Amara celebrates her 3rd Birthday!

My baby turned 3.  She's officially what the parenting magazines refer to as a "preschooler."  That's just crazy.  

I decided to interview my very talkative Amara, and here are some of her responses.

Favorites:

Color- pink

food- Japanese food

thing- an animal

animal- giraffe

dinosaur- long neck

book- dinosaur sticker book (thanks Aunt Doralee!)

Tell me a joke:

Knock knock.

Whos there?

Ummm, Japanese food.

Japanese food who?

Japanese food in a flower.

Dislikes:

food- onion

~interview ends as she runs off to play.

Amara is an absolute joy to have in our family!  She gives us so many reasons to smile.  She's still a thumb-sucker and she is very attached to her ratty old blue blanky she's embraced since birth.  Steve noticed how big Amara's "sucked-on" thumb is compared to her other one.  Instead of discouraging her from thumb-sucking, he encourages her to suck the other thumb.  Amara's birthday fell on a Sunday this year.  She had a little celebration here at home and one later when we visited family in Utah Valley.  She is so very loved.  

Below is a smilebox collage I made of her on her birthday.

This free photo collage made with Smilebox

Don't grow up.

Tonight as I was kissing my darling daughters goodnight I told them, "Now, whatever you do, don't grow up anymore."

Amara says, "You mean no more birthdays?"

I said, "No more birthdays.  Just stay the way you are now."

Lily quickly responded, "Don't you want to see my precious babies?"

I answered, "Of course I do!  I would love to see them!"

Lily demandingly replies, "Then let me grow up!"

My girls are so cute and fun and I cherish them so much.   After their second trip to the bathroom (it never fails that Amara "feels it" the moment we turn off the light and say goodnight, so Lily helps her go to the bathroom one last time before bed, even though we have them go potty right before we put them down),  I hurried them off to bed saying, "I love you Lily and Amara!  Now it's time to go to bed.  It's past your bedtime and your dreams are starting without you."

Reunion Time! Starvation Reservoir- July 21-25, 2010

Over the pioneer day weekend, we camped out on the beach at Starvation Reservoir.  We had a great time, got lots of sand, lots of wind, lots of sunblock, and lots of memories.

We love being together!

Back in June...

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Better late than never.  Here's a slideshow of the fun times we had when some of our relatives came to visit this past June.  It also features our small celebration for a big accomplishment for Lily.  She worked her way through her lesson book and learned how to read!  I'm so proud of her.  Each day when Amara would go down for her afternoon nap, she would diligently get her lesson book and sit with me and learn.  Go Lily!

Lily is 5 now!

Scrapbook made with Smilebox

Well, she's gone and done it again.  She's grown up a little more.  Lily is precious to us.  Since she was born, her birthdays have always been celebrated with so many loving friends and family members, even if it means she celebrates four times.  This year, she basically celebrated twice (but got so many gifts it was like a second Christmas!).  On her actual birthday, she woke up to decorations, watched a movie, opened a few gifts, had yummy fudge frosted chocolate moosetracks extreme ice cream cake, had her pick of boxed mac n cheese for her birthday dinner, and went to bed a happy and loved girl, knowing that she would be celebrated a few days later on an even larger scale.

A few days came and we headed down to Utah Valley.  She got to pick out her present at Toys R Us and she picked a Tinkerbell toy kettle that opens up to reveal a house for Tinkerbell.  Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese and had pizza and played games with many of her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other family members.  It was pretty impressive to see how "rich" Lily was with the tickets her Uncle Matt, Aunty April, and Carrie (April's Sister in law) won and donated to her.  We're talking 1600 tickets to spend for Lily- and she picked out some Barbie Mermaid babies that have hair that changes color in the water.  She also was showered with love and gifts- many of which kept her plenty busy while Steve and I went on our anniversary vacation to Park City.  I'm so happy for my darling 5 year old, Lily!  She brings such joy to us.

Our Park City Anniversary

This photo slideshow created with Smilebox

I love my Stephen!
Oh, how he makes me smile.

I know it's been a month since our 7 year anniversary, but it's never too late to celebrate.  We went to Park City for 2 nights and filled our days with nothing but fun, food, and laughter.  It was a much-needed (especially after this year of teaching school for Steve) and pleasant time together.  The picture slideshow gives a good glimpse of our good time.  Here's the rundown in text:

Tues:
Lunch- Olive Garden (used the gift card from one of Steve's students)
Drive to Park City and Check in at the Waldorf Astoria
Shop at the outlets
Have dinner at the movie theater and watch "Letters to Juliet"

Wed:
Arise at 6:30am
Go golfing in Midway at the Wasatch Mountain Golf Course and hit at the driving range after
Lunch at the Homestead Resort's Fanny's Grill (used the year-old filled "frequent diners card" for a free meal)
Go to Park City Mountain Resort for Alpine Slide and Alpine Roller Coaster
Go back to hotel to get ready for dinner
Dinner and dessert on Main Street at Shabu (used the gift certificates for 1/2 off our expensive meal).
Rent a DVD from redbox to watch at the hotel. (Go Jackie Chan!)

Thurs:
Sleep in, pack, and checkout
Brunch at MacDonalds on the way home
Take Steve's parents to dinner at Zupas for a much-deserved "thank you" for caring for our kids while we were gone.
--------------------------
Stephen wrote me a poem on the pad of paper that was provided in our hotel room.  It reads:

In celebration of 7 yrs. marriage
06/02/10
To my Lani,

We had a wonderful
time at this place
We shopped, zipped, and ate
at a leisurely pace.

Thanks for the fun, laugher
and thrills,
But can we afford to
pay all the bills?

j/k  Love you,
Steve
-----------------
He's always making me smile.  I love that man!

May 3, Our 7th Anniversary!

Stephen and I are happy to be celebrating our 7 years of marriage.  This year, we decided to postpone celebration until school gets out in June and then go for an anniversary vacation in Park City.  Although we had agreed to celebrate later, Stephen came home from work and surprised me with a romantic bouquet of gerber daisies that he had put together and delectable Lindt chocolate truffles.  Gerber daisies are special to us because it was the first flower Steve ever gave to me.  He was so thoughtful and the flowers he picks out are always so beautiful.

We are looking forward to our anniversary celebration in Park City.  We got a good deal at a nice hotel.  It will be the first hotel room we've ever had that actually has a flat screen TV in the bedroom and the bathroom.  Here's a picture of the lobby.  It looks so fancy.  A big thank you goes to Steve's mom for helping us with our kids, thus allowing us to go here.  The countdown is on!