Breakfast with SHAMU

Our first day at SeaWorld and we had breakfast with Shamu. Sweets enjoyed it so much she forgot to eat! This was the first thing we did at SeaWorld and I'm glad because when we went to see the show Shamu was in, Sweets knew who they already were so she paid attention the whole time. Her favorite thing to do all week was the Sham Slam and yelling SHAMU.

Fun with the Dolphins

We took a family vacation / 10 year Anniversary trip to SeaWorld and Disneyland. These pictures are of our last day at SeaWorld. We did interacting with the dolphins where they let us train and play with the dolphins. We were paired up with Shamu who was 35 yrs old and her son named Echo, he was 2 yrs old. We spent 45 minutes with them and it was a blast! Sweets loved it too. She kept trying to pet the dolphins and in most the pictures you can see her doing the signs for telling the dolphins what to do.... she loved it!

Finished front yard....

So this is what our front yard looks like now and I am so happy with it! Cost a pretty penny but I think it was all worth it. It's funny how my attitude changes when I pull in.... I'm not ashamed of my house anymore! We have the inside complete and now our front yard, it's finally our home!

Before pictures of our yard....

In April, we decided to change our front and back yard. We are not very good at yard care and I think you can tell by these pictures. I decided to do desert so I wouldn't have to do too much maintenance. It took a week for our front yard to get done and another week for the back yard.
I am VERY happy the way it turned out and how much better our yard looks. I think our neighbors like us again!

Perfect Day

We had a perfect day on Saturday, one we have not had in a long time. First let me say that most of our family time is going to WalMart, Target or spent at home. So on Saturday we decided to start the day by washing both our cars. When we got there we decided to have a full detail on both cars- yeah, had no idea it takes 3 hours for a full detail. So there we are on Bluff street trying to burn 3 hours and did I mention it would be on foot? With a girl who is very active and loves to run everywhere? And a Dad who is not so active? Yeah, I thought it was going to be such a challenge to keep BOTH of them happy. So what can I do that will make them happy? FOOD was my first thought. So we walked to Denny's and ate there. Now that we are done, I see a smiling husband who is happy with a full tummy and a daughter who is now full and ready to burn all the calories she just ate. We walked to Fiesta Fun and walked around for a while then played for about an hour. Soon after we had to find something else because my daughter was starting to get bored. Luckily, there was a park right by. On our way there my daughter is holding both our hands making us do the 1-2-3 swing...my arm is burning! We all played on the playground and then we took her to the swing which was a BIG mistake. She loves the swing and could (and would) stay there all day. The only thing that saved us from a temper tantrum was the dog park. Oh boy am I thankful for that dog park! She loves dogs and refers to them as Bubba or Doodoo. Wow, she was excited to go there and scream those names. Bubba and Doodoo(Duke) are our dogs at home. Anyway, we stayed for a while until we realized our 3 hours were up... YAY! We walked back but didn't see our cars so we walked to Dairy Queen and got a couple of shakes. The end of the 4 hours approached and we finally were able to use our cars again. I was happy to be out of the sun and happy to see my daughter and husband both survived the day walking, running, playing and enjoying our family time together.

It's okay, it's alright

Jamie was putting Sweets to bed last night and she started to chew her sleeve on her pj's. He looked at her and told her no and moved her arm away from her mouth. She looked at him and said "it's okay, it's alright"....

As I was getting ready for work this morning, Sweets was watching me. I was spraying perfume and moved my arm down not realizing sweets was right by me. I hit her head with the bottle and when I looked at her she started to cry. I immediately picked her up and hugged her telling her how sorry I was. I kissed her head and rocked her while I continued to tell her I was sorry. After about a minute she stopped crying and looked at me and said "It's okay, it's alright"...

February

Wow! So February just passed by SO quick. I know I was trying to make a new year resolution to write on a weekly basis but it seems to be every month instead. Hopefully by the end of the year I might have it down. March has been such a blur I can't seem to remember what happened in February.... or it might be old age catching up to me!
Our sweet daughter (aka sweets) seems to be growing up so quick it is saddening. I can't believe she will be two next month. Right now she is trying to climb out of her crib. She almost has it down and doesn't cry anymore when she falls. She will just say "Oouuch, oouucchh.....mama!!" Then she runs to the door and bangs on it while she says my name. I'm trying to watch what I say because she is starting to copy EVERYTHING we say. Just the other day, I was telling Jamie how dirty my car was. He started telling me I should wash it every week and I kept telling him I know, I know. We started talking about our sweets and she looked at us and said " I know, I know". It's funny to see how much she learns and the way she will randomly use the words. I can't wait until she can form her own sentences without her gibberish.

Pictures with the cousins

Here are close ups of all the kids that were there at the party. We had a fun time and they enjoyed getting their pictures taken. I think they just liked looking at themselves afterwards.

Over New Year's weekend the Lee family had their Christmas party. One of our traditions is to take pictures of all the kids. We decided to take them ourselves this year instead of having it professionally done. They were taken at my Mom's house in her yard. The first picture was taken of the 3 four year olds - Milo, Kali and Tai. The next one is of all the boys - Jayden, Jackson, Milo and Jace. Then the girls - Mikenna, Manamea, Tai, Jazmyn, Shaylee and Kali. The final one is of all the grandkids and Grandma. By the end of it, my daughter finally got the hang of it and was saying "cheese" with everyone else. Chad and his family were not able to make the trip because they had a baby boy on Christmas day. The last person missing was Jer-Bear, who passed away last August. He was deeply missed by all of us but we knew he was there in spirit.

Christmas fun

Here she is sliding down her favorite present with Pooh Bear

These are the BIG presents that waited in the basement for her

Santa went a little crazy on gifts for her

The small presents that fit under the tree

Our girl with Santa....

It's been 2 months since I have updated my blog. Wow, does time fly by when you are getting ready for the Holidays! Not much has changed with our family, we still do the usual... home, work and sleep. Our girl is enjoying her new toys from Santa even though she is terrified of him. I hope you enjoy the one picture taken with Santa. We spent Christmas Eve with the Keil family and Christmas day with just the three of us. My family just recently celebrated Christmas over New Year's weekend, which I haven't downloaded the pictures yet so stay tuned!