Our Happy Family

PART TWO OF DISNEYLAND, DAY 2

2012-01-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

These are the second part of our pictures of Day 2 of Disneyland. Part of this day we spent in Toon Town. This is an area that is for small children, but ALL of us loved this area. While we were in Toon Town we went into Mickey's House, Goofy's House, Goofy's Garden, we rode Gadget's Go Coaster, and we got pictures with some of the characters. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Goofy with my sister, Sonia's, kids. Goofy loved that our whole family were all wearing M&M shirts and he kept pointing at our shirts.

Emily, Kyler, Lauren, Goofy, Kristen, Mikayla, and Haley.

Daddy, Baylee, and Goofy.

Baylee giving Goofy a big hug.

Goofy and my sister, Katie.

We were all beginning to think that Goofy had a crush on Katie. He stayed with her the longest and danced with her, and kept hugging her.

Baylee with her cousins in Goofy's car.

Grandpa (Pa) with the grandkids.

Dad and Mom in Mickey Mouse's car.

Baylee driving Donald Duck's Boat.

Mikayla and Kyler

Me, Mikayla, Haley, Emily, Kyler, Kristen, and Aunt Katie.

Baylee in Goofy's Garden and some strangers in our picture, lol.

Lauren

Haley

Emily and Haley

Mikayla and Baylee in Goofy's House.

Haley playing Goofy's piano.

Baylee in Mikey Mouse's House.

Mikayla and Mickey Mouse

Haley and Mickey Mouse

Emily and Mickey Mouse

Lauren and Mickey Mouse

Kyler and Mickey Mouse

Kristen and Mickey Mouse

My brother-in-law, Eric, and Micky Mouse.

My sister, Sonia, and Mickey Mouse.

Our Mickey Mouse was dressed in his bedtime robe and he was not as fun and friendly as the other Mickey Mouse. We got the party pooper Mickey.

Haley, Emily, Sonia, Kristen, Kyler, and Lauren waiting in line to go on Gadget's Go Coaster.

You can see that our family takes up most of this little roller coaster. The first 6 sets of seats are our family.

Mikayla and Lauren standing in front of the Toon Town Post Office.

Lauren trying on hats in one of the gift shops.

Baylee and Mommy with Pluto. Baylee's favorite characters in all of Disneyland were Pluto and Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Pluto was so cute with Baylee. When I took her up to see Pluto I told him that he was the main reason Baylee was excited to come to Disneyland. After I told him that he just loved on her and was so cute with her.

Kyler, Kristen, Lauren, Pluto, Mikayla, Emily, and Haley.

Pluto and Katie

Mom and Dad with Pluto.

Kristen and Lauren

PART ONE OF DISNEYLAND, DAY 2

2011-12-13T05:18:00.000-08:00

I know I took a few months off without posting, but it has been a little busy around here. I am finally getting back to posting more of our Disneyland pictures from this past July. These are part of our Day 2 at Disneyland. Again we wore our M&M shirts...thank goodness our motel had some washers and dryers or we would have been smelling pretty bad after 3 days of Disneyland and dirty shirts. :) Again the weather was beautiful on the second day and we all had so much fun!!!!

So from the look on Kyler's face you can see we have been up late every night and up early every morning....but so worth it for all the fun we had!
Katie, Kyler, and my mom

Kristen, Kyler, and Sonia getting all of our things ready to walk over to the shuttle to take us to Disneyland.

All the shuttle people loved our family each day and would say "oh there is the M&M family." They had asked if they could get pictures with us on their camera's, so we decided to take some with our camera as well.

Some of the M&M crew in front of the Candy Palace.

Pa, Baylee, and Aunt Katie on Pirates if the Caribbean.

In front: Sonia, Kristen, and Lauren poking her head in.
In back: Me poking my head in, Emily, and Haley.

Jack Sparrow

In the back: Eric, Baylee, and Jesse
In the front: Katie, me, and Kyler

Aunt Katie and Baylee

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Haley and Kristen on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

You have to understand my sister, Katie. She never can just smile for the camera. She always has to make some crazy face. We were on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we went into this pitch black tunnel. You could not see anything, not even your hand in front of your face. I knew Katie was sitting behind me so I decided to take a picture. In the dark she saw the light of my flash go on and this is how she posed for my camera.

Again my crazy sister.

Going up the hill on Thunder Mountain Railroad. If you look at my niece, Emily's, face you can see the terror on her. She does not like any kind of thrill rides. She would have been happy to stay the entire 3 days over in the little kid area.

My brother-in-law, Eric, standing in line for It's a Small World.

Emily

Front row: Pa, Baylee, and Pawme
Second row: Sonia and Lauren
Back row: Haley

It's a Small World

Baylee and Pawme

Sonia

Eric

Baylee loved all the cute things to look at and the music in It's a Small World.

GOING PRIVATE

2011-09-20T08:50:00.001-07:00

I have made the decision to go private on my blog. If you would still like to read my blog then either comment on here or send me an email at minnie_123@live.com

PART THREE OF DISNEYLAND, DAY 1

2011-09-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here are the rest of our pictures from Day 1. Overall day 1 was so much fun! The weather was so nice. The workers in Disneyland are just so nice and friendly...well, that is exept one cranky old lady at the gates when we were coming back in after eating dinner. Baylee had a blast and loved all the rides and the parade. By the end of the night we were all tired and yet so excited to go again the next day.

Everyone waiting on the parade to start.

Baylee and Daddy watching the parade.

Baylee's favorite character at Disneyland was Pluto.

You can see my nephew, Kyler's, face as all the pretty princesses were coming by.

Daddy and Baylee

Yes, Kyler again had a BIG smile on his face.

Belle from Beauty and the Beast, is Baylee's favorite Disney Princess, so I had to get a picture of her.

Katie watching the parade.

Yellow M&M's are Jesse, Buffie, and Baylee. Orange M&M's are Lauren, Haley, Mikayla, Eric, Sonia, Kyler, Emily, and Kristen.
Blue M&M's are Dad, Mom, and Katie.

My sister, Sonia's, family.

My parents and younger sister, Katie.

Emily and Lauren

Lauren, Haley, and Emily

Lauren and Haley standing in line for our shuttle bus to take us to the parking lot. We had brought ice chests filled with food for us to eat.

Jesse, Kyler, me, Haley, and Lauren

Jesse in yellow, and Kyler and Sonia in orange on Space Mountain.

Baylee was trying to comfort Mikayla. She was feeling a little sad because her dad was not feeling very well, and Baylee just kept hugging her and trying to make her feel better. It really was so cute!

PART TWO OF DISNEYLAND, DAY 1

2011-09-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from our first day of Disneyland.

Jesse, Baylee, Eric, Mikayla, Sonia, and Kristen getting ready to go on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (or as our family calls it the Runaway Train).

Emily being a little goofy, Haley, Mom, and Katie waiting to go on the runaway train.

Kyler and Lauren...now that is a scary face. I can't tell if it is his normal face or because he is scared on the ride, lol.

Yes, I am one of those crazy people who take pictures while on rides. If I would have dropped my camera while on the rides, I would have cried like a baby!!!

Aunt Katie and Kristen

Kristen, Kyler, Jesse, and Eric on the Casey Jr. Circus Train.

Baylee, Haley, Lauren, Sonia, and Emily

Haley, Emily, and Lauren waiting in line for one of the rides in Fantasyland.

Baylee with Snow White

Kyler, Lauren, Kristen, Mikayla, Snow White, Emily, and Haley

Mikky, Kyler, Emily, Lauren, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Katie, Haley, and Eric in the front.

Our sweet family! Daddy, Mommy, and Baylee

Aunt Katie, Kristen,and Baylee waiting in line for the Disneyland Railroad.

This was a Star Wars Show in Disneyland.

Baylee on the Carrousel.

