The Davidson Family

2010-09-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

Landon and his brother Jared boxing. Every trip to Utah has to involve Landon wrestling or fighting in some form with his siblings!

Elliot petting the sting rays. It is fun to see you kids do things that just a year earlier they were afraid to try.

Here is Elliot and her cousin Bailey at the aquarium. The girls had so much fun together.

We took a trip to Utah to visit family and let everyone meet Nolan. When there our transmission went out and so we got to spend a little more time and money than planned but we had a good time.

2010-09-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip to California while we both had some time off. This is at the LA Zoo.

Elliot loves to hold her brother. Though Nolan is not too sure about it especially as he gets bigger. He always make a nervous moan when he is on her lap.

Elliot and Nolan with their cousin Rylee (if you can't tell Rylee is Aaron and Amy's baby). Rylee was born March 2nd. It is so fun having the 2 new babies!

Elliot gave her first talk at church. Daddy helped and she did a really good job.

2010-09-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Introducing Nolan Bear Davidson. Born March 19, 2010 at 11:03pm, weighing 6lbs4oz and 18.5inches long. He was 4 1/2 weeks early. He would have been pretty big if he made it to 39weeks.

2010-02-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the primary secretary escorted Elliot to Relief Society after church to inform me that they will be singing "As I have Loved You" in sacrament meeting next week and that Elliot does not know the song but still sang very loudly. She said that they were quite entertained but maybe we could help her learn the song during the week. I love my Elliot. I always knew I would have the kid singing at the top of their lungs from the pulpit. Landon and I have been working with her all week, we will see if it pays off on Sunday.

Sorry for the lack in posts. Between being 30weeks pregnant with a very active boy and working nights blog posts have not been on the top of my list of things to do.

Trick or Treating

2009-11-15T22:31:00.001-08:00

We had a pretty fun Halloween this year. After the Zoo we headed back to my parent's house and painted pumpkins (sorry no pictures) and then later on that evening took Elliot to the trunk or treat at the church (sorry no pictures again). And as if Elliot did not have enough candy we went with the Christensens and let Elliot and Ella go trick or treating around Grammy's (Shana's Mom) neighborhood. The girls had so much fun. Ella had on a cute Peter Pan costume. Too bad everyone kept asking her if she was Robin Hood, but Ella just thought it was funny and would correct them.

This gorilla (Shana's brother-in-law) was sitting on Grammy's porch. It was pretty fun to watch trick or treaters avoid the house because of him. The girls were not too sure about sitting on his lap but we got them to do it anyway, at least long enough to take a picture.

Moapa Zoo

2009-11-15T22:08:00.001-08:00

I read in the paper about this zoo in Moapa owned by a married couple that are both vets. It is really their collection of exotic animals and they open to the public once or twice a month to help cover the cost of food. They opened it for Halloween and invited the kids to wear their costumes. We were able to convince my parents, Aaron and Amy and Amy's Mom to come along too. We ended up all having a really good time.

What made this zoo so fun was the interaction with the animals. We got to hold a baby kangaroo and pet a monkey and a sloth.

Here is a little deer we were petting. Elliot is fearless with animals. The people that worked at the zoo were amazed at how gentle and calm she was with all of the animals. It was cute to see the chicken petting all of the animals. It was funny some of the animals tried to pet Elliot, they were very curious about her costume. Elliot also got pet by another kid, I guess they thought she was part of the exhibits.

Elliot and Papa.

Springs Preserve

2009-11-15T21:59:00.001-08:00

We went with the Christensens to the Spring's Preserve for their halloween event. Elliot and Ella had fun wearing their costumes, collecting candy and playing carnival games.

Landon and Stewart being themselves...what else is there to say.

Elliot was approached by this little girl who was so excited to meet another chicken. It was really cute so we had to take a picture.

2009-11-15T21:46:00.000-08:00

For dance class before Halloween the kids were asked to wear their costumes. We decided that Elliot's chicken costume would be too warm to dance in so she got to wear one of her princess dresses. She chose Snow White...it is her favorite right now since Grandma just bought her the DVD. All of the girls had on princess dresses (shocker!) and their teacher was a pirate.

Expanding vocabulary

2009-10-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Elliot has to buckle her own car seat. Landon started backing out of the driveway before Elliot had finished buckling up. She said "Stop driving, you can't drive the car when kids are not buckled up. Dad you frustrate me." I did not even know she knew what frustrated meant.

Later that night she sat next to Landon on the couch and said "Dad, you are cute." Landon said "Thank you, you are cute too. Do I still make you frustrated?" Elliot responded "umm yes".

Elliot is 3!

