Last year around this time, I was announcing my sister, Marion's engagement! In July, we went to a guy named, Gary's property in Grantsville to take Marion's and Monty's engagement pictures. Gary is a friend to my Dad's best friend, Gary. Got it? Two different Garys. This guy's property is amazing, he has a barn, horses, horse property fenced in, ponds that he dug out himself, a house and a guest house all on his property. People have held their weddings there, it is so pretty. Anyway, it was so nice of him to let us come and take pictures on his property.
We first started in the barn.
The horse was trying to eat Marion's hair! LOL!
Gary even let us get into his antique canoe! These pictures were hilarious to take! We were all laughing because I had to sit in the canoe too with my camera and we had the hardest time keeping the canoe from capsizing. I didn't want my camera to fall with me into the pond. We pulled it off though.
Then we took pictures on the outside of the barn.
Having too much fun!
They climbed out on a tree that was over one of the ponds. Notice the canoe behind them? That was the canoe we were in.
I took picture of them on one of the fences to one of the horse properties.
Then we went on the steps that went to the house and guest house.
And of course we had to take pictures with the canopy that was over the other pond.
And one in front of the shed that looked like a small barn.
Then we stopped at the Great Salt Lake on the way back home.
It was the prefect time of day. The lighting was perfect!
We got just what we wanted!
And here is the invitation I created with Photoshop! I am pretty proud of it!
We had a blast taking the pictures! Good times!
And I have to say that my camera rocks because all it is a Cannon Powershot! It is not a professional camera but it took really good pictures. At Marion's wedding we put their engagement pictures on all the tables and her photographers were amazed at the pictures I took with my small simple camera.
We went to our local theme park, Lagoon this past July with my side of the family. We do this every year as a family.
Ayla was quite the little dare devil. She went on a lot of big rides.
In this picture you can see that her hair is wet. That is because she rode the "Rattle Snake Rapids."
Here she is getting ready to ride "BomBora." The new roller coaster they had that year. You can see my Dad and my nephew, Lane sitting behind Ayla and Marion.
Lane and Dad!
Ayla and Marion!
They were on the ride "OdySea." I love this ride! It is exactly like "Dumbo" at "Disneyland" except you get wet!
Ayla with Grandma and Grandpa on the "Tilt-A-Whirl!"
Marion rode "The Bat" with Lane because he asked her to. He was panicking a little before they took off. You can see in the picture he has his hand on his heart. Marion couldn't help but laugh. Land is so cute!
I got this picture of them as the came around the corner! Lane really had a good time!
Marion and Dad on the "Rocket", my favorite ride at "Lagoon."
Ayla of course rode a lot of the kiddy rides too.
She is so cute!
The biggest ride she rode was the "Tidal Wave!" She was so excited to ride that ride. She wanted to ride it last year but was too little, she cried. This is a picture of them all waiting in line.
Ayla and Marion giving a thumbs up before the ride! I love Ayla's thumb, too cute!
Can you find Ayla? It is kind of hard because the picture is so small.
Here she is! Marion said she laughed the whole time! I know it had to have been her favorite ride.
She rode "Puff," the kiddy roller coaster!
Here we are on the train!
Yes, I took the picture.
Such a cutie!
Here I am with Ayla! The train was the only ride I rode because I had just found out a couple of weeks before we went that I was pregnant. I can't believe it now, I only have 5 to 6 weeks left and our new little girl will be here! We are so excited!
Marion and Ayla on the "Dinosaur Drop."
Ayla giggled the whole time!
I think after going on so many big rides the kiddy rides didn't seem as appealing.
She love the "Jumping Dragon!" She rode it twice. This time was with Grandpa!
And of course she had to ride the boats!
She had to drive her own car!
By the time she rode the "Helicopters," she was getting tired.
This was her final ride. I know that when she starts to suck on those 2 fingers, she is done!
We had such a great time at Lagoon! It was so much fun to live through Ayla! I wish I could have gone on some rides with her but I am glad to be having another baby. I look forward to this summer and ridding rides with Ayla!
I have been wanting to post this post all week. I loaded the pictures like 4 days ago.
Here is how our Christmas was.
On Christmas Eve, my side of the family came over to celebrate Christmas. My mom and my sister, Marion came over real early so we could get all the food prepared.
