Finally home

Blake's parents are finally home! They went on an Australian cruise for pretty much the WHOLE month of January! They had a wonderful time. We all missed them a ton! We were so happy to have them home safe and sound.

They knew one of us was going to be picking them up at the airport. However, they did not know we ALL were going to pick them up! Ha! Blake made a hilarious sign and it was HUGE. Missing people....Have you seen these people? Aubrey Rose had her own. :)

Yeah, there they are!!!

Finally home safe and sound...a good, good feeling.
They even brought gifts back! A little koala backpack,
a little beanie and a bunch of other goodies!

Welcome home Mom and Dad! We missed you. Don't ever do that again...well, for that long at least....okay, well maybe if you take us along. Ha!

Life is good...

Anyone want to play some playdoh with me???

Uh-Oh!

The peanut butter attacked me... :(

Blessings

Aubrey Rose received this Caterspeller...not Caterpillar, but Caterspeller (note the alphabet on the sides)...for Christmas from Blake's aunt and uncle. I thought these pictures were too cute not to share. She always giggles when she hugs the Caterspeller.

The cute outfit Aubrey Rose is wearing is thanks to my sister and Aaron! Blessings everywhere! Thanks for spoiling our girl!

Seasons in life...

When I was experiencing the "wedding season" years ago...you know those years that felt like you were going to a wedding EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND...well, as I was going through those years, I thought it was so fun!! I think I have 10 bridesmaid dresses and I think my final record of bouquets I caught totaled like 14 or some ridiculous amount! Little did I know there were better days to come! Blake and I are definitely in "baby season" and I am soooooooooo thankful to have the wedding season behind us and into the babies. It is the most precious thing to hold a brand new baby!

This is my wonderful friend Katie on her wedding day in June 2002...

Here is Katie with her new husband Travis on that same day! :) Only God knew then that these two would have two of the cutest kids...Katie S., Katie D. and myself...such fun times! Look at how life has changed!!! HA!! This picture was taken at the zoo this past summer. Here are both Katie's and myself, now married with our own sweet babies!!
Katie D. had an adorable little boy a week ago today! Here is big sister Logan with her new brother Lucas Reid!! Adorable!!
Proud daddy and proud big sister of baby Luke. There is nothing like holding a new baby! Here are Blake and I with baby Luke!

God's miracles truly amaze me. Congratulations DeManby's for your newest addition. I can't wait to make more memories together!! We love you guys!!

Competitive spirit?

We finally found something that Aubrey Rose will NOT allow a camera to distract her from. The task...playing a game. Maybe it was the specific game she was playing, but the second she started playing...it was GAME time for her! Her little competitive spirit came out and it was not time to even look at the camera, much less smile for the camera! Only the future will tell us if it is the competitive spirit in Aubrey Rose or if it is the goal of this specific game. :) To win the game, you have to land on the correct squares to win a necklace, earrings, a ring and the crown.

Ahhhh, the things you are willing to do for your daughter. Blake, you are the BEST daddy!!

You see...our little girl absolutely LOVES any kind of jewelry! She is a girly girl for sure! Even though I love the girly girl side of her, I am pulling for this focus to be some to do with a competitive spirit God knit inside her. God's timing will only tell.

The possibilities are endless!

My brother Jesse, and his wife Allie, are AMAZING hosts! Allie is an amazing gourmet cook too! She might not admit it to anyone, because she is the most humble person EVER, but it is true. It is only fitting they add a pizza oven to her repertoire!! This dream probably started way long ago, but this past September we had a family trip to Carmel and we took a pizza oven tour and since then the dream has come full circle.

Here is the pizza oven! They have a counter top on either side of the oven. On one side they installed their bbq. On the other side, is where all the eating will take place and there is a place for their umbrella. The back side will eventually have barstools. So fun!!!
The possibilities are absolutely endless! There is the obvious...pizza!
Here are some sausage...3 minutes and DONE! You can do any kind of meats, fish, veggies, eggs, etc. You can cook food on the grill, just in the oven by itself or in a ceramic dish. See...the possibilities are endless! And grilled to perfection!! Yummy!

