{more wyoming}

Pictures of the cabin and surrounding area...so peaceful!  The second picture is the view right outside our cabin...wild grass, lake and mountain...perfection!

{wyoming}

This trip to Utah was very low key.  I just wanted to rest and hang out and eat good food!  It was decided that taking a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming would be perfect.  Brittany's family owns a cabin up there and was kind enough to let us stay there for a few nights.  It was so beautiful and so fantastic to be up in the mountains again.  Taylor wanted to go horseback riding for his birthday so everybody decided to ride, except for me (pregnant) and Gramme.  Henry and Eliza were complete naturals...the way they rode and how comfortable they were on their horses.  Eliza was very upset that she could not go with the others up the mountain on the hour long ride.  She along with Sophie had to ride around in circles by the corrals.  She kept asking if she could go faster or go up the mountain.  She did not want to get off when it was time and wanted to lead the horse back to be tied up to the post.  Sophie did not smile or talk at all.  She was stone silent and so serious, but she did not want to get off and did not act scared at all.  When Henry got back he was smiling so big!  He absolutely loved his ride and had lots of stories to tell about it.

{temple square}

We (Gramme, Mom, Henry, and Eliza) decided to spend the day at Temple Square.

  We took a tour of the Conference Center, which both kids really wanted to do.  They were so sweet and even held hands a lot of the time.  We saw the Joseph Smith movie, went to lunch, went to the visitor centers, and Deseret Book.  We also went to the children's museum in the Church History building.

  It was truly a wonderful day!

{utah friends}

I can't begin to tell you how much I was looking foward to our trip to Utah this year

.  I really needed to get away from all of my responsibilities and just have fun and relax with my kids.  The last few months had been very tough on all of us and a vacation was just what we needed.  We needed to be around loving family and friends...I needed a little pampering from my parents:)...the kids needed lots of loves and attention from grandparents (having a pregnant sick relief society president mom has been hard on them).

I also was so excited to spend time with one of my best friends Monica.

Hooray for lifelong friends!!!

Our kids had fun together and we attempted to document our time with pictures...silly moms:)

{utah garden}

My kids LOVE spending time with Poppy in the backyard doing all the things they do...

planting and digging and watering and feeding the birds and other DIRTY mischief and work!

Henry actually is such a hard worker and really does help my dad now.  He dug that big trench mostly by himself.  He was sooo tired!

{brother and sister}

I came downstairs and found this precious scene...

I was so happy to find this instead of fighting and arguing:)!!!

{happy birthday baby girl}

Yes, even though Eliza is growing so fast and really is such a big girl...

I still call her my baby girl.

That is what she will always be to me.

She is so happy and brings so much joy and laughter into our home.

She is truly a blessing to all of us!

Here is her birthday photo shoot, the many faces of Eliza:).

She was so very excited for her big girl bike that was pink and purple!

{a birthday party}

Eliza is going to be four years old tomorrow!

Eliza really wanted a birthday party at our house with her family and some friends.  She really wanted to play outside in the backyard with water.

  We decided to invite four of her friends over for a small little celebration involving cupcakes and singing happy birthday and most importantly swimming in our little pool outside, running through the sprinklers, water table fun, and playing with bubbles.

We also decided to invite the children's families over after the party for lunch outside and homemade ice cream...kind of like a belated 4th of July celebration.

It was such a wonderful party for Eliza...she was sooo excited the whole time!

It was so nice to sit and talk with our friends and eat yummy food while the kids went crazy and played and played and ended up pouring the bubbles in the pool to make a bubble bath:)

The kids came in after all the festivities and cleaned up and then cuddled up in blankets to warm up while watching a movie.

  The perfect end to a perfect day.

We love our little girl!!!