San Antonio Zoo

Today we took our first family outing since the big move. We visited the San Antonio Zoo! We had a great time, enjoying the beautiful surroundings and going through all of the animal exhibits. They have an area designated just for tots that is very interactive and everything is their size. We will definitely be returning to the Zoo!

The Big Move

Well, we finally did it! After talking about, and wanting, to move for well over the past year and a half, Tommy got a job offer in Texas and we jumped in head first. We did think about it a lot before we made our final decision, but in the end we both realized it was what was best for us and our family.

Tommy headed to Texas before Emalee and I. He was here for a month getting into the groove of his new job and finding us a place to live. Emalee and I stayed behind at my parents house which allowed the rest of the family to spend time with her. We even made a trip down to California to see her Great Grandparents, Great Aunts & Uncles, and her cousins.

Our moving weekend started off great, but didn't end so well. Our moving truck broke down TWICE, and ended up being towed the last 176 miles to our new house. We did our best to keep positive about the whole situation even though it added more stress then we would have liked to have.

We are settling in our new place. I have a few stray boxes here and there, but for the most part we are unpacked. All of our neighbors are extremely friendly and we have received a warm welcome to the neighborhood. We even had an unexpected visitor the other day, the Mayor of Selma (the town we live in) showed up to welcome us and see if there was anything we needed! I have heard all the talk about Texas hospitality, but I really wasn't expecting it to this extent. :)

Not a day goes by where I don't miss my family and friends back home, but we are so excited to begin this new chapter in our life. There are so many new and exciting adventures to be had!

Family Vacation

This past weekend we took a little family trip down to Long Beach, CA. We went to El Dorado Park (the park is huge!) where we rode the train, attempted to feed the ducks, and had a nice picnic lunch. After that we headed down to the Long Beach Aquarium. Once we got there we realized how CROWDED the place was, but decided to make the best of it. You could spend the entire day there, there is a lot to see and Emalee loves animals, all she kept saying was "Fishy." We were all getting a little overwhelmed with the crowd, it was hard to see or do anything with the number of people that were there. We then decided to head outside and walk around in Shoreline Village. Emalee rode the carousel, we shopped a little, and just enjoyed being down on the water.

For dinner we headed down to one of our favorite spots, Ruby's Diner at the end of the Seal Beach Pier. Tommy and I hadn't been there since I was pregnant...which was a long time ago!

Over all we had a great trip. We enjoyed spending time with Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tim (my godparents) and we all had a great time!

4th of July

We weren't sure how this year would turn out. Last year we were out of town on the 4th and the firework display was much smaller then Pahrump's. We spent the afternoon at my parents swimming and barbecuing, then headed to the park once the sun started to set. Emalee did fine, she wasn't scared, there were no tears...but she fell asleep! She slept next to my mom for most of the fireworks, until the finale woke her up :)

Our little fish

Emalee absolutely LOVES the water...she gets mad when she has to get out!




Swimming with Shuggie



Just came down the slide, we did this for hours! :)

Loving the pool

Emalee turns 2!

I am still kind of in shock that Emalee is 2 ALREADY!! Time has literally flown by :)

We had a birthday party for her over the weekend. We had her favorite...hot dogs (with ketchup, of course), and I made cupcakes for her. Her Great Grandparents came in from California for the weekend, which is always a special treat.

She was spoiled rotten by all of our family and friends. She got adorable outfits, jammies, dress up clothes, movies, money, a scooter, a tricycle, swim toys, a baby doll & a stroller, and Leap Frog ABC's. She is a 100% GIRL and loves to dress up in her Tinkerbell costume and her tutu. She is also very into baby dolls and being a "Mommy" so the stroller and baby doll have gone just about everywhere with us. She also loves her new tricycle and scooter...Mommy just needs to get the helmet to go with!! :)

At her 2 year check up we were told that she growing just fine, measuring in at 3 feet tall already...I think she's going to be very tall like her Daddy!! We are looking forward to all the new adventures of toddler hood. :)

Mommy & Daddy love you Emalee...Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Emalee's 2 Year Pictures

Today was our first attempt at taking "professional" style pictures without the professional! ;) Since the picture place we've used since birth is now closed, we figured why not try and do it on our own?!

There were definitely challenging moments, when our "almost 2 year old" didn't really want to sit still and pose, so we had to be quick and ready to snap a shot at any moment.

We aren't quite sure if we will do this all the time, but it was a fun experience, and as she gets older it should only get easier...hopefully! :)

Hippity Hoppity!

