Allary is 5!

Her birthday is September 25th, so I'm a little late getting this posted. We started the birthday festivities with a family party here at our house on Friday evening. As usual with that many little cousins, it was chaotic and loud and really fun. Then we had Paige and Megan stay over that night for a super fun girly sleepover. The next morning, we dropped Allary off at the church for a primary program practice and took the other two girls home. We came home, ate a quick lunch, and then had some of Allary's friends over for a Hello Kitty Birthday Party. They made kitty ears, played pin-the-tail-on-the-kitty, doggie doggie kitty (as opposed to duck duck goose), and freeze dancing. They seemed to have a great time. Right after that party was over, Jason's family came over and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening with them. It was kind of a tiring weekend, but also really fun.
Here are some pictures of the fun...

I had to go to several different stores before I found a Hello Kitty cake but I did finally find this one and I thought it turned out cute.

Haley with the totally awesome Hello Kitty light-up cake topper.


New Tinkerbell DVD from us.
Can you tell we had red punch to drink? :)

Kevin and Leslee.

Cute new clothes from Grandma and Grandpa M.

LeapFrog word builder from us.

Olivia doll from us.

Book from Grandma Dixie.

Scooter from Grandma and Grandpa M.

The three girlies. I made them get back in their sleeping bags in the morning with their clothes on just so I could get a picture. :)

Breakfast.

Allary's friend party. Emma, Taryn, Abby, Joey, and Allary.

I can't believe my sweet little girl is 5! I love her more than I ever knew it was possible to love anything.
Here's a list of some of Allary's favorite things...
Color: Pink and Purple
Food: Macaroni and Cheese
Treat: Suckers and Ice Cream
Game: Candyland
Movie: "The Princess and the Frog," and "Horton Hears a Who"
Book: Olivia (ALL of them)
Song: I am a Child of God
Things to Do: go on walks with Kota, ride my bike and my scooter, go swimming, color, play with friends
Thing to do with Mom: have picnics (we have indoor picnics on a blanket in the family room quite often)
Thing to do with Dad: play games, like Candyland and Life.
Favorite Thing about Being 5: still getting to be held, and being the only one that's 5 in this family.

She makes me smile. :)

We Got a Puppy!

We got a puppy! We brought her home the first part of August. We have been thinking about getting a dog for a long time. I kept thinking we'd wait until we had a yard and a fence. After much deliberation, we decided that now is actually the perfect time to get a dog. I have a lot of time on my hands right now to take care of and train a puppy. My biggest reason for getting a dog is for Allary to have a little playmate. I also want a dog to keep me company when Jason has to be gone. We researched a lot of different breeds and spent a good deal of time coming up with a basic list of what we were looking for. In the end, we decided we really liked a designer dog breed called Morkie. A Morkie is a cross between a Yorkie and a Maltese. We wanted a small, clean, non-shedding, quiet, affectionate little dog. I started checking the online classifieds every day until we found a Morkie puppy for sale. We found our little puppy, went and saw her at the seller's home, and went back a week later to get her and bring her home. She was only 5 weeks old when we got her and she was seriously the tiniest, cutest, sweetest, fluffiest little thing I'd ever seen.
Here are some photos. We named her Kota.

The day we brought her home. 5 weeks old.

Allary was soooo happy!

6 weeks old (2 lbs)

7 weeks old.

8 weeks old.

9 weeks old (3 lbs.)

10 weeks old.

Allary's shirt says "I heart my best friend" with a picture of a puppy. :)

The potty training is a major pain, but she is learning. For the most part, she is a very calm, sweet, smart little pup. I have been working hard to train her. So far she knows and usually obeys "no," "come," "sit," "shake," "heel," and "go to your kennel." I think that's pretty darn good for only 10 weeks old.
Here's a video of her showing off "sit" and "shake."

And another video, because she's just so darn cute.




And, another one because this right here is why I wanted a dog. :)

Back to Preschool

Allary started another year of preschool last week. She goes three mornings a week now to the same preschool as last year. She was so excited to see her school friends again. The first day of school this year was so much easier than last year. Last year I cried and felt so strange to not have her with me. It still does feel weird to go some place without her. It's like I'm missing an appendage. She and I are so close and we do everything and go everywhere together. I still do miss her when she's gone, but it's not as emotional as it was last year. I do have to say though, I am glad she didn't start Kindergarten this year. She misses the cut-off by just a few weeks. I will be a wreck when that time comes. For now, three mornings a week at a preschool just two houses away is just right. :)

Here she is all set to head out the door on her first day.





This next photo was actually her third day of school, but I just thought she looked so dang cute in her new dress and cowgirl boots.

Family Reunion

We went to a family reunion for my side of the family. Allary and I had to go without Jason because he had to be out of town for a big show for work. We went to a beautiful spot in the mountains and it rained on us most of the time. Allary spent the majority of the time caked in mud from the waist down, but she had a blast. Her favorite part was playing by the river and of course, playing with cousins. It was great to see family.

Here are all the cousins on my side...

And...one of my new favorite photos...Allary and Paige doing the water balloon toss. :)

Gunny sack races... wipe out.

We also had a competition to see which team could duct tape someone to the wall and have them stay there. Hilarious. This is my niece Maddy and my nephew Jacob, who willingly volunteered for this competition...


Jacob's team won the competition, but then again, he was strapped to the roof. :)

Paige, Megan, Allary, Ally.

Megan, Allary, and Ally.

Going on a four-wheeler ride with my uncle Ted.

Paige and Allary, buddies.

My parents and older brother, Travis.

Catch with Grandma

We had a big family reunion for my side of the family the last weekend in July, and since Jason was out of town and I was driving there by myself anyway, I decided to just take Allary and go down and spend a few days at my mom and dad's house before-hand. We did lots of fun things, but I kept forgetting to take my camera. We went to the children's museum and the bouncy house. We also did lots of shopping and eating out, as usual. It was fun. The only pictures I did snag were these of my mom and Allary playing catch in the backyard. Allary was so entertained by Grandma's antics that she kept falling over from laughing so hard. :)

Swim Lessons and Bike Rides

Allary did so great at swim lessons this summer. She really is a little mermaid and just loves everything and anything to do with water. She passed Level 2 with flying colors this year!


That's her teacher helping her do the back float.



She's also been riding her bike a lot this summer. It's a little difficult for her to ride it on the hilly roads by our house, so we go down to the school parking lot every now and then to let her ride on flat ground.


I love the blurred background in this one. It gives the illusion of speed. :)

Jason's Birthday

I have a lot of posts to do to catch up. Jason's birthday is July 21st (yes, I'm way behind.) We didn't really do anything fancy, we were just so happy to finally have him home after being out of town for work so much.


Look at how excited Allary is for him to open the candy she picked out for him. :)