The Zerns

Hudson!!!

2012-01-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

Always so happy!

BYU Basketball Game

Hudson is OBSESSED w/ basketball. He wants to play basketball all day long. As soon as dad gets home, he is pulled to the hoop to play. Brian and I both play ward ball and it is a FIGHT to keep this little guy off the court!

Best buds!

The comedian

Christmas 2011

2012-01-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

Temple Square Lights

Visits w/ Santa

Christmas Eve Nativity

Christmas Morning

Christmas was great this year!! Spent lots of fun time with family; visited Temple Square a couple of times. Lights were beautiful! ; Visited a Live Nativity (w/ a real camel!); Kids thoroughly enjoyed their presents.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T13:21:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from the Annual Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving morning. The guys had lots of fun!
After, we went to Brian's parents house for dinner and later that evening we all went to see the movie, Puss in Boots. Fun movie for the kids!

1st Snow!

2011-11-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

The kids were so excited when we got the first snow of the year!!!

October Fun!

2011-11-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

Neighborhood Kids Trick-or-Treating

My cute "Halloween Fairy" and "Giraffe"

Kids from the Hallsten Halloween Party

(Ella, Massimo, Shelby, Hudson)

Ella's Preschool Halloween Parade/Party

Bryce/Jennica Wedding dinner

Cornbellys @ Thanksgiving Point

Football Games

This has been a fun month and looking forward to the Holidays ahead!

8 Years!!!

2011-10-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th Anniversary Bri!!! Thanks for being my BEST friend! Thank you for always being there for me when I need you! Thank you for the 2 most beautiful kids in my life!!! I couldn't ask for a better partner though this journey together!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Love these Girls!!!

2011-09-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to get out and have a Girl's Night with these cute girls!!!! The 5 of us were best friends in High School and did everything together!!! With marriages, kids, families, school, and us all spread throughout the state and Tiff out east, we have not ALL been together for probably 6 years or so. I'm so glad that we were all able to get together!!!

We enjoyed dinner and then went back to Jenny's place to watch old videos and talk for hours!!! I have not laughed that hard in a LONG time!!! Love you girls, and thanks girls for such a FUN (long over due) night!!!

CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE!!!

BYU Games!

2011-09-28T14:44:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of pics of the kids at the game. (if you can't tell by their faces, i had to force them to get a picture)

1st day of Preschool

2011-09-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ella with her Preschool Basket before her 1st day

Ella has been SO SO excited to start preschool!!!! I thought that I would be o.k dropping her off today, but couldn't hold back the tears when I said one last goodbye, and she came running to me to give me another hug.

I love her so much, and am SO proud of her. She is going to do great in school. We are looking forward to a fun year!!!

Earrings!!!

2011-08-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

After probably 6-12 months of talking about getting her ears pierced, Ella finally decided that is what she really wanted to do. She was so brave and from the second she made up her mind, she was nothing but excited. She would tell just about anyone she saw yesterday (We caught her even talking to herself about it :) After all day of waiting, we finally took her yesterday afternoon to go get it done. She picked out little pink, sparkle flowers. So cute on her!!!!

Hudson Birthday

2011-08-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

Better late then never :)

We had a little party for Hudson with our families. He enjoyed opening all of the presents and always loves to be with family.
His gifts ranged from Lebron James/Vans shoes to clothes and toys. He had a great birthday and would like to thank all those that could make it!!!

Hudson is 1!

2011-08-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

(way late for this post...considering his birthday was on the 19 of july)

I can't believe this little guy is 1! It has been a long year with all of his health issues, but we are happy to say that both the cardiologist appt and his yearly checkup all turned out GREAT! We couldn't be happier!
He looks as if he is a pretty chunky guy, but according to the charts he is only 5% in weight and NOT EVEN 5% in height. (Not even on the chart) :) He is so dang cute! Hudson is such a fun boy with the cutest personality. He is incredibly sweet, but has this little spunk in him. (He has to with a bossy older sister :) He is really trying to talk right now, and it is so fun to hear him jabber to tell stories. He brings so much joy the house and we are constantly laughing at him. I LOVE THIS BOY!!!!

Cabin Trip 2011

2011-07-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER

YELLOWSTONE

SMORES

FEEDING THE BIG FISH

SAWTELLE

PLAYING/CATCHING TADPOLES IN THE RIVER

HUDSON PLAYING IN THE CAR

HUDSON BIRTHDAY AT THE CABIN!

WEST YELLOWSTONE

BEAR AND WOLF MUSEUM W/ LIVE BEARS AND WOLVES

THE PLAYMILL IN WEST YELLOWSTONE

(BIRTHDAY BOYS)

HUDSON IN GRANDPA'S FISHING GEAR

RENTED 4-WHEELERS FOR A DAY

(SO FUN)

HUDSON BIRTHDAY CAKE

THANKS TO RICK AND DEB FOR A FUN VACATION!

Zions Ponderosa

2011-07-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

My family had a reunion up in Zions this last week. I had a lot of fun visiting with cousins that I haven't seen in a few years. It is fun to see everybody growing up. My family was able to share a huge, beautiful house with my Aunt Jillyn, her family, and my Aunt Judy and her family. It was 3 levels and practically everyone had their own room. We had huge tv rooms and a theatre screen in the basement. We had everything we needed. My other aunts/uncles shared different houses down the road. They were all so NICE! It was perfect weather!

The view outside our house was beautiful!

Ella horseback riding

The kids riding around in the golf carts

Family basketball tournament

Ella loved driving this! She actually got pretty good at it.

Zip line!

Pool fun! (Hudson w/ Aunt Em)

Ella on the drive down to Zions. She was actually a VERY good little traveler this trip. Hudson frequently got sick of his car seat and drove us a little crazy. Thanks mom and dad for the fun trip!

Summer Update...

2011-07-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ella loved learning how to fly her first kite!

Hudson is getting so big! He has got such a fun personality and loves playing with his soccer ball! We were finally able to get him to crawl and move around which is so nice for me. He can now follow me around the house and cries a whole lot less when i walk out of the room w/out him!

We have done lots of days at the park

Lots of pool parties with friends!

Ella Turned 4!

