Our Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!


We had a great Valentine's Day it was filled with candy, balloons and of course dancing!

After our busy day Gabrie relaxed and got to watch Cinderella or "Bella" as she likes to say. All the while she held tightly on to her balloons.



One of Gabrie's new things is to squint a lot for pictures! She also has started saying some really cute things like "das awo" for "that's all," she'll say "run in circles" as she runs in circles, and she loves to sing her "Gabrie's C's" instead of "ABC's."


My Valentines'Luke did a great job as usual with his Valentines for me. Each year he makes me home made Valentines and they are really funny. This year I got a hot David Hasselhoff card along with the ever popular Harry Potter themed card. Luke is so creative! I'll try to take a picture and post it cause they are funny. I try to be creative with mine but they are never as good. I gave him a Heroes theme card this year.


On another note, Gabrie decided to add to her outfit after I got her dressed for church this morning. She has excellent taste - she must be her mother's daughter! We let her keep the hat, purse and necklace for church but Luke's bear slippers had to stay home.

She was so proud of herself!

Here is a little better view.
Finally at church I wish I had had my camera because Gabrie found a big black toy fireman hat in the nursery toy box and everytime I went in or looked in her classroom ( which was a lot because my calling is nursery coordinator) she had the hat on. Even after all the other kids had put away the rest of the toys she was still wearing her hat - while eating snacks and listening to the lesson - it was hilarious!

"In His Time"

"Sometimes we're discouraged
and it's hard to understand
the reasons why things don't work out
exactly like we've planned...
But underneath the surface
is a purpose we don't know,
and we can trust God's promises
to make our blessings GROW!
So just hang on a little while
with patience and with prayer,
and you may find a precious gift
you didn't know was there!"

This is one of my favorite poems. I found it in a Precious Moments card in college (6 or 7 years ago) and I loved it so I bought several because I think it says just the right thing for those times when things aren't going like you thought they might. Isn't it wonderful that we have a loving Father in Heaven who knows us and knows what is best! I am so grateful for that knowledge.

"Son you have a panty on your head!"

For those who haven't seen it, the title is a quote from Raising Arizona. A strange and funny movie that was quoted often in my family growing up.

So sweet and getting so big!


It's a little blurry but check out those Talley eyes!

Our Belated Christmas Card!

I first want to start by thanking all of our friends and family who gave us Christmas cards. I love to get them and they are all on the fridge. Gabrie loves to go and look at all the pictures! One day maybe we'll send some, Luke has a "brilliant" idea for one ( : so someday. But for now I figured I could post ours on the blog! So..
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This past year has been filled with a lot of good accomplishments and blessings. Here is a highlight:
1. Gabriella learned to walk, crawl (in that order), sign, talk, do head stands, and a bunch of other things that keep her life busy, active, and fun!
2. Luke became the bread winner in our family for the first time by graduating from BYU and getting his first teaching job, which he likes (a plus!).
3. I completed my thesis and finished my masters degree from USU, which was the most difficult thing I have done besides being a brand new mom, and actually like speech language more than I ever thought I would ( I know it sounds so boring).
4. We bought a house and did our part to stimulate the economy.
5. We had a ton of additions to our families: a new brother in law- Wade, a niece- Samantha, and lots of nephews Benjamin, Parker, Max and the newest Ethan!
This year has been very busy but it's been wonderful and we have been so blessed and watched over. We are looking forward to the New Year and the changes it will bring.
Here are some pictures from the holidays!
Gabrie wanted to wear the stockings!Gabrie loves to play in the snow or "no" as she calls it! She especially loves to eat it, thanks to Grandpa for teaching her. Luckily we have gotten a lot of snow for her to play in.Grandpa and the Utah kids on Christmas Eve!

We had a visitor Christmas morning besides Santa! We opened the front door and there were these cute bird foot prints on our porch, I just thought I'd share the picture.
Gabrie enjoying one of her gifts. She got way too many. She was tired of opening presents so she went and ate breakfast while Luke and I opened ours.



David helping Gabrie become a shepherd.
"The Nativity"
Love you all!

Hi. This is Luke. I usually don't blog, but I thought to myself, it was just my wife's birthday and I should probably let the world know just how great she is. Can you think of anyone in the world that you like better? I know that I can't - she is number one (that's even counting celebrities). Anyway, for Kellie's big day we decided to do two of the things that Kellie does best... shopping, of course, and returning merchandise (which included a battle with four of Ikea's employees). After a fun day of that we ate dinner at Olive Garden with Dianne and Kiley. Overall, a great day.

Me and Gabrie want Kellie to know how much we love and appreciate her and wanted to say HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY!

What it means to be a Mom!

After almost 20 months I'm starting to realize what it really means to be a mom. Gabrie has been sick for the past month. I'll try not to get too graphic ( : First it was croup then a sinus infection (and stomach flu) for which she had a terrible antibiotic which only made her tummy problems 10 times worse. Then I had to watch as she was pinned down by Luke, a doctor and nurse (it took all three) for a procedure to she if her urinary tract is functioning properly, which it's not. And now this week she has been throwing up and having diarrhea again. I feel like I have been covered in one bodily fluid or another almost constantly! Laundry has been none stop! There have days when she was in and out of the bath 7-8 times and we have been through at least 3 different bottles of diaper cream. And Gabrie, the poor thing, is still pretty happy and very active! I thought I knew what it was like to be a mom but this month has been a new experience. I'm not trying to complain just explain the realization I've come to. Most of this past month I have just had to accept I would get nothing done beside taking care of her, like making sure her diaper was always dry and let her run around with no diaper, despite the possible consequence. It has made me very thankful for my own mother who raised 7 kids and increased my respect for anyone that has more than one child! Motherhood, it's tough work but definately worth it.

The wonders you find at the DI!

I went to the DI to find a white elephant gift and I found they had a bunch of wigs! So I got one thinking it would be a good gift. Well Gabrie thought it was just a fun hat and it helped that Luke and I laughed hysterically when she put it on. So here is what Gabrie would look like if she had more hair!

Maybe I'm glad she wasn't blessed with tons of hair!

On another note Gabrie got to meet Santa in person this past weekend and here is how it turned out...
She liked him much better from a distance! When I tried to put her on his lap she screamed and wouldn't let go of me but as I pulled her away she said through her tears, " Bye, bye" and blew him a kiss. It also helped he gave her candy which made her more happy. See below!