Birthday Bash Blow-Out!

We celebrated Lucy's birthday with a huge bash, and okay, the blow-out part is for the fact that the chocolate cake I made yesterday EXPLODED for no reason in the oven and then caught on fire. Really. I have absolutely NO idea why or how that happened, except to say that my baking chemistry must have been seriously off! Anyway, that's another story...

Lucy woke up bright and early and came downstairs to find-- a new BIKE!! Ta-dah! She has been wanting a bike for quite a long time, but where in our apartment in Philly would we have put such a thing?? So it was a life lesson that good things come to those who wait.:)

She then got to open the rest of her presents from mom and dad and Zachy. She has been begging for a pet lately, and since neither Jonathan nor I are animal folk-- she got a robotic kitty instead. She seemed just as elated!

The Ariel doll she has been wanting forever from the $$ in the package Grandma and Grandpa Cardon sent! So excited! Thank you!

Lucy's two favorite things are princesses and picnics, so we decided to combine the two and have a princess picnic birthday party! She invited some friends from preschool and some friends from her Sunbeam class and they started things off with their picnic lunch, and then made beaded bracelets, and then decorated graham cracker houses with candy. I think more candy went into their tummies than on their houses, but just when I got them good and sugared up it was time for them to go home to their parents.:)

She loved opening presents, which was by far the highlight of her party!!


Lucy wanted a pig cake for her birthday, which was somewhat traumatizing for me. I have never (and will never) claim to be a cake decorator, or even artistic for that matter, so I studied this cake out for months in advance. I was going to try my hand at fondant, but the $20 investment scared me because I had about a 50/50 chance at success, so I went with some basic buttercream. It looks like a cake I made in 5th grade for a cake walk, but she seemed to like it, and it does scream, "PIG!" after all.

Happy 4th Birthday!! Blow out the candles!!

The princesses: Gabby, Julia, Hailey, Paisley, and Lucy.

After the party we got dinner at Lucy's favorite fancy restaurant, Olive Garden. She love love loves spaghetti and salad, and requested this dinner months ago.

Time for bed as an official 4-year old! She got this hand-made princess quilt from Grandma Joanie for her birthday and LOVES it. It was perfect too because this week the letter in preschool was "Q," and for Show and Tell they were supposed to bring in their favorite quilt to share so Lucy brought this one. WE LOVE YOU BIRTHDAY GIRL!

A Thankful Thanksgiving!

We were sure grateful my parents took some time out from their busy lives to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. It makes SUCH a difference to us to be able to stay at home and keep the kids' sleeping/napping arrangements the same, favorite foods and toys here, and just their basic schedule the same-- it makes my life soooooo much easier, plus not having to mess with all of the red-tape associated with getting Jon allowed out of the state of Nevada was super appreciated. And we got the bonus of having company right HERE-- at home!! Here's a rundown of the week:

My parents flew in and Taylor joined the par-tay from BYU all about the same time, so as soon as Wednesday morning dawned we headed to the Paris casino for the world famous buffet. I had never tried it, but my parents have sworn by it for about 10 years, so I got to finally taste for myself. It was some AMAZING french cuisine, for sure!!


After brunch we headed across the street to the Bellagio to see the water gardens and giant pumpkins (some weighed almost 1,000 lbs)!

We just missed the fountain show, but now we have an excuse to go back since I've heard they use the Mo-Tab version of the Hallelujah chorus for one of them. Now wouldn't that be something to hear in Sin City?


Thursday morning we got our chef on and tried brining the turkey the night before to make it super moist and flavorful, and I will never do it differently! In addition to turkey we had an amazing array of cuisine-- Greek salad, celery and apple herbed stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, whole wheat rolls, strawberry pretzel jello salad, and banana cream and pumpkin pie (Bobby Flay's Throw-down winning recipe). We ate ourselves silly! Taylor and Jon got to see the new Harry Potter that night, but I decided to go to bed early so I would be well-rested for the girls' shopping trip to the outlet malls in Primm, right on the California border, the next morning. They had some amazing deals, plus a Williams Sonoma outlet, and Lucy was a total trooper through it all. I love that I get to really shop at least once a year!

Saturday we headed to Valley of Fire (see previous post), watched the Cougars take a hit from Utah, and then went out for my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Tom the Turkey! We had some delicious southern BBQ at a local place called Memphis Barbeque.

Sunday we got to just hang out before and after church, as well as tune in to my favorite. reality. competition. ever. (and the only TV I guiltily allow myself to watch on Sundays), the Amazing Race. Monday we did a little more shopping and then got lunch at In and Out on the Strip. Lucy was amazingly calm and composed all that morning as I tried to prepare her for the fact that Grandma and Grandpa were leaving (she BAWLS any time ANY one leaves), and I realized my mistake as soon as we pulled up to the airport-- she thought she was going with them (we leave in a week to go to Boise for a few days to welcome my sister Whitney home from her mission and she thought it was time)!! Whoops. Calamity ensued and lasted the entire ride home. Oh well. We had a GREAT week and are so THANKFUL for all our family on both sides, especially recently as we've appreciated their extra love and support and understanding even more as we've dealt with all things moving, military, and more!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!