2011-05-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day, 4 years ago, this cute little girl was born!!!

A few months later, she got even cuter!

Now, she is even cuter! Ella is such a funny, sassy, smart, pretty, great big sister!!!! She has been anxiously waiting for it to be her birthday! She has been so excited to turn 4! I try to make birthdays all about her. She decided what we were to do all day. We started the day off with making her favorite breakfast (Apple Turnovers). At lunch time, we went and picked Brian up from work and went to lunch. (Ella ate Taco Bell) After lunch, we went and fed the ducks at Sugarhouse Park and then went to her favorite park to play. When Brian got home from work, we opened up some presents and then went to Chuck e Cheese. (They do a great job of advertising on t.v. Ella had to try it out) She loved it!
After, we went and got her a slurpee at the gas station. When she went to bed that night, she told us that it was the BEST day!
The next night was her birthday party. We invited lots of family and a few friends. She had been so excited all week. Her and the kids all had a great time!!!
We love you Ella and are so glad you are ours!!!!!!

Easter

2011-04-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

We were able to have 4 days to celebrate Easter this year. The Saturday and Sunday before we dyed Easter eggs at my parents house. The next day, we had dinner and did an "KID" hunt (Ella), and then my parents had and "ADULT" hunt. (money eggs). We all had a great time!

The 23rd and 24th we spent at Brian's parent's house. We did a hunt for the kids on Saturday b/c of bad weather.

Sunday morning, the kids opened up their Easter baskets. They both really enjoyed what they got. Sunday night, we had dinner with Brian's family!

Happy Birthday!

2011-04-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Brian!!! I can't begin to tell you how much I love you!!!

Thanks for being the best husband, friend, dad, and provider a girl could ask for!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!

And ANOTHER Surgery

2011-03-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this is the last of the surgeries for this cute little guy! He has gone through so many medical problems, and still can have a smile on his face 2 hours out of surgery.

He had another surgery this last Friday for the golf ball size bump on the back of his head. They cleaned out all of the calcified blood and layer of "scar tissue." I was definitely not impressed with the doctor. His stories as to what it really was kept changing. (Definitely not a cyst; then it was a cyst that could have ruptured; calcified hematoma; too early to be calcified; calcified blood and scar tissue; ect; ect). Poor little guy has been through a lot! Hopefully, we can put this all behind us, and Hudson can be healthy!

ANOTHER Surgery

2011-03-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hudson had his MRI done last month for the cyst on his head. We were so glad that it wasn't connected to the skull. They scheduled the surgery up at Primary Children's to remove it last week. (I feel like I know that place WAY too well) Everything went very smoothly and it looked great! There was hardly any swelling and the incision looked great!

3 days later, I noticed there was a crazy amount of swelling on the back of his head. (Golf ball size that sticks out 1/2-3/4 inch off his head) Looks horrible! It seemed to get progressively worse throughout the day. I immediately called the surgeon's office to find out what we needed to do. They told us that it didn't sound infected, but that it was just fluid, and that is typical of surgeries. They didn't seem concerned at all about it. I called my pediatrician to see if they could look at it, but they refused and told me that surgeon is the one to check it out.

I was told that I was worrying too much about it, so I tried to calm myself. Finally, today I couldn't stand it anymore. I called the surgeon's office again and told them that the swelling hadn't gone down and that there wasn't fluid anymore, but it was going hard. They told me to bring him in to check it out.

The doctor told me that it seemed to be a calcified. He told me that we should try to avoid surgery, and that I should take the palm of my hand 2 times a day and massage it with force to make it go down. (Really???? He won't even lay on it because it is so painful. I don't know how i can do this to him!!!)

Poor baby!

I have a follow up appt next week. He will check it out then, and we should have the biopsy results by then as well. We are hoping for the best!

Disney on Ice

2011-03-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Disney on Ice came to town last week. I was able to get me and Ella some tickets to go see it. We made it a Girl's Night. We went to dinner together and enjoyed the show. Ella was so funny! She was dancing and screaming the whole time!

Hollywood Connection Again

2011-03-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

My parents bought a whole bunch of ALL DAY passes to Hollywood Connection for the family. We were all supposed to go together, but it never worked out, so Ella and Hudson were able to go a few times. They had a blast!

Ella is so Lucky!

2011-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Back in Sept or October I entered a contest for a Children's Bedroom Makeover. We had to write an email as to why we thought our child deserved a new room. This is what I wrote...

I feel that my little girl deserves a bedroom makeover. My husband and I have been married for 7 years now, and this last March were finally able to buy our first home together. We were also expecting our 2nd child this last July. We were very excited for both. We were planning on slowly fixing up Ella's bedroom, buying new items here and there to make it a beautiful/fun room for a 3 year old. When my son, Hudson, was born in July, he came out not breathing right. We found out that he had a heart murmur/enlarged heart/and was on oxygen b/c he couldn't breathe on his own. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with him. A few days later, he was taken up to Primary Children's Hospital and we found out that his pulmonary valve was shutting off. He was taken in the next morning for surgery to try to fix it. We spent a week up at Primary's while our 3 year old was passed around from family to family. We thought that this would be the end of our problems until we went to his 4 week check up with the cardiologist and found out that the procedure didn't work and his valve was shutting off again. This called for another surgery and more time away from our 3 year old. We have tried to make this a smooth transition for her, but it seems that she has struggled with all of it, and would love nothing more than to be able to have her excited about something new JUST FOR HER!

My daughter currently has a hand-me-down day bed (on it's last leg) with a hand-me-down mattress(Both were mine when I was growing up). She currently uses the dresser that goes with our new baby's room. I have tried to do what I can to make this room fun and girly for her, but can't do what I want b/c we are busy with the MOUNDS of NEVER ENDING medical bills.

Sincerely,

Nanette Zern- Sandy, Utah

801-414-1868

Months had passed and figured that nothing would come of it. In January, I received a phone call telling me that I was one of the finalists. They came over and met with us and took pics of Ella's room. She told me that she would let me know within the next few days if I had won. 4 or 5 days passed and thought that they had chosen someone else until I received a phone call from the owner of Oopsie Daisy. She told me that she couldn't get our story out of her head, and she would love nothing more than to do this for Ella. We were so excited to go to her store to pick everything out. They came last friday and painted the room and moved the furniture in on Saturday and Monday. Ella's room is so darling, and she is so in love with it!!! The owner, Tiffany, and her manager, Angie, was so much fun to work with. Their store at Daybreak is so dang cute!!! The cutest stuff for any kid!!! We are so grateful to them!!

