Blast From the Past!

Okay, SO I was going through our pictures throughout the years.. and came across A TON ( I am not even kidding..) of Madilyn that just brought back so many memories! I can't believe how fast time goes by, it just seems like yesterday I was holding her for the first time. I love it, she has been such a joy in our lives. I wanted to share the memories with you.. I hope you enjoy!
Again.. there are like over 100 pictures...

House....

I know you all probably get tired of me complaining about our house not selling. It is just hard! I know we are suppose to be here for a reason. I just thought it would have been before now! It is mostly because the market is crazy and really it is in the Lords hands. I REALLY have been down now that I found the house I absolutely love! I know I say that about a lot of homes, but this one is very cute! It is in Lehi (closer to Sam's work and median for both of us) 3,500 SF 4 beds 3 baths, plus a loft upstairs that could be made into a bedroom. Perfect size for us! We wouldn't need to move for a while!! haha Anyways.. here is the picture:



It is a little hard to see because of the sprinklers. I think it must have been up for a while (hence the date) Now it is a bank owned one. One day! I just keep praying it will happen soon! HOPEFULLY before Maddy's birthday so that we can actually have it inside instead of outside in the extreme hot!
Anyway, enough of my complaining, I am just grateful for being in a home, and that we aren't being forced out. That is all I can ask for! Here is a picture of our home now! It isn't so bad!!

Maddy's First Day of Dance

Maddy Started Dance last night! She is taking Ballet & Tap through Becky's School of Dance. Miss Marcee (my cousin) is her teacher. I was nervous on how she would do.. she had been having some accidents this past weekend. I kept telling her that she could not take dance with Marcee if she kept having accidents. She was determined NOT to have another accident. We got there and all she could do was say "Where is Marcee! Where is Marcee! I need to Dance with Marcee!" However the way she said it sounded more like Maercey. She looked so cute in her leotard and ballet shoes. She did surprisingly well. At first I went out on the floor with her and helped her with stretches etc. Then she got the hang of it and I sat on the side of the room watching. She did well! I am excited to see how she does in the coming weeks!
(Some of the pictures didn't turn out so well. I think it is because of the glare from the floor)

Ella's First Haircut!

This one is one of my favorites! They put the cute bows in.




On Saturday the 27th of December we took Ella in for her first hair cut at Petsmart! She was so funny, when we took her in the store she loved seeing all of the different dogs. Once she was finished and home, she kind of just looked like... what just happened!!

Day After Christmas Storm!

All I can say is WOW! There was a lot of snow.. and it just kept coming and coming! Madilyn wanted to go out and play in the snow, so we got her all bundled up for it. She reminded me of Randy from The Christmas Story.. falling in the snow and can't get up! She was too cute. Ella had a blast, she looked like the abominable snowman with all the snow stuck to her face. She really enjoyed being outside. She somtimes got stuck and so far in that we could tell where she was at!

Christmas! A Little late....

I hope that Everyone had a pleasant and Merry Christmas! It definitely was a white one.. which I was very grateful for! We had a blast with Maddy this year.. she was a lot more "into" it then last year. Santa brought her her Elephant & Giraffe: Dumbo & Madigigascar [as maddy calls it] and the Little People's Noah's Ark. She was very excited... However she didn't really get up for anything except to see if Santa ate all her chocolate "pencils" (pretzels) she left for him. It was pretty cute to see her face when she ran down the stairs to where we left the plate and they were gone! "Look! He ate all my pencils!" It was cute. I got my Shiloette machine!!! It cuts anything from Vinyl to paper, sticker paper... really anything!






I am still figuring it out.. but I LOVE IT!! I will have to post pictures of some things I have already cut out of vinyl. If anyone wants Vinyl I can do it for you! :] I have been downloading all the cute fonts so I will be ready to go!


Sam got his Epiphone Dot Electric Guitar... it was sure a surprise for him! I have to tell the story because I am proud of how sneaky I was!! If any of you know me.. it is hard for me to keep surprises like that a secret!! I just want to give it right when I get it. Well It started with getting Ella, our puppy. I told him that I would buy him a muzzleloader if he would buy me a puppy. Which he FINALLY gave into. Well then he started in on wanting an Electric Guitar instead. I kept on saying no, because I am mean like that. :] (Hey it took me 5 years for him to give into a dog!!!) Well I was at work one day and I thought, you know... that would be really sweet if I got that for him for Christmas. So the sneaky me that I am, called and said "So one of the security guards at work were talking about Christmas and what our spouses wanted. I mentioned that you wanted an Electric Guitar.. but I cannot remember what kind it was!?" [This conversation with the security guard never really took place! Just a plot to get the info] So he told me:

Epiphone Dot Electric Guitar ( See below) Color and everything...

