Luke, Kellie, Gabrie and Livvy

Livvy Turned Two!

2012-01-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!

Our cute little Livvy turned 2!

Some fun things about Livvy are:
She loves her "sisa" and wants/has to do everything Gabrie does, she cries when Gabrie goes to school or dance without her.
She loves to watch "Diego" and say "Go Diego Go!" or "Go Mommy Go!"
She loves Care Bears (not quite as much as Gabrie) but calls them "powa on" because they say "Care Power On!" and she always talks about "su-sine" (Funshine Bear)
She loves Elmo (who doesn't?)
Her favorite food is still soup especially canned soup, she will pull cans out of the cupboard and bring them to me.
She is still extremely attached to her "pass" pacifer and "nee-nee" or "nay" blanket.
She's also very picky about the way you tuck her in at night. If you don't put her three blankets on in the correct order with the correct sides facing up and down, she will let you know.

Some not as fun things:
She climbs out of her crib, opens her bedroom door, and comes into Mommy's room every morning (:
She is a pretty picky eater especially for breakfast.

Cute things she says:
-"it weady!!" means "It's ready!" she likes to yell it up the stairs to tell Luke and Gabrie dinner is ready even sometimes when it's not.
-"wook sisa!" or "where's sisa" means "look sister!" and "where's sister" she doesn't say Gabrie very much and when she does is sounds a lot like Daddy but it is so cute when she calls her "sisa"
-"wook wights!" means "look lights!" she said this a lot at Christmas time, as we drove she'd look out the window and yell "wook wights!"
-"uh-too" means "I want one too"
-"dat one" means 'that one" she uses the words one and two a lot.
She doesn't say her l,s,z,r,g,k,th correctly, luckily her mommy can translate(:

In the morning, about to open some presents

Opening her first one...

Clothes! She was really excited to give them to Daddy
and then didn't care about them anymore (:

Next one...

A bike! or "My Bike!" as she calls it. She was much more interesed in this present.

Later that night we had a little party for her.
Livvy and Grandma

Elmo Cupcakes!

Some of the ones Gabrie helped with and made her own creations. One is a cowgirl and one is a pirate (: She was a great helper and very creative!

Gabrie gave Livvy a huge marshmallow pop shaped like a cupcake, Livvy loved it. I didn't think she would blow out the candles and I was about to help when she surprised us and blew them both out herself!

Eating her cupcake and ice cream

Enjoying her party

She is quite the little girl and life would not be as fun without her!
We love our Livvy Jane!

Having Fun

2012-01-15T12:17:00.001-08:00

We sure enjoy our cute girls and all the fun things they do.

Gabrie's friend Abby was over playing and they decided to "design" dresses. Here is what they came up with and of course Livvy needed one too!

Gabrie and Livvy having a tea party after church one sunday.

Livvy loved her crown from nursery so much she climbed out of her crib that night, got it off her dresser, and brought it back in her crib. I found it in there the next morning!

The other morning Livvy wandered downstairs and when I came to find her she had the earmuffs and one glove on and was trying to get the other glove on! I helped her with it and then she wanted the headband on, as well! She is so funny!

New Years

2012-01-15T12:08:00.001-08:00

We rang in 2012 at Grandma and Grandpa Williams house. We played lots of fun games and ate lots of yummy food! 2011 was a good year but very busy,
here's hoping 2012 is a little calmer (:

Playing "Just Dance"

Now everyone was into it!

Mamie having fun, love that face!

Evan and the girls watching a show.

Not the best family picture for 2011 but, Happy New Year!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

2012-01-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T22:19:00.000-08:00

We had another great Christmas this year. It was busy and crazy and Luke had to work all the way until the 23rd! We took lots of fun pictures and I have posted most of them (:

Christmas with the Talley's

Grandma Yaya had gotten those fun pills you put in water and they expand into animal shapes, Livvy and Parker waited very patiently to see what theirs would turn into.

They had a lot of fun playing together, even though they don't look like it in this picture (:

At home writing letters to Santa.
I helped Gabrie write one and then Livvy wanted to do one too.

Gabrie picked some treats to leave for Santa and wrote a cute note.

Christmas Morning- I got some really good pictures that show just how happy and excited the girls were. We walked down the stairs and Gabrie saw that there was a Care Bear in each of their stockings and she just covered her mouth, giggling, and sat down on the stairs! It was so cute, she was so excited about it she didn't quite know what to do!

Livvy loved her presents and had no problem opening them but her favorite part was the candy!

I don't know what was wrong but she is still so cute!

The girls got lots of fun presents, like ear muffs and boots

A toy car with people

A play kitchen

With aprons, chef hats, dishes, and food! Along with lots of other fun things (:

Dressed in their Sunday best

This is the best picture I could get, Livvy didn't want to cooperate.

I did get one of her smiling though.

But this is what she really wanted, her pass and nee (pacifier and blanket)

After church at Grandma Williams

The Nativity
Mary and Joseph

The Angel

The Shepherds

The Star

The Wise Men

Gingerbread houses

Grandpa is a good sport!

Christmas was extra special this year because Miriam, Wade, and Mamie came to visit!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh and on a totally unrelated note... I turned 30! Can't believe it, I am not in my 20's! Actually I handled it quite well, no major breakdowns (: Luke took the day off work (which was the best present I could ask for, he never takes a day off!) and we had donuts for breakfast then went to an indoor fun center with the girls. Then came home, had naps, and then Connie watched the girls while Luke came with me to get a manicure and pedicure and then to dinner. It was a great day!

Late Thankgiving Post

2012-01-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

I lost my camera for awhile so I am just now posting pictures from Thanksgiving!
These ones were actually a little while before. It was the one day we have had snow so far, but the girls had fun playing in it!

Thanksgiving
We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving this year. We did our usual Thanksgiving with Luke's side Wednesday night followed by football the next morning. Typically these football games end with Luke in the hospital but this year it was Kiley's turn to break his finger ): Then we had Thanksgiving with my side of the family later in the afternoon. The highlight was having Justus and Kyrsten's family here for the weekend, it was lots of fun. Here are some pictures.

Kids dance party, Sam doing her dance!

Max showing his skills!

Zachery showing how he can stand - and just being cute!

Ring around the Rosy

Darcy, Kellie, Stefanie, Dianne, Kyrsten,and Collette

Sam, Gabrie, Livvy, Ashlyn playing in Grandma's new ottoman.

Luke and Livvy

Christmas Dance Recital

2011-12-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

Gabrie had her 2nd dance recital this weekend. Her class danced to "Run, Run, Rudolph!", it was very cute! We have lost our camera's battery charger so I am very thankful to my friend Leisa and Grandma for taking all these pictures!

Her class

Livvy wanted to be in the picture too!

Doing the dance, so cute! She is the one on your right (:

They had a surprise finale at the end of the recital but I guessed what it was when I saw her doing some sign language that I had never taught her. When I asked if that is what the surprise was she panicked and said, "It's okay that you know right?" I told her that I would act surprised (:

Updates

2011-11-14T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here is an update on the girls now Livvy is 21 months and Gabrie is 4 1/2.

Livvy- She is talking a lot more, some of which we can understand but most we can't. She yells "TOW" instead of cow everytime we drive past horses, cows or big open fields. She still loves her "nay" (blankets) but now has 3 that have to be placed just right and in the correct order before she sleeps. Her new thing is climbing out of her crib and laying in front on the door, not my favorite! She is quite the copy cat and has do whatever anyone else is doing especially Gabrie. She love to go through my jewelry box to see what she can find and will stand in front of it and say "yip!" "yip!" meaning she wants my chapstick I keep on the top so she can't reach it. She loves to sing and trys to count. My favorite things she says are "tank too" for thank you, "tay" for okay, and "sawy" for sorry. Her favorite food is soup, canned soup! It is so funny, it has been her favorite for about a year, sometimes she'll even ask for it for breakfast!

Gabrie- Still loves to draw, design and decorate. She has new love for the Care Bears talks about them all the time, as well as, princess and superheroes (which she wants to be when she grows up). She has a great memory, and likes to learn about science. When I don't know the answer to a question she has asked she then asked "Well who know a lot about____?" I usually say Daddy or Grandpa. She still loves her cousins and friends and wants to be playing with someone all the time. She is learning her letters and sounds and trying to learn to read. She also likes to try to speak different languages, Sign Language, Spanish, Chinese and French! She is great helper and a wonderful big sister!

