Let me tell you 'bout my best friend

Ezra LOVES animals. We have a cat, Guapo, that Devin gave to me as my Christmas present our first Christmas together. Guapo is still with us and now our kids get to enjoy him. Guapo actually loves Ezra too. Wherever Ezra goes Guapo is when they are outside. Ezra's new thing is to give him "loves" and Guapo doesn't seem to mind too much. This morning it was really cute, we put Ez out in his swim trunks to play in the water but instead he decided to play with Guapo. He was putting cat food in his hand, giving some to Guapo then he would eat some, then give some to Guapo.. and so on. Then Guapo starting drinking water and this is what Ezra started to do, yes that is him drinking the water with Guapo!
Note: all the chalk on my walls again! luckily its just the AZ room and not my house!

Road Trip

We had such a great time going to Utah and seeing family and friends. Too bad we can't just always be on vacation :)

I did a really bad job remembering to take pictures, but here is a little piece of what we got to do.

The drive itself was not too bad. We left Monday after noon and stayed the night in Kanab. Then Tuesday morning we woke up nice and early and drove to Cedar City to visit a friend of mine. Carly and I served in the same mission but were never companions, we did share an area and house at one time however. I admire this girl so much, she is amazing. She was an awesome missionary and she is one of those people when you are around her you just want to be a better person. She just had a baby, Raymond, he is a doll! After our nice visit with her and her cute family we went on our way and stopped in Santiquin. Devin's mission president owns the Big Red Barn out there with all the yummy treats and probably the best homemade ice cream i have ever tasted. It was really nice to be able to see them. (if you ever go out that way, I highly reccomend you stop for ice cream )

Finally we made it to SL and we got to see Grandma Vance.. I think I will have to do a whole separate post on Grandma and how speacial she is to us. We saw Devin's sister, Christa, and our nephew, Wesley, for the first time in almost 2 years too. I got to meet more of Devin's cousins and family. We pretty much decided that Utah is so pretty and want to move there. I loved all the green and mountains and trees.. and the houses were all different and unique.. Very nice place to live.

I was able to see some more friends. I visited my good buddy Brittney, we were roommates in Utah. Good memories! I had dinner with 'the girls' (pictures to come) These girls were the best living in Utah. We all worked together and got a long so well! we would have American Idol parties together, go the the AI concerts, best birthday parties together.. again, good times :)

As the week came to an end we spent the rest of the time with family. We did family pictures and played outside a lot and ate too much food. Sunday night we had a talent show, that was a lot of fun, I will try to post some videos of the acts.

By Monday it was time to leave again :( so off we went. We decided to go through St. George because that is where Devin's grandpa lives. We had a nice time visiting him and also my Mission president and his wife came over for awhile. I love those guys!

We left St. George Tuesday ready to be home and in our own beds. What do you know, Ezra got sick on the way between St. George and Vegas. We couldn't keep driving with him throwing up so we ended up staying the night on the Air Force base in Vegas and took showers, naps, and cleaned the car seat and car. Vegas was actually a really nice day b/c it was so relaxed.

Like i said we had a great time! I wish we could stayed a little longer and see more people but our purpose was to see Grandma as she is getting older and more sick.

We love our Family and Friends!

sweet potatoes

Rylie's first foods... enough said :)

Let Freedom Ring

I love the 4th of July. I love the decorations, I love the meaning behind it, I love my country, I love the food, the weather, the fireworks... I love it all!

This 4th I am especially thankful for a husband that serves in the military and plans to make a career out of it, I am thankful for a brother who is currently serving in the military and has and is currently serving overseas, for a cousin that is away serving his country in Afghanistan... I am grateful to come from a military family and for all the men and women that serve our country. Thank you to all of them, and may God bless America!

I love these pictures of Rylie, she is so cute!! I am happy to report she is doing well adjusting to her own bed. Ezra is sick today :( and Devin is working 2 shifts so unfortunately we are not doing anything too fancy today. I did make 4th of July pancakes if that counts for anything :)

Ezra

I hate when i do the pictures backwards, this was supposed to be the last one.. This is Ezra happy, watching a movie and eating popcorn.
again happy, he loves ketchup.. i wish i had a better picture of him and the mess he had with the ketchup, it was pretty cute.

so this is where it starts.. ezra is turning 2 in two months and i can tell! there are a lot more tantrums and "no no's" . this is him screaming at me b/c he got the hanger stuck over his head.

eating food(of his choice of course) = happiness for Ezra

Giving Rylie a binky... hey, if he can do it i will take it.. she still will not take one from me.

Ezra climb up on the desk found a sharpie and decided that he need to draw on the wall that mommy and daddy draw on... i guess i couldn't be too mad about this one. This is our measuring wall.

He really likes to climb these days. While in Rocky Point i could not get him to stop climbing out of his pack-n-play. Now that we are home, he has figured out how to climb into his crib just not out.. its only a matter of days i'm sure.

Kinda a goofy picture of his face.. I'm sure he is watching a cartoon. I love this picture. If you look closely you will see one of Rylie's pink headbands around his neck and he also is putting his shoes on by himself. He is very independent these days and would prefer to dress himself.

I love this little guy... sure some days i think I'm going to go crazy b/c I've said No 100 times and every time has resulted in a tantrum from him, but that is what being 2 is all about isn't it? I guess i just need to pick my battles with him better and let him grow.

disclosure: i do dress my son everyday contrary to what the pictures seem to be displaying

5 months

taken about 2 weeks ago.. isn't she cute! (note the Mohawk hair)
I want to just say that this is why you should not co-sleep with your children... she kicked me out of bed! ezra slept with us too but he actually preferred to sleep in his own bed, so i thought rylie would be the same way.. not so much. we are really trying to get her out! This picture doesn't even show how much space she can really take up either.

She fell asleep in her bouncer.. it was really cute. taken 3 nights ago.

Taken today for her 5 month mark.. notice the hawk is gone! While in Rocky Point with my mom she went to town on rylie getting rid of her cradle cap.. it looks SO much better!

Rylie is 5 Months today!

Its amazing how big they get so quickly. We pierced her ears last week, she did so good. I was the one freaking out, but she hardly gave a little cry and i think i might have seen one tear drop. She is such a joy in our lives, she loves to talk and talk, smile and laugh, she loves the "little Piggy's" game, she rolls all over the place now and is even trying to sit on her own. I just can't picture our lives without her. I thank Heavenly Father every night for my kids, it truly is a blessing to be their mom.