2009-07-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Elliot spent her 3rd birthday with her friend Ella. The day started out with Elliot waking me up at 5am with an enthusiastic "It's my birthday". Which I told her it was a little early to start celebrating. So thankfully I was able to get her to cuddle for a couple more hours. We spent the afternoon at swim lessons followed by a 3 hour nap. We had to wake Elliot up so she could open her presents and eat dinner before the planned activities (that is why she looks so tired in the pictures). We took the Christensens to skymania and the girls and the adults wore themselves out jumping on the trampolines. Afterward we took two tired girls out for dessert. Elliot had a fun birthday and she enjoys telling everyone that she is 3 years old now.

We celebrated Elliot's birthday with my family on the following Sunday. So if you don't mind listening to the beautiful vocal talents of my family her is a cute video of Elliot.

Swim lessons

2009-07-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

For two weeks in June, Elliot and Ella took swim lessons. I was amazed at how well the girls did. Their instructor Rosie (in the black hat) is amazing with kids. Once Elliot had on some goggles we couldn't keep her head out of the water. By the second day she was swimming between Rosie and me. She is a little apprehensive about letting go of my finger when we go swimming now ( I don't know what happened?) but she does good and is our little water baby.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share my mother's day card. Elliot's creative nursery leader helped the kids make these cute cards for their Moms. I just love it. I asked Elliot if I could bring the card with me to work that night and she thought about it for a few seconds and then said "sure".

I had a really nice mother's day even though most of it was spent asleep since I worked that night and the night before. For dinner we had Mother's day breakfast. We had family dinner at our house so my Mom didn't have to cook on Mother's day. Landon is a wonderful cook and we really enjoy having the family over. I have to say Landon has really improved his cooking in the last 6 years since we have been married. Having the food channel has been very nice.

I just want to say Happy Mother's day to all my friends and family that are mothers. ( Sorry it is a week late..oh well). I also wanted to say how thankful I am to be a mother. This is the hardest but most rewarding calling I have ever done and I am so thankful that I do not have to do it alone. I just love those moments when I am cuddling with Landon and Elliot and I take a deep breath in and realize that this is happiness and this is what life is about.

Update

2009-05-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't post for a while. Elliot doesn't like to let me do things without her and it is hard to write a post with a toddler on your lap and I don't seem to stay up too much later than Elliot these days. So here is a little update into what has been going on the past couple months.

Elliot is finally potty trained. She has been resistant when I would ask her if she wanted to go on the potty and so a couple of weeks ago I decided to stop giving her the choice and just took away her diapers for good. Our panties-only tactic seemed to work and she was peeing in the potty that day without any accidents. Our big problem came with #2. Apparently Elliot thought going poop on the potty was scary and decided to hold it in, after 5 days and no BM and many tummy aches we had to give our stubborn kid a baby laxative. Thankfully she has learned that it isn't scary to go poop on the potty and she is doing pretty good with the whole potty thing with only an occasional accident.

Landon and I are entering our 7th week of P90X workouts. We thought the longer we do it the easier it gets but we were wrong. The longer you do it the better your form gets and so you work out harder. We sweat like crazy. This is the first home video workout that I think actually works. We have been pretty happy with the results so far and guess that has kept us going.

Work has been really busy lately. I guess the recession hasn't stopped people from making babies. Cheap entertainment I guess. I have had a lot of LDS couples as patients lately and I am so thankful for it. I love seeing babies born into loving supportive families. You get pretty sick of your teenage patients (isn't it nice when a kid becomes a parent before they get their driver's license or a job), unmarried couples ( where the father of the baby sits on the couch the whole time or plays video games), or your patients who don't even know who the father of the baby is. It is just nice to know that some of the babies born into this world are actually going to be taught some morals. Don't get me wrong I don't think LDS couples are the only people that teach their kids morals, it is freshing anytime I have a patients that are loving and devoted to each other and will actually care about parenting their child.

Dance class

2009-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Elliot started ballet and tap class about 2 months ago. She absolutely loves it and I love watching her. I was surprised at how well she follows her teacher and for most of the classes she pays attention the entire time. It is very entertaining to watch 2 years old dance. Elliot tells me all the time that she wants to go to dance class.
Elliot also likes to have people come watch her dance. She is always inviting people to come. She always asks her dad if he is going to come watch her dance. He has come a couple of times and enjoyed the entertainment. Her aunt Megan came to class while she was visiting during her break. Now Elliot thinks she is going to come every time.

Disneyland

2009-03-04T10:28:00.001-08:00

Shana and I often find ourselves in the same situation since our husbands are in the landscape architect program and have almost identical schedules. This week was no exception when our husbands abandoned us for a week to go to a landscape architect conference/workshop in Philadelphia. We decided we were not going to sit around while they were gone and so we took a quick little trip to California for a day at Disneyland.

