Whitney and Camron Allen

Minky

2012-01-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Mia is obsessed with her minky blankets. When she wakes up in the morning and I go to pick her up out of her crib she immediately points to her favorite minky blanket. She insists that I wrap her up in it. Then, she will cuddle with me for a while. Sometimes even 15 minutes! I cherish every minute of this time that she will cuddle with me. Throughout the day if she sees a blanket she will carry it around, and throw a fit until I wrap her up in it.

Here she is with her favorite minky blanket. Made with love by her Grammy:

Mia also loves reading books and these little tiny Sesame Street books are her favorite lately...

All wrapped up in a blanky with a book in hand in the car seat!

I love spending every day with my little princess. She is growing up so fast and learning new things every day. Her new words are: Jesus, Stinky, Woof, Dog

She is so precious and can point Jesus out in pictures, even ones where He is surrounded by people. She will grab his picture and want to kiss Him. I think she remembers him. :)

Family Pictures

2012-01-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

In the fall we took some family pictures. My amazing sis in law Lindsay did them. (Check her website out here) I was in such a frenzy trying to run around get outfits. Pictures stress me out! But I was so happy with how they turned out... considering Mia was a little stinker. Every time we tried to have pictures of all 3 of us she would squirm, freak out, cry and want to run away. She is so independent and just wantes to do her own thing. We got them taken at old Main Street in Midvale. LOVED it there. Here are some of my favs:

Four amazing years!

2012-01-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

January 12, 2008 = The best day of my life.

I married my best friend.

This week we celebrate our 4 year anniversary.

We celebrated by going to our most favorite restaurant.

We were going to go to a movie, etc but our poor little Mia wasn't feeling well. So we came home and watched our wedding video instead. Still feels like it was just yesterday!! I can truly say these last 4 years have been the best 4 years of my life. I love Camron more and more each day and I am so blessed to have him as my eternal partner to share in the joy of our amazing little family.

The other day I was going through my wedding pictures and came across pictures of my wedding cake. I am still in love with my cake. Seriously, it was amazing.

50 is nice on ice

2012-01-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

January 1, 2012 my best friend & mom turned 50 years old. About two weeks before her birthday my dad called me up and asked if I would help throw a surprise birthday part. Um YES of course! So I immediately started making up invitations so that I could get them all sent out. I remembered that in my mom's email inbox she had baby pictures and knew that I wanted to use them somehow and then I came up with this invitation:

I was so happy with how it turned out! After sending out the invitations Christmas came and then I was gone all week in California. I knew that anything else was going to have to be done when I got home on Saturday afternoon. Then her birthday came. She had no idea what was coming. She was expecting a little family get together at my parents house around 4pm. Well, my Nana pulled her out of church early and blindfolded her and brought her to the Karoake Cafe in Murray (owned by my Uncle Jarod).

My Mom's birthday cake... Diet Coke!! How awesome is that! Made by Martin (my dads really good friend who also made my gorgeous wedding cake)

My mom walking into the party, blindfold and all.

My favorite picture of the whole night. She was so surprised and SO so happy.

Thanks mom for being my best friend. Love you!!

My mom and her parents.

We had a delicious lunch/dinner of my dad's famous broccoli cheese soup, breadsticks and salad. Delish! After some birthday cake the party really started with some Karaoke! This is my mom having a blast with all of her work friends:

And yes, I even joined in on some Karaoke action and sang some T-Swift with my cousins.

After an amazing night we handed out some "Karimello" candy bars.

Thanks to everyone who came and those who helped you really made my mom's birthday a day to remember!

Happy 50th birthday Mom! Love you more than anything!

Aquarium & Downtown Disney

2012-01-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

On Friday mostly everyone woke up super early and headed over to Disneyland for the day. We decided not to go because it is just too expensive and if I am going to spend that much money to get into Disneyland I would like to go when Mia is old enough to enjoy it - So we will have to go back in another year or two. Instead of going to Disneyland we went to the Aquarium. Mia loved looking at all the different fish and animals. She would point, wave and say "ooooh".

Halfway through the aquarium Cam got really sick. :(

Mia with Grandpa looking at the little sharks.

A massive sting ray that weighs over 200 lbs.

Our little fam in front of the aquarium.

After the aquarium we went and dropped Cam off at the hotel. Then we headed to Downtown Disney. It is a cute little outside shopping and dining area. We walked around and the first shop we went into was the Disney store. Mia was in heaven. Grandma bought her a mouse ears hat, I just had to buy her a minnie mouse shirt and Great Grandma bought her a minnie mouse. You would've thought she had gone to Disneyland!

Yelling with Grandpa

Mia had a blast running around. In the middle of Downtown Disney was a violinist. Mia stopped and danced to his music. She loves to dance!

Mia & Mommy

We had dinner at Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria. It was delicious and worth the 1 hour wait. Yummy. We had alot of fun on our last day in California!

Newport Beach

2012-01-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

The day after the wedding we left San Diego and headed up to Newport Beach. Camron's aunt's parents own a beach house right on the beach, literally a 2 second walk to the beach. We stayed there for the afternoon and hung out on the beach. Camron and his dad brought their wetsuits and did a little boogie boarding while Mia played in the sand with her cousin(?) Reagan. She was so happy to be reunited with the sand, she even ate a few hand fulls. I tried to stop her but couldn't. Not sure why she loves it so much! Mia loved the freedom of the beach and was just running around like crazy. I was following her around taking snapshots of her every move. She headed down towards the water but not in the water and I was trying to capture every little reaction of hers. Well, there must have been a big wave because the water came up farther than it had been and knocked her down. I scooped her right up but she was still soaking wet and I got all wet too. Thank goodness she wasn't too shaken up after that because she went right back to playing in the sand just minutes later. Newport Beach was about 10 degrees cooler than San Diego and it was SO foggy and misty from the ocean but absolutely gorgeous.

Cam coming in from boogie boarding

It was so misty I could not tell where Cam and Jerry were so I just took photos of random groups of people out in the ocean hoping that I took at least one pic of them. Not even sure if this is them... ha ha

Mia & Reagan

Oops... caught in the act!

Lovin the beach!

Headed near the water

This is literally 1 second before she got all wet!

The Pier (I was here 3 yrs ago with my mom & sis, good times!)

After spending the afternoon at the beach we headed over to our hotel to get ready. Then we headed over to the South Coast Plaza Mall. It is a HUGE mall with every store imaginable. We did a little shopping and then had dinner at the Claim Jumper. It was a FUN day!

Christmas Wedding Bells

2012-01-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

The day after Christmas is usually pretty relaxing. I like to play with all my new loot, lounge around the house and start to clean up and put away my decorations. This year was different. Instead of sleeping in we woke up early, rushed to the airport and got on a flight headed to sunny San Diego, CA. We were heading out to CA for a wedding! Camron's younger brother, Brayden, got married on Wednesday Dec 28th. The timing was a little crazy being after Christmas but it was just what I needed.... a nice break from the cold weather in Utah. The wedding day turned out to be a gorgeous one. It was a sunny 77 degrees. Yep, 77 degrees! It felt like summer. Brayden & Jenna were married in the San Diego Temple which is absolutely breathtaking. I have always wanted to go to that temple and now I have... so stunning. The day got started a little crazy since Jenna left the marriage license & temple recommend at home but the temple ceremony was beautiful. Then we headed over to the ward building for a luncheon catered by a mexican food company. It was delish and the flowers that I helped make turned out great. After the luncheon was the reception. It was held at the stake center and it turned out gorgeous. I didn't get great pics because I was carrying my lil point and shoot that day. They had it tented inside and all the tables and chairs were decorated and their were lights on the dance floor and near the food table. It looked great. We had a great time dancing the night away - that was Mia's favorite part.

Mia was a little flower girl

Camron & I at the temple

Mia with the Groom (Brayden)

The stunning San Diego Temple

Happy New Mr. & Mrs.

Our growing Allen Family

Mia on the dance floor

Me & Nicole

The reception site

Me & My Mr.

Dancing her little heart out

Christmas 2011

2012-01-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

I was so excited for Christmas this year. We got to play Santa and it was a blast! Mia slept in until about 8:45 and she woke up a little on the grumpy side. And then... we walked her into the living room where tons of presents were waiting for her. She started ripping open the wrapping paper and so I grabbed a piece, crumpled it up into a ball and set it aside. After she saw me do this she decided that was how she was going to unwrap her presents so each piece of paper that she tore off she would crumple it up and hand it to me and say "Thank You". The pieces started to get smaller and smaller. It was pretty funny. When she would get all the wrapping paper off she would get all excited and want the present out of the box. She got spoiled with tons of clothes, a purse, basketball hoop, cabbage patch doll, doodler, and a kitchen and many many more things....

After opening presents we went to Grandma Jones' for brunch, presents and the candy bar game. Mia got more supplies for her kitchen!

Our annual Allen Family Christmas pic. This is of all the grandkids that were there.

Me, Mia, Cam, Nicole, Jerry & Cathy

The Candy Bar game: A christmas tradition!

After the candy bar game we went over to my parent's house for an AMAZING dinner. And Mia got even more spoiled from her Grammy & Papa and she had a blast playing with all of her cousins.

Christmas this year was so wonderful. We are blessed to have all that we do and to be able to spend time with loved ones. Love this quote:

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!

Eve

2012-01-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve we went up to the Allen's for dinner. We had a delicious tri tip steak, parmesan potatoes, sauteed veggies, and my green salad - Pear poppyseed salad. Yum. After dinner we played the "left, right" game and also a guessing game where we wrote down celebrity names and had to guess who wrote down which name. It was pretty hilarious, especially when my father in law mispelled Justin Bieber as Justin Beaver... and then again on Michael Phelps he put Michael Phipps... needless to say we were laughing so hard! Then we opened gifts! Mia got spoiled and so did we! And for dessert? I was in charge and I wanted to make something fancy. So the night before I slaved in the kitchen making Vanilla Creme Brulee with raspberries. It was delicious and it turned out great... and I didn't get any pictures of it. Oh well.

So excited to open up her presents.

A dress up set! Just what she would want! This girl loves her accessories more than anything.

Princess Mia

Aunt Colie gave her an apron - so cute

She also got a vacuum... if only it really worked! My house could be spotless.

She also got a play tent and had a blast playing in it with Aunt Colie

Mia's Dream House

2012-01-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

For Christmas Nana gave us a Gingerbread house kit to make together as a family and send her pictures of us making it. So a few days before Christmas Camron helped Mia build her dream house... a house made out of cookies, frosting and candy! What more could a little girl ask for??

Once she realized that the house was edible she could not keep her hands off.

She would stick her finger in the frosting, lick her finger and say "Ooooh"

Building her house with daddy!

Just finishing up. I think Mia ate more candy than she ever needed.

Then she found entertainment with the gingerbread house box.

What a fun night!

Friends

2011-12-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

I was never really a HUGE fan of the Friends TV show but for some reason when I looked at this picture of us from the other night I thought of some of the lyrics from the Friends theme song:

But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too.

The last few days have been hard. We are just too young to have to bury one of our friends. The only positive thing about it was that we got to spend so much time together lately. I love my friends. Even if we go a month or so without talking it doesn't matter, we don't miss a beat. I know that my friends will always be there for me.