Ayla had a good time playing with the potatoes, Grandma was peeling. She was having them talk to each other. It is the simple things in life that make us happy! :)
My uncle, Ruel and his wife Denise came.
I was so grateful to have gotten a table cloth finally for our fold up table. You can see the goodies I made on the table in this picture.
My sister, Marion and her husband had an "Ugly Sweater Party," later that night. This was my sister's sweater. I sewed on her Christmas stocking and some ornaments on her sweater vest. We cracked up as I was doing it.
Marion ended up borrowingAyla's aunt Marion doll, so she could have a twin in her stocking! LOL!
My cousin, Harriett came with her family. Her daughter, Samantha is the one with her head turned.
But I got a cute picture with her!
We all ate the yummy food!
Here is the food!
We had another turkey dinner.
My Daddy! I love my Dad! His birthday was yesterday. Happy birthday Dad!
Such a great picture of Marion and Harriett!
One of me and my handsome hubby! Kurt is raising his lemonade for toast, I guess.
After we ate, we exchanged gifts.
Ayla was so excited to get her "Barbie" luggage. Marion and Monty got her it so she could pack it whenever she goes over to their house. It is an overnight bag.
They also got her these cupcake pj's, so she could pack them in the luggage. Ayla loves cupcakes!
Everyone was gone around 4 PM. Kurt, Ayla and I went and took a 2 hour nap. We then got up ate some leftovers and then had our own little Christmas as a family. We opened all our gifts from each other.
Ayla with her toy cupcakes we got her!
We got her "Hungry, Hungry Hippos!"
Kurt got me some cute clothes and he wrapped some in this cute box! This box is from his childhood. He drew on it when he was a kid. I love it!
After we opened presents Kurt and I played some "Band Hero." It was so much fun! We hadn't played the Playstation together in a long time.
Ayla was so cute that night! It was so fun to see her excitement! She was so excited for Santa to come! It was the first time I had ever seen her get so excited to go to bed. She even went and put on her new pj's she got from Marion and Monty.
I took a picture of her in her pj's holding her cupcakes, standing next to her cupcake bedding. Like I said, she loves cupcakes right now. I know it is because I have been making them a lot lately and she loves "My Little Pony." On that show there is a pony named, "Pinkie Pie," who is always throwing parties for everyone and she always has cupcakes. For Ayla's birthday this year I am having it "My Little Pony" themed and on the invitations it says, "Pinkie Pie is throwing Ayla a birthday party!" It has been fun planning it! I will blog it next month.
That night Santa came! Notice the teddy bear under the tree? That is what she had been asking for. Ya, and she got a bike!
Here is Ayla on her bike outside for the first time! This was the best picture I got of her. I filmed her most of the time.
That afternoon we went and spent Christmas with Kurt's side of the family.
Little Kurt and Morganne got this awesome teeter tater from Santa. Ayla loved riding it with Little Kurt.
We then ate dinner together.
My hubby told the Christmas Story to the kids with the "Little People" Nativity. It was so cute! He had done it the night before for Ayla too.
Then we opened gifts.
Here is Kurt holding Ayla's "Hello Kitty" she got. I so love her "Hello Kitty!"
Ayla got this beautiful dress that night!
One of the best things I got for Christmas was this letter from my Mom! I asked her for it and on Christmas Eve when they came over she brought it with her. I love it! It is all about my birth and how much she loves me. The envelope says, "To my favorite Little One Heather. Always remember how much I love you. Love mom." My Mom has always called, my brother her favorite son and my sister, her favorite middle child and me her favorite little one. I will cherish this letter forever!
Below are some videos of Christmas morning.
This first one is how Ayla had to wait to see what Santa brought and her reaction to her teddy bear.
This one is so cute! She got a "My Little Pony," toy and one of the toys is a little dragon named, Spike. Ayla had been wanting Spike for a long time!
Here is one of her riding her bike in the house for the first time. This one is a little long but if you watch the first part of her ridding down the hall you will see how much she loves her bike.
We had a wonderful Christmas! It was my favorite so far with Ayla and my little family!
I am a proud mother of two beautiful girls! I love staying home with them! I have a wonderful husband. I am big on family. I feel it is the most important thing!
