Christmas Baking!

This is Adri posting for Audrey, because we all now know that she hates Monday's and we would like to see something new from her.
At Christmas time we (Audrey and I) love to bake, everyone else loves to eat what we bake. Today Heather talked Audrey into baking chocolate chip cookies with her, guess who ended up doing all the baking. I do have to say that Audrey makes the best chocolate chip cookies. They always turn out so plump and gooey. Last Sunday Audrey and I baked my Nanny's famous "Baby Jesus Cookies". I know this is a short post but it goes to show everyone that we LOVE sundays.

I HATE Mondays!

Mondays are the worst day of the week for me.  I hate the thought of getting up and starting a whole new week of work.  To make this last Monday even more unpleasant when I walked out to my car to head for work I was greeted with this!

The nerve of some people!  Luckily I am very good at taking out my valuables  every night.  At first glance I thought they hadn't taken anything but with closer examination I realized that my makeup bag was gone!  Who steals a makeup bag?  Really?!?! 

Not to fear over the years I have stocked up on samples and Clinique Bonus Buys and this seems to be getting me through, but I sure do miss my nice makeup!

Dance Dance Dance....

Thursday night was Mikayla's dance recital and it was a long one!  This year they decided to have all the dancers onstage at the end of the performance so that meant no sneaking out early for us.  I think it was the longest thing I have had to sit through in my life, especially since Mikayla was onstage for only a few minutes.  Those few minutes were great through.  She did such an amazing job and I was so proud of her.  She told me right before her recital that she was nervous, scared and excited about getting up on stage.  You couldn't tell when she danced though, she was beautiful!

Thanks to everyone who came to support my little ballerina!  She was so excited to have all of you there.

Seeing the Babies!

After Mikayla was done with dance tonight she wanted to stop and see the horses out by her dad's house.  This one farm has so many horses and they have added quite a few babies this season.  Mikayla and I have tried to count them several times and I think we have gotten as high as 12.  They are so cute!  Mikayla tried to get the babies to come up to the fence so she could pet them but only the adult horses would do it.  Oh well she still had a good time.  

She use to take horseback riding lessons and loved it, but her trainer has not done them for the last couple of summers.  If anyone knows of someone or some place please let me know.

Young Love????

Adri and her family went to Hawaii. Zach and his family went to Disneyland. I had the wonderful job of watching the dogs!  How does that work!  Honestly though they were good and I had fun.  I took Phoebe over to see Yoshi every night.  Zach and Adri have talked about them having puppies so I did a little video taping because I think it might be love?  

Supporting My Favorite American Idol

I didn't have to work today so we decided to brave the crowds and go to show our support to Murray's (and mine as well) American Idol.  We got the girls out of school a little early and headed to the High School.  Mikayla was so excited when she found out what we were doing.  She loves American Idol just as much as I do.  My favorite is always her favorite.  Although she tends to get confused and if you ask her who my favorite is she will sometimes say Chris Daughtry.  She will say my mom wants to marry him so that her name will be 

Audrey Daughtry. 

 Hehehe...... I think it sounds pretty good!

This picture isn't so great but I promise David is in here.  He is in the grey sweater and his mom is next to him in the bright yellow shirt.  What a cutie!

Puppy Love

Everybody loves Phoebe!  Mikayla especially has just fallen in love with this puppy.  Look at how sweet she is with her.  I would love to get her a puppy but after our heartache with Baloo and me working all the time I'm not sure it's fair to a puppy.  They sure are lots of fun though.  Maybe someday.... for now little Phoebe will have to do.

Mikayla remembering to bring a blanket so Phoebe doesn't get cold on the way to her house.

This is the puppies favorite spot in the car.  I don't know how Adri does it, it doesn't look comfortable at all to me.  Plus when she gets to be big and fat then what will she do? 

After Arby's

As most of you might already know the other night I watched Adri's girls while she worked a Wake (viewing). We ate at Arby's with Brett and my parents and then Brett went to play softball and I decided to take the girls over to the park and let them play for a bit. It was a little chilly so we didn't stay long but I managed to snap a few pictures while we were there. It's funny.... lately it seems like I am always reaching for my camera in my purse and thinking about how I should post this on my blog!

Mikayla always has such a fun time hanging out with Evie and Lydie and misses them so much when she goes to her daddy's.  We enjoyed having them over the other night and can't wait to spend time with them again.  Which I'm sure will be sometime tomorrow.

Ayana and Mikayla

A couple of weeks ago when Lulu was in town we decided to take the girls to Old Navy for their spring sale. The girls picked out the same summer dress and then had to pose like models in them. Since these two where babies they have been so close to each other. Heather and I often tease that they have this love-hate relationship, because often times they will be arguing and then a second later they are best friends again. All in all they really do share a special bond and are very grateful to have each other to play with on an almost daily basis. We love you Yawnzee!

It's Burts Birthday!

Happy Birthday Brett! I hope you have a wonderful day and that all your birthday wishes come true. You deserve it! You do an awesome job of taking care of your family. I think all of your hard work and dedication may warrant some birthday cupcakes! Doesn't that sound yummy!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! We are thinking about you today and want you to know how much we love you. I know you don't like being reminded of your age but Mikayla and I had to post something for your birthday. Besides you look amazing! And it's not just me that thinks so, you know as well as I do how many times in public we are mistaken for sisters instead of mother and daughter.

You are the glue that holds our family together, we are close because of you. For as long as I can remember you have always said that family is everything. When I was a teenager I didn't really understand what this meant but now that I am an adult (with a few exceptions of not really acting like one) it's clear to me. You work hard at any family gathering to make sure we all build lasting memories. Some of my favorite times are vacationing and cooking in the kitchen with you. Holidays usually mean you and I are in the kitchen for hours and although it's exhausting at times I really look forward to spending that time with you. I love you!

