Colorado Pics

Straggle muffin! We missed out on a little beauty sleep this morning.
It's hard to keep Miley contained so we fenced her in with suitcases.

20,000 feet

We had the funniest Southwest flight attendant. She said 'Are you guys flippin' excited to be

here because I'm flippin' excited and did a front flip at the front of the plane B4 take off. She said things like...'In case this flight turns into a cruise, take out your life vest from under the seat' and 'Adults, put your face mask on first and then your childrens - women put your's on and then your husband's and breathe like you've never breathed before.' She said there was a special smoking section out on the right wing and there was a feature film playing - Gone with the wind. She had us rolling the whole time!

More 4 Generation Photos

4 Generation Photos

So we (Hailey, Miley, Me and Tata) just got back from a trip to Colorado to visit Mommy Jean and Papa. The 4 of us left disgustingly early on a Saturday morning to make sure we had enough time to get us all through security. Good thing we did because I got the good old pat down at the airport. I had to take a bunch of food/snacks/formula in the diaper bag to keep the kids good on the airplane and that gave me a personal invitation to get to know one of the TSA's better than I'd like. Whew! We got through it and flew to Denver. Ash flew from Salt Lake and was waiting at our gate in Denver. Mommy Jean and Papa live in the southwest portion of Colorado so we rented a van and took the 5 hour drive down there.

I was so excited for Hailey to go because she hadn't been since she was about 6 months old and obviously had no memory of it. For me, it's my favorite place in the world to visit. It brings back all of the memories of when I was growing up and got to visit for a couple weeks every summer all by myself. We affectionately call the house the 'dome' because that's what it's shaped like. It has been through quite a few add-ons and changes but the front of the house still looks like a soccer ball. My room has always been the Murphy Bed room (bed that folds down from the wall) and Hailey thought that was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. She ended up sleeping with Mom and Ash every night because there was just more room.

It was a little different for me this trip because I don't think I've ever been to the dome in the Winter. South Fork was really quiet and our frequent trips to Rainbow - the local small town grocery store - there was never anybody there. It's funny because the grocery store is the same as I remember it when I was 10. Hailey loved it because it had carts that were just her size - not plastic ones - ones that looked just like big carts.

Sunday mom's brother's Terry and Sam and their wives Sharon and Blair came up to the dome for dinner. It was so fun seeing them. My cousin Devin also came up that afternoon with his little girl Sarah. It was the first time I met her and she is darling! It wasn't so long ago that my cousins and I would drive the Napa go-cart and four wheelers down the Del Norte parade in the summer time or sell snow cones for their boy scout troops and now we all have kids. It's kind of weird. I guess that's part of growing up. You remember somebody the way you last saw them and when you see them again you almost expect them to be unchanged. So seeing Devin again was like fast forwarding from high school 'till now.

Sometimes I feel like I don't say enough about Miley. She's just so dang good all the time. She and Mommy Jean had some really special time together. I just had a whole house full of baby sitters and I don't know who loved it more...me, Mommy Jean or Miley. I don't think she cried or fussed one time because someone was always playing with her or holding her. She was a pro at army crawling before we went and had starting crawling on her hands and knees but she loved the dome and crawled all over the place. She pulls herself up on everything now-everything! The stinker always makes me so nervous because I'm always afraid she's gonna fall and get hurt. She climbs the stairs at home and I'm afraid she's gonna take a tumble. She's waiving now too. You tell her to say hi or bye and she waves. It's so stinkin' cute!

Monday we got the chance to have a 4 generation photo taken. I'll post some pictures from that.

My cousin Ryan and his wife and kids came up for a visit and then on Tuesday we went to Sam and Blair's house for dinner. It was yummy! Blair is the best cook.

While we were there Ash and Hailey hung out the whole time. Ash spent some special time with her and they did fun stuff together. They made cupcakes and decorated them with all sorts of different fun stuff. Ash got her ready, made her lunch, took her to Rainbow at least 3 times, made snow angels. We really had a good time.

Wednesday morning we headed out on our journey back to Denver. We left a few hours early because there was supposed to be a big storm move in and we wanted to get as far as we could before the snow hit. We managed to miss most of the snow and had an extra couple hours to stop and eat lunch and go the the outlet mall in Castlerock. It was really fun.