Anderson Family Christmas Party

2011-12-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Our annual Anderson family Christmas party took place last Sunday. As always we had great food and great company. This year my mom decided to have the grandkids make handprint ornaments. She had cute little fabric ornaments, would paint each kids hands and make a handprint for their very own ornament. I thought for sure Mia would freak out about getting her hand painted just because she hates being held down. But she loved it and didn't get upset at all!

Me and my cute cousin Brooke were wearing "opposite" outfits. Haha.

I don't think Camron moved from this comfy chair all night!

Look how cute my parents are!

Then it was present time! Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Anderson sure do spoil us all. Here is Mia opening her gift.

She was most interested in the chocolate kisses.

Mia's cute cousin Tess. These two were running around together like partners in crime. At one point they had made it all the way up the stairs together and Mia was giggling!

After a whole night of fun the grandkids all open up a their Christmas pajamas from Grammy and Papa and of course we have to take a picture of them wearing their new jammies. Mia loves being next to her cousins and was clapping and smiling while sitting by them...

Christmas is is 4 days... can you believe it!!!

Heaven got another angel

2011-12-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Tasha,

You were such a sweet, loving, talented, smart young woman. I will always cherish the memories we have had together. You were a truly beautiful person inside and out. You had a heart of gold and hugs that could cheer anyone up. So glad that I was blessed to be your friend and to have known you. Heaven truly got another angel, even if it was too soon. I know you are up in heaven in your mother's arms.

Love you!

Natasha Loosle

January 20, 1987 ~ December 10, 2011

Natasha Valentina Loosle, the loving daughter of that happy union of Sherri Lou Logar and James Arnold Loosle was born in Salt Lake City, January 20, 1987, 13 weeks premature and weighing in at 1 pound 15 ounces. Natasha was a ray of sunshine in her family's lives from the day she was born. She was happily greeted by her brothers and sisters, Eddie, Angie, Cindy, Steven, and Amber.

Due to immature lungs, Natasha had to be on oxygen until five weeks before starting Kindergarten, but it didn't slow her down one bit. She was never angry about her trailing oxygen tube, and wore her nose canula with a smile.

From an early age, Sherri started Tasha and Amber in dance, which they enjoyed immensely. They went on for years at the winner school excelling in jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop, gymnastics and tumbling. With a naturally beautiful, slim body, Natasha was gorgeous on stage! Her sweet personality and enthusiasm shone with every moment!

When she attended Bennion Jr. High she became co-head cheerleader. At Taylorsville High School, when they started the program of honoring a Student of the Month, Natasha was the first student honored. She was on the honor roll all through high school. While in high school she passed the course to be a dental assistant and worked at Jet-Lab.

Many of these great accomplishments came after the death of her mother Sherri, which happened when Natasha was only 13 years old. Sherri's death was a dreadful blow to the young girl, in spite of the fact that her mother had suffered from cancer most of Natasha's life. Like any child, Natasha could not see life without her mother. So when that happened, it was a blow that perhaps in reality, Natasha never recovered from. Goodness knows Jim was a wonderful father and continued keeping the girls in dance, now doing all the lessons and rehearsal running that Sherri had previously done, but a girl just misses her mom in spite of the great love she had for her dad.

Natasha studied at Salt Lake Community College and was very close to having her associate degree. She worked all the time she was in college. Natasha was always involved in dance and was also a cheerleader for the Utah Blaze indoor football team. She was enthusiastic about anything she was involved in.

Natasha moved to Florida to work for Jet Blue, but when the company suffered financial difficulties, the job fell through. She was fortunate to find and eventually live with Tracie and Brian Davis, who became her second Parents in Florida. Tasha was scheduled for a trip with them; they had already sent her the tickets, but unfortunately she died the weekend before she was to leave to meet them.

Two years ago she moved from Florida back home with her dad. She got a job with Rastar, where she became not only a good worker, but one of the most loved employees on the staff. Probably because of her warm personality and love for other people. When they learned of her death on Monday, the staff had a day of crying and mourning for Natasha. She will be lovingly remembered by her co-workers.

The thing most of us admired most about Natasha was her love for others. Relatives will all tell you that they never entered Jim's home without Natasha running up to give them a big, genuine hug. Her love for family was very evident in the overwhelming welcoming we always received. And when we left there was always a big "I love you," I love you, Dad," were the last words Natasha said as she left the house that fateful weekend.

When Tasha got older, she quit dancing lessons, but never quit dancing. Many of her friends have stated that their fondest memories of Tasha involve going to her bedroom and singing while Tasha danced. No doubt Tasha danced all the way into her mother's loving, out-stretched arms as they met in heaven.

Natasha was preceded in death by her grandparents, Sylvia Griffiths and Ruben Otto Loosle and Eva Mae and Frank Robert Logar, and her mother Sherri Lou Logar Loosle. She is survived by her father James Arnold Loosle and siblings Amber Dawn (Jason) Willoughby, Steven Brett (Jackie) Loosle, Cindy (Steve) Archer, Angie (Clark) Haycock, and Eddie Arnold Loosle. She is also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins, and nephews.

Funeral services Tuesday, December 20th, 11 am, Bennion 6th Ward, 5775 South 2700 West, Taylorsville, where friends and family may call on Monday 6-8 pm and also on Tuesday at the ward 9:30 am until time of services.

Interment Washington Heights Park, 4500 Washington Blvd., Ogden, Utah.

In lieu of floral offerings family has suggested that dnations be made to a charity of choice / American Cancer Society.

Mia's Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

Ever since I put up my Christmas tree last week Mia has been in awe of it. The first day she was pretty good and didn't try to take the ornaments off. Now she loves to take them off and carry them around. I have now had to move my ornaments up out of reach. So tday, Mia decorated her very own tree. She loves it. She has been carrying her tree around and hasn't touched our big tree all day long... I am thinking her own tree has been a good distraction so far and it is so cute! Tiny just like her. It is a silver tree with pink ornaments. I have a feeling she will love it even more next year!

Celebrating December 9th

2011-12-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Are you celebrating December 9th today too? It is a very special day for us. 2 years ago today we were blessed with a miracle. Today marks the day of Mia's first official day of life. 2 years ago today I was going through my first cycle of IVF and on this day we had an "egg retrieval". So officially, Mia began her first day of life in a Petri dish. Prayers were answered and we were blessed with the greatest gift of all. Words cannot express the happiness and joy that she has brought into our lives. We are so greatful for our sweet little miracle who has made us happier than we can ever imagine. Mia is so fun, lively, energetic, beautiful, smart, and loving. We could not have asked for a better daughter. I would not take back going through all the struggles of infertility becaust it brought Mia to our family.

We love you Mia. Thank you for choosing us to be your mom and dad. Happy First Day of Life!!

Mia singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

WE LOVE YOU

Happy Turkey Day!

2011-11-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving we headed down to St. George with the Allen Family. Every other year the Allen family gets together for a Thanksgiving reunion. There are so many people that come we have Thanksgiving dinner at a church house. First we eat dinner, then we watch a slideshow, and then we play some games. We always play a big game of fruit basket. It is pretty crazy because there are so many people playing and running around. After fruitbasket we play a bubblegum game where everyone is given a piece of gum and whoever blows a bubble first wins... I didn't win.

After that everyone was shooting hoops. This is when Mia fell in LOVE. First of all, she loves balls so when she saw everyone bouncing basketballs she ran right over. She would run around with her arms out like this:

She would pick up the ball:

Carry it around, even though it is just as big as she is!

Then throw it down to the ground and bounce it. While it bounced she would simultaneously bounce her head and body. It was SO cute and funny to watch.

Then Daddy helped her shoot a few baskets.

She LOVED this!

Mia loved playing basketball with daddy.

After dinner the boys went over and played some pickle ball. Later that night the girls stayed up late chatting away. I love Camron's cousins! :) Then I headed out to do a little midnight black friday shopping. It was pretty crazy down in St. George because they don't have as many stores as we do here in Salt Lake. The line at Target was wrapped around the entire store and weaved in and out of each aisle. I was able to sleep in since I shopped at midnight. Once I woke up I was right back at it! I sure had a fun time shopping for Mia and found some pretty good deals. It was a great little get away and the weather? Perfect!! Can't wait to do it again in 2 years. I have so much to be thankful for:

I am thankful for:
*Mia
*Camron
*Family
*Home
*Jesus Christ
*Church
*Friends
*EVERYTHING I HAVE- I am truly blessed.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yes. I have read Twilight and yes, I loved it. I have seen all the movies. Every time I go, it is a girls party! Last year I did the whole midnight premiere thing... it was fun but exhausting. This year I decided to wait until Saturday morning and go at a normal time. My crazy, fun, amazing cousins aka the Sagagirls planned a little celebration. Before the movie we met at my cousin Sadie's house. She did not disappoint! She had her basement all decorated for Twilight, she served us a delicious breakfast, and handed out some super cute party favors. We also made some T-shirts to wear to the movie. Thanks Rogers girls for always making everything so much fun!!

Me, My mom, Edward, Jacob, Bella and Lindsay

And with my awesome cousins!

So my thoughs on the movie? I liked it. There were cheesy parts but that was to be expected. I mean, the books are cheesy. And... I am still Team Jacob even though she married Edward.

Big Girl PigTails

2011-11-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

If there was one magic power that I wish I had it would be to stop Mia from growing up so fast. Her hair is growing so much and today I was able to put it up in "Big Girl Pigtails". It's true. She is starting to look less like a baby and more like a toddler. I still call her baby girl though and I probably always will.

Say Cheese

2011-11-14T12:50:00.004-07:00

DMia is getting so big! She has started saying a few words like "Shoes, Jet, Mom, Dad, Hi, baby, uh-oh, bye-bye, nigh nigh, thank you". Yesterday I pulled out the camera to snap a few photos of her because she was just looking so adorable in her Sunday dress. Mia loves going to church and all day yesterday at church she was waving and saying "Hi" to everyone. Everyone kept saying how friendly she is! Yep, she is my little social butterfly. She sure loves people and loves other kids. As I was snapping photos of us I was telling her to say cheese... and sure enough she was smiling and saying "CHEESE"... at least that is what it sounds like!

Can you believe how blue her eyes are? I fall in love with them every day!

For Halloween my mother in law gave us this large container of Jelly Bellies from Costco:

I put the container on the top shelf in our pantry. Mia knows exactly where it is. She will walk over to the pantry and point and say "Mom", as if to ask me for some. She will be persistent until I open the doors of the pantry. Once I open them she will point to the Jelly Bellies and beg for one.

If I don't give her any Jelly Bellies this is her complaining face. She will throw a fit until she gets one! Oh dear, she sure loves candy.

Disney on Ice

2011-11-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Disney on Ice with Camron's side of the family. My father-in-law gave us tickets for the Delta suite which was awesome. We went last year and Mia was just a tiny little thing. Mia has an attention span of like 2 minutes so I didn't think she would be too interested in what was going on. But to my surprise she loved it. She sat and watched most of it and would dance to the music. I love how she dances, she will shimmy and shrug her shoulders. Now she has come up with new dance moves with her hands and will twirl around in a circle. After sitting and watching for quite some time she was able to get up and run around in the suite. I love being in the suite for that reason. It is definitely the best way to go to an event with little ones!

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

Camron and Jerry were able to watch some football.

