ALI'S SPECIAL DAY!

 

Family Photo before the baptism

Alan and Ali before the baptism

Ali and her friend Aubree get to share their special day!!

After going to the wrong stake center we arrived at the right church; luckily we left early enough so we weren't late.  Ali was so excited to be baptized and she looked so beautiful.  She is growing up to be an amazing girl.  She is so kind to everyone around her and is such a great example to her friends and family.  We are so glad she made the decision to be baptized.  I asked her after she was baptized if she felt different, she said yes but she couldn't really describe in what way.  We are so grateful for all the friends and family who came to share in Ali's special day.   

Ella got stiches :(

Way back in February, Ella was standing over by me at the stove,  while I was making dinner,  when all the sudden she started screaming.  When I looked down her finger was bleeding A LOT!  She had been playing with the vent behind the handle on our oven and stuck her finger in it.  She ended up  cutting the tip of her finger when she tried to pull it out. So we headed to a medical clinic close by and she ended up getting three stitches in her finger.  The Dr. said we were very lucky it didn't take off the whole tip of her finger.  The cut was 3/4 of the way through the tip of her  left pointer finger. 

I had just gotten the oven a week earlier and decided I didn't want one with such a sharp vent.  So I called Whirlpool and asked them what I should do.  They weren't much help at all and I wouldn't recommend ever calling them, they have horrible customer service and could cared less about what happened.  I finally ended up calling RC Willey and they were more than happy to fix the problem.  Their customer service department was awesome.  We were told to fill out a injury report and send it to Whirlpool for a refund on the medical expenses.  It's almost been 8 months and still no response from Whirlpool.  I have also left voice mail after voice mail and not a single one has been returned.  After dealing with them and realizing they don't care about the quality of their appliances or the safety of the consumer I will try my hardest to never buy another one of their appliances.  Also after talking to the repair man, that Whirlpool sent out to assess the appliance's safety issue, he said he wouldn't buy a whirlpool appliance unless it was from the Whirlpool gold series.  He said they had a lot of safety concerns and they were just built very poorly.  That being said I love my new oven and the safety in the design of the vent and Whirlpool you can kiss my business goodbye in the future.   

Family Pictures 2012

We had the opportunity of having our family pictures done and would like to thank Brandon Hyatt for capturing some of the fun moments with our family!!!  I was worried they wouldn't turn out very well since Little Miss Ella decided to not cooperate but they turned out great! 

Fun with family.

This year we decided to head up to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July.  It was a very busy week full of family get togethers,  bbq's, fireworks and Hunter's 2nd birthday party.  We started out our trip with stopping by one of our favorite places and visiting some amazing people...Alan's Grandma and Grandpa Andersen's and his Aunt Julie and Uncle Eddy's farm.  We sat down and had a great conversation with grandma and grandpa but the kids got restless and wanted to see the farm.  So we went for a ride (it's easier for grandpa to get around by car)  we saw the cute little dear fawns and learned just how protective the mama's are over their little ones.  They also have cute little piglets.  Ella was intrigued with the geese and they didn't scare her at all.  The poor geese kept getting corned by Ella chasing them.  After we got back to the house we sat outside in their fantastic backyard talking and enjoying some watermelon.  The kids loved exploring all the fun places the backyard had.  We then headed to Eddy and Julie's for a quick hello, they had just gotten back from camping and we didn't want to get in their way of unpacking.  We were only planning on staying for 5 minutes but we ended up staying for a few hours.  We love talking and spending time with them.  The kids have so much fun playing with their cousins.  Their cat had kittens and Ella and Kade were intrigued with them.  Ella would pick the kittens up by any part of their bodies and luckily the kittens didn't seem to mind. Kade would try and save the kittens from the wrath of Ella.  I wish I would have taken some pictures but we were having such a great time talking I forgot.  After a few hours we decided we better head to Alan's parents house.  The next day was the 4th of July.  We had a BBQ and then headed down to the green belt to settle in and watch fireworks.  Kade was so excited to see the grand finale that from the moment they started he kept saying "is the the grand finale?"  I had to keep saying to him that he would know when it was because it was more amazing than all the rest of the fireworks.  Right before the grand finale a cop car came down the road and told us all to move so we missed the finale.  Luckily the cop car seemed to make it okay that we missed the grand finale.  On Thursday we prepared all the fun things for Hunter's 2nd birthday party that was taking place the next day.  The kids had a fabulous time at the party playing in the pool, jumping on the tramp with the sprinkler under it and having water fights.   