The BEFORE

THE AFTER

The MRI

2011-02-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

I love these 3!!!

After getting the I.V

Poor guy! They tried for 30-45 min trying to get an I.V in him.

He got poked in both hands and his foot.

After the MRI. (He was a little loopy)

I found a lump on the back of Hudson's head last month, so i took him to the dermatologist. The dermatologist told me that because of Hudson's age, and where the cyst was located he needed to refer me to a Plastic Surgeon up at Primary Children's Hospital. The doctor up there looked at it and told me that an MRI needed to be done to make sure that the cyst wasn't attatched to the skull in the brain. Of course i freaked out. You can't just tell me everything is going to be fine? Luckily everything checked out just fine! They will do surgery in March to take it out and biopsy it. Hopefully that will be just fine as well. I couldn't handle something else wrong with my baby!!!

Hollywood Connection

2011-01-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Grandma and Grandpa Cahoon took Ella to Hollywood Connection. She had the best time. So fun for that age!!!
Some of her favorite things were...
   Roller Skating
   Magic Show
   Roller Coaster
   Flying Bus
   Bumper Cars and More!

Thanks again for such a fun day!

Random Pics

2011-01-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hudson's First Haircut

Ella making her Easy Bake Cookies

Hudson is always grabbing for something!

Big Boy

Christmas Fun!!

2010-12-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

These 2 pictures are from our ward party. They asked us to be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus.

Ella's Christmas Dress

Brian and Ella's Snowman

Ella not too sure about Santa

Christmas Pajamas

Santa brought Ella a bike this year.

Hudson loving his new toy

This year we had Christmas Eve at my parents house. We had dinner, did the Nativity, watched a movie, and opened presents.

We had Christmas Day at Brian's parents. We had breakfast or brunch, movies, presents, and a dinner.

Most of all, it was great to be together!!!

Thanksgiving!

2010-12-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

We started off our day with the boys playing "Turkey Bowl." We then took Ella sledding for the first time. (I know... bad parents, huh?) She LOVED it!!!
Then off to my parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner! It was a great day, and fun to be with the family!

A day, a month, a lifetime of GRATITUDE!!!

2010-11-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

How cute is this little guy?? Getting ready for surgery and still has his cute little smile!

Since Hudson was born, he has had heart issues. We thought that the first surgery or procedure took care of the problem. At 4 weeks old, he had his check up with the cardiologist, and found out that his valve was closing up again and the pressures on his valve had dramatically gone up. We were hopeful that giving him some vitamins with iron would fix what the echo was showing. A couple of months later, we went in for another echo, and it showed that he was getting worse. We were scheduled for another procedure yesterday.
Monday night we had both of our dads, brothers, and brother in laws come over to give our little guy a blessing. Tuesday morning we met with doctors and they told us what to expect. We were told that they were not as optimistic as they were the first time around. They told us that if it didn't work this time, they would have to do open heart. Brian and I were of course devastated at the thought. We hoped and prayed that this would work.
It was time to pass off our crying baby to the doctors. (There is nothing worse than that). A few minutes later, we got a page from the doctor and brian quickly ran down to the operating room to find out what was going on. The doctor told him that the high pressures in his heart had disappeared. His blood work looked perfect and that they were not going to do the surgery. He told brian that he didn't expect him to have heart problems throughout his life. He looked great and perfect! We were able to take Hudson home after he woke up from the anesthesia. We couldn't have been blessed more, and are SO, SO grateful.
I sincerely believe in the power of prayer, blessing, and miracles!!!!! I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be his mom!
THANK YOU to all that have helped us through everything. We appreciate your constant love, support and prayers.

Pumpkin Carving!

2010-10-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

This week's family night was a blast! Ella loved it!

Cute Pics and More!

2010-10-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is what you get when your 3 year old steals your camera!
Brian was upstairs getting his work stuff ready for the next day. He noticed flashing lights coming from Ella's pitch black room. These were just a few of the pics we found.

How can you not love this smile??

Ella in her cowgirl costume for her cousin's party!

Happy 7 Year Anniversary Babe! (Yesterday)

2010-10-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Bri!!! I can't believe that it has been 7 years! I love you so much and am so glad to have spent these 7 years with YOU! Can't imagine life without you! I look forward to many more! I love you!

This year's celebrations were very low key. We woke up with both kids in the bed! We spent some time being lazy! Taking care of the kids! Playing outside! Jamba Juice! Dropped the kids off at grandma's house so we could shop a little and went out to dinner. It was a fun, relaxing day!

The Kids

2010-10-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Miss Ella Mae has been doing swimming lessons again this year. She absolutely loves it! We hope to start her in skiing lessons in the next couple of months as well.

Hudson is growing like crazy! We took him to his cardiologist appt last week and he is 35% in weight and 6% in height. He is such a chubby little guy! He laughs and smiles and is such a joy!
Sadly, we found out that he has to go in for another procedure on his heart on Nov. 9. If everyone can keep him in your prayers, we would really appreciate it!

Hudson's Blessing!

2010-09-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Brian gave Hudson a beautiful blessing this past Sunday. My two guys looked so handsome! After, we had lots of family and friends back to our house for some lunch. It was a great day!

Go Cougars! :)

2010-09-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is... Game week for college football. My kids are all ready for this upcoming season, and loving the BLUE! Go Cougs! Beat Washington!!!!!

Cabin Trip 2010

2010-08-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ella fell asleep with a load of string cheese in her mouth!

Cousin Bath Time

Feeding the BIG fish!

Yellowstone Park

Fishing

Floating the River

Thanks for the fun trip Everyone!!!!!

Summer Fun!

2010-08-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

The beginning of this month we all went to Seven Peaks together for the IHC employee day! The kids all had a blast!

