Cleaning day

she loves to study things and see how they work...

Stella has loves to help us clean up the house! She is one big helper.. She loves to hold the dust pan while I sweep... this has become helpful now that I'm starting to get a belly! She loves to help vacuum, dust and mop. We will usually end with a dance off... Stella loves music and loves to dance! She sure is growing up and not a baby anymore :(

fort

I love when Dale has a day off, they come very rare and so we definitely take advantage of them! We get to stay in our pj's pretty much the whole day, be lazy and do whatever we want. We made a fort... and had so much fun playing in it!

Stella would climb through and reach the top and say "BOO:.... and giggle

Here is our finished product

I love this little grin..priceless!

SURpriSe...

We are having baby #2 and couldn't be more excited!! This pregnancy has been very different and started off a rough but I'm starting to feel better and hopefully getting back to my semi normal self... I am feeling a range of emotions... but couldn't be happier to have this little peanut become part of our family! I am grateful for friends, family and neighbors that have been very helpful.

Bryce BIG 12!

Happy Birthday Buddie! I hope you had a great day! I love this kid so much... He is so great with Stella, I couldn't ask for a better helper. He is ALWAYS doing some type of sport activity with Stella and teaching her how to do things. I love how determined he is to do something and will never give up when it comes to sports, I love that he still has a very tender heart and always concerned with how things are going in his older sisters lives. I love you bud!

Look at these fine men! Bryce was able to get the priesthood. He has been very excited
about receiving it, and is glad Bryant will be right there to help him out.

I love these guys so much! I am glad that my grandparents make special effort to be to the important things in our lives and the sweet spirit they share while visiting.

More halloween fun...

Our ward this year did a Halloween carnival for the kids... Young Men and Women put it on and we had a blast putting it together, it was a lot of fun! I think Stella was trying to figure out what was going on the whole time but she sure did like getting the candy from each booth..

Nothing like the good old bing bag toss..

I cannot decide if Stella loved this one because of the candy that was being given or if she really liked throwing the ball threw the tire. Either way she was super content.

Later on that night we had the Burnett Halloween get together..

Dale and I decided that we would just go as each other for Halloween. Dale made a perfect girl :) Stella went as a little skunk.. My mom made this costume for Byrant when he was little, she has such talent. I hope one day I can learn to sew like her.

The jail birds with some of the grand kids.

Our Little Stink!

Christensen visit..

Katie and Dan came out for a quick visit during the fall. It was so good to see them, I felt like was a dream cause it went so quick! We managed to get a lot into the days... We took Stella on an adventure on the LTD bus and got some Aggie ice cream, played game, had a Halloween Party and managed to squeeze in a well needed/updated family photo shoot. Thanks Chalet!

We miss you already guys! I think that sometimes you take advantage of family and when they are thousands miles away you learn to love and appreciate the little moments you get to share with them, even if it is a quick visit. We love you!

Ellis halloween 2011

Our Ellis family party was another success!! This year we did it at our house... I had a lot of fun getting the house all decorated, putting together games (with the help from ALyse & Rach) and have a yummy spooky dinner.

We played some fun games...

In the back ground you may see the T.V. on... Dales Cardinals were in the world series and we couldn't risk missing any detail of the game! The Cardinals ended up winning this year and I had one happy hubby!

So worth sticking your face down in a bowl of whipping cream and finding gummy
Halloween treats...

We got some pictures of the group and each couple...

Thanks Family for making our get together very fun and a good memory to always remember

Shooting...

The other night we took Bryant out shooting with Dale. I have never seen a kid get so excited!!! Bryant has been wanting to go hunting/shooting with Dale for a while but it has taken a little convincing from us to let my dad let him come:) Dale has been needed to sight his gun for the the beloved deer hunt. We thought it would be perfect to have Bryant come out with us. The boys have pellet guns but it's not a ton of fun to shoot them in the back yard they say cause they need space.... space is what Bryant got! We made him his own target and let him shoot around.