Lexi and Ali playing in the pool

Ella wouldn't look at the camera

Cute little birthday boy!!!

Ali loves to pose for pictures and does almost every time I pull out the camera.

On Saturday we headed back out to the farm for a family reunion.  Once again we stayed probably longer that we should but we enjoyed every minute of it.  We are all so glad we got to spend time with everyone in Idaho and can't wait to go up there again soon.

Look at this beauty

Ella is sure a blessing to our family.  She couldn't help but play in my flowers today, no matter how many times I told her not to.  When I went over to move her she looked up at me with those eyes and I couldn't help but smile at her.  I can't believe she's growing up so fast.  

Ali's recital

Ali had her dance recital on June 4th.  She had a lot of people come to support her, Aunt Jo, Sandy, Grandma Linda, Grandpa Jerry, Paige, Kylie and of course all of our family.  Ali did a great job!!!  She looks like she has so much fun on the stage when she dances.  She loves to be up on stage and it seems like it doesn't even make her nervous at all.  Ali danced to a song called Jazz Baby and she loved her fringe on her costume.  We are sad that she has decided not to dance next year but can't wait to see what other activities she chooses to do.

 

Ali and her favorite dance friend Claire

Ali seemed to be one of the few dancers who knew what she was doing up on stage.

Kade was so excited about his new hair do!!!  He told me that he looked just like his cousin Justin.  I just love this little man and the big grinners he has. 

Ella's First Birthday!!!

I can't believe my baby girl is already one!!  She has been such a special blessing in our home.  She is so energetic and has a contageous smile.  Ella has a very cute personality and I love every minute of her.  Her big sister and brother love her so much and are so excited that she plays with them now.  Ella weighs 18 lbs and is pretty petite for her age. 

 

Ella loved her little puppy that Santa brought her so we decided to get her the dancing one for her birthday.  She was really excited about it until....

 

  

 

She realized she could climb into the box.   Who needs toys when the box is just sooooo much better to play with?!! 

 

Ella was a little timid of the birthday cake when the candle was lit.  The look on her face tells it all...she was not getting close to the flame. 

 

 

 

Ella loves to eat and I was shocked when she didn't want anything to do with the smash cake.  We tried to get her to play with it but she wouldn't.  As soon as I gave her a spoon she dug right in and had a fun time eating the frosting and making a mess.

Ella we love you so much and are so glad that you are part of our family.  We can't wait to see what the next year brings us and all the fun things you will learn. 

Temple Square

Alan's friend Wyatt and his family came down to Utah this weekend and asked us if we wanted to go to temple square with them.  It was great to walk around and explore temple square.  Since Alan has been working on Sunday's I haven't been taking the kids to church.  Not to make excuses but it's hard to want to take three kids to church by myself.  Anyway I am very grateful for the opportunity we had to do something church related as a family. 

 I love knowing that this is our eternal family.  I thank heavenly father every day for the amazing husband and kids that I have been blessed with. 

Kade said his favorite part was standing in front of Jesus.  Ali said she felt safe and warm when we were in this room.   

Although life has thrown our family a few twist and turns, I am so grateful we get to go through those times together.  I am grateful for a husband who has worked so hard for our family.  I am also grateful for the gospel, I know that we are an eternal family.  I am also amazed by the sweet spirit my children bring to our home.  I also know that when we look back on the trails we have had this past year, we will know that we became stronger because of them.  Thanks Wyatt and Mindy for inviting us to temple square.  IT was much needed. 

Christmas 2011

I finally got the three kids to sit still so I could get a picture of them with their favorite gifts.

Ella opening up her presents.

Ali showing her drawing kit.

Kade opening up his gifts.

He loved his lightening McQueen remote control car.

Ella's first Christmas, she sure loved to play with the tree ornaments.

Ali dancing to songs on her kindle.

Ali and mom trying to figure out the kindles.

Ella playing with her patty-cake dog.

Ali showing off her Kindle.  What a cutie!!

We had a hard time getting Kade to open his presents because he wanted to see what everyone else was opening.

We had a hard time getting Ella to look at the camera; she was too busy playing and exploring all the new things around her.

Due to Alan having to work at the Hospital on Christmas Morning Santa visited us on Christmas Eve.  Kade and Ali were so excited to both get Kindles and Ella loved her patty-cake Dog.  We all had such a great Christmas and the kids were spoiled as you can tell from the pictures.