Ally's 8th Birthday (August) and her Baptism (September)

**Ok, so it is TERRIBLE that I have not gotten this post on here until almost THREE months after Ally's Birthday! Nate and I were in Washington D.C. over her actual birthday and it has been absolute crazy madness since we have been home! I made the majority of this post over 2 months ago but had technical issues with her slide show. I have tried a few times to get it to work, even tonight, to no avail. So if you are reading this and you see it I figured it out and put it in! So Ally girl I seriously hope that you will forgive me for getting this on here so late....LOVE YOU LADYBUG!**


Dear Ally,

Happy 8th Birthday Sweetheart! I LOVE you so much! I have enjoyed having you as my daughter all of these years! You are so fun to be around! I LOVE that you are starting to enjoy Mommy-Daughter shopping dates and that we both know that when something is "Stinkin' Cute!" we GOTTA HAVE IT! I love how sweet you are to other people and how much you want to be a little mother to Evelyn. I love your enthusiasm for learning, especially reading. I think it is too fun that you want to be a school teacher during the day and a rock star at night when you grow up! I love that you like to collect rocks and are always looking for the sparkly, unique, colorful or funky shaped ones. I love how you include everyone in your playing and that you make friends easily. I love that you have a little spunk in your personality.....somedays it is A LOT of spunk....but that's good heaven knows you're going to need it in this life! I love that you are sensitive to others feelings and needs. I am grateful that you are choosing to be Baptized and that you are so excited about it! I LOVE that you were brave and got your ears pierced last week even when it was a scary thing for you to do! I love you so much Ally and cannot believe how fast my little ladybug is growing up! It literally feels like yesterday my tiniest and earliest little baby came into my world and now you are heading off to Third Grade and getting Baptized! Thanks for being my sweet daughter all of these years....I look forward to many more to come!

Love you with all of my heart,

Mommy

My LadyBug,
You are growing up so fast! I am so proud of the lady you are becoming. This is a special birthday and I am so excited about the decisions you have made. You are smart and nice and have great friends. I love spending time with you and you are so much fun. Enjoy your time as a little girl, and try not to grow up too fast. You will never get this time back. There is so much fun to be had now, you can grow up later. I look forward to our next Daddy-Daughter date, let’s pick something fun and silly to do, OK? I love you LadyBug. I will always love you no matter what! You will always have a special piece of my heart as daddy’s first little girl.

Love,
Daddy

Ear Piercing

Nate and I decided long ago to have our daughters wait until their 8th birthdays to get their ears pierced. So, as you can imagine Ally has been anxiously awaiting this for years!
Ally and her best friend since 18 months old, Emma. They are three weeks apart in age and have enjoyed going thru their eigth birthdays, baptisms, and ear piercings together these last few weeks. They are the cofounders of the "Glasses Club", thanfully I am an honored member!
Picking out which studs Ally should get and which ones Emma got! Looking a little nervous! Here it comes! That wasn't so bad! Look how cute she looks! Now off to the party!


Lion House Pioneer Birthday Party!

We didn't tell Ally where her party was this year, until we arrived she was clueless. It was great fun! The Lion House holds really cool Pioneer Birthday parties. It is perfect for little girls who are getting ready for their baptism. We learned about Brigham Young and his family, we played pioneer games, pulled taffy, took a tour of the Lion House, all of the girls got to wear pioneer bonnets during the party, among other things. We had a great time!

Some of the cute girls that came to Ally's Birthday Party at the Lion House!

Lion House party guests

Ally and her cute LION cake!

At the end of the party she got a tiara to keep and to choose a Pioneer themed porcelain doll to take home. She named her Caroline after Brigham Youngs youngest daughter after we heard stories about her.

Thanks to Grandma Hale and Aunt Heidi for coming to help carpool and chaperone!

Baptism Photo Shoot!

After we got home from SLC we had about 45 minutes to get her dolled up and over to the Ogden Temple for her Baptism Photo shoot. What a crazy day, but worth all of the effort! Look at how fabulous they turned out! Thanks again Allyson Randle Photography!

I love this candid photo of Ally and her Daddy. She really had just playfully slapped him! What a fun Daddy to play along so well!

Baptism Day!

Daddy and Ally right before the baptism started. Isn't she beautiful!

