Emily and Ashley's Birthday Party

This year for Emily's party she didn't know what she wanted to do.  Finally a few days before, she decided she wanted a Build-a-Bear party.  We obliged.  Ashley had never gotten a friend birthday party for her birthday during the summer (with my knee and everything, it was a rough summer), so we let her bring a few friends too.  It was great.  They did it all and everyone had a blast.  Great day!

 Tyler had fun too, until he decided to wander off down the mall.  We found him pretty quickly luckily!!

 Playing fun games while waiting for bears to be stuffed.

 The gang with all their loot!

Because we lost Tyler I didn't get any shots of presents and cake eating because we were in super speed mode.  Parents had already come, so she just ripped open presents, gave a huge thank you and sent them on their way.  So here's one present that Em unwrapped from us that as you can see she was just a little excited about. :-)

Our new Adventure

We bought some four wheelers!  Yes, this might not seem like us, but Kenny wanted some and I obliged.  During Fall Break we took them down with Kenny's brother and family to the Little Sahara sand dunes to try them out for the first time.  I had never been on a 4-wheeler before and wasn't sure what to expect.  It was SO much fun!  Emily never wanted to get off the 4-wheeler and had a blast driving it herself.  Ashley preferred the calmer rides and Tyler was just happy to be there and get to run around wherever he wanted.  It was a super fun weekend and we'll definitely be doing it again soon.

 I promise that Tyler always had his helmet when riding. :-)

 Tyler loved the trailer as much as the 4-wheeler

 Kenny getting some air

 Playing in the sand dunes is always fun too

Fishing

Kenny took the girls fishing on the free fishing day.  Emily and Ashley both enjoyed the fishing part.  They caught a couple fish, but as you can see from Emily's expression, she's not sure how she feels about the actual fish.  I think their favorite part was spending time with dad and eating the snacks that he brought. :-)

First Day of School

 I now have two children at my school.  Ashley is now in 1st Grade and has an amazing teacher, Miss Hull.

 Emily is in 3rd grade and her teacher's name is Mrs. Lundin.  This is her first year and Emily likes her a lot.

 The traditional front door pose

 Posing by our mascot, Grover the Grizzly

My girls are growing up fast!!

Grandma A

In July of this year, my 93 year old Grandma passed away.  She lived a wonderful life and growing up, I LOVED going to her house.  She was an awesome grandma!  Her funeral was very celebratory and we all basked in our love of her!  It was also great to see my cousins that I rarely get to see.  We all love you Grandma A!

 My Grandma on my wedding day

 Playing with cousins at the dinner after Grandma's viewing

The Great-Grandchildren singing I am a Child of God at the funeral

 

 

 The girls loved getting to take a rose from the casket bouquet.  Ashly wanted to place hers on Grandma and Grandpa's headstone.

 At the luncheon, Tyler said he wanted more water and we said okay then got distracted, so Tyler helped himself to the water...literally.  :-)  Love that kid!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July.  We found a super close parking spot that was very helpful with my knee and enjoyed the parade.  After we had a nice BBQ at my sister's and set off some great fireworks.  Fun day for all.

 Is he cute or what!?

On a side note, Tyler discovered the girls play high heels. :-)  He's so cuuuute! :-)

My knee surgery

 I had knee surgery on May 22.  This was the sight I got to look at for the first week or two.

The surgery went very well, but the recovery was so hard!

 Nice people in our ward brought us dinners and treats.  That was such a blessing!

 The biggest blessing during my recovery was that this little guy didn't want to leave my side.  He sat next to me all day and we read book after book after book after book.  Then watched movies and played games too.

 After a month, I could start walking on it which was nice but difficult too.  This wheelchair was invaluable while I was recovering.

 When we went to Disneyland. we rented this wheelchair.  It was awesome!  It was such a lifesaver.

 My girls loved it too!

My knee survived Disneyland

 I was working my butt off in physical therapy and my bend was coming along, but my leg would not straighten all the way.  As hard as I tried and as hard as the physical therapist pushed me, it wouldn't progress, so on July 15 I had a manipulation where they put you under and bend and straighten your leg like crazy.  I'm SO grateful that we did this, because it made all the difference!  My knee is now progressing and doing so much better.

Plus, I got a lot of sympathy from my cutie pie little Ty!!  Oh, how I love him!

My knee is still weak and it definitely isn't all healed, but each day it gets a little stronger and I feel a little better.  I was scared to start school, but it has been going well and my knee isn't hurting when I go home, so I know it is coming along!