We also went with out water for a good 4-5 days. It was horrible. We had a huge leak in one of the main pipes out front that we needed to fix. Brian's dad and brother were nice to come help. Although, I'm sure Bryce was regretting it when Brian decided to tease him while he was head first in the hole :)

Here are the cutest kids eva!!!

We are missing the first BYU game of the season in a couple of weeks for Brian's best friend's wedding. Brian lives for BYU football so this is a HUGE sacrifice. We had to make sure to go to a morning scrimmage to try to make up for it.

Brian's Summer work party was at Snowbird this year. We had fun taking the kids up on the Tram, going down the Alpine Slide, and a yummy dinner. Ella had a blast!

Hudson James Zern

2010-07-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

We are all finally home! Hudson gave us quite the scare over the last couple of weeks. It started on Monday, the 19th, when I went in for a scheduled induction at 7:30 am. Everything started off fine, but as soon as the doctor broke my water Hudson's heart rate dropped. It soon became a panic, and there were 5 people around me trying to pump more fluid back in me. This brought his heart rate back up for a short amount of time. Over the next 7-8 hours, we were worried because it kept dropping. At 9:30 p.m, after much anxiety and many tears, I was finally fully dialated and ready to push. He came at 9:56 pm, weighing in at 6.0 lbs and 17 1/2 inches long.

We were so happy that he arrived safely and thought the worst was over. If anyone knows my luck, it wasn't.
Soon after he arrived, Brian noticed that Hudson wasn't breathing very well. We thought everything was o.k until the next morning. We found out that he was on oxygen all night and that he had a heart murmur. I was of course a wreck over this! They did an ultrasound on him and noticed that he had an enlarged heart as well. They immediately put him on antibiotics and hoped that it would resolve itself.
Wednesday morning came and we knew something had to be done. The hospital we were at didnt have all of the machinery we needed to find out more info on his condition. Brian went and talked with the doctor and she recommended Hudson to stay and finish the antibiotics, but Brian demanded that they transfer us up to Primary Children's Hospital. A couple of hours later, I was headed up in an ambulance with my baby. We got up there and he was quickly taken in for an Echo. They found that the valve in his pulmonary artery was very narrow, and needed to be ballooned out. They scheduled his surgery for early the next morning. We were very nervous, but so relieved to have some answers.

We were so blessed to have one of the best teams of cardiologists perform the surgery. It went very well, but took longer than expected b/c it was more difficult and built up with more tissue and tighter than expected. They told us that if we hadn't come in when we did, that Hudson wouldn't have made it. Hudson was in the NICU for 6 days and we were finally able to take him home a couple of days ago. He is still on a little bit of oxygen that we hope to get off of in the next week or so.

We would like to thank all of our family for the help they gave us with Ella. There were so many prayers and fasts on Hudson's behalf. We are so grateful to everyone! We feel so blessed to have this little guy with us!!!!

Baby Shower!

2010-07-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday, my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws were so nice to throw me a baby shower! The preparation, food, and decorations were all so great!!! Thanks again Ash, Deb, Kenz and Launa!!! Ella walked in and asked whose birthday it was. She loved helping open all of the gifts. We got so many great gifts for our little guy, and are so excited for him to come!

I had my last DR appointment yeseterday and his little head is totally engaged and in the perfect postition to come. I'm 70% effaced and only dialated to a 1, but we will see. If he doesn't come by Monday, I'm going in to get induced. I have lots to do this next week to keep me busy!

4th of July Fun!

2010-07-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went with Brian's family to Raging Waters. The kids had a blast! We then came home and had a Fajita BBQ and made homemade ice cream and sorbet! We later rushed to catch some fireworks. It was a great day!

Sunday, we went to my parent's house for a BBQ and some sparklers. We were lucky to have some family friends (Talitha, Thomas, and Dillon) join us for the fun. Talitha is due with a baby girl a month after me. My niece and nephew live in Hawaii, so Ella never has cousins to play with when we go to my parent's house. This was such a treat for Ella! We all had a great time together!

Love Him, Love Him, Love Him!

2010-06-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

I don't do this enough, but

This post is just about how much I love my husband!!!

1. First of all, i was browsing through some old pics and came across this cute one of Brian when Ella was a few days old. I can't begin to tell you how good of a dad he is to Ella and can't wait to see him with his little guy here in 3 weeks or so. He is always more than willing to give her the attention and rough play whenever she feels she needs it. When he has the opportunity to hang out with his guy friends, he realizes that Ella needs him more and would drop just about anything for her.

2. Super Handsome!

3. The first pregnancy was a breeze, but this one has been quite the treat for all of us. :) First, it started out with pregnancy denial (He practically forced me to take the test ), mixed with emotional roller coaster, more than enough nesting projects, crazy mood swings, super tired spells (where Brian has had to be full time dad); has to always listen to my silly pregnancy worries weekly. (He always knows i'm worrying about something when I pull out the pregnancy guide book)

To say the least, he has been MORE than patient with this fun experience!!! :)

Can't wait for this little guy to come and be back to my normal self!!!!!!

4. School. After almost 7 years of marriage, Brian finally graduated from college in May. It has been a huge accomplishment for him, and I'm so proud of him!!!! He made a promise to my dad that I would finish my degree and he stuck to that, even if that meant that he wasn't able to get his done. He was able to balance out full time school, work, family, friends, and remodel of new house all at the same time to accomplish this goal! What a stud!

5. Family. Brian has always been one to put others first. (He neglects himself quite frequently) It doesn't matter how busy he is, he will try to fit in helping me, Ella, his family, my family, as well as his friends. He has a big heart and lots to give. He has been such a great provider for our little family and is always concerned about our well being. He has a great drive for success in life and doesn't stop until he gets it.

I LOVE THIS GUY SO MUCH AND AM SO GRATEFUL FOR HIM IN MY LIFE! HE IS THE BEST DAD AND HUSBAND!

Update...

2010-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy getting stuff ready for the baby that I have neglected the blog. Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to lately.

Above are pictures of Ella's Birthday Party! We had lots of family and some friends over to celebrate!

Also, here are some pictures from Memorial Day...

Ella is 3!

2010-05-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast Ella is growing up!!!!! She was born on Mother's Day 3 years ago, and I couldn't have asked for a better gift! She has been such a joy in our lives! She is a beautiful, funny, spunky, sweet, troublemaker, energetic, loveable little girl.