Halloween Activities

2011-11-03T18:47:00.001-07:00

There are tons of pictures but oh well, we had lots of fun!

Gabriella's preschool field trip, it was really cold but fun!

Hayride- Gabrie and the boys

Ward Halloween Party
Gabrie as Genevieve Fairy Princess (the fairy version of Genevieve from Barbie's 12 Dancing Princess), her idea, of course!
Livvy as a cupcake!
Pretty Princess
I don't know what she is doing but she sure is cute!

The Cupcake covered in frosting!

City Halloween Party
Gabrie's dance group performed the Monster Mash, but I wasn't able to get a great picture ):

Family Halloween Party
Parker as "Jack"
Gabrie wearing Shane's wig, too funny!

A little... creepy (:

Darcy, Gabrie and Zachery
Bat Pinata
Super Stef and Sam
Look out!

Could never a good one of her straight on smiling, but still cute.
This was really funny to watch! Eating a donut with no hands!
Cheater (:

Grandma and the kids

Halloween
Us with Aaron

Gabrie loved that Kylie was Santa! And everykid we passed was in awe that Santa was trick or treating!
Harry Potter, Hermione, Cupcake, and Fairy Princess Genevieve
Trick or Treating

David, Dianne, and Parker
I love the yellow leaves, it was a perfect fall night!

Grandpa and Tigger- All you can see of Zachery is his cheeks!We had a great Halloween but Gabrie had to/got to dress up 5 of the 7 days in the week before Halloween so I was ready to be done with October and welcome in November!

Sunday Morning

2011-10-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

Sunday mornings are usually kinda crazy even though we have 1:00 church, but today has actually been pretty relaxed! Gabrie was playing in her room and Livvy kept "ruining it" so she got creative and found a place to play where she and her toys would be "safe"!

I'm afraid I might have 2 "fashionistas", I went to Livvy's closet to get a dress and she was pointing at them but I didn't pay attention, I just grabbed the dress I wanted her to wear and she threw a fit! I managed to get it on her but she screamed the whole time. So finally I took it off, she calmed down so I got a different one and asked "Do you want to wear this one?" she said "no" and pointed to the dress she initially was pointing at. So I took it out she happily let me put it on! I couldn't believe it she is 21 months and she is picking out her own clothes! That might have beat even Gabrie! Here is the dress she was insistent on wearing!Couldn't get a good one of her "eeez", she was too busy eating some toast.

Hopefully we'll make it to church on time!

Recent Pictures

2011-10-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty busy the past month or two so here are a few pictures we have taken.

We went to Swiss Days for the first time and realized next time we need at least a whole day there! Gabrie took this picture for us, not bad for a 4 year old!

Playing on the blow-up toys.
Gabrie and upside down Livvy going down the slide.Livvy trying it alone!
A little unsure...

She made it and continued to go up and down it a least 10 more times!
We had a birthday party for Grandma and Grandpa Yaya, it was lots of fun!

Ashlyn, Gabrie, and Sam
Gabrie's newest "designs", don't you love the hats, they will big next season! She told me the other day that her and I were "fashionistas"! I love that girl!
Laying down with her "nay"

Gabrie and Livvy snuggling on the love sac watching something on the itouch. They play so well together which is a huge blessing. Gabrie is such a caring and loving big sister and Livvy just has to do exactly what Gabrie does.

Gabrie just ended her first season of soccer. It was really fun and she liked it most of the time ( : But it will be nice to have a little bit more free time.
At one of the last games Grandma and Grandpa Yaya came...Along with Dianne and David!

Aunt Dianne and Livvy

Back to School

2011-08-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well it is official our summer is over ): Luke taught a summer class for most of the summer and was working on his graduate classes - so our summer consisted of about the past 3 weeks. We made the most of it and did lots of fun things (And celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary, yay us!) but the girls and I really enjoyed having Luke home! He actually started back last Wednesday with his prep days so we used Monday and Tuesday to go swimming, out to eat, the temple, and run errands. It was great and a good way to end the summer! When Luke asked Gabrie if she was sad because he was going to start work again she said she was sad but "it's ok, I'll see you again next summer!" That's kind of how I feel too ): New school year means long work days and nights for him. But we have had a few days now and it is nice to have some structure and be able to clean our house and catch up on everything we didn't do while having a fun time together.

Here is Luke with his back to school haircut, I was really proud of it because I actually tried to do something different and give it some style, after 8 years of cutting hair

Here is Gabrie on her first day back to preschool, we were both very ready and excited!

I had to include this picture because as I hard as tried to keep her out, Livvy managed to get in and pose and say "eez!" I bought Gabrie that shirt because it was so cute but I had something else picked out for her to wear for the first day but I let her choose and that is what she wanted to wear.Gabrie really wanted to take a picture by the tree because "I love the tree!" she said.

Soccer Season Starts

2011-08-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Gabrie started playing soccer for the first time this past week! We went to get her some good shoes for running (I figured she doesn't need cleats yet) and of course she chose the princess ones that light up! And I had picked some black athletic shorts for her which she was fine with until she saw that there were pink ones, which we had to get of course! Here she is before practice.

Action shot, kinda...

Listening to the coach, I love how her and her friend Chloe are holding hands!Game Day! We were all excited for her first game! She chose jersey #5!
She is the one NOT running toward the ball!

Getting loves from her coach ( : I'm not sure why she was sad?
Her first kick-off! I don't know why these next pictures are blurry? Their coach had just asked "Which goal are we kicking to!?"
I think the yellow team has it!
Over all she did pretty good for her first game. She got a little tired at first and didn't want to play much the first half but then she stayed in the entire second half. She touched the ball a few times but wasn't about to jump in the mass of kids to fight for the ball, if it came by her she went for it!

Family "Camp" Out

2011-08-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

We have had two fun and busy weeks to end the summer! The first week Jeni and some of her kids came to visit - we missed Scott and Brandon : ( Then Miriam and Mamie came down (we missed Wade too!). And during the brief overlap we tried to have a family campout. Things didn't work out as planned so we spent the day at a fun picnic site then went to Grandma and Grandpa's to camp. Both Gabrie and Livvy were asleep by the time we got back there so we opted to sleep in the basement. Which was a good choice since Livvy woke up throwing up at 3 am. So her and I spent the night trying to find somewhere in the packed house (others opted to sleep inside too) to try to be comfortable in between throwing up! I felt really bad for her but it was fun cuddling with her all night, well until she started to feel better around 6 and just wanted to play by pointing to all the parts of my face and saying "no, eye, eo"!
Here are some pictures from our day in the mountains!

Gabrie loves her cousin Mamie, a little too much sometimes (:
Elizabeth, Christian and Livvy, Sydney and Mamie. The little cousins are so lucky to have the biggers ones to help and play with them.
I don't think you can actually tell how DIRTY she was from this picture, if you can, try to zoom in!
Cousins walking hand-in-hand
Cool poses by Christian and Sydney in the back.
And Ben
Sisters
Miriam and Mamie
Whee!

Cute Girls

2011-08-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just some fun pictures of our cute girls!

Gabrie and Daddy made these hats one Sunday morning.

Livvy loves anything electronic!

VACATION

2011-07-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Luke's parents took us all to a huge cabin for the weekend of the 24th for a fun family vacation! We hung out, played games, ate lots of food, soaked in the hot tub, it was great! We also went shopping, to lunch, bowling, hiking and Lagoon! The cabin had a big room with 3 sets of bunk beds and Gabrie loved sleeping there with her cousins. Actually all of the kids loved climbing on them, even Livvy, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them.

The girls on one of the many staircases!

The girls in their new pajamas from the Disney Store!

While Livvy slept at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa some of us hiked to Stuart Falls. Gabrie talked the entire way down with out taking a break, not sure how she did it!

Dianne, Kellie and Stefanie

Parker and David
Corbin and AshlynGabrie and Luke

Lagoon
Sam and Gabrie on the boats
Waiting in line for Puff- Livvy, Luke, Parker and Dianne
Gabrie and Ashlyn
Grandma and Sam
Mommy and Livvy- Livvy held on very tight to my arm but never made a peep or a smile.
Grandpa and Gabrie coming out of the Haunted House, not sure she liked it...
Gabrie picked this lollipop as her treat before we left, it was a very tough choice for to make.
The next few pictures are all in the correct order...
This is her 15 minutes later in the car, asleepStill asleep and eating her lollipop
Finally gave all the way in and I managed to pull the lollipop from her tight grip!
We had tons of fun but were very worn out!
We missed Spencer and Mayra's family (who just moved across the country) and Justus and Kyrsten's family (who had a baby, Jake, while we were vacationing!).

