Tim's Fishing Buddy

Tim was excited to go up to his parents last month for General Conference. He had been wanting to go fishing up there for awhile. He even planned on taking Abbey with him (probably so I wouldn't put up a fight). Sure enough, Abbey was all too excited to wake up bright and early, get bundled up and go fishing with Dad. They didn't have too much success the first day. It was really windy. They were home before lunch. But the second day... they had a blast and weren't home until later that afternoon. I got a call from a proud Tim, telling me how Abbey had caught some fish and didn't want to go home! They had a lot of fun going around in the little boat. Abbey would sing out the "Ariel" song as they went (you know the "Ahh- ahhh -ahh" one). Tim said an older lady on a passing boat laughed at her cuteness. Abbey also had fun playing with Tim's old plastic worms. What girl wouldn't, they have bright colors and sparkles in them! She named all of them too. I think its safe to say that Tim has found a new fishing buddy. Now if only Mike was a little older!

I love seeing Tim's face when he gets home. He looks tired, but so content and happy.

Abbey was a mess, just the way it should be after a long day of fishing in the mountains!

She was so proud to tell us all how she caught her fish.

She may act like a mountain girl, going fishing with dad, but she still is girly at heart. She wouldn't touch the fish for the life of her. That's why she looks so funny in these pictures. She didn't want to be anywhere near the fish! Notice the unsure look directed at the fish and then the frown in the next one! Silly girl.

We left for home shortly after Tim and Abbey got home so we had to leave the fish. She was very concerned where her fish were and that we had left them.

To Be a Kid Again

I love how a new toy will keep a child's attention for days. Abbey loved all her Birthday gifts and couldn't wait to play with them. They all got a turn.
She was occupied for days with her new toys... I loved it!

On another note, here is Mike being silly. He is getting so big and, as you can tell in this picture, letting his voice be heard!

Four Years Old!

We celebrated Abigail's fourth Birthday princess style once again. I love the princess stage! We added a little to our decorations from last year but kept it low key. No staying up all night for a huge castle cake for me!! We didn't even send out invitations this year. It was easy going, mostly stress free and a lot of fun. (Which was needed seeing that it was Halloween, with a lot more to come that evening!) Look at my little Birthday girl! I can't believe she is four, that sounds so old now! She picked out her Birthday outfit all by herself. A skirt with pink shirt, too cute!

She was so excited for her Birthday this year. She would go on and on about the things she wanted. I started to hate the toy commercials ("I want that for my Birthday!"). I took her to toys-r-us and let her look at all the toys to get an idea of what she wanted. That was... fun... I noticed that she wanted almost everything that had to do with Disney princesses. So that is what we got her.

It was funny watching Mike at the toy stores. He was a good sport looking at all the princesses and pink. After Abbey's birthday, we went to exchange a princess and I didn't put Mike in a cart. He took advantage of that by running straight to the boys side. All cars, robots and blue! He needs a brother in the worst way! But when it came down to it... he didn't care that the balloons were pink, as long as he had one to run around with. What a little stud!

Look at those presents... how fun to be a four year old again with princess presents!

I love all these little kids. They are Abbey's cousins. All you need to make a party are cousins to play with! Look how happy they are to sit around Abbey and watch/help her open gifts.

This was pretty funny... Mike loves to act like a baby. He will find car seats, swings, bumbo's and anything else to do with a baby. He sat in Levi's chair and was being a silly baby making fake crying noises.

Aunt Christine bought Abbey a pink frilly dress. She was so excited about it and had to try it on right away. She was loving the attention... twirling around and laughing.


One of the many excited faces after opening a gift.

Apparently everyone was excited about this gift. Look at all those boys, I'm glad Parker was there to represent!

Look at that concentration, tongue out and all!

Here is her princess cake. I had fun making this one. Tim helped by rolling out the fondant to cover the cake. He got pretty good at it from last year! All Abbey wanted were the princesses on top to play with. She could hardly wait to blow out the candles so she could play with them.

All the kids in awe of the lite candles.


What a good day for Abbey. Thanks everyone for coming over and celebrating with us!!

