11 Years

August 7th was our 11th Anniversary.  11 years!  Can you believe it?  First I turn 30, now I've been married 11 years!  I am officially old.  Cody and I have been together since we were 15, so do the math.  Half our lives.  And, I really do still love him to death!  We had a great Anniversary date while his parents watched our beauties.  Looking forward to at least 100 more!  :)

Avery the Ballerina

Finally Avery gets to do something herself instead of just watching her sister do everything!  I started Alexis in dance class when she was 3 just to get her used to being with other kids and listening to a teacher.  I never really thought preschool was that effective for 3 year olds, and wanted her to have fun, so dance it was.  She did it for 2 years and wasn't really that into it so she decided to quit and try softball insead.  That will start soon hopefully!  Avery has been counting the days until it was her turn to go to dance class.  She was soooo excited and got up very easily that day!  She jumped right in the bath and grabbed her dance outfit and was ready to go! 

She picked her all black outfit, again, mama's girl!

I think Alexis was just as excited as she was!

So, when we got there, Avery was the only kid in the class!  So much for making friends!  However, private dance lessons are way more expensive than what I am paying so I'm fine with it!  The next 2 weeks there was one other girl, and this week there was 6 girls total.  Now she is having even more fun!  She loves Miss Angie who was Alexis' teacher too.  Avery takes her dance class very seriously and pays attention very well, and is so loving every minute of dance class!  Too bad it's only once a week!

1st Grade

My little Alexis started 1st grade this year.  Wow, time sure does fly!  She LOVES school and is a great student.  She is having a difficult time adjusting this year to having to sit at her desk most of the day and do work.  Much less play and craft time than kindergarten!  She loves her new teacher though, Mrs. Mendoza who she is going to have for the next 2 years.  She looked so adorable on the first day and picked out her entire outfit.  She never lets me pick her clothes anymore, she has definate ideas about what she does and doesn't like!  She only has a few kids in her class from last year, none of which were her good friends, so she is having to make all new friends this year, but being the social butterfly she is, she is having no problem!  Next thing I know she will be graduating High School.  :(

First in line of course!

My favorite place in the whole world...

Maybe it's because I have always lived in AZ, but my most favorite place in the entire world is the beach.  I don't care what beach, or where, just the beach.  The waves crashing on the beach, the kids playing in the sand and surf, the boardwalk, the relaxed atmosphere, there is nothing I don't like about it!  We only went to the beach for one day during our vacation, but the next time I think we all agreed, we will definately spend way more time there!

The official family photo

My water baby!  She has always loved the water!

My beach bum!  Just like her mom!

We went to the boardwalk and had some ice cream and cotton candy too!

It's hard to get all of us in a self portrait!

The last night we always try to have a nice dinner near the beach.  This was the view from our table.  It was awesome.  We were all so worn out by this time, but overlooking the ocean like that is so amazing and very well worth the exhaustion!

There is really nothing like the memories made on family vacations.  I am so grateful that my parents always took us on a family vacation every year no matter what, and I will always strive to do the same with my family. These are the moments in life we cherish most.

Sea World 2010

Family vacay time again and this year we went to San Diego.  We really wanted to take Avery to Sea World because she had never been and Alexis and her LOVE animals so we figured it would be a big hit.  And it was!  We had a great time, watched every show, and saw all the exhibits.  The girls loved every minute of it!

Alexis didn't want to take a pic with Shamu but I made her!  She is already getting to old for the characters?!

They could have stood here all day!

Avery loved holding these star fish, we could barely get her to leave!

This is the only thing Alexis remembers from being to Sea World before!  It was all she wanted to do!

My fave!

The kids and husband wanted to sit in the soak zone, and this is the before pic!  It's cold there at night when you are soaking wet!

Day 2 we played on the splash pad and came prepared in bathing suits!

Alexis didn't mind seeing Elmo though and Avery was in love!  Elmo blew her a kiss during the show!

Me and the babes sitting in the spinning thing that goes up in the air

EVERY time I swear I will never go on the little bucket on the line ride.  This time I'm serious!  NEVER again!

Cody and Alexis waited for an hour and a half to go on this 3 minute ride.  Super fun they said, but not worth the wait, even though they did get sopping wet!

Avery siad she is going to be "the pink girl" when she grows up.  Meeting her was like meeting a movie star!

The day is always a success when you end it with 2 sleeping children!  :)

4th of July 2010

For the 4th of July this year we went camping again to our favorite place Clint's Wells.  The kids went up a couple days early with Grnadpa and Grandma since Cody and I had to work.  And this is what they looked like when we got there!  Holy moly!  I almost had a heart attack!  At least they were having fun and good thing I brought lots of soap!

Then we went to the amazing fireworks show again in Payson.  My parents were able to drive up for the day to see the girls, so the girls had a lot of fun having all their grandparents there to watch the fireworks.  The girls both really loved the fireworks this year as well.  Avery held her hands on her ears the entire time again, but kept saying, "that one was cute!".  I love the ages they are at right now!  So cute all the time!

And of course, waiting for the fireworks to start can get quite boring, so we passed the time by making silly faces!

And Avery, who I must say is the cutest kid ever when sleeping, fell asleep the second we got in the car!  Fun was definately had by all!

Father's Day 2010

So, yet again I have fallen behind in my blogging, so prepare for a catch up fest!  For Father's Day, I let the girls decide what they wanted to do with their dad.  Well, they chose goofy golf.  Fantastic!  Only one thing.  It is the middle of June and freaking hot!  It was fun for about the first hole, then we all got VERY cranky!  Then Cody picked of course, Red Lobster for dinner, so we went there and cooled off!  Usually for holidays I try to sway the kids to what gift to get their dad so it is not something ridiculous.  However, for Father's Day anything goes.  Well of course they had to make him something, so they just painted on some wooden plaques for his office which turned out pretty cute.  Then they picked out a couple shirts, and my all time favorite gifts!  They picked out some trailer lights for our camp trailer!  They picked out some light up cars, and light up pink flamingos!  Haha!  I loved it.  They actually do look very nice on our trailer though!  Anyway, we love our Cody and love to celebrate him on Father's Day!