Elliot and Ella had so much fun. They especially enjoyed meeting the princesses. For those of you who know Elliot pretty well, know that she is pretty shy around strangers, especially adults. Well she obviously felt like she knew these princesses pretty well because she ran up and gave each of them a giant hug. It was so much fun to watch. It made the hour that we stood in line worth it (well almost, Ella had to take a nap after the long line wait and then all the excitement of meeting some of their favorite characters).

Riding the teacups. Elliot really wanted to ride in a pink teacup but they were all taken and we had to settle for a purple one. All week she has been telling me about how the pink cups were all full and so we had to ride in the purple cup. Oh the disappointments of life when you are 2.

As you can tell by Elliot's face she found the carousel to be a little frightening. She cried during the entire ride. I think by this point in the day she was pretty tired and little over stimulated.

Minnie Mouse!!! The girls had so much fun meeting Minnie Mouse and then getting to go inside her house. They played on all her furniture and sat at her kitchen table.

We really had a good time. Landon was sad that he missed Elliot's first trip to Disneyland. It was cute to hear Elliot tell her Dad on the phone all about her day. She had such enthusiasm in her voice. Oh, I love this girl!

Ready for work

2009-03-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

The other night while I was getting dressed for work, Elliot came into my room and said that she needed to get ready for work too and proceeded to put on one of my scrub tops. I asked her what she was going to do at work. She told me that she would "hold the babies and feed them milk". Elliot doesn't quite understand what mom does at work yet, but she does know that babies are involved. While I was hugging Landon good bye, Elliot slipped on a pair of my shoes, put my purse over her shoulder and hugged Landon's leg and then said bye Dad I love you. She was determined to go to work with me that night. I am pretty sure after one 12 hour night shift she would be cured of wanting to go to work with mom.

"Best Friend"

2009-03-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

On more than one occasion Elliot has told me that Ella is her best friend. I am not sure where she heard the phrase or even if I said it to her but it is pretty cute when she says it.

Cabin Trip

2009-01-27T07:08:00.000-08:00

We were thankful to visit the Christensen's Cabin this year as we did last year. Hopefully this is becoming an annual tradition (wink, wink - Stewart and Shana). We had such a good time. It was nice for Shana and I to spend some uninterrupted time with our families since the semester was finally over. Landon and Stewart were gone til 9 or 10 monday thru friday during last semester. Thankfully this semester schedule has them home for dinner.

We stopped for groceries in Cedar City and Elliot was able to play in the snow for a couple minutes. She had such a good time. She did not want to get back in the car. The entire ride up to the cabin she kept asking to get out and play in the snow.

Playing games with Dad.

Getting ready to play in the snow.

Ella was a bigger fan of sledding. Elliot tolerated it. I think Elliot liked the snow better when she didn't have to wear all of her snow gear but the Mom in me has to keep my baby warm.

The boys spent an entire afternoon building a snow cave. They were so excited about it and even wanted to sleep in it. We had to tell the boys no. When I went inside, the boys were like isn't this so cool...doesn't it make you want to sleep in here. An honestly I had no desire to sleep in their snow cave. It was hard enough for me to crawl through the little door and spend five minutes in there.

Aunt Alicia's Farm

2009-01-27T06:52:00.001-08:00

Okay so Alicia doesn't really live on a farm but she doesn't know that. The day before we left for home they had just added this baby pig to their animal collection. So on our way out we had to stop by and see her. ( We just found out that they ended up giving the pig away, when she squealed it sounded like a woman being tortured.) Elliot thought the pig was cute.

Then we headed out to the backyard to see the chickens. Elliot had a good time chasing after them and she also enjoyed getting her dad to catch them. Those two are crazy. There is definitely clear cut times when I see the traits that she has inherited from her father.

Elliot even spent time with Jake. My little animal lover.

If you notice Elliot has a pants change in the middle of her farm adventure. With all those animals running around someone is bound to step in poop. Elliot just happened to be the winner.

Thanksgiving Pointe

2009-01-27T06:38:00.000-08:00

The older Elliot gets the more fun it is to do stuff with her. We had such a good time seeing all the animals at Thanksgiving Pointe. I am always amazed at how fearless Elliot has always been with animals. (It may have something to do with having a dog in her face since birth). She liked petting the animals and even rode a pony.

I don't think this animal ( some type of llama) thought Landon smelled too good. Right after the picture he made a big snort and ran away.

