Logan's First Swim Lesson

Besides starting preschool this past fall, Logan has not started any activities of his own.  But today the time finally arrived to start swim lessons as he is now four years old and can take lessons without an adult being in the pool (one of my selfish rules I established as a parent years ago).  I had Ron sign him up last Saturday right after Lia's baptism and luckily there was still a spot in the class we wanted.  Unlike his sister four years ago, Logan was a little hesitant to start today.  Luckily Lia came along for moral support and talked him through most of the steps before class even started as this was the exact same place where she began swim lessons at age four.  Logan was a little reluctant to get in the water and start kicking from the steps, but after that he did a pretty good job following directions and doing everything the teacher asked of him.  Lia and I sat on a bench near the end of the baby pool where they spent most of their lesson and just gushed over how cute Logan looked throughout most of the lesson.  We both think this kid is pretty adorable.  Logan survived his first lesson without any tantrums and any drama and that is all I can ask for this child of mine!  Good job, Logan!

Logan listening to his teacher.

Logan floating on his back with his teacher's help.

My cute boy smiling for the camera.

Logan going out for a cruise on the water dumbbells.

Look at that happy boy!

Lia's Baptism Day

Lia's long awaited baptism day finally arrived yesterday.  She was so excited!  The morning started out fast and furious for us as we had to be at the church by 9:30 in the morning.  This also meant that I had to be ready to host 22 people by this same time since everyone from my family was coming to our house immediately after the baptism.  So, that made things a little extra crazy for me, but thanks to planning ahead and staying up late Friday night and getting up early Saturday morning, we were ready for Lia's baptism and her party by the time we needed to leave for church.  Lia shared her baptism program with three other children--two were a brother-sister/twin combo from our ward and the other one was a little girl from the Manorwood ward.  We had a nice and simple baptism program and then Lia was baptized and confirmed by her papa.  It really was a special morning for all of us.  As we were leaving the church afterwards, Lia told me that she felt the Holy Ghost during both the baptism and her confirmation.  When I asked her how she knew this, she said that she felt a warm feeling in her heart.  *sigh*  She is such a sweet and special girl.  

After the baptism and family photos outside the church, everyone in my family (minus Bryce who was on a Scout camping trip) came back to our home for a delicious luncheon.  This was a special treat as Brent's family had decided to come out from Missoula just a few days earlier (including Spencer who caught a Greyhound bus from Rexburg to Missoula the day before they left).  It was so much fun to have everyone together one last time before Spencer leaves on his mission to Taiwan in May.  We enjoyed eating and visiting together and Lia and Logan had the time of their lives running wild with their cousins both inside and outside.  Luckily, the rain stopped long enough for the kids to play out on the play set and on the sport's court.  Overall, it was a wondering morning and afternoon and one that I hope my little Lia will never forget.  We love you, Lia, and are so proud of you!

Lia all dressed up in her pretty baptism dress before leaving for the church that morning.

Another picture of Lia in her dress (that I bought for her years ago)!

Daddy and daughter before their big day.

Lia and her friend, Isabel, in their beautiful, white dresses after arriving at the church.  I just thought they both looked like little angels that day.

Our little family outside the church.

Another daddy daughter picture with the cherry blossoms in the background.

Ron and Lia changed into their baptism clothes before the program started.

My entire family minus Bryce outside the church after the Lia was baptized.

The luncheon spread that my mom and sister-in-laws helped me put together after the baptism.  I served chicken salad sandwiches, three kinds of salad (spinach, pasta, and a layered pea salad), fruit platters, meats, cheese, and crackers, and spinach and salmon dips with another kind of cracker.  Here are Natalee, my mom, and my silly, 15-year old nieces (Kelsey and Brynn) who now have to make silly faces in every picture they are in.  Oh, I remember those days...

Lia eating lunch with the "triplets' and sweet, Ella in the background.

After lunch, the majority of the cousins retreated to the basement for some crazy fun.  Here is the amazing, human sandwich I found when I went downstairs!  There is a pillow in between every body, too.  

After the rain stopped and the sun came out, all of the kids ventured outside.  It's hard to see in the is picture, but Spencer is holding baby Ella up to the basketball hoop so that she could put the ball inside.  He's such a great, older cousin.  I sure am going to miss him.

The gang on and around the play set.

