Two Big Ones

We celebrated our little girl's 2nd birthday. She got to open her presents as soon as she woke up, hence the pj's. The little doll bed was made for me by my dad when I was little and I've been hiding it in the basement for the last couple of years until she was big enough to enjoy it. I think she's going to love it as much as I do. She also received some new accessories for her doll, which you can see she takes good care of.

In the afternoon we had a little party with a couple of Lydia's friends. They enjoyed some ice cube painting and other toddler friendly games.

Mostly the scene looked like this, it is still a blur.

She knew that the presents were hers and wasn't really in a sharing mood.

the cake

The birthday girl

We sure love this little girl

Camping trip

One of the highlights of this summer was a camping trip. We had a blast but learned a few lessons in the process.

Lesson 1. You must have long legs to reach the ground from these benches.2. The view is fantastic from one of the most topographically diverse areas we have seen in Illinois. The peak of Starved Rock soars up to an elevation of 548 feet (the base is around 450 feet).
3. Coolers make great chairs for little people.

4. Don't let the toddlers be in charge of building shelter.

5. The first s'more is worthy of a picture.

6. Not everyone likes self portraits.

7. ALWAYS put EVERYTHING in a locked car at night. The raccoons made off with everything but the milk and our container of mayo.

8. Little kids don't like to sleep in, even on camping trips.

9. Canine wildlife can open a plastic container (it's a noisy and long process but he did it and licked up every last bit of mayo).

10. Lydia's favorite part of camping is breakfast!

11. Bring enough camping chairs for everyone. 12. Cute little girls usually get their way with everything.

13. The outdoors is a great place for mischief.

14. Camping is quality bonding time.

15. These two LOVE tents.

16. Dad is great at giving rides. 17. We love camping!

18. Sometimes you have to wait your turn.

19. Sometimes it is better to share.

Five Years

Scott and I had our 5th anniversary this weekend. We were married in the Manti Temple and we celebrated by going to the Chicago Temple, 1,482 miles away from where we began five years ago. While I was looking for something to do for Scott for our anniversary, I found a great saying,

"True love stories don't have endings".

I'm so grateful for temples and being able to be married for eternity! The last five years have been filled with adventures that I never would have imagined and I look forward to having many more with my best friend.

My First Celebrity Sighting!

So there I was just minding my own business walking to work when who should I happen upon? None other than Optimus Prime.

And believe me, he is just as awesome in real life as he is on the big screen.

I also saw Bumblebee driving around but he was a little camera shy. If you look closely in the pictures you can barely see him hiding behind Optimus.