Halloween

This year, Halloween was a lot of fun. It always is fun... but it was especially fun this year with Tim having the whole day off!! (only the second since we have been married over five years). We switched gears after Abbey's Birthday party, and all got dressed up for our ward trunk-or-treat. We pulled it all off last minute with borrowed clothes from family, last years face paint and cheap wigs from Wal-Mart. Abbey's was the easiest of all, we had bought her costume the year before but didn't use it. So here we are...

Can you tell who we all are? Tim wasn't that excited to be Edward from Twilight, but he was a good sport for me and pulled it off well.

A lady from my ward joked that I should have been holding book four, where Bella is pregnant.

My Edwards...

Mike was so funny at the ward party. All he wanted to do was sit on the sidewalk and walk in the wet, muddy grass. I guess he wasn't that thrilled to be Edward either!

Tim took the kids trick-or-treating. I stayed at our car and gave out candy. Mike wanted to eat each individual candy piece that would go into his bag. Tim said it was a little frustrating taking him around all cranky because he couldn't eat his candy!

Abbey was a candy veteran. She knew what she was doing and was so happy all night long! What a fun end to a great day!

Being Girly (Almost)

Abbey had a Halloween party at school. It was a big day for her. She wore her costume, went trick-or-treating, and brought birthday cupcakes to school. She was so excited for that party day! I thought we should make her look extra cute in her costume (a pink unicorn horse) by curling her hair in those traditional pink sponge curlers.
This would be the first time she would have her hair curled. She loved the idea and sat still for me while I put the curlers in. Off she went to bed with the curlers in her hair.
A few hours after falling asleep, she cried and cried. She didn't want the curlers in her hair. She didn't care if her hair wasn't going to be curly for her party. She had enough of being "girly!"

Fall

I love fall. I think like most people, by the time October rolls around I am so ready for fall. If you want a early fall fix go up to Pinetop in October (since we really don't feel fall until November). We were up there for a quick trip during Conference. Here are some fall pictures that get me in the mood for apple cider or hot chocolate!

This is so Abbey and Mike's personalities... Abbey being goofy and Mike wanting to eat


I love these faces!!

More Big News

Sassy Abbey started Preschool! I can't believe it!! It has been a lot of fun. She was accepted into Amanecer Preschool in the Gilbert School district. What that means is she was accepted into the special education program for her speech. It is paid for by the state which is GREAT!! And she gets to go to Boulder Creek Elementary five days a week for three hours in the morning. (She will go to Kindergarten there so its nice to get acquainted with the school early) It is really reassuring that she will be receiving a little help with her speech anxiety, even seeing a speech therapist once a week! I just hope she doesn't progress too fast so she can continue going there for the full year! If she meets all her goals she will no longer qualify... which means we will have to pay for preschool!!

She is in love with school. She rides the bus to and from school everyday and can't get enough. Abbey has never not wanted to go to school. I love seeing her come off the bus and bring home her papers. She has already progressed with expressing herself through talking and is learning so much. Abbey has become quite the mature girl and cracks me up with the things and phrases she uses. ( some of my favorite... when everything was "amazing!", how things that happened to her yesterday or a year ago all happened "last week", and most recently how things make her "nervous!" like when mom starts tickling her!) I hear all about her classmates, Teacher Julie, and Miss Kim! Its so fun!!

Here are some pictures...

We went to meet Abbey's teacher a few days before school started. Abbey was very serious (as expected with her) and wouldn't crack a smile. But she loved the class room and soon found some cool things to play with.



We were asked to decorate a puzzle piece for her class wall. She had so much fun with this and was very involved. Everything had to be approved by her and she told me where to put things (with a few suggestions from me). She was especially proud of gluing on her jewels!



This was her official first day of school. She was nervous but ready to go. I was nervous about her riding the bus... so I followed it to her school to make sure she was all right. As you can see in the dark picture of her in the bus window, she was just fine!


This was the first thing she did when she got home... ride her bike

First of many papers to be brought home! She loves revealing what is in her bag from school.


Last but not least... first school picture. She brought these babies home today. I can't stop laughing at them. They are so her in front of other people!! Man I love this little girl!