Ella loves to tease anybody that she can.

She loves to go to the park.

She loves to play with her cousins (or fight)

She can be sweet, but can handle her own when needed.

She loves to swim.

She loves babies.

Her favorite things are... treats, bubble gum, fruit, pasta, steak, chips/salsa, juice, and pizza

She is great to tell Brian and I that we are a good mommy or daddy.
She loves to watch Arthur. (She is limited to 2 a day)
She loves her imaginary friends (pizzi and gunna)
She loves to go shopping
She loves purses (Has about a dozen)
and much, much more!!!!!

We are so in love with her and are so lucky to have her in our lives!

Latest Family and Maternity Pics!

2010-04-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

My sister and her family were in town for Joe's Wedding last month. She of course brought her camera and took lots of pictures of everybody in the family. Thanks, Nicole!!

Happy 28th Brian!!!!

2010-04-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my 28 year old husband!!! Thanks for being such a great partner and dad!!! We love you and appreciate you more than you know!!! Hope that you had a GREAT day!!!

Love,

Nan & Ella Mae

Finally Moved In!

2010-03-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy month of trying to get our house fixed up to move in. We were so lucky to have the help of so much family and friends. THANKS to everyone!!!!!

We are now trying to get settled and get the little things done here and there. We love the new area and are so happy to be in a bigger place! (Especially with the new one coming!)

What a WEEK!!

2010-02-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

First of all, I turned 26 this last friday (19th). Can't believe that I'm getting closer to 30. I still feel like I'm 18!

One of my biggest presents was that Brian and I finally bought a house! We signed the closing documents on my birthday. We have been searching for close to 1- 1/2 years and finally found one that we like and is in an area that we like. (Bonus: about 5 minutes away from both our parents). Brian and I both grew up in this area and are really excited about it.

Lastly, I had my ultrasound today..........

It's a BOY!!!!!

Brian and I couldn't be happier! He appears to be growing properly and right on track! Brian and I were convinced that we were going to be having ALL girls, and were pleasantly surprised! We have our cute Ella (who is quite dramatic and very sassy), and after 3 years of having the privilege of being her parents, we are looking forward to a more calm baby! Lets keep our fingers crossed!

All in all, it turned out to be a GREAT week!!

Valentines 2010!

2010-02-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Brian was so sweet to order me flowers this year! I usually get flowers brought home to me, but never a surprise order to the house! Ella was really cute all day, saying, "That was so nice of Daddy!" He also came home with a shopping gift card, and chocolate covered strawberries. Yum!!!! These are my favorite! Great day! Great weekend!

2 MONTH UPDATE

2010-01-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

Pictures coming soon....

My laptop has been broken the last couple of months and i have been too lazy to figure out Brian's MAC. We had a wonderful holiday season!!!

Thanksgiving, we woke up for "Turkey Bowl." The boys really enjoyed that. After, we spent the day at the Zern's house for a great meal.

In December, we enjoyed going to see the christmas lights downtown, christmas shopping, christmas candies and desserts, presents, christmas parties, and much more!

We also enjoyed a visit to the ER with Ella. She decided it would be a good idea to sit on the edge of the shopping cart and lost her balance and fell to the concrete floor right on her head. She started crying and i ran over to pick her up. After i picked her up, she stopped breathing and her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she started shaking. I about had a heart attack!!!! I called for someone to help and we got the paramedics shortly after. I was so grateful that she awoke pretty quickly after. After everything was said and done, she luckily only came out with a huge bump on the back of her head. Im super grateful she ended up being o.k. She has now learned that she needs to listen to mom and NEVER stand up in the cart again.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Zern's house. We have a traditional dinner and read about the birth of Christ and then open up family presents. We gave a special one this year to our parents. We had a small box wrapped up with a card on the outside saying "We are sorry that your present is on back order, but to please accept what was in the box until it arrives" Inside we had blue and pink tissue paper with a binky and a card saying,

"Expected Delivery: July 26, 2010."

Christmas Day was just as fun. We woke up and opened up our presents. Ella was so much fun this year. All she wanted was ANOTHER baby! She was so happy when she saw Santa had brought her one. We spent the day with the Cahoon's. We had a traditional dinner and went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. After we went back and did presents and dessert. My parents also got their special present too.

New Years Eve we spent with some of our best friends, Dax and Marina. We went to dinner at Ruth's Diner and headed back to our house to hang out until the new year. We are getting too old. We all just wanted to lay around and not do too much. It was so relaxing!

The Shots Begin...

2009-11-04T12:25:00.001-08:00

5 or 6 people have been sent home from Brian's work this last Monday with the Swine Flu. Brian and I have been debating on what this vaccine is really about and side effects that it might have in the future. After this work week and the news report about the perfectly healthy Weber or USU professor that died within 2 days of having it, I decided that we needed to protect our little family. Monday, i did some research on the internet on where we could get these vaccines and when. Many places have you call or reserve appointments online. Tuesday morning i woke up early (9 am -i guess early to me) to reserve our appointment with the Salt Lake Health Clinic. I got into the system and found the only open day and went to click on the time and it locked me out, because all of the spots had been filled up for the week. It became booked within 15 minutes! I was quite frustrated and felt that we couldn't wait another week. (Brian has been on medication for his ulcurative colitis disease that lowers his white blood cell count and it makes it much much harder for his body to fight off illness). It appeared that everyone was out and i was told that i needed to call next week and try again. By this time it was 9:30. After some more searching, i found out that i could drive and hour north to Layton and HOPE that we could get tickets. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to try, but tickets were being handed out at 10. I rushed Ella and i in the car and sped up to Layton. The Convention Center was packed!!! We luckily were able to get 3 twelve o'clock appointments. Soon after, they ran out! I waited in the car for 2 hours trying to keep a two year old entertained. Fun, Fun! Finally the time came to jump in line and soon after Brian make the trek and arrived just in time. We thought the mist would be better for Ella so there wouldn't be any pokes and tears. Little did we know, the mist would freak her out too. :) All in all Im so glad that we were able to get them!!

Halloween 2009!