Landon and Elliot fed these horses. That is why they are hanging out so close. They are braver than me I am afraid of big horse teeth.

Dress up with Grandma Davidson

2009-01-27T06:28:00.001-08:00

Elliot had so much fun visiting her Grandma over Thanksgiving. Grandma brought out all of her dress up stuff and Elliot was in little girl heaven. She even had seashells like Ariel. I would have gotten a picture with Elliot in the wig but after Mom and Dad laughed at her when she walked out with it on she refused to put it back on. It was a lesson for me and I felt really bad that we had hurt her feelings.

New Cousin !!

2009-01-27T06:18:00.000-08:00

We finally were able to meet Elliot's cute new cousin Bailey. Elliot really enjoys babies. So whenever Bailey was around she would ask to hold her. She even helped Alicia fed Bailey her bottle. We are excited to have a cousin close to Elliot's age on Landon's side. Before her only cousins were teenage boys.

Family Photos

2009-01-27T05:59:00.001-08:00

During our visit in Utah for Thanksgiving we had Landon's Mom do a family photo session. We had not planned on this so I wasn't prepared with coordinating outfits but I was really happy with the results. Grandma kept trying to make Elliot smile by making funny faces and noises at her. Instead of smiling for the camera, Elliot would turn to me and say "Grandma is funny".

Events of October

2008-11-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted any pictures. I figure I better post the events of October since we are entering the Holiday Season and I am sure there will be plenty of pictures taken.

I thought I would just share some of the things Elliot says and does:

The other day I was whistling. Elliot asked me what that sound was. I told her I was whistling and then tried to teach her how. After one attempt of blowing through her pursed lips and no whistle came out, Elliot told me her lips were broken. I tried to get her to keep trying but to no avail she insisted that her lips were broken.

One of Elliot's favorite things to do is the dishes. Of course this consists of her playing in the bubbles while dad or I load the dishwasher around her. She asks multiple times throughout the day to do the dishes. If you are at the sink for longer than 2 seconds with the water running, she pushes her little table over that she likes to stand on and says "do dishes". This method has worked out pretty well because it keeps the dishes done. In these pictures Elliot is showing me the bunny the bubbles made.

This is Elliot's first attempt at eating a whole hamburger by herself. We usually cut up her food into bite size pieces. But seeing as how our Elliot is too big for that, she needs to eat things the way Mom and Dad do. It was pretty fun watching her eat. She did not get too far before she gave up and settled on eating all of the avocado. Avocado is her favorite food right now, she asks for it almost daily. I can't complain at least it is healthy.

I came downstairs and found these 3 napping on the couch together. One of my favorite photos is of myself as a baby sleeping on my dads chest while he too is napping. I just couldn't resist taking this picture. I love seeing Dad's cuddle their kids.

Halloween

2008-11-21T07:41:00.001-08:00

For Halloween we went to the trunk or treat at our church. Sorry we did not get very good pictures. Above is a picture of Elliot with a random guy who was dressed like a bee keeper and his wife and daughter were dressed as bees. They asked if they could take a picture with Elliot. If you notice Elliot's face she looks a little worried, her eyes are glued to me and I am sure she is wondering why her Mom would hand her over to a stranger, and a male stranger at that.

I had forgotten to grab a bag for Elliot to collect candy in, so Shana's Mom let Elliot borrow this basket. Elliot did not mind carring it around because people were filling it with candy. Elliot definitly has her Dad's palate. She loves sweets and hot & spicy food.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-21T07:28:00.001-08:00

The week before Halloween we went to an overpriced pumpkin patch with the Christensens. The girls of course had a great time, so the money spent did not seem like such a big deal. Elliot and Ella had fun on a couple of the rides. And then Elliot helped us pick out some pumpkins to carve.

We could not pass up the photo op with all of the pumpkins. Too bad I picked a spot with the sun shining on our faces.

I just love these girls. I am so glad Elliot has a friend to play with.

Afterwards we ordred some pizza and carved pumpkins. This is Landon's pumpkin.

Ella's Birthday Party!!!

2008-11-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

Ella turned 2 on October 20 and Elliot was so excited to go to her birthday party. She talked about going to the party for weeks before the actually event and even talked about the party for weeks after. It was Ella's birthday for the entire month of October (at least to Elliot it was). The kids all wore their Halloween costumes. Elliot of course did not mind wearing a costume, dress up is something she plays at least once a day. She enjoyed decorating a big sugar cookie, helping Ella play with all of her new toys and whacking the Elmo pinata. Which the kids decapitated. To our surprise the little kids weren't too dramatized seeing one of their favorite characters torn to pieces. I guess when you're two and candies flying out who cares.