18 months old

2011-07-30T21:12:00.001-07:00

Olivia turned 18 months old and the best thing about that is she gets to go to NURSERY! Here she is, showing her many faces, before her first day. She walked right in, started playing, and never looked back.

She has started saying a lot more things like...

E-I-E-I-O- usually when she sees Luke or his computer because he will play the video for her
nahnah-blanket
boble-bottle
mok- milk
uh too- I want one too! usually when someone has something she wants
ababab tet-tup- I want ketchup! -after Gabrie says "I want ketchup"
wove,wove- love,love (after family prayer when we give "loves"- hugs and kiss)
sheh-sheh= shoes, which she loves!
ganpa or papa= Grandpa
poe=poo

-She loves to sing and listen to music especially Old Mac Donald had a Farm, Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star, Ten Little Indians, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
-She loves to play with her sister and wants to do what she is doing.
-She loves to be outside and go for walks in the stroller or wagon.
-She is still very attached to her fuzzy purple blanket and pacifer
-She is stubborn and silly and gives great kisses.

"It all ends here"

2011-07-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Luke's birthday by going to a midnight showing of the last "Harry Potter" and had tons of fun! Here we are in our Harry Potter t-shirts! Quick side note- I am not a Slytherin fan despite my shirt, it was just cuter than the Gryffindor one.

There were lots of people dressed up, here we are with Hagrid!
Prof. Trelawny, Mad-Eye Moody, Bellatrix and Tonks

Us with two Dobbys or maybe it's Dobby and Kreacher??? not sure
Bellatrix and Snape
Hogwarts

Voldemort

The Haircut, Museum, and Flood

2011-07-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Gabriella has been asking for a haircut, so we decided to go short! It has been wonderful because it is so easy and doesn't get hardly any tangles! She goes back and forth whether she likes it or not but I think it turned out cute!

I love the ketchup on her chin (:

We went to the museum for some family fun!

Livvy kept walking around with her hands behind her back, it was really funny and cute so I took a couple pictures.
Gabrie loved playing in the sand
Here are the girls in their cute aprons!

Last Sunday we had a flash flood! We were inside our house and heard all the rain and thunder but didn't realize how bad it was until we were about to go to Luke's parents for dinnner! This is what we saw!
And this was after the water had receeded a ways it had been half way up our driveway!

Then we looked around the corner!!!! And saw a LAKE!

Everyone in our part of the neighborhood seemed to be ok so we all just played in the water! It was fun to see all the neighbors out and in the water.(Later we found out people up the street had flooded basements, broken windows and were in quite a panic!)

One of neighbors Leah, (also Gabrie's primary teacher) was nice enough to take Gabrie to play in the deep water while Luke, Livvy and I stayed pretty dry.

4th of July

2011-07-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

We started out our Independence Day Celebration with breakfast at Frank and Arianne's house! Kyson, Gabrie, and Livvy

Swimming in Grandma and Papa's backyard
Doing smoke bombs- Sierra, Aunt Laurie, Gabrie, Evan, and Sydney
I love this picture, Gabrie's cute smile and Livvy crying into her arm!
Evan

Cupcakes!

Gabriella and Aaron roasting "rushmellows" (as Gabrie would say)

Watching fireworks

Gabriella, Sydney and Ben
Luke, Livvy, Emma doing sparklers

3rd of July

2011-07-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

True to tradition we got together with Luke's side of the family to celebrate the 4th of July on the 3rd! We had a great dinner and then fireworks!

Stef, Ashlyn, Gabriella, and Parker
Grandpa and Livvy clapping for the fireworks
Ashlyn and Gabriella with the glow sticks we used instead of sparklers
Sam and her glow stick
Olivia saying "EEEZ"
This kid cracks me up, hilarious!

Too cute, Parker and Dianne

Baby Zachery, love those cheeks!
Parker, Grandma Yaya, and Olivia
The show was put on by Luke and Alec
Me and Olivia, watching the show!

Gabriella's Testimony

2011-07-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

"I want to bear my testimony, I know the church is true. I love this church so much and I know this church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Gabrie bore her testimony for the first time today! I told her I was going up and asked if she wanted to stay in our seat or walk up with me because Luke was holding Livvy in the back. She said she wanted to come and wanted to bear her testimony! So she did! Of course after she bore it she played on all the chairs on the stand and waved to her primary teachers the whole time I bore mine.
Also during primary I was sitting outside the room but I heard her shout out the answer to the question-What is the temple?, "A HOUSE OF GOD!" She knows this well because she has always loved the song "I Love to See the Temple" but when she was little(er) she would sing "for the temple is a hah-sasasa, a place of love and beauty." We loved it so much we would sing it that way so she wouldn't change it but alas she caught on that the temple is a "house of God."

What a girl we have!

More Summertime Fun!

2011-07-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Popsicles on the porch, she loves to wear sunglasses.
Playing at a splash park.
Having fun watching the Parade! Gabrie loved getting all the candy and Livvy loved eating it all!

Peace!

This float had The 3 Pigs on it and Livvy really liked that! She was very excited about it!

Gabrie helping Livvy see, such a good big sister!

This was a pretty hot day, here is Gabrie in a t-shirt and long pants with a warm winter dress over the top...

And Livvy with nothing but a diaper and shoes! She loves shoes! If she thinks we are going somewhere she will bring everyone their shoes. Or she carries around various pairs of shoes all day saying "shasha" asking me to help her put them on.
We had a Gabrie and Mommy date and we went to get pedicures and ice cream! It was really fun! Gabrie was so quiet while they painted her toes and fingers, it was very cute and quite unlike her!

It is finally summer!

2011-06-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

Now I am not complaining about the weather because I love the fact the it is not in the 90's yet I would have enjoyed a few more days in the 60s or 70s instead of the 50's but I haven't minded the late start to the hot weather this year! But it was fun fill up the pool in the backyard yesterday and let the girls play. For some reason Livvy is now deathly afraid of getting in the tub or pool so she just played around the outside but Gabrie had fun getting in.

Livvy is in the funnest stage right now! Everything she does is so cute and funny, I could watch her all day!
Gabrie was especially excited to get to eat dinner outside.
Too cute!

We love our sweet girls!

May Pictures

2011-05-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

Gabrie's preschool did a Mother's Day Tea Party and a little reader's theater. Her line was "Does a penguin have a mother?" and the whole class replies "yes, just like me and you!" (I think). It was very cute! Grandma came to watch (:

Grandma and Gabriella, I love this picture! I think I may frame it!
Grandma and Olivia
On Mother's Day Gabrie sang 2 cute songs in Sacrament Meeting with the rest of the Primary which made me cry, of course! And Livvy gave me the present of having her (poopy) diaper leak all over my dress just as I was about to go up to say the closing prayer! Then with the help of their Daddy they gave me a cute card and some fun papers from Primary. My gifts from Luke included two trees for the back yard! (labor included)

The girls are very lucky to get to spend some time each week with Grandma and Papa W. Here are some cute pictures with Papa! I love how he is really smiling in this picture. Most pictures of him don't show the real thing!

Livvy with her cute pigtails, playing on the stairs with Papa and Gabrie.
More cute pictures

I can't believe how big my girls are getting!

Gabriella's Busy Day

2011-05-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we had a very busy day! First we had Gabrie's dance recital rehersal, where she got to wear a little make-up and get her hair done pretty. Here is most of her class waiting for their turn, so cute!

In position to start the dance. They danced to a song called "I see a Princess." They were all in heaven in their tiaras and flowery pink tutus!
The dance

I love how Gabrie is obviously missing the move but still smiling big and having fun!

Then we went straight to her preschool program! Here she is with one of her friends Hailee and Miss Mandy her teacher.
In between activities a neighbor stopped by and Gabrie told her "I'm having a busy day!"

The Recital! Here is Gabrie with two of her favorite dance friends, whom she had to sit between, Staley and Abby.
I couldn't get any good pictures during her dance but she did a great job and loved every minute of it! She sang the song the whole time she danced and when she couldn't get into the circle (they were all supposed to hold hands and go around in a circle) she just smiled and did her own dance! I cried a little because it was so funny and I can't believe she is so big! Here she is afterwards with the rose we got for her. She thought it was so wonderful!
My little Ballerina
What made it even more exciting was that both Grandmas and Papas came just for her!