Mia Dancing to the music

Then she discovered popcorn and she was hooked! She loved eating the popcorn while watching the skaters.

Couldn't keep her hands off of it

Us at Disney On Ice

Disney on Ice was actually really entertaining and I am so glad that Mia enjoyed herself as much as she did! If we go next year I am sure she will want to dress up as a princess.

Winter Coat Fun

2011-11-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Mia loves being outside. She begs me all day long to go outside. She loves being in the dirt, picking up rocks, playing with Jet and running around on the grass. It is a whole new world for her to explore. I don't mind taking her outside to play but man it has been pretty cold lately and I am kind of a wimp. The other day she wanted to go outside so I pulled out her new winter coat. She loves wearing it and it kept her warm so that she could play to her hearts content. Look how happy she is playing outside:

Then it got too cold so we had to come inside... notice the change in her facial expressions? ha ha, not as happy!

Love my little munchkin!

BIG announcement

2011-11-03T08:33:00.000-06:00

For my big announcement check out my other blog:

Something Brought You Here

Want some Candy???

2011-11-01T10:53:00.000-06:00

Trick Or Treat!!

I was so excited for Halloween this year because it was going to Mia's first year of trick or treating. This year Mia was a Pink Fairy. I found the costume last year and fell in love with it. I was a little worried that she wouldn't wear the hat but she loved it and kept the hat on the whole time.

At around 3pm we went to Papa Russ' work for some trick or treating. Alot of people had their offices and desks decorated for Halloween. When we first got there she wasn't sure what to think and even got a little scared. But once she realized that she could pick out a piece of candy and carry it around the got the hang of it pretty quick.

Here is our little Fairy Princess:

She liked carrying around the bucket until it got too heavy.

Then she realized there was candy in there and wanted to eat some!

Walking around with Papa

After trick or treating at Papa's work and hanging out there for a while we headed up to Bountiful to visit the Great Witch of Bountiful - AKA Great Grandma Jones. Every year Grandma Jones dresses up as a witch and she is famous to many people in Bountiful for her costume but mostly for her witch cackle. When Mia first heard it she got a little frightened and ran away. Then after the first time she was intrigued. We had some yummy taco soup for dinner.

Last minute I decided that Camron and I should dress up. I went downstairs to look through some costumes and found some an antler headband so I put on a brown shirt, some furry brown boots and decided I would go as a moose and Cam dressed up as a bowhunter. (I know, what a stretch for him ha ha)

Our little Family with Great Grandma Witch!

Had to get a picture of my mother in law and sis in law. They dressed up as the little girls in the youtube video that sing the Nicki Minaj Song "Super Bass".

Then we did a little more trick or treating at Grandma's house. Mia found some rocks and put them in her bucket.

Then she got even more sidetracked and started picking flowers...

But Finally sat down with her bucket to go through her loot. Daddy was pretty excited that she got a few big Heath bars.

Hope you all had a Fabulous Halloween. Ours sure was!!

Black Eye Beauty

2011-10-24T08:31:00.000-06:00

Mia LOVES her stuffed animals. She carries them around, pats them on the back and says "Ahhh". This morning she was carrying around Mr. Wocket and Mr. Bear at the same time while we were playing in her room This makes it hard to see where you are going. She tripped over herself (which happens quite often) and went eye first into the ottoman of the rocking chair. And the result?? Her first black eye :( After me holding her and her crying for maybe 5 minutes she was ready to play again. Poor little eye - I guess there is a first for everything even if it is a black eye.

She is still gorgeous even with a black eye

Still holding Mr. Wocket & Mr. Bear

Busy at play:

Witches Night Out

2011-10-15T20:26:00.000-06:00

Last night we met up with my family at Gardner Village. Every year Gardner Village goes all out during the month of October. Usually they have a petting zoo, horse rides, face painting, and witches all over the place. We showed up and realized it was Witches Night Out, which I guess is more like a ladies night so they didn't have the petting zoo or the horse rides but everything else was still going on. I dressed Mia up in a little Halloween outfit but when we first got there Mia wasn't too excited to be there.

As soon as she saw her cousin Tess she quickly lit up. They played in this little corner for a while. There is a witch in the background playing the piano. She loved playing with the hay and pumpkins.

Mia loves hanging out with her Papa but I still could not get her to smile for the camera.

I took these pictures with my little point and shoot so they didn't turn out as good as they should have. Oh well... here is our little family next to one of the many witches. Maybe Cam is a vampire?? See how he sparkles in the sun? ha ha

Then we went over by all the pumpkins. Right by the pumpkins there is a stage where all the little kids can go and dance to the loud music that is being played.

Mia LOVES music, dancing and other kids so this was her favorite part. She was dancing and running all over the place.

Afterwards my family went to Leatherby's for icecream. We went there for a minute but then decided to go grab some dinner since we hadn't had any yet and we were starving!! We got dinner at Downtown Philly in South Jordan. If you have not tried this place you definitely should! It has the best philly cheese steak sandwiches. On the ride home Mia and I took pictures with eachother and she was cheesin it up!

Happy Friday

2011-10-14T15:00:00.000-06:00

I had such a good week this week. I started babysitting and it turns out I absolutely love it. Mia loves being around other kids and constantly goes up to Baby Q and gives her hugs and kisses. Seriously, Mia is definitely not meant to be an only child because she loves other children SOOO much. (I know what you are thinking... then have another one!) Sorry, not going to happen any time soon. Anyway, we had a great week and the best part is that the weather has been FANTASTIC. And I got paid! The first thing I did with some of my money?

Got my hair done!! I have not gotten it done since JANUARY. I have been trying to be frugal since we have had the house and have so many projects going on. So as soon as I could I knew I would just HAVE to get it done by my favorite hair stylist Whitney Rushton. I also needed something new but didn't want to cut my hair since it is finally starting to get long. I had her do a 'melt' on my hair. Here is what it looks like now:

The lighting is bad in this next picture but I just wanted to show how long my hair is getting. I am pretty proud of myself for going this long without chopping it all off like I normally have done in the past.

Tonight we are headed to Gardner Village with Mia's cousins. I can't wait to take her to see how she reacts to all the witches and Halloween activities. I am sure she will love it since there will be so many kids everywhere. I will let you know how it goes. Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

Got the job!!!

2011-10-08T12:07:00.001-06:00

As many of you know, I am a stay at home mom. I love everything about it. I am so lucky to be able to stay home with Mia and hang out with her everyday all day long. The only thing I wish was that I could somehow get $paid$ to do it. That way we could have a little extra spending money so that we can start furnishing our house (it is a little bare) and do fun things and not feel guilty about it. So I have been looking for ways that I could stay at home with Mia but still make a little extra cash. I found out about this website called care.com. You make a profile and it links you up with people who are looking for nannies/babysitters/childcare, etc. I didn't want to start a daycare in my home, it is just not the right fit for me. Well, this week I came across someone who was looking for someone to watch their sweet 3 month old baby girl one to two times a week. So I sent her a message and met with her on Thursday. She told me they had 43 responses to their ad on the website and it was down to me and 2 other women. WOW. I felt so lucky and blessed they were considering me. They literally live 2 minutes away. They came over to my house today to check it out and see if it was somewhere they felt comfortable bring their sweet little baby over. And... I got the job!! She is going to start paying me at $10/hr. And the best part? The days that she needs me to watch her are on the days that Camron works (his schedule is Sunday-Tuesday and every other Wednesday )So for the most part I won't be working on his days off. I feel like this is such a blessing and could not be happier. I start next week. WAHOO!!

The Great Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-04T16:55:00.000-06:00

It's OCTOBER!! We had a great weekend enjoying conference. On Sunday we went up to Great Grandma Jones' for Lunch/Dinner during sessions. After conference was over we hung out outside. Lately Mia LOVES being outside. As soon as she is outside she just wants to roam around and do her own thing. It is like she is studying everything around her. She loves flowers, plants, grass, rocks, and dirt.

After playing around outside we went Great Grandma's backyard to pick some pumpkins. Usually every year all the grandkids get to pick a pumpkin out of her pumpkin patch and take it home. Well... this year her pumpkin patch was kinda sad because this is the only pumpkin that grew!!

Perfect though. One Pumpkin for one little Mia to pick:

Mia with Great Grandma & Grandpa Jones. She thought the pumpkin was pretty cool.

Mia with Aunt Colie

Yay pumpkin!!

Great Grandma Jones and her only pumpkin! Hopefully she can grow some more next year.

HAPPY OCTOBER!!

Moved my new blog...

2011-10-01T17:36:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's true. It's been a whole 4 days that we have had this blog and we have already moved. We would like to you come with us (all 2 of you that is). Here is the link to our new website:

http://somethingbroughtyouhere.blogspot.com/

Thanks for being patient with us while we try and figure this whole thing out.

Don't worry I will still be posting on this blog too :)

Something brought you here

2011-09-29T23:36:00.002-06:00

Colie and I have decided to start a new blog... about everything. We will see how it goes but I am pretty excited! Check it out.

http://somethingbroughtyouhere.wordpress.com/

It is still in the works but we will get there!

Girls Night

2011-09-28T21:34:00.002-06:00

Went to dinner with my best girl friends last week. It was much needed. Sometimes a girl just needs a night out with the girls to talk about life, LAUGH and have a good time. Plus, it didn't hurt that we went to the most amazing Thai restaurant in downtown SLC- Sawadee. So yummy. My friends never disappoint.

Gone Huntin'

2011-09-20T13:14:00.003-06:00

August is the month when HUNTING begins. Camron loves to archery hunt and this year him and his dad both got deer & elk tags. I really do love camping and being in the mountains but I was a little hesitant about going down this year since we have Mia now. She wasn't quite walking on her own yet and I could just imagine her being covered in dirt! Oh well, I guess I wouldn't know how it was going to be until I got there! Normally when we go camping it is just us, this time we had company which I was very glad for. I was so glad that Jerry and Cathy decided to come hunting this year. They helped us set up a pretty awesome campsite. We had the tent trailer, and a couple screen rooms. In one the of screen rooms we put a tarp down on the ground and thought it would be perfect for Mia to play around in and not get dirty. The only thing is that once she was in there she just wanted to get outside and play. She loves being outside and discovering nature, and I don't blame her. There is something about being up in the mountains. The air is clear, skies are blue, it smells like fresh trees and grass and the views are majestic.

Seriously gorgeous

Our lovely camp

The first morning Camron woke up bright and early. He really wanted to go out and search for an elk. As he was out hiking he saw what he thought was an elk. So he pulled out his range finder.. it was only about 80 yards away. Then he pulled out his binoculars and saw a big round head.... it was a BEAR!!! He didn't want the bear to think he was sneaking up on it so he booked it right outta there. He went up and around to look somewhere else for some elk. He started making some elk calls and came upon a cow elk and raghorn bull elk that were bedded down. Sine his tag was for a cow elk he thought he would take a shot! Meanwhile we are back at camp setting up and it was past 1pm. I kept wondering what was taking him so long... maybe he got an elk! Then around 1:30 he came buzzing up to camp with an elk on his 4-wheeler. As soon as he got to camp he wanted to hang his elk up in a tree. As he was hanging the elk up he felt a smack on his forehead and on his eye and realized he was being swarmed by bees. There was a beehive in the tree he was trying to use!

