Spooner Lake (Memorial Day 2009)

Rod was working and I hated to stay at home on such a beautiful day. I wanted to get out and about and so I decided to take the girls up to Spooner Lake and hike around a bit. I took our double jogging stroller, just in case they got tired. It started out really nice and we were just following the path around the lake. Both of the girls were doing well, but at times I was pushing both in the stroller. About halfway around the lake, there is a turn off to go up to a different hike/parking lot. I totally didn't see the sign, and about 20 minutes later, as I am pushing both girls up a steep rocky hill, knew something wasn't right! I had them both get out because I was so out of breath from pushing them. I needed to look around and figure out where we were and how to get back to our trail. Malia insisted that I just call the police and wait for them to come and find us. After a few minutes, I realized the error, and we started making our way back to the right trail. It was a great day, but also downright exhausting!!
Malia and Brinley are as they say "best sisters!"

We had to stop at every sign along the way so that Malia could read it to us! We obviously missed a major sign along the way! ha ha

Malia's spring dance recital May 2009

Getting caught up again! Keep in mind that these pictures and posts are all from last years happenings!
Malia has been taking dance for a few years, but this was her first time being able to perform on the stage. They did a Christmas in May themed performance. It turned out really cute!
Malia and Brinley had a lot of waiting to do during the practices.

They did a really cute dance to a song about building a gingerbread house. Malia had so fun on the stage!Their other dance was to "I want a hippopotomous for Christmas"! The costumes were so cute!
After the show was over she got her flowers and couldn't have been happier! Rod was working that night and so after the show the girls and I drove home together. When we got home, we discovered that the rainstorm had caused the power to out. We walked into a dark house, which really freaked the girls out, but we made the best of it. I had a bunch of glow sticks in the closet, so we got them out and the girls danced around with their glow sticks until the power came back on! It made for a fun evening with my girlies!

Easter 2009

In an attempt to go back to where I left off and get all caught up, we will start with Easter...of 2009! My little sister, Loni, had given birth to two beautiful girls the previous November, one of them being born with a fairly large whole in her heart that could only be repaired by open heart surgery. Knowing that her surgery would most likely fall right around Easter, I made plans to be there for the holiday and also to be of any help and support that I could be to her. I wanted to make Easter a fun and memorable one for the kids, since most of the cousins would all be together. The cousins getting ready to hunt for eggs
A few pictures of the big hunt and the bunny sack races. The races were hilarious to watch! Malia came in dead last, but she was so determined to finish, it was so cute! We then had the guys race. I wish I had pictures of this race! Funniest thing I had seen in a long time! After the guys race, us ladies took the racing stage. It was so much fun, I laughed so hard, I could barely hop! When I was a kid, my Grandpa Cowley wore this bunny suit every Easter and hopped into our Easter egg hunts and gave us a little sack of goodies. My dad wanted to keep the tradition alive, so he wore the bunny suit and scared all the little ones and had the older ones guessing who was in the suit! It was a great day!
My dad and his wife, Dena, reading to Brinley.
Malia, Brin, Abbie, and Izza watching movies together. I asked them to show me who could smile the biggest, I think we can all see who the clear winner is!!
Sweet baby Emily after her open heart surgery. Her surgery was successful and she recovered quicker than I thought possible. She is one tough little girl!
On one of the days that we were in Utah, I took Malia and her cousin Abbie to the dinosaur museum in Lehi. They had so much fun together. It's a bummer that we don't live closer to our family, but that makes all the time that we get to spend with them that much sweeter!

playing catch up

Apparently I have been a little bit of a slacker when it comes to updating my blog! I really cannot believe that it has been almost a full year since the last post! We have had a great year and I don't want to forget some of the important milestones, so I am determined to get this blog all caught up!
More posts to come soon!!

There's a spider on your head!!

