So to keep the girl happy we split up the drive home and stopped in Vegas for a night to stay with Sas and Uncle Fronk. We went to do some exploring and found this chocolate fountain! It goes from the ceiling to the floor and Marley kept calling it "moco milk" Int: Chocolate milk. She is so adorable. There was a floral display at the Bellagio, the snail behind us is covered in flowers. Having fun with Sas' mirror. Good times. Love you guys!

HAPPY all kinds of MOTHERS DAY

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers, thank you for your example, patience, and love. And Happy Birth-Mother's Day to Rachel, we could not have asked for a better fit for our family,

we love you. This day made my heart ache to remember the feelings and emotions of past Mothers Days when I was not a mother. My heart goes out to you all.

Marley wanted to help Grandpa peel the potatoes for dinner, and she did not want anyone to help her. She is so independent.

Uncle T made some treats..
This was what Marley wanted for a treat. This is how we do it.

Marley helped daddy blow out his candles.

Outside Marley has a playhouse with food. She wanted Daddy to have a taste of the ice cream. It's a little painful when she wants to feed you, she shoves it in your face just to make sure you get a good taste of it.
Uncle T found a potato bug, and Marley just wanted to squish it.

She loves jumping on the trampoline, she wore out me, T, and Grandpa.
Playing with Xavier while he eats the toys.

They play well together, she wants to push the stroller, and he likes to ride in it.

Birthday Surprise

So after all the surprises I got for our anniversary I decided I better do something out of the ordinary for the hubbys birthday, so Noel helped me plan a Park City getaway.

The first surprise...I put the address for a Mexican restaurant in Heber in the GPS and told Pat to follow the directions. When we got there we tasted only a few of the 23 different salsas they have! My fav the mango! And as you can see from the plate on the right,

the food was just as delish! Then for dessert... homemade churros, so light and crunchy and covered in carmel! Next surprise... a note inside Patrick's birthday card that told him we were staying in Park City for the night. Marley's had her first sleepover at the grandparents and I am happy to say we survived it and may even do it again! There was a fire pit right outside our room at the Marriott which we most definitely enjoyed! We decided to make the most of the night and go for a walk on Main Street. On our walk we met Lucy the moose. We attempted to ride her, but she was not very sturdy. I thought if I could climb the tree behind her I could maybe jump on her back, Patrick did not approve, but not to worry I didn't make it very far up the tree, didn't have on climbing shoes,when we noticed the orange sign that says"Please stay off of Lucy the Moose"

So we did. Figured it was not worth a trip to the emergency room if I fell and

cracked my head open.

We ended the night with some virgin strawberry pina-coladas with a cherry on top!

Last surprise... Eggs Benedict for breakfast! (If you can't tell we love our food)

Happy Birthday honey!

A Little Something

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Daddy and Marley at the park.

Throwing rocks into the water to see the "splash"
I know this is a sin but I straightened Marley's hair one day. I will never do it again! She looks like a different child, and her hair is so long! She did not understand how her hair was tickling her face. She did not like it very much.

She is such a big girl talking to Grandma on the phone.

The first real necessary bandaid. She cut her finger on the spring door stopper and there was blood! The bandaid was very justified.

Gymnastics tailgate. Gotta practice for football season!

Needless to say, she wore herself out. This was her not even 5 minutes after leaving.

Happy Anniversary

To my sweet loving husband, thank you for a wonderful anniversary celebration. Let me just tell you how wonderful he is! It started out with the surprise of a dozen long stem red roses with 7 white daisies (one for every year) and attached to the glass vase was a gift bag filled with chocolate dipped strawberries!

And it gets even better. On Saturday he tells me that I need to dress nice...like skirt and heels nice? So we must not be going to a BBQ huh? After dropping Marley off with Grandpa and Grandma we went for a drive and stopped by the Chocolate Cottage and got more chocolate dipped fruit and an Oreo carmel apple...makes my mouth water just thinking about it. After A LOT of driving, my husband thinks he is tricky and tried to get me lost so I would have no idea where we were headed, we finally ended up at our destination. La Caille.

It is so beautiful there with swans, peacocks, and even bunnies. Now this next part is mostly for my sister, dont drool too much. We started our meal off with a bite size sample of smoked duck and sliced cucumber, and then for our appetizer we shared the Alaskan king crab cakes with roasted bell pepper and dijon sauce (YUM). We got the house salad which was wilted spinach with hard boiled eggs, crumbled bacon, mushrooms, and a vinaigrette. For the entree I got Caneton de la Saison, translation even for me, pan roasted duck with berry cognac sauce. Patrick ordered the prime rib eye with steamed vegeteables, translation, huge piece of meat!

If we ever go back it would be just for the desserts! We tried chocolate chantilly cake, beignet francaise, creme brulee, and vanilla ice cream filled crepes with chocolate sauce. I know that is a lot of chocolate, my hubby sure knows how to make me happy! My dessert was extra special and made a lasting memory. For some reason they thought it was my birthday? So when our dessert plates were brought out the waitress placed a small cardboard tube in my chocolate cake while asking us, "I understand we have a birthday?" Not wanting to be rude or lie, I responded in a question like form with, "We have a celebration?" to which she said, "Great!" and procedeed to light the firework in my cake that shot sparks in to the air for about 30 seconds which seems very long when you just want dig into your cake! So now you can understand more greatly the immense gratitude for my loving husband. I am so happy that we have ended up here today with everything we have ever wanted. Thank you for being my other half and making me feel so special. I am so proud of the man that you are and that I am lucky enough to have a such a caring provider for me and our family. I look forward to many more anniversary celebrations with you. I love you.