After the recital we went to get ice cream with the grandparents which Gabrie and Livvy thought was exciting. Over all I think it was Gabrie's idea of a perfect day, which made me happy too! She slept with her hair still up and her tiara on, she wanted to sleep with her rose but we convinced her that it would be better in a vase by her bed. And it is still there today one week later! She truly is a little princess and we love her for it!

Gabrie's Birthday: Part 2

2011-05-01T19:34:00.001-07:00

Gabriella turned 4!

4 months

4 years

She is getting to be such a big girl! Right now she loves:

-anything Barbie or princess
-playing video games- Little Big Planet with Daddy, Barbie games on the computer, or anything on the I-touch
-going to preschool
-going to dance
-playing with Livvy
-coloring, painting, cutting, glueing- anything crafty
-"designing" and "decorating" (She is her mother's daughter and I promised I haven't pushed it on her!)
-playing with her friends
and of course talking, asking questions, talking, talking!

Funny things she says:
-the north cold (north pole)
-kantark (guitar)
-rushmellows (marshmallows)
-tree (three)

I know there is more...I will add them when I remember.

Gabrie requested a "Barbie: Fashion Fairytale" birthday so I did my best to create one! "Fashion Fairytale" is one of her favorites movies. She had seen a Barbie cake at a friend's party and wanted one like it. I kinda adapted a receipe I found for one and it actually turned out alright! Gabrie loved it and that is what's most important.
She also requested that every character and accessory be on the cake but since that wasn't really doable I made cupcakes with the "Flairies" on them instead - that satisfied her.
We invited a few friends to come for her party, and they had a great time! They danced to "Get Your Sparkle On" the theme song from the movie ( :

Made picture frames, colored pictures, dress-up and played outsideBlowing out 4 candles!

Gabriella has been such a blessing in our life! She is full of energy and fun! She wants to be friends with everyone and tries really hard to do what is right. She is a great big sister and a wonderful helper. We love her so much!

Easter: Part 2 and Gabrie's Birthday: Part 1

2011-05-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

The day before Easter we went to our city's Egg Hunt and Gabrie got quite a few eggs and won a prize! They blew the whistle to start and 3 minutes later it was done! Luke and Livvy actually missed it because they were parking the car.

Then we went home and dyed eggs.

Easter morning and Gabrie's 4th Birthday!

Livvy found a few eggs but then she found Gabrie's easter basket and the candy inside! So from this point forward she has candy in her mouth or hand in just about every picture, or she is crying because she doesn't have candy in her mouth or hand!
After the girls found their eggs and baskets, Gabrie got to open her presents, which she had to do while wearing her sunglasses, "stylish" (as she would say except it is typically used when she falls on accident she says "That's called stylish")!
She got a combination of Zhu-Zhu and Fur Real pets and track. She was very excited about everything. Livvy was scared of the "pets" at first but now she loves them too!
After church we went to Grandma and Grandpa Yaya's house for dinner, an egg hunt and more birthday fun!
Parker, Ashlyn and Gabrie waiting to begin!
Livvy wondering what all the fuss was about because she didn't see any candy.
Luke had to help her get started. Then I tried to help her keep going but when one of the eggs she picked up opened and candy spilled out, she was done and just wanted to eat the candy!
Gabrie and Livvy in their Easter skirts I made for them! I don't sew very often but these weren't too hard and luckily I had Jeni here to guide me through it.

Stef, Corbin, Sam, and Ashlyn
Dianne, Parker, and David
Birthday cupcakes

I think Gabrie had a great birthday and didn't mind one bit that it was the same day as Easter! At church her primary teachers told me "She isn't allowed to have anymore sugar!" but I told them she had only had 1 piece of candy, she was just so excited all day! So she was ready when bedtime came but insisted she sleep with her new Rapunzel doll from Grandma and Papa Williams.

Fun at the Farm

2011-04-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the farm the other day and it was fun for the whole family! I love how neither of the girls is looking!
Gabrie riding her "pony" and she wasn't scared at all! That is progress!
Carefully petting her pony
Livvy watching big sister have all the fun.

Gabrie wanted to milk the cow.

Easter: Part 1

2011-04-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Jeni's family came to visit in the begining of April so we did an Easter Egg Hunt with all the cousins (except Mamie who wasn't there yet). Here are some fun pictures.

Sydney, Elizabeth, Livvy, Gabrie

Granny helping Livvy

Grandpa helped to make it "interesting" by hiding money in some of the eggs!

Olivia's Hospital Stay

2011-04-10T11:02:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Livvy had a bad cold and was having a hard time sleeping. When I went into her room she was breathing really fast and shallow. I wasn't sure what to do so I just kept checking on her all night. The next morning her breathing was even worse, her stomach and neck were retracting and she was exausted from how much work it was to breath. So we took her to an urgent care (it was a Sunday morning) and after looking at her for a minute or two they said we needed to take her to the emergency room. So we did. It was so sad to see her there with all the wires and oxygen hooked up to her, but once they suctioned her out and gave her oxygen she perked up a little. So sad but also really cute.

In her hospital gown the next morning playing with some toys (children's hospitals are great!)

We got to go home that afternoon after being there a little over 24 hours, but Livvy still needed oxygen so we brought some home with us and then had a big tank delivered to the house for 2 more days. She did pretty well with it but would get frustrated when she would get stuck because the cord was tangled or not long enough. But she still managed to have fun!
She even did her favorite thing: climbing to the top of the love sac and leaning forward until she falls and rolls down! I guess she was feeling better!
And a cute tub picture with all of her adhesive attachments still on.

Happy St.Patrick's Day

2011-04-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Here Gabrie and Livvy in there green! Gabrie was very excited to wear her green dress for the holiday but she wasn't interested in green breakfast (:

Here Gabrie and Livvy in there green!

Olivia's First Birthday

2011-02-13T08:49:00.001-08:00

Last month Olivia turned 1! She had a fun party with lots of family! Unfortunately she didn't feel very good, later we found out she had infections in both ears and both eyes, poor thing! Aunt Jeni, Miriam, Elizabeth and Mamie came to visit that week too, so we had lots of fun.

Gabrie helped blow out the candle

Everyone waiting for cake!

Grandpa gave Livvy a cupcake (before she ate her actual cake) which she thoroughly enjoyed!
Daddy and the Birthday Girl
Birthday Girl and Mommy
The beautiful cake made by Aunt Jeni, we were so glad she came and helped us!

At first she wasn't to interested in her cake - probably because she was sick and Grandpa had already given her a cupcake!
But Aunt Dianne gave her a taste and then she dug in! But unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that!

Gabrie and Evan enjoying their cake and ice cream. Gabrie went up stairs and changed into her swimsuit once everyone started showing up for the party, I'm not sure why?

Presents!

She started walking about two weeks after she turned one and now waddles all over the place. Her favorite toys are by far anything electronic, preferrably remote controls, game controllers, and cell phones. If she sees you holding one she will try to take it from you - with surprising force. She still loves her soft and silky purple blanket that she has loved since she was maybe 2 months old! She thinks she is really funny and will do things just to get a laugh and she always laughs at herself. She is very focused and stubborn if there is something she wants. She loves putting things in containers only to take them out again. She loves my chapstick and walks all over the house with it until she loses it in a place that only she can find later! She waves bye-bye or night-night, says Dada (she used to say Mama but not anymore), uh-oh, and thank you (in her own way that sounds more like "dat do"). She is so sweet and we love her so much! I can't believe how fast a year has gone by and how big she is! I think back to her in her pink helmet and then as a tiny newborn and don't know where the time has gone!Happy Birthday Livvy!

Christmas

2011-01-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

Gabrie and Sammy dressed up in the new "dressups" for Grandma and Papa Yaya's

What is more Christmas-y than facial hair? Really lots of things but Shane, Kiley and Luke seem to think it is!

Christmas Morning! I think Luke woke up first, then me, then Livvy and we all waited for Gabrie!

Livvy's first Christmas Morning!She kept making this face, it is hilarious!
Finally Gabrie woke up ( :

Stockings

Presents So happy with all her new presents! She packed them up in her backpack to take to Grandma's!

