July 4th, 2013

The 4th of July is always one of my most favorite holidays, especially if we're able to spend it somewhere with nice weather, good company and yummy food!  It's funny though because we always end up having no plans for the 4th and don't do much of anything.  This year though Annie Skommesa had invited us over for a potluck dinner.  We had fun spending time with friends from the ward and Annabelle really enjoyed herself in their backyard.

Of course I found a tasty recipe in my Our Best Bites cook book for this pasta salad and it turned out really good!  It had festive colors in it too.

Don't know what I would do without my girlfriends from the ward!  L to R--Front row: Desiree Johns, Megan Campos. Back Row: Kristen Poe, and Annie Skommesa.

Like always I had fun dressing AnnaB up for July 4th, this is the outfit I came up

with that had some red, white and blue in it!

Kristen Poe and her daughter Ella.

Annabelle 21/22 Month Update

21/22 Month Milestones: 

1. Your favorite book to read at bedtime is "Henny Penny",  it's one that Grammy Schaub gave us and you love it.  Some other characters in the book are Ducky Lucky, Cocky Locky and Loosey Goosey.

2. You recently learned how to climb on the chair in your room and get yourself in your crib which made bedtime much easier! Now we just tell you to climb in and you lay down and I read you like 3 books and you can finally put yourself to sleep again. Hooray!

3. One day I was heating up something in the oven and the timer went off and you said, "chicken done!" I don't know where you come up with these things!

4. As soon as Daddy comes home you tell him, "shoes off" and make him go to the couch and take his bike shoes off, it's really funny.

5. You still are doing very well in nursery and we can drop you off with no problems. They did say though that you are persistent with what toys you want but do like to share your food.

6. You make us laugh bc you say "Mommy stuck" all the time even when you are not stuck in anything.

7. We got a new foam  mat for the kitchen floor and you like to tell me and dad to "squish, squish" on it with you.

8. You are adorable and constantly just like to say "Hi" to us.

9. Drives me bananas, but one of your new favorite things to do is climb on the couch and go and play on the window sill.

10. You are so good at making the "ch" sound and like to say words like Rach, church and teach.

11.  One night when I was out doing stuff and Dad was watching you I told him to take you to the store to buy a toy.  He bought you these little Sesame Street figurines named Abby and Rosie.  Then when you were sick he told me he was going on a bike ride but really he went to Walmart and bought you more figurines, but this time it was Ernie and Bert, it was so sweet for him to think of you and it made you happy.  When you can't find them you'll go around the house saying, "Rosie where are you?"  You like to have all 4 of them together in your little purse.

12. Usually during sacrament Shayne and Kim Monson sit behind us and you love to play with them. You play with Kim's jewelry and Shayne always has candy or tic tacs in his coat pocket that he shares with you.

13. Uncle Jarom came to visit and you called him "Uncle Jammer" it's so cute.

14. You absolutely love to play this game called Endless ABC's on our iPhones. It's a spelling game and you call it "yucky" bc one of the first words you started spelling with it was that. You've gotten very good at this game and can spell all the words very quickly, we like to think you are a baby genius!

15. You have such a good heart and are always concerned about everyone and continually ask where they are at. You always especially ask for, "Grammy, Papa and Joshee!"

16. When you want me to hold you, you say, "hold you" so I was trying to teach you to say "hold me" but then you turned it into "hold you me" and it sounds like you are speaking Japanese.

17. We bought you a new doll from Cracker Barrel when you turned 22 months and her name is Katie, but you call her "Daydee"

18.  The other day I was playing church music in the car and you said, "Jesus!" and the song didn't even mention Jesus in it but you still knew it was church music, the spirit must have touched you.

19. Mommy went on a girls trip to Ut with the yw since girls camp got cancelled and this was her first time leaving you and she was so sad! Grammy Schaub, Kate and Kaylie came down to watch you though so you were in good hands.

20. You sometimes pronounce the "L" sound with the "N" sound and it's so cute. You say "pinnow" instead of pillow, "conor" replaces color, and "henno" for hello.

21. You are completely obsessed with this little stuffed animal dog, the main reason you like it is because you can pull all the cotton out of him.  He has a hole in his leg that you pick from.  For some weird reason you love to pull cotton and strings off things. You won't go to sleep without your "doggie!"

With your new doll Katie or "Daydee" that we got for you at Cracker Barrel.

1. At Grammy and Papa's house in Mesa, you love sitting and reading books.

2. Snack time in nursery, for awhile there were at least 10 kids coming every Sunday and it would sometimes get a bit crazy with the toys.

