Timpanogos cave

Back in August we took a day and hiked to Timpanogos caves with my Dad, Kiah, Micah, Matt, Carter, Cody, Caitlin, Benji, Diego, Alessandro and I.  It was a tall steep hike, but in Alessandro's words "It was worth it because the caves were cool".  :)

I brought my camera only to realize it had no battery life.  :)  So I had to make due with my cell phone and lets just say they didn't turn out so good.  :(  It was really cool in the caves even if you can't tell by the pics. 

Weekend Getaway

This weekend we went to St. George to go to the Tuacahn theatre and saw Aladdin.  It was a great show.  The theatre itself is amazing, I highly recommend going to a show there if you have never been.  We arrived Fri and went to the show that night.  They had a 3D part and the kids thought that was amazing.  Mia was probably just a little too young to really enjoy it, but she did sit through it all even if it was on my lap.  :)  Luca fell asleep in the second half and Mia fell asleep about 10 min before it ended.  :)

On Saturday we had a nice relaxing day.  We slept in a little, played on the playground, played tennis and went swimming.  It was perfect weather...cool enough in the morning to play outside and hot in the afternoon to enjoy the pool.  We had a good time.

Diego and Alessandro drew a target in the sand and they'd try to jump off the swings and land in it.  They couldn't get enough of it until their hands felt like they were getting ripped apart.  :)

 

The seatbelt on the drive there and back was hurting Udine's healing incision so he took Mia's stuffed animal to cushion it.  I thought it looked funny.

The Party

We were babysitting for cousins night the Friday after Mia's birthday so we turned it into a birthday party for her.  I think she was in heaven.  :)  First there was a game of duck duck goose.

The kids all thought it was soo funny that Caitlin had Ellie touching their heads with her feet and saying duck.  :)

 I love these actions shots....pure joy

 I love Udine...he's such a good sport

 She is so happy  :)

Then good ol red light green light.  Udine always makes it interesting and tries to get the kids to laugh and move a little so they have to go back to the end.

Lined up and ready to start

 Green Light!!!!!

 Red Light!!!!

Simon says is always fun with Udine also.  He sure knows how to have fun with the kids.  :)  Glad he takes charge and I can sit back and take pictures and just enjoy watching. 

 

And we finished it off with a pinata and of course some cake. 

 None of the older kids wanted PJ to have his turn because they knew they wouldn't get a turn if he went first with being a baseball player and all.  hahaha

 Poor Christian.  He kept blowing out the candles which would make Mia cry so we finally just had to hold him back and he was not happy about that. 

 

It was a crazy but fun night.  I think Mia was very very happy!!

Happy Birthday Mia!!

My baby is 4!!  How did that happen!!??  She turned 4 on August 20th and we had a nice relaxing, low key birthday.  I think she enjoyed it though.  When she woke up Udine was still home so we let her open her presents, which she was thrilled about.  So she spent the whole day playing with cousins and with her new toys. 

 She loves taking care of her babies.

 Alessandro made her a baby carrier so she was trying it out.  What a thoughtful big brother.  :)

Her new scooter...so excited.  :) 

 

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit in the afternoon and that is always a special treat.

In the evening we went to Build a Bear so she could make her own little stuffed animal.  It was cute to watch her.  She picked out her bear and her outfit and then the sales lady put in her mind the bear needed shoes so we said that would be fine.  But she was picky about what shoes!!  haha  It was so funny.  Her brothers would bring her shoes as well as the lady that worked there and she would try them on, step back and look at them on the bear and say "nope".  Then when she tried on the white sandals she looked at them and said "perfect".  So after about 5 different shoes she found the "perfect" ones.  I thought it was hilarious. 

 

I failed to get a good picture of her with her bear.  It has a hello kitty dress with white sandals.  Quite fitting for my little girl.  This was her on the way home very excited about her bear.

Really the main reason we got a bear was to try and help her sleep.  Yes, my three year old still slept with a pacifier and we kept telling her on her 4th birthday she had to stop sleeping with them.  So in order to help her sleep she could hold her bear instead of sucking a pacie.  The first night was HORRIBLE!!  Lots and lots of tears before she fell asleep...but we weren't going to give in because she was way too old to go back to that.  So she finally fell asleep, but then woke up like every hour whimpering and looking for her pacie.  And since we are all in the same room right now I woke up every time she did.  It was terrible.  The second night we put her to bed and after like 10 min of crying she seemed to have fallen asleep.  Awesome!!  We thought she was adjusting well!!  Until we went to bed and checked on her.  She was laying on her back with her little blanket over her head.  We thought it was so cute and were chuckling about it until I pulled the blanket off her face so she could breathe better only to find a pacifier in her mouth!!  What!!?  I took it out and she only woke up a couple times at night.  In the morning we asked her about it.  Apparently she found the pacie in her pillow case and she put the blanket over her head so we wouldn't see.  hahahahaha  Too funny.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  :(  Oh well.  After that she was good to go without the pacie and fell asleep just fine with her bear instead.  She even undresses her every night to go to sleep.  Too cute.  Girls are so different than boys!!  ;)

 

We also had some cake and ice cream that night.  She wanted a My Little Pony cake.  And of course she needed Fluffy to sit by her.   

Mia is a fun little girl.  She likes to be independent and do things on her own.  But at the same time she always wants me close.  She often thinks she is the boss and gets all upset when things don't go her way.  :)  She loves to play house and is always taking care of her dolls.  Now that we don't live on a hill she has mastered the art of pedaling a bike.  :)  And she loves to ride her scooter.  She still enjoys wrestling her brothers but also loves the girlie things like hair accessories, jewelery and making sure she has the right clothes on.  It doesn't matter if the clothes match, in her eyes they do and there is no changing her mind. :)  Her favorite colors are pink and purple.  Her favorite foods are pasta and chicken nuggets...oh and candy and chips.  :)  She is still in speech therapy but is making progress.  She is a very loud talker, it almost sounds like she is yelling, but she's not.  She just talks really really loudly (only when she is in a familiar setting with familiar faces.  Otherwise she is as quiet as a mouse and won't even talk).  :)  She is in preschool this year and couldn't be happier about it.  She LOVES it.  We love our little Mia and the different perspective on life that she brings to our family.  Happy Birthday!!!