2009-11-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

Ella already loading her face with candy.

Ella and her friend Eva May! What a cute princess and witch!

Yeah!!!!!!

2009-10-05T12:07:00.001-07:00

Yeah for Ella!!!! I have been trying to get her to go potty for some time now and i have come to realize that this has to be on her own time. This morning she took her diaper off and told me she needed to go potty. I honestly didn't believe that she would actually do it. She usually just plays around. Not this time!!!! There was really something in it!!!! (Sorry for the picture. I will not be taking any of the other :)
Ella was so excited to pick out of her potty basket. She picked an apron, ring pop, and any panty she wanted!

Todd's Bday

2009-09-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Friday, we drove up to Layton for Todd's bday. He wanted to go to Classic Skating. We all had a fun time!

Fall means "Football Season"

2009-09-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ella loves seeing Cosmo the Cougar!

Labor Day FUN!

2009-09-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day, we took Ella and Makella to Liberty Park to go on some rides. Beckham was born 3 days prior and thought Ashlee and Justin would want a break! The girls had so much fun!

Summer Update!

2009-09-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

4th of July: This is the Place Park with the Zerns

Swimming and The Bee's Game with Cahoons

24th of July Fun!

Wheeler Farm

Temple Dedication: Cookies and Water was Ella's Favorite!

Cabin with the Zerns

Good Things Utah with Mom and Geneal

Ella wearing Grandma Cahoon's Boots

Ella overcame her fear of swings!

Update

2009-05-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

We have had a couple of busy weeks. We had Brian's cousin's wedding where we have a picture of Ella and Brian having a Daddy-Daughter Dance.

Ella had her 2nd birthday this last Wednesday. Poor girl woke up sick, so we did as much as we could. She wanted pizza for lunch and then we went to the park to play. She was able to do the "money jar" at gma and gpa Cahoon's house. She got some money for her birthday so she went and picked out a toy at the store.

Friday, Brian's brother Bryce got home from his mission. We have all enjoyed having him home. It was extra special, because Ella and Bryce met for the first time.

Saturday, we had Ella's birthday party. She got spoiled as usual. Thanks so much for everybody that came!

Park Day

2009-04-14T11:33:00.001-07:00

We have had a couple of beautiful spring days this past couple of weeks. Ella loved going to play at the park!!!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a fun weekend for Ella. Saturday morning we went up to the U for an easter egg hunt. Saturday afternoon we went to my parents house to color easter eggs and Ella had a hunt for those as well.
Sunday, we went to Brian's parents for dinner and another hunt. Thanks to everybody that made Easter so much fun for Ella!

Happy Birthday Brian!

2009-04-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Happy 27th Brian! Thanks for being the best dad for our little girl! We love you!

Brian had 3 celebrations this year. He had a celebration at my parents house, his parents house and we had a big "friends party" We celebrated his and sean's bday at Bonsai. As much as he didn't want to celebrate getting closer to 30, i think that he enjoyed his day.

Children's Museum

2009-04-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ella and I went to The Children's Museum downtown last Friday with Ashlee, Kels, Dana, and Colter. I think that the girls enjoyed the kitchen/playhouse and the water fun. Thanks again Dana and Ashlee!

Dino Land @ South Towne Mall

2009-04-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

While Nicole and Boston were in town, we went shopping at South Towne Mall. Just outside of the the Forever 21 they have a kids play area. Boston and Ella had so much fun!

Pictures

2009-03-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from this last weekend! I'm so excited to have and updated picture of my little family!

Fun Weekend!

2009-03-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

This last week, my sister, Nicole, her husband, Zach and my nephew, Boston surprised the family and came into town from Hawaii. My brother, Joe and his wife, Steph also came up from St. George. This is the first time in a years that we have all been together. We had a great week taking pictures, going to Ollie's water polo game, golfing, shopping, and hanging out.

CONGRATS!!!!

2009-03-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Geneal and Josh!!!! We are all so excited to have you in the family!!!! We were having family pictures taken this last weekend and Josh popped the question right in the middle of it. I think that these are literally "perfect engagement pictures!"

The Monkey???

2009-02-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Ella has really been into monkeys lately. She loves to make the monkey noise and bounce up and down. The other morning Ella came to lay in the bed with me and she stood up and did her monkey impression out of no where. I was looking around the room to figure out what she was doing. I asked her where she saw the monkey. She immediately pointed to Brian's nightstand where there was a Sports Illustrated laying there. Here is the picture she saw. Later we were in the living room and i wanted to test her. I asked her to go find the monkey. She ran to Brian's nightstand and made the impression again. Wow! Really... Lebron James...a monkey???? Too funny!

Bowling Fun!

2009-02-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Friday night we went bowling with some friends. Everybody gave Ella a turn to bowl. She loved it!!!

Obsessed with Stickers, Snow, and... Really Shoes Already?

2009-02-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

Swimming!

2009-01-21T16:53:00.000-08:00

Today we went swimming with Ashlee and Kels at Cottonwood Heights Rec Indoor Pool. The girls had a blast going on all of the slides, but got pretty cold towards the end!

Martin Luther King Jr Day!

2009-01-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

Brian had the day off, so we went with my parents out to lunch and to shop downtown at Gateway. After the shopping, we decided to try the new Front Runner Train. None of us had ever been on it, and wanted to try it out. We all had a good time!

Christmas is FINALLY posted!

2009-01-07T19:20:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year!!! It was especially fun because Ella understood a lot more than last year. We put up the christmas lights and she learned the word "Santa." She would constantly say it. You would ask her what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas, and she responded by saying "baby." She is obsessed with babies!!!! She received 3 this year. What a lucky girl. She also got a car, clothes, play cell phone, and her very own chair.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family. We went and saw "It's a wonderful life" on the big screen downtown. Brian had never seen it so it was fun! After we went back to my parent's house to have dinner, watch a movie, opened Christmas P.Js, and our christmas presents from my family. Ella was spoiled as usual.

Christmas Day we opened up presents at our home and then rushed to get ready to go over to Brian's family's house. We opened presents, tried to talk to Bryce (but had to postpone for another day, because the phone kept cutting out), and ate a christmas dinner. Ella was spoiled again!

