STOP GROWING!!

Hailey's School Picture 2009


Dear Hailey,

Would you please stop growing???

My baby is getting too big.

Not to be too cliche, but it seems like only yesterday that you were this little:


Hailey - May 3, 2006 - minutes old

Today you are 4. I can't believe how fast you are growing. You are such a little spitfire. I am entertained (mostly) each day by your little personality.



You are constantly surprising me with the things you know and are learning. I really have to watch what I say around you, because even when I don't think you are listening, you surprise me.


I am constantly amazed at the things you come up with. You have the silliest, quirkiest personality. You are so tenderhearted. When someone is sad, you are so sweet and just want to help and make them feel better. I just love that part of your personality.


Your newest love is telling knock knock jokes. We need to add some new ones to your repertoire, since you tell the same ones over and over; or you come up with jokes that don't even make sense. But you keep Daddy and I laughing. We often ask ourselves what we did for entertainment before you were around.

Hailey - One year old

You are in such a hurry to grow up. You have become so independent. You want to do everything for yourself. You remind me all the time how big you are. You are such a great helper, and I appreciate that. I love the times that you will just snuggle with me - though they are few and far between lately. I am loving getting to spend so much one on one time with you and enjoy just you. We have so much fun together.

Hailey - 2 years old

We love our crazy, lovable, independent girl! We are so glad to have you in our family! I hope you know how much we love you!!!

Hailey - 3 years old

Happy birthday, baby girl!! Stop growing up so fast!!




A few words to describe Hailey at 4: funny, smart, fancy, goofy, energetic, lovable, hilarious, unique, affectionate, strong-willed, girly, pretty, crazy, adorable, sassy, helpful, ...the list could go on and on.

Some of Hailey's favorites at 4 are:
Favorite Movies: Mulan, Princess and the Frog, Snow White
Favorite TV Shows: Life After People, Dragon Tales, Big Bang Theory, Glee
Favorite Book: Fairy Tale book, I Chose You
Favorite Meals: Cheese Sandwich, Chicken Nuggets, Orange Chicken
Favorite Snacks: Fruit Snacks, String Cheese, Bananas, Strawberries
Favorite Treat: Anything chocolate!
Favorite Toys: Barbies, Babies, Bike, Stuffed Animals
Favorite Things to Do: Play outside with friends, Play with Daisy, Tell knock knock jokes, talk

Easter 2010

Happy Easter, 2010. We had a fantastic Easter!!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday filled with good food, family and thoughts of our Savior. I am grateful for my Savior and the sacrifice he made for me. I hope we all took time to remember the reason that we celebrate Easter amid all the candy! :)

Introducing the newest member of the family!!

We have adopted a precious little.....


PUPPY!!!!!!!!!

We are all in love (including Ryan, no matter how much he tries to deny it!!)

Hailey sometimes loves her a little too much...

The Legend of the Pizzelle

Alright its not really a legend, but the title sounded cool :)

Introducing one of my very favorite Christmas treats, the pizzelle (prounounced with the "tz" sound like "pizza")





I only make these delicious cookies once a year. They are a traditional Italian waffle-like cookie, popular around Christmas and Easter. A pizzelle is known to be one of the oldest cookies and many other cultures have developed their own version of the cookie. (Wikipedia)

My mom makes them every year, so when I got married, I wanted to start the same tradition.

The reasons I only make these once a year are:
1. They take FOREVER.
(I began these at around 11am this morning and finished with the last cookie around 2pm.)
2. They make a bajillion cookies.
3. They are not low fat, by any means.

My brother-in-law describes them as "plain, but delicious. An oxymoron on my tongue."

They are thin, lemony, wafer-y, and sort of melt in your mouth. One of my favorite ways to eat them is to smother them in whipped cream. I have a jar of nutella in my pantry that would also be delicious with them.

My recipe is a tad different than ones that you can find online.
Keep in mind that to make these, you have to have a pizzelle iron. Don't try to make these with a regular waffle iron. I don't think they would turn out as intended.

With that said, remember I told you that these are NOT low fat. Don't say I didn't warn you.

12 eggs
7 cups of flour
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 cubes butter, melted and cooled (yikes!)
2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Beat eggs, add sugar gradually. Beat until smooth.
2. Add cooled, melted butter and vanilla.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to egg mixture.
4. Add lemon juice to taste. (I usually add more than 2 Tbsp. I like more lemony goodness)
The dough will be sticky and thin, like waffle batter. Drop by spoonfuls into pizzelle machine.
You will only need to have these in a few seconds, 30 at the most. Don't leave them in too long, or they will get to hard and burn.

Our Christmas Letter 2009

A Visit With Santa....

BEST story to go along with this picture.

The ONLY thing that Hailey has consistently asked for for this Christmas is a bubblegum machine. Every time anyone asks her what she wants from Santa, the answer is the same.

