Russel's Birthday.....

I think we have started a pretty good tradition, Russel and I.  He decided a few years back he wanted to spend his birthday in Arizona.  Well, we have continued with that and I LOVE it!! We get to do all our favorite things in Arizona and spend time with friends and family.  We always have a great time.  And we have to give photo credit to Meili for these two pics. :)

Russel of course found some time to golf and my mom and I did what we do best...SHOP!  Such a fun trip.

This year was especially fun because the Gilbert Temple Open House was going on.  Can I just say WOW?  and then WOW again?   I love this temple and was in awe at the beauty of it.  I know all temples are beautiful but this temple is just amazing.  There is a beautiful grand amazing staircase with gold wrought iron going up and around both sides (and I'm such a sucker for wrought iron), the wood work is just amazing, and wow the stained glass windows, the hand carved carpet.....I mean seriously it is beautiful!!!  I kinda feel guilty to play favorites but I think this is it for me.  And can't I feel a little ownership to it also?  We lived in Gilbert for 5 years so I think that constitutes some feeling of claim on it?

We had little Meili with us and it was so fun to take her through the temple.  She thought it was so pretty and I hope she will remember that special feeling she felt there.

Happy Birthday Love!  You are the sweetest!  Thanks for always having such a fun birthday that is just as much fun for me!  

Our New Baby Girl.....

We are so excited to announce that we will be traveling to China in the next couple of months to bring home our new little angel that is patiently waiting for us.  This has been an extremely long process for us and we have kept it under wraps due to the fact that we really didn't know how things would turn out and if we would be able to bring her home.  We have set up a blog to share her story and our journey to bring her home.  We are thrilled and feel so extremely blessed.  Here is her sweet little face.  To see more pics and learn about our little sweetie visit her blog at http://journeytolinli.blogspot.com

Love you Baby Girl!!!

Abi's 15th Birthday....

Wow time is flying!  Now I've got this beautiful 15 year old on my hands.  SO close to 16!  That is super crazy.   What happened to my little tiny 3 year old blondie??  At least she's still just as sweet!  She requested apple cake with caramel sauce for the family birthday party....at least she has good taste!

Her friends all really made her feel so special.  She has a lot of very thoughtful friends and they all made her feel like she was Queen for the Day.

And these two cute girls that she has been friends with since she was just little came and decorated her room while she was gone and then surprised her when she came back.   Such cute girls.

Russel and I decided it would be fun to bring in a bunch of pizzas to her lunch hour at school and just let all of her friends eat some yummy pizza from Big J's which is close to the school.  It was a good thought in theory and actually super fun.....what we didn't realize is that the school buys  Big J's pizza and sells it at lunch.  Oops not such a novelty......next year maybe we will have to bring donuts instead. Anyway, everyone was so sweet to her at lunch and it was fun to be there with her.

The Saturday after her birthday she had a volleyball tournament so we grabbed Emme and turned it into a girls weekend.  We did lots of shopping and eating and just did fun girl things.  I had a blast and I think the girls did too.  

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!  Thanks for being such a great daughter and the best big sister anyone could ask for.  You are such a sweetheart and we are so proud of you.  Continue to be a good example and keep making good choices. Love you sweetie!