Here we did cinnamon/sugar rolls....yummy!!
Myself, Allie, Allie's mom and my mom!
Becca and Luke (my cousin) came to be apart of the first pizzas too!
Blake and myself acting like we know what we are doing.
Us girls just watching the pizzas bake. (The little gray tool in front of Darlene is a laser that you shine into the oven to check the temperature. The oven should be different temps for different things you bake.)
Allie is now the pizza oven EXPERT! (She probably would not admit to that either! HA! If she dropped her humble self for just a second, she would say FOR SURE!!) Homemade dough, homemade pizzas, baked in an amazing pizza oven...how can anyone just eat one?!!
The girls...myself, Allie, Aubrey Rose and my mom

Of course there is always a time to play... Myself and our little ball of sunshine

Valentine's

It is amazing to me how much I look forward to holidays especially when I decorate for them. I recently brought out our Valentine decor and it just puts me in a mood of anticipation and joy.

It will be here before you know it!!

And just so you know, even if you don't have a husband or a boyfriend there are a TON of ways to celebrate Valentine's Day and have a GREAT time!! One of my favorite Valentine's was when Blake was living in Canada and we had a GIRLS ONLY Valentine's Day. We started with dinner together at my house, then we went and visited a couple of local florists after store hours. Why? Because we wanted to collect some flowers they were throwing away. We wanted to deliver them to people we knew who needed some joy that holiday. We thought if we came home empty handed, at least we had fun together. However, I will NEVER forget the BUCKETS and BUCKETS of absolutely AMAZING flowers we brought home because the florists weren't able to sell all of them. They told us they were just going to have toss them. Then, we took those flowers and delivered them to people we wanted to bless. It truly is a Valentine's I will NEVER forget!

Jaz and Aubrey Rose

Although Aubrey Rose is crazy about a BUNCH of people...her best friend could quite possibly be Jazmine. This is my brother and his wife Allie's dog. Jesse and Allie recently went on a missions trip to Thailand. We were able to keep Jaz at our house for a couple of weeks. It has been a week now since Jesse and Allie have come home, however STILL after every nap and almost every morning when I go get Aubrey Rose she asks for Jazzie. Except she can't quite get the "J" out, so she says "Zazzie???" And then I see the sadest face, when I have to tell her Jazzie is at Auntie Allie's and Uncle Jesse's house. Good thing we get to see Jaz every week at family night!

She LOVES to walk Jazmine!

Fun with Chelsey and the girls!

Below is my cousin Chelsey (with Aubrey Rose of course). My cousin and I have such a fun relationship. We can joke, have fun together, laugh and share stories and then be real with each other all in a matter of minutes. Well, actually when we hang out, it is usually hours. I love it that way. I love her. I love her seeing her smile. I love her personality...even the fiesty, spicy side. I love being friends with her. I love sharing more memories together and I LOVE, LOVE seeing her with our Aubrey Rose. Did you know Aubrey Rose's middle name is named after her mom? Aunt Rose, Chelsey's mom, is the most amazing woman I have ever met. Everyone who knew her would probably agree. We miss her tremendously. She passed away 2 years ago from something I hate...cancer. We miss her every day...and I mean EVERY day. However, being with Chelsey warms my heart and makes me feel little like it was all a bad dream. Even though I know it is reality, I am so thankful Chelsey and I, and our family, know God is still God and He loves us more than anyone ever could. Trusting in Him and putting our hope in Him every day of our lives, allows us the most glorious life with God. The biggest bonus will be the reunion with my Aunt Rose, Chelsey's mom. Come quickly, Lord! We are READY!

In the meantime, Chelsey and I will continue to make sweet memories together. Chelsey is the greatest babysitter EVER. She definitely is a favorite around here and at church. We call her CC (cousin Chelsey). I love watching Aubrey Rose run to the door yelling "CC" to greet Chelsey with a BIG hug. Chels often brings over other friends' kids to our house while she nannies or babysits them. I absolutely love it. Our sweet friends, the Bell's, have taken Chelsey into their family like a daughter, (which I am soooooo thankful for!) so Chelsey sometimes gets to bring their girls over to our house! Here are a few shots from our recent times while Chels was watching Peyton and Kendall.

Baking yummy desserts together! (I had to take a pic with Kendall having chocolate on her face. Precious!!) Kendall was the lucky girl who got to lick the remainders.
On a different day playing in the tent.
Chelsey, Kendall and Peyton
These girls are too sweet!!
Warning!!! Warning to everyone who hangs out with Chelsey Marie! If you leave your phone or camera anywhere near of Chelsey's hands, you will be greeted with a variety of expressions of her beautiful face similar to this...

Oh, and then there was our Rock Band memory. Good times girls!

Even though these were fun memories with these girls, one of my all time favorite times was last Valentine's Day when all three girls spent the night and we giggled all day together.