Happy Birthday Macie!!

I cannot believe that this little stinker is 3 years old already!! Time with her has just flown by, I feel like she was newborn just last summer. Now she is a sweet and sassy 3 year old. She is smart, silly, sweet, and so sassy. I'm not sure how all of her stubbornness fits into her tiny body. She loves her big sister and little brother and quite frequently tells them, "I love you to the moon and back" (her favorite saying). She loves all things girl-princesses, dance, having every nail painted, and a bow in her hair. We love her more than she will ever know and are so glad she is in our family!

These kids love pancakes. And the past few years we have taken on a tradition of pancakes for breakfast. Emery's traditional birthday pancakes are pumpkin. Macie we have done a few kinds, but this year I did rainbow pancakes and it is definitely going to be a keeper. They thought they were the coolest thing ever. 

After breakfast we packed up everything and headed to Cherry Hill. Jake took the day off work to come celebrate with us, which made it extra special since it is usually just me alone with them at Cherry Hill. 

This poor girls was beat!

After swimming all day we headed to Chili's for dinner and some cake and ice cream. 

Then we went home to open presents from Mom and Dad. 

Her favorite present was definitely her new bike!

The next day, July 9th, was her birthday party! We don't really have a house to have a party in right now, and Macie hasn't had a big birthday party yet, so Jake and I decided we wanted to go somewhere and have a party for her. So we booked a big party at Kangaroo Zoo, which ended up being a very good idea! These guys had so much fun. We played and played and jumped and ran and raced and slid. 

Macie's only request for her birthday was that she get a Belle cake. She was very much in love with it. 

We forgot to get a picture until after some kids had already left. But thank you to everyone who came!

Then we had to go straight home and set up grandma's present. They are obsessed with this thing. Every time my mom comes over they have to tell her 10 times that this is the best present ever. It really has been awesome. They play all day long every day. 

Hope you had an awesome birthday sweet girl! We love you to the moon and back!!!!!!

Shayli leaving

Last week was a rough, hard, crazy week! And it started off with a bang on Sunday with Shayli's mission farewell! We've kind of been dreading this week coming and saying goodbye. But it was made an even hard week when early Monday morning my sweet aunt, my mom's only living sister, passed away after a 3 year, hard fought, battle with liver cancer. But first off Sunday...Sunday was still a happy day!

Shayli spoke in sacrament, then we had a big luncheon after for all of the family and friends that came. It was fun to just sit and talk with my aunts and uncles for a few hours. We knew my aunt wasn't doing well, so we did a lot of reminiscing and talking about our favorite memories of her. 

Monday night everyone went to dinner at Rodizio Grill, and then Tuesday night Shayli was set apart. 

Then Wednesday was the big day. We headed down to Provo to meet some of the family for lunch. Jake couldn't miss work that day so he couldn't come. 

Giving Shayli our present Haley made her. 

Then we headed to the MTC. We got there a little early so that we had time to take some pictures. 

And then it was time to say goodbye. I cried. But these poor girls were a wreck. Macie kept hanging on  her legs and saying "Shayli, I love you to the moon and back" And Emery bawled the entire 10 minute walk back to the car. We are going to miss her sooooo much, but we are so excited for her. And to see her in 18 months!

Happy 4th!

We had such a fun 4th of July weekend. We started it off on Saturday when we headed down to Provo for the Stadium of Fire, we snapped a cute picture of the kids in their 4th of July outfits...just in case we didn't get another chance...

We spent the day in Provo doing different things, checked into our hotel, and went to dinner. Then we headed to Lavell Edwards stadium.

We went with all of us, my mom and dad, Colton and Haley, Shayli and Jaden, Uncle Todd, Aunt Miriam, and their family. 

We had a blast. These parachuters were really awesome. They were wearing GoPro cameras and we could see what the camera was seeing on the screens the whole way down. Some F16s did a flyover. 

The Stadium of Fire dancers, a gospel choir, some really incredible veteran stories that had everyone in these stands in a standing ovation and in tears. 

Then there was this....the highlight...Tim McGraw. I've loved him for YEARS, but never been to one of his concerts. It was so much fun! He was awesome.  

After the show, there was the incredible Stadium of Fire firework show and then we headed back to our hotel. We stayed the night in Provo and came home on Sunday. 

The morning of the 4th Jake made us all Red, White and Blue (Strawberry and Blueberry) pancakes and yogurt parfaits. Then we went to the parade. 

Afterwards we went to the park, rode the train, jumped in the bounce house, and just played until our barbecue at my moms house. 

We went to Grandma's and had a BBQ and the girls got to the put the sprinkler under the tramp and play. 

Grandma always has popsicles. 

The Firework show that night. 

We had an awesome day. I am always so sad to see this holiday go, it is my favorite! Lucky us I feel like we kind of got to celebrate it a couple times. I'm so grateful to live in this country and to be an American, and to all of the veterans, past and present, that have made it's greatness possible. 

"Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will be serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written."

Ether 2:12

Happy Independence Day.