We called the kids back in for dessert and for Lia to open her baptism gifts.  She got a wonderful baptism journal from Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Eric, a scripture case and baptism bracelet from Grandma and Grandpa, and a new set of scriptures with her name engraved on it from Ron and me.

Lia reading her card from her grandparents with Grandma looking on.

Lia examining her new scriptures after opening them.

Lia's Last Gymnastics Meet

Tonight we went to Roach to watch Lia compete in her last gymnastics meet.  Although she has been taking gymnastics lessons for the past four years, we will be wrapping it up for good this spring.  This is mainly due to the fact that Lia has decided to pursue team sports instead of joining the competitive, team level at her gym in May (which is when they take new girls onto the team).  We made this decision for two main reasons:  Lia has actually enjoyed participating in team sports more this school year than gymnastics and, two, the team level of gymnastics requires a massive time commitment that we aren't willing to make.  Lia is only going to be a child for a few more years and I want her to enjoy playing dolls in her room for the few remaining years that she has instead of spending them  in the gym.  So, with that said, we went to Lia's final gymnastics meet on Friday night.  She did a great job participating in the four events and really enjoyed the experience.  I am so proud of all of the progress she has made since we transferred her to Roach almost two years ago.  Part of me will be sad to say goodbye...

Lia doing a candlestick during her floor routine.

Look at those pointed toes.  I just love it!

Lia landing on the mats after jumping off the springboard.

Lia starting her bar routine with a pull over.

Look at those straight legs and pointed toes.  Good job, Lia.

Landing her bar routine.

Lia doing an arabesque on the bar.

Lia going down into a needle.

Lia receiving her medal at the end of the gymnastics meet.

My cute girl posing from the blocks after getting her medal.  

23 Months Old!

Oh, I simply cannot believe that my sweet, baby girl is turning two years old in a month!  How did this happen so fast?  As you can tell by the pictures, Ella really has turned into a full-fledged toddler these past few months.  She is such a little girl!  And, boy, does she keep me hopping.  She is so, so busy.  Ella is constantly getting into things or trying to keep up with her older brother and sister.  She seriously thinks that she is ten years old most of the time.  But, we just love her to pieces and think she is the cutest thing around. As for her latest developments this past month, Ella continues to speak one of two words at a time.  The cutest one is that she says, "yesh" instead of "yes."  Ella also puts an "s" on the end of most of her words.  For example, she says, "mores" instead of "more" when she wants more food.  She also says, "Okay," in the funniest voice whenever she agrees to do something that we ask her to do.  The other funny word that Ella came started using this past month is "Doby" which she consistently uses for "grandma."  I don't know how or why she came up with this word, but she really says it to mean grandma all of the time.  Ella continues to love her blanket and her ya ya and insists on dragging her blanket around the house most days.  She is also my sneakiest child and continues to sneak upstairs several times a day to pull a pacifier out of her crib.  She has also managed to climb inside her crib (without the help of a stool or anything) two times this past month.  I don't know how she manages to do this, but we have found her in her crib two times without any help.  Amazing.  This little girl is so fearless and coordinated.  She still loves shoes and constantly can be found putting on a pair of her shoes or someone else's shoes in the house.  Whenever she hears that it is time to go outside or in the car, she is the first person in the laundry room trying to put her shoes on.  It's so funny!  Ella loves having books read to her and enjoys any one-on-one time I give her on the floor.  She also is loving the outdoor play that is coming with the spring weather and will climb up any ladder and slide down any side that we play on.  Ella still naps like a champ every afternoon and does a great job sleeping through the night.  Her fussy eating phase has seemed to subside a bit as she now only needs a little coaxing to get most foods in her mouth.  Ella has also started to throw serious tantrums whenever she is not happy about something and many of these tantrums are thrown on the floor.  I am going to blame her older brother for setting a stellar example in this department for her entire life as the cause of this.  Ella also gets hurt a lot and gets harassed by Logan a lot.  As a result, she unfortunately spends a lot of her day crying.  She is definitely heading into the terrible twos phase.  Oh well.  We love her anyways and just can't get enough of her!   