Hope happy days will come to you all year! Here are some things I love about Lucy:

*She is a SUPER good big sister. She loves Zachy, and Zachy adores her right back. Don't get me wrong, they still have their moments (some of their wrestling matches are the only way I can make it through the long days because they are so hilarious), but without me having to do anything they are just FRIENDS. They get along. She is really protective of him, and yesterday when Zach had to get his booster shots Lucy put on a very brave face to try and help Zach ("It's okay Zach! Lucy's right here!"), but as soon as he started crying and she saw the blood from the pokes she cried HARDER. She kept saying, "I didn't want him to get shots! How could you bring him?!?" At preschool she gets candy after every class and she always saves some for Zachy so he doesn't feel sad.
*She is HELPFUL! This move has matured her in so many ways. She is really good to do what I ask (most of the time) and says, "Sure Mom!" if I ask her to pick something up or throw something away. She loves to help put Zach's coat on or grab me his shoes. It makes a HUGE difference.
*She is very LOVING! She seems to know when I need an extra hug, and out of nowhere she will say things like, "Wow! You look pretty today mom!" or "You're the best mom in the world!" It makes me feel so good because she is so sincere when she says it, and she just has a really great capacity to love. If I get mad at her she feels SO bad, so I have to be careful about what I say or even how my face looks because she will pester me with, "Are you mad at me mom? Your face looks angry!"
*Anywhere we go, Luce has made a FRIEND. She has friends at church, friends at preschool, friends at Walmart (the greeters know her), friends at Costco (the receipt checkers draw her special smiley faces), and while she used to HATE going to the gym, she now looks forward to it and when I asked her why she wasn't scared anymore she said, "I just make a new friend!" Even at the doctor's office within 5 minutes she'd met another little girl and they were looking at magazines together.
*She is FUNNY! She is really beginning to understand humor and how to make jokes, and loves to make us laugh. She has inherited some of the Morris wit (like her grandpa and uncles) and finds humor in lots of everyday things and says "That's silly!" Her giggle is infectious!
*She is HAPPY! I sometimes joke with Jonathan because this girl is ALL rainbows and hearts and cookie dough and teddy bears! If it's raining outside and we can't got to the park, she gets excited and says, "That's okay! We can jump in the puddles instead!" She used to either be VERY happy or VERY unhappy, but as she's matured luckily she swings mostly to the VERY happy side and she is just a naturally upbeat and positive girl and has tons of energy.
*Her SMILE is contagious! She is complimented wherever we go on her big expressive brown eyes and cute dimples, and her pretty smile! She LOVES attention, so when people comment on her pretty dress or sparkly shoes she totally eats it up. When she was a baby and we'd get those rare smiles every now and then it felt like sunshine!

We absolutely love this little girl who has brought SO much joy into our lives. I suppose there is nothing like being the first child-- she has to endure all the firsts, all the bad parenting, all the bumps in the road, etc., but she has absolutely changed our lives and our family for the better. We are sure grateful to Heavenly Father for blessing us with our precious little Luce! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!!

First birthday! Born 7 lbs 8 oz. on 12/4/06 three weeks early!

6 months

One year

18 months

2 years

3 years

Big 4 years old! Why does it have to go SO fast?!?

Valley of Fire

Well, I got lazy this past Thanksgiving when my parents and younger brother Taylor came to visit for the week and let my mom do all the photo-snapping (she does have the better camera afterall), but I did happen to take some pics of our Saturday morning adventure at Valley of Fire. So I'll start there until I can swipe some Thanksgiving pictures off my mom's blog!

Valley of Fire is about 40 miles north of Las Vegas--towards the Air Force base-- and is literally in the middle of nowhere. It's kind of a "best kept secret" because a lot of locals haven't even heard of it, but it's such an AMAZING place and a great example of how cool the Mojave desert is.

The first section of the park is aptly named the Beehives, because of all these crazy sandstone rock formations that look just like these enormous beehives. The kids (that includes Taylor and Jonathan) had a BLAST climbing up and down the rocks, and nearly giving me a heart attack when Taylor tried to recreate Michael Jackson's infamous baby moment while dangling little Zachy over the edge of a rock (and yes, that is Zachy on top of Taylor's shoulders on top of the top of the rock as they're coming down). Dangerous pre-missionary uncles!!

Zachy is following in the foot steps of NO FEAR.

Jonathan enjoying some sun bathing!


Peekaboo! Lots of nooks and crannies to crawl through.



King of the Mountain! This kid is a human mountain goat...

Mufasa and Simba on Pride Rock!

Lucy, Jon, Taylor and Zach made it to the tippy top of the hive!!

The weather had cooled off a bit earlier in the week, but by the time we were ready to head into the canyons for a hike it was WARM! We did Mouse's Tank Canyon hike which was named after an 1890's outlaw nicknamed "Mouse" who used a natural water-holding tank for his hide-out for several months before he was caught.

It's also pretty amazing because all along the trail (and throughout the park) there are 3,000 year old Indian petroglyphs like this. There are also ancient trees and petrified logs throughout the park, so it's pretty cool to think about the desert's ancient history in dinosaur times.

And finally, my fav: Elephant Rock. This isn't my picture because mine wasn't at a great angle, but it looks just like an elephant carved out of rock! All in all it was a really nice morning, and despite our rush to get back in time for the BYU-Utah game (so BYU could lose), I think everyone enjoyed our little excursion.