Mission Trails

Julian's B-day Bash

It's My POTTY I Can Cry If I Want To

Tears of JOY that is!!!

Ella is POTTY TRAINED!! Whoop! Whoop!

Azure Sky Creations

This is a shout out to my very talented and creative friend Kim! She makes the cutest hair clippies and bows. I'm a huge fan and own about half her store. Kim just opened an etsy shop called Azure Sky Creations. She only uses the best quality materials to create her hair things. She is very careful and meticulous, and makes them perfect. The best part is they are SUPER inexpensive.
Today she is hosting a give-a-way at Give Away Today where they are giving away two $15 gift certificates. So go enter to win and if not just go to her shop and buys some bows. Have fun shopping, I always do! :)

She's Got The Fever

The SHAMU fever!

Ella is now at the age where she thinks shamu is the coolest. She use to be very timid about watching this show, in fear she would get wet (again with the scared of water thing) Now she is one of the huge whale's biggest fans. She insists on sleeping with her Shamu toy and asks almost daily to go to "Elmo's House" aka Sea World and see "Shamu make that big Splash" It is so fun when your lil one gets really into something, it makes you feel like a kid again.

Sand Crabs

Ella is my little sand crab. She is perfectly content just staying up on the sand and far away from the ocean. So much for living in Cali for two years to break her fear of water. And moving water (waves) are a double whammy. My goal this summer is to get her splashing in that ocean and lovin' it at the same time. Thank for the beach playdate girls, I say we make this a weekly thing.

6 Years And Counting.....

It's crazy to think that it's been 6 years since the day we said "I Do" and two years of dating before that! I feel very lucky to have married such an amazing man that I still get butterflies for.

We celebrated our #6 with a full day with just the two of us. It felt wonderful to have Dan all to myself and not have to share him with school, work etc. We boarded a Brunch Cruise that was a perfect anniversary outing, they gave us a private table with a great view. It had the whole spread, omelet and crepe stations, chocolate fountain, the guy with the big white hat that carves the meat (you know the one) Not only was it yummy (and it was) but the views were awesome! It was a 2 1/2 hour cruise and it was fun to be on a floating restaurant with my hottie hubby.

After we docked, we strolled throughout Balboa Park which is so lovey. This Park is full of museums (so many, I don't even know them all) We decided to check out the Leonardo da Vinci Experience, which is a traveling tour in the Air and Space museum. It was very cool and I think we learned a thing or two along the way. Museums aside, this is a very romantic park that is extremely picturesque. But I got my quota for the day (Dan's not a fan of the camera, And I can be a bit camera happy...in case you haven't noticed) so not to many of us in the park, but take my word for it..stunning.

We finished our wonderful anni. with a flick and a nice long chat about where we are and our plans for the future. I have to shout out just how much I wuv him! Here is to the next 6 years, may they be even better than the first.

A Whirlwind Trip

We decided to take a last minute trip to Utah over the 4th, that was quite a quickie! We went just for the weekend, but seemed to cover a lot of ground. It was a painting trip for Dan (poor guy, whenever he gets some time off, I swear he is painting some body's house!) This somebody was special though, his sister just finished building their beautiful new home and Dan was happy to help. I on the other hand wanted to tag along for the ride. It was a special weekend for me as well. My Mom and dad are moving out of the house I spent my whole childhood in. The siblings gathered for one last horah to say goodbye to my beloved abode in style. It was wonderful to spend time with family that we hardly get to see. My brother Jordan, his wife Janel and their five kids were there, as well as my sister and her hubby. We were bummed that we had just missed my bro Jeremy, Angela and their kiddies, that had been there a few weeks back.

The only house I ever had growing up. (I just got a little teary writing that)

The view from the front porch. A little slice of heaven on earth, I tell ya. It really is just so beautiful there.

These two were besties the whole time. Two little peas in a pod

Uncle Brian and real crowd favorite!

Stars, stripes and a happy 4th!

Parades, fireworks, picnics, Oh my!!

We had a weekend full of activities and ran from here to there. Our fun filled Independence day started at the farmers market in SLC with Dan's fam. We had a wonderful breakfast with some great company.We then packed up and went to the gorgeous Cache Valley for one of Logan's classics, The Cache valley Cruise In, something I did almost every 4th of July when I lived there, so it has a lot of nostalgia for me. Had a family picnic and lit off our own fireworks back out my parents. It was so great seeing Ella have an absolute ball with her cousins. Oh to be a kid again, and not have a care in the world but otter pops and playing outside.

Farmers Market and the Cache Valley Cruise In

Finished off the night with Janel's famous Apple pie. Doesn't get more American than that!

Ella with her "Anner" another fav

We went back to SLC to visit with Dan's fam and I have to say Ella was super spoiled by all the attention and fun she got from family, it really made me miss living close to them. We went to one of our favorite places in Salt lake, The Beehive Tearoom. It is the most adorable place! I highly recommend you visit it next time your in Salt lake. Another adorable place that was introduced to me on this visit, was Minnie's Cupcakes. It has been an ongoing dream of mine to one day own a cupcake shop. This little place was right up my alley and the mini cupcakes were amazing! Mmmm.

The Beehive Tea Room

My amazing mother-in-law

Minnie's Cupcakes. How cute are those lil guys!?

Ella has gotten to the age, that is tradition in the Jones household, to take a picture in their great, great, grandmothers dress. All of the girls in the family did when they were two and now Ella, being the only granddaughter at the moment, needs to keep this little tradition going. How cute is this little old dress!!??

Even though our visit was rushed and very quick, it was well worth it to get to see everyone, help MaryLiegh out with her house, and say farewell to my childhood home. It was a very happy 4th of July indeed!

10 Little Monkeys Splashing In The Pool

I threw a little pre-4th of July pool party for our ward's playgroup. I thought it would be fun to start the holiday weekend off early. It was a great turnout on a nice day. Lots of popsicles and watermelon were consumed and all the kids had a blast with the monkey floaties, especially Ed our playgroup's mascot for the day.

Ella and her good buddy "Ed"

Close Encounter

We had an exciting zoo visit the other day. The lions who are usually always hiding back, no where to be found, were putting on quite the show for us. In fact, I was a little scared we were about to witness baby cub making right before our eyes. I really was not ready for Ella to ask me that question yet. Whew, close call.

Mommy's Cookie Cutter