a very princess birthday

Princess Marli just turned 3! This was her eating breakfast the morning of her birthday - Cinderella dress? check! Lucky Charms? check! birthday crown? check! What more could you ask for? Since Marli's birthday is the day after Christmas I try to make a special effort to make her birthday special so it doesn't just seem like an afterthought. There was definitely nothing Christmas-y about this day, it indeed was a VERY princess birthday.

We did a little family party at my parent's house with both of our families. The best part of having a birthday this time of year is that all your family is in town! Even Grandpa Mat extended his stay and braved the cold Utah weather to help celebrate Marli's birthday.

This is Macie and Cooper blowing out Marli's candles for her. For some reason, she has never liked to blow out her candles.

If you ever see Marli at my parents house she will most likely be wearing this pink "diamond dress". As soon as she walks in the door it takes her all of about 5 seconds to run downstairs and put on this dress, along with the matching pink slippers of course.

We waited a week after her birthday to have a little friend birthday party. We started by going to Jump On It where I think Marli was in heaven when she realized all of her favorite friends were going to be there too.

I'm pretty sure we could have skipped the trampolines and just put all the kids on carousels and they would have thought it was the best party ever. This dinky little carousel was the hot spot for these little girls.

After Jump On It we came back to our house for a "princess picnic" with pizza, cupcakes and presents. One thing about Marli is she is very easy to shop for. Anything pink, purple, sparkly or princess and she will love it!

This was one happy 3 year old surrounded by her new loot. All I can say is that spending the day with Marli is like hanging out with my best friend. One part of me can't believe she is already three, and yet the other part of me can't believe she is only three because she talks like she's twelve and I can't imagine a day without her in my life. I love her so much!! Reno and I are amazed at how lucky we are to have such a beautiful, funny, smart, silly and happy little girl. Happy birthday Marli! We love You!!

(after) christmas party

This year we had our Christmas party after Christmas so that everyone could be there. Once again it was a great party with yummy food, funny games and some very memorable white elephant gifts. Thank you everyone for coming and making it such a fun night!!

We played some great "Minute to Win It" games that brought some hidden talents. Kylee set a new record for the gingerbread game by getting the cookie from her forehead into her mouth in less than 4 sec...Wow!! It was fun to see how competitive we all were over the silliest things. I think Devin and Jessica win the award for always coming up with the best strategies.

The white elephant exchange was still the highlight of night. I think the hot items this year were the snuggy, the clapper and the 24" t.v. ha!ha! (Nat and Craig just had to figure out how to carry that on the plane with them).

christmas 2010

Christmas was so much fun this year with two little kiddos. Marli was super excited to see what Santa was going to bring, and Laney was just happy to play with the wrapping paper. This year we spent most of Christmas with Reno's family, but we were able to do our own Christmas at our house as well. We invited Reno's parents over to come watch the girls open their presents and told them they usually wake up around 7:30 or 8:00. So at 8:00 that morning we were woken up by a knock at the door... of course the one morning our kids sleep in! So Reno and I got up and hung out with his parents then at around 8:30 we decided to wake the girls up. (Who has to wake up their kids on Christmas morning?) Once we told Marli that Santa had come she jumped right out of bed and gladly woke Laney up as well.
Marli loved the new kitchen Santa brought her. Notice her Cinderella slippers that she is wearing and did not take off all day!
Laney just rolled around on the floor happily playing with whatever was within her reach.

That afternoon we went to dinner at Reno's grandparents house. Such a fun, relaxing day with our families.Laney showing off her muscles - it got a little warm at "G.G. Nore's" so Reno thought Laney would be more comfy just hanging out in her onesy.

We hope you all had a happy holidays!

so sick

Poor Laney started getting sick on our way home from Disneyland. The next few days she got worse and worse. She ended up with two ear infections and a bad eye infection. She still seemed to give us her signature smile even though she felt so crummy.

Disneyland

We took our first family vacation to Disneyland. It was definitely something we will always remember! Marli is loving the Disney Princesses so we thought this would be the perfect time to go. After our last day there we all said what our favorite part was. Funny enough, the princesses were not mentioned once! Marli's favorites were the rollercoasters, the parade and her favorite characters? Chip and Dale. She did actually love seeing the princesses dance in the parade, loved walking through Minnie Mouses house, and both of the Toy Story rides. We loved just being there to see her reaction to each new adventure in Disneyland, and Laney was nice enough to just come along for the ride.

This is Marli as we left our driveway. Thanks to Presli we listened to every Disney Princess song over and over on our 10 hour drive. Whatever keeps our little princess happy.

Here we are at the "happiest place on earth". And from the look on Marli's face in most of these pictures I would say that is true.

They make the most adorable candy apples there and this Minnie Mouse one happened to be our favorite. It was almost too cute to eat...almost:)

I crouched down in this picture to be next to Marli, but then she wanted to crouch down to. Lucky for us, candy apples are "too messy" for Reno's liking so we happily ate his share.

After our first day we gave Marli this Sleeping Beauty crown and dress to wear to breakfast the next morning with the princesses. She was so excited for the new dress ups. After she put them on she asked, "Mom, do I get to take these home?" and when I told her yes she gave me the biggest hug.

This picture is so funny to me because it pretty much sums up our experience at breakfast with the Princesses. This was the one event we thought Marli would love the most. And I think the thought of it she did love, but when it came down to seeing the Princesses she played her typical hard-to-get self. And Laney who is usually such an angel was hungry and tired and didn't make things any easier.

Here are all her pictures with the characters. At least she smiled in most of the pictures even if she didn't want to stand next to any of them. The funniest part of all this is now she can't stop looking at these pictures and talking about how she saw all the princesses.

Marli and her Prince -

Wednesday was actually Reno's birthday and what better way to celebrate then to go to breakfast with the princesses. I hope Marli appreciates what a great daddy she has!!

3-D glasses - Getting ready to break records on the Toy Story ride

I think this face shows how Laney probably felt most of the trip. She was so nice to just go along with whatever her crazy family was doing

3 straight days in Disneyland can be exhausting!! Marli only made it through half of the Pirates of the Carribean ride before she fell asleep. I think we all felt like this by the time it was time to go home.

Apparently she likes the characters when they aren't so "real"

Tara and Will came and met us there one day and it was so fun to see them! Marli and Will became fast friends and probably hold the record for how many times you can ride the carousel in a row. Thanks Tara for driving all the way up and for all the great tips! I know you want to trade in the sunny Cali weather for snow so we can be neighbors again... ha!ha!

Laney's favorite part of Disneyland was charming all the people behind us while we stood in line.

Disneyland at Christmas time really is amazing!

Marli LOVED the sparkly castle!

Good-bye Disneyland! Until next time...

Happy Birthday Grandma Gunn!!

My Grandma just turned 90 yrs old! The day after Thanksgiving we had a big celebration for her. She is such a sweet, sweet lady. I love her so much! I am so grateful that I have been able to live so close to her (and not just because she ALWAYS has a full cookie jar and bowls of candy:)).

Here is most of her posterity - kids, grandkids, and 100+ great-grandkids!

I love this picture - it shows my Grandma's sweet angel smile

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with all my siblings at my parent's house. This was our first time doing it with just our siblings and it was so much fun! After dinner we went to Reno's Grandparent's house to spend time with his family. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pics so most of these are ones I got from my brother-in-law.

All the cousins

Luke, Macie and Marli getting a headstart on dinner by eating their party favors.