Happy 2 to You...

It's hard to believe that 2 years has gone by since little MacKenzie joined our family. To say the time has flown by way too quickly is an understatement. It seems like it was just yesterday that Doug and I went to the hospital to welcome baby girl #3.

There have been some scares (our 6 day hospital stay at birth (that felt like 6 years), repeated breath holding spells and ER visits, allergic reactions), but through it all Mac has consistently been the sweetest, happiest, most smiley little girl around.

 

 

 

To hear her laugh, to see her love and adoration for her "sisties," to see her beautiful smile every single day...these are the little things that help me to recognize the incomparable blessings of being a mother. I thank Heavenly Father every day for allowing MacKenzie to join our family, to bless us with her example, and to allow us to watch her grow. Happy birthday little one...we all love you SO very much!

 

 

 

 

 Here's the rundown on how MacKenzie spent her birthday. After dropping Aiden and Reilly off at school, Mac and I went and got some special birthday donuts. She had some fun playtime at the park with her friend Gavin. After her nap we picked Reilly and Aiden up from school. Mac then had her favorite afternoon snack (popcorn, or pop-pop as she calls it) while watching some Yo Gabba Gabba (another favorite). Mac's birthday dinner was chosen by her sisters (Old Spaghetti Factory, a family favorite), but she didn't seem to mind in the least. When bedtime came, Mac got to snuggle her new fuzzy YGG friends Muno, Brobee, and Foofa.

       

 

           

 

 

All in all, I would say our little two year old had a pretty fun birthday!!

Fun Times, Family Times...

The past week has been an especially fun one for our little family. My youngest sister Emily graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) and my nephew Finely turned 8, which means he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All of this meant that we got to take a little road trip up to Utah to see my family - Yay!!

The start of our roadtrip was a little rocky - Aiden got carsick, Reilly got stung by a bee, then Doug got carsick, and so forth, and so forth. The drive took a little longer than expected, causing us to miss Emily's graduation ceremony, but we finally made it safe and sound. (Here's a pic of the happy, beautiful, intelligent graduate...)

The baptism was so special, and afterward there was the bonus of getting NEW family pictures (apparently, I close my eyes a lot when I'm in front of the camera...oh well).

 

 

 

 

 

Doug and I decided to use this trip as an excuse to treat the girls to a night in Vegas. We got a great rate at the Excalibur (the pretty Castle, as the girls refer to it), partook of a buffet dinner, and enjoyed a looong walk on the strip, taking in the lights. The next morning we spent as much time as possible in the pool before we had to hop back in the car to get home.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before we headed home, we decided to cruise the strip so the girls could see the big hotels during daylight. Doug wanted to hit up another buffet, so we stopped at a cool little casino/hotel south of the city and were totally surprised when we walked in and saw this cool aquarium. The girls LOVED it. The buffet ended up being super crowded, and we didn't want to wait the hour to get in, so we decided to get burgers and milkshakes at Johnny Rocket's instead...it was a win-win for all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While it may have been a short little vacay, we sure had a great time!! Can't wait to do it again (hopefully sooner rather than later!!)