Growing Up...

I am so amazed at how fast this little one is growing up! I love being able stay home with her and see her change everyday!

Stella has been so easy to ween herself from things.. She doesn't want to sleep in her crib anymore.. Sad day:( So, we have put her in a toddler bed that my dad made for me when I was little. She loves it as long as she isn't being put to sleep for the night... nights have been a little rough at first but every night she is getting better and better. She is no longer my little baby.

Stella loves to talk on the phone. She will walk around the house jabbering, caring on a conversation with whom ever will listen. She has learned how to unlock my phone and call anyone. I love it.. She is our little jabber box. I can't wait til we can understand what she is really saying.

Stella is really into reading/ looking at books. She gets so excited for her animal farm book.. I love that she is starting to recognize what certain things are and it fun to see her attempt to make the noise of the animals.

My favorite thing right now would be the evening routine! She has caught on that we fold our arms during the prayer and at the end we say amen.. she throws her arms in the air and clap. I think a lot of times as parents Dale and I wonder if what we are teaching and doing around our kids really matters but I'm beginning to think we have a greater influence that what I thought we did. Stella is so special and I love her so much!

BUNCO

I look forward to this ever month. I love getting together with these fine ladies. I love the laughs, the talks and the company.... Thanks girls for your friendship! We recently did a BUNCO fundraiser for a lady that has cancer in another group. It was fun to have 12 different teams... BUNCO is BIGGER that what I thought. Seeing all the fun prizes people came up with and knowing that you did a good deed and helped someone out with your money!

RAinbow

The other morning I was getting breakfast for Stella and I. I looked out the window and saw the most amazing, most beautiful thing.....


I have never seen a double rainbow( besides pictures).... EVER! I had to take a picture to show Dale. Stella was so cute she kept saying "ohhhohhh". I think I'm safe to say it made up both pretty happy:) I sometimes think I get so caught up in the everyday routine that it was nice to stop and enjoy some of nature at it finest!! We really do live awesome country!

Annual Halloween PArty 2011

I look forward OCtober and to the Neighborhood Halloween Party...this year Sarah and Jen decided to switch things up a bit and we did a Murder Mister dinner. Featuring Tick Thompson and his premier screening of "Backyard Brawls". It was SOO fun!! Dale and I had a lot of fun getting our costumes together..
Dale went as Snake Blisken.. ex-con selling illegal pain killers to Tick.

Cames went as Babbette Murphy.. hair dresser from the popular 80's salon.

Ready to Rock and Roll..

We Opened with Tick Movie Premier. We were each given our part.. and ate a yummy meal!

The Guys

The Ladies

We each went around the room and said who we thought it was. Here is a picture of the accused...

Thankfully Dale and I were not the killer.

Thanks Neighbors for a great night! Thanks Jen, and Sarah for putting it together and making another Halloween party a success!!!

Fall is in the Air..

I'm so glad fall is finally here.... I found this Fall bucket list and with a few modifications I will see to that we get each one checked off before it's over... it never seems to stay long!... Stay tune to pictures or our adventures!

This weekend was AMAZING but wait what conference weekend isn't right?!? I loved all the talks soo much!! On Sunday we went out to Burnett's for a family get together and listened to the afternoon session of Conference. We spent most of the time outside cause it was such a great day! The kids had a great time it was fun to see Stella play with her cousins and was good to catch up with the siblings too. Here are just some of the fun pictures I got of the little ones:

Dale taking the little ones on a wagon ride down to see the cows.

Stella and Henry.

Stella thought she needed a turn pulling the wagon.

Stella doesn't like riding the kid toys...She wanted to ride the bike.
This girl cracks me up!!

Cousins riding the Dune Buggy.

Grandpa and Stella helping Henry walk.

Stella was so upset that we didn't ride the 4wheeler on Sunday. We let her sit on it... I think that made it worse! She got mad at Dad and poked him in the eye..

Henry and Stella playing on the cars.