Us girls in our new clothesLuke sporting his new watch

Then we went to Grandma and Papa Williams but I forgot to bring my camera) : But we had a fun day with family!
Merry Christmas!

Photographer in the making!

2011-01-09T15:53:00.001-08:00

Here are the pictures Gabriella took on Christmas Eve, they are pretty good!

She loves taking pictures with my camera and it entertains her for quite a while, which is wonderful! Maybe she'll be a photographer one day!

Christmas Activities!

2011-01-02T18:35:00.001-08:00

Putting up the Christmas tree!

All done! Time to dance!

Snow angelsShe wanted to "shovel" too, so I gave her the rake, she loved it!

Livvy watching Gabrie through the glass door ( :
We made a Christmas chain to countdown the days to Christmas.and built a gingerbread house

and ate it!
Saw the lights at Temple Square

Gabrie, Emma, Evan, Christian, and AldenSydney, Emma, Gabrie, and Sierra

Daddy and Gabrie
Mommy and Livvy
Christmas Sunday (the Sunday before Christmas that is)

I just love this one, what a cute family I have!My birthday! The girls helped me open my presents.
Another big snow day, luckily Sydney and Caleb were out for the break so Gabrie had someone to play with in it!

As part of Luke's school's Sub-4-Santa program he had to wear a dress and do a dance! It was pretty fun and he was a good sport! Gabrie and I went to watch it!
Gabrie actually took this picture! It is perfect, she caught him in mid air! And this is the only picture he would allow to be posted ( :

Thanksgiving

2011-01-02T15:52:00.001-08:00

Gabriella's preschool class did a little Thanksgiving presentation and had lunch. Here are the two classes all together, Gabrie is sitting on the floor in the back, you can barely see her! She was so shy and quiet, not at all like her! She had been singing all the songs at home but only sang a few words that day, must be stage fright (:

Her teacher asked all of the kids what they were thankful for and this is what she said:

(that means Livvy) so cute!

The week of Thanksgiving was busy and fun! All of Luke's family was in town so we spent most of our time with them. Here is our Wednesday Thanksgiving dinner!
Luke and I enjoying the drumstick!

Livvy's first Thanksgiving Dinner, she loved it! Unfortunately she had two black eyes because someone dropped their cell phone on her when they were putting her down! (Ok it was me, I felt horrible!)

The little girls table Gabrie, Livvy, Anna, Izzy, and Ashlyn- just missing Ali and Sam.

Uncle Corbin and Livvy
It was way to cold for the annual Turkeybowl so went bowling instead!
It was Gabriella's first time and we had a lot of fun!
Luke and Gabrie
Mommy and Gabrie

I just love this picture!

Grandma and Papa Yaya (as Gabrie now calls them) and Livvy
Aunt Mayra and Livvy

Luke and Ethan

Mayra, Me and Kyrsten, it was so fun having them in town and we miss them so much!
Then went to Dana's for our second Thanksgiving which was really fun too! But I didn't take as many pictures) : But this was my favorite one-
Cute Ben picky at the desert, as least he is using a fork!

2011-01-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Olivia is getting so big!

Gabriella during one of her many "Fashion Shows," thanks to Barbie's Fashion Fairytale movie she has a lot!

My Trip to see Miriam and Jeni!

2010-11-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

This past week Gabrie, Livvy and I took a quick little trip to see Miriam and Jeni. We flew into Portland and saw Miriam's house and then took Mamie and Miriam with us and drove to Jeni's. It was so fun to see them both and their families! I don't have a ton of pictures because I actually thought I'd left my camera on the airplane for most of the trip!

Gabrie on the airplane. She did great traveling and was such a good little helper.

Elizabeth and Gabrie had lots of fun playing.

Cute Mamie, getting so big!

But I think my favorite part of the whole trip was seeing the girls when Luke picked us up! As soon as Gabrie saw the car she started dancing! And the best part was when Luke got of the car and Livvy squealed and flung herself out of my arms and into his! I guessed they missed there Daddy!

Trick or Treating

2010-11-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

This year we went to Corbin and Stefanie's for trick or treating. Here we are all dressed up!

Livvy as Little Red Riding Hood, so cute!

Ashlyn as Wendy and Gabrie the Unicorn

Sam, Ashlyn and Gabrie getting their treats.

Gabrie loving every minute!

Holding hands, so sweet! I love how Ashlyn is holding Corbin's hook!

Corbin as Captain Hook, Stef as Peter Pan, along with Tinkerbell and Wendy

Grandpa and Grandma Yaya keeping Livvy warm!

Halloween Activites

2010-11-07T20:37:00.001-08:00

The week of Halloween was full of fun activities!
We had our ward party, which was lots of fun.

Luke's hair was already sprayed red for Crazy Hair Day at school. He was going to be ketchup because Gabrie had suggested it and we thought it was hilarious but we never found a good way to do it.

Gabrie had wanted to be a princess until she saw the unicorn costume and changed her mind. She made a great unicorn and she decided to add the wings.

I wanted Livvy to be a pumpkin so we tried this costume for the party but it was to big and she wouldn't keep the hat on so she was Little Red Riding Hood on Halloween. Here she is having her first candy ever! While we weren't paying attention she went through Gabrie's candy bucket, found a lollipop, unwrapped it, and found out it was wonderful!

Enjoying treats and hot chocolate

Then another day we stopped by my parent's ward Halloween party!
We didn't have Livvy's costume so she borrowed Gabrie's wings.

Granny, looking festive in her witch hat and earrings!

Gabrie and Grandma going through the costume parade.

After the costume parade. You can't see it very well, but Gabrie has the cutest smile if you can zoom in.

These are a few of their favorite things!

2010-10-31T22:48:00.000-07:00

At 3 1/2 years and 9 1/2 months this is what our girls are up to:

Gabrie loves preschool and playing with other kids. She thinks her cousins and friends from school are the best people in the world. She often threatens to tell on me to her cousins or if she sees a movie where someone is in trouble she says she and her cousins will help them (or the Wonder Pets). She loves to run, dance, color, paint, play with playdough, create all sorts of house/forts or traps, and of course dress up! She is sweet and caring and loves to share!

Gabrieisms:
Can-tark= guitar
Lovin' sack= love sac
sal-suf- salsa
Fancy Fancy pick up your nose- Fancy Nancy's book of fancy words
Probably a ton more, I'll add them when I remember them!

Livvy loves to crawl around and find what we left on the floor, get in the middle of what ever Gabrie is playing with, being with or in view of Mommy at all times, dancing with Daddy, banging objects together or hitting them on different surface to hear the different sounds they make.
She has 6 teeth and 2 more almost out! She has been army crawling (the wounded soldier as we call it) since she was 8 months she can crawl normal now to but seems to prefer the first method. She started to pull herself up to things at about 9 months, the first time being on the bath tub. She says mama, dada, nahnah (which we think means food and/or mama), she can sign "more." And at her 9 month doctor appointment she was in the 90% for height and 50% for weight.

Pretty in Pink

2010-10-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Frilly and pink skirts, what could be better!

I love Gabrie's face!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Gabrie's preschool class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and Livvy and I came along.

We made sugar cookies the other day, pumpkins of course, but Gabrie chose purple for the frosting so we had purple pumpkins! This was her first time licking the beaters, she loved it!

Gabrie watched Barbie "A Fashion Fairytale" and loved it! So that night I went in to tell her goodnight and this is what I found. She had Disney songs on and said she was having a fashion show! She had every item of dress up clothes she has on and all of her shoes lined up.

Then she fell asleep!

Fun at the Farm

2010-10-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Livvy has learned how to pull herself up to standing, so now she likes to do that instead of sleeping!

Cute pigtails!

Last weekend was beautiful so we went to Wheeler farm. We had a great time and got lots of cute pictures!

Then David and Connie's family meet us there.
Sydney and Livvy

Sydney and Gabrie

The Helmet, the End of an Era

2010-09-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Livvy is done wearing her helmet, hooray! She only had to wear it for 2 months (the hottest 2 of the year of course!), orginally they said it could be 3 to 4, so we were extremely excited to be done early. She actually handled it really well and it wasn't that hard to take care of, just clean everynight- the helmet and her head both got pretty stinky! But it has been so fun to have her crazy hair back, be able to cuddle better and kiss her all over, we missed that! Here are some of the looks she rocked with the helmet-

Look at those cheeks!

