Family Pictures 2013

We took family pictures right before Halloween. I loved how they turned out!

I love her big brown eyes! This girl makes me laugh every day!

I can’t get over how beautiful Ryan is!

Best friends and I love it!

Our cute little family!

The most amazing daddy ever!

Billy really is the most wonderful person in the world. He loves me and is devoted to our family. I thought I couldn’t love someone more on our wedding day. 8 years later…my love for this man has just gotten stronger. I love our sweet family!

My Sweet Girls

So I know I haven’t blogged in A LONG TIME. Life is so busy. I started teaching preschool again in August and add two kids and a husband and it’s busy. I teach out of my home…Tuesday and Thursday, just in the afternoon. It really is the best thing ever. I work from home, very part-time, use my degree, and get paid to do it! The extra income is absolutely wonderful and Billy and I are counting our blessings!

Speaking of blessings, I came across this picture from September and it melted my heart. I truly am so incredibly grateful to be the mother to Ryan and Dani! They have such fun personalities and are the cutest things ever. Billy and I always thought we’d have a large family…we still do; but we have learned that the Lord’s time is sometimes different than our own and it takes us just a little bit longer. In the meantime, I hold these little ones close to me everyday and thank my Heavenly Father that they are mine forever! I love you Ryan and Dani!

Love, Mommy

Summer at the Beach

While in CA we hit up the beach a couple of times. We went to a beach near my sister’s home that was called Salt Creek Beach (or something like that….it was so nice to get in the car and be there within 20 min.). We always have debates about whether we would like to move back to CA or not. There are so many pros and cons to the decision and we’re finding ourselves torn over the whole thing. Regardless of where we end up, we’d really love to be close to some family. Here in AZ I have my sister Natalie near by and it’s really fun. I love that Ryan and Dani have cousins to play with virtually anytime.

Ryan and Ashee played non-stop the ENTIRE time we were in CA visiting my side. They are 6 mo. apart and love each other. They even wore matching swimsuits this day. My heart gets so happy when I see my children happy and having fun.

Dani doing her thing…curious about everything!

Pyper practicing on the boogie board.

Our cute little family!

Summer Vacation 2013

Yep….that’s right folks, your eyes are not deceiving you….I updated my blog. It’s been a long time and like most, once I get behind with the blog I feel overwhelmed with all the activities and pictures that it’s hard to get back into it. I’m going to try to slowly update my blog every few days till I get caught up. Billy’s sister Janna is also a big motivation…she recently left on her mission to Orlando Florida and this is a way for her to stay updated on our little family and see pictures of the cuties (I know she can’t browse the internet…I’m emailing her my blog entries).

We went to CA for summer vacation….when do we not go there? We both of our families there I feel like our vacations are always to visit them…and it’s great and we have loads of fun. I went to CA with the girls early to hang with my sister Mindy. We spent 2 weeks there before Billy joined us.

We took the girls to this cute bakery called Wonderland Bakery. It was definitely girly and they had fun eating cupcakes.

Ryan being the sweet big sister and giving Dani a ride on the bike because Dani was too little to go by herself.

One of the days we were there we took the kids to the park. Within the first 10 min. I see Ryan crying and her mouth covered in blood. “I tried to hold on real tight and be careful” were her exact words. The poor girl was playing on the playground stuff and her flip flop got caught on a slat will running. She fell face first and this was the end result. We had to use baking soda to clean the infection. She was great and got rewarded with a new dog shirt from Grandpa Pyper and Grandma Donna.

Poor thing!

More to come about our fun adventures this summer…

Wall Balls

150 Wall Balls using 25 lbs. Day 3 and I'm just getting over the "crippling" feeling I've felt like the past 3 days. The workout called for 20 lbs. Last time I did it I used 15 lbs because we don't have 20 lb weights (we are working at getting a full set of dumbbells but they are expensive). This time I thought I'd push myself and did 25 lbs. Ouch!