Twinns

This past Christmas my Aunt Linda gave all the girls My Twinn dolls. In case you don't know.... these are the dolls where you get to pick the hair style and color, the color of eyes, skin tones and even match freckles and moles to your child. I created Mikayla's doll without her knowing and it was so much fun to see her open it on Christmas morning. She was so excited! I took a short video of her and her Twinn because on this particular morning Mikayla insisted that they have the same hair style. I must say I did a pretty good job too! Thanks so much Aunt Linda for the wonderful gift. You always do such an amazing job! We love you!

Echo

I love these pictures of Mikayla and our cat Echo. I actually have quite a few pictures of them sleeping together, but I liked these the best. Echo loves to lay right next to Mikayla during the night and Mikayla likes to lay right next to me. Needless to say it makes sleeping very uncomfortable sometimes. We inherited this cat from Nana when one night she told Mikayla we could take him home. Nice work Nana! Honestly though Mikayla and I both enjoy our sweet, gentle boy. Don't be fooled by his size he is the most mellow cat around. Once he even had a closet door shut on him and he still didn't move. The was an expensive trip to the Vet for my mom between x-rays, surgery and an artificial hip.

Nana's Easter Egg Hunt!!!!

Zeke and Evie hunting for their eggs!

We had our big Easter Egg hunt today at Nana and Papa's house. They do such a wonderful job every year. The kids have so much fun and get some awesome prizes and money. It was a beautiful today for an Easter egg hunt too. Mikayla was hunting for purple eggs and Papa found the perfect hiding spot for one of hers. There is a flowering pear tree in front of my parents house that Mikayla loves to climb, hang, hide treasures in and do tricks on a particular branch. She was more then eager to climb that tree in her dress to get her egg. I couldn't resist I had to take a picture of it. That's my girl..... she is super girly but can still climb a tree better than most boys I know!

Baby Kingston

My new nephew Kingston is such a little sweetheart! He has the littlest head with alot of black hair so I decided to style it today while he was sleeping of course. Doesn't he look handsome with his mohawk! When Heather was pregnant with Kingston I made a deal with Ayana that I would get her the Harry Potter wands she had been asking for in trade for her new baby brother that would be born soon. She originally agreed to it but then backed out. We still like to tease her about it. Kingston is so sweet.....I might have to order those wands!

Saturday Hunt

Adri and I wanted to take our girls on Saturday to one of the many Easter egg hunts going on in the valley. We haven't ever done this before so we thought the kids might enjoy it..... which they did. Mikayla on the way there asked me if the eggs were going to be hard to find? She was so excited when we arrived and she saw all the eggs and prizes just laying in the grass! Our girls where split up into different age groups which kind of sucked. But of course I can understand why they do it that way. Mikayla's strategy was to get a hackie sack first and then go for the eggs. She did a pretty good job!

Mikayla's Birthday

It was Mikayla's 8th birthday over the weekend and we had so much fun. These are just a few pictures of the exciting weekend. Mikayla and I thought of a few different things she could do for her birthday, after a some serious thinking she finally decided that she wanted just she and I to spend a night in a hotel with a pool. At first I wasn't too sure about her decision but it was so amazing. We swam for hours, stayed up late, had snacks at midnight and slept in. What a great time for some Mom and Daughter bonding. Mikayla says she wants to do this every year for her birthday. We can't wait to do it all again.




Mikayla of course picked a build a bear which she loves. Later we had a party with my family. She got lots of wonderful things. Thanks everyone for making it such a great day.

My cruise

We've been home for a week now and I am finally getting around to posting some pictures. In my defense.... the last day of our trip I starting getting sick and when we got home my cold hit me pretty hard! Plus with work and Mikayla with school.... well it doesn't leave a lot of time for playing on the internet. For those of you who don't know.... my mom earned this trip through her work and I was fortunate enough to join her. Usually my dad goes but he gets motion sickness and didn't think he would be able to handle the ship. I was really starting to doubt him until the last day when we were at sea all day and half of our group didn't make it to dinner because they were sea sick. He wouldn't have made it! Sorry dad :(. My mom and I had a really wonderful time we slept in, toured the islands, played on the beach, shopped, relaxed on our veranda and ate great food. It was amazing! I would have to say the only downfall to my trip was not getting my luggage (a mess up with the airlines) until the 2nd to last day of our trip. I had nothing to wear but the clothes I came in! That's why in the pictures you will notice me in the same couple of shirts and pants that I managed to put together. It sucks to go on a cruise and not have any nice clothes to wear to dinner. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money buying things on the islands because my luggage had almost all brand new clothes in it that I bought for my trip. So I apologize for the same outfit but I did take full advantage of the laundry service on the ship (free of charge of course)! I would mention what all the airlines and the cruise ship gave me to help compensate for my lost luggage but they didn't give much at all just a couple of celebrity t-shirts, which you will notice I am wearing in some of the pictures and they also gave me a comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. Honestly it was such a downer to not have my stuff but for those of you who know me you know I just dealt with it and didn't let it ruin my vacation.

Thanks mom for letting me come with you. We had a wonderful time and made some great memories together. You are an amazing person and although you are going through a lot right now..... have faith and trust that things will work out for the best. I love you!

I took Mikayla and some of her cousins sledding one afternoon. They all liked the jump! The first picture is of Ayana, then Mikayla and last Connor. Emmy came along too but unfortunately she pricked her finger on a thorn early on and spent the remainder of the time in the car. Poor Em Rose! The other kids had a blast.