First Day of Preschool (sort of)

2010-09-02T12:09:00.001-07:00

Last week Gabrie had her first day of 3 year-old preschool, well sort of. She had gone a couple times at the day care last year but it was her first time at her "new school" which I made the mistake of telling her about in June! So for the past two months she has asked about her new school and when she was going to go! She was very excited to go. But that night she was playing with her various animal toys and I heard her say something like "It's their first day of school and they have to go by themselveses, but their not scared cause Heavenly Father is their to protect them." Then she picked up the rubber duck and said "This is Heavenly Father." So cute!

She got to bring Show and Tell for the first day, she wanted to bring lots of things but finally decided on her stuffed hippo.

This is her mean face, she wanted to me to take a picture of it!

Such a big girl, I can't believe it!

Summer Pictures

2010-08-31T13:20:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from this summer that I never had a chance to post!

Fourth of July- Gabrie and Ben

Gabrie and Livvy

Evan, Gabrie and Sydney watching smoke bombs.

Aunt Laurie and Livvy

Sparklers

Mommy and the girls

Kiley, Parker and Gabrie. Parker kept asking "is hot?"

Gabrie was a little scared of the fireworks and spent most of the time under a blanket by Ashlyn and Uncle Corbin.

Livvy liked them!

Having a break from the helmet, she got one hour each day!

We went swimming with Parker (and Dianne)on his birthday.

Denver

2010-08-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Big Sister Band

Featuring Gabrie on drums

Izzy on the tambourine

And Special Guest drummer Max!

The original members, costumes provided by Grandma Yaya(:

We went on a last minute vacation a couple of weeks ago to Denver! Grandpa and Yaya were going to visit Justus and Kyrsten, so we tagged along. It was quick but lots of fun!

Dance Class

2010-08-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

In July we decided to enroll Gabrie in a week long dance class. Each day they did a different kind of dance- ballet, jazz, creative, tumbling and tap. She loved it and it was really fun to watch.

Riding her bike with the neighbor kids and all of her swim gear!

My girls

2010-07-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

The latest news in our house is Gabrie's bed and Livvy's helmet.

This past weekend we got a twin size bed for Gabrie, which she loves. I like it too, it is actually really comfortable.

Over the last week or two I have tried to put a bow in Livvy's hair everyday since I won't be able to for awhile ):

Livvy got her helmet yesterday. She looks so cute and has handled it pretty well for the first day.

2010-06-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here is what we have been up to lately...

Miriam and Mamie came to visit and we did some fun things like go to the zoo!

Gabrie and Miriam on the "caroself", what Gabrie calls the carousel.

So cute!

Livvy tried cereal for the first time and second and did not like it! So we took a break the past couple weeks.

Now she likes it a little better.

In the tub

On another note she also has started physical therapy for torticollis, her head tilts to the left and will be getting a helmet(: in the next couple weeks because the right side of her head is flat from always turning and laying that way! Wish us luck!
*Note to all you mothers- when you think something is not right with your child and the doctors all say it is fine and you know it is not, be persistent! I have had several doctors say her head was fine but it turns out to be pushing the right side of her face forward. Mom's always know best regarding their kids!

We just got back from a fun vacation with Luke's side of the family. It seems to be a tradition that when we do a family vacation it is unseasonably cold! So here is Luke and Justus in their matching Lagoon shirts that they had to buy because it was so cold when we were there!

Gabrie, Ashlyn, and Izzy had a lot of fun playing together!

I love the sombrero!

Some other fun highlights from our vacation were:
-Seeing a fox and a deer in the backyard of the huge house we were staying in
-Watching the Lagoon worker stop and pick Gabrie's scab off her nose while she waited to ride Bulgy the Whale, and then leave her bleeding! Later she told me, "Next time that guy picks my nose I will tell him NO!"
-Shoving cake in Dianne's face (: (pictures still to come) and playing pranks!
-Eating lots of good food
-Playing lots of fun games
-Spending lots of time with family
We missed all the family that wasn't there):

Little Livvy

2010-05-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a quick update on Livvy now that she is 3 and a half months old! She is getting so big and so fun. She smiles all the time and is starting to talk (babble) a lot too! She loves to be held especially by her Mommy. She thinks Gabrie is funny and usually like to play her. When Daddy comes home she will follow him with eyes where ever he goes and always loves to sing and dance with him to loud music (When Gabrie was little she liked it too). She is a great sleeper (knock on wood). She grabs anything that comes in contact with her hand, like Mommy's hair (: She will take a pacifier but not usually for long and will not take it if it wasn't her idea! When she sneezes she does it at least 4 or 5 times. She loves to have things close to or in her face when she sleeps, she will plant her face right in my arm. She is such a sweetheart. I love to snuggle her and she has the most kissable cheek!

Happy Birthday Gabriella!

2010-05-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

Gabriella turned 3 years old!
She had a really fun birthday. We went to the Mayan to see the divers for dinner the night before, then we went to Jumpin Jacks with Luke's side of the family and had cake and ice cream at Grandma Yaya's. Gabrie had so much fun and was actually a really good girl all day!
Here she is with her new scooter and helmet and the movie "Princess and the Frog"

Such focus!She picked out a princess cake even though she keep changing her mind (:

Opening presents with her crown of course!

Gabriella is such a fun and loving girl and we are so glad she is in our family! She loves her sister Olivia so much, she always wants to hug and kiss her and will sing to her when she is sad (the "Don't Cry Song" it goes "Don't Cry, don't cry, It will be fine, don't cry...") She thinks everyone wants to be her friend and will tell them all "Hey it's me, Gabrie!" Everyone is her "people" but she especially loves all her cousins. She loves "frincesses" and most days insists on wearing a "frinderlla dress." She talks a lot about "esterday" and "tomorrow after naps." She adds an "s" to words like think (stink), thought (stought),and thumb (stumb).She has a great memory and talks about when Daddy took her to the temple (temple square) and she was afraid of Jesus (the Christus) and the time she went swimming with her cousins. She reverses words like "store-pet" and "shop-pets" (Littlest Pet Shop). Some other funny things she says are "unrella" (umbrella), oh yeah-huh,She has such a strong spirit and a smart mind. She is very creative and loves playing with play dough and painting. She also loves hide and seek (even though she hides in the same place and tells you where she is), playing at the park and anything active. She is quite a handful at times but she is our little handful and we wouldn't have it any other way! We love you Gabbers!

Easter and Spring Break

2010-04-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures!

Justus and Kyrsten came in town a couple weeks ago and we had fun hanging out.
Ashlyn, Izzy, Justus and Gabrie (not looking of course!)

Kyrsten gave us all glitter toes and Gabrie really wanted green ones like "Izzybell's"- I was surprised she actually held still for it.

Livvy and her cute smile

Easter morning
Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Papa Williams

Gabriella, Elizabeth, and Livvy
Gabrie and Livvy in their beautiful Easter dresses or "fa-rella dress" as Gabrie would say! (she means Cinderella)

Easter Eggs at Papa and Yaya's.
We had a fun Easter with both sides of the family! Jeni and her family came in town which made it extra fun. Gabrie loved playing with her cousins everyday.

Livvy's Blessing

2010-03-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

We blessed Livvy last week and then had some family over. It was lots of fun but we missed Aaron, Miriam, Jeni, Justus, Spencer and their families!

Olivia Jane

Daddy, Mommy and Livvy

Kiley, Parker, Dianne, and Livvy

Granny and Livvy

Gabrie loved having all her cousins over and was a proud big sister. After the blessing was done Gabrie stood in the isle and held out her arms and yelled "It's time to go!" It was really funny.

Grandma and Papa

Seth, Grandma and Livvy

Alden and Livvy

Dana, Jen and Livvy

Cute pictures

2010-03-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pictures we have taken over the past two months!

I didn't used to like the big bows but now...it's too cute!
Gabriella in her Big Sister Boots! Thanks Aunt Susan! My Aunt sent her these boots to help her be a big sister. She has had a rough couple months, poor girl! The other day she asked if she could sit in the front seat, I said no it was just for "Mommies and Daddies and bigger kids, you are too little." She got really upset and "No I have my Big Sister Boots!"
Drawing at Daddy's work.
Naptime

Valentine's Day

I had to put this picture in because it should go in a text book next to the term "tonic neck reflex." She definitely still has it!
Livvy and Papa
Gabrie and Mamie, Miriam and Mamie came for a visit and Gabriella loved seeing them everyday!