(Above) Emma with Ally at Ally's baptism, (Below) Ally with Emma at Emma's baptism

Mom, Dad and Ally at the Open House at our home after her baptism

Grandma and Grandpa Mathie with Ally

Grandpa and Grandma Hale with Ally

Mommy and Ally after she opened her brand new set of scriptures! Don't you just lover her hot pink scripture tote? I had to convince her it was for her scriptures, NOT a purse! She is so becoming her Mother!

Grandma and Grandpa Burke with Ally

Little Mills Kingdom, how did Ryland get all pictured out after only two pictures?

Halloween Memories

To get into the spirit of Halloween I thought it would be fun to share some of our previous Halloween memories. Hope you enjoy!

1998

Ten months after we were married, while living at Leavitt's Mortuary. I was about 8 weeks pregnant with Tiny Man. This was the night we had our Halloween Party. Nate had a great time scaring our friends while taking them on a tour of the cemetary and mausoleum! Good Times!

2000

Tiny Man's (16 months old) second Halloween with us. Wasn't he just the cutest tiger ever!

2002

Tiny Man (3) and Ladybug (14 months) on our front porch of our Ogden house.

Nate and I at his WFG work Halloween party. We did a costume contest and did a scavenger hunt among other things. It was a lot of fun.

2003

This year we had a Peter Pan themed Halloween. Ethan Pan, Captain Daddy and Allybell. I was a very pregnant Mommy Darling....sorry no photos....Chub was born less than two weeks later.

2005

This was taken at our Ogden Stake Trunk or Treat. Tiny Man (6) was Dash, Ladybug (4) was again Tinkerbell and Chub (almost 2) was Nemo.

The weeks leading up to Halloween Tiny Man became distressed that he wasn't fast enough to be Dash. So he got the idea to write a letter to Disney to ask for some magic so that on Halloween night he could be as fast as Dash. He was SUPER excited to receive in the mail in time for Trunk or Treating a letter with a little pouch of magic dust to use for the night. After sprinkling some on him he was by far and away the fastest kid around. We sprinkled some on Ladybug but we figured since she didn't know how to actually use her wings she wouldn't be able to fly. All through Trunk or Treating he showed off his letter and his dust covered head. It was a great Halloween!

2006

Nate and Tiny Man at the Marketstar Halloween Party.

At Uncle Travis and Aunt Sarah's house post Trick or Treating. Ladybug (5) as The Twelve Dancing Princesses Princess, Chub (almost 3) as a Crocodile, Tiny Man (7) as Superman.

Grandma Hale (nine months prior to becoming Grandma Hale) as a 60's Hippie. Too Fun!

2007

Julia (almost 2) as a BYU cheerleader, Shaylen (9) as a Witch, Ladybug (6) as a the Island Princess, Garrett (almost 8) as a BYU football player, Sawyer (6) as a cowgirl, Ridge (3) as Spiderman, Chub (almost 4) as a Clone or Storm Trooper (I don't know these things!), Tyler (almost 6) as a BYU football player, Tiny Man (8) as a ninja, Cincess (4 mos) as a Flower Fairy

2008

In front of our current home, Cincess (16 months) as Tinkerbell, Chub (almost 5) as Spiderman, Ladybug (7) as Ariel the Little Mermaid, Tiny Man (9) as Luke Skywalker.

Here's to another Great Halloween!

Congratulations!

Congratulations goes out to my older brother Joe and his cute new fiance Shelley Nelson! They got engaged about a week ago but I was waiting for them to announce to everyone before I posted it on our blog! YAY! They haven't set a date yet but I'll keep you posted!

Encouragement: Gordon B. Hinckley quote

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." — Gordon B. Hinckley

Life Is Good

As we sat around the kitchen table this morning Tiny Man said very simply and matter of factly, "Life is good, Dad." Ok, ok technically he meant Life cereal but I'd like to also think that he meant LIFE is good as well. At any rate I think it is!

Lessons I've Learned From the First Week of School

The kids have only been in school five days and I find myself feeling multiple things seemingly all at once. This year is a lttle different than the last. Yes, I still have Cincess home all day. Yes, Chub is only gone to half day Kindergarten. Yes, I only truly get total quiet from around 1:30 p.m. til 2:50 p.m. when the older three are all gone and sis is quietly napping. However, it is different enough that I can TRULY see the changes that are on my horizon, in the short years to come!

#1 IT IS SO NICE! To have structure, peace and quiet for a portion of the day, time to get some things done - or not! Depending on the day.

