Happy 4th Of July!

This year is going by waaaay too fast. Probably because its been so fun. We had a very fun filled 4th of july and honestly having our family together makes every holiday so special. Last year doug was in Iraq for My birthday, mothers day, Bella's birthday, fathers day, the fourth of july, halloween, AND thanksgiving. Thats way too many holidays but i think it helped us feel more grateful for when we do get to spend these special days together.

This year the army threw an awesome carnival for FREE on post. All the rides were free and all we had to pay for was food and extra fun stuff we wanted. Bella is finally tall enough to ride some of the rides so that made it even more fun:) We hung out there pretty much all day and we stayed for the kelly Clarkson concert. It was so fun we brought lawn chairs and ended up running into some friends so bella got to shake her booty with one of her favorite friends Madaya and they even made friends while dancing. It really was such a fun day and night:) I love, love, love family time!

Bella on her first ride, how cute is this face? I wish we could all enjoy life as much as this little girl does:)

Bella turns THREE!

Time sure flies. I cant believe my baby is THREE! this birthday really caught me by surprise. Poor Bella didn't even have many 3T clothes. I kept buying 2T because i didn't realize how quickly her birthday was coming up and she was growing out of everything! She has really changed so much in this past year. She can talk up a storm. forget 3-5 year sentences and hello full on conversations. She is OBSESSED with Halloween, swimming, the splash pad and her "best friends." she loves playing with kids now and i love watching her play:) she is also fully potty trained which is wonderful. She only has occasionally accidents at night but really not often. She still loves singing and dancing. She loves dressing up as a princess and goes around saying "I'm princess Bella." I love how she already knows she's a princess and wont let anyone change her mind.

Bella over the past three years, i love watching her grow:)



I caught her sleeping and it reminded me of the picture above:) I'm glad i take so many pictures!

Bella also had a super fun birthday party! We had been planning it for a while and i loved how it turned out but didn't love how i woke up that Saturday morning feeling miserable. Any who she had a carnival themed birthday and she's actually old enough to have friends over to invite. Our house and backyard was filled with kids and it was wonderful! I loved everyone who came and helped make her day extra special!

Bella's "best friend" Madaya was a must at her party! arnt they so cute!?

Cute circus girls!

Blowing out her Candle, she really loved every minute of her party this year!

I don't know who enjoyed opening presents more, Doug or Bella? This was actually Doug's FIRST birhtday with Bella. He was at Basic Training for her 1st, and for her 2nd birthday he was in Iraq. I loved how he was so excited to FINALLY celebrate with his favorite little girl.

We let Bella pick her cake and she loved that! Its not a birthday party without cake!

Bella is an only child and even though it was her party she needed a cheetoh alone break lol. Silly girl.

Morgan Getting her face painted, she's so cute!



After all of her guest left she insisted on putting on her new Belle Dress. She had so much fun and now she cant wait for her next birthday....she still has 365 days to go lol

Welcome to The World Jacob!!

My sister Blanca Had her baby boy Jacob! I am so over joyed for her and her family. Every time i talk to her she seems so happy! I haven't been able to meet him yet and nothing has made me more homesick than having to miss this beautiful time in my sisters life. I love him so much and i seriously cannot wait to meet him. Congrats Joyner family! Were sending our love from Texas.

 

 

Bella's First Fishing Trip!

The Roberts invited us to go fishing with them last weekend and it was so fun. I was worried that Bella would get bored and I'd end up chasing her everywhere but she sat, relaxed, and just enjoyed the whole fishing experience. We didnt get her her own pole yet but with time we will eventually get her own. I'm super excited for the many many more fishing trips we'll take:)

Mccrae just hanging out and relaxing:)

Doug caught a tiny fish but he let Bella real it in so she could feel what  its like. She really liked fishing with her daddy.

Bella cracked me up. She wore her swim suit underneath her clothes and she saw Maday's Dad AJ go into the water so when she saw that she took her clothes off and ran to the water. There was no stopping her! She saw he was fishing and she WAS going in that water. I've never seen her move so fast and have her mind set like this. There wasn't any asking us so Doug being the awesome dad he is jumped i with her and that made her VERY happy!

SPLASH PAD take 1

I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom and since i get to stay home with Bella i have been really trying to do fun activities with her during the day so were not just home all day. Also since we are in Texas its already warm so we where able to go to the splash pad with our friends Madaya and Mccrae and their mom Kendra. The kids had a BLAST and we all got a little tan:)

After we let the kids "cool down" by taking them to the jungle gym across the park. It was sooo much fun! The kids really did have a lot of fun and Bella took a great nap after! Successful day to me!

Here are some fun pictures of our day:)

Happy Easter!

This Easter was by far the best Easter Ive ever had! I was actually prepared and got Bella's Easter basket ahead of time (phew!) She woke up a little grumpy and when we showed her what the Easter bunny brought her she went straight to her new princess doll and was VERY happy after that. she didn't even really notice anything else in her basket until later that day.

Anyway, we got ready for church and we actually had to be there early because i was asked to give a talk on the atonement. I was VERY nervous. I don't remember the last time i gave a talk at church but it was great! i learned so much when i prepared for my talk and i think it made Easter so much better. It helped remind me how The savior atoned for our sins and how truly blessed i am and my family is for him.

Later that evening we went to our new and very good friends house (Kendra and AJ Robert) for a fun Easter BBQ. Kendra and i went shopping the day before for food and it turned out to be so much fun! There was about 5 different families who came so it was a full house! The kids had their own egg hunt after dinner and they just had a blast! All of our lovely husband even had fun on their trampoline. They all got on there to play crack the egg and i was so scared they where going to break the trampoline the whole time! It was a really fun evening and I'm so glad we have been able to meet so many lovely friends.

We ended the night with some pretty nails. Doug is truly the sweetest dad ever. He really doesn't care what is going on around him, or people think he's weird because he is playing with his little girl and that's all to matters to him:)

Bella and her best friend Madaya. They are the cutest together and hold hand everywhere they go and when they go more than a day apart they are both asking to play together. So now bella has two best friends, Olivia and madaya:)

They both even got princess dolls for easter. Madaya got the repunzel princess and Bella got cinderella.



Doug and Bella. So cute <3



We Did a few pre-Easter celebrations as well which where lots of fun!

Bella and Madaya before the Easter egg hunt in our church playgroup.

The kiddos going threw their Easter eggs. They where super excited!

The Girls at BLORA for their Flash light Easter egg hunt.

Hunting some eggs and using their flashlights.

We where also fortunate enough to watch "baby buddy." ( Bella nick named Carter and it stuck) he had lots of fun at the hunt just people watching:)


We had a super fun Easter! Its def one of my favorite holidays now. Its a great day that reminds us how lucky and blessed we are for being able to ask for forgiveness and how fortunate we are to forgive. I also love all the fun activities we can do with Bella and all the family time we get:)
I hope everyone had a great Easter too!