Lauren

In front: Haley (this is her normal face), and Lauren.
In the back: Sonia, and Emily

PART ONE OF DISNEYLAND, DAY 1

2011-08-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

My sister, Katie, flew in on a Tuesday night. We went to Disneyland on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. These pictures are from our first day of Disneyland. We all took so many pictures so I am going to have to break it up and only put some of our first day on this post. We all had so much fun and are ready to go back again. The weather our first day had a cloud cover and the temperature in California is so much more bearable than here in Arkansas. I was actually walking around all day long with not one drop of sweat on me. Anyone that is around me for more than 5 seconds here in Arkansas knows that is NOT the case here. We all drove to the parking lot of Disneyland and then a shuttle bus would take us to the gates of Disneyland. We were all so excited and as we got on the shuttle bus our family started singing M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. Some of the other people on the bus were saying they wanted to join our family and ride on the rides with us because we looked like we would be having lots of fun...which we did!!! We all wore M&M shirts so it would be easier to keep track of everyone. My parents and sister Katie wore blue shirts, my sister Sonia's family wore orange shirts, and our little family wore yellow shirts. We got so many comments about our shirts and pretty soon as we would be standing in line we would hear people say "hey there is the M&M family."
Here are some of the pictures on the first day.

Baylee and Aunt Katie getting all excited to go to Disneyland.

Lauren and Mikayla

Mikayla and Aunt Katie

My sister, Katie

Aunt Katie and Emily

Mikayla and Aunt Katie eating breakfast before we left.

On the shuttle bus.

Aunt Katie and Baylee

Kristen and Lauren

Mikky, Eric, Sonia, and Kyler

Standing in line

Once they let everyone in the main gate then you could only walk through the main downtown part of Disneyland, until they opened up the gates at 8:00 a.m. to go through the rest of Disneyland.

Haley and Emily

Haley, Aunt Katie, and Emily

Kristen and Haley acting a little silly.

My sister Sonia, Lauren, Mikayla, and Eric

Patiently waiting for the gates to open up, but don't worry we kept everyone around us entertained by singing the Mickey Mouse song

Pirates of the Caribbean...front row: Kristen and Lauren.
Back row: Kyler, Haley, and Emily

Baylee was a little nervous to go on Pirates of the Caribbean because she didn't know what to expect. So, she started off with her eyes closed. Once she realized it was not a scary ride she took her hands off her eyes and wanted to ride it again.

Jack Sparrow

Up in Tarzan's Tree House...Emily, Kyler, Kristen, and Haley.

Let's see if Haley is tall enough to go on the Indiana Jones ride???

Woohoo you can do it Haley...you pass the height requirement.

Dad and Mom standing in line for Indiana Jones.

Lauren and Haley waiting to go on the Jungle Cruise.

Eric and Mikky

Katie trying not to get splashed by the elephant on the Jungle Cruise.

Baylee and Aunt Katie waiting to go inside the Haunted Mansion.

Hooray, Baylee is tall enough for Splash Mountain!!!

Waiting to go on the boat over to Tom Sawyer's Island.

Kristen

Katie

Emily, Aunt Katie, and Baylee

Tom Sawyer's Island

Baylee

Aunt Katie and Kyler

The kids on the treasure chest with all the gold.

Lauren

Stopping to eat lunch.

Mikky

Sonia and Mikayla waiting to go into the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Me, Kyler, and Lauren

Emily and Haley

My mom and my sister Katie

Lauren trying to catch a little rest before the show started in the Tiki Room.

Kristen

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

2011-08-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

After going to Bolsa Chica Beach the one day we decided the next day to drive up to Hollywood. All the teenagers were pretty excited about seeing Hollywood. It's interesting to me, but made me realize I would never want to live there. You definitely see all kinds of people. After walking down the streets of Hollywood we went driving around to see some of the famous stars homes. The homes are up winding, narrow, up hill roads. NEVER DO THIS IF YOUR CAR IS A STICK SHIFT!!! That is all I'm going to say about our interesting adventure. It was not funny at the time, but I can laugh about it now.
After that we decided to find a park in Hollywood and have a picnic and let Baylee run around and play. We stopped and asked two Hollywood Police Officers where a good, family park was around there and they gave us directions to a really fun park. Baylee had so much fun playing there. They also had a Holocaust Museum that some of us went inside and took the tour. It was very sad to hear the stories and see the pictures.
After Hollywood we drove to the Los Angeles Airport to pick up my sister, Katie, that flew in from Utah. We had a really fun and interesting day in Hollywood, and took lots of pictures. Here are some of the pictures we all took.

Welcome to Hollywood

There was a protest going on right where we had parked our car. They were protestors for milk. So, we got some free cartons of chocolate milk when we passed them.

Dad, Mom, and Emily holding up their cartons of milk.

Dad, Mom, Emily and Haley

Lauren, Baylee, and Mikayla

Me and my niece, Haley.

All of my sister, Sonia's, kids.
Lauren, Kristen, Mikayla, Kyler, Haley, and Emily

Our cute little family.
Me, Baylee, and Jesse

Kristen and Kyler

Walking around looking at the stars.

Mikky and Kyler in front of the Adam Sandler star.

Emily and Haley in front of the Reese Witherspoon star.

Kyler and Lauren in front of the Mark Wahlberg star.

Haley in front of the Gene Austin star.

Hollywood Boulevard

Haley and Kyler

There is a funny story behind this picture. Traveling down to California my sister's family stopped somewhere for her family to use the restroom. They noticed a building that looked like a restaurant and so they stopped and started jumping out of the car running to the restroom. My sister who had been driving then looked up and noticed she had drove her family to a strip club and restaurant. hehehe Thank goodness it was during the day so the people for the stip club were not there. So after that every bar, strip club, or casino they passed they would mess with their mom asking her if she needed to stop at any of them. While we were in Hollywood I saw this strip club and had to take a picture of it, I showed my sister and asked her if she wanted to try and get a job there. LOL

Mikky, Kristen, Lauren, Kyler, Emily, and Haley in front of the Harry Potter handprints.

Haley and Mikayla

Kristen

Kristen, Mikky, Emily, and Lauren

Lauren with the two Hollywood Police Officers that we asked for directions to the park.

Baylee and Mikayla at the park.

This family was walking in the park and had their bird with them. It was such a pretty bird and we all just loved it.

Time to eat some lunch.

Eric taking a snooze after lunch.

The Holocaust Museum

Baylee playing at the park.

Kyler

Baylee

Eric and Lauren

Mikayla

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, AND BOLSA CHICA BEACH

2011-08-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

After the LONG drive from Arkansas to California we finally made it to Anaheim, California. My parents, Jesse, Baylee, and I made it to Anaheim and then soon after my sister, Sonia's family made it. We met up with them, checked into our hotel, drove all the kids around so they could see where Disneyland was, and then we went to Bolsa Chica Beach. Driving around Disneyland got everyone so excited for us to go. We had so much fun at the Beach and the kids loved it there. Baylee had so much fun getting in the water with her dad, building sand castles, and finding sea shells. Here are some of the pictures we took of when we first got to Anaheim and of everyone having fun at the Beach.

Baylee waiting to meet up with her cousins.

Driving around Disneyland and showing Baylee all the Mickey Mouse things, she was getting so excited.

California Orange Trees

Kristen, Emily, Mikayla, Kyler, Lauren, and Haley at Bolsa Chica Beach.

My brother-in-law Eric, with my oldest niece, Haley.

I loved how the seagulls would fly down right next to us and just walk around.

My Dad...He had just found out before we left for California that he is going to be needing to go in for surgery for a hip replacement. So, this is him just taking it easy and having a good time watching the rest of us.

Kristen and Haley

My parents

Kristen, Emily, Kyler, Lauren, Mikayla, and Haley

Mikayla

Jesse with our little ballerina.

Eric, Kyler, Mikayla, Kristen, Haley, Emily, and Lauren

She loved building her sand castles.

Mikky, Kyler, Kristen, Baylee, and Jesse

Kristen

Kyler and Mikayla...This is my sister's oldest child and her youngest.

Dad and Mom

Haley

Baylee and Daddy off to find sea shells.

