Elizabeth

I thought I would update all those who don't get the chance to see Elizabeth  on a more regular basis. Lizzie is such a big girl and continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Her favorite movie is Enchanted but has recently expanded to The Bee Movie and a few others. She takes after her dad in most ways. She is our little social butterfly. She loves greeting people everywhere we go. We went to see the Princess and the Frog at the theaters the other day. The first half of the movie, she watched and the other half she spent talking to the girls sitting next to us. 

She loves loves loves nursery! When it comes time for nursery, she flings the door open and raises her hands in the air like, "Here I am"! Shes not shy at all and she can definitely hold her own. Shes had lots of practice from her cousins. She loves to help me clean. She puts the dishes away for me and tries to help me sweep the floors. I've caught her cleaning up her messes on several occasions and she always shuts the door on her way out of any room. 

Elizabeth has a pet fish that daddy won for her in a game. She spends about 5-10 minutes talking to her fish every day. She hasn't named him yet but maybe soon. Lizzie loves the ducks at the duck pond a mile from home. We like to walk over and feed them. She's not scared of them at all even after one of them tried to eat her thumb. St. George weather is looking nice these days which is even more reason to visit the ducks and the park more often.

She weighs about 30 pounds and she hasn't come across a taller 18 month old yet. 

Elizabeth loves to drive cars and ride in the bike, wagon, or anything that moves. She is also my little dancer girl and she is better at it than I am. I'm a little jealous :)

All the time, including public places, she'll grab my hands and say, " DANCE"! She's made me step out of my comfort zone on several occasions and I love it. She is putting words together now and understands so much. Her more frequently used phrases are, "whatcha doin'", "Here it is", " found it", "all done", and "what's this?".

I love my Lizzie with all my heart and I just thought you all might like to know what she's been up to.

The closer it gets, the more excited I get

Valentines Day? I was wondering what Valentines day was all about and I decided to do a little researching. I just love the mystery of it all. The stories are heartbreaking, fascinating, and wonderful. There couldn't be any greater, bitter-sweet tales to go with a more bitter-sweet holiday. Saint Valentine risking his life for those who were in love and wanted nothing more than to marry, solidifying their choice in one another. 

Or Valentine being thrown into prison, only to fall in love with the jailers daughter. In his last attempts to share his true feelings to the woman he loved, before execution, he writes a letter and signs, From your Valentine. *sigh*  Saint Valentine must had been courageous, heroic and romantic and therefore I will continue to celebrate Valentines day, if not for the boxes of chocolates and bundles of flowers, than for LOVE itself.

Most of my friends despised and dreaded Valentines day in our single days, but for me, I never got the chance to wallow in self pity and feel the sting of desolation. I only seemed to feel the sting of Cupid's arrow. I always seemed to have a guy show up on my door step when Valentines day rolled around whether I was hoping for it or not. 

First, there was Travis T. The whole first valentines was awkward and honestly, dreaded. Its something I'd much rather forget. Then there was Travis V. (what with the Travis', you say? I don't know) This Travis was cute and sweet enough to steal my first kiss. On VALENTINES day, nonetheless:)

Now I'll skip over a year or so and tell you of when I meet my true Valentine. Rick and I had our first date in February. I didn't know at the time that he would become my one true love so I agreed to have Valentines dinner with Luke, only to have Rick in the back of mind the entire night. Now I have Rick on my mind always. So I can't complain about Cupid. He eventually got it right. It just took him a few tries:)

I am very much in love with Rick and happy to be. He is my Valentine for years to come and he is my best friend, quite literally the man of my dreams and the love of my life. I'm so happy to have him by my side for all eternity. There is no better gift than to know that that will never change.

Sisters

Yay! I got to talk to Cami today. She flew out to Argentina today and had some time to call us while waiting for her next flight. I forgot how much I really missed her until I heard her voice. I'd probably be better off not having talked to her at all but I don't mind hurting for her. It was worth it. I'm so excited for Cami and a little jealous. I love my sisters so very much. I'm so grateful to have married into such a wonderful family and even more excited about having more sisters. All of them have a special place in my heart and that can never change. I would do anything for any of them. well, enough of the mushy stuff!

Love You Girls!

M.I.A.

