January 9-15, 2012

This week was a little rough at first because my little brother Jesse left on his mission.  He is such a great example to all of us and I am so proud of the choice that he made to go on a mission and serve the people of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I love him and will miss him so much but I know he will do a great job and his Little nieces and nephews will look up to him so much.  So this week I tried to do as much as I could with him before he left.  He had so many things to do that it was hard to fit time in but when we did Dakota loved spending time with him.

I love how much Dakota loves Jesse he would always grab for him every time he saw him and would just like to play around with him.  Look how happy Dakota is with his uncle.

My happy little baby:)

For family night this week we all went over to my parents house and played games this time we played Dance Central and everyone danced against each other this is Daniel and Jesse going up against each other.  This was seriously the funnest time we have all had together we all suck at dancing so it was fun to watch everyone make a fool of themselves. 

This is all the nieces and nephews together saying goodbye to Jesse.  It was so cute to see them all say bye to him I don't think they really understand what is happening but to watch them cry and be so sad broke my heart because it showed me how much family really means.

Again my happy little boy with his uncle!!

My family saying bye:(

Cute boys!!!

As many of you know almost two weeks ago there was a big shooting that killed 1 police officer and wounded 6 more.  To show them how much everyone cared Ogden City put together a huge funeral together at the Dee Event Center that thousands attended.  They then had a huge procession that was about 8 miles long.  They had over 500 law enforcement vehicles that were there all in a row.  My sister Stephanie her son Wyatt, My sister Callee, Daniel Dakota and I all went to show our respect.  We stood outside Smiths for close to 3 hours watching all the police pass by on their way to Ogden cemetery. It truly was amazing to see and I'm glad I had the opportunity to be there. 

Wyatt waiting for the procession to begin

Dakota hanging out all bundled up with his flag.

Our family together ready to show our respect to those that protect us on a daily basis.

All the police motorcycle riders.  I think there was at least 60-75 of them

Officer Francom's casket on the Fire engine.  Many people told me that even most firefighters don't get this privilege.  So I thought it was neat how the community came together for this.

Dakota finally had to take a nap.  The procession was about 2+ hours long.  It was awesome!

I finally got a picture with Malena and her sweet baby Cache.  Dakota loves this little man and was so excited to see him.  He kept trying to grab him the whole night.  I think they are going to be such great friends just like their mommas!  Look how good Malena looks just 1 week after giving birth:) 

January 1-7, 2011

This week was the start of the new year and we are so excited for what it has in store for our family!  This week we started off by hanging out with friends and family.  This picture is of how happy Kota Bear is when he wakes up every morning.  He seriously wakes up this happy every day and I love it.  I am so lucky to have such a happy baby and he makes our home such a better place.

 This week the Bachelor started again and we have a tradition to watch it and Daniels moms house with a bunch of our friends as you can tell I was a little bored on Monday so I decided to decorate.  I haven't ever done this before so I thought that this would be fun so I printed all the girls pictures out and put them on cupcakes on my new cupcake stand I got for Christmas.

Cupcake stand with the Bachelor Ben and his girls :)

The Bachelor Banner

The setup before everyone came

Of course you can't have the Bachelor party without the roses!

These were my favorite and we had some sparkling apple juice instead of wine haha I just wish I got some wine glasses to go with it :)

More of the girls and decorations

I printed up cheat sheets for everyone to have their own so we knew who was who.  We were all able to remember the girls because we could take notes (except no one really used them they were just for fun as well since I was on a roll) I wish I got a picture of everyone there but I forgot but it was so much fun I loved it!

This week one of my best friends Malena had her cute little baby boy Cache so we went up to the hospital (I went a couple times because I was so excited for her and couldn't wait for Daniel to get off work)  This is Daniel and Cache he has so much hair and looks just like his dad Lance.  It is so fun to have such a great friend experience this and have a kid that Dakota can hang out with.  I think that they are going to be such great friends.  Dakota met him this week once they went home and he couldn't take his eyes off of him it was so cute!  I think that Malena is already such a great mom and I love her so much and I can't wait to watch Cache grow up and have lots of fun. Congrats you two I am so happy for you guys.

Dakotas First Christmas!

Christmas or actually the whole month of December was busy for us we had so much fun hanging out with family and friends.  I was in charge of our ward dinner this year and we also had my dad come as Santa and everyone loved him.  I love my parents they are so great to help with everything I do and they support me all the time. I am lucky to have them for my parents.

Santa and Dakota.

 He had so much fun and wasn't scared at all.  Look at that smile!

Our family with Santa:)

On of our good friends Nicole and her husband had us over for their ugly sweater party so we all dressed up and had lots of fun playing games and eating! Thanks Nicole:)

Every holiday Grandma Carol takes pictures with Dakota and has so much fun sending them out to her family and friends this is from his Christmas session with grandma I love my little Santa's helper!

Hanging out watching dad ride his horse at the Golden Spike.  I was so cold that night so we got to snuggle and I loved every minute of it!

Daniel and his horse Trigger

Santa coming to meet all my nieces and nephews on Christmas Eve.  Notice the fun red and white golf cart he rode up on because of the lack of snow.  Such a cute Santa!

Dakota at grandma and grandpa Ivies enjoying the cute pajamas Santa brought him.

