34

Still feels weird to say 34 but I don't mind it.

So my sweetheart this year said honey you should go somewhere for your birthday (a little weekend getaway). I could not believe this was coming out of his mouth. He is very money concious and this was not really something I ever thought he would come up with. I was so excited and called my best friend Julie in Oregon and told her what Ry wanted me to do for my birthday and she said let's go to Arizona. Since the nice weather is almost a guarantee there I said let's do it! So we picked a date, booked flights and Julie had hotel arrangements made since she works for Hilton and has great hookups virtually anywhere we would want to go. I have never been away from my kiddos that long and Ryan had never had the kids by himself that long so I made him lists of all the important things to remember which of course made him think I that I thought he didn't know what he was doing but there's lots of little everyday things Dad's don't really ever deal with. In the end I don't think he used my list and every time we talked he kept telling me how easy it was with the kids! Right..... Anyway I am blessed for having an awesome husband who loves me enough to send me away for some R & R and will never forget it. The only problem is I want more trips like this one now. It was the best!!!

Julie and I just back from the pool!

Julie and I out to dinner on my Birthday,

having my favorite food - Sushi yummmmm!!!

did a lot of this!!!!

Treated ourselves to a massage, pedi and

mani at the spa in the hotel

My buddy!

Went to Mac in the mall and got our makeup done!

Snuggled!!!!

It was an absolute blast and gave me such a good chance to relax and catch up with my friend who I really don't see much now that we aren't in Oregon anymore. And when I got home I had this waiting for me!!!! My family is too good to me!

And they helped me blow out the candles!

Please bear with me on the old posts I just have to play catch up until I'm caught up!

Rewind / Catch up on Summer time......

It was rough going in the beginning watching my frustrated child in tears/ until.........I looked up " teach your kid how to ride a bike" on youtube. I swear I LOVE youtube for its tutorials. After her Coach and I watched the video and got her out on the street with our newly learned skills, she had it down in a matter of a couple hours.










We went to California for Ryan's grandma Cassies' funeral in June. She was a great woman whom we are all missing dearly especially her husband of 62 years

Celebrated 8 years of marriage with this guy!

Lots of this going on over the summer with our cute friends/neighbors!!!!

Enjoyed a quick but much needed visit to Oregon!

Stood in line at Deseret Book in downtown Salt Lake in July on a 100+ degree day with my little troopers for a chance to meet Glenn Beck.

When it was my turn I thanked him for all he is doing and snuck a hug in there. He was very kind and asked each of my girls their names.

Mission Accomplished.

Ryan has a hard time finding people his own size to pick on but all his kids, neices, and nephews think he's pretty fun! This was Pioneer Day with the fam!

And Lys with her awesome swim teacher Jamie really made huge strides with her swimming and loves it.

Bella has not really ever loved swim but with the help of her teacher also named Jamie she is much more comfortable and had a ton of fun with it this year.

Ok now I feel better almost like I've been cleansed and I can move on to some more recent happenings! Thanks for making it all the way down this crazy long post!

BABY LAYNIE IS ONE!!!

It seems so crazy that one year ago we were spending our last night together as a family of 4 in Oregon.

I still remember the pure joy of holding this beautiful, precious little baby in my arms for the first time.

And now our big girl is ONE, WOW!!!!

I tried my skills in cake building and constructed this out of fondant. It was fun and I had to do it because I'm trying to keep up with the Jones's out here in Utah.

And she loved every bite of it!!!! We had a fun party at home with all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins and it was a great time! We are so grateful for this sweet little spirit and the joy and hillarity she brings into our family. She's always making us laugh, is vocal when she sees food and it's not in her mouth, loves to help wash the girls hair in the tub and eat the bubbles, is beginning to walk but isn't in a hurry which is fine with me and is a snuggler only on her terms tho and at her one year check weighed in just under 24 lbs so she is a great arm workout for me!

Father's Day!