We put some baking soda on his bee stings while he took a rest from hanging the elk. Jerry decided he would try to get rid of the bees and this was his "bee suit".

Sure hope that elk was worth all that effort!!

Mia had so much fun playing on the 4-wheeler, playing in the dirt and discovering everything around her. She came away with a few bumps and scratches. She didn't mind being dirty and I actually had a really good time hanging out with her at camp. She was happy to have Grandma Cathy there to play with her and take her on little walks. She loved walking through the tall grass and picking up sticks and rocks and attempting to eat them.

The night before we came home Jerry finally got a deer after 3 attempts. 3rd time was the charm! It was a pretty funny adventure and I told Cam that next time he needs to take a video camera on his head to record everything so that I can see it all. We spent 5 1/2 days and both men were successful in their hunts. We had an amazing time but it sure felt nice to come home and take a shower! Until next year...

Susie Homemaker

2011-09-16T12:42:00.004-06:00

Yes, that's me. Didn't you know that I was such a home maker? Ha ha... neither did I but last week I sure felt like one. I love having our garden and being able to eat fresh veggies right out of our own back yard. As most of you who do have a garden know, sometimes when things start growing you get an abundance. I mean, we literally had cucumbers coming out of our ear. We had way too many cucumbers to eat fresh so I made home made dill pickles and they are yummy. Then, the next day I canned tomatoes (thanks to my dad because our tomato plants only produced one tomato this year for some reason). As if I hadn't had enough I also made home made strawberry jam. Then, I made some zucchini bread, and froze broccoli and green beans out of our gardner. Phew!! A lot of work but it sure is worth it. Everything tastes better when it is fresh and home made.

Mia's Birthday Blog post

2011-09-12T14:46:00.002-06:00

So... I Just blogged about Mia's birthday and it is showing that I posted it back in August (because I really did start on the post back then... just have been slacking) To see all about her first birthday click here -

http://whitneyandcamronallen.blogspot.com/2011/08/have-you-heard-buzz.html

I will NEVER forget

2011-09-11T09:28:00.004-06:00

I will NEVER forget that day. I remember it in detail. I was sitting at my kitchen table. I had just woken up to get ready for school. I was in 9th grade. I was eating a bowl of cereal, Fruity Pebbles to be exact. I heard my mom screaming at the TV in her room. I ran in to find out what was going on and watched the airplanes crash into the twin towers. I felt so uncertain, afraid, worried. At school that day we watched the news I think in all of our classes. I don't think we did any school work that day. That night I worried that my then boyfriend, brothers, and dad would have to go fight in WAR. My heart ached for all those that were missing, injured and even worse- those who lost their lives.

9/11/01

I will Never forget

Thank you to all those who have served our country. Thank you to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that I could have freedom... my daughter could have freedom.

Paradise- The Final Chapter

2011-09-10T12:02:00.004-06:00

One night Colie and I went down to the beach with the boys and were watching them boogie board. Well, we got a little bored watching them so we decided to have a photo shoot. Besides, you can't go to the beach without getting at least a couple sunrise pics and jumping pics!

Mia joined in on the jumping

I get a good laugh out of these photos. The first one you can see Cam in the red shirt and Jerry in the black shirt... both trying to catch the wave

Now look at both of them... does it not look like Cam is surfing on top of Jerry?? ha ha hilarious

Cam catching a wave. They are all business with their flippers, flipper socks, boogie boards and ear plugs

On the last day we went Kayaking up Wailua River. Mia wanted to just jump right into the water. We kayaked up the river until we got to the hiking spot. Then we hiked up to "Secret Falls". Well, it really isn't much of a secret waterfall since there are tons of people there but it is still beautiful!

Cam and I jumped in the water at "Secret Falls". It was FREEZING. I am sure everyone was looking at me like I was strange because as soon as I got in the water I started yelping. Good thinkg Jerry got it on video ha ha.

We hiked back down and kayaked back down the river. Then we headed back to the condo to pack and get ready to leave. We were SO SAD to leave :( We really loved it in Kauai and really hope to make it back there some day!

We took the over night flight and Mia slept the whole way home. Me? I probably got about 5 min of sleep. As soon as we got home Mia was refreshed from sleeping all night and ready to play! Oh boy. She did let us take a nap though.

Part 5

2011-09-06T14:10:00.006-06:00

Man oh man... I Hope you aren't getting tired reading and looking at pictures from our trip to Kauai. Much to Camron's dismay... we all wanted to go on a bike ride. We heard that it was a must do from one of the locals to go on a bike ride of the coast. And the best part was that the bike rental shop was right next to one of the island's best shave ice... and man it was the best! They have every flavor ever imaginable... dill pickle, cake batter, dulce de leche, mudslide, and anything else you can think of.

Colie & Mia standing in line to get an Ono Ono shave ice

Camron and I shared a shave ice because they are SO big and they only come in the one size. It was so good we had to go back the next day and get one.

Us at the Ono Ono Shave ice shack

We all rented bikes and put Mia behind Cam in a little bike trailer. She stayed awake most of the ride. We got to ride on some pretty sweet beach cruisers. Mine was the deluxe one and it even had a bell on it :) After riding around on the beach cruiser it made me really want one!

First family bike ride (Camron DID not want to go on the bike ride because he remembered how hot and miserable our bike ride was in Aruba.... but Hawaii is WAY better than Aruba)

It was so refreshing to have the ocean breeze while we were biking!

Seriously, I want one of these

End of bike trail

Mia was tuckerd out after the bike ride

While we were there we went to Wailua Falls... so gorgeous. As we were looking out at this massive waterfall we could see a couple of guys standing at the top of it. There are signs all over that state to stay off and stay back because people have died from climbing around on top and slipping and falling. Luckily they didn't get too close to the edge but seriously ARE THEY CRAZY????

The falls... I guess a long time ago the native boys would jump this waterfall as a rite of passage in becoming a man... many died doing it. Sure glad we don't live in those times.

We also headed over to spouting horn that was really close to our hotel. Kind of like a little geyser.... pretty neat.

Paradise Part 4

2011-09-05T13:42:00.004-06:00

One day we headed down to Ke'e and went on a hike up the Kalalau trail. It was a pretty good hike. Cam carried Mia the entire way in the infant carrier. He said that was him experiencing what pregnancy is like... uh huh. The higher we got up the trail the more you could see the coast and MAN is it gorgeous!! I love hiking and I especially love it when there are views like on this hike. The water is so blue it was turquoise... which also happens to be my favorite color.

Gorgeous views

It was really windy up top

On our way back from the hike we stopped at this wet cave. Pretty neat. Not much to do here except stand for a photo op though.

After our hike we headed over to Tunnels beach which is said to have some good snorkeling. Tunnels beach is also where Bethany Hamilton (Soul Surfer) was attacked by a shark and lost her arm. Right before we left for Kauai I watched Soul Surfer and was a little freaked out about sharks. We went snorkeling and honestly, it wasn't good. I think I just have bad luck with snorkeling because I have never really been amazed whenever I have snorkeled... I guess I expect it to look something like a scene out of Finding Nemo. While we were at Tunnels we did come across a seal though and that was super neat. They put signs up around it to protect them since they are an endangered species, and apparently they can be dangerous too.

Seeing this seal totally made up for the bad snorkeling

View at Tunnels beach

No, Camron isn't running to save some one from a shark attack.... The sand was so hot at this beach you literally had to run as fast as you could to the water.

Mia pointing at the seal

Paradise part 3

2011-09-04T14:55:00.003-06:00

We drove down to the Napali coast. Now isn't it just gorgeous??? Man, looking through all these pictures sure makes me miss it.
The next day for dinner we went to the Koloa fish market. When we were looking up places to eat all the places online said to go to the fish market. So we went. They had a lot of "poke" to choose from. Poke is raw salmon cut up in chunks which they had prepared in different sauces. I was a little sceptical so I played it safe and got the teriyaki chicken... I know, boring me.

We grabbed our food to go and took it to a nearby park.

While eating our fish market dinner we watched some young hawaiian boys practice football and girls on the side practicing cheerleading. It made for some good, free dinner entertainment.

Oh and a random/interesting thing about Kauai is that there are stray roosters and chickens ALL OVER the place. I mean seriously, they are everywhere.

Paradise Part 2

2011-09-04T10:16:00.004-06:00

We went to Waimea Canyon lookout. This is said to be the "Grand Canyon" of Hawaii. It was beautiful and breathtaking.

Mia soaking it all in.

Thanks to Colie I had a cute and different braid in my hair each day. She was my personal hairstylist ha ha.

Then we went over to Wai'ale'ale which is said to be one of the wettest spots on earth. It pretty much rains in the one spot all day long, we could always see rain clouds in that direction. There is a hike you can go on here that kind of reminds me of the Great Wall of China. Not that I have ever been there, but the trail kind of looks like it.

Trip to Paradise AKA Kauai (part one)

2011-09-03T20:06:00.006-06:00

This year for our Allen family trip we went to Kauai. I have been begging to go to Hawaii ever since we started going on family trips and finally we got to go this year. I was beyond ecstatic when I found out we were going to Kauai for a week. I was a little worried about how Mia would do on the airplane. On the ride there we sat by some old lady who came to sit by us and said, "The baby doesn't have a seat?" and I replied, "No, she sits on my lap." The lady then rolls her eyes and lets out a big huff and says "OH My GOSH." I thought to myself, oh man this is going to be a long flight. Thankfully Mia was pretty good and didn't bother the old lady too bad but come on... who can resist her cute little face??

We stayed at a condo that was within walking distance of the beach. We spent alot of time at Brennecke's beach where the boys (Cam, Jerry and Brayden) had a blast boogie boarding while us girls (Me, Mia, Cathy & Colie) soaked in alot of sun.

First trip to the beach for Mia
Mia's first encounter with sand... love at first sight/feel.

Mia loved walking in the sand. It took her while to warm up to the waves in the ocean.

One morning we all went out for a walk along the road by the beach. We saw turtles! It was pretty cool. The rest of the trip while the boys were boogie boarding they were boogie boarding with turtles right next to them/under them.

We hiked to Kipu Falls where Camron and Nicole did a little bit of cliff jumping and rope swinging into the water. It was beautiful. I didn't get any good pics of Camron jumping or swinging because my hands were full. Mia had a rough time adjusting to the time change and was struggling with not being able to take full naps.

Mia ate a lot of sand on this trip!

Have you heard the BUZZ?

2011-08-26T13:32:00.008-06:00

Mia turned ONE year old!
I absolutely cannot believe it. It feels like I just brought her home from the hospital and now she is already ONE! Makes me sad that she is growing up so fast but I love watching her grow and change and learn new things. On her birthday we went to Lagoon for Cam's work. Since she is not big enough to ride on any rides really we took her to Laguna Beach and she loved it of course. This baby girls LOVES water more than anything. She had so much fun that she slept the whole rest of the time pretty much that we were at Lagoon.

Mia on her Birthday

We had a birthday party for her on Saturday August 20th. I found a cute idea for a Bumble Bee birthday party and decided to go with it! I knew I wanted to make her a beehive cake and some super cute bumble bee cupcakes and then decorate a yellow & black dessert table. We had some family over for a delicious BBQ. Dark clouds started to hover over us as soon as we all started to dig in to the yummy food (bbq brisket, bbq beans, corn, cheesy potatoes, yummy salads, etc). It was going to RAIN! We thought we would take our chances and just wait and see if it would rain. Most of us got done eating just as it started to POUR. Everyone was grabbing something and trying to take cover inside my house. It ended out okay because we all gathered in my living room and sang happy birthday to Mia and watched her open presents. She got SO spoiled. And to make the day even more special... Mia took her first steps that day!