TRAVELING TO CALIFORNIA, JULY, 2011

2011-08-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Last year my sister, Sonia's, family decided they were going to plan a vacation to go to Disneyland. We were not planning on going because we figured Baylee was still a little too young and it wouldn't be as fun for her. Then at the last minute, and I mean very last minute, we decided to have Jesse try to ask for some days off. Thank goodness his boss gave him the days off and we decided to take Baylee to Disneyland. I am so glad we did this, because she had so much fun!!! She definitely was not too young, this was the perfect age to take her. Since we have been back home that is all she has talked about is going back to Disneyland again. We were worried about the LONG car ride to go there and how she would do in the car. She was so good traveling that far, we were all so proud of her. My parents decided to come and my little sister, Katie, decided to fly from Utah to go also. We have already told Baylee that we are saving our money again to go in about 3 years...but, next time we will fly. :) Here are some pictures of all of us traveling to California. We followed my parents up and my sister's family met us up there because some of their kids went to EFY (a conference for the youth in our church). EFY was in Missouri so they went to pick them up and took off from there.

Baylee all ready for the LONG car ride.

Stopping at a rest area.

She is just like her daddy when traveling. They both get in the car and they are out!

Pa and Baylee in Oklahoma.

Baylee with a Buffalo.

My dad almost got stuck in the fence and Jesse was going to save him, lol.

Stopping to eat in Arizona.

Baylee, Daddy, and Mommy

Dad and Mom

The rest of these pictures are of my sister's family traveling to California.

Emily

Emily and Kristen

Haley

Mikky, Haley, Lauren, and Kristen

Mikayla, Kristen, and Lauren

I guess my sister thought now that she was in the dry desert, that she was back in the Cowboy and Indian days.

Emily and Kyler

Kyler and Mikky

EASTER, 2011

2011-07-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

I am finally posting Easter pictures, better late than never!!! We had a really fun Easter this year. We had 4 different Easter Egg Hunts to go to and had so much fun at all of them. Baylee loved finding all her eggs this year and by the last Easter Egg Hunt she knew exactly how to do it and would run from egg to egg, as she was eating candy on the way. Here are some pictures I took of her coloring her eggs, finding her eggs from the Easter Bunny, and then having an Easter Egg Hunt at Aunt Saki's house (Aunt Sonia).

Baylee getting ready to decorate her eggs.

Baylee in her Easter dress.

All the goodies the Easter Bunny brought her.

One of the hidden eggs.

Baylee finding her eggs.

Kristen getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt at my sister, Sonia's, house.

Lauren, Kristen, Baylee, and Mikayla

Finding eggs

I love this picture, you can see the yellow egg in the couch while Baylee is walking by.

Mikayla finding eggs.

We had all the kids go outside while all the adults hid the eggs inside. We stuck one of the eggs on my sister's forehead.

Kyler was the first to see the egg on his mom.

PICTURES FROM DEC., 2010 - MARCH, 2011

2011-06-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

These were just cute pictures I had on my camera that I wanted to share.

Liz and Emily....Liz goes to church with us and is friends with my nieces and nephew. She has moved away to go to college. So, they all love it when she comes back to visit.

Lauren and Aunt Katie

Baylee

Haley and Emily decided to be silly and show up at my house looking like a bunch of gangsters. I promise those are not real piercings on their mouths...silly girls!

Kristen

Baylee and Uncle Eric had just finished up making some cookies and now they were cleaning up their mess.

My cute nephew and niece, Kyler and Haley.

Baylee decided to dress herself that day.

Baylee decided she wanted a haircut without asking mommy and daddy first. So, after cutting off a big chunk of hair herself I had to take her into my friend and have her fix it for us.

Baylee and Terri. Her hair looks so cute!!!

DECIDING

2011-06-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am deciding on whether or not to keep my blog up anymore. It seems like all the pictures I post on my blog I turn right around and post them onto facebook anyway. The only difference is I say more on my blog about the activities in the pictures than I do on facebook. Other than that I feel like it is just the same, but only double the work. Besides the fact, and I know I have said this before, but I really think fewer and fewer people read blogs anymore anyway. So, my question to all of you is do you think it is time to close out my blog and just stick to one thing? I really hate closing out my blog because I have had fun with it and I do love it more than facebook. As you can see I really hate decisions and so that is why I need your help. Heck, I have a hard time deciding where to go out to eat, or what shirt to buy, or if I should get up and excercise or not....actually forget the last thing I said I just don't exercise (that solves that decision right there)! :)

MEMPHIS ZOO AND TEMPLE

2011-06-07T08:13:00.000-07:00

In March, we decided to take Baylee to the Memphis Zoo and we invited my parents to go with us. We all had so much fun while we were out there. We drove out on a Friday and got to our hotel and Dad, Jesse, and Baylee went swimming. Baylee LOVES to go swimming so she probably would have just been happy doing this our whole time out in Memphis. After they were finished swimming we went out to eat to Texas Roadhouse (yummy)!!! On Saturday morning, my parents and I woke up early and went to the Memphis LDS Temple. I LOVE this temple and I always enjoy going. When we were finished we went back to the hotel to pick up Jesse and Baylee and we packed up all of our stuff and headed to the Memphis Zoo. We have always wanted to go to the Memphis Zoo, because we have heard so much about it. I have to say we were VERY impressed! I love the layout of their zoo and all the different animals they had. It was especially fun to see the panda bears. Baylee had so much fun and we completely wore her out. After we left the zoo I think she pretty much slept almost the entire way home. Here are some pictures I took while we were out there.

Baylee getting ready to go swimming.

Dad, Baylee, and Jesse

Baylee trying to dunk Pa in the pool.

Awww I just love this sweet girl!!!

Memphis LDS Temple...so pretty and peaceful!

Daddy, Mommy, and Baylee heading into the zoo.

Pa, Pawme, and Baylee

They said this elephant was pregnant and just by looking at her eyes, and watching her move, she just looked so miserable!

Pa and Baylee getting to hold and elephants tusk.

We watched a sea lion show and it was one of my favorite things here. They were so cute to watch and so good at performing.

Awww kissing!

Grizzly Bear

Some of Baylee's favorite animals at the zoo were the giraffe's and zebra's.

This squirrel was just wandering around in the zoo and it would come right up to us. It was so close we could have picked it up.

This guy just kept glaring at us. It was actually really creepy the way he would stare at us, like he wanted to bring us in his cage for an afternoon snack.

Baylee was so happy, yet so tired at this point!

NEW BEGINNINGS

2011-05-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

In February our Young Women youth group, at church, had our New Beginnings Program. New Beginnings is a program where we have the girls and their parents come and we go over what we do in Young Women's. We talk about personal progress, we tell them about our activities, and then we have a speaker. We also invite all the girls that will be coming into Young Women's during that year. We left some of the girls in charge of picking the speakers, deciding on the decorations, and refreshments. I think they did an awesome job!!! I love working with these girls and leaders. I love being with the youth and I love hearing their testimonies and they help my testimony grow.
Here are some pictures I took of that night.

Here are some of the decorations and the yummy food table.

This is a picture of most of our young women and even one of the girls that will be turning 12 later on this year.

This is Holly, she is the Young Women's President.

Candice and Megan

PLAYING IN THE SAND

2011-04-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

One of the weekends that Jesse had off work it was such a nice day outside. So, we decided to call my sister's kids to see who wanted to go to the park and play in the sand. They all loved it and had so much fun. We walked and found sea shells, we skipped rocks, and some of the kids (and Jesse) got all covered up in the sand.

Baylee

Kristen

Lauren, Mikayla, Kristen, and Jesse. The girls trying to cover Uncle Jesse up with the sand.

You will notice Jesse's chest is just a little lopsided, hehehe.

Emily, Kristen, Mikky, Jesse, and Lauren

Kristen and Mikayla covering Lauren up with the sand.

Kristen and Lauren covering up Mikky in the sand.

Kristen all covered up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE

2011-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

April 8th was Jesse's birthday. He turned 36 years old. Happy Birthday Jesse!!! For this post I am going to put down 36 reasons why I love my sweet husband.

1. He is the best husband! I couldn't ask for a better husband than Jesse.

2. He is such a good Daddy to Baylee. She thinks her Daddy is her best friend and he absolutely adores her.

3. He loves my parents!

4. He is a wonderful Uncle to our nieces and nephews.

5. He loves our dogs.

6. He supports me in my church callings.

7. He loves to stay up late with me and watch movies, and we both love scary movies.

8. He was willing to move to the humid, hot, south just to make me happy so I could live by my family.

9. From day one of dating me, he wanted to learn all he could about my diabetes.

10. He supports me in being a stay at home mommy.

11. Very seldom does he ever wake up in a bad mood.

12. He stood by me through both my molar pregnancies and completely babied me during them.

13. He brings me flowers all the time for no reason, just to say I love you!

14. I love his funny personality.

15. He takes me to Olive Garden because it's my favorite place to eat.

16. He is a hard worker.

17. He has always been a hands on dad from day one. He was actually the first out of the two of us to change Baylee's diaper. The day we had our adoption placement and brought her back to the hotel, I had to pretty much beg to hold her because he didn't want to stop holding her.