So I proceeded to find it online... print out the pic and take it to Guitar Center. [This was a Wednesday Night] I told little white lie that I had to stay late at work, and wouldnt be home until about 6. So I went over showed the guy the pic and said.. It is a surprise for Christmas.. please help! I didnt know what amp you needed, etc.. so I called my little brother and had him come over to help me pick everything out. Meanwhile, Jeff wanted a distorition pedel for his Electric Guitar.. So I told Sam the next night we should go and get it for Jeff's Christmas Present. (This is a week before Christmas) We walk in the store, him being all excited to show me this guitar he has been talking about relentlessly AND playing EVERY Monday on his day off. We go up, and what do you know.. the guy who I bought it from just the night before was helping us! He knew and played along, telling Sam he sold the last one, and wouldn't be getting another one in until the first of the year. Sam was bummed, REALLY bummed! I was laughing inside, and just wanted to jump out and say "I GOT IT FOR YOU!!"... but I resisted! So the whole rest of the week, Sam kept pushing the fact that he could order it online and it would be here by Christmas.. I just wanted to scream... what was I going to say to keep it away from him now! But I made up excuses like: "It might get ruined while it was being shipped to us. I would feel better if we had it shipped to the store." and then finally I said "I already bought you a Christmas present, just be excited and happy for it and then we will get you the guitar when it comes in, in January." That seem to suppress his urge to buy it online. Come Christmas Day.. I put the strap & picks in his stocking saying "This is for when we get you your guitar" Alas, when we finally got to my parents house, we were unwrapping presents when my mom brought out this HUGE box [the amp] for sam to open. He was like.. what!? and still kind of not getting what was going on when she brought out the guitar in the case. Then he started to flip out saying "Nu uh!! No way! You were the one that bought the guitar, weren't you!?!" It was priceless! You can see the pics in the slideshow. It was awesome!

SO I apologize for the long story, but it was awesome! Needless to say, we had a good time.. and Maddy of course, thinks Santa should be coming again everynight! We have been trying to explain that he only comes once a year. It was great! Enjoy the pics! [ There are quite a bit!]

Christmas Day Pictures:

Year in Review

My friend put out a Family Newsletter telling about what everyone has been doing for the year. I thought it was a fabulous idea.. so here I go!

Sam: Is still working at the Utah County Health Department as a Health Inspector. Whenever I think Health Inspector I think of Larry the Cable Guy, Health Inspector. That movie is hilarious! Sam inspects anything from restraunts, tanning salons, daycares, wastewater and pools. (Just to name a few). He really enjoys working there, minus the commute! It takes him about 45 minutes sometimes an hour on a bad day. (Especially lately with all the snow!)
He is the ward mission leader in our ward, it is kind of a crazy calling our ward is so huge, but so small! We hardly have any memebers, so he has been busy!

Madilyn: She turned turned 2 going on 18. She is talking SO much! I think this has to be one of my favorite stages with her talking, saying the funniest things! She is quite girly girl. She loves putting on makeup with Mommy, loves playing with her princess things, dressing up and putting on jewelry. She absolutely loves to watch movies (like her mother) She really like Enchanted watching it ALL the time. She told us that Edward was cute! Her new favorite movies are the "Space Ship Movies" (No, not Star Trek for any of you who know what a fan Sam is) They are the Star Wars movies! I think next year we will have to dress up as Star Wars actors for Halloween. She is ever so excited for Christmas, and can't wait for Santa to come!

Me: I still work with Intermountain Healthcare in HR- Employment. We do all the hiring for the Urban Central Region (Basically all of the SL Valley minus Primary Children's). I am on the Nursing Team, so we hire RN's, CNA's, HUC's, Paramedics, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practioners. It has been quite the experience, but I love it! It is good to do my own thing, but I really miss being home with Maddy. I am hoping one day I will be able to! Right now doesn't seem like it will happen.. but oh well. One day :] I am in YW's as the Laurel/MiaMaid Advisor.. and I LOVE IT! They are such a good group of girls.. and are so fun to be around.

In General our family is doing well! We are still living in West Valley, but do have our house up for Sale. It has been up since March (I believe-it seems like forever!) We are hoping to move closer for Sam. Either Lehi, or the southern part of the SL Valley (Riverton, South Jordan, Herriman, West Jordan). We got a little puppy named Ella! She has been so good for our family. It has really helped Maddy adjust to having someone other than just her in the fam. She loves to mother her A LOT. It is cute. We are just living life, one day at a time, excited for what each day brings! That is us! (I am sure I will remember more things once I am finished! ha!)