THANK YOU EVERYONE! I kind of felt like I was running around like crazy and was so glad for all of the help.

Enjoying her Bee-day BBQ

Dessert Table - I put alot of baking and effort into it but LOVED doing it. There are cupcakes, birthday cake, home made oreos, assorted candies, sugar cookies and black licorice. YUM

It was SO windy! The balloons were everywhere

Honey Bee cupcakes

Beehive Bee-day cake

Sugar cookies

BBQ Table

I could not get a smile out of her this day

Singing happy birthday

She sure loved playing in her cake

Opening presents... thanks everyone!

Such a FUN day!

Pioneer Day

2011-08-21T14:46:00.005-06:00

I sure was sad to see July go. I love all that July has to offer; the holidays, family get togethers, swimming, staying up late and of course my sister visiting. I am still trying to catch up on blogging from July. We had a great Pioneer day! We celebrated by going to the parade downtown. Mia sure did love it. She was clapping and dancing and of course... what is a parade without Red Vines licorice? Later that day we went and saw the movie Cars 2. Mia was too busy wanting to run around, she didn't really care to watch the movie at all. I love Holidays!

My stake's float... pretty awesome. They won an award for it

Cute pic of Tyden. Mia sure does miss all of her cousins

Isn't her smile just the cutest?

Licorice hands

Love my baby girl

She was so intrigued by all the floats and music. Mia loves to people watch

Boating Babe

2011-08-21T14:31:00.006-06:00

We took Mia boating for the first time at the end of July. We went to Willard Bay with Jerry, Cathy, Colie, Brayden & Jenna. I thought for sure that Mia would have a freak out when we put the life jacket on her but she was actually so good and didn't complain about it even though I totally would have! She was like a little marshmellow in the life jacket. She LOVED being on the boat. I think she knew that she was surrounded by water and was so excited about it. She loves the water. Camron put her in the water and she just kicked her legs like crazy! I did a little bit of knee boarding and wake boarding. Camron's eardrum had just burst the day before so he was still in pain and not supposed to submerge his ear in water so he couldn't do anything. All 3 of us did get in the tube and had Jerry pull us going about 1 mile per hour. Mia LOVED being in the tube. She stood up in it and kept sticking her hand in the water and splashing around. She probably would hang out in the water all day if I let her.

Oh so tired after a long day of boating!

Lovin' the lake

Mia & Grandpa Jerry

Cute little munchie

She was having a blast

Almost there

2011-08-04T21:13:00.002-06:00

While Mia's cousin Jaida was here in town, Mia would watch with envy how Jaida could walk around and push a stroller. So, The other day while I was at my parents house I got out the little play stroller and decided to see if Mia would walk with it. Sure enough, she would hold on to it and take a couple of steps. She kept falling down but I kept helping her get right back up and she really did love it... although she won't do it again. When I have tried to give her a stroller to play with on another day she will buckle her knees and not put any weight on her feet... she refuses to walk with it now. She is so close to walking though! She walks along furniture and walls and anything she can. Here is a little video... soon she will be walking all over the place I just know it!

Howard Family Reunion

2011-07-31T14:56:00.005-06:00

The Howard family reunion is the reunion I call the "fun reunion". I just really enjoy getting together with the Howardswhich is my Nana's side of the family. It happens every 2-3 years and this year was held at Barker Park. It began on Wed July 20 and went until Saturday July 23rd. Camron and I set up camp on Wednesday afternoon and were lucky to use his parents tent trailer. I don't mind sleeping in a tent but I just wasn't sure about having Mia sleep in a tent with us.... the trailer worked out well. The reunion was full of fun, relaxing, sun, hanging out, chatting, and of course napless children! Ha ha. On Thursday we had a Cupcake/Cake wars. It was pretty fun and me and my dad had been looking forward to it. The month you were born in was the team that you were on. Lucky for me I was born the same month as my dad!! Our cake theme was "All About Grandpa Howard". Everything I remember about Great Grandpa Howard was that he was such an awesome guy! He always wore a hat that said "#1 Granpa", it had a screwball on it and one of his famous diamond pins or dime and pin. He was famous for his dime+and pins. He made them by welding together a dime and a safety pin and would hand them out to everyone. If you were lucky you would get a diamond pin with a dime made the same year that you were born. So we made a cake with a hat that looked like the one he always wore and then we made cupcakes with dimeand pins on them. It turned out so fun!!

I had a blast hanging out with everyone and there are just so many kids everywhere!! While we were there Cam got pretty sick, he got an ear infection and his ear drum burst so I had to take him to the doctor, luckily Barker park isn't in the middle of nowhere! My other favorite part of the reunion were the skits... they turned out hilarious! Props to those who were in them, good job! I sure do love it at Barker park, we are blessed to have such a great place for our family to use!

Mia loved playing with the kids and crawling around

January

The Cupcake with a dime&pin

Great Grandpa Howard also made kites so we decorated the rest of the table with kites as well

I baked all the cakes and cupcakes and my dad decorated this cake

April's table... pretty cute!

December's table - I thought it was pretty funny - Way to go Mikelle ha ha :)

November "Most Creative" They had a Jello cake!

Grammy and Mia

We were melting- it was so hot outside!

Skit night!

Enjoying the entertainment with Papa

There Ain't No Doubt I love this Land!!!

2011-07-08T22:04:00.007-06:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the 4th of July. I love the warm weather, the parades, fireworks, family BBQ's, late nights, Bees game and everything. I was so excited for Mia to experience her first 4th of July. Sunday night we went up to the Allen's for dinner and later that night lit fireworks. Cam had too much fun lighting firecrackers trying to find a racoon. The next morning we woke up and went to our neighborhood breakfast. The original plan was to go boating with his fam but they couldn't get the boat to start. We came home and I finished making my cupcakes for a family BBQ at my Aunt Peggy's house. There are so many kids when we all get together and it is always a good time with the Rogers family. After the BBQ we went to the Bees game. It is tradition for my family to go but is kinda crazy with 9 little kiddies. I don't know if I really even watch the game that much but it is fun to just be there and the kids get so excited to see Bumble. And the Bees game always has GREAT fireworks! They never disappoint. Mia would just stare at them and point at the fireworks.

Daddy & Mia

Our little family

Papa Russ & Mia

Grammy & Tess

Mia & Tess-- telling secrets!

Mia, Tess, Jaida- Destined to be BFF's

Mia LOVED the swing

Cam playing with all the nephews

Papa & Jaida

Mia sharing the stroller with Tess- she has a mischevious look on her face ha ha

Riding on Daddy's shoulders

Cheering on the Bee's

Go Bees!

Mommy & Mia

They are Here... They are here!!

2011-07-06T22:44:00.006-06:00

Finally! My sister Mikelle and her kids are here from Baltimore and will be staying for the month of July. They flew in last week and we have been having some fun since they got here! Brock and Pierce were so excited to see Cam. They actually asked where he was when my mom went to go pick them up from the airport. Whenever they see him they are his shadow... so funny. Since they have been in town we have gone to the splash pad, gone to the mall, hung out at Grammy & Papa's, went to In & Out and Kaysville Idol and enjoyed 4th of July festivities. Mia sure loves hanging out with her cousins and she is really paying close attention to Jaida... trying to figure out how to walk like her.

Brock playing/wrestling with Mia

She loves him!

Jaida LOVED the splash pad

Getting so close to standing

Best buddies

Ooh Ahhh

2011-06-28T08:20:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we woke up early and went to the Taylorsville Dayzz Parade. It was such a let down! The parade was super slow and there was major lag time between each float/number in the parade. Cam and I left early so we could come home and work on the house. He has been tiling our master bathroom and I will be painting cabinets and walls, it is already starting to look fantastic. Later that night Mia and I came back out to T-Ville Dayzz to watch fireworks with my Grammy & Papa. Cam didn't come because he has to wake up super early for work on Sundays. We went early enought to listen to the band play and Mia LOVED it. Lately she has been dancing everytime she hears music and she was just dancing away! Plus her cousins Tyden and Hadlee were there and she just loves them. Finally the fireworks started and I thought she might get scared but she didn't at all! She just laid there and soaked it all in. So cute.

Calmly watching the fireworks

Enjoying our summer nights!

Groovin to the music

Stay At Home Mom

2011-06-27T08:24:00.002-06:00

Being a stay at home mom is seriously the BEST job I could and would ever want. I get to spend every moment with my sweet little Mia and I really would not trade it for anything in the world. But sometimes I feel like I am "JUST" a stay at home mom. I see other moms who are nurses, own businesses, are super creative, etc and I start to feel like I should be more. I have to remind myself sometimes that what I am doing is the most important thing I could be doing right now and that I have worth. Yesterday I read this in the newspaper:

During the most recent LDS General Conference, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made this point quite clear when he praised all LDS women, and then offered specific counsel regarding employment.

"First, no woman should ever feel the need to apologize or feel that her contribution is less significant because she is devoting her primary efforts to raising and nurturing children," he said. "Nothing could be more significant in our Father in Heaven's plan. Second, we should all be careful not to be judgmental or assume that sisters are less valiant if the decision is made to work outside the home. We rarely understand or fully appreciate people's circumstances. Husbands and wives should prayerfully counsel together, understanding they are accountable to God for their decisions."

This part of the statement was just what I needed to hear, or I guess read: no woman should ever feel the need to apologize or feel that her contribution is less significant because she is devoting her primary efforts to raising and nurturing children," he said. "Nothing could be more significant in our Father in Heaven's plan.

I am blessed with such a beautiful baby girl that chose me as her mom and an amazing husband who works hard so that I can stay home with her and I couldn't be happier :)

Road Trip

2011-06-26T15:19:00.006-06:00

Last weekend I took the chance to go on a quick little get away with my sister in law Nicole. She was headed down to St. George for the weekend to attend our cousin's homecoming and needed someone to go with her... how could I pass that up??? So we left Friday morning to St. George. I thought for sure that Mia would sleep the whole way because she had not had her normal morning nap and we woke up early that morning but she didn't. She was pretty good and I didn't have to sit in the back with her the whole time which was nice. I love spending time with Colie and glad that I have a sis in law that I can talk to and have fun with. When we got there we went to G&G Allen's house where we would be staying and then headed right over to see Brittany Allen. She just returned home from serving a mission in Jackson, MS. After visiting for a while Colie and I went to dinner at a cute little bakery and got yummy salads and cupcakes (of course). The next day all the girls went and got pedicures together. Mia tagged along and was so good to sit in my lap the whole time. She was just soaking it all in. She would just stare at the lady who was doing my pedicure. Gotta start em young right? Ha ha, she'll be a little diva I am sure.

Getting Pedicures
Hanging out with the girls!
Then everyone went to go see the new X-Men movie and I just wasn't feeling it which worked out perfectly because I wanted to go visit my Nana and Papa. Mia loved them! Normally she gets shy around people when she first sees them but she just lit right up as soon as we got there. We had a great time relaxing in their beautiful garden. Mia sure did love it there! She got a popsicle, a fresh tomato and got to play in the water.