18. He doesn't complain too much each time I come home from the store with another outfit for Baylee...I just can't help myself.

19. He loves to hang out with my family and usually he is the first to say on his days off, for us to go hang out with them.

20. I love watching him read to Baylee at night on his days off.

21. Whenever I get to stressed about things he always sits and listens to me.

22. I love going out on dates with him.

23. He is nice looking!

24. He always kisses Baylee and I goodbye when he leaves for work and does the I Love You sign to us on his hand as he is pulling away.

25. He has always been there for me whenever I have had any kind of surgery.

26. I love that he loves to read.

27. I love that he spoils Baylee and I.

28. He never complains when I need a day out to go and hang with my mom or one of my nieces.

29. I love that he is usually a very happy and positive person.

30. He makes really good chicken burritos that he fries up....yummy!

31. He always comes home from work and asks how my day was.

32. I love that when we first met he never said anything bad about my name. I would hate when people would find out my name was Buffie and then say "is that really your name, that is a weird name." He never once did that!!!

33. He is not embarrassed of my loud cackle laugh.

34. I love when he does his Jonny Cash impressions with my Dad, lol.

35. I love that Baylee and I are number one in his life.

36. I love that I know I can always trust him and count on him.

Thanks Jesse and I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!! Here is a picture of Jesse when he was a baby...what a cutie!

FUN IN THE SNOW

2011-04-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

This winter we had quite a few days of snow. For the south we actually had more snow days than we usually do. I love the snow here because when it snows everything shuts down. You can play in it with your family, come inside and drink some hot chocolate, and watch movies all day! Baylee was so excited when we told her it was going to snow. She kept running to the window and checking to see if it had started yet. Finally, once it started snowing she insisted that we bundle her up and take her outside to play in it. Of course, at that point it was not even sticking on the ground yet. She didn't care though, she was the happiest little girl just knowing it was snowing. Here are some pictures of some of the days we played out in it.

Baylee all bundled up and ready to go out and play.

Baylee and Daddy running and playing in the snow.

My snow angel!!!

Getting ready to throw a snowball at her daddy.

Hiding from her daddy so he couldn't get her with a snowball. I had to laugh at her wonderful hiding spot, hehehe.

Daddy pulling Baylee in the snow...yes, she is on the top of a garbage can lid, with our dogs chain wrapped around pulling her. You work with what you got when you have no snow toys.

NEW YEARS EVE PARTY

2011-03-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

On New Years Eve we had a young men/young women party for our church (it's for all the youth 12 - 18 years old and the leaders). We decided this year to not have it at the church and instead we had it at the Christiansen's home. We all had so much fun! There was food, board games, nintendo games, lots of talking, and laughing. We invited the youth from the other ward in our town, but only a few of them were able to come. I really enjoyed hanging out with our youth and leaders. We have a really good, fun group of kids and fun leaders! Here are some pictures I took during the party.

Trevor, Melanny, Tiffany, and Tyler

Emery, Eredine, Lauren (my niece), Samia, and Emily (my niece).

In the back: Megan, Terri
In the front: Haley (my niece), and Lance

Trenton and Trevor

Megan, Kaitlyn, and Candice

Emily playing pictionary. It was the adults against the youth.

Taylor and Robert

Tyler

Emily (my niece), Tiffany, Tyler, and Trevor

Megan, Trevor, and Candice

Jake, Brandon, Emery, Eredine, and Trenton

Eredine, Trenton, and Bryce

In the back: Nick, Lauren (my niece), and Samia
In the front: Lance and Haley (my niece)

O.K. let me explain this picture...The Christiansen's older kids and some friends were playing this game. They had to leave to go get something at the store and wrote this note: This game is PAUSED. Please do not touch anything! So, I thought it would be fun to write this: I'm sorry I did not read this, I really messed up your game. Love Buffie :) hehehe

Lauren and Melanny

The youth and leaders bringing in the new year, Happy New Year, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN

2011-03-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

On December 30th was my niece, Lauren's 14th birthday. She seemed to have a pretty good birthday. We had a family party for her at my sister's house and we ate cheesecake and watched Lauren open up presents.
Lauren was born on December 30, 1996. Not to long after she was born she got RSV. Poor baby was so sick at such a young little age. When she was born I had only been married for 1 1/2 years. I was so excited when she was born knowing that she would love me just like my other 3 nephew and nieces did. Well....I was wrong. She would cry everytime I would hold her and yet she would not cry when Jesse held her. I still give her a hard time about that even now!!! Lauren had so much energy when she was little and you could get tired just watching her move non-stop. My mom used to say it was because she had a BIG spirit in such a little body that just wanted to come out. I am so proud of Lauren for the young lady she has become. There are not to many people that Lauren does not like. She tries to be kind to everyone, she LOVES animals, and she loves to help people. I love you Lauren and I am very proud to call you my niece!!!

Lauren and her mom

Lauren with her brother, Kyler.

Happy 14th birthday Lauren

Opening up presents!

Mikayla, Haley, Emily, and Kristen relaxing after eating the yummy cheesecake.

ABOUT ADOPTION

2011-02-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

I have decided to make this post about adoption. Since we have adopted Baylee we have had people ask us questions about adoption. Some of the questions I am very open to answer and some are well.....none of your business. :)
I thought I would start by answering just the basic questions about adoption and open adoption.
- Baylee is our real child.
- We are Baylee's real mommy and daddy.
- Baylee does have a birth mother/father. Please if you want to ask parents who have adopted anything about the adoption, do not say....Do you know her real parents?
- Jesse and I are her real parents. They are her birth parents and we are her parents. We like it when people are talking about them to say birth parents.
- They didn't give her away. They placed her with us because they knew that was what was best for Baylee.
- Did her birth parents use drugs, drink, or smoke? Well....thats really none of your business!!! I will say that I am so grateful for Baylee's birth mom and for taking care of her body and Baylee during those 9 months of pregnancy.
- Are you afraid they could try and take her back? We got asked this question a lot while waiting to have a birth family pick us. First off, anyone who would ask a question like this would be the same to me if when I found out someone was pregnant, and I walk up to them and ask....So are you worried you might miscarry your baby? No, I wouldn't ask that because well, it's just a stupid thing to ask. Believe me just like someone finding out they are pregnant may have some of those thoughts and are stressed about it, well so are adoptive parents thinking about it and stressing about it.
- Why can't you have a baby of your own? We have had a baby of our own...Baylee. She was ours before she was even born she just had to come down a different way. And if you don't believe me well then take that up with our Heavenly Father because I know what he will say. :) - Some people have said "oh I could never give up a baby for adoption. Again, they did not give her up they lovingly placed her in our arms. Also, don't say you would never do anything when you may have never been in certain situations. Baylee's birth family knew they wanted Baylee in a loving home, with a mother and a father, and to be able to take care of her. I also no adoption is not for everyone. Adoption is something as a birth parent they need to pray about and get counsel about, before making that decision.
- Some people have said, I would never do an open adoption. Well, thats nice for you, but for us this is something that Jesse and I decided on together. An open adoption is not for everyone, but it has worked out well for all of us. Baylee is our main concern and if at any point there was problems then of course we would change how things are.
- I was asked this by someone..."I know you don't know since you have never had a child of your own, but I wonder if you could love them the same." I just told this person that I know plenty of people who have biological children and adopted children and they said there is no difference. The only difference was how they came into your family. I really wanted to say to this person was "I'm glad I am not your mother because you would be very hard for me to love." :)
- It's o.k. to ask us questions about adoption. We love to talk about adoption.

Anyway, I just wanted to put this on here. I truly love talking adoption. I am so grateful to Baylee's birth parents and their families. I am so grateful to Baylee and I love her more than words can say. I love her funny little personality and all the cute things she says and does. I am grateful to my family for being so loving and there for us during our wait for Baylee. Most importantly I am thankful to my Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ for all the blessings they have gave to me!

