Jungle Jim's with the cousins and Grandma

Yesterday we went to an indoor playplace called Jungle Jims and the to Liberty Park for a fun picnic with Grandma, Brit, and cousins Luke, Halle, and Savannah. Amara and Sienna had such a fun time! Amara LOVES her cousins and was so happy to spend some time playing at one of her favorite places- Jungle Jims.

Father's Day... A Celebration for Kings!

For Father's Day this year, I made Juan breakfast in bed- complete with a crown made of Tin Foil. Believe it or not- this crown was made at home- not purchased at some fancy store. lol. Juan played along and Amara thought it was pretty cool that her dad was a KING for the day!

Brittani's Here!

So... my cute sister, Brit, is officially here to help for the summer! Yeah! Brit is home for the summer from BYU-Idaho and is helping me with the kids, housework, grocery shopping... you name it- she does it! :) I am soooo happy to have her here. Here is a cute picture of Amara with her fun Aunt Britty-

Our trip to Virginia

Juan and I took Amara and Sienna to Washington D.C/ Virginia to visit Gram, Grandpa, and Grandma. We had such a great time. Grandpa took us to the Safari Park, where we got to feed Llamas, Camels, Elk, Deer, Ostrich, Yaks, Wildebeast, and a lot of animals that we couldn't name. :) We put chairs in the back of my dad's pick-up truck and he would slow down so the animals could come eat out of the feed buckets in the back of the truck. Amara and Sienna LOVED it! This park also has Giraffe's, Kangaroos, and Monkeys in a fenced off area and Amara really had a great time!

We also went to the Natural Bridge Zoo- which is a privately run zoo. They have a large petting zoo area where Amara and Sienna got to pet a baby donkey and a baby camel. They also got to pet goats and chase some chickens. The highlight of the Zoo was taking an Elephant Ride together- Amara, Sienna, and I hopped on top of a large African Elephant and rode around a small arena. It was a great day.

Dee and Jeff were in VA with us- which was a lot of fun, too. The week went way too fast, and I can't wait until we can get back out and visit! Here are several pictures from our trip:




This is a picture of my dad- He's the greatest Man ever! :) Love you, Dad!

Easter 2009

For Easter we went to an Easter Egg Hunt in Payson on Saturday with Joyce and the boys. The rain showed up, but Amara loved opening her Easter eggs! On Sunday we went to Mom and Jay's house for a delicious dinner and family Easter egg hunt in the backyard. For Amara and Sienna's birthday, Mom bought them Easter dresses. We snapped a few pictures right after church- which turned out pretty cute.
Amara and Sienna's Easter Dresses:






Mom's House:

Our trip to the Big Island- March 12-19

Juan and I went to the Big Island for a week in March without the girls. We stayed at the Hilton at Waikaloa which was beautiful! We went on a whale watching excursion, spent lots of time at the beach, went to the Volcano, Hiked to some amazing waterfalls, caught lizards and searched for Sea Turtles. It was soooo much fun! It was hard to be away from the girls for so long, but also really nice to have the break and spend time together. It has been way too long since we have had a vacation together. Here are some pictures of one my favorite vacations so far:
This picture was taken right outside of our hotel.

Playing at the Beach

Formal Dinner and Awards Ceremony for Presidents Club







Sea Turtle Picture, and Picture of a whale that was right off the beach we were swimming at. The whale had a calf and stayed close to the shore for several hours.

Pictures

So I got a new camera for Christmas, thinking that once I had the camera, I would get up to speed and blog again- but here it the beginning of May and I am finally taking a minute to get some pictures updated.
The last several months have been crazy busy with work, church, playing, and moving to a new place. The highlights in addition to the nice holidays ... Juan and I took a week-long trip to Hawaii without the girls, Amara turned 3, and Sienna had her first birthday. I am going to post a bunch of pictures- and not write much because it is late. Hopefully it won't take me six months to get another post up. :)



Amara Rocking out on her Hannah Montana Guitar.




Amara has the best smile!


Me and my girls.


Sienna playing in the backyard

Amara's 3rd birthday party- Started in March, Posted May 1st. :)

Amara turned 3 on March 16th. Juan and I were in Hawaii for her birthday, but a few days before we left, I decided to prepare a birthday party for her that would take place when we got back from the trip. I called my friend, Marin, to get some ideas of where to have it. She suggested an indoor play-place called "Bouncing off the walls". I called them and learned that they host private parties and the pricing is pretty reasonable. They charge a flat rate for up to 25 children and take care of all the details... which was really appealing to me. :) I figured that since I amnot real good at entertaining/hosting, that this would be a nice option to get together with my friends and Amara's friends and play the night away. So... we decided to invite her friends from her church class (about 8 kids) and her friends from the babysitter, and her fun cousins and relatives. All-in-all I was thinking we would have a turnout of 15-20 kids, if everyone could make it. BIG PARTY! :) The night before we left on our trip, I drove around and got about 3/4 of the invites out. Deanne helped me pass out a few while we were gone, too. Thinking that we would 5-10 extra spots (up to 25 kids for the same price)- I let people know that if they wanted to bring older or younger siblings to come bounce around and play to bring them... thinking "the more the merrier". My wonderful sister Mary brought her four cute daughters from Colorado to play for the week-and I am so glad they made it to the party. I called all of the people invited to the party on Monday night to get the head count so I could order Pizza and Cake for the party, and was excited (and overwhelmed a bit) that all but one of the children we invited would be able to make it- and with siblings coming we would be around 35 kids. Yeah... it was a PARTY!!! Like Craziness. Fun. Overwhelming. and really at the end of the night I realized that Amara's 3rd birthday was bigger than most bridal and baby showers- and she actually had more people there than Juan and I had at our wedding. :) So... to all the people who came and played and celebrated Amara's birthday- I just want to say Thank you! Thanks for the support, your friendship, and for being so great. I love our friends and was really glad that everyone was able to make it. I promise I will never do this again- because it was ridiculous for a 3 year old- and at the same time it really was SO much fun for Amara and for me. Here are some pictures from the biggest, craziest party ever: