A little taste of Spring

The past few days have been heavenly because we have had a little taste of spring weather. Granted, it has only been in the 40's and 50's but after a long cold Utah winter, 50 degrees feels fantastic! With all this nice weather we have done lots of bike riding and have spent the last two days at the park. It has been so nice to just get out of the house and be outside in the fresh air. However, all good things must come to an end because we were quickly reminded this morning that it is still winter in Utah when we woke up to snow on the ground. Hopefully it will warm up again soon so we can get back outside.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day from our family to yours!

Abby's Blessing

Aaron gave Abby a beautiful blessing yesterday and we had a lot of family come to share this special day with us. Thank you to all those that came!

The following people participated in Abby's blessing:

Aaron Searle
Bob Searle
Norman Dollahite
Dennis Huntington
Travis Cummings
Jeremy Friedbaum
Sam Friedbaum
Jessie Friedbaum
Josh Fulton
Andy Fulton
Sterling Hurd

Isn't she beautiful?

Great Grandma and Grandpa Huntington

Grandma and Grandpa Dollahite

Our family

Grandma and Grandpa Searle

Our girls

One last adorable shot of Abby

Jordan World Circus

My sister Amber invited us to go to the circus with her family on Wednesday night and to top it off, she paid for it and called it a birthday present for Chloe...it was an offer we couldn't refuse.

Chloe was so excited to see the clowns and kept asking the whole time when they were coming. Unfortunately, they only had one clown and he was kind of lame. Oh well!

She loved seeing the elephants and the all the people flying through the air. It was fun to see and hear her expressions at each new act. Thanks, Amber!

Chloe's Third Birthday

Chloe turned three this past Sunday, which is so hard to believe. These past three years have just flown by and I have loved every minute of them. Chloe is such a good little girl and has a fun personality. At three, she loves to play Barbies and Polly Pockets. She is also a girly girl and loves to play dress-up and always has to pack a purse before we can go anywhere.

Since her birthday was on Sunday, we decided it would be easier to celebrate it on Saturday and just tell her that Saturday was her birthday :). We took her to Jumpin' Jacks -- a place with tons of inflatable bouncey toys and slides -- and invited the Cummings to come with us. Chloe had a blast and we had a hard time getting her to leave.

Then we took her out to dinner and had Grandparents come over for cake and ice cream. We have decided to only have a big party every other year, thus the reason for only having grandparents over. Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Bob were sick that day and couldn't make it, and Grandpa Ron was out of town, so he couldn't come either. Despite the missing Grandparents, Chloe still had fun opening presents and playing with her new toys.

One of the biggest hits was her new kitchen that my parents got her. She loves it and hasn't stopped playing "food" since. However, I would say that the box of dress-up clothes that she got from the Cummings was a close second. So, even though we didn't have a big party, Chloe's third birthday was a success and she had a great time.

Three Weeks Old

Wow, where has the time gone. I can't believe that Abby is already three weeks old! It has been an adjustment for everyone, but I think we are finally getting into the groove of having two kids. Chloe just loves Abby and is willing to do just about anything to help me with her.

Here is what I have learned about little Abby in just three short weeks. She hates being cold and will let you know if she is. She spits up like crazy! If you see her, nine times out of ten she will have a bib on and a burp cloth under her. She sleeps a lot, and without fail she will be awake from 10-11pm. She thinks if she is awake that she needs to eat and because of that, she has already gained a pound! Most of all, she is adored by everyone in her family and is a very good baby. We have been blessed again with another perfect child.

On a side note, Chloe has named all her babies Abby and likes to treat them like real babies. She will feed and burp them, change their diapers and carry them all around the house. The other day, I found Chloe with the boppy around her, her shirt up, and a baby pressed against her chest. Yep, she was nursing her baby. It was classic!

Finally, I snapped this picture of Chloe and it was just to classic not to post. Who does she think she is? And no, I did not teach her to pose like that. =)

Christmas Day

As soon as we finished opening up our stockings, we got ready and headed out to my parents house to open presents with the rest of my family. My sisters were in town from Ohio and Kentucky and so it made for a big event. My brother Aaron and his family came in from Idaho, too, but not until Sunday afternoon.

For months, Chloe has been asking for a Pillow Pet. If you don't know what they are, it is a stuffed animal that turns into a pillow. Luckily, Chloe was a good girl and she got one from Santa.

Aaron surprised me with a new set of really nice cutlery...we haven't replaced ours since we got married six+ years ago, so we were in desperate need of new ones. Thanks again, honey!

Chloe's big present this year was a Barbie house which was built by Grandpa Ron, decorated by me, floors and painting by daddy and some furniture made by Grandpa Norman. I had been working on it for weeks, and the time came that I couldn't do the rest without the help of my wonderful husband. We didn't realize it would take as long to finish as it did. By 2:00 a.m. on the 23rd we finally finished. Aaron pointed out that we must be parents...staying up so late to finish a Christmas present two days before Christmas. Anyways, it was a big hit and Chloe hasn't stopped playing with it.

My dad got a new dance game for his Wii from my sister Melinda and we all took turns playing it. Aaron had to stop me a couple of times because for some strange reason he didn't want me going into labor on Christmas day. I finally convinced Aaron to do a dance with the rest of the guys and he didn't disappoint. When he does something, he does it right (as you can see from the picture).

Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas filled with family, fun and love. It was especially meaningful this year for me being so close to having little Abby. I could truly relate to Mary and only imagine what she must have been thinking and feeling.

Christmas Morning at Home

Sorry about all the mini-posts, but I figured it was easier to do a bunch of little ones then one huge one. This year, we spent Christmas with my family, but before we went over to their house to open presents, we opened our stockings at home. Chloe had been asking Santa for a watch for Christmas and she got one in her stocking. She was very excited. Of course, she was almost just as excited when she found the box of Starbursts (they are her favorite treat) and a new wallet in her stocking as well!

Chloe's Christmas Dress

We took some pictures of Chloe in her Christmas dress and they were just too cute not to post.

Christmas with the Fowler's

Since we have so much family in the area, we always celebrate the holidays multiple times. We had an early Christmas with my dad and Kelly at their house on the 22nd. We had a great time and Chloe loved getting to open up presents before Christmas.