Birthday Party #3

We had Kevin's family and Trisha's family over on the evening of Allary's big day for one final party.

A dress-up trunk from Mom and Dad.

Pretty dress-up shoes from Mom and Dad.

Princess dishes from Grandma and Grandpa M.

More dishes from Grandma and Grandpa M.
(These have been spread all over our house and well-used ever since she opened them.)

Maybe the party girl is finally all partied out. :)

Birthday Party #2

We invited Allary's little friends to a birthday party on the morning of her Birthday. We went over to a nearby park and just let the kids play, Allary opened presents, and they all ate Elmo cupcakes. Allary had a great time.

The cupcakes.

Here are all the kids minus Paige who couldn't stay because she wasn't feeling well. It was not easy to get a good photo of all of them, but I think they all had fun.

Allary and her "boyfriend" Mitchell. I know it doesn't look like it from the look on Mitchell's face, but they are such good little friends. :)

Allary and Abby and a Nemo blanket from Caleb. Yea!

Mmmmm!

The Elmo Cake

Anyone who knows me very well knows, I have absolutely no skills in the kitchen. I found an Elmo cake pan and decided to give it a shot. It turned out pretty good, I thought, even with all my frosting woes, and Allary loved her Elmo cake.

Here she is helping me make the cake.

The finished product.

Birthday Party #1

We had a small party for Allary at Jason's parents' house last Friday night. We traveled down to be there for April's wedding and so decided to have cake and ice cream for Allary while we were all there. It was a bit chaotic, but we didn't want Jason's family to try and come up here for a party right between the wedding and the reception.
Here are some photos.


We recorded the Happy Birthday song and her blowing out the candles on the video camera so I don't have very many pictures. But, she loved the princess dress from Grandma S.

My Sweet Birthday Girl

Allary had a great birthday. I will post more pictures of the fun later.

Tonight, I was tucking Allary into bed after a full day of parties and cake and presents. I said, "Did you have a good birthday today?" She said, "Yes!" I said, "I can't believe you're two! I love you so much!"
She replied "I love you, Mommy." She put her little hands on my face and gave me a little kiss.

Two years full of wonderful adventures being a mom, and these are the moments I want to box up and remember forever.

My Shows are back!!!

Woooo! I am soooo happy that my shows are starting again tonight!

We are excited for our vacation!

New Job

I will be starting a new job on October 1st for Webb Audio/Visual. I will be one of their video directors and lead man in moving the company forward in more creative video productions. Webb mainly does conventions and things of this nature that require large projectors, stages, lights, and scenary.

I am sad to leave Rivetal but the offer from Webb was one we could not turn down. It will be a lot of overtime (which isn't all that exciting) but I will be getting paid hourly so overtime isn't a bad thing, especially when you start to hit double and triple overtime pay. We really want to get out of debt and this is the best opportunity for that right now.

Working for Webb will be a new and challenging adventure and one that will hopefully allow us to move forward in our lives in accomplishing our financial goals.

After I start I will make another post on how it is all going.

Day at the Park

Just some cute photos I recently snapped...

New Furniture

Even better than the title says... New FREE Furniture!
A family in our ward was looking for someone to take their entertainment center off their hands since they just bought a large screen TV. Jason quickly volunteered and we moved it in over the weekend. I love it. It makes the room so much prettier. Also, not too long ago, I changed the look of my family room with the help of IKEA. I love that store! I got new curtains, rug, picture frames, throw, and pillow covers to go over my existing pillows. I am actually quite proud of how inexpensive the whole project was. I bought several of their super cheap picture frames, then painted them the dark brown and painted some of my unused frames at home to match. Here is how my new family room looks (minus the usual mess of toys I made Ally pick up for the photo).

We also acquired a new bed for Allary from Trisha and Mark. They got a new bed for Jenna and so handed the old one off to us. Thanks again Trish, Mark, and Jenna!
We (and when I say "we" I mean Jason) sanded it down and painted it white. Ally has just been sleeping on a mattress on the floor. She loves her new "big bed" and I love the free furniture!

First Haircut

I finally got up the guts to cut Allary's hair. I only took off about 2 inches, if that, just to even it up a bit in the back. Do you know how hard it is to cut a straight line across super curly hair on a head that refuses to hold still?

Brownies and other news

Every time I go in the kitchen Allary comes running in right behind me, either because she is begging for a snack, or because she wants to help with whatever I'm making. She pulls her little stool right over by me so she can reach the counter top and help. The other day, she helped me make some brownies. Here she is being a great taste-tester.


Also, while Allary and I were gone for the week, Jason was officially put in as a new Elder's Quorum President in our ward. They decided to split the Quorum in two because of the numbers and Jason became the President of the new Quorum. He is of course just getting started, but I think he will really enjoy this calling. He is good at being a leader and organizer and motivator. I am really proud of him.
I can't believe it is already September. Allary turns two this month. Yikes.
Last night we took Allary swimming at Kevin and Leslee's pool again. We had to try out Allary's new swimsuit with built-in floaties. I really really wish I had had my video camera with me because you would not believe how well she did in the water. She couldn't quite balance herself to keep her head out of the water, so I had her hold on to the wall at the edge of the pool and scoot around that way. It wasn't too long before she started letting go and swimming on her own. A little while later, she was swimming all the way across the pool all by herself! She is my little fish!

Rest Stop

On the way home, we stopped to stretch our legs and hike up to the famous arch along the highway. Allary of course loved the break from the long car ride and she did most of the walk up on her own. She is such a good girl in the car which is such a blessing on these trips.





I think these are the last of my many vacation photos. I have spent this week just trying to get back into my normal routine with Allary and catching up on all housework and odds and ends. I had a quarterly Enrichment activity on Tuesday night that I was in charge of and I am so glad it is over and done with. I have heard good reviews from a few ladies in the ward so I think it went well.
Since we have been home, Allary has learned to open doors, which has opened up a whole new world for her. Although, I think it's funny because she still just thinks she can't come out of her room in the morning or after her nap. She just knocks on the door and cries until I come get her.
The first few days we were home, she wandered around the house saying, "Bapaaaaaa, where are you?"
(Bapa = Grandma/pa)