Some of our best friends Andy, Heidi, and their 3 cute kiddos Tyce, Saige and Reese came to stay the weekend with us! They came on Friday which was Tays birthday so they gotta be a part of her little party. They were at Rylees first bday too so we thought that was pretty cool. It was so fun having them here! We spent lots of time outside letting the kids run wild while we relaxed together.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was cutting Heidis hair! :) shes had long hair her whole life and decided she wanted a fun change! I only coaxed her into it a little ;) but she ended up looking awesome and can totally rock the short hair!

I love these pictures of them. they're such a cute family!

The part I hate most about living far away from close friends is missing out on watching their kids grow up. Reese has grown so much sense December when we saw them last!

Its funny how a few months of time passing seemed to make these 2 little girls best friends. They're both a couple of hard headed kiddos so last time we visited Rangely they faught most of the time. This visit was totally different. Not to say they didn't get into it a couple times, but most of the time they were so cute together runnin around the house playing ponys or house. Rylee missed her like 5 min after they left :)

I don't know why but I was lame on taking pictures over the weekend. We really had such a nice relaxing time with them and were so glad they took the time go come stay!

So after 2 fun weeks of friends and only a few on and off work out days, I've buckled back down on my p90x workouts and eating good. It was nice to have a little motivator by my side today :) don't mind my big butt...it's slowly getting smaller :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYA BOOG!

Taya "Boog" Nikole is ONE!?

I don't care how many times ya hear it from moms, its true, time flies like a uncontrolable whirlwind once you have kids! One of my closest friends Andi just had her first baby, Laikynn a few days before Tayas birthday. As I was visiting her in the same hospital where I had Taya I couldn't believe it had already been a year sense we were there experiencing the same crazy excitement! Taya has been such a fun and sweet addition to our family. After you have your first kid you think how am I ever going to be able to love anyone else this much...then you have your second and some how the amount of love you can give, and recieve seems to double. I'm so thankful for the blessing my girls and Derek are in my life. I know it is a true blessing to be able to bring childeren into this world and not a day goes by that I don't feel thankful for that blessing in our

lives.

Sense one of Tayas first words was ball, and a ball is the first toy she will pick to play with, I thought hey I'll atempt to make a ball cake. This was my first try making fondant too so its a little bumpy but hey, Taya didn't care one bit :)...

I was epecting her to dive right in, instead she just ate the cake all dainty with her 2 first fingers. She wasn't about to let anyone else try her cake either, she totally blocked Ry from getting any (bottom right :)

And heres the aftermath! ya cant tell but she had cake all through her hair...wait a second she doesn't have any hair, I mean cake on her scalp :) And she was wired til almost midnight from all that sugar!

Sense she has been sick for the last week we weren't going to have much of a party for her. Our good friends Heidi and Andy from Rangely came to visit with their little kids and then last minute we called dereks little brother Devin and sister Megan, and our friends Gavin and Brit to come with their kids. It was so nice of everyone to come and make it a fun night for Taya. She got cute presents and had lots of fun!

Taya and Daxon...poor kid weighs about 5 lbs more then her but she still bullies him! I have a feeling before long she'll be the one running away!

This is how our poor girl has felt pretty much all week. We made sure she had 3 naps on her birthday just so she could feel happy for her party. But most of the time, shes been full of snot bubbles and tears :( Can't wait til she's feeling better and is back to her happy self!

If your last names Fuqua...then you sure know how to PLAY!!!

Lucky for us, Spring break fell on the same week for both Derek and Keith n Stacy. They decided to make the trek down here to Provo with they're little boys clear from Cordelane ID where they've lived for way too long :) Keith and Stacy have been some of our closest friends for the last 4 years. They've known every side of Me, Derek and our relationship good and bad, so the fact that they still like us says a lot :) Anyway as my title says...they know how to play! We had SO much fun! Get ready for a picture overload!

First the ZOO, this was the first time going for both of our girls. They loved it!

Ryder and Tayas first love squabble (yes I'm planning on both of their boys marrying both of our girls so we can all live happily ever after...I can always hope!)

Beautiful Ryder...don't you just wanna steal his eyelashes! He was sick most of the trip but anytime he was feeling a little better, we'd get to see his super cute personality come through.

4 kids...check, 2 huge strollers...check, 2 big guys to push them...check, binkies, blankies, sippies, diet cokes, bottles, fruit snacks and bug juices...check! Once upon a time Jory was the only kid in the mix of us 4 adults...man have times changed! all week we talked about how we're all grown up now :)

Tayas first trip to the zoo

It was Rylees too, she was a little more excited about the animals...well except for the baboon in that right picture, she was grossed out by its butt, she kills me!

We love Jory! back in the day we'd tend him as a baby, its crazy to see how big he is now! He's such a funny imaginative little boy! In the right picture he's dodging a bird that flew out of the tree, it cracks me up!

How cute are they!

All the kids off roadin in Rylees awesome jeep! Its so beat up I don't know how it still runs but as you can see they all had a blast with it! It was so nice to have good weather to play in!

Pretty sure they're the cutest things ever!

Dinosaur Museam!

Isn't she so cute walking around!

This is the only picture I got of all of us...poor Ryder got cropped out :(

Last but not least we hit Pirate Island!

Besides all the stuff in the pictures, we ate lots of yummy food, watched movies (don't recommend boondock saints 2:) played games, stayed up late, laughed a ton, us girls went tanning and got fried, the boys went bowling, we ate a green breakfast for St Patties Day, crammed into a busy kneaders for french toast breakfast, we listened to Stacy's talented sister Em sing....we just had a BLAST. We're so lucky to have friends like them!

Good Days, Pouty Days, Happy Days, or Shouty Days, I'll always love you Rylee Kate

After a particularly frusterating couple weeks with Rylee, I called my mom in tears knowing she'd have the answers to my questions on raising my 3 year old. I thought she was supposed to get easier as she grew out of her terrible 2s but shes been harder and full of more tantrums then ever before. I had been feeling like I was falling short in so many ways as a mother. No matter how patient I was with her, she'd find another nerve to push. Looking at her, you think jeez how could that be?! She looks so sweet! Well she is...sometimes, and then other times she's an exact clone of me, hard headed, stubborn, emotional, and sensitive all at the same time! Which is a tricky package to figure out! Anyway after a good cry session to my mom and a little prayer asking for some help (not the first time :) I decided what we both needed was some good one on one time. So today Derek stayed home with Taya and me and Rylee went on a little date. We grabbed some stale bagels from the fridge and found our way to this cool little pond my friend told us about. The biggest ducks came running up to us and we couldnt throw the bread fast enough! It was so fun to laugh and run around with Rylee. Watching her be her fun happy self was just what I needed. Once the bread was gone we hopped in the car and drove to the gas station to pick out some treats. Its been a week sense I've had any candy so my little bag of sweedish fish tasted like heaven and Rylee of course picked out her favorite...twizzler nibs. We drove home and talked about the ducks, and Rylees favorite colors, and how she thought the ducks beaks looked "kinda wierd" as she put it, and we just enjoyed each other. Some day I hope she reads this and knows how much I love her. I hope she'll always know I'm doing my best to be a good mom and to help her grow into a strong confident woman someday. I hope she knows when I look at her, I beam, and I'm feeled with so much gratitude to the Lord that he's trusted me with her. I hope she knows how cute I think her crinkle nose smile is, and how I cant get enough of the funny smart little comments she makes on a daily basis. I hope she knows that I couldn't ever imagine my life without her. Good days, Pouty days, Happy days, or Shouty days, I'll always love you Rylee Kate!