CHRISTMAS DAY AND HAVING FUN WITH FAMILY

2011-02-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Just to warn everyone before you go any further....there are lots of pictures on this post. :)
Christmas morning my parents, my sister Katie, my sister Sonia and her family, and a friend of my sisters family, Lance, all came over to our house to watch Baylee open presents. Now, that is one loved little girl...one 4 year old opening presents and 14 people watching her open them, lol. All Baylee asked for over and over was Barbie Dolls. Santa definately listened to her because she sure got lots of barbies, she got lots from Santa and she got one from Pa and Pawme. She also got presents from all my family and Jesse's family, and her birth family sent her lots of things. After she opened up her presents we got ready and went over to my sister Sonia's house and ate breakfast and watched them open up their gifts. We also took all of our family gifts over to their house to open up. We had a really good Christmas and it was so fun to watch Baylee open up her gifts and play with everything. Sonia and her family all draw names during the year and for their person they have to make something for them. It has to be a homemade gift, they can get help from someone on how to make something, but they have to do most the work. It's fun each year to see what each of them made for their person.
Katie was able to stay here for a few days after Christmas and then we had to say goodbye for her to fly back to her home. Baylee always hates saying goodbye to her Aunt Katie. We usually have lots of tears from Baylee when Aunt Katie leaves.
Here are all the pictures of Christmas and while Katie was here. Remember I did warn you that there was lots of pictures. :)

Baylee on Christmas morning coming down the
hallway to see what Santa brought.

This present was from Baylee's birth mom's parents. They go every year on vacation to Mexico and they got Baylee some shirts from Mexico.

Baylee opening up the gifts from Jesse's dad and his wife.

Look at all my barbies!!!!

Over at my sister's house. I know it looks like a lot. With my sister and her husband having 6 kids, plus all of our family gifts that we brought, and my parents brought Katie's gifts their to open up. So, it was one packed house with presents.

My parents

My sister Sonia and my nephew Kyler

Sonia and Eric

Mikayla had Kristen's name. She drew a picture of Kristen and gave it to her and she made her this pillow. Let me tell you this pillow was VERY comfy. I want one just like it...hint hint Mikayla!

Kristen drew her mom's name and she made her this blanket. Sonia loves movies and so Kristen saw this material and had to get it.

Lauren had her dad's name. She had my dad help her to build this stool and then she painted it and decorated it.

I know this picture is fuzzy, but it was the only one I took of her getting her gift from Kyler. Kyler had Lauren's name. Lauren is the animal lover in her family. She has a cat which she adores. Well, her boy cat had kittens, lol. The cats all stay outside and she has blankets out their for them, but she gets so worried about them being outside. So, Kyler made her this house for the mommy cat (Cocoa) and her babies. It says : Cocoa's Family Home

Emily had Mikayla's name and she made her this blanket.

Haley had Emily's name and she made her this skirt.

Sonia had Haley's name and made her a blanket.

Eric had Kyler's name and made him this bookshelf. With something this big Kyler saw his dad making this and really liked it. His dad "lied" to him and said someone he had worked for had asked him if he could build something like this for them (times like this it's o.k. to lie, lol.) Kyler was VERY happy when he found out it was for him.

Baylee giving Emily a big hug!

Sometimes the boxes are more fun than the presents themselves.

Katie, my mom, and I showing off the scarfs that Haley made for us.

Katie loves nativity sets so Jesse and I got her this cute nativity.

Lance opening up some gifts.

Haley and Kyler opening up some towels. Or as Kyler said "these are the kind of gifts your parents get you when they want you out of the house." LOL

Emily showing off her jacket.

Kyler, Lauren, and Emily

Katie bought Baylee this dress.

Kristen showing off her coat.

Dad and Mom opening up one of their gifts. You will notice in the background Jesse is playing with one of Baylee's barbie dolls, lol. He said later when he saw this picture he was taking the tag off of it. Sure Jesse whatever!!!!

Lauren

After all the presents were opened up some of the kids went to go play outside. Baylee got wrapped up in one of her cousin's coat, gloves and went outside to play with the older kids.

Lauren, Baylee, and Aunt Katie

Having a get together at my mom and dad's house before Katie flew back to Utah. I love the look on Baylee's face. It looks like she has had one to many things to snack on.

Sonia and Mikky

Kristen

Haley and Kyler, sound asleep.

Lauren, Aunt Katie, and Baylee

Kyler being a party pooper!!!

Kristen, Lauren, Katie, and Mikky

Baylee and Haley

O.K. let me explain something about my sister. I am hardly ever able to take a picture of her without her making some weird face. I am actually starting to believe that is because this is her normal everyday faces. Some people would say do not post that picture you took and put it on your blog or facebook. NO....not my sister. As soon as I take her picture of her making these faces she says "you better put it on your blog and facebook."

Baylee saying goodbye to Aunt Katie

FAMILY CHRISTMAS EVE PARTY

2011-02-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

Every year around Christmas we have a family party. We each buy a ten dollar gift to bring wrapped up. Girls can either bring a gift that is specifically for a girl and guys the same. Or you can bring a gift that can go to either girl or guy. Then we lay them all out in the middle of my parents front room and we all get to pick a piece of paper that has a number on it. Number one goes first and unwraps a gift. The next number can either pick a gift that has already been unwrapped or pick one that is still wrapped. A gift can be stolen from people three times. Once it has been taken three times then the last person who has it then it is their gift. It's a really fun game and it's fun to see all the different kinds of gifts. This year we had stuff like: a woman's wallet with 2 Christmas dish towels, lotions and gels from bath and body works, lipgloss, a man's toolset, gift cards to places to eat, and gift cards to the movie theaters. We all have so much fun playing this game and looking forward to it every year. Also we have someone read the story of Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. All of us are dressed up like back in those days and as they read the part we are dressed as we come into the front room. It's really fun to dress up and to hear the story of the birth of our Savior. We also bring lots and lots of food to eat! After our party Jesse, Baylee, and I went home and Baylee gets to open up two gifts from daddy and mommy: Christmas pajamas and a Christmas book. Also Santa called her and talked to her on the phone and told her she better get to bed so he could come to her house. I have never seen her so excited and ready for bed before! Also Santa came with his helpers and we could here him outside of Baylee's window ringing Christmas bells and she was sooooo excited! Here are some pictures and you will see that some of us like to be silly while were dressed up in our outfits.

Baylee and Aunt Katie waiting on everyone else to arrive for the Christmas party!

If we can't find Baylee we know she is probably in trying on someones shoes. She found Aunt Katie's boots and she loved them!!!

Baylee dressed as the angel for the story.

Kyler, Mikayla, Kristen, and Uncle Jesse.

Katie one of the Shepherds, but acting like a gangsta, lol.

The family, except mom and dad because they were taking the pictures. You will see we have an extra person in the picture, Lance, added to our family for the night. He is friends with my sisters kids and didn't have anywhere to go for Christmas so we invited him to my parents place.

Kyler dressed up and getting ready to read about the Birth of the Savior.

Emily trying to karate chop me.

Emily now thinking she is some kind of a Ninja, lol.

After we got home from our family party we have Baylee open up her two gifts she gets on Christmas Eve. She always gets a pair of Christmas pajamas and a Christmas book.

Baylee in her new pj's and posing for the camera.

Right after Santa put all the presents under the tree and he even brought a present for the dogs and you can see one of them is getting use out of it as soon as Santa put it down.