#2 I MISS THEM! Terribly sometimes! Crazily enough I miss the noise at times. I will admit freely that the last few weeks of summer this year was a challenge for me! I was burnt out and frustrated. It felt like the only communication I was having with my children was the kind I would rather not be having. Yelling to be point blank! This newfound quiet has given me a glimpse of the years to come when I will have no end to quiet moments and will probably be begging them to PLEASE come visit and BRING THE KIDS! It is the glimpse of my kids growing up and leaving that is a heartbreaking realization of things to come and of time marching on. Look at how QUICKLY the last TEN years have gone by! Now I don't even have another ten with Tiny Man before he is gone! The bad thing about the quiet times is that I have a moment to truly reflect. How am I doing as a Mother? How are my children turning out? To tally it all up and see where I sit in the grand scheme of things. Not always pleasant but an important thing to do nonetheless.

#3 I HAVE OTHER THINGS I GET THE PRIVILEGE OF FOCUSING ON. I still remember the first time Tiny Man climbed onto a bus to be gone from me 4 days a week four hours a day. I remember standing out in the middle of Polk Ave. holding Ladybug in my arms trying not to cry as he struggled with his little preschool legs to climb those BIG steps. As the bus pulled away I remember making the conscious decisoin to not cry and fuss and to direct all of my attention to my little girl. It worked like a charm. I worried like all parents do when they have their second, third or whatever child that I would not be able to give my subsequent children the love and attention I was able to give my firstborn. Somehow, you always find the time, the moments. School is a HUGE factor in that for me. Maybe that is why unlike every other Mother this week I was not crying at the bus stop. I actually pretty much went home and did the Dance of Joy with Cincess. I haven't cried on the First Day of School since that first one SEVEN years ago! It doesn't mean that I DON'T have feelings about it. I just decided years ago that I would focus on the ones still at home, holding my hand and looking up at me seeming to say "I am still here, what about me?" It has only been five days of school thus far and I gotta say, Cincess and I are having a BALL! We have swung on the swings twice, gone down the slide , jumped on the Trampoline, read books, etc. It has been great! Chub is seeming to THRIVE already. He gets up in the morning and with hardly any prodding gets ready for the day, eats breakfast and gets his chores done. I know it is mostly so he can have time on the computer with no one else around telling him it's their turn, but I'll take it for as long as it lasts. He has really upped his game in the BIG BROTHER department as well this week. It has been really great to see my two youngest interact with each other without the influence of the older ones.

So, even though EVERY DAY, ALL DAY I am not surrounded by all FOUR of my children. I am reminded by the lessons i've learned from one week of school to enjoy the ones that I am surrounded by and to enjoy the moments I get with all of them. No matter how few and far between the years to come will make them.

I just won't think about the time when THIS little one gets on her first bus and there is no one else looking up at me to focus on. I'm not sure I will ever be ready for that lesson. Even though it comes in one short year!

Until then there will be plenty more of this going on....

Box Elder County Fair 2009

There are so many things that I need to post about it is ridiculous! So, I went with what caught my eye! Check back often because I'm gonna need to post every other day for a week just to catch up! Should be a lot of fun!

Nate and I decided to take the kids to the Box Elder County fair this year. I haven't been to this fair since I was probably in the 7th grade when I tagged along with my dad. It hasn't changed a bit! I LOVE the small town feel of this fair! I literally felt like I was at the fair in Charlotte's Web and that any minute I would run into Charlotte or Wilbur! The best part was that the admission is FREE! How cool is that!?! The kids even got Nate and I to go out on the dance floor and "Dosey-do" with them! We definitely feel a tradition in the making! There is nothing like eating a Cheeseburger, Lemonade and bag of Cotton Candy at the County Fair!

We loved being able to eat dinner with Grandpa Burke and visit him and his puppies in his vacuum booth!

The kids thought the rides were awesome! I would have taken more pictures but my camera battery died! Terrible timing! I did manage to get them coming down the giant slide at break neck speed! Chub declared it the "scariest ride ever" and there is "no way he is ever going to do that again!" He says that every year!

Cincess tried riding a ride this year. She started out all smiles and giggles! Luckily she was the only one on the ride because she started screaming and the worker had to shut it off to let her get off the "Ride of Terror"! Ladybug found this cute little backpack harness for Cincess to wear the other day so we busted it out for the fair. She looked so cute and it was great for letting her "wander" around. The little pocket in the back proved to be quite convenient for her cup!