Big girl Par-tay

A couple of weekends ago, Alayna was invited to her very first big girl birthday party.  Her friend Gabby (whom Alayna absolutely ADORES) was sweet enough to invite Alayna to her 5th birthday party.  Alayna was the youngest person she invited (besides Gabby's younger brother, Nate, who is a few months younger than Alayna) so, I was a bit worried, but Gabby's mom assured me that it would be fine.

Alayna was beyond excited and carried her birthday invitation around where ever she went and told her Daddy promptly when he got home that she was going to Gabby's "Happy Birthday"!

And of course, the day of the party, was the first time Alayna has willingly fallen asleep on her own during her quiet time so we had a bit of a grump for the first few minutes prior to the party.  BUT I knew that not waking her and having her skip the party was NOT an option. 

So here she is, minutes after having been woken up.  The party girl.  Not in the mood for a "I'm going to my first big girl birthday party picture". 

Gabby LOVES babies.  And when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "Anything baby." 

Well, living in the town that we do and only having two (yes two) options for shopping for birthday occasions like these, I was forced to get in touch with my crafty side.  (Thanks to my mom and sister for the suggestions.)

So, Alayna and I made some things for Gabby's babies.  

First, a hooded towel for when she gives her baby a bath.  Turned out rather cute, huh?  Alayna picked out the colors.

Second, we made matching bracelets for Gabby and her baby.  Alayna helped pick the beads.

Kind of fun. 

Alayna had a blast!  She could not stop talking about the party.  She had to tell me ALL about it (as well as Dan, when he got home). 
Oh, and Gabby's mom told me she did really well....and I am choosing to believe her.  :) 

A little of this and a little of that

Hello.  Remember me?  The person who is doing a terrible job of posting on her blog?

Well, here I am, attempting to fill you in on a little of what we have been up to lately.

So, I have this amazingly talented husband (who might I add, is quite handsome...) that completely surprised me with this gift:

when Alayna and I came home from our trip to Laramie. Yep. He made it. Awesome, I know.  Don't you LOVE it?!.  I have been wanting a corner shelf for our den and it is perfect. 

I am having one minor dilemma though...deciding what color to paint it.  Dan and I don't agree on this at all.  He claims men like the look of natural wood, so he wants me to stain it.  And I on the other hand, have this itch to paint everything.  I don't know what it is.  I just want to slap a nice coat of paint on it and maybe antique it a little.  I am thinking white.  What do you think?  Black?  Gray?  Really, what do you think?

Now onto the next tidbit.  Fall.  Can I just confess to you that I absolutely LOVE Fall?  I do.  I LOVE it.  I have to admit, I wasn't always this way.  In fact, I might have dreaded it a little.  But I have since repented and it really is one of my favorite seasons.  It took me moving to a few new places to really appreciate this season because, well, let's face it....in Laramie, WY, Fall lasts about a month.  Maybe a little longer.  I just didn't have time to really enjoy it.  Now, I live at the complete opposite end of the spectrum and Fall (I hear) can be a long season, it just takes a LONG time to get here.  And I am getting antsy.  Enough with the 102 degree weather already.  Where is the crispness in the air?  So in order to nudge the season along a little, I decided to go ahead and decorate.  (As you saw in the previous picture.)

Oh, and I might as well admit, I have a bit of an obsession with pumpkins, or puh-kins as Alayna calls them.  LOVE them. 

Now, the next tidbit.  I have been having an inner battle lately.  About what, you might ask?  Well, preschool.  Preschool is causing my inner battle.  Alayna will turn 3 in less than a month and with the start of a new school year, we had the opportunity to do a preschool co-op with some other moms in our community.  And I decided NOT to do it this year.  Am I terrible?  I have gone back and forth and back and forth again.  But Alayna would have been the youngest one and with her still having three years 'til Kindergarten I just didn't want her to be burned out of school before she even went.  If I started her now, then she would go the next couple of years and after having taught Kindergarten, I know she will be fine if we wait. She really is young.   Plus, this mommy wants to spend a little more time with her Layna.  But still, I know she would have loved it.  So we are living it up by having our own fun letter games and as many play dates as our friends will allow to provide her with all the social-ness she craves. 