GOING TO VISIT SANTA AND DECORATING THE TREE

2011-01-28T07:02:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas time and all the fun activities during that time of year, hanging out with family, playing games, laughing, eating, being silly, eating, buying gifts for people, and eating some more. However, I DO NOT like all the sickness that comes along with that time of year. This year starting with a couple of days before Thanksgiving and lasting until after the first of the year our entire family shared all kinds of sickness. Baylee started it off before Thanksgiving running a fever off and on, cough, and runny nose. This virus for her lasted off and on for 2 weeks. She then passed it to Jesse and I and then we decided to share it with others in our family. My poor parents were so sick and my mom even ended up with pneumonia. Then they decided to pass it on to my sister, Sonia's family. Yes, one thing you can say about our family is we like to share!!! I won't even tell you about the other fun sickness that some of us had because I don't want to gross all of you out. :)
The days we were healthy we did have a lot of fun though. We took Baylee to see Santa and she insisted on coloring him a picture and taking a candy bar to him. She put it in a little bag and was so excited to give him her present. Santa was also very excited! We had lots of fun this year decorating our Christmas tree. Last year all Baylee wanted to do was take all the decorations off the tree and play with them. This year she wanted to help put them on the tree and once it was all decorated she never messed with the tree again....ohhhh can I just say how much age 4 is so much easier than age 3!!! Here are some pictures during parts of November and December.

This was one of the days Baylee was so sick running a fever. She had woke up around 1:30 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep. Later that day she was so sick and tired and we found her in this chair curled up sound asleep.

Baylee and her cousin, Kristen, putting on a performance for us.

Yes, we watch a little to much of American Idol.

One of the days she was feeling better and she just played and played all day.

One of my favorite times is when she is sound asleep and looks so peaceful. This picture was taken around 1:30 a.m. and it was completely dark in her room. I thought for sure when the flash went off she would wake up...thank goodness she slept through it!

The next morning she was calling me to come into her room. When I came in she yelled "you got to find me mom, I bet you can't find me." So I had to run for my camera....Can you tell where she is??? :)

STRETCH!!!!

Baylee giving Santa her present.

Daddy and Baylee decorating the Christmas tree.

Baylee and Mommy

Baylee and Mollie

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2011-01-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

Untitled from Marie South on Vimeo.

Make sure you go down and hit the pause button on my music so you can hear Baylee doing the Pledge of Allegiance. I made this video only after a week and a half of teaching her the Pledge of Allegiance....what a smart girl!!!

AUNT KATIE COMES TO VISIT FOR THANKSGIVING

2011-01-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

The day before Thanksgiving my sister, Katie, flew down to visit all of us. Baylee loves it when her Aunt Katie comes down, and she thinks Aunt Katie should only want to hold and love her and none of the other nieces and nephews. While Katie was here during that week we had a really good Thanksgiving dinner and yummy pies, and we went on our yearly Black Friday shopping day. We take all the girls in the family that our 14 years old and older. Also, my 19 year old nephew comes along with us because he thinks he should be a part of the fun and going out to breakfast. He is fun to take and we get him to stand in the lines for us while we shop and we keep bringing him the things we find on sale, bra's included....thats the joys of joining in on the girls shopping day, lol. Here are some pictures I took while Katie was here visiting. I feel bad because I did not get any pictures of our Thanksgiving food, just some of the pies!

Baylee loving on her Aunt Katie....don't mind the outfit Katie is wearing. She had a shirt on from that day and her pajama bottoms. I promise this is not how she dresses everyday. Of course, if we would have dared her to go into the store like that she would have proudly walked right in and would have probably put on some bubba teeth to go with her matching outfit.

Baylee and her cousin were playing with the dogs and putting them into her bag and carrying them like a baby....poor dogs!!!

Baylee and Maggie

Lauren and Mollie

Some of our yummy pies!!!

My nephew Kyler, my dad, and my brother-in-law Eric.

Katie and Maggie. Our dogs love it when Katie comes to visit. They get so excited to see her.

35th BIRTHDAY

2010-12-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

I really am trying to catch up on my blog. I am finished with posting stuff from clear back in October and now to November. On November 21st I turned 35 years old! Each year for my birthday I like to list all the things that I am grateful for. So, here are 35 things that I am thankful for and they are in no particular order:

1. I am very grateful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I do not know what I would do without them in my life!
2. I am grateful to my husband, Jesse. He is the BEST husband and father to Baylee. I am so thankful that my laugh was able to catch his attention 16 years ago (or as he calls it, my cackle). He is my best friend.
3. I am thankful to my sweet daughter Baylee. I love being her mommy. She means the world to me.
4. I am thankful to my parents. They are the best parents and the best Pa and Pawme to Baylee. They have always put their children and grandchildren first before their own wants and needs.
5. I am thankful to all of my siblings and their spouses.
6. I am thankful to all of my nieces and nephews. They were all such a big help to me when I wanted to be a mommy so bad. They would let me have fun and practice on them, lol.
7. I am so thankful to Baylee's birth parents and their families. There is not a day go by that they are not in my prayers. I am so grateful that they were led by the spirit to choose Jesse and I to love and raise Baylee. I am so thankful to their families for being so supportive of such a difficult, but mature decision.
8. I am thankful to all 3 of my hairy daughters. Minnie, Maggie, and Mollie. Each one of them have their own personality and they are all just a big part of our family.
9. I am thankful to the friends I have made throughout the years.
10. I am so thankful to all my doctors that I have had. My favorite doctor that I had as a child sadly passed away last year and he was so good to me and my family that we all felt such saddness when we heard of his death.
11. I am thankful to Jesse's parents for raising him to be the person that he is today!
12. I am thankful for 2 bad molar pregnancies, for numerous birth mothers not choosing us....all of that led us into adoption and to our wonderful daughter.
13. I am thankful for my health. There are times that I wish I could just give up and stop giving insulin and getting tested and having high blood sugars or low blood sugars and feeling like crap when I do have the high's and low's. But, overall I have been blessed with good health and I am very thankful for that.
14. I am thankful for Baylee's hugs and kisses.
15. I am thankful for Jesse's days off. I have heard some women say that when their husbands are on vacation that by the end of the vacations they are ready for them to get back to work so they can get back to their normal routine of things. I LOVE having Jesse off and I dread when he has to go back to work. I wish he could just get paid to stay at home with me and Baylee.
16. I am thankful for Jesse's job.
17. I am thankful for Olive Garden!!!
18. I am thankful for all the school teachers I have had and all the church leaders I have had.
19. I am thankful for all the expressions Baylee pulls. Anyone who knows Baylee, knows exactly what I am talking about.
20. I am thankful that I live just down the street and around the corner from my parents. I wouldn't want it any other way. I am the first to admit that I am a mommy and daddy's girl and I'm not ashamed to say it!!!!
21. I am thankful for insulin pumps.
22. I am thankful for computers and the internet.
23. I am thankful for ice cold diet mt. dew's....yummy!
24. I am grateful for all the I love you's that Baylee is so willing to give to me and Jesse.
25. I am thankful for my parents and my niece Haley for being such good babysitters to Baylee, I love having dates with my husband.
26. I love that Jesse and I both love to watch movies together.
27. I am thankful that everytime after I have had a surgery or when I was sad when a birth mom had not picked us, that our dog Minnie would curl up right next to me and never leave my side.
28. I am grateful to all my grandparents that I have had. For the ones that I was able to know and for the ones that passed away before I was born.
29. I am thankful for food!!!
30. I am thankful that in the 29 years of being diagnosed with juvenile (or type 1) diabetes, that they have come out with so many new medicines, machines, and things for me to have. When we found out I was diabetic it was 3 days after my 6th birthday. The only diet drink they had back then was Tab....disgusting. Now, look at all the diet drinks there are. There was no sugar free gum. When they first came out with sugar free gum I was around 9 years old and the only flavor they had was peppermint. I remember going into my diabetic specialist for an exam and he surprised me with a bag filled with gum. Wow, for a child who was not able to have any kind of candy or anything that bag was like Christmas for me! I am grateful for the newest insulin pump they have me on now and for the much better control it keeps me under.
31. I am thankful for my dishwasher!
32. I am thankful for pictures. I love taking pictures and looking through pictures!
33. I am thankful that Baylee loves to sleep in. She has been like that since she was a new baby.
34. I am thankful for the callings I have had at church.
35. I am thankful for my birthdays!