She is getting so big. She LOVES standing now but can only do it if she is holding on to something or someone.

Having a blast with Great Nana

Mia w/ Nana & Papa

Their beautiful garden

First Creamy- of course it is chocolate!

Splish Splash

Loving the water
The next morning we woke up early and went to listen to Sis Allen's missionary report. It was wonderful and of course afterwards all gathered together to have some yummy food. I really love how I can relate to and feel so comfortable around Cam's family - I definitely feel like I belong and LOVE them all - such a blessing!

Playing with Grandma

Pretty Girl

Mia & Aunt Colie

That afternoon we drove home and we made it home right before Cam got home from work. Perfect timing! So we got to spend the rest of the evening together for his "first" Father's Day. He is the best daddy to little Mia and the most amazing husband. Seriously, I really don't know what I would do without him. He lifts me up when I am feeling down, he works so hard to support our little family, fixes everything and just knows how to make my life perfect. LOVE YOU BABE!!

Tis the Season...

2011-06-13T17:09:00.005-06:00

for PARADES! I grew up going to parades. My mom always loved going to parades and I inherited her love for parades. This past weekend was Fort Herriman days where they had a carnival, car show, a PARADE and fireworks. And what do you know? The parade route goes pretty much right past our house. So I woke up early and set my chairs out. And Camron had no choice but to come to the parade. He actually willingly came. Not sure if he remembers but last year we made a deal that he didn't have to go to any parades until Mia was born. He agreed that once we had kids he would attend the parades with me. Mia loved the parade of course. How could she not? People throwing candy at her, lots of children for her to watch (which is her favorite thing to do... she LOVES kids) and she got to try her very first Otter Pop. It was an eventful morning to say the least.

Crazy Jeepsters!

Oh, Jet!

So excited!

Lovin every minute of it!

Picnic Time

2011-06-05T10:14:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Camron's work had a picnic at the Magna Copper Park. The weather was perfect! They had face painting, caricatures, blow up bouncers/slides and all sorts of fun games for kids. However, Mia isn't quite big enough to participate in any of those activities. She sure loves to watch the other kids play though! They also had music and food (hamburgers, hotdogs, etc). Mia is really starting to want to try any food. She especially loves fruit, just like her daddy.

9 months old!

2011-06-02T16:45:00.004-06:00

I can't believe my baby girl is 9 months old now! She truly is the light of our lives. She can always make you smile even if you are having a bad day! Here are some fun facts about Mia at 9 months:

Weight: 18 lbs 14 oz - 50%

Height: 27 1/2 in - 50%

She still does not sleep all the way through the night. I talked to the pediatrician about this and then also read a book called "The No Cry Nap Solution". Well, I just don't think we are ready for this. There was a part in the book that said if you don't mind rocking them to sleep right now then just wait, you aren't ready. Besides, they will be grown up and off to college before you know it.... so true! I really don't want her to grow up just yet.

She now has 2 teeth on the bottom and 3 on the top, the 4th one is still coming in.

She still hasn't started crawling yet. She will dive for things and is so close to crawling but she has gotten really good at doing a little bum scoot and she can pretty much move around the room just by scooting along on her bum. She has more of an interest to stand so maybe she will start walking first? Who knows. To be honest I am just fine with her now crawling or walking yet. Especially with all the projects I have going on!

She uses her pointer finger to pick at everything. We call it the "claw". Pretty funny.

Her favorite time of the day is bath time. She could probably play in there for hours if I let her. She will sometimes even cry when I take her out. She knows that as soon as we go in her bathroom that she gets to play in the tub.

She just talks and talks and talks. Especially if you are talking to someone she tries to talk over you. She is going to be a little gabber! I went to dinner with my girlfriends and they came over to my house afterwards and we just sat and talked. Well Mia just talked and talked while we were talking and got so excited. She loves the girls nights!

WE LOVE HER TO PIECES!!!

Crazy Month of May!

2011-06-01T18:29:00.012-06:00

I feel like it has been so long since I blogged that I really don't even know where to start. So, we moved into our new house on April 30. It took us about a week and half to get everything clean and sanitized before we could start unpacking. I was really starting to feel like a hoarder with boxes all around me - worst feeling ever! All month long we have been working on yard work, starting a garden, and working on the house. I just finished painting our office room that was all blue - yuck! It is now a beautiful nice shade of gray (my fav color). Painting was alot more work than I ever thought it was going to be! I thought I would be able to get things done faster but I have learned that I just need to take it easy and do one thing at a time. (deep breath) Next project is our bathroom. We picked out some tile and Cam is going to tile it and I am going to paint it. I can't wait for that to be done!

Mia with her cousins Hadlee & Tess. I think Mia sure does miss her cousin Hadlee who would entertain her daily. Good thing there are lots of kids in our ward and neighborhood that she can become friends with!

In other news, Camron celebrated his birthday. He is now 26. I like to tease him and tell him he is practically 30 years old- so he's practically really old ;) For his birthday we went out to dinner and he took the day off from work and wanted to spend the day working on the house. So that is exactly what we did.!

Us out to dinner for Cam's birthday. I didn't get any pics of the birthday boy. But then again, he doesn't really like taking pictures anyway ha ha oh well.

Also, Camron and Jet have been working so hard and doing alot of training. Jet competed in some derby field trials and did amazingly well. We are so proud of her. Camron and Jet competed against "professional" dog trainers that are well known in the dog world and beat them! Go Cam and Jet. They're hard work has definitely paid off. Jet also did a Master Hunt test and passed. They are both getting a good name for themselves and people are already wanting her puppies when she breeds - which won't be for probably another year. As much as I am happy that Cam has this hobby I am really glad that there is a break for a while. I was not seeing him very much and now we will get to spend some more quality time together yay for me

Cam & Jet in the holding blind - about to go compete and do amazing!

Cam lining Jet up.

BIGGEST purchase ever...

2011-04-29T12:10:00.002-06:00

Yep. It's official. We are now homeowners! We closed on our house on Wednesday. Man oh man... tons of papers to sign! It's like signing your life away. Today it is being cleaned and the carpets being cleaned (gift from our realtor). Our realtor is AWESOME! If any of you are needing a realtor in the future may I suggest Michelle Todd with Keller Williams. We start moving in this weekend. Can't wait. It is located in Herriman and I am so excited to meet new people and be around all the new development out there. You are all invited to come and see it, just bring a paint brush with you ha ha.

Shameless Competition!

2011-04-26T09:29:00.002-06:00

So I am a fan of Sassy Babies on facebook and they are currently doing an Easter picture competition. I put Mia's picture on there and the person with the most likes wins. So if you want to help Mia win a $50 giftcard here is how you can help.

1. Go to SassyBabies on facebook and like their page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/SassyBabies

2. Find Mia's picture on their wall and like it

3. Tell all your friends on Facebook :)

Here is the picture that I entered:

Happy EASTER!!

2011-04-24T19:53:00.010-06:00

Happy Easter to EVERYONE! Hope you all had an enjoyable day! The Easter Bunny visited our house this year and sure was nice to us! Mia slept in until 9am and as soon as she woke up got to look inside her Easter bucket. The Easter bunny brought me my favorite treat... dark chocolate w/ almonds & sea salt. SO delightful! And Mia got a swim suit, clothes, Tangled, candy, and a stuffed duck. The EB also brought us Guess Who? which we ended up playing all afternoon since Mia is in quarantine and we couldn't take her to church :( We stil had a great time as a family and of course for dinner had an amazing feast! I think we won't have to cook for an entire week.

Our Easter Baskets

The Easter bunny sure does know me well :)

Opening up her Easter basket and she discovered her new favorite toy... Easter grass ha ha

So fun to play with!!

YUMMY!
Mia in her pretty Easter dress!!
Such a cute lil princess
Mom & Mia

Hadlee found an egg!

Mia, Papa & Jet

Mia & Papa. Don't worry. Papa has had the measles so he is immune :)

Quarantine

2011-04-21T10:25:00.004-06:00

Yep you are reading this right. QUARANTINE. The health department called me yesterday and told me that I have to quarantine Mia until MAY 5th. Since she hasn't had both of her measles immunizations I have to keep her away from people and places until then. I can't go anywhere! No church, shopping, grocery store... nothing. BLAH. I hope these next 2 weeks go by fast and really hoping that she doesn't get the measles. Since it takes a while to know if you actually have the measles we have to stay in JUST in case she does get them. THANK YOU to the person who decided to go to the dentist on the same day as us WITH the measles. SO I might be blogging more than normal. What to do... what to do...

Poor little thing has to be all cooped up in the house for 2 weeks. Hoping and praying she doesn't get sick!!

Measles Scare

2011-04-20T11:31:00.003-06:00

Last Thursday Camron and I went to the dentist up in Bountiful for a regular checkup and cleaning. We took Mia with us and took turns watching her while the other was back with the dentist. Everything went well until I got a call yesterday from the Davis County Health Department. I was informed that while we were there at the dentist someone was also there at the same time who had the measles. WHAT????!!! I had to provide the Health department with mine and Camron's immunization records and when I told the lady that my 8 month old daughter was there with me she said OH GREAT. You see, you don't normally get an MMR until you are 12 months old and then you get a second one around age 5-6. So Mia hadn't had a vaccine for Measles yet. The health department told me I MUST get her in to the doctor right away to get the vaccine. So I did. I have never had a faster doctors visit. They rushed me right in to a room, gave her the shot and we were out. We should be fine now but kinda scary... I just don't want my baby girl getting sick. Glad we were able to get in her so quickly to get an MMR.

I did it again...

2011-04-18T08:14:00.008-06:00

I ran the Salt Lake City 1/2 marathon. This is now the third year that I have ran this 1/2 marathon. It is kind of a tradition for me. I have been training for it since February and actually felt ready for it. Thanks to my mom who helped me train by watching Mia for me so that I could get out and run. I tried to take Mia a few times out in the jogging stroller but most of the time it was just too cold. Once it gets warmer I will be able to take her out more. Anyway, I woke up early at 5 am the morning of the race. I was not feeling nervous at all which is a first for me I think. Cam drove me up to the starting line and I met my Aunt Cathy there. She is currently training for the Ogden FULL marathon. She is my motivation! We got there and both decided we really needed to go to the bathroom before starting the race. Well, everyone else had the same idea. So we got in line and the race started without us... which really is not a big deal because your time doesn't start until you cross the starting line. Once we started I was off... I had to leave Cathy behind because she has injured her hip flexor and couldn't run to quickly. During the race I felt pretty good, it seems like the more I run the easier it gets. I remember the first 1/2 marathon I ran I really thought that I was going to die... not this time. Maybe eventually I will be able to run a full marathon?? I don't know about that probably not for a LONG time if it does ever happen. It ends at the Gateway and you run up the middle of the Gateway... it is so fun because there are tons of people there cheering you on and clapping and everything so it gives you that last burst of energy. All of a sudden I see my Aunt Cathy by my side, I was so confused. She said that she had to end up having my Uncle come and pick her up because she was in so much pain. So she ran the last little bit with me which was awesome because that is the best part of the race!! My finishing time was not my best but it was 2:05, miles were 9:34 min/mile. Not bad but def not my best. Just glad I finished it and didn't injure myself this time and it felt GOOD! Can't wait for the next one. Thanks to my Aunt Cathy for getting me into this 3 years ago and my Grandpa Dean for being my inspiration. LOVE YOU!

