Happy 7th Birthday Jarelyn!

It doesn't seem possible that we just celebrated my baby's 7th Birthday! Jarelyn is such a sweet young lady and I'm so proud of the good choices and example she is to me and everyone!

True to tradition we had her birthday dinner at El Charro with Noni, Pa, and Nana! It was Yummy as always! Jarelyn even branched out from her norm and tried something new!


I love birthdays! I love celebrating the people I love! Every year my friends and family tease me about how much I "enjoy" them! I cant help it, when Jarelyn picks a theme my imagination runs wild!! This years theme: Tangled!! We love the new Disney Princess and have watched it more times then I could recall and still laugh just as hard!
The first thing we had to start with were the invitations!

Next the party favors!

loading the goodies in bags that looked like lanterns!

Super fun Pascal party blowers that we made!

Finally had to add some goodies for our "thugs and ruffian" guest!

Then we moved on to GAMES!



I know I would've saved a lot of time just buying a pinata... but Jarelyn learned a new art, and it was one of the things Rapunzel did to pass her time in the tower!


"Pin the tongue on Pascal!"

We love the part that Pascal wakes up Flynn after being knocked out with a frying pan, by sticking his tongue in his ear.. thus the game and the party blowers!
Now on to Decorations!!





What would a party be without FOOD?!!
We wanted to go with the theme from when they were in the town square and had baguettes and cheese. For the main course we served angle "hair" pasta with "braided" bread-sticks!


the frying pans were fun servers too!
The CAKE!! I knew the cake Had to have a tower, but with everything else I wasnt sure how much time I would have the day of the party to put it together and was afraid that anything I used to "build" the tower would crumble over-night. After a successful practice run on her birthday I found that ice cream cones would hold up nicely and made for a cute simple tower with a little frosting and sprinkles!


I added some cute jello boats from the scene where Flynn and Rapunzel go to watch the lanterns! Jarelyn Loved them!!

The day of the party we braided Jarelyn's hair and put flowers in it.


I love having a picture of everyone that comes to our parties so we can look back through our scrapbooks and see all our friends! Some of our friends have been EVERY year!



We ended the party by writing our "dreams" on little cards and attaching them to Lanterns {gold balloons} to release into the sky!




I hope ALL their dreams come true!
This was by far one of my FAVORITE birthday parties yet! I hope Jarelyn remembers it for years to come and all the people that love her and helped to celebrate her special day!
See y'all again next year!!

Last Day as a 1st Grader

Jarelyn was SO excited to have her cousins at HER school this year!

Congrats Jarelyn, Jayci and Addison! It's hard to believe this year is already over! We had a lot of fun learning new things!

Jarelyn waited ALL year to hear her name when they announced the winner of the "Paws to Read" award for students that kept their reading log every night all month, but never did.
The last week she even read 106 minutes {at home} in 3 days! She was also trying to get to soak the director with a fire hose! FINALLY the last drawing of the year and guess who WON?!!

She was SO surprised! It was priceless! I am so thankful that she loves reading so much. Im so proud of her!

After her awards ceremony we came home and took pictures of all her accomplishments!

Did I mention Im proud of her!! Way to go Jarelyn I couldnt ask for a more well-rounded awesome daughter! Keep up the hard work and shoot for the stars! I love you!!

The Final Count Down

The last week of school was ALL about FUN! On Monday we went to the Phoenix Zoo for a field trip. We decided to go down Sunday instead and get a hotel room and make a mini vacay for all of us!
We had so much fun swimming in the pool together at the hotel. When we got hungry we were just going to order a pizza, but "we can do that at home" {lol} so we got dressed and went out to eat at On the Border. We've eaten there before but not for years. It was SO YUMMY!! I love these little moments when I get to relax and let someone else be responsible for cooking and cleaning and can just visit and laugh with you guys!
The Zoo was tons of fun! The weather was perfect! And I got some awesome scrap booking pictures!

I was looking through our pictures and noticed that every year I have less and less pictures of Jared and I together so resolved to FIX that!

Luckily the zoo has "picture takers" that follow you around {kinda like Disneyland} and although I dont usually buy those WAY over priced pictures, the one of us made me smile and so I bought it. I put it on the fridge and smiled every time I passed it for 3 weeks! I say that's $ well spent!!
Since we've been to the zoo a time or two ;) we left early and did some shopping! Something I have greatly missed since leaving Texas!! We really enjoy Chandler for our little escapes from Eden. They just opened a new Disney Store in the Fashion Square...

AND IT ROCKS!! We love all the magic they put into this store and look forward to our next excuse to visit!

The Best Day of My Life!

Nothing can compare to the sound of your child calling you Mommy! Every Mother's Day I am so thankful that the Lord allowed me the honor of the title "Momma" by my sweet Jarelyn! She is always so thoughtful of me on {My special Day} Not only does she take good care of me..


but she does it with a beautiful smile!!

I even got my very own cake {to share of course! lol}

The joy of being a Mom has made EVERY day... The Best Day of My Life!

Teacher Appreciation Week

DPA has a wonderful group of teachers and we are so thankful for all their hard work!

Jarelyn and I spent the whole weekend coming up with some fun gifts to say Thank-you!

Especially Mrs Lines! She has made first grade a blast!

Love Notes

Jared thankyou for staying my sweetheart! I love that you take the time to do little things to let me know you are thinking of me even if its a quick Love Note on your lunch break!

Im so blessed to be married to my best friend! I do and I will!!
just for the record writing with flat m&ms is probably easier! ;)

April 2011

Easter!! Every year I am torn this time of year because of my memories of camping with all my cousins and aunts and uncles, I always feel like I fall short in giving Jarelyn comparable memories. This year I tried to let go of that feeling and enjoy the wonderful memories and traditions Our FaMiLy has started!!
Coloring eggs is probably one of our Favorite things! Every year its new ideas on how to color them. We dont just do different colors... they have to be original works of art!

Then there's that crazy bunny! He's ALWAYS leavign "tracks" on our floor. This year he left a trail of jelly beans. After watching HOP, Jarelyn was having NOTHING to do with ANY jelly beans! I didnt eat the ones on the floor(just in case)!

After surveying her loot, Jarelyn always decides his "messes are worth it!"

One of My favorite traditions is Easter Bonnets! Why dont we wear these beautiful hats more often?


Arizona is a great place to live especially in the spring! We enjoy as much outdoor time as we can.

Buggy rides

playing at the river

going to the zoo are just a few of the things we did this year.

Jarelyn also had her first Gymnastics Show!

She did AWESOME!! Thanks to Brooke for the beautiful flowers!