3.  One of your favorite dolls came from Aunt Jamie and her name is Pinky, Grammy had drawn a picture of her one day and it looked so cute so I put it on your bedroom door.

4. Hanging out at Uncle Peter's house.

5. You and Auntie Tara.

6.  Jumping on the trampoline with Scott at his parents house.

7 & 8. Swimming pool time in Mesa with your cousins Karlie, Audrey, and Kara.  You were so good and would always keep your arm floaties on.

1. At Kali Marzley's house in their pool.

2. Quick Costco run to Vegas since Daddy got a car from work, if you look close you can see your little toe in the picture.

3. Picture with Uncle Jammer.

4.  On the swing eating a popsicle at Kali's house.

5. Went out to dinner at this pizza place called Vito's when Grammy, Kate and Kaylie came down to take care of you while I went to Ut with the YW.

6. Grilled stuffed zucchini became a favorite to eat with the Adams, Rach and I made some at her in-laws one night for dinner.

Photo shoot at the park, I love you Annabelle! You're so fun to be around! 

At lunch with Rach, you are always so willing to try lemons and will just keep sucking on them! 

So very thankful to have a Daddy like yours…he loves you so much 

and works extremely hard for our family.

I started playing photo booth with you at a young age, I love that you will imitate whatever I do. 

Take a stroll by the lake in Havasu while we waited to eat dinner with Jeff's co-workers. 

We got lots of swim time in the summer of 2013.  Wish we had some splash pads in Kingman, but whenever we are down in Mesa we go to Grammy's.  

 Just hanging out at Peter's house while my Mom made us pizza for dinner! 

Annabelle 19/20 Month Update

{Nineteen/Twenty Month Stats}

1. You were sick one night and I went and grabbed you from your crib and took you to our bed. I was rocking you back to sleep in my arms and started to sing primary songs to you and I sang the word "Jesus" and you opened your little eyes and looked at me and said, "Gee  Zus" then closed them again and fell back asleep. Your tender spirit makes my heart want to explode. In the baby blessing your Dad gave you he blessed you that you would always remember the relationship you had with your Heavenly Father. You have such a sweet and obedient spirit.

2. We went to go and visit your Papa and Grammy in Sierra Vista and you started to call for the dogs Rocky and Zoey, it was so adorable in your little voice. You have awesome pronunciation for your age and can even say your "R" sound properly.

3. When you say I love you, you say it "lubbies."

4. We just got back from a trip to Mesa and you started calling Grandma and Grandpa "Grammy" and "Papa"

5. This last week (March 18, 2013) you really have started putting your words together and comprehending what they mean. Now when you say "Mommy" you actually say it because you need something.

6. You have love spending time with your cousin Karlie and will go around the house asking for her. You girls play well together too.

7. You love your stickers and will put them on anything and we always find them everywhere. When we were out of town Dad was at work and found one at the bottom of his sock, I told him it was your way of saying you missed him.

8. I love that whenever I go out somewhere and Dad is home babysitting you, you guys are always out front with garage open just waiting for me to come home. Melts my heart.

9. You like to say that you are always "stuck, stuck" in something.

10. You drop everything that you are doing when you hear the words Heavenly Father or when we ask you to pray you immediately fold your arms. You are so obedient.

11.  We went to go play with your friend Oliva Davis down the street and she had this toy car that you loved and you got so sad when we had to leave. Well, we came home and you were crying and just kept saying, "I car, I car...I sit" and so since you have Daddy wrapped around all your little fingers he went to Walmart and bought you your own pink car with a princess license plate.  We both agree it was a good purchase though because you absolutely love playing in it and wake up saying, "car, car, car!" We love to see you so happy.

12. Dad and I always ask you, "Annabelle are you cute??" Then you look at us and start giggling and say, "no, noooooooo!" Then we say, "Yes you are silly girl, you are beautiful!"

13. I love to watch you run bc your little hips turn side to side  really fast as you go!! So cute!!

14. Dad loves to take you on daddy daughter dates to Cracker Barrel bc you love their Mac and cheese! You are so well behaved at restaurants.

15. You always tell me and dad to, "sit...sit!" You like when we are both sitting on the couches and one of us is holding you.

16. You inherited one of Daddy's old button up  pj shirts from when he was a toddler that Grammy Schaub found and you love to wear it. It has airplanes on it and you call them, "airpits!"

17. One of your fav things to do with mommy now is to eat popcorn! You love it.

18. Lately you have been saying, "Thank you Mom!"

19. I'd been making myself go crazy for a couple of days looking for these one black sandals you have. I had looked everywhere and could not find them, so I gave up and figured they would show up eventually.  One day we were about to go somewhere and I asked you to put your shoes on and you ran into our room to the closet and pulled out your black sandals. I thought it was so cute that you wanted to put your shoes with ours in the closet.