Thanks to all of the family! We had a great Christmas!

Hawaii 2008! (Graduation Trip with Mom and Ella)

2008-12-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

Santa 2007 & 2008!

2008-12-07T13:42:00.001-08:00

Ella last year with Santa! She was happy as can be!

Not so much this year!!! I don't know what has gotten into Ella this year. She loved Santa last year and i totally thought that she would be so excited to see him this time. Every time she sees him on t.v she goes crazy and yells "Santa" over and over until we acknowledge it. (Oh and she will go to just about anybody it is almost scary!) Why not Santa? Too funny!

Thanksgiving 2008!

2008-11-30T19:38:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2008 was a great one! The boys started the day with some flag football. They were all incredibly sore for days, not to mention Rick's broken finger. After football, we went to my parents house for Thanksgiving this year. We had a great meal and then went to see the new James Bond movie. (Thanks to mom for taking Ella to Bolt) After, we went to Brian's parents house for a visit.

I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband and for all of his hard work to provide for our family. He is such a great dad to my Ella. Ella is my pride and joy! I'm so grateful for her cute personality and her ability to make me laugh.

Halloween Night- Trunk or Treat!

2008-11-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the excess of pictures. We had lots of halloween parties and activities. This year was a blast with Ella and she seemed to have a great time!

Ward Halloween Party!

2008-11-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Carving Night @ Gma/Gpa Cahoons

2008-11-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Eva May's Halloween Party!

2008-11-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Happy 5 Year!!!!

2008-10-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Late Anniversary Babe! (Sorry it is late, but we were on our trip) I love and appreciate all that you do for our family! You are an amazing dad and a wonderful husband! Happy 5 years, and i look forward to many more with you! I LOVE YOU!

So for our 5 year, we decided it would be fun to go to Texas! Brian has never been and it was quite an experience for him. We stayed in Downtown Dallas and made a quick weekend out of it. (We couldn't be gone too long, because we left Ella with my parents. It was the first time we have ever left her!)

We went to a really good Mexican Restaurant Friday night and then went up to Frisco to do some shopping. Brian wanted to see my old neighborhood. We went by the old high school stadium, and he was shocked to see how big it was. It really is like a college stadium in Utah (Here in Utah, football is not all the huge! The high school stadiums are extremely tiny/crappy)

On Saturday, we went to Six Flags. (Brian has also never been to a good amusement park before. Lagoon doesn't even compare) We were both really worried that we would get motion sick, so we took some medicine. BAD idea! We were both dragging all day long. I really felt like i could sleep all day. After Six Flags, we went to Trail Dust Steak House. My dad has ranted and raved over it for years, so we thought we would try it out.

Sunday, we went to another mall, The Galleria. (Brian has realized how little shopping we have in SLC) After, we wanted to take a tour of the Cowboys stadium since this is the last year they will be playing in it. We got there and found out that there were no tours because of a cheerleading competition. After, we headed off to the airport for a long night ahead of us. We finally flew into SLC at 11:00 pm. I was so excited to see Ella!!!!

Fun New Pics!

2008-10-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

We were at a Family Night a couple of weeks ago and my cousin wanted to take some pictures of Ella. I think they turned out super cute!

TAGGED!

2008-09-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

8 TV shows that I love to watch....
1. Everybody loves Raymond
2. Friends
3. Good Things Utah
4. The Office
5. The Office
6. The Office
7. The Office
8. The Office (If you can't tell... I'm so excited for The Office to start up again this Thursday!!!!)

8 Places that I love to eat......
1. La Puente
2. Chili's
3. Cafe Rio
4. Olive Garden
5. Speg. Factory
6. Taco Time
7. Pizza Factory
8. Chick fil la

8 things that happened yesterday.....
1. Got my oil changed
2. Got my tires rotated
3. Went to the mall
4. Dropped Brian off at the gym
5. Went to the mall again
6. Bought Ella some jeans
7. Cooked dinner for Brian and his friend Sean
8. Watched football with Cam, Tia, Sean, and Brian

8 things that I look most forward to....
1. Going to Dallas in October for a fun 5th anniversary get away
2. Fall weather
3. Trick or treating with Ella (i found a super cute zebra costume for her. She loves it! She wouldn't take it off the day we got it.)
4. Christmas
5. Holiday Treats
6. Ella talking (She gets so frustrated when we don't know what she wants)
7. Getting a house
8. Ella's nap times

8 things I love about Fall
1. Halloween time
2. Thanksgiving
3. Not being too hot or too cold
4. Hot soup on a cool day
5. Getting out the Fall/Winter clothes
6. Snow
7. Caramel Popcorn (YUM!!)
8. Warm Homemade bread

8 Things on my Wishlist
1. Brian and I to get new cars
2. Brian to get his bonus
3. Get a house
4. New bedding for our bed
5. Jackson (our dog) to not shed
6. Go on a big shopping spree
7. Go to Europe
8. To have my house stay clean for longer than a day

Date Night with The Bowens!

2008-09-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

We are so happy that Cam and Tia are back into town! (They have been down in Louisiana and Texas working for the summer as well as taking their honeymoon in Can Cun.) Anyways... last night we all went to dinner at Cafe Rio and then went to the State Fair. This is a picture of one of the animals. (I think it is a cow) It was huge!!! It stands 6 feet tall at the shoulders and is just shy of 3000 pounds. I have never seen anything like that before. We had a great time walking around and visiting with other friends. Lastly, we all decided to go on a ride. The ride spun around in circles as well as the individual compartments you were caged into. Poor Tia came off the ride incredibly pale and went home not feeling well. Next time, we will have to do a date night with no spinning involved. (Sorry for that lack of pictures, but we all had a great time!)

Football Season 2008!

2008-09-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last Year 2007: 3 months old

This Year 2008: 15 months old

Ella is getting so big! We took her to almost all of the BYU games last year. She was so good! She slept most of the games and it was great. This year, however, we don't dare take her. We love having her around, but i'm not sure that everybody else around us would enjoy the game as much. She is so busy and would be all over the place! We dress her up every home game, but we usually drop her off at my parents house or Aunt Kenzie watches her.

Denver Broncos vs. Dallas Cowboys!