Thanks Mommy Jean and Papa for letting us come. Love you! And thanks Mom for taking us. La La Mo!

Hailey's Birthday Cakes

So we took on the job of making princess cakes. We were going to make one big doll cake but the store we went to didn't have the big pan, only the little pan. We found these little dolls especially for cakes - they stop at the hip and have a pointy stick at the bottom. We searched for about a week online before deciding exactly how we wanted to decorate them. They turned out pretty cute. Next time I will make the icing differently. I used a buttercream which called for milk. It didn't set up quite the way I wanted but overall, they turned out better than expected. We just used a flat spatula for the bottom of each dress and a star tip for the top. We never did eat them.

Hailey turns 4!

Austin and Hailey are pros at winning this game.

Hailey turned 4 on Feb. 20th. I posted the pictures in the wrong order...oops. She was so excited for her birthday to come. She picked out this outfit a few days earlier and begged me everyday to wear it. The morning of her birthday Austin had to work. So he set everything out in the kitchen for her. He bought balloons and put them all over the stairs. She got a big girl bike with training wheels. She's a pro. I must say, it is so nice to be able to send a 4 year old outside to ride a bike in February, with NO snow. Anyways, the whole day was all about her. Thanks to Grandma Vickie and Papa Frank for the outfit and doggie set. Grandma and Grandpa Cooper - we'll get a thank you note in the mail one of these days. She still has her $2 and is saving it for something really special she says. Angie - we got the hats about a week ago. Hailey wears it everyday - even if it doesn't match. She loves it and it looks adorable on her. Ash n' Vuvvy - one of Hailey's plants is really taking off. We water it every day. I think the packet said to put about 5 seeds in...or 15. Aus and Hailey got a little carried away. Grandma and Grandpa Mason, thanks for the shirt and socks and pencil set, she loves it. Mommy Jean and Papa gave Hailey a wooden monster to paint. Hailey's favorite thing to do is tell scary stories. So the monster was very appropriate. Papo and Tata got Hailey a leotard and skirt, belts and a little laptop. That night we went to John's Incredible Pizza. It was like ChuckECheese on steroids. It's huge - we had a lot of fun. They have all sorts of rides and games. They even had a minuture bowling alley with little tiny lanes and little balls - just perfect for little kids. It was a really good day.

Valntine's Day Vinyl

I'm really excited how this heart ornament design turned out!

Austin's First Day

Austin leaving for his first day.
Getting ready to leave at 5 am. I was up with him making sure that he had everything. He's wearing his sweatshirt over his uniform because they can't wear their uniform outside of the academy. It has to be covered up - even when they're driving.

Recruit Neilson

Austin started the Fire Academy yesterday YEAH! He had quite the day and quite the weekend leading up to his first day. Saturday night all the recruits had to get together and figure out everything they needed to get before Monday morning. Everything has to be uniform. They have to have the same pens, bags, notebooks, socks, water bottles EVERYTHING! We were out until midnight on Saturday night going to 3 WalMarts to find everything he needed. I was busy all weekend military pressing his Class B uniforms. I even had to iron his PT (Physical Training) uniforms - running shorts, t-shirt, sweatshirt. So prettymuch, if I don't do a perfect job creating perfect seams - he gets his face ripped off by the drill instructors. No pressure!

To add to the anxiety of Monday morning coming around, Austin went to lace up his boots (yes, this all has to be done the same - there are 5 ways to lace his type of boots and they all had to get together and figure out how to do it) and he had a size 10 and a size 12. We didn't find this out until 7:00 Saturday night and of course the place doesn't open until 9am Monday morning. He had to be there at 5:30 am Monday. He just wore two different size shoes and I get the great pleasure of trying to get him new ones today.

So on top of working full time, he'll go to the academy M-Th and all day Saturday. It's going to be interesting around here but we're so excited. I've never really had much of a schedule with Hailey as far as bed time goes but believe me - I'm starting one tonight! Otherwise, I might go nuts! I love my girls more than anything but mom has had it by the end of the night. I guess I'm a single mom M-Th (because Austin goes to work way before we ever wake up and won't get home from school until at least 11 pm) and a working mom the other 3 days of the week. This time in our lives will be interesting but very exciting.

Monday was quite interesting for Austin. This is a military style academy so they must stand at attention all the time. They have to do all those funny turns and walk in unisen. Everyone's head has to be shaved and their faces have to be smooth. I guess there was one kid who decided not to shave his head and so the drill unstructors cut his hair with regular scissors. Austin said it was all choppy...I guess he learned his lesson.

Captain House is a pretty scary guy and pretty intimidating. He would surely make me cry. Anyways, there was one point where Captain House was picking people out of line and making them come up to him and he'd be all up in their face trying to knit pick at anything he could. He called Austin up and was right in his grill. Austin said he had a smile on his face and said 'I like you. You're going to do well here.' He asked Austin if he scared him and Aus said yes. Captain House also said that Austin looked overwhelmed and then dismissed him. Well then, that couldn't have gone better. Let's keep Austin on his good side!

Well, I keep on how things are going with the Academy. We are so proud of him!

Pics of our Chunkers

We cannot leave Miley alone without her being strapped in for even a second. She'll turn and roll right out of it. I've had her in her chair without being strapped in and turn my head for one second and turned back around to find her out of her chair. She's ready to crawl anyday now. She gets up on both kneeds and rocks back and forth. And rolling...sometimes she thinkgs she's a ball because she just keeps going. We'll put one of her favorite toys on the floor on the other side of the room and before you know it, she'll have it.

Don't feed babies solids until 6 months...

Yeah right! Miley has been eating cereal for 2 months now and I pretty much give her bites of anything soft. It would be torture to try and get her to eat just a bottle. She still takes a bottle a few times a day but loses interest pretty fast. She's mastered every kind of baby food (except green beans or peas because I just don't want to deal with that:)) and squaks at you everytime she sees you eating something. She's a begger and usually gets what she wants. Hailey and I went to Costa Vida (our semi-close version of Cafe Rio) yesterday for lunch and Miley loved the tortilla and rice. Our pediatrician said not to start solids until 6 months...okay.

Hailey is now a Sunbeam

Hailey is so excited to be in Primary FINALLY! She was so done with nursery - although she really loved her teachers. It's so fun to see her so excited about church.

Christmas Pics!

Christmas morning. Maybe Hailey should have asked Santa for a comb!

Miley Jo and Papo Christmas Eve

All of our hard work.

Making cookies is not all it's cracked up to be!!!

The girl cannot seem to keep it covered up!

Hailey and mommy making cookies.

Hailey's cookies for Santa.

Christmas 2008

I'm not quite into the swing of this blog thing yet so my Christmas posting is a month or so late. Anyways, Christmas was really fun this year. Ashley and Kevin surprised us and drove from Utah to visit. Christmas Eve we decorated cookies for Santa and put out carrots for the reindeer. We had a really yummy Christmas Eve dinner with Prime Rib. During the day Ashley and I made 7-layer salad, Christmas Potatoes, Pasta Salad, the whole 9 yards! Of course TaTa had to work Chrismas Eve and the alarms wouldn't set. The people at the alarm company were not in the Christmas Spirit and wouldn't really help. So poor mama sat at the store by herself until Dad got there. Once they got home we were all ready to eat (and Hailey got to open a few presents). Christmas morning was good and Hailey got everything she wanted. [Even though she was threatened many times that Santa wouldn't bring her anything this year for Christmas:)] My uncle Chris says whoever came up with the terrible twos hasn't been through the threes yet. She'll be 4 next month so hopefully we're past all that. Anyways, I had to work Christmas Day. I started a new job in December at one of the new hotels by our house. We had a quick brunch after presents and all went to the movies. We saw Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler and it was cute. After that, we raced home because I had to work from 3-11. It was hard leaving Austin and the girls on Christmas but they came and visited me at work that night.

Some of Hailey's favorite presents...

Princess camping cot

Grandma Vickie's blanket

Princess trunk full of dress-up clothes

Coloring Contest

Hailey was a winner in the Rocklin Hot Chili Cool Cars coloring contest. She got to go to McDonald's and have an ice cream cone with the other winners. She also got a goody bag full of fun stuff. She was so thrilled to take Mommy Jean along with her. She was very proud!