20. Annabelle, you are so diligent about reminding us to say our family prayers at night. I get your sippie of milk ready and then you come and grab my hand and then find Daddy and tell him to "come" and then you say, "pray, pray!"  We've made it a habit just to go into the office and kneel down by the red couch to say our prayers and you've been really reverent through them and always say "Ahhh-meee" (amen) at the end.

21. I know we always say it Annabelle, but you really are such a smart little girl and understand so much for your age. I was in the garage doing your laundry and was folding your clothes and needed a basket to put it all in. I didn't want to go back in the house and grab yours so I figured I might as well attempt to ask you to go and get it. I said, "Annabelle please go and get your little white basket for your clothes. It's in your room!" So you went back inside and sure enough came back out with your basket! I was so blown away that even though you still can't talk in complete sentences you really do understand me. Thanks for being Mommy's little helper!

22. You love to give us lots of opened mouth sweet kisses, so lately dad has been calling you our little "floosy!"

23. Today I decided to give you a little boost in the back section of your hair so I round brushed the top layer and you rocked the baby volume!

Top Left:

1. Went on a lunch date with dad to The Lodge, as always it was yummy!
2. You and Char Char having a good ol' time in her crib.
3. Your famous "scowl eye" look!
4. Dad and you posing for a pic at this Mexican Restaurant Oysters in Kingman.
5. When we were in Sierra Vista we met up with Ashley Wheeler (Miner) at her Mom's house and they have so many fun things to do there, I thought you would enjoy a brisk bike ride but you didn't like wearing the helmet.  You are only a little bit older than her daughter Grace, happy we are still BMF's!

One Saturday afternoon Kali had asked us to go to Oatman with her and Swayde.  It's this weird tiny ho-dunk town about 40 mins from Kingman in the mountains.  They are known for having donkey's all over the place just roaming around begging for food.  It was super hot that day so your cheeks were flushed.  We got some ice cream and watched a theatre shoot out on the street, it was fun but I don't think we would go back again.

This little skirt and sailor shirt became one of my most favorite outfits to dress you up in.

There was a horrific mass shooting at the Boston Marathon and so a runner in Kingman put together this walk for anyone to participate in to show our support.

Thankfully Rachael's in-laws have a pool and hot tub that we could go and take you girls swimming in, you loved being a little fish in the water.

One day we went to this train museum they have here in Kingman.  It was really neat to see all the trains and tracks that had been put together by this train club.  At the back door window you could could see the actual train passing by too.

After we went to the Train Museum we went to the Route 66 Museum which had some really cool things for you girls to look at and an old train outside for you guys to climb in.
{Tenley Rowden & Swayde Marzley}

You love your cousin Karlie and Aunt Kiki.  While we were in the valley one day we met up with them for lunch at Cafe Rio, yum, yum, yum!

Amber came down to Phx for a visit so we went there to pick her up and then headed down to Sierra Vista to see our parents.

1. We made a pit stop in Phx and had lunch at Pita Jungle with Peter, Tara and Joc.
2. At the mall with Grammy trying to get you to ride in the toy car. 
3. Walking with Grammy and Papa in the Texas Road House parking lot after a delicious dinner.
4. Pic with Amb and Tx Road House.
5. I'm so glad that you like to be around animals, you always have a good time playing catch with Rocky, he is more playful with you than Zoey. 
6. You and Auntie Tbop at Pita Jungle, she loves taking you on hummus dates when she babysits you!

1. Story time with girls is always fun, Mrs. Kelly is so good at remembering your names and entertaining you guys with good books, dances and crafts. 
2.  You look like a doll in this picture, good thing you act like one too! 
3. Swinging at Grammy's house in the backyard.
4. Decorating eggs with Nicki Lees at her house. 
5. Grammy found some pi's and they were actually your Dad's when he was little, she made them for him.  I would always ask you what was on the shirt and you said, "Airpits!"
6. Your new fav place to hang out at Grammy Shaver's house was in the fridge, you fit perfectly in there!

1. Daddy was on his way back to Kingman on his bike, you love to sit on there and push all the buttons.
2. One of my YW took a picture of us outside the chapel for an activity we were doing. 
3. Selfie! 
4. Caught this moment of you and Charly being sweet to each other, you both have the most darling onion top hair do's! 
5. Bubble bath=bubble bath hair
6. While we were in the valley one weekend Aunt Kelly was having a luncheon at her house for her son's mission farewell.  She makes the most delicious food ever.