Landons birthday campout.

2008-11-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Kristin surprised me with a birthday campout (Cool wife Eh?). She secretly invited my friends who already like lieing to me for the fun of it. haha. We got to the site and found that after paying for two days in advance the wiener camp host gave away our spot. Two seconds before Kristin was going to rip the host a new one, somebody left their camp spot and we got in anyway.

The evening went great we had some good old fashioned tinfoil dinners, and cobbler made in my birthday dutch oven. mmm. All went well until about midnight when outside our tent it sounded like Noahs flood wasn't quite over yet. We slept fitfully waiting for our tent to start floating away. To our great luck all of our gear was still where we left it in the morning. It was a bit chilly in the morning but it made the hot chocolate all the better.

Every good, memorable camp trip needs a little disaster to make it really good, so this one rocked.

Everyone relaxing at Mt. Charleston.

Chris + Andrea

Stewart, Ella, and Shana making smores

Elliot and Ella insisted on eating their hot chocolate with a spoon.

Smooshy Face.

Bear Attack! Wait.....False Alarm.

Camp chairs?

2008-11-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

The life of a two year old girl

2008-10-03T17:12:00.001-07:00

Playing dress up.
My friend Julie is getting married. One night she came over and tried on my wedding dress. Elliot had fun wearing my veil.

Story time with Dad and Ella.

Naps are the best!

Playing at Mt. Charleston with my friend.

Hawaii

2008-08-20T13:46:00.001-07:00

So back in August my wonderful parents took all of their children and spouses and grandchildren to Hawaii. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad! We had such a good time. This house we stayed at was right across the street from the beach. Our beach had a great cove for snorkling. So many of mornings began with an hour of snorkling in the warm ocean. The fish were beautiful.

Here is the whole crew right before heading home.

We were a little scared of how the kids would handle the 6 1/2 hour plane ride but surprisingly they did great. Those little DVD players are fantastic and it helps to have a lap to pass your kid onto occasionally.

We spent a day looking at waterfalls. Hawaii is so beautiful. While there we were like "why do we live in the desert?"

Some of the waterfalls and beaches required a little off roading to get to. The view was amazing and made the crazy ride worth it.

Look at my cute husband and sleepy girl.

Looking at a dead crab.

Megan and her crazy hair. Megan actually left for PA school in North Carolina just a couple of days after we got home. We miss her so much. Every night when Elliot says her prayers she makes sure that we don't forget Megy.

Landon and I were able to go bogey boarding a couple of days. We had so much fun. There was a couple of times where you rolled in a wave and got ocean water up your nose but the rides in between made it worth it. There was a small beach with great waves but it had a lot of people. So sometimes you would knock people over as you came in and sometimes you would get knocked off your board by another bogey boarder. It just made it even more fun.

Kristin, Landon and Aaron waiting for a wave.

Elliot loved the beach. She liked playing in the sand. She would give the ocean a chance until a little wave would knock her over and then she was done with that. After we got home for weeks, everyday she would ask to go to the beach. I wish we could just step out our front door and walk to the beach.

Our beach house. It had 2 kitchens, 4 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms. It was a great choice for vacationing with 12 people. We never felt crowded.

The view from our balcony. Jealous anyone???

Elliot and Jacob. Monkey see, monkey do. Elliot loves her cousin Jacob. She mimics everything her does.

We saw big sea turtles at almost every beach we went to. They will swim right next to you or even near large groups of people.

We spent a day seeing the volcanoes.

Elliot with Grandma and Papa. Thanks again Mom and Dad. We had a wonderful time!

Eldorado Mine and Kayaking

2008-08-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

We went to the Eldorado Mine with Shana, Stewart and Ella and Stewart's family. Stewart's Mom is really nice and she planned this day for everyone. We went on a tour of one of the mines and got to hear some of the stories of a lawless time. It was fun and the mine was actually a cool 60 degrees inside. After the tour we went kayaking at the river.

Elliot and Ella pounding some strawberries. Elliot had no problem digging into all of the food Stewart's Mom brought.

Here is my little family in the kayak. Don't be fooled by the oar in my hand. With Elliot on my lap I was not able to do any of the rowing. Good thing I have a strong husband.

I can't remember exactly what was going on here but it does look like Elliot was trying to jump ship. It is a possibility.

Haircut

2008-08-20T12:25:00.001-07:00

Elliot has had many hair trims at home done by mom to remove her mullet but this was her first professional haircut. She did really good. She was so excited to have Shana cut her hair. She held really still and even let Shana blow dry her hair. It is so nice to have a friend that cuts hair. Elliot has such stranger anxiety that I am pretty sure she would cry if a stranger came near her with scissors. Elliot even made Ella jealous the next day when she told her that Shana had cut her hair. Ella looked at her Mom, grabbed her hair and gave a little whine.