The nieces and nephews with Santa Christmas Eve

Every year since I can remember my family has had a tradition to go to hardware ranch to see the elk on Christmas eve.  This year was extra special because we started our little family with this same tradition and Dakota loved it!

Dakota watching the Elk

Our Christmas pajamas! Daniel picked out Dakotas pj's and I love them!

Christmas morning at our house, look how excited Dakota is!

Daddy and Dakota Christmas morning.  I love my boys!

Mom and Dakota opening his first barn yard set Santa brought him.

Aunt Randi and Dakota opening presents!  We were so happy to have Adam and Randi for Christmas we miss having them around all the time but we sure loved hanging out the time they spent here in Utah and Dakota loves them!

Grandma helping Dakota open his presents that Santa left at grandmas house.  Grandma Carol always spoils Dakota and she loves spending time with him.  I love seeing how much Dakota impacts every ones life for the better.  He brings so much love to our family.

Dakota with Aunt Randi and Uncle Adam the day they left.  We were sad to see them go but can't wait to go out to Kansas to visit them this spring/summer. We love you two!!

End of 2011

Dakota has had such a big year in 2011 he has grown so big and I love every minute of it!! He was 22 pounds at 6 months and is in the 95th percentile for everything.  We have found out many things since Dakota has been growing.  He loves people food and HATES baby food.  I have tried many times to get him to eat the baby food and he will not eat it at all he will spit it out every time so I wait a couple days and try it again and the same thing happens.  Dakota loves to sleep which makes it nice for mom and dad:)  He loves to play with everyone and makes everyone smile.  He seriously is the happiest boy in the world.  Everyone always says how happy he is and I have to agree. He always makes Daniel and I smile and laugh all day long.  He truly is the light of our life!  I was so blessed to become is mom.  He hates socks or anything on his feet I have tried to put shoes and socks on his feet and 5 seconds later they are pulled off.  He loves to try and play with his older cousins and they love him.  He loves to make noises and blow bubbles, he talks all the time.  He can roll everywhere and is on his way to crawling which I think will be so fun.  He loves to hold your hand but you can't hold his which is so funny.  He loves beans, bread, yogurt bites, water from a straw and of course any of the sweets his aunts and uncles try to feed him:) I love Dakota and Daniel so much and don't know where I would be without them!

Dakota loves hanging out with grandpa just watching the t.v.

I love this picture of Dakotas bath time in the sink (he loves bubbles!)

Dinner time with Grandma Carol and Dennis

They love him so much, and he loves them!!

Dakota and Daddy both getting ready for their naps!!

Kota bear at the doctors at 6 months isn't he so chubby and cute.

Look how happy they are together it makes me so happy!!

Dakota the baby bat at Halloween.  Cutest bat I've ever seen

Daddy and son birthday lunch for Daniel.

Dakota loves his daddy!

Ready to go out for  a walk.  Dakota wants to be just like his dad!

I love watching our family grow and can't wait for our future together.

Family Trip to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole

August 7-11, 2011

This year instead of our family going to the usual Uintahs camping trip we all decided to go to Yellowstone as our family.  It was so fun and I think we might make it a annual thing:)  We all left Sunday and just relaxed when we made it to the condos in West Yellowstone.  We then on Monday went into the Park and went to Old Faithful and all the little pots along the road.  We then drove the lower loop and enjoyed pulling over every few minutes because we saw different animals. One our first day through the park we saw 3 grizzly bears and, 50ish bison, birds, 25ish elk, and a couple deer so it wasn't bad we were really excited for the bear but they were really far away so it was hard to see.  Then Tuesday we went into the grizzly and wolf center and the little kids were able to feed the bears by hiding the food in the exhibit while the bears were behind a wall then the kids all hid the food under wood, in the water and around the rocks it was so fun to watch them hide it and then when the bears came out the kids were excited to see them eat the food they hid. Then we went to the IMAX theater and watched the movie on Yellowstone so this day was a lot more relaxed and we ended the day with swimming.... Then Wednesday my dad and Daniel had been talking around and found out where the bears and wolves are in the park and decided that we could see them early in the morning so those brave enough to lose sleep woke up at 4:30am to leave to the park by 5am so Daniel, Dakota and myself decided we were in and man was it worth it as we drove up to Lamar Valley we saw the sun rise over Yellowstone as steam rose from the rivers below... It was so pretty!! This time we probably saw 100 elk, at least 200 bison, 3 more bears and 3 wolves! It was crazy we had a black bear cross the street and basically rub up on the back of our car that is how close it was it was moving so fast I only got a picture of its butt next to our car.. Then when we made it to the valley we saw a grizzly bear on the river laying on top of a elk carcass guarding the meat from the 3 wolves surrounding the bear waiting for the right time to get the left over meat it was amazing to see all these animals we then saw around 30+ big horn sheep above the same valley... We stayed there in the valley all day... Then the next day we then on the last day(Thursday) we started off with my dad wanting to take all the grand kids swimming it was so cute to see him do this and hang out with all the kids I know that they will always remember these fun activities spent with grandpa then we headed down to Jackson Hole did a little shopping and hanging around town then we headed home. It was a blast and I was so excited to spend the week with Daniel and having this be our first family trip together... I can't wait for the next trip now!! Thanks everyone for such a great family vacation I loved every minute!!