Memorial Day Weekend

We spent Memorial day weekend at Hanna Land. It was so much fun! It was Makayla's first time up there and I think she had just about as much fun as we did. We headed up on Friday after I got off work (It was my last day of teaching for a few months... now I get to spend everyday with my adorable little girl!). The drive normally takes a little over three hours, but will our little stink bug and a small detour because of the closed road, it ended up taking us a little over 4 hours. But once we got there, we had a absolute blast. Here's some of the fun things we did this weekend...

We went on a 4-weeler ride. It was Makayla's first time on a 4-weeler.

 The kids played on the swing set. Makayla spent about an hour in the swing and dozed off for a little nap.

 Colton is such a good cousin; he pushed Kay-Kay (that's what he calls her) on the swing.

We had a Hanna Hangball and horseshoe tournament. As usual I was out the first round. Maybe I need to start practicing.

 Makayla got spoiled because everyone wanted to hold her and play with her. This was Uncle Bruce's turn.

 We liked to chill and watch all the other people play games.

 Makayla and Daddy took a nap. Tyler really was asleep, but by the time I got my camera he woke up, so I made him fake sleep for my picture.

 There were about 25 people staying at The Land this time. Of course there was a lot of food! Everyone brought snacks and goodies.

 The weather wasn't the best, so we spent a lot of time inside playing games and watching movies.

 When the weather got better, we headed out for a walk. Karly likes to pose for the camera! :) We don't know for sure, but we think we might have a model in the family!

 You would think it was winter by the way we were all bundled up.

 At night we would all sit around the campfire to talk, play games, and sing songs.

 We look forward to going to The Land every year and being with our family.

Hopefully the next time we head up there it will be a little warmer! Happy Memorial Day!

My First Mother's Day

I absolutely LOVE being a mom. It really is the best job in the world (really it's not a job when you have an adorable little girl like Makayla). People told me before we had her how much our lives would change. People sometimes made it seem like the change would be difficult. Honestly, the change has been so good. I love taking care of her. I love that she smiles at me and squeals when I wake her up in the morning. I love rocking her to sleep. I love that sometimes she just wants me. And I love that I am her MOM!

Makayla and Tyler spoiled me by giving me some flowers and a cd. We also went to dinner that night at one of our favorite restaurants. I feel so lucky to have such a great husband and daughter!

 Being a new mom makes me think of my mom. She is the BEST!  I never had any sisters growing up so I always considered my mom my best friend. We used to go shopping and to Taco Time together almost every Saturday, and I loved spending time with her. My mom is the funniest person and can make me laugh so hard. Sometimes all we have to do is look at each other and know what the other person is thinking. Now that we live in Richfield, we don't get to do as many things, so we have to spend most of our time catching up on the phone. My mom is the first person I call when I have a question and she is always there to give me good advice. She has helped me through so many things in my life.. good and bad. But most importantly, my mom is the best example to me. She taught me how to be a good person, and I look up to her so much. I just hope I can be as good of a mom to Makayla as my mom has been to me.  Love you Mom!

And I just have to say a little bit about my mother-in-law, Terry. Terry is the best mother-in-law anyone could ask for! Terry and my mom set me and Tyler up on our first date, so without her, I wouldn't have met and married Tyler! :) Terry has been the best example to us and we look up to her so much. Thank you for raising such a good son who takes such good care of our little family.  Thank you for always being so thoughtful and calling everyday just to see how we're doing. We love everything that you do for us and appreciate it so much!

Some "Bunny" Loves You!

Happy Easter! We had the funnest Easter this year celebrating with our cute Makayla. Holidays are so much more fun now that we have a kid to celebrate with. Both Tyler and I said that we don't know what we ever did before we had her.

Our fun started out on Saturday when we went to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny. Makayla was really cute and even smiled and waved for the picture (in my mind she was waving).

 That night we colored Easter eggs with Grandma and Grandpa Evans. Makayla even got in on the fun.

 Grandpa Craig had to help her hold the egg.

But Mommy and Daddy had to color the eggs while Kaylers watched.

 After coloring Easter eggs we set out Kayler's Easter basket so that the Easter Bunny would find it. I think she was a little upset that she had to go to bed...

