We're home!!!

When Ryan and I first started talking about buying a house we joked about just buying one over the phone or over the internet. When were we going to find the time to go looking together? Well, my mom and mother-in-law and I went looking one day and just stopped in a model home. A couple of hours later I called Ryan and told him about this one model that we loved and that seemed affordable for us. I never dreamed we would be able to build. From that point on, we never looked back.

We built our first home in Spanish Fork. We closed three days before Christmas and moved in the weekend after Christmas. If I didn't work in retail it wouldn't have been so bad. But I don't get too many days off in December. It was absolutely crazy. Thank you to all our family who helped. We COULD NOT have done it without you.

This is the family room and part of the living room.

This is the kitchen before the fridge was delivered.

This is the master bathroom.

And saving the best for last...

This is our fabulous closet. When they walked us through the models and all the closets were walk-in, I was sold.

Christmas! One month later...

It has taken me forever to update and I'm sorry. To be honest, nothing much happened in the month of November and in December we were so busy! Also, before you look at these pictures I have to add a disclaimer- we got a new camera for Christmas and we were either on the wrong settings or it needs to be returned because the color is OFF!

We spent Christmas Eve night at my parents' house (which we haven't done since Audrey was born) because we heard there was going to be a HUGE storm. Audrey had a hard time focusing on actually opening presents, but she still had a great time.

This was one of Audrey's favorite presents. Uncle Devin bought it for her. It is a Mickey book and when you turn the pages, it reads to you. It also sings and there are buttons that make noise. What more could she ask for?
I have to draw attention to Audrey's hair in all the pictures. I decided to grow out her bangs because they are pretty curly and won't sit straight on her forehead. It's been rough. Plus, who wants to sit still and have their hair done when there are presents to open!

Since we weren't home at all on Christmas and the two days after Christmas were moving days, (more on that later) we didn't give Audrey her presents from us until New Year's Day. Here she is with her kitchen that morning.

Our little pumpkin fairy.

We can't resist posting some halloween pictures.

I wasn't very creative this year so Audrey has a dress with wings and a witch's hat; but since it's orange and black I told people she was a pumpkin fairy.

Which makes these pictures even more fitting.

The Magic of Disney

There's something about that little mouse in red shorts, big yellow shoes and big white gloves.
In spite of the commercialism and 21st century changes, the magic of Disney lives on.
Ryan's work took us on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas! We spent Wednesday night in Orlando and set sail Thursday. We had enough time still on Thursday to walk around and try to understand the enormity of the cruise ship. We ate lunch at a buffet while waiting for our room to be ready and our luggage to arrive. One thing I will always remember: Everywhere we went the staff would say "Hello Princess" when they saw Audrey. I thought it was really sweet. It must be a job requirement because no one missed her. When we went to dinner that night, our table was set up with a high chair at the end and a cup with a lid that said 'Princess Audrey'. We had the same three servers every night including a head server, server, and assistant server. They were from India, the Phillipines, and Italy. A very small percentage of the staff were from the United States. They were all so great. That night we went to a Broadway type show called 'The Golden Mickeys.' Audrey was glued to the stage as they did tributes to some Disney classics.
On Friday morning Ryan had meetings so Audrey and I went exploring. They had a nursery for toddlers and babies if I wanted someone to watch her but I wasn't going to do that. So I took her to the playroom for kids older than her and they said she could play there as long as I stayed with her. She LOVED it!
Besides the props and playground they had tables for coloring, computers for games and learning, books for reading, dress-ups for pretending, toys for playing, and music and hoo-la-hoops for dancing. We were meeting Ryan in our room at noon so I had to drag her out.
Our first island was Nassau. We could have chosen from any number of activities to do here and we chose this resort/casino/hotel called Atlantis. It was beautiful.


