National News?!

My big sis sent me this post today...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30945762/from/ET/

You know those "get to know you" games & questions at college, Relief Society, etc? Well, this was always my go-to. I had 13 years of perfect attendance. Didn't miss one single day of school until college (and then I had to make up for lost time and definitely took my share of absences:) Back in my day, I got a standing ovation at graduation. Now you make national news.

Little Lady's the Big Two!

Our little gal hit another milestone and turned two years old this week. It was really fun to watch (and listen) to the excitement she had for her birthday this year. She started singing Happy Birthday to herself the week before the big day and has been playing pretend "birthday" since her birthday. We are definitely at a super fun age with her. I have really loved this past year in her life and can't wait to see what the new year brings.

Preschool Princess for the day

Oma & Opa were in town from Alaska and Jamin/Shanda & fam, my sister Sara, and Uncle Jon all came up for a fun family party the day before Tay's big day. Opa is an awesome BBQ-er and the weather was perfect for outdoor games...

like lions and gazelles

Red rover

duck duck goose

and dogpiling

Everyone was so sweet and generous and she had a blast opening her presents...her friends and family know her well...she now has all the accessories to be the perfect Cinderella (her favorite princess)

My own gum!!!

Daddy surprised her with a pic of the San Diego Temple for her room...when he served his mission there, people called it "Cinderella's Castle."

Of course, she had to have a Cinderella Castle cake

Only 2 candles...

but a whole lot of tries to blow them out

Shanda was a true Princess' assistant and carried Tay's "train"

Aunt Sara spoiled Tay with two pairs of sparkly jeweled Princess shoes...Taylee is a major shoe girl

Tay showed she's true princess material when we first tried the Cinderella ones on and she exclaimed "It doesn't fit...it's too tight...try the other foot."

To end the day, her cousins spent the night in her room and they all fell asleep watching...what else? Cinderella

On her real birthday, we went out for doughnuts in the morning then onto Hogle Zoo and Kangaroo Zoo

Have I said how much I love zoo wagons?

Tay was fascinated by these two lizards giving a little lesson about the birds and the bees

I'm not sure if Taylee has a certain scent or what, but at almost every exhibit, the animals would get so close to her

This guy was so sad when we walked by...after I read the sign, I understood why

Poor thing lost his companion

I'm growing really big!

We ended up being the only ones at Kangaroo Zoo for 2 hours, so I decided to get a pass too and we chased each around and had a blast!

Snack time!

This was my favorite to watch them go down...Tay literally flew off the slide, she went so fast

That night, we set up a video call with a bunch of my family and sang and watched Tay open the presents from them...thanks so much you guys! I love her new outfits and accessories and she fell asleep with her pony and new books

Some sweet neighborhood friends stopped by

and she played and shared cake

Then just "princessed" around

Happy Happy Day our sweet Taylee Mei!

You will always be our beautiful princess! We sure love you!

Escape

Do you ever have those days when you just want to escape reality for a while? Maybe it's completely irresponsible of me, but I love having a flexible enough schedule that the kids and I (and sometimes Ty) can just throw schedule and routine to the wind and go with the flow, make up our minds as the day or our moods determine, and just LIVE. Thursday was one of those days. I knew as soon as I woke up that I was going to escape the humdrum of life and go have an adventure. Carter and Taylee were most definitely on board with me and it didn't take much persuasion to get Tyson on too.

Carter is ALL about exploring and adventures, so we decided to head into the Uinta Mountains via the entrance to Timpanogos Cave National Monument (which opens in one week!) From there, we just went where the wind and our whim directed. By late afternoon, we had hiked four trails, stopped for two sack lunches/snacks, filled 2 bags of treasures, and crossed innumerable bridges (Carter's favorite). The fresh mountain air and space to breathe and be alone was just what we needed. The season doesn't officially start until the 9th, so it was pretty much just our little family everywhere we went...us and nature...what a perfect day. So perfect, that as we left we decided to buy a year pass to National Parks.

And he's off...
As soon as we parked and he could get his seatbelt off, Carter was out exploring

Bridges
and trails with streams running throughtall forests
and big rocks shaped like pirate ships
secret hide-aways that double as forts
and a spot to rest in the shade
islands that you can only get to
by crossing over a stream on a log
and long windy trails with great walking sticks
turns out Dad has better taste in walking sticks than Mom (and Carter's becoming quite the photographer...)

Dads like to explore as well

Secret pow-wow with Daddy
skipping rocks
Climbing mountains
that end up being a little too steep


Getting use out of new shovel and rake for another favorite pastime...digging

And lots of sightseeing...
"What do you see through your backwards binoculars, Taylee?"

"Bears"

Lots of treasures

All tuckered out...
sweet dreams, my little explorer

Random pic...but just too darn cute to not include. I just love these two SO MUCH.

Thanks, Carter and Tay for filling our lives with so much joy and excitement and reminding us of life's simple pleasures.