Excuse #1 for my absence.  Classes.  I have been taking online classes to renew my teaching certificate.  I have to do this every 5 years.  Can you believe that in May it will be 5 years since I graduated college?!  Me neither.  Sheesh. 

So, I am enrolled in 4 classes that are rather interesting, but admittedly, I will be glad when they are over. 

Excuse #2. Sharing time.  I am in the primary presidency which means I have to teach Sharing time every few weeks.  I absolutely LOVE it!  Oh, how I miss teaching Kindergarten...but this is a perfect filler.  I really look forward to it each time.

And that, really is the end of my excuses.  Pretty pathetic, huh?

And while I am filling you in, I might as well tell you a little about the other two people that live with me.

Layna is busy as ever.  She is getting excited for her "Happy Birthday".  Especially after having gone to her very first birthday party (other than family)....which I will save all the details for another post. 

And have I mentioned that she is COMPLETELY potty trained?!  Like at nights as well as days.  And she has been for a few months now.  I just decided I was tired of buying pull-ups so I stopped and she really was AWESOME!  Only one accident to date.   She seriously made it so easy.

And....she doesn't know it yet, but she will be getting a "I'm all potty trained" present.  Because, well, that really is a big deal.

Now, Dan.  What can I say?  He has been busy providing for our family and gearing up for his upcoming seven off where we may take a small, much needed, family trip. 

And there you have it.  A little of this and a little of that.

Hanging out with the fam in our neck of the woods

So, my parents and Jordy came, and to prove that we had WAY too much fun, I didn't even pull the camera out until the last day right before we left to drive them to the airport in Phoenix. Granted, my camera was not working, (I thought it was broken and about had a heart attack, but sure enough a couple of days later I was able to figure out what the problem was.  Phew.) so these pics were all taken on my trusty cell phone....Gotta love that there is always that option.

We couldn't have crammed anymore fun into the few days they were here even if we wanted to.  Here's a little recap of some of the fun that was had:

*Went to the ultimate snow cone place.  They have a drive through and about 30 flavors to choose from.  We were in heaven.     

*Visited with old friends from Laramie that now ironically live in Thatcher.

*Took a drive around town and saw all the Gila Valley has to offer.....which may not be much, but we did drive by our temple and President Kimball's childhood home. 

*We drove out to our old house.  And I was reminded for the zillionth time why we moved into town.

*We drove to the mine Dan works at and went to the lookout to see all the gigantic dump trucks and other machinery that is used on the mine. 

*We introduced my family to THE best store bought ice cream there is.  Blue Bell ice cream.  Seriously, it is SO good.  We had never heard of it 'til we moved down here.  I do believe my dad exclaimed, "This is DANG good!"  At least two or three times.....and that is saying something.  

*My mom and I went to one of our craft stores here.  It has such cute stuff.  I got her hooked.  The next time they come and visit, it may only be to go to that store. :)

*We stayed up late every night either talking or watching old movies.  It was perfect.  

Onto the few pics I did take.

Grandpa, Alayna and Jordan.  Alayna was in HEAVEN the entire time they were here.  She kept saying, "Grandma, Grandpa and Jordy are coming to MY house!"  She just couldn't believe that they were going to come to her house.  And she really loved every minute of it.

Jordan and Alayna....she's telling him some sort of story.

"Mom, why are you taking my picture again?"

The chauffeur.  Here he is gearing up to drive to Phoenix.

Layna and me.

Mom and Dad.   Any guesses where my Dad rode for the second half of the trip to Phoenix?  Yes, that's luggage on the other side of him. 

Since we didn't technically have enough room for six in our car, Jordan got the special seat in the back, but half way to Phoenix, he started not feeling well, so my Dad volunteered for a turn in the very back  :)

The chauffeur.

And Jord-man.

We had such a blast and can't wait for the next time they come.  When we dropped them off at the airport Alayna kept saying, "What happened?"  She just couldn't understand why we would drop them off and not go pick them up later.  I told her they were all going to ride an airplane to Grandma's house and she said, "And Alayna too?"  Obviously she can't wait for their next visit.