June 20th

Todd wanted to begin celebrating Emily's 2nd birthday early. We went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. Emily loves this place. She went to a birthday party there a few months ago. That was her first experience there. She had a wonderful time running from machine to machine. She didn't really play any, she just liked moving the gearshifts up and down and pretending to drive some of the cars. They have a Toddler section. She did get to ride the Barney ride. She was 'riding in the car with Barney' and he was singing the whole ride. She had a ball on that one. Of course she had to go down the slide. Up the stairs, down the slide, do it again, and again, and again, and again. You ge the idea.

We didn't get any pictures since we left the camera at home. :( But I am making up for it with lots of pictures of the rest of Emily's birthday celebrations!

Easter Fun

On Saturday before Easter our Ward had an Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids. For each child who particiapated in the hunt you brought a dozen eggs to hide. It was Emily's first time on a hunt and she picked up quick on how to play the game. I have had my 3 oldest nieces particiapate in the past and it was fun to have 2 of the 3 younger kids come and join in the fun with Emily.

Emily getting ready for the hunt. Each child gets to hunt and take home a dozen eggs. It is fun to see what is in each one.

Emily, Kelsey, and Will in action!

Trying to get a group shot of all the Hunters!

As good as it's going to get!

Here are "The Girls".

Here is one trying to get all the kids. As you can see they would not all look the same way at the same time.

All in all we had a great time. It was just too short. It was nice to have most of my nieces and nephew join in the fun.

This week Emily has started some really exciting things. She is running everywhere, of course. I think she has one speed...fast. She has started using complete sentences. For example, "Hello how are you?" and "I watch Barney". It was cute and exciting and amazing all at the same time. She is growing up so fast. She really enjoys Nursery. After sacrament she wants to walk (really run) to Nursery. Last week she ran past the door to class and she stopped and turned around and ran right on in the classroom. No bye to Mom or anything. I am gratefull that she enjoys Nursery and just goes right on in. No seperation issues with her!

Barney Barney Barney

Emily has discovered Barney. She wakes up saying Barney. That is all she wants to watch these days. My sister in law had tons of tapes she let me borrow. My nephew when through a huge Barney phase as well. She discovered how to turn the tape the correct way to get it into the VHS player. It was cute watching do that for the first time.

She is growing and changing every day. It is truly amazing to see her. She is a huge blessing in our lives. I can't image my life without her.

We went to Cici's for dinner last week and she loved it. It is nice to be able to put a plate of food in front of her and she will eat it on her own.

Cooking Cooking Cooking

What a day I had on Saturday. My friend Heather and I prepared freezer meals. Heather made 11 meals plus one dessert and I make 6 meals. It only took about 5 hours and we have meals for the next 2-3 weeks. It was great. We decided to try and do this once a month. Hopefully this will make meal prep easier and smarter. :)

These are some of the ingredients we started with.

These are most of the finished meals.

We had a great time sharing recipes and chatting while planning and cooking. We may have to find some other recipes to try next time. If you have any ideas or recipes you are willing to share . . . I am all ears.

Merry Christmas!~

We have a wonderful second Christmas with Emily. She so enjoyed opening presents and getting excited about them. She is now a professional present opener. No help needed. It is exciting to see her grow up and enjoy this experience. It is sad too that she is growing up so fast. She is just jammering away all the time. She is so good at copying what we say. Double syllable words and saying 'bless you' after a sneeze. It really is cute.
Hope ya'll had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family.

Wow! It is hard to believe a month has gone by since I last posted. I have lots to do and catch up on. Maybe soon I can get pictures downloaded and post some here. This week has been so incredible busy. I don't know where the time goes.