Alis' "Fake" Birthday!

Since Ali has a summer birthday, she was getting really nervous that she wouldn't get to be the "STAR ATTRACTION" at school. When ever they have a birthday their mom gets to come and bring treats and talk all about them. Ali got the news on monday that her "fake" birthday would be on wednesday, and she was all SMILES!! She was so excited to tell everyone about her!
She had to list her favorite things, and dislikes, and this is what she came up with.....
She likes: movies, and reading, and riding bikes, and playing with her mom,dad, and cam.
Her favorite food is CHILI which she would eat daily if I let her.
Her favorite color is Purple and Pink
She Hates Peanuts, needles, spiders, and bugs ( she screams bloody murder if she sees an ant-seriously)
She wants to be a nurse who gives shots that don't hurt when she grows up.
Her favorite books are little critter books
She LOVES her brother Cam, and wanted everyone to know she sleeps with the same blanket she has since she was little- her POOH blanket. She cut her long hair off to donate it to Locks of love.

She had a great time having me tell everyone about her. She was so excited!! She brought one of her favorite treats- DING DONGs and they were a hit!! Happy FAke b-day Ali gator!

He Officially Crawls!

I got Ali a tennis racket while we were in St. George,

and let her try her hand at Tennis and she loved it.

So we got home to play a little, and had a great time.

Cam is crawling so much now that he LOVED chasing

all the balls all over the court. It was great motivation for him.

Yeah for Cam!

There were so many balls to choose from,

Cam didn't know which ones to chase after!

He is getting really fast at crawling now.

Everything Green!!

After just returning from vacation, I didn't really think about what day of the week it was. Ali woke up very well aware that the "leprachaun" should be near by. I was not even thinking about St. Patricks day when my little neice Madison called to tell us her pancakes and milk were GREEN. Ali instantly started looking for any signs that a leprachaun was nearby. I never ever celebrated St. Patricks day as a kid, but now days, I guess all holidays are fair game to kids. Ali was devastated when she couldn't find any sign of magic, leprachauns or gold. I should have realized it when my other niece has been planning to catch a leprachaun for months now, but I didn't even think about it!! OOPS!! So as Ali worried all morning where "HER" leprachaun could be I told her that maybe he is at the school waiting to suprise her. She was a little more enthused, and kept asking why she is the ONLY kid who doesn't have a leprachaun come to their house. Well this year we did have a leprachaun come, and boy was he sneaky, and magical, and very redeemed!! He came and left magical glitter clovers all over the house, with magical headbands, and he kept magically turning everything green. The toilet water turned green- (He had to go to the bathroom some time), the Macaroni and cheese turned green, and the milk also turned green!

It ended up being a very green day, and magical for us. Ali spent the entire day trying to figure out where he had gone, and if he was related to her Christmas Elf Phinney!! She is convinced that he is friends with Tinkerbell because they are both green!! She is so funny!

What a Weekend of Fun!

This last weekend we got to head out away from the snow and go to sunny St. George. We had been anticipating this weekend for a while and were so excited to go. We usually go a couple times a year and the last time we got away I was 9 months pregnant with Cam and we had expected to have him on the way there or back, but didn't thank goodness- Fro wanted to name him Philly D if we had him in Fillmore, or BVD if we had him in Beaver. That was a great blessing that we didn't have him on that last adventure!!

We usually stay in Green Valley at the Sports Village and we love it there. My whole family goes and we just have a great time together. We play tennis, go biking, play shuffleboard, shop, eat out, go to the park- whatever- it is great!!
We found this park that just was built and it had the coolest equipment to play on. I don't know who liked it more, The kids or the adults. The swings are on a pulley and just launch you if you are with someone heavier than you- it was so fun!

My favorite part of the trip was watching Ali ride her first official big kids dirt trail. She was so excited to ride along side her dad. She had a mini camel back, her "bikin' " gloves, and her pads just like her dad wears. She was so AWESOME! She would come to a steep hill and not even hesitate for a second. She rode it all, and had such a blast. Her cousin Madison rode with them too, and they could have riden all day. It was so GREAT!

~Ali ridin her little SPECIALIZED~

~Riding with her dad on the Bear Claw Poppy Trail in St. George~

We had to ride in style, with Alis' movies, or she would get

so car sick, and puke! Been there done that already!

All the kids love playing on the luggage racks.

I am suprised we haven't gotten kicked out for

our races we do with all the kids. It is so fun!

Another highlight of the trip was Noah (barely 4)

learned to ride with out training wheels. I teased his dad

that his back would be killing by the end of this trip, but Noah

mastered the bike in about 5 minutes- seriously- He rocked!

Cam loved St. George and especially the pool!

Fro and I ended up with most of the kids for a

little game of shuffleboard!