Livvy's smile ( you have to turn you head)

Someday....

2010-03-05T21:32:00.001-08:00

Someday I will have time to post all the cute pictures and video of Livvy and Gabrie, someday.

Living with Livvy

2010-01-21T22:58:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures we've taken since we have had Livvy home.First bath at home, she didn't enjoy it. It was kind of stressful, bathing her and trying to make sure Gabrie didn't help too much! She would wipe Livvy with a wash cloth which was fine but then she kept filling a cup with water, I think her intent was to pour it on Livvy but I never let her get that far.
Wide eyed and beautiful
I love her hair!
Gabrie is loving having a little sister. She had made beds for all her stuffed animals and then made a place for her and Livvy to sleep.

Gabrie loves to give things to Livvy which I do not like but how do you tell her that her tokens of love are not allowed? In this picture she was sharing her animals with Livvy and she loves to lay down and go to bed next to her anytime Livvy is not being held. She is wonderful big sister, in her own way ( :Sisters

Livvy Jane

2010-01-17T11:34:00.000-08:00

We finally decided on her name as Luke was filling out the birth certificate info yesterday morning. Olivia Jane Talley. It was actually the name I wanted for my next girl before I was even pregnant but once the time came I couldn't decide if that was what I really wanted and Luke went back and forth too. But it seems to fit the best. She is our little Livvy. Plus Gabrie has been calling her Baby Livvy for several months now. We would ask her what do you like better Livvy or Kate, Mabel or Livvy etc, and she usually said Livvy. So she would have probably been confused if we brought home a baby by any other name. I got the idea for the name the summer I was a camp counselor for rich little girls in Maine. Most of them were little brats who got everything they ever wanted and never thought about other people but one girl I had, Livvy, was so sweet that I have loved the name ever since. And for her middle name we liked the sound of a J in the middle name and Jane seemed to go well. Also when Luke and I went to the Philippines several years ago he introduced me to a nice woman he had taught named Jane. So there is a little background on where her name came from!

Last night was our first night home and Livvy totally changed from the baby in the hospital! At the hospital she slept all the time, usually in her bassinet and went 8 hours once between feeding because we could not wake her up. Last night she wanted to eat every hour and half to two hours and would only sleep if I was holding her or she was laying next to me! It was a long night but we did get some rest in between.

I think Gabrie is doing well considering the situation. She spent time with both sets of Grandparents while we were in the hospital and they did a really good job helping her stay busy and feel loved. When Luke told her on the phone that "baby sister was born" she got so excited she dropped the phone to tell Grandma and Papa. Then later Luke and his parents snuck her in to the hospital (kids under 12 are not allowed to visit) to see me and the baby. She was so cute and was telling us all to be quiet because "baby sister was sleeping" and she told me to lay down and "the doctor will be here soon." She loves to kiss Livvy and rub her head. We stopped by my parents on the way home so Livvy could met Granny, Aunt Laurie, Uncle Aaron and Uncle Seth and Gabrie would tell them that they couldn't have Baby Sister but they could hold her. And the first thing she said to my mom that morning was "We take Baby Sister home today." So hopefully the excitment stays and there is not too much jealousy. Oh another funny thing Gabrie did while we were in the hospital was she washed her clothes in the toliet! My mom had taken her to go potty but the phone rang so she went to get it (Gabrie can go by herself usually) and then Gabrie came walking out of the bathroom naked except one shoe that was soaking wet! When my mom went in the bathroom she saw all of Gabries clothes in the toliet and Gabrie said "They re clean!" So gross, but really funny.

Labor was so much easier this time. I actually said when it was over "That was easy!" Other than having trouble getting my IV in and getting my epidural in the right spot (that was a little stressful and scary) everything else went so much better than I had expected, I was truly blessed! Maybe we will actually have another child, someday (:

First look at our new baby girl

2010-01-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Here are a few quick pictures of the new baby

So far she seems to like sleeping

Holding my hand

Those first tender bonding moments... (sigh)

and my personal favorite...

December

2010-01-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

Our holidays were very busy but very fun. After reading everyone else's blogs I realized a lot of us had a similar experience- jumping from one family to other and back and forth.

We went downtown to have dinner and see the lights with friends.

Luke and I went out to dinner for my birthday.
My family came over for dinner on my birthday, thanks for making the drive!Then Miriam, Wade and Mamie came into town for the holidays. Gabrie loved every second she got to spend with "Baby Nay-Nay."

Christmas EveChristmas Eve at Grandma Yaya and Papa Talley's. She had lots of fun and I have way to many pictures to post them all. But she got a pink laptop from Papa and Yaya which she was very excited about.

Christmas morning! We actually woke her up probably the last year that will happen.
Santa brought dress-up clothes!

Christmas Day at Grandma and Papa Williams'. Gabrie and Sydney were both Mary ( :
Then Spencer and Mayra came into town with their kids. Gabrie and Anna had a lot of fun.

Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack- Dad, Seth and MiriamCute Mamie!

New Year'sLuke and Gabrie's snowman

Sledding- I have so many good pictures it was hard to pick the best ones. We had a lot of fun and it was worth the hike at 9 months pregnant!

The ride into the hill.Pulling Daddy

Gabrie and Anna, they had so much fun! Luke and Grandpa pulled them up and down the hill.
I love this picture, you can see the joy in their faces.

Collette's first sled ride- ever!
The way back to car, Gabrie had had fun but was worn out.So was Luke.

Gabrie is still enjoying her Christmas presents.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! Up next: baby #2! I am being induced this week!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving, other than being sick! I was recoverying from having the swine flu the week before, Gabrie had the stomach flu, and Luke didn't feel well either so it was pretty laid back. My parents went to visit my sister for Thanksgiving so we just had a Talley Thanksgiving, which was fun. Justus and Kyrsten came to visit but unfortunately we didn't get to spend a ton of time with them since we were all sick! But we managed to feel well enough and hoped we were no longer contagious (just Gabrie, I knew I wasn't) to go to Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Papa Talley's Wednesday night. Then we went there the next morning for the traditional Talley Turkey Bowl! Which they actually won! Here are some pictures ( :

Izzy, Gabrie and Max playing, kinda fuzzy but it was the only one where they were all looking at the camera.

Adorable Max!
Izzy and Gabrie at the park fully supporting Team Talley!
The Huddle
Since then we have been trying to recover our health and get our house back together. But the most exciting thing for Gabrie has been getting the Christmas decorations out, singing Christmas songs and the Advent Calendar we got which she eagerly looks forward to everyday!
She was so excited!

Like father like daughter.
Just cute

SNOW!

2009-11-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

We woke up yesterday morning to snow! Gabrie was so excited and had to go play in it before she did anything else. Luckily, she let me put shoes and socks on her, and she wanted to wear the hat and gloves. But she refused a coat or changing out of her pajamas! With her you really have to pick your battles, so this was her having a great morning.

This one is a little fuzzy but you can still see her joy!

Halloween

2009-11-04T20:59:00.001-08:00

We started out the month by going to a pumpkin patch and picking out some pumpkins. Gabriella's wasn't as excited about pumpkins as she was last year but it was still fun.

Then Miriam and Mamie came to visit. Here we are at Witch's Night Out, Miriam, Me, witch, Connie and Jen.

Gabriella loved to hold "Baby NayNay"!
This was at our ward's trunk or treat, it was a lot of fun. Luke and I are aliens and Gabrie is Minnie Mouse.
Luke and Gabrie with their pumpkins.

The night of Halloween some of Luke's family came to trick or treat with us. Here is Mickey, Parker and Minnie.

Ashlyn, Sammy, Gabrie, and Parker, so cute.
Corbin, being Stefanie, Stefanie, being Corbin, Hippie Kiley, Robin Hood Dianne, Eskimo Kellie (it is hard to dress up when you are pregnant!) and Alien Luke. Picture by Grandma and Grandpa Talley( : It was a lot of fun having every at our house.

Happy Belated Halloween!

Oregon

2009-10-11T16:11:00.001-07:00

A couple weekends ago I went to visit my sister Miriam in Oregon. We had a lot of fun and I got to meet cute Mamie is person! We did all the things us Williams girls love- shop, go out to eat, shop, go out to eat, hold cute babies, watch reality TV ( : We also went to Wade's brother's concert, they were really good. They are called "Lindsay Pool" (I don't know if I spelled it right) everyone should look them up.
She may not look like she is saying it but - she loves her Aunt Kellie!

