Mayla's friend birthday party

Feb 28, 14
This year Mayla was so excited for her birthday party. This was really her first big birthday party. The other parties were just included with her Joy school class. She decided on a Baking party theme.

 They started the party off making their own chef hats. I made these from poster board and tissue paper, then they added stickers and a flower made from cup cake liners.

 My mom made them each their own apron. I made them their own cake stand as well. They all did a great job decorating them.

 I was so excited to make Mayla a bake stand. She has been talking about a lemonade stand for such a long time that I figure this can be used for both purposes. I really didn't have a pattern I just made it up as I went along. It was a lot of fun to build it and have it actually turn out! She was very excited to have a lemonade stand shorty!

Things that make us smile

The kids were practicing their balance skills.

 Mayla decided to put on some of my accessories and shoes. She looked pretty cute.

 Mayla wanted to play the games at the blue and gold banquet for scouts. She makes a darling cowgirl

 Thanks to Brother Rice for being so kind to take the kiddos on a ride. He entertained them for about an hour and was so sweet about it. It sure is fun to live in such an amazing neighborhood.

Jax first try at skiing

Feb 17, 14
This trip skiing we decided to brave it and take Jax. This was a very interesting event. He was pretty much a limp noodle and would not stand up for very long. He liked it once we started going faster and then he was upset when we had to ride up the magic carpet.

He would squat down and ride up like this every time.

What he truly wanted to do was play in the snow and throw it.

Mayla on the other hand is gaining more confidence and skiing pretty much on her own. We ran into her friend Nora and she rode down the hill a few times with her.

Feb 25

The next time we went up skiing was for our ward ski night. My mom came with and we decided to take Jax and see how he did this time. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. Mayla was surrounded by her friends, which in turn made her more willing to try new things. After the first few runs she was off Skiing with Bella and Grandma. I went inside with Jax and when I saw Mayla she was flying down the hill having the time of her life. I couldn't believe that she was so confident. It took all we could to get her to stop to eat dinner. 

Jax was hard at first when we were on the magic carpet. So we decided to try taking him up the lift and he couldn't have been happier. He loved every minute of it because we were going fast. Of course I should have thought of that sooner!! He wore a backpack with a handle on it and I just had his skiis between mine and we just cruised! It was a lot of fun.

Monster Truck show

Feb 15
We have been counting down the days to go and see the Monster Trucks. Jax is to put it mildly "obsessed" with monster trucks. His favorite one is Grave digger. He watches them on you tube and loves to watch them crash. Grandma and Papa joined us. We purchased the pit passes so we could go right down and see all the trucks and meet the drivers. I don't think Jax knew really what to do. He became a wild man and was running all over the place. We managed to get some autographs in between the craziness.

 Scooby Doo was us girls favorite!

We had a while to sit and wait for the show to start. I was a little worried that Jax wouldn't want to wear the ear plugs, but he soon realized it was very loud and he never complained about wearing them.

 The first round started off with a rollover. It was exciting and Jax was thrilled about seeing a tractor as well.

 Mayla was such a great big sister. She hung in there very well and didn't complain too much!

We were proud of Grave Digger for winning the free style round.

Great day for skiing

Jan 31, 14
Mayla's second day skiing was a lot of fun. She did great at her first lesson but I felt she needed a little more confidence so she had one more private lesson. She did amazing. This time she learned about turns and to become more stable. She didn't even want to stop to have lunch! I was very proud of her and look forward to many more ski days.

 We ran into Josie and decided to try going up the lift and see how Mayla would do. Grandma had to help her down but she was brave and I am glad she gave it a try.

a Little bit of this and that

We have enjoyed our Aggie basketball games. The kids are so excited to see Big Blue at every game. Jax watches for him the entire time anticipating him coming over. They both insist on giving him a hug. This game he sat right down by Mayla for about 5 minutes and then he picked her up and took her down on the court and danced with her. I quickly grabbed my phone and managed a few pictures although they are blurry. She sure thought it was pretty neat!

 This little dude decided to stack the blocks as high as he could, when he couldn't reach anymore he figured out to just stand on the table. He sure was proud of his accomplishment.

It was our Annual scout sledding day. Jax was being very sillly and would not give me a simple smile, crazy little man.

This really makes me laugh. His body language says it all!! He really didn't want his gloves and hat on and so this is the reaction I got.

Learning how to Ski

Jan 17, 14
This year we decided it was time for Mayla to try snow skiing. I knew she would need pointers from someone else besides mom! We took her up and arranged for her to take a private lesson. I was so proud of her. She never gave up, even through a few tears! Her instructor said she wasn't too sure at first and was nervous but by the end of the lesson she had a smile on her face and was skiing all by herself. What a good little trooper.