Potty Time!!

It's official!! Caleb is diaper free and happy as can be!! Yay Caleb!! Yahoo!! In just one week we went from diapers to pull-ups to underwear! We basically lived in the bathroom for the first few days! It was rough at first but Caleb and I were determined to conquer the beast of potty-training! We didn't go anywhere for a week. That was torture! But in just a few days Caleb got the hang of it and we were good to go!

I'm sure if Caleb knew I put a picture of him sitting on the potty he would not think it's cool! But he's 2! It will be a good one for the future!!
Caleb's incentive for going potty was a 'potty treat!' He didn't care what it was as long as it was some sort of candy or treat! Whatever works!

One day he is my little boy...the next thing he is SO BIG and potty trained!

I'm so proud of Caleb! It's a good feeling to be through with diapers! Kind of sad too though that my baby is this big! Love this kid!

Party in Price!!

We had a fun weekend a few weeks ago with the Lewis family! They all came down to Price for a big-huge party to celebrate Mara's birthday!

Mara was so excited to open presents! That was her favorite part!

One of the gifts her grandma gave her was a new skirt with a matching skirt for her new doll! Her grandma was busy sewing because she made not one but two cute skirts for Mara and her dolly! So cute!

Then it was cake and ice-cream time! I wasn't sure how this "Darn Good Chocolate Cake" was going to turn out! But it was very moist and delicious!

Little Lincoln loved it too! He put his entire face right in the ice-cream!

We had one big sleepover too! Everyone stayed the night. Glad we have enough beds and space fore everyone! All the kids had a slumber party in Ty's room!

The next day we hung out around the house and then went to the Dino Park!

The kids had fun playing at the park with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents!

They all liked to show their favorite tricks!

It was a very fun weekend. Glad we live close enough to see family and can have them down to our place!

California 2 day trip!

The day after Mara's birthday party---(actually on her birthday!) I hopped on a plane with my mom and off we flew...California here we come!

This self-portrait was taken of me--by me! (I confess, I felt rather silly taking a picture of myself on the airplane! Oh well!)
I have two brothers who live in California. I was heading out to see them. I could hardly wait! I just love flying on airplanes! It made me want to go on some exotic trip somewhere!
Anyway...

It was fun to jam with Baby-Brooklyn! This is my 1-year old niece! She is so cute and I miss her (and her parents) very much!

It was fun to rock out to the Beatles and have a fun party at Blake's house!

But the real reason I went to California was not to rock out to Guitar Hero...it was actually to go to the Los Angeles Temple!
WHY? You might ask? Why would I fly all the way to Los Angeles to go to the temple?!

Because I wanted to go with my mom! We are good friends and I wouldn't have missed this opportunity for the world!

I also wanted to go with my dad!

But really it was to be there with my brother Blake!!
BLAKE GOT MARRIED!!!!
Blake and Maren eloped to the temple! They didn't tell anyone but family! I wanted to be there soooooo bad! I probably would have cried my eyes out had I not been able to go!
Ha! I actually did cry my eyes out being in the temple! It was such a neat experience! The spirit was so strong there in the sealing room. I cried and cried! It was so special!

And here they are! The new Mr. & Mrs. Lowry!! They did it! Wahoo!!! They are (finally) married!!! YAY!!! This definitely calls for a 'Happy Dance!' and a celebration! (Which hopefully we will do in October! I hear there is going to be the biggest-greatest-reception/party in the world!

I don't think I have ever seen Blake this happy before! And I couldn't be more happy for him! I am thrilled that he and Maren could be married and sealed in the Temple!

And the parents couldn't be more excited (and relieved) either!!

I just love my brother! I have always looked up to him and I am grateful for our friendship and relationship!

Beautiful Maren! Isn't her dress gorgeous?! She is so pretty! I love Maren! I couldn't ask for a greater sister-in-law! I am so happy to have her join our family!

And they lived happily ever after!