2008-08-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Brian has grown up as a huge Denver Broncos fan and has never been to a game before. My dad is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, and has never been to a game either. They have talked for a few years about how much fun it would be to go to a game where these two teams play eachother. It rarely happens, but dad took advantage of the opportunity when it came. So, Brian got an early surprise Christmas present this past weekend from my parents.

Dad, Mom, Brian, Ella, and I drove to Denver. (Ella was such a good girl in the car, considering we have traveled 38 hours in the car in the last 3 weeks for family vacations). We stayed the night in Laramie on Friday. It was so unusually cold!!! It was in the 40's and 50's. (As you can see on the picture of the map, the only place in the nation that was rainy, was where we were) We all brought summer clothes, so the boys had to do some shopping for some warmer clothes and rain coats for the big game! Saturday afternoon we arrived in Denver. While the boys were at the game, Mom, Ella, and I went shopping and to dinner. We all had a great time. The boys had so much fun at the game and were thrilled to see that even though it was a preseason game they played the starters for a good portion of the game.

Thanks so much mom and dad!

Cabin Trip-2008

2008-08-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

We had a great cabin trip this year! We enjoyed the friendly moose, fishing, 4 wheeling, floating down the river, card games, watching the Olympics, and the yummy wild huckleberry ice cream.

The 24th of July Weekend!

2008-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

We left for St. George on the 24th of July. When we got to St. George, we took Ella out of her car seat and she was burning up. We decided to take her to Insta Care while everybody else was settling in. We thought she just had another ear infection, but come to find out it was bronchitis. Poor girl. We got her antibiotics and kept up on the Motrin and Tylenol, and she seemed to be a lot happier.
Friday, we went swimming at my parent's hotel pool, and then had a BBQ at my brother's house.
Saturday, we went to the lake with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Kim. We all had a blast!

Thanks to Joe and Steph for letting us stay at their house!!!

4th of July!

2008-07-11T13:45:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally took time to post about our 4th of July. We went with my parents, Ollie, and Geneal to Raging Waters. Ella mostly enjoyed walking around in the wave pool. We all had a great time and it was way nice to relax.

After Raging Waters, we went home and showered and went back to mom and dad's for a BBQ and headed back to our house to watch the Holladay City Fireworks.

"Playing Hard"

2008-06-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

I had to post these pictures because I thought they were hilarious! This morning, I turned on a Baby Einstein movie for Ella to watch while she was playing with her basket of toys. I was in the other room trying to get some stuff done. It had been a few minutes and i realized that she was super quiet, so i went to check on her. This is what I found...

At first I snuck in to keep from waking her and didn't see her anywhere. It got me worried for a minute until i went in a little further and found her halfway in her basket sound asleep. She must have been hard at play!

Ella's First Golf Lesson!

2008-06-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Brian is a golf freak! He golfs every Saturday and loves it. He really wants Ella to be a little golfer someday, so he went out and found this little plastic golf set so that he can start teaching her. She picked up on it pretty quick!

The Zoo!

2008-06-24T13:04:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we went with Brian's family to the Zoo. We all had a great time, besides the fact of it being SO hot!!! After we went back and had a BBQ and let Ella and Makella play in the pool. Thanks for the fun!

THE RODEO!

2008-06-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

Friday night, we went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo with our friends Dax and Marina. Ella loved looking at the animals!

8 Fun Facts about Ella!

2008-06-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Our friends Chelsea, Rob, and L tagged Ella. Here it goes!

1. Ella has quite the teasing personality. I will tell her not to do something, and she will look at me with a huge grin and will do exactly what she wants! (I know... I'm in big trouble)

2. Ella is the BEST cuddler in the world! Since day one, she has been so much fun, and will snuggle with anyone.

3. Ella is a good big and little cousin! She loves little kids.

4. Ella tattles! I don't know where she got this from at such a young age. It is so funny though.
Our dog, Jackson, is not allowed in our living room. Whenever Ella notices that Jackson has snuck in, she will tap either Brian or myself and will whine and point at Jackson. She will sometimes even shake her finger at him and jibber jabber like she is upset. (It is hilarious)
My nephew Boston, was at my mom's house last week and Boston took something away from Ella. Ella didn't like that, so the first thing she did was tap Uncle Zach and point at Boston.

5. Ella is becoming such a good walker lately. She has taken steps for quite some time now, but would always get scared and drop to the ground to crawl. 5 days before her 1st birthday, she got courageous and walked across the whole room. Now she cruises everywhere! She loves it!

6. She has learned to sniff stuff. My sister-in-law, Steph, was in town last week and brought all of her "scentsy" stuff up. Brian, Steph, and I were smelling/and picking out all of the scents that we liked. After we were through, Ella decided that she would pick one up and copy us. (She even made the "sniffle" noise too. ) It was so funny! She did that for a good half hour or so, and laughed the whole time.

7. Ella loves to DESTROY! She is into everything, and gets such a thrill at tearing things up. Who knows where she got that from?

8. Ella has the cutest smile ever! Her smile melts my heart, and makes my day!

2008-06-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Nicole, Zach and Boston got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. We are so happy that they are an eternal family!

More Weekend Fun!

2008-06-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Dani< got married Friday night. Here are some pictures of the kids dancing at the reception. They were the life of the party.

BIG Weekend!

2008-06-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

My sister, Nicole got her endowments taken out on Friday morning at the SL Temple. Here are some pictures of Boston and Ella.

Bowling!

2008-05-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

Now that Ella can walk, Brian and I decided that we would take her bowling with my family for Memorial Day. She had so much fun!!!! She was really mad that she couldn't take everybody else's turns. I guess now is the time to teach her how to "wait her turn." She didn't like that at all. (As you can see in the above picture). She ended the day with a score of 77. Not too bad for her first time!

Swimming Fun!!!

2008-05-21T11:34:00.001-07:00

Uncle Oliver got Ella this swimming pool for her birthday! Since it has been in the 80's and 90's since Saturday, we thought it would be fun to go swimming. Ella loved the water and loves to splash. She loved going down the little slide and playing with all of the pool toys. Thanks Uncle Ollie!

2008-05-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

2008-05-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

2008-05-13T13:54:00.000-07:00