Our ticket to Atlantis included a section of beach that was so beautiful, I could have only imagined it before seeing it with my eyes. This was Audrey's first time in the ocean. The water temperature was perfect. She had the best time with the waves. The only way we could get her out was to promise her that we would go swimming in a pool. We spent awhile in the pool before having to drag her out to go to an aquarium.
That night Audrey made it through one song of 'Toy Story, the Musical' before she was asleep so we left early and went to bed. Saturday morning while Ryan was in meetings Audrey and I went to the Goofy pool on one of the top decks. The first pool was less than an inch of water with little spouts that would randomly shoot water into an unsuspecting toddlers' face.
There were also two pools (Mickey's ears) that went to Audrey's waist. The third pool (Mickey's face) went to her chin. I think she liked the ears the best.

Our second island stop was the Disney owned and operated Castaway Cay.
This is what it looked like from the deck of our room.
There weren't any waves in this part of the ocean and it was pretty crowded in the water so we bought some sand toys and got really dirty. That night we wanted to watch the ship sail off for the last time so while we were waiting on the top deck Audrey and Ryan played basketball.
We also finally got a picture of the three of us together.

That night was the BYU vs. New Mexico game so while Ryan watched the score update periodically on ESPN, Audrey and I went to the last show called 'Dreams.' It was another tribute to Disney classics and how the main characters were able to make their dreams come true.
This post is already extremely long but I'd like to share three things I learned from the cruise.
1. I'll be a little kid my whole life.
-I got just as excited as Audrey when the characters came on the stage to sing the songs I've had memorized since I was little. I was also just as excited to finally swim in a warm ocean.
2. All little girls are princesses.
-Even if they prefer big wheels to baby dolls, run around like a crazy person for no good reason, and throw humiliating fits in public (all Audrey). They also melt your heart with a smile, giggle at the silliest things, and look absolutely beautiful no matter what they're wearing or doing.
3. It is a small world after all.
-And the simplest things bring us together.

Another song, another season

Before Audrey was born, Ryan and I spent a couple of summer seasons at the Scera Shell outdoor theater watching plays, concerts, and movies. It was so much fun. This year we thought we'd try it with a toddler.
We saw Footloose, Pride and Prejudice, and The King and I (all musicals).
For the concerts we had Jordin Sparks, Three Dog Night, Boyz II Men, Little River Band, and ABBA.
This year Ryan's parents and brother joined us. It saved us to have other people there to help entertain Audrey.Another thing that saved us was Dippin' Dots. Audrey really did like them in spite of the face she is making in this picture.


This is Audrey running down the aisle from Devin!


These last three pictures are from the last concert. It was September 1st and it was freezing!

First time at the Zoo

Audrey really seems to like animals and Ryan and I were sure it had been close to 20 years since either one of us had been to the zoo, so I made him take a day off during the week to go. The beginning of the day was perfect. Audrey was actually okay with sitting still in her stroller (this is usually NOT the case) and the weather was perfect. Then I had the brilliant idea of taking Audrey on the Carousel. She hadn't been on one since she was four months old but I thought she'd love it. I couldn't tell the reason why, but she hated it. She cried the whole time. After that she wasn't in the mood to go in the stroller so we let her run wild in the small animal building.
She chased this cat back and forth for awhile.
She was a little wary of the train at first but wound up liking it by the time it started moving. Ryan and I were grateful for the small breeze at this point in the day.
Our favorite part was the penguin pool. The penguins would line up on the edge of the ground, then take turns jumping in. Audrey would say "Ready, set, go" (this is one of her favorite phrases). Once they were in the water they even did some tricks for us. We thought it fitting for Audrey's souvenir to be this stuffed penguin.

Are Dads more fun?

You know how frustrating it is when someone is playing 'keep away' with you and you can't seem to get the ball? This is not the case for Audrey. She thinks it's hilarious.


I try to do things with Audrey all day. I read her books and take her shopping and we sing and dance...but she always seems to laugh and play harder when Daddy's home. They seem to have the best time with the simplest game.
To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.
This particular game was really close to bedtime as you can see by the look on Audrey's face.
P.S. Audrey always wins.