Easter 2013

We had a wonderful Easter! Billy’s sister Janna and her boyfriend Bailey came out to visit. We did the math and it had been 4 yrs. since Janna had made a trip out to see us. We are always so grateful when family comes to visit. We absolutely love it. This time was no different; Ryan was in love. Because we don’t get visitors very often she clung to Janna like crazy and cried when she left. She loves her Aunt Janna.

Easter morning was so much fun watching my little girls see what the Easter Bunny had brought.

Both grandparents sent goodies too. The kite is probably the favorite!

Probably Ryan’s all time favorite show!

I’m so grateful to the atonement of Jesus Christ which gives us an opportunity to be forgiven when we make mistakes and be able to return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. I absolutely LOVE my family and am so grateful it’s an eternal one.

Dinosaur Eggs

The week of Easter we made “Dinosaur Eggs” at preschool…inspired by Best Bites. I love Our Best Bites and am always looking for new recipes….joy…that’s another post. Anyways, I saw this on best bites and knew my preschool kids would love it, esp. since 5 of them are boys. It’s so easy. Just crack a hard boiled egg and then place in a cup of water dyed with food coloring. Let it sit for about 8 hrs. and when you peel the egg, it has all these cool lines making it look like a “dino egg.”

Ryan was so anxious to peel the eggs after preschool. I made her wait until after she took a bath and was ready for bed to let her at it. The result: true happiness!

Pain, Pain, Pain...The Good Kind of Pain

This is a short post. I'm still actively involved in the wellness challenge. As part of the challenge you have to workout 6 days a week for 45 min. each day. It doesn't have to be consecutive 45 min. (which I have my own opinion about), but to me, a workout should be just that...a workout....heart rate up kind of workout. As part of my weekly rountine I workout with 2 friends 2-3 times a week at the park...crossfit style (at least we try to make it as crossfit as possible). The other days we do our own workouts. Today the 3 of us tried out a crossfit gym. We went to the 6 a.m. class. I loved it. It was all thrusts and pull-ups. It hasn't even been 24 hrs. and I'm already feeling it in my arms. Put them in a pull-up stance and it's sore all over....the good kind of sore. Tomorrow should be a good feeling...ha

Preschool Field Trip

I think most everyone who reads our blog knows that I teach preschool. This is my 3rd year and I love it. I teach a home-based preschool every Tuesday and Thursday in the morning. It works fabulously because I can teach from home, use my degree, and Dani naps the entire time. Ryan is in my preschool and she loves playing with the other kids. It brings in some extra cash which is always nice.

In March we went to Bashas’ grocery store for our field trip. The kids loved it. They got to go back into each department and see how they decorate a cake, make a pizza, cut meat, go into the big freezers, etc. Siblings could come so Dani was loving life.

This picture just makes my heart so happy!

For food safety purposes everyone had to wear a hat or hair net. Dani looked so cute in her hat.

This is my class, with the exception of one child who couldn’t make it. 5 boys and 2 girls…can you say outnumbered! Teaching preschool definitely takes a little bit more of my time in the evening, but I love teaching these sweet little kids.

Children’s Museum of Phoenix

On Wed. of Spring Break Billy and I met up with my sister Natalie and took all the kids to the Children’s Museum. It’s a huge play place for kids. It has a craft room, 2 floors with tons to do, and even a special baby room where only kids 3 and under can play in.

Dani making her own pizza…the play aprons were huge on her.

They had a huge tree house type thing on the bottom floor. Ryan loved climbing around on it with Daddy and her cousins. I took Dani on it, but she was just as content to play on the ground with the balls.

I sure love this little girl; and her daddy!

This little Ryan girl is loved just as much!

I’m So Glad When Daddy Stays Home

A couple weeks ago Billy had his spring break. Now a lot of people think that whenever the kids are out of school Billy doesn’t go to work….WRONG! Any days Billy takes off are his vacation days. He is employed by the church, not the school district (which I love by the way). Billy worked the first couple days of the week and took Wed, Thurs, and Fri. off. The girls LOVED it!

This particular day was spent just chillin’ at home. The days are beautiful right now and the girls had a blast washing the car and getting wet.