I LOVE April Fools Day! Last year was really my first year getting into it, making strange food and teaching Malia the in's and out's of the day. We had a lot of fun today, so I thought I would share. Malia woke this morning to her favorite breakfast, blueberry pancakes, except these ones really were blue! She thought it was fantastic and gobbled them up!
One of her favorite tricks last year was putting a raisin in Rod's tube of toothpaste, so after her breakfast was gone, that was her next move.
She encouraged him to brush his teeth from the second he woke up. It was so funny how obvious she was being about it. She also shook his hand with one of those hand buzzer things and put jacks into the toes of his shoes. She loves doing things to trick her daddy because he is such a teaser, April Fool's is like her day for revenge. Rod was waiting outside by his car to take her to school, I kissed her goodbye and no sooner than she walked out the door I hear, "Oh my gosh daddy, your tire is flat!" " April Fool's!" She is such a funny kid.
After she got home from school, Rod pretended to sneeze on her and shot her with silly string, she cried, I laughed! It was the funniest thing I think I have seen in a long time. Once Malia figured out that she wasn't smothered in boogers, she was totally into it, and I gave her her own can. Let the madness begin!!! Malia had ballet today, so we kind of just chilled for the afternoon. After ballet, I set them at the table for dinner and presented them with this cake.
Malia couldn't believe that I was letting them have cake for dinner. I served it up and Malia was really disappointed that her cake had potatoes on it. She then realized that we were actually having meatloaf and potatoes for dinner. Malia and Brin ate it up because I had informed them that I had a surprise dessert waiting for them!Little did they know that their special dessert was already sitting at the table right in front of them!!When it was time for dessert I brought in some plates, spoons, and a pink trowel. I told them that for dessert, we would be having dirt. I grabbed the plant and just started digging into it with the trowel. Malia was like, oh yea, we're havin dirt! Ya think she is catching on?? Anywho, the "dirt" was a big hit and the day was a great one. Oh yea, Malia decided to pull one last prank her daddy before the night was over. She called him at worked and informed him that while she was dancing at ballet today, she broke her ankle. She thought it was pretty funny!! BTW, the "dirt" is layers of graham cracker crumbs, banana pudding, banana slices, and cool whip!! It was delish!!
Hope your April Fool's was as good as mine.

A great day!

Rod has been working like a maniac lately, so when he informed us that he would be home on Monday and Tuesday, we knew that we better take advantage of the time spent together. Rod will help out when he can with taking Malia to school and picking her up. He has been talking for a while now about taking her bike to the school and riding home with her. Her school is just a little over two miles away, but I was hesitant because they would have to ride across a four lane highway. Rod really wanted to do it and assured me that everything would be fine, so on Monday, he rode to the school, picked her up, and they both rode home. Malia did such a great job riding that far and was excited to do it again on tues. I had some shopping to do on Monday, so I thought that since Rod was home, maybe I could just take Malia and make a mommy daughter date. Malia was on board until she found out that daddy was going to be making bread, so, I was left to shop all by myself while Rod and the girls stayed home and made bread! It was a wonderful day. I was actually able to browse, instead of running in, getting what I need, and then running out. NICE!! Tuesday was such a beautiful day, so I knew I wanted to get outside. After Rod and Malia made their long ride home, we ate some lunch (on yummy homemade bread) and then packed some snacks and went out walking on some trails around our area. I figured that we have lived here to long to not be out enjoying the beauty in the hills. We had so much fun! It was great to just let the girls walk at their own pace, and to be out in the sun, feeling the breeze on our faces. We were out walking around for a couple of hours, and then we got in the car and headed to carson, Rod had to buy a switch thing for his heated grips on his motorcycle. On the way into carson, we stopped at "the treat store." They have a hostess outlet store, and I take Malia and Brin there every so often and let them pick a treat, hence the beloved name. As Rod was pulling into the parking lot, Malia said, "Oh yea baby, we're goin to the treat store!" After loading up on deliciousness, we were off to the motorcycle shop, and then to a park for a bit. It was such a great day. Simplicity at it's best!!