Catalina

Mine and Brandon's birthday were on the 19th and 20th while we were down there. My parent decided for a little birthday gift they would send us to Catalina Island for a day. It was a nice little surprise and a great little getaway for us since we hardly get out on dates!I had been there once years ago and Brandon had never been. We hopped on a ferry in Newport in the morning and came back later that afternoon. It was a gorgeous day. We did a glass bottom boat tour and then just browsed some of the shops. We hiked up around some of the cliffs instead of renting a golf cart. What a blast!

 On the ferry...before we got blown away and went below deck.

Love this pic, although it kind of looks like a Coca-Cola ad! Ha!

This is Stubby. He sat by us the whole time we ate lunch. No matter how much we shooed him away he just hobbled right back. But he didn't invade our space. Thanks Stubby.

We went on the boat tour in "Lover's Cove." We saw a lot of these kind of carp like fish. They love the boats b/c people feed them on the tours.

We hiked up to this point. But shhh! Don't tell anyone b/c as we were informed it's a $250 fine for each of us if we were caught!?! Oh well.

I'm guessing there would be a fine for this as well...

Thanks again Mom and Dad for this little getaway and for watching Hailey for us!

Spring Break

The family headed down to CA for some fun...ok...the real reason we went down was to run the So Cal Ragnar!(post to come) But Brandon took advantage of the situation and took a little time off. It was so great to have him with us. Usually I take off and leave him home to work...poor guy. He sure does love us! We tried to fit in as many fun things as we could before the race. (I'll post individually as not to overwhelm with pictures!)

Hailey did great on the drive down! I tried to pack fun things for her to do in the car, but we did have a DVD player and that pretty much entertained her. She was in heaven watching Tangled, eating her Pb&j and snuggling her baby Cinderella!

Spring

We are so happy that Spring had come and that winter is behind us! Hailey is having a blast at the playgrounds.  Love these two shots!

Easter

We had a very Happy Easter this year. Hailey got a little Easter package in the mail from Grandma Swaner. She had fun opening her package and finding and eating the chocolate!

This was Hailey's first year for an Easter egg hunt. We went to a park in S. Ogden that hosted a big egg hunt. They separated the park up in to sections by age. They also had pictures with the Easter Bunny. Hailey was not so thrilled about that part. She knew exactly what to do and had a blast putting eggs in her basket. It was a cold morning! It snowed a few inches the day before, so luckily all the snow had melted off the grass before the big day.

 Having a little meltdown while we waited b/c the playground was close by and she wanted to go play. Luckily it started a few minuted later!

 Showing Mommy her Easter eggs

Love this face!

The Easter Bunny Came!

Some of our neighbors decided it would be fun to put on a little egg hunt for our kids. A lot of people were out of town or busy with family. So this was our cute group. We did it Sunday after church. The weather was great!

Hailey, Lyla, Taylor, and Marlee

 New Easter dress!

Checking out their eggs and eating soooo much candy!

Hailey is Two!

My heart sinks a little every time I think about Hailey turning two. That just means she is really no longer a baby. But I am so excited to see her grow and learn new things everyday.

I decided to celebrate her birthday this year by throwing her a Minnie Mouse Party. She loves all things Micky and Minnie. I went to town finding and making decorations. It ended up being kind of zebra stripe/polka dot/Minnie Mouse themed. All the kids got a Minnie Mouse party hat and a goody bag(included: Minnie Mouse coloring book, stickers, crayons, heart shaped sparkle bracelets, pink Starburst candy and a rainbow twist Twizzlers).

Hailey had five of her friends come over and had a blast running around and playing with all of them.

 Hailey's Party Outfit! So cute!

 The kids helping Hailey open her presents.

New Minnie Mouse backpack from Grandma and Grandpa.

 I made the cupcakes and the frosting was a nightmare. It was neon pink and stained your skin in .001 seconds! The kids needed a little extra help eating them. Oh well. They looked cute!

One of the highlights of the day was jumping in her bed with her friend Malia. They are two little goof balls!

We had Hailey's party the Sat. before her birthday. Her real birthday was on Wed. the 28th. We had playgroup over at our house that morning which worked out perfectly. She had fun playing with the neighbor girls.

I wanted to take Hailey to do something fun for her birthday. So, I decided to try and take her to Kangaroo Zoo again. She wasn't too sure about it the first time we went. Kind of went the same way second time around. But at least there is one little area she likes.

There is a room there for parties and Hailey loves these lights. She kept running over to this area to see them.

That evening when Brandon got home we went to dinner at Red Robin. We thought it would be somewhat of a fun atmosphere for Hailey and we just wanted to go someplace that would sing Happy Birthday to Hailey. Well, they didn't sing. Kind of a bummer. Oh well. We came home and opened her presents. One happy little girl.

Happy Birthday to my sweet little munchkin. Love you!

Hailey's first time skiing!

We went up to Idaho Falls over President's Day weekend to hang out with Brandon's family. Ben and Michelle were there and it was fun to see them since we haven't seen them since they moved to WA. We went up to Targhee to ski a few days. We decided it would be fun to see if Hailey liked skiing. Brandon's parents had found a pair of ski boots her size on sale for $10. And Brandon has connections for skis. Hailey was so excited when Brandon showed her her princess skis. She dragged them all around the house with her.

The Girls

She took her first ride down and screamed and cried the whole way. She just wanted mommy. So we took a run and tried to bribe her with food! Didn't really work. Luckily at Targhee they have a little beginners hill that has what they call the Magic Carpet. It's basically a conveyor belt you stand on and it takes you back up to the top of the hill. Brandon's dad tried taking her down once and finally I took her down. She still wasn't loving it so we called it quits and I pulled her around in a sled after that.

January & February Recap

I have been slacking in the blog world lately. Here's what we've been up to...

Playing in the snow and building snowmen. Fortunately (or unfortunately) we have had a mild winter and not a lot of snow. But we have been enjoying it when we can. 

Baby Snowman aka Baby Frosty. Not great packing snow so we settled for a little guy.

Hailey got a Treehouse Museum Membership for Christmas. It's a great children's museum here in Ogden. She loves running around and finding new things to play with.

Going to Birthday parties! Hailey's friend Taylor turned 3 and had a princess party. All the girls came dressed up in their princess attire. We don't really have any of that yet so we improvised. 

Here is Hailey and her friend Aubrey. 

Kangaroo Zoo! This is every kid's dream! Well, except for Hailey. This place is full of those bounce house type of structures. Some have slides and obstacle courses. They have some great areas for toddlers only. Hailey went for the first time with a couple of friends. They had a blast. Hailey whined and cried for the first hour or so and just wanted me to hold her. She wasn't so sure about that bouncing ground. After much coercing I finally got her to play in one of the toddler areas. We are going to try again soon.

Sick days :( We spent a little time laying around and snuggling. Feeling much better now.

Dew Tour! Brandon and I have gone to the Dew Tour the last few years. It's always fun to go watch the skiers and snowboarders and their amazingness. 

Hailey liked the chair lift. She kept calling it the swing!


Just taking her baby for a walk. Her friend Taylor went and got her stroller and baby too!