The finished bob. When we got home Landon asked if I purposely had Elliot's hair cut like mine. I told him no and that I just told Shana to make it cute. Which I think she did a great job. Besides there is not alot of hair cut options when the hair on the top of your head still hasnt caught up with bottom.

San Diego

2008-08-20T11:50:00.001-07:00

In July we took a little 3 day trip to San Diego with the Christensens. We decided that Sea World would be the best attraction for toddlers. Ella ended up falling asleep about 15minutes after we arrived and took a pretty long nap but once she woke up the girls had a good time.

I just think this picture is funny. Landon was taking a picture of us looking at the dolphins and happened to get the girl picking her wedgie.

Elliot and Dad on the elmo ride. Sea World has a whole Sesame Street area which the girls were drawn to. Elliot would point to it every time she looked at the map.

Elliot and I took a 3 hour nap when we got back to the hotel. She was so tired that Landon and I could not get her to wake up for dinner. She finally woke up when Ella came in the room. I guess she figured it was worth it to play. While asleep Elliot turned onto her back and started clapping and then stopped and turned back on her side. I think she was dreaming about one of the shows she had seen that day. It was pretty cute.

The next day we went to the beach. Landon and Stewart went boggy boarding while Shana and I tried to keep the girls happy. When Elliot and Ella first got to the beach they wanted nothing to do with the sand. They would complain about the sand sticking to their feet and hands. Elliot gave the water a chance but once she was knocked over by a wave she wanted nothing to do with the ocean.

Shana and I convinced Landon and Stewart to take the girls for a swim so we could just lay on the beach and relax. We definitely enjoyed our 15 minutes of rest. Once the girls went in the water with their dads they realized the ocean wasn't too bad.

Summer fun!

2008-06-30T08:24:00.001-07:00

Eating yummy summer treats.

Playing on the splash pad at the park with aunt Megan. Notice how far away Eliiot is from the water.

We went to Fao Schwartz with Shana and Ella. The girls played with the toys and we stayed out of the heat.

Mt Charleston had a little festival to celebrate the first day of summer. The girls were able to try their first sno cones and got their faces painted. Elliot had a lot of fun in the bounce house and enjoyed the animals at the little petting zoo.

After the festival we went out to lunch. Here are the girls sharing some ice cream. Shana and I are so glad the girls have fun together.

Elliot is 2!

2008-06-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

Elliot turned 2 years old on June 17th. I can't believe we have a 2 year old. Where does the time go? It is amazing how quickly my baby turned into a little girl. So far we are really enjoying this age minus the occasional meltdowns. Elliot is talking so much now. I am constantly amazed at the words she knows.

On Elliot's birthday we went swimming at the YMCA with Ella and Shanna. The kiddie pool is shallow so Shanna and I can relax while we watch the girls play. This has become one of our favorite activities to do this summer since it has gotten too hot for the park. A lot of the parks here in Vegas have splash pads with the toys that spray water but Ella and Elliot will have nothing to do with them.

We celebrated Elliot's birthday with my family on Sunday. I made Elliot's yummy cake and she really enjoyed her presents. My parent's gave Elliot a little trunk full of fairy costumes. She loves to put on her costumes. Every time she wakes up from her nap she sees her trunk and has to put on a costume which includes a dress, shoes, wings, wand, necklace and head band. Of course after all of her gear is on then she wants her post nap cuddles. Believe me it is not so easy to hold a fully equipped fairy.

New painting for Mikki

2008-05-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest painting. My little sis Mikki asked if I would paint this one from a photograph for her. She better like it or else...........

I love having a little girl

2008-05-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

One of Elliot's favorite things to do is wear her plastic high heels that she got for Christmas. Sometimes she even runs in them. I am quite impressed because I am pretty sure that I would fall on my face if I ran in heels. She even tries to wear them outside of the house and I have to explain to her that they are just for play. Here are some videos with her shoes on. Her shoes make the best noise. It just makes me smile when she does really girlie things.

Subway hike.

2008-05-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

We decided to close our semester at UNLV off with a little adventure. The spot we chose was Zion's, Subway Trail. This hike was 8 hours of some of the prettiest country in Utah. The hike has several places where you have to swim through its narrow slot canyons and the water is frigid cold. As you can see in the photos were were smart and brought wetsuits. This time of year they are a must if you want to enjoy the swimming, which is the best part of this hike.

After the swim portions of the trail you are in and out of the river scrambling over a rocky trail. This hike requires a nice pair of shoes that will be completely ruined by the end of the day, but its worth it.