CHURCH FALL FESTIVAL AND HALLOWEEN PARTY

2010-12-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Again I am way behind on posting pictures. I am still way back in October and posting Halloween pictures. I don't think people even read blogs anymore and everyone just checks facebook anyway so probably after the first of the year I am going to not do my blog anymore and just do facebook.....then again I have loved doing this blog so it's all still up in the air.
The weekend of Halloween we had a Fall Festival at our church and anyone could come dressed up and they had food and fun activities for the kids. Baylee had lots of fun and I tried to get pictures of some of my favorite costumes there. Also that weekend my sister, Sonia, had a Halloween party at her house and she had a few families there and we all had a lot of fun. We had homemade chili, candy, we talked, played games, and the teenagers went out into the woods behind their house and did a Haunted Woods for anyone who wanted to walk through it. They actually did really good with it and even scared a few kids and yes even some adults. O.K. yes I was the adult that got scared. I have NEVER liked haunted houses and refuse to go in any of them because of others I have went in....which that is a whole other blog post in itself, lol. I hate the person running to try and get you with the chainsaw. I know it's just a person dressed up, and I know there is no blade in the chainsaw, but I have watched one too many scary movies and as soon as I hear the chainsaw everything has went out the door and I feel like I am in a scary movie myself, lol. So, yes I took off running and screaming when my brother-in-law came out from behind the trees with the chainsaw.
We had a lot of fun and Baylee dressed up this year as a candy corn witch and she looked so cute!!!!

Haley....she was a housewife!!!

Emily

Evan

Trista and Baylee

Ashlin

Kevin....this is how he looks everyday!!! lol

Lauren and Rachel

Haley and Skyler

Lincoln and Kai

Shrek and Fiona....they looked so good!!!

The young women were painting the childrens faces and we told my niece to give Baylee a big red heart. Well, this is what happens when their is a miscommunication, hehehe. You get a big black heart that covers your face and makes a mess the rest of the night whenever you want to scratch your face, lol.

This room the kids had little races.

This room was all dark and had a black light in it with a strobe light. There were balloons and confetti everywhere with candy all over the floor. The kids had to try and find all the candy.

Baylee getting help from her cousin, Kyler, with finding the candy.

Terri and Doug, with Fernando and a friend he brought.

This was at my sisters house for the Halloween party. I invited one of my friends that I grew up with here, Jennifer, and she brought her two little kids. It was fun to have her come and get to meet her cute kids. This is her son, Benjamin.

Melanny

Some of the teenagers in their scary masks.

This is my friend, Jennifer's, daughter Hattie.

Haley with some crazy monster!!!!

HALLOWEEN PARTY WITH BAYLEE'S FRIENDS

2010-11-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

I know this is almost a month late, but better late than never. The Thursday before Halloween a lady at church, Kami, had a Halloween party for the little kids at church. Baylee and I went to it and she had so much fun. The kids came dressed up and they each brought one topping to put on a pizza. They made pizza's, they played, and had deserts. Here are some pictures I took of the kids.

Baylee in her Halloween costume and ready to go to her party. She was a candy corn witch.

This is her doing a scary witch!!!

Tayton...isn't he a cutie! I would really love to adopt him also!

Trevor and Grant.

Baylee and her friend, Trista. They were getting ready to make their pizza's.

Baylee and Kaeleb

Eating the yummy deserts!

YOUNG MEN AND YOUNG WOMEN HALLOWEEN PARTY

2010-11-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

The end of October I got a new calling at church and was released as the primary chorister. I was called back into young womens, I was called as the first counselor. It has been about 2 1/2 years since I was in young womens and I am so excited to be back in there and to work with these beautiful girls. I was the primary chorister for almost 2 years and absolutely loved it. The sweet little primary kids in our ward are the BEST. I loved hearing them sing and to hear their testimonies come out through their songs. I will miss the kids in primary and miss seeing Baylee in their with her class. But, I am so glad to work again with the girls in young women. I have had different callings in church and I definately would have to say my favorites have been in young womens and the primary chorister!
Here are some pictures of the first activity we had after I was called into young womens. It was the Tuesday before Halloween so we had a dress up Halloween party with the young men and young women. They roasted hotdogs over a campfire and played games and talked. There were some really cute costumes. These are some that I can remember that were there: Star Trek costume, Ninja Turtle, Doctor, Beauty Queen, a Sports fan, Hermiones from Harry Potter, Pirate, and Dracula's wife.

Kristen and Emery

Lauren

Mikayla....she is not in young womens, but since it was at her house she dressed up as a cute baby!

Haley

Kyler, he is out of young men's, but he also dressed up since it was at his house. He was carrying these drinks with him and chips and I was waiting all night for him to put down the chips so I could have some. Then I finally asked him why he was carrying around those and if he was going to share with me. Thats when I found out that he was a Sports Fan, carrying around his junk food to watch his games, lol. Here I thought he was just not wanting to share his chips....love ya Kyler!

Megan and Haley

Megan and Haley

Ninja Turtle, aka, Tyler

Megan, Megan, and Candice

These are one of the leaders in young women her daughters, Abigail, and Lydia

William

Melanny and Kyler

Sonia and Alisha

Eating some yummy junk food!

Emily and Holly

Eredine

Emery, Jake, Bryce, and Lauren

Bryce, William, and Trevor

Sonia and Holly

Tiffany and Tyler

PUMPKIN PATCH

2010-11-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

In October we took Baylee to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and to just have fun. We could have took her to the nearest park and she would have never even known that we were not at the pumpkin patch. She was more interested in riding on all the swing sets and playing in the sandbox. Of course, this is the same girl that everyday she asks the same question...."Can we go to the park and play on the swings?" Baylee could live at the park! We did pick out a pumpkin for each of us but, I forgot to get pictures of our pumpkins....oops. You will notice in a lot of the pictures Baylee has a different kind of smile for each one. She hates it when mommy brings out the camera to take pictures because I do it ALL THE TIME. So, Baylee acts very bored in pictures and you can very much tell so in a lot of her pictures. Once I take the picture then she is back to playing and doing her cute smiles.

Baylee going through the hay maze.

ZOO

2010-10-25T07:22:00.001-07:00

Jesse had some extra days off the first part of October so we decided for one of his days off to take Baylee to the zoo. We invited my parents to go with us and we all had so much fun. Days before we went there that was all Baylee could talk about, she was so excited to see the giraffe's. We had lots of fun there and just spending time all together. We did get to see the giraffe's and Baylee still talks about seeing them. There were two giraffe's and they actually kept fighting with each other the entire time we were standing there. Baylee's favorite parts of the zoo was the giraffe's, riding on the train, and Pa and Pawme getting her a giraffe drinking cup at lunch time. One of my favorite parts was seeing the monkeys and gorilla's. I am just amazed by these animals. The daddy monkey was playing with the baby monkey and he would tickle it and toss it around and the baby just loved it! The mama monkey was flirting with Jesse. Yes, you read that right....she was flirting with Jesse. Everytime Jesse would wave to her she would wave to him. I tried waving to her and she would not do anything. I was beginning to think I was going to have to fight her for my man, lol. My mom thought it was probably because she was thinking Jesse looked like one of their kind, lol. We love you Jesse!!!!! I am so glad we were able to take Baylee to the zoo and see her get all excited. I am also glad my parents were able to go with us, thanks mom and dad or Pa and Pawme!!!!

Pa and Baylee getting ready to go into the zoo.

Daddy and Baylee

Baylee getting so excited looking at the animals.

Baylee and mommy

Our sweet little family!

Baylee with her giraffe cup.

Getting ready for the train to take off.

Baylee and Daddy

My dad...I have some pictures of my mom, but she was having bad allergies and she gets really sick with them. So, she was wearing a mask to help and I figured she would be very upset if I put those pictures on here. But, don't worry mom I have them still and if you ever decide to take me off your Will then I am going to post the pictures! :)

FAMILY PICNIC AND HIKE

2010-10-12T08:14:00.001-07:00

In September we decided to go up to a place with our family and have a picnic, play on the playground, and go on a hike. We all had so much fun!!!! I love spending time with my family and to do fun things like this after the hot and humid summer we had! We invited my parents, and my sister's family. Our one niece, Emily, was not able to go because she was not feeling to well. We missed you Emily!!!! Here are some pictures I took of all the fun we had.

Baylee

The weekend we were up there, there was so many groups of people riding their motorcycles. So, this is my parents....aka (mormon senior riders). You don't mess with this motorcycle group!!!! :)

Eating our yummy food.

Daddy and Baylee

Mommy, Daddy, and Baylee

Believe me I also had a picture of my mom acting silly, but I figured I would not embarrass her. You can thank me later mom.