We had a great time, and the weather was fantastic. We love

St. George. It was fun to have my whole family there and especially

to play tennis EVERYDAY with my dad!

Miracles Do Happen!

Yesterday was the beginning of a wonderful extension of family for my sister and brother in law. Their story is an amazing example of courage, perseverance, love and christlike mercy. They have already faced so many tough obstacles in their relationship, but yet continue to be blessed in so many others.

About seven years ago my brother-in-law Brett was diagnosed with Testicular cancer. He faced a very rough road of treatments, to overcome his cancer. He was diagnosed shortly after they gave birth to their first son Jackson. So Jen was forced to go back to work to help cover medical expenses while her husband was so sick and struggling a battle all of his own. He battled the cancer and has been cancer free since. They were unable after many years of trying to have another baby. They tried differnent treatments of fertilization but to no avail. It was heart breaking to get news of another failed attempt. They wanted another baby soooooo bad. Their son Jackson was getting older and prayed daily for a sibling. He even called Ali his sister because he didn't have one of his own.

They finally decided on adoption and felt it was the right decision. One day not long after submitting their information to LDS family services they met a young pregnant mother at a ARTIC Circle. Brett was watching this pregnant mother and her two year old struggle in the line. He jokingly said, " Hey I will take them both off your hands for you!!'"" He has the personality that can get away with that. He was totally joking and was just trying to help the mother in her situation of chaos. They started talking and she told him, she was actually considering placing her unborn baby up for adoption. After a long lunch at Artic circle they exchanged information and continued to talk. It was a Wednesday and she was scheduled for a C- Section on the following monday, just 5 days away. After a unbelieveably crazy story, she did give her little baby up for adoption to them. When it is right, the Lord did make things work out. The journey was an unbelieveable story they won't ever forget, but many prayers were answered that day.

Several months later ( In December of 08) we were also suprised ,along with my sister in law, to find out she is expecting another baby of her own. It was a SHOCK to us all because they had tried everything and thougt it was impossible.

What a testimony that God is there. We face trials everyday, but he does want us happy, and he does want us to be Eternal Families. It was such a great experience to see them so happy and able to be sealed to one another for Eternity. The birth Grandparents of little Wyatt got to be at the sealing and help him be sealed to my sister and brother in law. Oh how great it was!!

We often take the things that are most important to us for granted each day. I hope I alway see the many little miracles God has blessed me with each day, and to always be thankful I have an eternal family!

Cam is 10 months old!

I can't believe Cam is 10 months old. Everyone

has always said that from day one he has been

so big and never seemed like a baby. It has been

so true. He is so big, and such a fun little man

to have in our family. To celebrate his 10 month

mark I am going to list 10 of my favorite things

about Him!

1. He is one of the Happiest Babies- He smiles all the time.

2. He loves playing with Ali, and she is his best buddy

3. He loves eating, and gets so excited he shakes

4. He drools like a puppy. He drools just smiling at you

5. He babbles in his bed until you come get him and then he just gives you the biggest grin!

6. He LOVES the tub- I will say TUB and he starts kicking in excitement.

7. He loves Bug bite grahams and i pull the box out and he freaks

8. he cuddles with me-and just lays his head on my shoulder forever- LOVE IT!

9. he does this head lean and he looks like he flirts with the girls, we decided it is actully because his head is in the 90th percent and it probably is heavy. but it is still dang cute.

10. He has the biggest eyes that just melt me everyday!

I could go on and on, but the gist is he is awesome and I am so grateful for little Cam!

The View around our House!

This is the view we keep getting all over our house.

Cam is trying to get up on EVERYTHING!

He is practically skipping the whole crawling phase

and trying to move onto the walking phase. Ali

was the same way. She crawled way later, then crawled

for 2 weeks and walked. I think Cam is following in her

footsteps!

He does get on all fours for motivation---FOOD!

Look at how he gets up foor food!

But most of the time he just stretches his body out

as far as it will go, and slides! We love him!

Windy day at the park!

We were pretty excited about hitting the newly discovered park

we came across that we didn't even realize how windy it was.

We were blowing away, but loving it anyway!

We decided it was the perfect kite flying weather. To bad Britto brought a kite you had to blow up with a straw to get it to fly!!! It didn't get any higher than that, despite many valient efforts. Noah wanted his Buzz Lightyear kite to fly so bad, we told him to just keep running and it would get higher. Between him and Ali, I am pretty sure they ran in circles at least a few good soccer fields. They were so excited for it to fly. To no avail. The worst part was a guy showed up with his box kite and just stood in one place as it soared higher and higher above our blow up BUZZ!

Cam loved the bouncy Jeep.

I think this is a good sign he might like 4- wheelin'!

Ali is always the best helper with Cam.

I was trying to fly the Kite as she was taking him for a little

stroll on the grass. He loved the park!