Mara's Dora Party!!!

Happy Birthday Mara Lou!!!
The big FIVE years old! It seems like just yesterday Mara was born! Now look at her! All grown up and sweet as ever! Mara is my best helper! She loves to read and write and play with dolls. She loves to color and paint. Mara's favorite thing is still her daddy! She just loves him so much! (I don't blame her, I love him too!) Mara loves playing with friends she is my social butterfly! She likes to sew and cook. Mara's favorite color has always been pink now it is yellow!

For Mara's birthday party all she could talk about was having a Dora party! *Really?! Do we have to?! Ok, it is her party! Dora it is!

We headed to the park for Mara's party and invited all her little cute friends! First we made Dora party hats! Mara said you can't have a party without party hats!

They sure turned out cute!

Look at that cute group of girlies! I love it! I love that Mara has so many friends! Because her birthday is right in the middle half of the friends are in her preschool class, the other half are in her primary class at church!! She is one lucky-lady to have so many friends!

While the girls were making their party hats Dora was swiped by Swiper the Fox and we had to 'Save Dora!' So who did we call upon? Backpack that's who! And inside was a map to save Dora! We had to 1st blow and pop bubbles, next go on a scavenger hunt through the trees, and finally we had to save Dora in a tree!! We sang the Dora songs and went on a Dora hunt! It was a lot of fun!

We did it! Yay! We saved Dora!


Then we beat her with a stick to get out the candy!

Even Caleb had a hit at Dora!

This was the wackiest pinata we've ever done! The head fell off quick but no candy fell out! Ty was kind of sad that he didn't get to wack the heck out of it, but we wanted to make sure all the girls had a turn!

Here they are waiting patiently for their turn!

Finally we could not beat it open so we tried pulling the strings, even that did not open it! So Nate had to rip it open and throw the candy out!

"Happy Birthday Dear Mara! Happy Birthday to you!"

Make a wish! And blow them out the candles!

Then it was present time! Mara was given very many great gifts! She was thrilled!

It was a great party! Everyone had a fun time! Pheeeeew! Another party down!

Fun Food, Footbal, & Fishing!

All weekend should be this fun! In just two days we had a fun-food night, football game, and fishing with friends! What could be better?!

We have a rule at our house that meals during the week can be 'Sunday-dinner' or 'gourmet', but Friday night has to be a 'fun-food' night! We have a fire-pit in our backyard that we have never used before! The kids were eager to try it out! So we roasted hotdogs and cooked shish-kabobs, we even made mountain pies and roasted marshmallows!

Ty wasn't too sure about the kabob! He liked the meat & potatoes, but was not a fan of the vegetables! They were pretty tasty if you ask me!

It was a great fun-food night if I do say so myself!

The kids even thought it would be fun to set up a tent and play in the tent while we cooked the food! Fun times!

After our fun dinner we headed over to the high-school to watch some football!

What would Caleb do without his 'other-mother?'! She is a pretty good little helper/friend to Caleb!

This is the life! Just sitting back watching the football game, seeing our friends and neighbors, cheering on our team and eating candy! This is what life is about!

You are looking at a future football player! I'm pretty sure Caleb will play all sports!

It was so cute to watch Caleb--he would cheer and clap! He kept asking "Where's the ball? Where'd it go?!" He was really into the game. In fact when it was time to go he cried and cried all the way home! He wanted to keep watching football "More football...more football!" he said!

The next night we went fishing with some friends.

Everyone caught a fish! That's what made it so much fun! Here's Mara's fish!

Everyone is happy when they catch a fish!

Caleb reeled in a fish but his favorite thing was eating the fish snacks that were brought!

We went to a new pond in Price. It was well stocked and it wasn't too hard to catch a fish!

We told Ty we couldn't leave until he caught a fish! He was the one who wanted to catch one the most! And he did it!

We stayed until dark! Good thing the lights from the rodeo were on otherwise we would have been fishing only with the light of the moon!