The 8 hour hike ends with an ascent up a giant cliff to the parking lot. If the rest of the hike didn't wear you out this part would, and believe me we were spent well before this point of the hike.

As with most extreme adventures upon completion you can't imagine thinking of doing it again, but 4 days later after the pain wears off I'm ready for more.

El capitan here we come!

The sweetest hike ever.

2008-05-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Some sweaty guy helping the girls down a short drop off.

The water here rushes through this crack in a solid slab of rock.

Kristin was tuckered out at this point in the hike. If she only knew that there was still 3 hours of rock and river scrambling left.

Shana and Kristin showing off the knew spring line of ladies waterwear.

My wet suit with it's painted on abs still doesn't hide my bulbous belly. Next time i'll go for a tighter slimming wet suit.

ready to swim????????

Richard, Patrick, Shana, Andrea, Chris, Me, Kristin, and Stewart on camera.

Fun Day!

2008-04-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted on our blog. Landon has done all the lastest posting. He got tired of waiting for me to get around to it I guess. On Tuesday since Landon and I both had the day off we took Elliot to see the garden at the Belagio (Thanks for the idea Shana!). She really enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful flowers and seeing the live butterflys. Then later that night Elliot helped me make dinner. She helped me pour all of the ingredients into the bowl and then she did most of the mixing. We made stuffed french toast. Yummy!!

So we have been living in our new home for almost a month now. After spending an entire month demoing, rebuilding, tiling (this part was mostly Landon, thank goodness I have a talented and handy husband) and painting plus waiting for our carpet that seemed like it was never going to come, we moved in . Between working 3 nights a week, painting and moving I was definitely not in the mood for decorating. Thankfully my lovely sister came over and helped me decorate. We still have a little ways to go. Landon is working on the landscape and the master bath isnt quite finished yet. Landon is in the middle of finals so in about two weeks he should have a little more time on his hands. So once every thing is complete I will post some pics of the house.

Elmo grows up.

2008-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

We went to see Elmo grows up with Our friends Stewert, Shana, and Elliots buddy Ella.
It turned out to be about the same as watching sesame street on TV only a lot more pricey.
They stopped half way through so the parents could buy their kids Giant Elmo baloons. It was a good strategy because they sold every balloon before they got the show going again. Of course Im not complaining. The girls had a great time, though Ella was ready for bed about 10 minutes before the show ended. Our kids better remember how lucky they are to have parents that will sit through teenagers in furry costumes dancing for 2 hours.

Elliot got a hold of the popcorn and would't let go.
She was nice enough to let us have some though.

Elliot loves hats as long as she gets to pick them out.

2008-04-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

Fun at the park

2008-04-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Anatomy lesson, with Ella and Elliot.

Partners in crime at the landscapers lunch in the park.

Elliot loves peek-a-boo. She screamed so loud that Mom got embarrassed.

Trampoline Adventure.

2008-03-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Elliot And Ella doing the best they can to jump with the big kids.

Easter egg hunt at The Christensens.

2008-03-22T19:46:00.001-07:00

red rock hike with the christensens

2008-03-21T23:05:00.001-07:00

Elliot and Ella, throwing rocks into the water.

Our amigos, Stewert, Shana, and Ella as seen through a waterfall at redrock.

Kristin And Elliot in a small cove under a waterfall.

DRESS-UP FUN

2008-02-24T16:33:00.001-08:00

Elliot with all of mom's swimsuits on

Elliots trip to pakistan

creative play

2008-01-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

Dakota decided to clean the crumbs out of a cheezits bag and got stuck. Luckily Elliot came to her rescue. You usually expect to have to tell your kids not to play with plastic bags. I don't know if we should call our puggle crafty or just stupid.

latest paintings

2008-01-16T14:19:00.001-08:00

Here is how i spent christmas break other than watching Elliot and reading my collection of louis l'amour books. Now it's back to school for me.

cabin trip

2008-01-16T14:03:00.000-08:00

We took a trip with friends to their cabin at Brian Head. Kristin and Elliot remembered that they aren't crazy about the snow, but they had fun anyway. Elliot had more fun playing with Ella, Stuart and Shana's baby girl.
Check out my friend chris's sweet moon boots.

Meeting Santa Clause...

2007-12-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

We are not sure how Elliot's Christmas is going to be this year since she did not make a very good impression on Santa Clause. Landon and I knew this would be Elliot's reaction since she has always shown a dislike for men (except Daddy) especially with strangers with facial hair. But we just couldn't help ourselves. Our nephews Jacob and Peyton however behaved themselves very nicely (at least during this time of the night).