The Finish Line

Running in together... almost there!

Just a little bit more to go...

I did it!

Spring... Please stay!

2011-04-12T16:50:00.002-06:00

I love spring.... when it is all nice and warm (not loving it when it snows) When the weather is nice we are able to play outside! I have finally been able to take Mia out in the jogging stroller a few times. One day it is warm enough for me to take her outside and the next it isn't. I can't wait til the COLD is gone for good. And even though Cam has started his shift work now, it is actually nice because we get to spend all day together when he doesn't have to go into work. Here are some pics of us enjoying the warm weather.

Lettin' loose!

Washin the truck...

Mia & Jet. Mia gets so excited when she is around Jet. She just wants to pull her hair and tug at her ears. Jet doesn't mind and surprisingly will let Mia do whatever she wants to her. I have a feeling these two are going to be best friends! Ha ha.

I have been having fun with my new camera too. Nicole and I celebrated our birthdays together last month and the fam took us out to dinner at Pat's BBQ. I love how my birthday got stretched out for like 2 weeks. It was awesome. Thanks everyone for making it the BEST :)

Me & Colie

Look who's 7 months old!

2011-03-29T12:09:00.006-06:00

Fun facts about Mia at 7 months old:

She now has 2 bottom teeth and is learning how to use them

She seems to like all foods I give her

She can sit up all on her own for LONG periods of time

She babbles and babbles and babbles. She is going to be a talker!

She did a little toe/bum scoot while on her tummy... not quite a crawl yet but I am A OK with that!

She hates getting dressed. I have a feeling it is going to be a struggle when she is older

She LOVES other little kids. She could watch them for hours.

She is constantly kicking her feet, I think she is either preparing to be a dancer or a marathon runner.

She is the LIGHT of her mommy and daddy's lives!

One year older...

2011-03-24T12:20:00.004-06:00

and wiser too? I don't know about that! Wednesday I celebrated my 24th birthday. Man, I am getting up there. It was such a perfect day. (mostly) My mom took me out to lunch to Kneaders and I enjoyed a yummy cupcake. Why not? Then, we went to SouthTowne Mall and did some shopping. I got home and opened up my surprise from Camron. A BRAND NEW CAMERA!! He got me a Nikon D3100 DSLR - my hints worked. I have been wanting one so bad, especially since my point and shoot camera struggles. I also got a telephoto lens to go with it. So excited to try everything out. I hate reading instructions but am actually excited to read all about how to use the camera. Thanks babe :) Then, Camron took me out to dinner at Fratelli's. When we got home we had some cake. It was such a great day... can't every day be a birthday?

Yummy cupcake at Kneaders

Me and my angel!

St. Paddy's

2011-03-19T16:51:00.005-06:00

This year for St. Paddy's day I made shamrock sugar cookies that were so yummy and Mia got a shirt to wear. We spent the day as a family looking for houses. The Leprechaun didn't visit our house this year but maybe he will next year when Mia is a little bit older.

Daddy loves his baby girl
Such a cute girl!!

And so it begins...

2011-03-16T11:05:00.003-06:00

On Monday I had planned to get Mia's pictures taken by Lindsay. Well, the morning started out lovely with Mia crying and screaming all morning long. She is not normally like that but I just figured she was so worn out from the day before since she would not take a nap all day Sunday. So I put her down for a nap and she normally wakes up happy, well not this time. I am thinking GREAT! The one day I want to get her pictures taken and she is so unhappy! On our way up to Lindsays she was crying in the backseat so I reach my hand back there and give Mia her binky. She grabs my hand and holds it and I decide to feel around in her mouth and sure enough.... I COULD FEEL A TOOTH!!! Are you serious????? I know she is just about 7 months but I just could not believe it. So when I got out of the car I checked in her mouth and I could definitely see a little tooth trying to poke through on the bottom. I think there might be 2 teeth trying to come in on the bottom. Needless to say, she has been pretty grouchy, poor thing. I am a little nervous for her to get teeth since I am still breastfeeding... not looking forward to being bitten! All you moms out there... any advice on a teething baby?

New Adventures

2011-03-14T20:52:00.006-06:00

Spending time with FAMILY is the best! Last week Cam put in SO many hours at work we hardly even saw him. He literally worked 25 hours straight one day. So on Friday we went out to dinner as a family, just us 3 and I loved it. I love just spending time together. Saturday I went running while my friend Meagan watched Mia. I am training for the Salt Lake 1/2 marathon again this year, its tradition! Cam took Jet to a picnic hunt test (like a practice test). She is working on getting her Senior/Master Hunt title. She also ran in a derby test and took 4th place out of like 40 dogs because she is SO super fast. We are such proud parents of her! Then Saturday afternoon I headed to a bridal shower for someone in Cam's family.

Later that evening we went to Cafe Rio for dinner with Cam's family and then went to DISNEY ON ICE. Jerry had reserved the Delta suite for us. I love it when we get to go in the suite and I think it is better for Mia since we are not just confined to a little row. Plus the seats are cushioned! Mia wasn't quite sure what to think about the Disney on Ice. I think she was more interested in the lights and the glow sticks that kids were waving. It will be fun when she gets a little bigger and can get excited about the disney characters.

Cam is so excited for Disney on Ice he can hardly contain himself!

Watching Disney on Ice
Me and my baby girl

Just because...

2011-03-08T09:54:00.003-07:00

She is so stinkin' cute! We woke up to TONS of snow outside. Mia put on her winter boots. They are still a little big but oh so cute with this outfit. Thanks Meag who gave these to her.

6 1/2 months old!!!

2011-03-07T10:47:00.004-07:00

Little Miss Mia is now 6 1/2 months old. I just cannot believe it. I know I say it every time, but where does the time go? She is growing up WAY too fast, it seriously is not fair. We took her to the doctor for her 6 month check up last week and here are her stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz- 67%

Height: 26 1/2 in- 78%

Head: 42 cm- 38%

She can do so many things now. Here are some fun facts about her at this stage:

She can sit up on her own. She will still wobble over but she is getting much better at it.

She babbles, says DADADADA, and squeals.

She grunts whenever she doesn't want something.

She is constantly pulling off her socks and playing with her feet.

She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.

She started using a sippy cup with water in it and loves it. Everytime she sees anyone with a cup she reaches her hands out for it.

She LOVES kids.

She is such a good baby.

And of course... we just can't get enough of her!

My little Princess!

Oh how she loves her socks!

Always grabbing at her feet.

Happy baby! :)

February...

2011-02-23T15:31:00.004-07:00

So February has pretty much come and gone. It went by way too quickly for me. Cam has been working long hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. He works anywhere from 12-13 hours on those days. They are VERY long days for all of us but it is nice because then he gets to spend Thursday (if he doesn't have any meetins at work) and Friday with Mia and I. For Valentine's day I made a special dinner and surprised Mia with some Valentine's day outfits. She looked adorable of course. Cam and I didn't exchange gifts because we are trying to save up all of our pennies to buy a house HOPEFULLY very soon.

We went down to St. George with Camron's family for the weekend of President's Day. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great. (It rained most of the time) But we had a great time staying at Grandma Allen's, visiting with Cousins, visiting my Nana and Papa and just hanging out. I just love spending time with family. Mia was such a good girl as usual too... even without her normal naps.

Mommy and Mia in St. George. This is the only picture that survived my camera. :(

I have been taking lots of pictures but my camera is possessed. I take pictures and the next day they are gone, poof. No one knows where they go and why they are disappearing. So I'm lucky I have the ones that I do. I told Cam that means I need a new camera for my birthday in March.... (hint hint)

As of LATE

2011-02-07T15:05:00.003-07:00

I think I blogged so much last month that I felt like I needed a break! Anyway. I never really blogged about our anniversary celebration but Cam surprised me and took me out to dinner to our FAVORITE restaurant- Cucina Toscana. Very delicious and very pricey. That's why we only go there once a year.

3 years together!

Also, I got together with Kelli Peay (Cam's cousin's wife) for a craft day and made this Valentine's Day craft. Turned out way cute and I had a blast hanging out with Kelli.

My Valentine's Day Craft

This weekend we had the opportunity to spend Sunday with my brother Ian's family for a very special occasion: Tess' blessing. She looked like an absolute angel.

Our little family!

And just some cute ones of Mia. She is changing all the time.
Her daddy has a crooked smile... maybe she has his cute smile!

Happy little baby

ALSO... we have offically started our house hunting adventure.

We walked through a few houses on Saturday. There is such a difference from looking online and actually walking through some houses. Cam is so picky. I just want a house. Hopefully we'll find something. Wish us luck!

Look at me GO!

2011-01-26T16:26:00.003-07:00

Not sure what has happened to me but I have gone all crafty! I have been reading some mommy blogs and am just blown away with how creative and crafty some moms are... kinda got me motivated. So, I decided to start SEWING. Yep. Me, sewing. Back in highschool I took a sewing class and was actually "certified" at sewing, whatever that means. Pretty much haven't touched a sewing maching since then, and had forgotten how to use one. So, my trusty mom helped me find a cute pattern, cute material and with a little coaching from my mom, this is what I made! A cute little skirt for Mia with bloomers and all. GO ME.

Ponytail

2011-01-21T12:29:00.004-07:00

Lately I have been wishing that my hair would do itself. Seriously have NO desire to straighten it every day. So I have been sporting one of these almost on a daily basis:

Part of being a mom? Maybe, but I am just not feeling like doing my hair. If only my ponytails looked as good as the model's in the picture ha ha.

5 months old!

2011-01-20T12:02:00.003-07:00

I swear I was just barely blogging about how Mia was 4 months old and NOW she is 5 months old. Where does the time go? She is growing so fast and I wanted to see how much she weighs now. So I weighed her on my scale (while holding her) and she weighs approximately 16 1/2 lbs. WHAT??? She is one chubby lady, but more chub = more delicious cheeks to kiss on and more to love :) Here are a few fun facts about her at 5 months:

She has discovered laughing and it is oh so cute. Her laugh is in her soft little voice.

She weighs 16 1/2 lbs... gonna have to start putting her 6-9 months clothes on her!

She grabs at everything! So cute how she reaches for things.

She loves green beans!

Still SUCH a mommy's girl. Has to make sure I am in the room.

She can somewhat roll over only if she is on my bed, other than that, she still has no desire to roll over quite yet.

She is getting better and stronger at sitting up (Still needs help from mom)

FINALLY- Finished!