We had a great Easter this year! It was so fun watching Emalee understand the concept of hunting for eggs. Last year she wasn't walking yet, so she basically crawled around and payed with the eggs on the living room floor. :)

Tommy and I hosted Easter dinner at our house which was nice, I can't remember the last holiday were we didn't have to go all over town visiting all 3 sets of parents. We had 15 plus Emalee and my little niece Brodi. All of our parents, my sister, my little brother, Tommy's little sister, and some of our niece's & nephews.

It was a beautiful day and so nice being surrounded by our family!

Planting Flowers

We recently took a trip down to California to visit Emalee's Great Grandparents. She had fun helping Nana (my mom) plant flowers in Great Nana's yard. She wasn't too sure about the dirt and being dirty at first, but once she realized she liked it, it was all over!! She loves using her new gardening tools that Great Nana & Great Papa got her! She was also very fascinated by the snails; thank God she didn't try to put them in her mouth. She picked it up, looked at it, and then dropped it back on the ground. :)

Give a Day. Get a Disney Day!

We did a "family project" this past week. Not only did we contribute to a good cause, we also earned TWO free tickets to Disneyland...which we are very excited about.

Tommy and I (with Emalee's help of course) each made a fleece, no sew, blanket. The blankets were sent to "Project Linus" an organization that offers blankets to terminally ill and traumatized children. We enjoyed doing a little something to help out those in need, to know that we did something that just might make a difference in the life of a child...it's a great feeling!

Snow Day

Pahrump had it's second "Snow Day" of the year today...yeah in March!! Not only do we usually not get snow, but it has been in the high 60's low 70's, then out of nowhere we have snow on the ground.

Emalee loved it, she just stood outside letting the snow hit her face, and touching whatever she could reach that had snow on it. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

We spent Valentine's Day at the park with some good friends of ours, Mindy & Tony, and their little boy AJ a.k.a Emalee's boyfriend :) The two had fun playing on the slides and the swings. Emalee would run away crying whenever AJ got too close, and of course Tommy would say "That's a good girl, boys have cooties!"

All in all it was beautiful day to be outside, and the kids had a blast!

Christmas Festivities

We had a wonderful, fun filled Christmas this year. Our family tradition is to spend Christmas Eve with Tommy's mom and step dad, we do Christmas morning at home, then head over to Tommy's dad and step mom's, then lastly my parents house for Christmas dinner. It is a very busy two days. :)



Christmas Eve at Mark & Janet's is always celebrated with famous Grandma Betty (Betty Bolling) burritos. It is the ONE time each year we have them, they are delish! Then we open presents and play games. Shuggie and Paca Mark got Emalee a fold-out couch, she drug it around the house for the rest of the night. :) This year, we had a smaller crowd and a few people fighting colds, so we skipped the games and just visited with each other. We were home at a decent time, that way we could get everything ready for "Santa."



Christmas morning came and Tommy and I were awake first...we actually had to wake Emalee up, poor baby. :( She wasn't too sure what was going on at first, but once she saw her new car she woke RIGHT up! Emalee also opened her gifts from Aunt Cathy, my wonderful Godmother who spoils us both rotten. Her most favorite gift from her was her talking My Little Pony doll. You feed it a bottle or food, and it sings songs. Emalee also got her first pairs of dress-up shoes, tiara, and earrings from Aunt Diana and Uncle Kevin. We enjoyed our morning at home, opening gifts and having cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I think I had the most fun this year, seeing Emalee open her gifts and actually knowing what she was doing this year, I can't wait for next year when she's yet another year older.



We headed over to Tommy's dad and step mom's around 11. Emalee opened her new talking baby doll (yes it makes noises, sometimes it's a little freaky) and she was in heaven! We spent an hour or so there visiting with them, and Tommy's sister Haley and her boyfriend Sean. I was ready for a nap already and we were barely half way through the day. :)



Once we got to my parents house, we did round three of gifts. Emalee loved her new Tinkerbell chair from Nana and Papa. Dae Dae (Uncle Jarrod) got her a play camera so her new favorite thing is to walk around with it and say "Cheese!" Uncle Tim & Aunt Kim got Emalee her first Lego's, she actually understands the concept and does really well with them. Aunt Shannon got Emalee an adorable outfit and new jammies.



Mom does Christmas dinner very year. We have ham, Grandma Joan's cheese potatoes, strawberry jello, and cornbread casserole. After dinner we played some Flash Uno...it's a great game. It's fast paced, so you have to pay attention to everything.



We had a wonderful Christmas. It's so nice to be surrounded by family. We aren't sure what we will do if we end up moving and have to spend Christmas apart. Emalee was spoiled by EVERYONE this year! There is not one more thing she needs. Santa, her great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles...they all spoiled her rotten!



We are ready for a new year and all of the excited possibilities that are to come.