 Makayla woke us up early Sunday morning at 6. We went upstairs to wake Grandpa and Grandma up so they could help us find her Easter basket. The Easter Bunny is pretty sneeky and hid the basket in a really good place. We had to look all over. We looked in the closet...

 And in the bathtub, and under the table... but no basket. :( Finally we looked behind the couch and there it was!

 The Easter Bunny got Makayla some onesies, books, toys, and a movie!

 We looked behind the other couch and found another present that the Easter Bunny left... another book! Makayla loved all her gifts!



Later that day we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Thomas' house for a party. All the kids were so excited to start the Easter egg hunt. They all wanted the special Golden Egg!

 Makayla was having so much fun watching me pick up all the Easter eggs for her.

 My  mom and dad hid over 200 eggs. The kids' bags were so full, and Brayden could barely carry his basket!

 All the kids went in the house to count their money from their eggs.

 This year Gage found the Golden Egg that had $10 in it! Gage has a cast on because he broke his arm in two places last week. Even though he has a cast on, it hasn't stopped him one bit; he is still as active as ever!

 Our family is getting so big. This is 8 out of the 10 grandkids... Brooke and Cicely weren't there with us this year. Maybe next year, right? (Lance and Heather, I hope you read this!) :)

 Monday (April 25th) is my Mom's birthday. Her birthday got lost in all the festivities, but she got a special Easter/Birthday cake. Happy Birthday to the best mom ever!

 After the Thomas party we headed to the Evans' party. They had their Easter egg hunt first. This Easter egg hunt cracks me up (ha ha, no pun intended) because all the adults walk around the back yard yelling everyone's names when they find a treat with their name on it.

Carson and Colton had fun running around the yard.

And Terry paused to say hi to everyone!

We had such a great Easter holiday this year! I love Easter because it means spring and summer are on the way. I can't wait!



Since April is almost over, I thought I would post some things about our cute 12 week old.

At her last doctor's appoitnment, she weighed 13.25 lbs (91%) and was 24.5 inches long (97%). Even though she is only 3 months, she is already wearing 6 month clothes!

She loves to nurse, but I have to start work this week, so we needed to get Makayla to drink out of her bottle for when she goes to day care. I had to have a stand off with her one day because she would NOT eat out of her bottle. After a really rough day, she finally got the hang of it. Now and she can switch back and forth with nursing and the bottle.

Makayla is starting to "talk" and tell stories... she cooes all the time now. Cutest thing ever!

She has figured out what her fingers and hands are. She will stare at her hands and try to "play" with her toys by hitting them. She's not great at it, but it's a start.

She still loves her swing. Somedays it's the only way I can get her to sleep.

Everyone comments on low long her eyelashes are, how chubby her cheeks are, and how defined her lips are.

She takes a bath in the big tub now instead of the sink. She still loves her bath!

The other day she fell asleep in her high chair holding her blankie

We still love to play dress up. Tyler hates it when I put the big bows in her hair, but she looks so cute!

We don't know, but we think she might be a dancer... here she is striking a pose. I didn't get it in the picture, but she was giving us jazz hands! :)

 

At her last Dr's appointment she had to get her immunizations. You can see her bandaids on her legs. Is it weird that we saved her first bandaid and put it in her scrapbook?

She loves to spit up all over her shirts. Every time I put her in a clean outfit, she spits up on it.

She doesn't love her binkie, but sometimes she will take it. She prefers her fist to her binkie.

She loves playing with her toys.

And even when she's giving us her grumpy face, we still love her more than anything and we can't believe how much better our lives are with her!

Makayla's Blessing Day

April 10 was a special day for Makayla.. It was her blessing day! She looked so cute in her frilly dress, bow, tights, and bracelet. Grandpa Bob was able to give her a very sweet and humbling blessing during church that made me cry. Makayla was so good during the blessing and didn't even make a peep. We really are so lucky to have Makayla in our family.

 

 I love our cute little family

 We had so many family and friends support us by making the long drive to Richfield for Makayla's special day.

 

After church we had a little get together with lots of good food.

We feel so blessed to have Makayla in our family. We couldn't ask for a sweeter little girl.

P.S. Don't her toes look cute? I couldn't resist painting them.