So when she sat on Santa's lap at the Country Club, she of course asked for a bubblegum machine. When Santa said "Well, if you've been a good girl, I think we can manage that." and handed her her present, I'm sure she thought she would get a bubblegum machine right then and there.

She opened up the present and it was.....a Snow White slap bracelet. I looked at her and she had her angry face on.

I said, "Oh look, Hailey! Aren't you so excited?? Its your favorite princess!! Can you tell Santa 'Thank you!'?"

She looked at me and grunted. I asked her what was wrong, and in her angriest voice, she said "I WANTED A BUBBLEGUM MACHINE!!"

Poor girl, she didn't quite get that this was just a taste of Santa, not what Santa will *actually* bring. She was pretty bummed the rest of the afternoon, even though we repeatedly told her that Santa would most likely bring her bubblegum machine on Christmas eve.

I guess we needed to prepare her better for that...

I know, I know, I'm a slacker....

I can't believe its been 3 months (!!!) since I posted on here. I got caught up in the world of Facebook, only because there is almost immediate gratification over there. I sometimes wonder if I'm talking to myself on this blog, so if you are out there, leave me some love! :)

In an attempt to catch up, I'll just give you some highlights of what's been up with us the last few months and a few (haha) pictures.

Check out our posts from October and November.

Novermber Highlights

This is not necessarily a representation of how our November went, but its seriously one of my favorite pictures of Hailey, ever.



We had an unseasonably warm November. So Hailey and I took advantage of one of the last warm days of the year and went to the animal farm. The above picture is of Hailey having a little pep talk with the horse she rode on. She was afraid that he was going to miss her too much, so she was reassuring him that she would be back soon. LOVE that girl!!

I wanted to start the tradition of taking a family vacation every year. Last year we went to San Diego (posts here, here, here, here, here and here.) This year a big vacation just wasn't in the cards. So we made the most of doing a "staycation".

We started our staycation off by going to Disney Princesses on Ice. Hailey was in HEAVEN. She got to dress like a princess (her current favorite, of Snow White) and watch all of her favorite Disney ladies dance and sing. (PS. Since my camera kind of sucks, I didn't get any good pictures of the actual performance...)

Daddy and Hailey (with Hailey's prized possession of the evening! Which she is darn lucky I got her dad to painfully crack open his wallet for..) before the show started.



Mommy and Hailey during intermission.

To complement our staycation, we bought this pass, which we got on a sale (2 days for the price of one!) and made very good use of it.

The first day, we invited Papa and Nana to go with us to Hogle Zoo. It was a really warm day, so it was perfect for the Zoo.

I had been wanting to go to see the baby animals, and was so glad that we got to see them all!!




I asked Hailey who she wanted to ride the Carousel with her, mommy or daddy. Her reply was, "Papa!" Of course, he's always glad to oblige his grand-kids.




I tried to get her to get closer to this statue, but she was not having it. I was actually impressed that she got this close!

We were glad we did the outside stuff the first day. Because the next day was cold and snowy.

The second day, we visited the Planetarium, a first for all of us. It was very cool. Our passes included admission to two movies, but we didn't really have time to stick around for two, so we chose the Underwater 3D movie. Hailey wouldn't keep her 3D glasses on, but still enjoyed it.

Here she is walking on the "moon" (Actually it looks like she is trying to steal a moon rock!)

LOVE the look on her face!!

Then we continued our indoor activities at the Children's Discovery Gateway. We could have spent all day there!! It is so much fun!!


And quite obviously, not just for kids!!


We ended our Salt Lake activities with a trip to Build-A-Bear, where Hailey made her bear, Aspen. All in all it was a great "staycation!!"

I just wanted to add a little note, since November is the month of Thanks, about how much we are grateful to all of our family and friends. We are so blessed with the best friends and the most amazing family. We love you all and are grateful for your presence in our lives. We are also thankful for everything that Heavenly Father has given us. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

October Highlights

We attended the annual Scarecrow Festival for the first time this month. It will not be the last! We had a blast!! Some of the favorites were:

The train (which had an ridiculously long line...)


This picture was taken while waiting int he ridiculously long line...had to keep the kids entertained somehow...


The games - This is Hailey's victory dance after knocking down a couple of milk bottles.

And of course the bouncy house

I LOVE Hailey's face in this picture!




We also had a fun opportunity to go up to Park City with our good friends, the Suchers. Marc had an extra ticket to ride down the Alpine Slide, and invited Ryan to go. They also had to wait in a ridiculously long line, but were glad they did. They both enjoyed themselves. Hailey was really mad she didn't get to go down the giant slide.


Then of course there was Halloween. We had Hailey's photo's taken by my wonderful friend, McKenzie, again. Hailey, of course, was the cutest little Minnie Mouse.








We ended out the month by attending the annual Halloween Party at the Alpine Country Club. They always have such good food, and great entertainment. The kids had a blast dancing the night away!!



My little girl likes to groove!!