Magical Forest

2007-12-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

We went to the Magical Forest with some family. It was very cold but that did not stop Elliot from wandering around and having fun. We rode on a little train and the carousel and looked at all of the lights. Elliot and Kristin tasted their first funnel cake. Very greasy but tasted pretty good.

Bubbles

2007-11-29T05:44:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pics of Elliot blowing bubbles with her dad. It is so fun to watch her discover new things.

One year ago...

2007-11-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me how much Elliot has changed in just one year. Here are pictures of her last year at Halloween. She wore the pumpkin costume to her cousin's birthday party. The lamb costume was homemade. Cotton balls glued to a onesie worked out really well. Elliot had a good time this year passing out candy at her cousin Jacobs house. She enjoyed some candy. She was eating 2 suckers at once. Too bad I forgot my camera though.

Our little fairy

2007-10-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

We took Elliot to the park with her halloween costume on to get some cute photos. Like most 1 year olds, Elliot did not want to stay still to get her picture taken. There was just way too many fun things to see and touch. Thankfully we got at least 1 photo out of the 30 we took that worked.

Hiking

2007-10-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our hike. Elliot had so much fun playing on the rocks with Dad.

Getting outdoors

2007-10-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

The weather has been so nice lately. We live only 10 minutes away from Red Rock Canyon so we have been going on hikes and walks when we can. Here is a clip of Elliot on one of our walks. She has so much fun being a big girl.

2007-10-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Our little baby has finally decided to be a big girl and start walking. She took her first steps in August but didn't decide to start walking all the time until about 3 weeks ago. It is so much fun to see her toddling along. She loves to wear shoes. She is always bringing her shoes to us to put on her feet. We love her so much.

2007-10-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is the result of unsupervised ravioli eating. I definitely get to blame this mess on Dad.

When I was cleaning out the fridge Elliot grabbed an onion out of the drawer and gave it a little taste. Instead of taking it away I decided to grab the camera. Strangely she didn't seem to mind raw onion.

2007-10-07T15:26:00.001-07:00

My best bud Lisa put pictures of her daughter Ensley in different situations acting like their dog. So I thought I'd share some of Elliots dog mimicking moments as well.

2007-08-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy just got a new puppy. She is a great dane and her name is Gracie. Elliot and her cousin Jacob had fun playing with Gracie after Sunday dinner. We can't wait until Gracie is full grown so Elliot can ride her since she is going to be the size of a pony.

2007-08-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of the time we had left this summer before Landon starts up school again. We drove down to California for a couple days. We went to Ventura Beach. Elliot thought the water was a little too cold but the sand was delicious. We visited the LA zoo where Elliot called almost all of the animals doggies. Its hard with a limited vocabulary. One day was spent in Santa Barbara on the wharf. We went to the sea center. Elliot was able to touch star fish and sea cucumbers. Kristin's Dad was in California for work so we were able to bum free dinners every night (thanks Dad!). We had a great time but also learned the difficulties of traveling with a one year old.

We have a 1 year old!

2007-07-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

Elliot turned 1 on June 17th (Father's Day!). She is getting so big and sassy. She had 2 birthday parties. One in Vegas with the Grande side and one in Utah with the Davidson side. She enjoyed her cake and all her presents. We just love her so much and the smiles and sunshine she has brought into our home.

North Carolina

2007-06-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun on our vacation with Lisa, Evan, and Ensley. It was so green and beautiful. We stayed in a condo in Lake Lure (4hours from Evan and Lisa's house). There was so many things to do. We toured the huge Biltmore House and gardens, visited chimney rock (Last of the Mohicans was filmed there), saw a few of the many waterfalls in the area and spent lots of time in the resort pools. We rented a boat on our last day and spent the morning relaxing on the lake.

We had a great time with the Mcnabbs. Elliot really enjoyed getting to know Ensley. We can't wait to go on another trip with them!

2007-05-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

2007-05-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

In the tub or in the pool Elliot loves to play in the water.

2007-05-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

The adventures of crawling...

Easter Weekend

2007-04-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Utah over Easter weekend. We went to Miki's beautiful wedding. And we really enjoyed visiting with family and friends that we have not seen for a while.

Elliot is crawling now and so we have all new adventures in front of us as we chase her down.

Pictures of Elliot

2007-03-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

Trip to the Zoo

2007-03-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

We think Elliot has a little Dr. Doolittle in her because she is always talking to our dog Dakota and all the animals at Grandma's house. So we decided to take her to our fabulous zoo here in Las Vegas.

Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy's wedding

2007-03-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

Elliot enjoyed her first taste of cake.