Daddy Daughter Dance 2016

For the fourth year in a row, our stake hosted a Daddy Daughter Dance in February.  Usually it falls on the same Saturday as Lia's friend party, but this year it was a week later.  Although she had a busy day of attending another friend's birthday party and playing in her basketball game, Lia was super excited and anxious to head out for an evening with her daddy!  We got her all dolled up in one of my friend, Sarah's, beautiful hand-me-down dresses from her two daughters and even curled Lia's hair which seriously happens twice a year.  She looked so beautiful AND grown-up!  I can't get over how Lia does not look like a little girl anymore.  She really looks like an eight year old and is turning into such a wonderful, little lady!  Lia and her dad headed out right at 6 p.m. for an evening of dancing and snacking on chocolate and strawberry milk and every kind of cookie under the sun.  They even stopped for shakes at Sonic on the way home.  I'm so glad that they share this evening together every year.  Just think, in two more years, Lia and Ella can be going to this dance together!  :-)

My pretty princess all ready for the ball.

Daddy and daughter ready to go!

Their picture from the dance.

Lia's 8th Birthday!

After Lia's large friend party on Saturday, I was grateful to host a much smaller and simpler family party for her.  However, since her grandparents were flying back from Mexico on her actual birthday, she chose to wait an entire day so that they could join us.  Besides bringing homemade sugar cookies to class on Monday, we did absolutely nothing else on her birthday.  She didn't even get to open a single present!  I was really impressed with Lia's self control and her willingness to postpone all of her birthday fun just so her grandparents could be with us.
Like last year, Lia requested her favorite dinner which is "breakfast for dinner."  Since my parents drove almost an hour to join us, I beefed up her request and made an egg casserole, bacon, and delicious cinnamon rolls.  After dinner, Lia opened up her gifts.  Like Christmas, it was mainly an American Girl Doll birthday.  Besides getting some new clothes and some more Disney zum zums, everything else was American Girl.  She got a few new pieces of furniture for her mega doll house including a beautiful, wooden vanity from her grandma and grandpa and a beautiful, wooden sideboard from her Lola and Papa John.  We also gave her some new Caroline Abbott books and the Kit Kittredge DVD, plus a few items from Grace Thomas' collection (the 2015 Girl of the Year doll).  The big surprise was saved for the very end when I pulled out one last gift which had been hidden in the office:  a Grace Thomas doll!  Although Lia already has a look alike doll, Grace is her true look alike since she has freckles in addition to the fair skin, dark hair, and blue eyes that her look alike has.  Whenever we were visiting the AGD store last year, various employees would tell Lia that she looks like Grace Thomas.  I finally got to the point where I would jokingly tell them to quit saying this!  However, after I got the deal of the decade in December and found Grace for $44 instead of the regular $120, I couldn't resist buying her.  You can imagine Lia's surprise (and accompanying screams) when she opened this last gift!

Eating our breakfast for dinner in the dining room.  Please notice Logan's large, blue gun on the table.  He always adds a touch of class where ever he goes. :-)

Lia opening her first gift:  a parlor desk for her doll house.

Lia smiling for the camera before opening her second gift...

Grace Thomas' pajamas and baking outfit.

Lia pulling out her new clothes.  This shirt has tiny Eiffel Towers on it which she loved!

Lia posing with grandma before opening another one.

Lia showing off her new Frozen themed zum zums.

Logan making a funny face for the camera.

Lia opening up her American Girl Doll.

Grandma and Lia proudly displaying Grace.

Lia giving papa a huge hug to thank him for her new doll!

Grandpa examining Grace up close.

After Lia finished opening gifts, grandma and grandpa had one last surprise for Lia--my old Barbie, dollhouse that I got for Christmas in 1982.  It was custom made and built to look like a house on the canals of Venice.  It has been kicking around my parents' house for years and I finally told my dad (who has been asking me for years) to bring it over to our house.  Now, Lia has a place to put all of my old Barbie furniture and hopefully will spend hours and hours playing in it like I did growing up.  And, yes, Ella is wearing grandma's big shoes in this picture.  Oh, that girl.  She loves wearing other peoples' shoes!

We finished off the evening with cupcakes and ice cream.  Since I now make an elaborate cake for Lia's friend party, I refuse to make a second one for her family party.  Luckily, she is fine with a homemade cupcake.  Here is our big, 8-year old with Grace getting ready to blow out her candle!

Lia and Grace blowing out the candle.

Happy Birthday, Lia!  We sure love you and are so grateful that you joined our family eight years ago!  I can't imagine my life without you!