2011-01-17T14:51:00.003-07:00

When I first had a vision of Mia's room I knew everything would have to pretty much be hand made. I knew that I wanted a glider/rocking chair but there were none that fit my requirements, plus they were ALL super expensive. Sorry, but I just don't have $300 to spend on a rocking chair, no thanks! When I was about 7 months pregnant I bought a rocking/glider chair and ottoman off of KSL for really cheap. The plan was to paint it and recover the cushions. I repainted it while pregnant and all and bought the material to cover the cushions. Then, I got busy with refinishing Mia's dresser that placed the chair on the back burner. Then... before I knew it Mia was born. With the help of Cam tightening the chair, my mom sewing the cushions we have FINALLY finished my chair and I LOVE IT!!! Sure wish I'd had it before. I kept telling myself that I would finally move Mia into her own room once it was done. Well now it's done and I put her in her own room in her big girl crib. She seems to be just fine with it. I am adjusting. She still wakes up about 2 times per night and SOMETIMES 3 times. So, my sleep isn't the greatest but I am adjusting. At least I have this NEW (old - but NEW to me!) chair to rock her in. YAY.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

3 years...going on Eternity

2011-01-12T10:15:00.003-07:00

3 years ago today I married my best friend. Best decision I ever made. I didn't think I could love him more than I did that day but I love him more now and it just keeps getting better. We watched our wedding video the other night, feels like we just got married the other day. The song "Then" by Brad Paisley pretty much sums up how I feel:

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mezmorized
And three weeks later, in the front porch light
taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
but I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way
And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then

I LOVE YOU BABE. Here's to Eternity!!

Cupcakes

2011-01-05T11:21:00.003-07:00

Santa brought me this:

Martha Stewart's book on CUPCAKES. As many of you know I am obsessed with making cupcakes. It is just SO much fun. The funny thing is I really don't even eat them, I just love experimenting and baking and everything about them. I love just looking through this book over and over. Thanks Santa :) The first one I wanted to try was the Boston Cream Pie cupcake. Man did it look delicious and oh so cute! I made a few normal sized ones and the rest were minis. I just think that mini cupcakes are better because you don't feel as guilty eating a mini cupcake, they are just perfectly bite sized! Here were my results:

My mini version

My normal size version

Compared to Martha's:

Not bad eh?

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-01-04T19:42:00.002-07:00

It was my mom's birthday on January 1st. Spent the day shopping and hanging out.

Happy Birthday to my hero, best friend, confidante, advice giver, my MOM! You do so much for me and I am now beginning to appreciate you even more now that I am a mom. Love you!

4 months already??

2011-01-02T20:50:00.003-07:00

My little princess has now turned 4 months old! I can't believe how fast time flies. It makes me a little sad. I want my baby girl to stay little forever but it is so fun to watch her change and learn and grow. Mia is so beautiful and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the miracle that she is and the happiness and Joy that she brings into my life.

Mia is getting SOO big! At her 4 month check up here were her stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz - 75th percentile

Height: 25 1/4 in - 85th percentile ( I was a little bit shocked about that one!)

Head: 25th percentile - such a cute round head!

Here are some fun things about Mia -

She has started eating solids. I have ventured out and am making homemade baby food. It's working out well, so easy and very affordable.

When she laughs its a little squeal.

She is smiling a lot

She is SUCH a mommas girl

She wants to put everything in her mouth and loves to chomp on things - especially her fingers

She has started playing really cute with toys, trying to grab things

She talks alot more and her vocabulary of sounds is getting larger

Enjoying some sweet potatoes

All bundled up in Daddys coat
Big smiles in her high chair!

LOVE this pic!

Mia's First Christmas

2010-12-31T15:34:00.007-07:00

Christmas celebrations started on the Sunday before Christmas. Every year we get together with the Anderson side of the family for a delicious Christmas dinner. We have such a fun time when we get together and it was fun to be a part of the Kid celebrations with Mia. I love being a mom!

Mia and Cousin Brooke. Mia was wearing her Merry Christmas shirt!
Mia's first Anderson family Christmas party.

Mia & Papa - not sure what face she is making haha.

Baby Tess, Great Grandpa Dean & Mia

For Christmas my mom gives all the grandkids new Christmas pajamas and gives them to the kids at the Anderson party. Mia got to be a part of this celebration!

Papa & Grammy holding Tess and Mia in their matching Christmas jammies

The Grandkids in their new jammies. We were definitely missing Pierce Brock and Jaida but so glad that we got to skype with them and hear them sing Chritmas songs!

On Christmas Eve we go to the Allen's for a wonderful dinner. For the last 3 years they have invited my parents to this dinner. We love this tradition. It is great to be with both sides of the family on Christmas eve! This year we didn't have any surprises in our meat but we sure did have a yummy dinner. Man, I might need to go on a diet here soon! We played the Left/Right game and opened presents. We sure are spoiled!

Great Grandma & Grandpa Jones

Great Grandma Jones & Mia

Aunt Colie and Mia

Aunt Colie, Mia, Grampa Jerry & Cam

Mia was so tired by this time she just wanted me to hold her all wrapped up. I love cuddling with her :)

Gramma Cathy and Mia

I think I might have been more excited for Christmas morning than Mia was. I couldn't wait for her to open her presents from Santa. She got SO many new clothes, books and toys! She slept in and we helped her open her presents. It was so cute, Cam would help her grab a piece of the paper and she would hold on to it and try to put it in her mouth. Then he would pull the present away and the paper would tear off.

Daddy helping Mia open presents

Mia with all her presents

Mia is definitely the BEST gift of all!

Camron and I got our present early. We got ourselves a new 46" TV for our bedroom and we LOVE it! I also got surprised with a Martha Stewart cupcake book- YAHOO can't wait to use that bad boy. Might just have to start making them and taking them to people's houses to try them out and eat them so that I don't. After we opened presents at our house we headed over to Grandma Jones' house for breakfast, candy bar game and MORE presents. We had a blast.

Great G&G Jones with Mia.

I have now officially taken down all of my Christmas decorations and I am a little bit sad over it. The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over. I love spending all the time with family, I almost feel like I haven't held Mia all week. It was so fun spending Christmas with our sweet little angel Mia. It will be nice to slow things down again. Can't wait until next year and all the adventures it holds!

It's beginning to look alot like

2010-12-13T17:16:00.004-07:00

Christmas!

I put up my Christmas tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. I love having my tree up and decorated all month long during December. It really puts me in the mood for Christmas. I was not looking forward to putting it up because SILLY me didn't buy a pre-lit tree so I have to string the lights on. This is the LEAST fun part of decorating a tree because my hands get all scratched up. But to my surprise when I got my tree out I found that I left the lights on! Thank you last year me for thinking of our hands this year! So putting up my tree went smoothly and I walked away with scratch-free hands.

Mia's first ornament. I am going to steal Lindsay's tradition and give her an ornament each year! Here's to traditions!!

I wanted to do more than just decorate my Christmas tree. I have been collecting Christmas decorations and didn't want to leave them out! So I decided to decorate this shelf. I am still searching for a stocking for Mia.

I also pulled out my Nativity Set. Each year for Christmas my parents give us a part of this Nativity Set and I am absolutely in love with it. Looking at it each day helps me remember the true meaning of Christmas.

My Nativity Set

And of course... Mia is looking as cute as ever in Christmas colors! :)

Winter Time activities!

2010-12-07T18:53:00.008-07:00

We have been busy this past weekend! On Friday I baked probably about 200 mini cupcakes. I was making some for Cam's cousin Matt & Hayley's wedding shower and some for our Barker family Christmas party. I must say I am getting better at making them each time!

Chocolatey chunk cupcakes with peppermint buttercream frosting - YUM. These went to the barker family party and they turned out so good... way better than I thought.

Chocolatey Chunk w/ cream cheese frosting

Her wedding colors are turquoise and red- just like my wedding! The red ones are vanilla almond cupcakes with caramel buttercream frosting. I made the red ones for both parties.

On Friday night Camron and I took Mia to her VERY first Jazz game. We were lucky enough to be with his family in a suite! I am glad we were in a suite because it was SO loud and it was a little less loud inside the suite. Mia was so good, she was just kind of looking around... not sure what to think about all the lights and loud noises. She even fell asleep!

Our family - Mia's first Jazz game

On Saturday I went to Hayley's shower. It was fun. I love getting to know Camron's side of the family better.

Cousin Ashley & Mia

Then, later that night Camron, Mia and I went to the Festival of Trees. I love going around and looking at all of the different trees and how they have been decorated. Man, some people are so talented at decorating trees! Maybe someday I will have a tree that looks that good. ha ha, ya right. Mia loved being in her backpack carrier and looking at everything. She actually starting crying when we left, I think she didn't want to leave!

On Sunday we had our annual Barker Family christmas party. It was at my cousin Cobi's house and it was a blast. But of course, if you attend any party thrown by the Rogers it is so much fun. We played a fun white elephant game and a christmas song game. SO FUN!! And of course the food was amazing!

Grammy & Mia
Mommy & Mia
Us at the Barker family party

Daddy & Mia

New Cousin!

2010-11-30T16:41:00.003-07:00

On Tuesday Nov 23rd Mia got a new cousin! Baby Tess Barker was born and she is oh so cute! We didn't get to go up and see her after she was born because that was the same time as the BLIZZARD that everyone was being warned about. We were SO glad that she came down to visit on Thanksgiving day. I was so excited to meet her and couldn't believe she was so small. It's crazy that Mia was even smaller. I felt like I was going to break her! So cute. Mia looked like a giant compared to her. Congrats to my big Bro and Linds!

On a side note... we had a great Thanksgiving. Dinner at my Dad's is ALWAYS fantastic. :) The only bummer was that Cam was sick. But we still had a great time! I love this time of year!!

3 months old!

2010-11-23T15:52:00.005-07:00

Mia is now 3 months old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She seems to be growing like crazy. It felt like she grew over night because she was all of a sudden to tall for her 0-3 months size pajamas! According to my at home measurements she is now about 12 1/2 lbs and about 23 in long. Her next check up is next month, can't wait to see what her measurements are then! Some cute things she is doing now:

Sucking on her hands any chance she gets.

She likes her hands much more than she likes her binky!

Smiling alot more

Cooing more often

One night when Daddy was out of town I put the phone up to her ear and she just kept talking and talking! So cute!

Of course she loves to be held by mom as much as possible

Her naptimes are getting shorter- she is awake a little more often

She smiles at herself in the mirror

I can be crafty... sometimes...

2010-11-21T15:23:00.007-07:00

I have never been much of a crafty person, I think because I don't have enough patience to sit down and work on a craft. But, yes, I have been able to do a few things that I have been proud of lately. So, I thought that I would share them with you just to prove that I can be crafty too... sometimes.

#1. Mia's Dresser While I was pregnant I knew that I wanted an old fashioned dresser for Mia's room since her bedding has a vintagey feel to it, so I started looking on KSL. Well, my mom offered my Great Grandma Marguerite's dresser to me. I said I would take it in a heartbeat. I am named after her and so it had sentimental value and was also just what I was looking for! The only problem was that it didn't match Mia's cherry wood crib. So... I spent a few weeks sanding it down to nothing and refinishing it to match her crib. Then, replaced the knobs. It was alot of hard work but so worth it. I am so happy with how it turned out!

#2. Baking

I have always loved to bake. For Lindsay's baby shower I practiced making mini cupcakes for a few weeks. I practiced different cupcake recipes, frosting recipes, decorating, etc. I ended up making Vanilla Almond mini cupcakes (from scratch). Half of the cupcakes had a homemade Caramel Buttercream frosting and the other had homemade cream cheese frosting. YUMMY. Also, recently I made some homemade French Bread for the first time (inspired by my awesome sister). Look at me go! ha ha.

#3- Diaper Cake Now, I have made a few diaper cakes before but they struggled a little bit. This last diaper cake I made was for Lindsay's baby shower. It took me two days to do but I actually had fun doing it and it turned out pretty cute... much better than my other attempts.