Cake and Ice cream!!

We had a few friends over for cake and ice cream to celebrate Izzy's birthday. Her friend Talen gave her a doll with accessories, her favorite accessory was the blow dryer. Such the little fashionista:)

Izzy blowing out the candles, she blew all two candles out all by herself!

Here's the flower cake I made for her, kind of a funny angle but it turned out pretty cute!  Izzy couldn't wait to dig into the cake!

With fresh peach ice cream, compliments of Ashlee and Christian it was a perfect birthday treat!

Happy Birthday Izzy!

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Izzy turned 2 on July 6th! The girls get to pick what they want for their birthday breakfast, Izzy wanted cereal, so we went to the grocery store together and she picked Trix.  Of course a sugary  cereal:) Izzy acted kinda funny the whole day. When I tried to take this picture at breakfast she wouldn't look up...she was being really stubborn. I think it was all the extra attention!

Here is our beautiful birthday girl! We had her open her presents before we left for church. She was excited about this and had a fun time with her new toys. 

I made her an apron...which she refused to try on, it is so cute too, oh well. She had a fun time with her new cooking toys.

The theme for her birthday was "Flowers" Josh made the beautiful balloon flowers, with help from Martha Stewart! He did an awesome job!

Lilli of course helped Izzy every step of the way with opening presents, that's what older sisters are for right?

Swimming Fun

On the 5th of July we went out to some friends in the ward and had a BBQ, swimming and of course lots of fun!  Megan and Lilli had a blast playing together. Megan is really good with our girls they love her!

Lilli showing off her floating skills!

Pam Aldridge is the ward Primary President and always gets Lilli going!! Here Lilli is playing hide and seek.

Izzy had a fun time playing with the cars and sidewalk chalk. She enjoyed swimming but was a little chilly so she preferred being cuddled in her towel, which I don't mind at all. I love to cuddle so any chance I get I take it:)

4th of July

For the 4th we had breakfast at our good friends the Hansen's. The food was delicious and fun was had by all.  

Wow is it ever hard to get a good picture with 5 kids mostly 2 and under. I have to say we did a pretty good job! Look at all those adorable kiddos! Izzy, Lilli, Carter, Talen and Kenny.  We were going to go to an "Old Fashioned 4th of July" but Izzy was tired and ready for her nap so we all took a nap and later had a BBQ with our neighbours.

We are big fans of fireworks so we went out to Goochland to watch the show with Ashlee and Christain. We had to park at the YMCA and then school buses shuttled us to the park. This was Lilli's first time on a school bus and she was quite amazed that she didn't have to wear a seat belt.  She was so excited!!! She kept saying "Mom this is so neat!" , "Mom this is sooo fun!! over and over again. It definately brought a few smiles to the bus:)

 Izzy was a little nervous at first. She would close her eyes and peek at them, it was pretty cute! But after a little bit she opened her eyes and enjoyed sitting with Daddy, munching on popcorn and watching the fireworks!

Lilli loved the fireworks as you can see by her expression. She has the best expressions!! I love how animated she is! It actually started to rain during the fireworks but that didn't deter us, we just pulled our blanket over our heads and continued enjoying the show. It finished raining by the time the show was over so that was nice! All in all it was a wonderful 4th of July!

Summer +Popscicles= Happy, Happy Girls!

What can you say, a popscicle on a hot summer day... so refreshing and oh so yummy!

And when the popscicle changes the color of your tongue, even "cooler." Lilli and Izzy got a kick out of it and didn't mind sticking their tongues out to show off their cool new trick.

Mommies Making a Difference-Shoe Party

For service play group this month we had a shoe party, and donated shoes to Soles 4 Souls. They distribute shoes to the needy from donations from the community. The kids had a fun time stamping little tags to attach to the shoes, that said "With love from..."

Talen is a pro stamper he must get it from his Mom! Carlie is amazing at stamping, card making and the list goes on:)

We gathered all of the shoes, the kids seemed excited to give a few of their shoes away. Lilli seemed very concerned that some people don't have shoes, so it was neat to see her so happy to give a few pairs of hers away!

For this picture it was really cute they all held their shoes in the air and yelled shoes!!!

Izzy had to have her turn at putting some shoes in the bag, such an independant girl!! Thanks to Carlie and Talen, Rachel Carlson and of course my two cuties!

A Successful Potty Time

Isabella has been wanting to sit on the potty.Lately she hasn't been very successful in getting it IN the potty. One time it was #2 on the carpet. And then another time she wouldn't let me put her diaper on after changing her. She said she wanted to go potty, so she went in the bathroom, NOTHING, so I try again to put her diaper on, she still wouldn't let me. So she runs into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. The light wasn't on so she kinda missed, it landed right next to the potty. Definately an E for effort! Then one night before she got into the tub she said she wanted to try again...Nothing. I told her she better not pee in the bathtub. Anyways after she got out she said she needed to go again and to my utmost surprise SHE DID IT!!!!! I was very excited!!!! I think I kind of scared her, but I reassured her is was a very good thing. She got a chocolate kiss and was sure to tell everyone she got a treat for going potty!! I am so proud of her. It hasn't happened again but it's a step! What a BIG girl!!

Six Wonderful Years!

On June 28th we celebrated our 6th Anniversary, wow does time fly!! I made (well partially made:) Josh breakfast in bed. One of his favorite breakfasts is donuts, and chocolate milk, so Ukrops came in handy there:) We both love fresh fruit so that topped off our scrumptious breakfast. It was actually a family breakfast in bed, the more the better:)
I even got out our "fine china" ...well not exactly fine china but we save these "fancy goblets" we got for a wedding present for our special occasions! Josh loved that special added touch, especially that there was chocolate milk in them:) 
The girls never (maybe once a year) get donuts so they basically inhaled them. It was a wonderful start to our day.
Lilli is getting good at taking pictures, so it is nice to have her expertise for moments like this! I can't believe it has been 6 years!! As I think back to our meager beginnings, it sure has been wonderful! I remember the first time I met Josh at a mutual friends birthday party. I sat next to him and invited him to come to my dance concert. I really didn't think he would come but he did and then he asked me out on his birthday. We went out to dinner and then to the Forgotten Carols. He kept asking me out and I kept saying yes, we went and cut Christmas trees down, went snow shoeing, and the list goes on. I knew there was something different about Josh, for one he didn't drive a nice car, let's just say he drove a really beat up truck and for our first Valentines date we went to his Grandma and Grandpas. I was used to the guys with the nice cars and fancy restaurants. I knew that he really valued his family and that meant a lot to me. He treated me like a queen and I knew he would be a wonderful father! I am thankful for the six wonderful years that we have had together. Of course we have had our trials but they have only made us stronger and grow closer together. I am so thankful for his love and for the love he shows to our two precious jewels, Lilli and Isabella. Thanks babe for 6 wonderful years!!

Officially a D2

To celebrate Josh's first completed year of Dental School, we went to Deep Run Park for a picnic dinner and cake. I made him a cake last year as with one candle on it, to celebrate him starting his first year and then again this year with two candles. It has VP on it because he was nominated as the Vice President of his class. I am very proud of him!!

For family home evening that same night we read "Everybody Needs a Rock." It tells you how to go rock hunting and find your perfect rock.  Some of the rules are it has to be very quiet, you have to get low to the ground and even smell your rock to make sure it's the perfect one. The girls were really excited about this and found their perfect rocks.

We found a quiet spot and Josh taught the lesson about how the rocks they had found were like us and how we need to follow Jesus so we can be strong and make good decisions. We sang The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock. He did a really good job and the girls loved it.