Saturday

Marlee is upset that she is not outside with the horses. Port helped her outside & she went right for the horses so, she has to watch from the house.


The garden is growing...


Laun cleaned the horses in our back yard today

Our friend Carrie (Mom of the twin boys I babysit) came over to see the horses, she was VERY excited. She was making fun of our boys because once Laun loaded up the horses the boys said,"finally, we can ride our bikes". You think most kids would be a little more excited to have some horses in their backyard.

Sugar Cookies

Marlee knows she could do such a good job decorating a cookie if she could just reach the frosting.


The boys had fun decorating a cookie. Clayton made a football:


Porter piled on the white frosting:


The cute kids:

My Grandma Turley used to make her grankids a big sugar cookie shaped as a heart with our name on it every Valentines Day. I decided to carry on the tradition but, I'm a little lazier so, I just did their initial.

I decorated a cookie to look like the starfish on Sponge Bob but, Clay informed me that he is pink. But when I asked him who it was he knew right away.

Marlee watching the boys play outside:

A Daddy's girl for sure

She loves watching tv w/ her Dad & brothers


In Marlee's play pen- 2 is better than 1

I'm pretty sure that Marlee even thinks she should go to work w/ Daddy.

Such a big helper

Marlee loves to "help" do the dishes

Clayton decorated this carrot cake all by himself- he decided to make a smiley face out of walnuts. And no he is not growing facial hair already, it is just paint from this painting he made in art class.

Sweet Cooper

Last night Laun & I were looking at photos & videos of Cooper. He opened his eyes for the first & last time at 1 week old. I can still remember the excitement I felt that day to look into my precious baby boys eyes. I feel grateful that not only was I there to see that, but that I was also able to record it for Laun & my boys to see. It was truly a blessing from above. I will never forget that day & cherish it always. This experience has taught me so much: My Heavenly Father loves me & knows me personally, we are all children of God, the gospel is true, being sealed in the temple for time & all eternity is a gift, babies are miracles, children are priceless, life is fragile, motherhood/parenthood is a wonderful blessing, Heavenly Father knows best & has a plan for my family, with the help of my Savior I can get through hard times, faith & hope are so important, & my family is eternal. I miss Cooper so much but, I know we will be together again. I am so happy for all my children, they are Laun & I's sunshine.

Today when I was curling my hair, Marlee was getting into the drawers & pulling out the tooth brushes & hair stuff, pulling down the towels, & just being her busy self. I found myself feeling so emotional & thankful for this healthy, sweet, & busy little girl that we have been blessed with. I couldn't help but swoop her up & give her loves. I also love when my boys will give me hugs, too.
May we all cherish life & our loved ones always.

Temple trip

On our drive to phx. yesterday, Marlee got to sit in a big kid carseat for the 1st time- big mistake! She screamed a lot & I think it made her mad to see us, because she wanted us to get her out.

This is what her hair looked like when we started the trip:


And this is what it looked like after Marlee got a hold of it:

Clayton went to Cannen Hall's b-day & hung out w/ their family for the day, Porter & Marlee were babysat by Grandma Turley, & Laun & I went to the temple with Lucy.

Laun & his amazing Mom Lucy-outside of the Mesa Temple.

Before we headed home, Jeff treated us to a yummy dinner at Pedros.

A good read

When the boys take out the Book of Mormons for scripture time, Marlee pulls out "hers" too. I guess kids pay attention more then we ever know. The other day I was reading in the Gospel Principles book & it said that Jesus Christ taught the plan of salvation and exaltation by His word and by the way He lived. And it made me start wondering, do I do a good job teaching my children by my words & example?

My brother Ted & his family came & visited us this weekend. We went to the Reid Park Zoo, the movie theater to see Where the Wild Things Are (don't see it-boring, freaky, strange, I could go on & on), church, & to Launs work to see the animals. We had a good time visiting & enjoying Laun's grilling.

This was marlees 1st visit to the zoo & she loved it. She really liked the giraffes, monkeys, & lion.

I love these pictures of these 2 checking eachother out.

Here is Clayton by a snake

Here is Marlee back where she was before, she just couldn't get enough.

The jaguars were so close-this zoo is great because almost all the animals are really easy to see.

Marlee made lots of excited noises when she saw the lion.

Port looking at a bear & holding his map- he was our "tour guide".

Marlee loved being so up close to all the wildlife.

We got a year membership so, we should be going a lot more often.

This was a big weekend for Marlee because not only was it her 1st time to the zoo but, it was also her 1st time to the movie theater & she did great. The boys were very excited to see their cousins for a couple days. We all had a good weekend.

I started babysitting my friends twin boys this week. They are 10 months old & Marlee is 1 so, it is kind of like having triplets. I am going to watch them mon-fri from 8:30-1:30 & so far it is going awesome. It is fun for Marlee to have babies around her age to play with. They are very good babies & I am happy that Marlee will have to learn a little patience(:



Here is Port with his 100 project- to celebrate the 100th day of kindergarden:



We got this new rug for the living room & the kids love it. Marlee will crawl across it & then stop & lay down. The kids like it so much that I think we should just skip presents for the year & give them a rug for their room.

Marlee hearts nutella

Clayton left his spoon with nutella on it a little too close to Marlee. She didn't mind one bit, she was all smiles. If you haven't tried this junk yet, you've got to, it is awesome. It goes fast around our house.

Our garden is growing...

There are peas, onions, 3 types of beets, & 4 kinds of tomatoes.


Here is broccoli, cauliflower, & brussel sprouts.

Party like a One Year Old

We went to this mexican restaraunt-Guadalajara for dinner to celebrate Marlees b-day. She hardly ate a thing (which is rare for her), thankfully Laun brought her a sucker & that entertained her for awhile.

The food was good & they have salsa side-table, where a lady goes around to each table & makes salsa for you however you like. The salsa & fresh tortillas were awesome.

Then we went home for cake & icecream. First b-days are always the funnest because kids don't use utensils yet & I always love to see how they react.

Here is how the cake looked before:

The boys were a little disappointed that I made the cake, they really thought I should have bought her a princess cake.

Here is what the cake looked like afterwards:

It was so fun watching Marlee pick off the m&m's one by one & eat them or just swallow them whole. Then she grabbed off chunks of cake & would eat it & then tried waving the frosting off her hands. She even shared some with her Daddy.

Then she got her presents:

The boys liked helping her unwrap them:

I was suprised at how much she liked her toys.

The best part was that I got all her gifts at thrift stores for dirt cheap.