This year we spent actual Father's Day driving home from California from Ryan's Grandma's Funeral so we didn't do too much celebrating that day. So the girls and I made it up to him the next day when he got home from work. We had been working on the sign for a couple weeks prior to Father's Day and the girls and I came up with an idea to play restaurant. He had no idea what or when we were going to do for Father's Day so it was fun to have it be a suprise. They both wore little aprons and hats (Bella a visor and Lys a crocheted princess crown) but you get the idea! Anyway, they greeted him at the door and Welcomed him to Loftin's Diner and seated him at our table, which had him laughing right away. We made his favorite Spaghetti Pie, homemade garlic breadsticks, salad, and he had a milkshake for dessert and we had a couple Hughson Football highlight videos transfered onto DVD for him so he could actually watch them again, which was a fun surprise!

I am very grateful for the father that Ryan is to our children for too many reasons to list. Just as an example as I write this he is downstairs (after a very long day driving home from Idaho where he's been almost all week) having a "Slumber party" with the girls.....it's things like that that make me want to cry happy tears and make me feel very blessed in life.

D-land

Our First trip to Disneyland was splendid and full of twists and turns.
Right after we left our house Ryan was on the phone (working) with someone important and I heard a strange but somewhat familiar noise in the back and turned around to see Izzie barfing up her entire apple she had devoured right before we boarded the SS Loftin not even on the fwy yet. Pulled over and took care of that little mess and on to St. George we were.
The next day we drove the rest of the way to Irvine where we were staying at the Hyatt. No puking hooray!!

Dad and Lys patiently waiting for the tram.....

Can u tell this crew is a little excited!!
Just off the Peter Pan ride and they loved it, then they had the misfortune of going on the snow white ride and are still mad at me for it.

Alyss, Mom, and booboo
Sheer happiness - this kid loves horses and would've been fine

just doing this all day long.

tea cups!

By far my very favorite pic from our trip!!

chillin in Minnie's pad

meeting beautiful princess Aurora!

If she could've granted a wish I would've wished for no more puking. However, on the 2nd and final night Lys started complaining of a tummy ache and loh and behold started barfing in the bushes at Disneyland during the firework show and again before we boarded the tram to go our car that night, and again at 4:30am. The next morning when we were heading out to go home Ryan said he wasn't feeling well so I got my supermom cape on and got all the luggage, Ryan, baby, and the girls down to the car, checked out, grabbed some breakfast in the hotel and came back to the car to assume my position as driver and found Ryan BARFING in the bushes. I drove all the way home while Ryan had uncontrollable hiccups that lasted literally ALL day all while clutching his trusty barf catcher. Did I feel a little sick while all this was going on heck yes but I held my ground. You might wonder did we have a great time???? HECK YES we did!??!?! Did we mark our territory every where we went..... YES. Did we build lasting memories and strengthen our family bond......HECK YES!

OUR FAMILY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND WAS PRICELESS!!!!!!!

Like Father, Like Daughter!

Check out Bella Boo's face in this pic.........

and now Ryan's in this one. (another blurry one dangit)

These were two random pics not related whatsoever.

3 Years!

The title of my post is how long Alyssa has been in Preschool for.....in hindsight maybe it would have been sufficient to just go with 1 year but the child was so ready for it by 2 years old I had to go for it and at the time I wasn't really thinking ahead that it would be 3 years but nonetheless I wouldn't have done it any other way! She is such a bright, responsible, smart, great big sister, and is genuinely excited about learning and we're so excited she's a pre-school grad and ready to move on to the big time now!!! WOOO HOOO way to go SIS!!! I love this sweet face so much

Teacher Jennifer, Alyssa and Jessica
Jaxon and Alyssa! Way to go guys( and yes those are garbage bags)!!!!

Gymnastics is fantastics!

The eldest Loftin ladies are both in gymnastics and we attended there first "Exhibition meet" last week!

Ta da!!!

ooooh the concentration!

This pic is priceless!Dangit all to heck why did this have to turn out blurry.

Great job ladies! You rocked the floor!!!