Nana's 100th Birthday Celebration

Talk about a milestone!  This last weekend we traveled down to St. Joseph, Missouri to celebrate Nana's 100th Birthday.  It was wonderful to be with family and celebrate the wonderful life Muriel leads.  What a remarkable woman!

 Eliana hanging with Lonn

 Heather and Hylie - Hylie is still on her kick of making this face when she's asked to smile...

 But Heather figured out pretty quick that a few pokes in the ribs would get her to break out with the real deal!

Aunt Margie with Nana at the celebration.

My all time favorite part was when Nana shot up out of her chair to join in on the singing of Happy Birthday!  She new exactly why we were all gathered around her and basked in the fact that she was being serenaded for the 100th time!

Happy Birthday, Hylie!

Yep, Hylie turned 3 yesterday!  Geoff was able to stay home from work, which meant we celebrated all day!  Hylie opened her gifts as soon as she was able, and played the rest of the day!

For dinner she ordered macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, big corn, watermelon and big bread.

She was SUPER excited about her chocolate cake with balloons on top!  It took her a little while to blow out the candles...she likes to blow through her teeth and (surprisingly?) the air flow just doesn't quite cut it for these candles.  Hopefully we'll have a better technique down for #4!

If she keeps up this crazy growth rate of 4 inches every year, Hylie is going to be towering over us in no time!

We love you, Hylie.  You bring such spunk and excitement to our home, you are so curious and always learning, and we love how you adore your little sister, Eliana.

A 100 Year Grasp

Geoff pointed out to me that these two are separated by 100 years.  What an overwhelming thought!  I'm so grateful these two had a chance to meet and for the knowledge we have that Heavenly Father's Plan is centered around eternal families.  Thank you, Heather, for capturing this beautiful moment.

Our Little Wonder Woman

Last week our family was invited to our neighbor's home for their 3-year-old's birthday dinner.  Just before we were going to head over, Hylie caught wind that it was a superhero-themed party, and that if she had a costume, she could wear it.

Hylie came running in the house with the exciting news, and within ten minutes she had a blue cape (an old BYU flag), a gold head band (a Princess Aurora crown with a red star pinned to it), and a lasso of truth (some twine).  And just like that, we had Wonder Woman!

(Luckily I was able to convince Hylie that Wonder Woman LOVES to wear pink dresses.) 

"Mommy, I wrote my name!"

Hylie goes to a weekly library class, which she absolutely loves.  At the end of story time, the children do a craft and when Hylie completes her project, I usually ask her to write her name.  At first, she would just do scribbles, then eventually she figured out how to write an H, but today when I asked her to write her name, she actually wrote it!

I know, this is a silly proud Mommy moment--but I was floored!  We point out letters to her all the time, and she can recite how to spell her name--but this was a first!  I've been stocking up on items to help me do preschool with her this fall and it will be fun to see what other milestones I'll get to watch Hylie accomplish.

Get Ready for Family Picture Overload!

Thank you, Dean and Andrea for getting some wonderful family pics at the reunion!

 This was taken (and the shirts were designed) to remember this glorious photo:

I know, I know, we haven't changed a bit...

What wonderful memories--such fun times!

Eliana - 8 Months

This little girl just keeps growing!  She definitely likes to be in on the action, keeps you entertained with her jibber-jabber,  likes to play with anything that doesn't look like a baby toy, and is such a momma's girl right now.  If anyone (including her Dad) is holding her and Mom walks in the room, she will fuss until I go over and hold her.

Eliana's not sure how she feels about eating solids yet.  One day she'll gobble everything down, and another day she'll swat at the spoon RELENTLESSLY and refuse to open her mouth!

We're finally biting the bullet and are trying to 'sleep train'.  She will cry and cry and sound like she is in extreme pain, but the minute she gets picked up, the crying stops.  So we're trying different approaches and keeping our fingers crossed that something will work soon...because let's face it: we want sleep.

Regardless of these little hurdles, Eliana is a bundle of fun and we sure love her!

Gotta Love the Giggles

Hylie has a knack for getting Eliana to giggle...here is just one of the most recent ways:

Fun in the Summertime

We've been enjoying some great, hot summer weather lately.  It was fun to get out the kiddie pool for the girls to cool down.  Eliana especially loved it!

If there's a puddle, Hylie will find it!  She's also not shy when it comes to showing some leg  (and then some!)

Taking walks outside

And getting all tuckered out.  We love summer!

Happy Anniversary!

I was looking through pictures and just realized I didn't post for our fourth wedding anniversary!  We were actually together for the occasion and in town this year and kept it simple.  We took the girls and headed to DQ for a fun treat.  It's hard to believe how incredibly blessed we have been in four short but wonderful years.  We love each other and our beautiful daughters so very much.  What a blessed life!

Thanks for your patience, love, and amazing sense of humor, Geoff.  Here's to another incredible year!