Baylee, Daddy, Kristen, and Lauren

Jesse, Baylee, Kristen, and Kyler

Getting ready to go on our hike. My parents stayed back and had refreshments ready and waiting for us.
Kristen, Mikayla, Eric, Sonia, Haley, Kyler, Lauren, Baylee, Jesse, Mom, and Dad

Lauren...this rock was actually a pretty good sized rock so her and some of my nieces climbed up it.

Lauren, Haley, and Kristen

Haley

My brother-in-law, Eric, and Mikayla decided to run off a different path thinking they could jump out and scare the rest of us. Well, I caught them and had to take a picture. They did sneak up on the rest though.

Kristen, Jesse, Baylee, Haley, Lauren, Sonia, and Kyler. They had climbed up this pretty steep hill, but I am to chicken so I stayed at the bottom to take a picture of all of them.

Baylee and Lauren

Me and Jesse!!!

Mikayla, Baylee, Lauren, Kristen, and Kyler

Mikayla, Mom, and Kyler
We just got back from our hike and Mom and Dad had treats and cold drinks waiting for us.

Baylee, Mikayla, and Lauren

SUMMER FUN

2010-09-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from some of the fun we had this summer. We actually had a pretty busy summer for not going anywhere on vacation. We were able to watch my sister's cat have her babies. For me I was so excited to find out when she was pregnant, just so I could watch her give birth. I figured since I have never actually seen a "real" baby be born and I have always wanted to, then this was my chance to at least see a kitten be born. Wow, can I just say amazing!!!! I loved every second of it....call me crazy, I really don't care. The mommy cat was so small that we all guessed about 2 kittens. She had her two kittens and then waited quite a while that day and surprised us all with 2 more kittens. They were all so tiny and cute and now they are all about as big as their tiny mom....which by the way my sister is giving away at least 3 of the kittens if anyone wants them!!!!!
This summer was a VERY HOT summer!!!! We had high humidity and heat, that on somedays it was just too unbearable to even go outside. Well, when you have a 3 almost 4 year old staying inside can be kind of hard. So, we did a lot of dressing up (that is Baylee's favorite thing to do), we painted and made pretty pictures, we played with her doll house a lot, we went swimming, and watched lots of movies.
Here are some pictures from this summer!!!!

Cocoa with her first two kittens. They were both just eating away. She had the dark kitten, then she had the light colored kitten, then she had another light one, and the last was a dark one.

I think this was a day or two after she had them.

4th of July, Baylee watching fireworks with Aunt Saki.

They were just starting to open their eyes.

Baylee had a fever all that night and this was after no sleep through the night and finally resting during the day.

Everytime we walk into anykind of pet store the first thing Baylee wants to see are the fish. So, me being an idiot decided she should have a fish since she liked them so much. Well, the first two days she loved (Lolo)....that was it, two days. Now, mommy feeds it and changes out its tank, and its still alive and going strong.

If it is too hot outside then you come inside and turn the air so cold it feels like winter time!!!!

Painting on one of the many hot days.

Baylee was showing me how strong her muscles are.

Look at those strong muscles.

Again....strong muscles.

Baylee's favorite thing to do....dress up!

Maggie and Baylee

Mollie....this is her favorite spot to be.

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY BAYLEE

2010-09-08T20:58:00.001-07:00

On August 24th Baylee turned 4 years old. I can't believe our little girl is growing up so fast. It seems like it was just yesterday and her birth parents placed her into our arms, and yet it also feels she has been with us all our lives. This has been such a fun, exciting, awesome, stressfull, happy, and wonderful four years. I cannot imagine our life without her. Here are four reasons why I love and adore Baylee. I have plenty more but I will only put down 4 for her age.

1. I love all the I love you's and hugs she gives us. Sometimes she will just come up and for no reason throw her arms around us and say I love you. Other times she will hug us and then say "can I have a treat now?"
2. I love her strong personality.
3. Yes, I am going to regret this when she is a teenager, but I love her cute little dirty looks. If there is anyone that knows how to give a dirty look it is our Baylee. She has been able to give these looks from the time she was 2 weeks old (no lie). Yes, she does get in trouble when she gives them to people, but I can't imagine my life without those "famous" dirty looks.
4. I love how she will always say "thank you" and "your welcome."
I love you Baylee and I am so happy you are my sweet little girl!!!!

Here are some pictures of her birthday. The morning of her birthday we invited all the little girls in her primary class from church (last year we invited all the kids in her nursery class and this year we decided on something smaller so we went with all the girls in her sunbeam class, next year it will be back to her whole class. I like changing it up every year). All of them were able to come except one of the little girls. They had so much fun playing with toys, and running through the sprinklers. Later that night we had our family come over for dinner and ice cream and cake.
Baylee got a package in the mail from her birth mom and her family with lots of clothes and an alphabet toy (which she loves). She got money in the mail from her birth dad's grandparents and from Jesse's dad and wife, she got a package in the mail from her Aunt Katie, she had so many phone calls that day and lots of fun with everyone that day. She is definately a very loved and spoiled little girl!

Paige, Baylee, and Trista

Baylee and Trista

Paige and Baylee

The girls running through the sprinklers.

Daddy and Baylee opening up the present Jesse's mom sent. (she made the bag and in it was coloring books, sticker books, paper, crayons, and pencils)

Baylee and her cousins were making crowns and jewelry out of some of her birthday wrap, hehehe.

Kristen and Mikky

Baylee, Aunt Saki (Sonia), and Lauren

Baylee and Emily

Oh thank you Aunt Saki and Uncle Eric for the nice BIG and STICKY lollipop (yes, they are still getting Jesse and I back from all the suckers, and pixie sticks we used to buy their kids)!

Haley and Mollie

Aunt Saki and Baylee

What kind of idiot parents would let their child play in the bathtub with all their clothes on and play with their new bath toys....oh thats right we would, lol. She got all soaked but had a blast.

UNCLE JEFF AND HIS FAMILY COME TO VISIT

2010-08-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

My brother and his family came down this month to visit all of us. We had such a good time while they were here and the cousins did a lot of swimming and playing. Baylee thought she was just one of the "big" kids and followed them around everywhere. When she was not following them around she was attached to her Uncle Jeff. Then when she was not attached to her Uncle Jeff she would continually sneak into the room that my brother and his wife, Trish, were staying in at my parents house and get Aunt Trish's high heals. She was non-stop in either Aunt Trish's shoes or Pawme's shoes....yes, she was in heaven! It was really nice to see my brother and his family again and I can't believe how much our nieces and nephew have grown just since last year. Our little nephew, Jackson, was born 2 months premature. He just turned a year old this past May and now by looking at him you would never be able to tell he was a premie. He is such a cutie! My brother and his wife are really cute together and they have such a cute little family! Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Trish for coming and being Baylee's playmates, hehehehe.

Jackson, Pawme, Baylee, and Pa

Jackson

Now that is what I call "relaxed."

Jackson and Baylee

Emily, Kyler, and Haley

When he gets older his parents are going to have to fight the girls away because of those gorgeous blue eyes.

Cecilia and Alex...you can see how burned they are from all the swimming.

What a cutie!!!!

Jackson and Baylee

Baylee, Alex, Kristen, and Cecilia

"Silly girls"

Jackson with his mommy

Here she is in someones shoes.

And again....more shoes.

Grandpa and Jackson

Jackson and his daddy

Mikky, Ali (Trish's niece), Baylee, Andy (Trish's nephew), Kristen, Cecilia, and Jackson

Cecilia and Haley

Lauren and Alex

Dad and Mom, or Pa and Pawme, or grandpa and grandma :)

Jackson was making a mess with his food, but he sure did seem to like it.

A tired boy!!!

Baylee, Jackson, and Pawme

Cecila and her dad

Cecilia, Alex, and Baylee

Such cute kids!!!

I was trying to get a family picture of their family and you can see who joined them.

Alex, Cecilia, Grandpa, and Jackson

Kyler, Alex, and Cecilia

Our two cutest nephews in the world. Kyler is my parents oldest grandchild and Jackson is my parents youngest grandchild...and all 8 grand daughters are in the middle.

Alex, Cecilia, Kyler, Jackson, and Haley

Jackson and Alex