Well, Lizzie went to nursery for the first time yesterday, which was bitter-sweet for me but just sweet for Rick of course. She did so good and she had so much fun.Rick stayed with her the whole time but there was no need. It was purely for his own enjoyment. She watched all the other kids so closely and she loved the play kitchen set they had there. She would fill up her pan under the facet and then pretend to take a big Gulp and say, "AHH!", after wards as if she just received the most refreshing drink ever. I can't believe my baby girl is growing up so fast.

Not only did she go to Nursery for the first time but she got her first hair cut as well. I just trimmed her bangs a little. The poor girl kept blinking and rubbing her eyes because she had some random long hairs that were just long enough to curl up and stick her right in the eyes from time to time. Besides that, no other hairs were touched.

There has also been a few occasions where me and Rick have had objects go M.I.A. I spent a few hours looking for my tennis shoes the other day and finally gave up and wore a different pair. The next day I went to pull a pan out of my cupboard and found both tennis shoes sitting there.

Then Rick's phone goes M.I.A. and a couple days later. I find it in the dryer with our mail. Do we have a ghost? No. We have a Lizzie. And we couldn't love her more.

Just Thinking

I've had a couple of days now where I just can't stop thinking about friends that inspired me to live they way I do or that took me in a direction in life that brought me to where I am today. I was so blessed to have such wonderful friends when I was younger. I learned so much from all of them and now I see myself traveling on a journey through life that continues to fill with so many new and wonderful friends. I wouldn't be the person I am if it weren't for them and I just can't help but appreciate their friendship. Thanks to all my friends.

Twice in 2 days

For those of you who noticed my post on facebook; I felt I needed to explain myself-I'm not a bad person. Although being pulled over twice in two days makes me feel like a criminal of some sort. First off, my car needed to be reregistered since November and believe me I've been trying to but they had some mix up with the address change and I didn't get the paper in the mail and its just such an incovenience to drive out to the DMV. So I was waiting, which I explained to the first cute cop that pulled me over last night. He was forgiving and let me go after asking me to take care of that asap, even if it meant going to the DMV. So I promised him I would for sure right after giving him a big kiss (okay, I didn't really give him a kiss) No man is worth kissing if he's not cuter than Rick. Don't get me wrong, he was cute just not cuter than Rick- blondes really aren't my type. So, I take my car and get the oil change and safety inspection this morning and they were able to register my car there which was a plus. So, I'm feeling good right about then. My car is vaccumed out. I had a nice chat with the cute guy at the auto shop (I love that I'm surrounded by cute guys- I should go out more) FYI- Brittany, that make 2 guys I have lined up for you when your ready. Then Lizzies favorite song comes on the radio and we both get excited. I crank that baby up and were jamming out in the car, and UH-OH! (Lizzie's words) I didn't see the school zone lights flashing. I was going the speed limit just not the speed limit when the lights are flashing. When I did see the lights flashing because they have two of them. It was too late. This cop was not so cute, the handle bar mustache just doesn't do it for me. So we had a nice chat about this being the second time I was pulled over and I had all my information for him sitting on my front seat and he was kind enough to let me off with a written warning. I apologized and thanked over and over again. And if it wasn't totally inappropriate I would've given him a hug. I think it helped that Lizzie was being totally cute in the back seat.
Okay, just so you all know I am not lucky! If I had been pulled over in 2009, I would be paying money for two blasted tickets that I felt sick over. But it's 2010 and I think this is going to be a very good year for me.

The Gathering or the Nuts!

The gathering of the nuts was today. Actually, we just got back and cleaned up. The gathering of the nuts is something we do every year. My grandpa has everyone over to his house to shake his trees and gather as many nuts as we can. Although, when my dad's side of the family gets together, it just as well be a gathering of a bunch of "Nuts".

 

If you look closely, Rick is in the tree. He was one of our monkeys.

Elizabeth loved playing with her cousins and in the dirt. She was covered with dust from head to toe but I would have to say that her most favorite part was when she got to drive the tractor with great grandpa. The look of excitement in her eyes and glow of desire to man the big round steering wheel; she was in heaven. It was just about the cutest thing I've seen. Now I can look forward to shelling a lot of nuts. What a fun day its been!

 

Too much Fun.