We did a photo shoot. Just one of the many I took. Mamie talking with her Mommy.
Talking with her Daddy.
It was so fun to visit them, but I did miss Luke and Gabrie! They had a lot of fun going on outings to the movies, McDonalds, and Temple Square. One night when I talked to Gabrie she told me, "Jesus Christ Amen scary!" I guess Luke took her to see the Christus (?) hoping for a nice spiritual moment but it was a little scary to her. ( :

A little about Gabrie

2009-10-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to do a quick post about Gabrie. She is just about 2 1/2 and does so many cute and funny things, that I wanted to make sure I recorded them somewhere.

-She uses the /f/ sound as a replacement in lots of words like "ferella" for Cinderella, ""forsie" for horse
-She loves to sing songs and dance
-After we sing a song together she says "Good singing everybody!"
-She will tell me (and Luke) "Good Job" after we do random things
-She says things are "tute" for cute
-She says funny phrases like, "not yet" "nope, no thanks" "just a minute Mommy" "maybe later?"
-She thinks she is hilarious and will ask "Was that funny?"
-She bosses around other kids who are much older
-She is scared of "the monkeys"
-She loves Barney
-She takes all the clothes from her dresser and folds and stacks them all over her room (drives me crazy!)
-She still loves babies and books
- She talks constantly and is always busy
-She is almost potty trained ( :
-When you ask her if she wants one of something she'll say "I want...2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9"
-She is the highlight of each of our days!

I don't know if you can tell but she drew on her face at church today and has salsa on her face.

She loves her Grandmas and cousins

Monterey (Our Summer -part 2)

2009-09-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

In the middle of August we drove Spencer and Mayra's van to them in Monterey, CA. The trip started out great until 30 miles outside of Elko a tire blew out and I was driving! I think I handled it well though, luckily there were no other cars around so I just pulled over and Luke figured out how to change the tire (with the help of a highway patrol man). Then we spent 3 hours in Elko waiting for a new spare. All in all the drive took us 17 hours but it was worth it!

We had a lot of fun visiting Spencer and Mayra's family. The first day we went to Lover's Point (a rocky beach overlook), walked along the beach, went out to eat and got to see a lot of Monterey.

Luke and I on one of the many beaches we went to!
The views were amazing!
Me and Mayra, she is so fun!
The next day we went whale watching. We were really excited to go but sitting in the cabin of the boat while it went against the tide the whole way out left some of us sick, well most of us! Only Spencer and I actually threw up, which is funny because I never get motion sick and Luke usually does! But knowing that he purposely stayed out on the deck the whole time. Good advice if you ever go! So the first hour was torture but once I started to feel better we saw two whales jump out of the water, it was really cool! We also two different groups of dolphins, each group had 50 or more dolphins! I'm glad we did it and now I never need to do it again!

Gabrie and Luke! Gabrie scared me and just about everyone on the boat by running around on the unsteady deck, leaning over the edge, and sticking her hand out the little holes on the sides!
Me and Ali
Spencer and the girls
Mayra, Gabrie and Ethan
Luke and Anna, she wasn't feeling good and feel asleep.
So cute in their life jackets!
We were glad to be off the boat!

After whale watching we walked around the shops and got treats.
Two Snow Whites!
The Monterey Bay Aquarium, it was fun but a little over priced.Then we spent the afternoon at the beach.

That night we ate dinner at a cool restaurant overlooking the ocean. Gabrie loved visiting her cousins and Aunt Mayra and Uncle Spencer! She still talks about them all! Especially baby Ethan, which is always followed by "he's so tute!"

It's a GIRL!

2009-09-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

We had our ultrasound today and this baby was much more cooperative then Gabriella was, and she let us know that she is girl! We are really excited, a boy would be fun and new but we both kinda hoped it would be a girl. I really wanted my first two kids to be the same whether boys or girls. I always liked having a sister close to my age, so now Gabrie will get one too! She will probably be as bossy as Miriam was ( : (just kidding Miriam- well kind of). And Im hoping having a girl will reduce some stress since I already know how to take care of girls. And of course it will be nice that we dont need to buy much new stuff!

Our Summer (part 1)

2009-08-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

Luke found our camera! I was so excited and happy. It was in the trunk of car we rarely drive. So I thought I would do a quick recap of our summer, besides the few posts we already did. Here it is:

We ended the school year by going to Lagoon. Gabrie could only go on one ride because all the kiddie rides were closed but we still had fun. She would get scared each time we went on this one but she always wanted to ride it again. I love how she is holding on to Lukes arm. I think it is a cute picture. She loved her sunglasses and wore them all day.

Luke's Grandma Joan passed away shortly after, it was expected but still sad. We went to Arizona for the funeral and to visit his family. Gabrie was very interested in Grandma Joan and talked about her for the next month, she would even say "there's Grandma Joan" or talk to her. Who knows maybe she did see her.
Here is Gabrie and Luke on the plane enjoying their beverages. Gabrie did pretty well on the flight, much better than the last time she was on a plane. (She was 6 months and screamed the whole time!)

Gabrie and Parker at the church. She loves her cousin so much!

All the cousins.
Then Spencer and Mayra and their kids and Justus and Kyrsten and their kids came to visit for a few days. We had lots of fun.
Here are Gabrie and Anna driving the car.

Playing the fountains.
Cute baby Ethan!

I actually don't have many good pictures of all the cousins ) :But here are a few.
Izzy
AliAnna, Gabrie and Ali
Daddy and Gabrie, so cute!

Gabriella got her new toddler bed! This was here first night. She was really excited about it but it made me a little sad that she is growing up so fast!4th of July ( actually it was the 2nd )
Grandma holding Samantha, Ashlyn, Grandpa, and Gabriella

Grandma and Parker
She loved the fireworks just not the noise!Kellie and Luke

Gabrie, Darcy and Emilee
Samantha
Dianne, Kiley, and Parker
Gabrie and Ashlyn made Grandma and Grandpa take turns running toward the fireworks that Luke and Alec were doing and then running away when the went off. What good sports

No Camera

2009-08-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

We missed placed (lost) our nice camera a month ago now and I have been in denial. I thought for sure it would turn up but we have looked everywhere and it is gone ) : Along with all the pictures I hadn't saved! So I guess I should do a post even though the pictures are usually my favorite part!

We have been having a fun time together. Luke has finally had some time off, so we've been taking it easy. Gabriella has entered a new phase of no naps, I do not like this phase! She isn't even 2 1/2 yet! But when we put her in her room she just plays with whatever she can find. Then she is grumpy the rest of the day because she didn't take a nap! She has dark circles under her eyes and will sometimes fall asleep between 5-7 pm just when you don't want her too! If anyone has suggestions I would love to hear them (: We also decided to try a little potty training, so we gave her some underwear to wear for two days and I don't think she ready. She will sit on the potty and get really frustrated when nothing happens and say "I can't do it."

We are really excited for August we will be going on a couple vacations and celebrating our 5 year anniversary! So it should be fun, hopefully we will have a camera to take pictures of it all!

Happy Birthday Luke!

2009-07-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that I married this younger man ( : but now we will be the same age for the rest of the year! He has a busy day of taking his summer class to a bird refuge (?) and then going to a class the rest of the day, but he's a trooper! So Happy Birthday to Luke! We love you!

Baby Mamie!

2009-07-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of the cutest newborns I have ever seen!
My sister Miriam had her sweet little girl last week. Both of them went through some tough labor but we are so glad she is here and Miriam is recovering nicely. I can't wait to meet little Mamie. She has had a tough week - first with surgery on her back and then a shunt in her head. If you want the full story you can look at Wade's blog on the side, he writes much better than me. They have been through a lot and this baby is definitely a miracle. She is still recovering but making progress! Hopefully I'll get to see her soon and have more pictures of her chubby little cheeks! Keep them in your prayers.

Family Pictures

2009-06-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

We had some famiy pictures taken and I think they turned out really cute. Here is a link to the photographers blog so you can see some of the pictures. She did a really good job, I totally recommend her!

http://www.kristinacurtisphotography.blogspot.com/

Jon Schmidt- Love Story Meets Viva La Vida

2009-06-03T21:04:00.001-07:00

One of Luke's students showed him this video and I love it. Jon Schmidt is amazing and the cellist is really good too. Watch and enjoy!