It's time for an update.

Okay, I know it's been a while.

But oh my gosh has life been crazy.

Working, playing with baby girl, taking care of baby girl, playing Uno and eating otter pops with the husband, organizing everything and making sure we are ready to move (3 weeks!), meal planning on pinterest, taxes, finding new insurance, organizing photos cause I have like a million, working on Michael's mission scrapbook, and overall just having so much crazy fun.

Oh and the craziness doesn't end.

I'm making 60 cupcakes for a bridal shower tomorrow.

Oh gosh sometimes I feel like the list of things to do never ends.

But at the end of the day I am so very grateful for family, for my boy, and for baby girl.

They make this crazy life the best!

Below is like 44 pictures or something.

So read on if you dare.

The next pictures consist of Olivia running around the house.

One Sunday, we sat as a family listening to Michael read mission journals.

During this time Olivia was not getting as much attention as she is used to, so she began running around the house.

I am not even kidding when I tell you that she ran around 25 times.

She thought it was the funniest thing ever.

(We kind of did too:)

I'm thinking I'm in for it with her, I mean 25 times.

Seriously just watching her made me tired.

Dying of laughter and hardly out of breath!

Michael got his first letter of acceptance from Williamette.

It is a school in Salem, Oregon.

A lawyer he worked for one summer recommended he apply here.

So he did and not only was he accepted but he was offered a $12,000 scholarship.

We are still waiting to hear from one more school.

But we are a little tempted by this offer!

Playing in the snow for probably the last time this year.

Sad it only snowed like 2 times this winter.

Singing with dad and dancing.

It's a favorite of hers.

Having a picnic with the twins and Harrison.

She loves them so much.

And is always looking for them to play and cries when they leave for school in the mornings.

I think she thinks they are her sisters and brother.

So needless to say she'll struggle with the move a little bit.

Thank goodness for facetime!

We celebrated Emerson's 18th birthday.

We went to Chili's for dinner and then had the usual cake and presents.

This year, Emerson wanted me to make him a homemade yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

So I did, and I'm not going to lie the hours in the kitchen baking were definitely worth it:)

 

Olivia really loved giving Emerson his presents and then of course begging for candy the entire time.

She definitely knows a candy box when she sees one.

 

Soph is getting married this summer:)

So we went to a bridal fair at Thanksgiving point.

Oh my gosh, it was so fun.

Especially getting to sample all the food.

Sophia, mom, me, Becky Galloway, Leah Galloway. (Friends from our ward).

The next few pictures are of us playing dodgeball on the tramp.

We played against the twins, Harrison and some of their friends.

Yep we dominated the game!

Me, Emerson, Sophia, and Derek (Emerson's friend).

And then something hilarious happened.

There was a slight rip/hole in our tramp which we tried to avoid during the game.

Apparently I forgot about the hole because while running from the ball I stepped right into it and Emerson ran to block me so I wouldn't get hit adding just enough weight to completely rip the tramp in half. It happened so fast and before I knew it I was falling right through the crack!

 

Here we are!

 

 

Olivia loves doing puzzles and is getting so good at putting the pieces where they go.

As you can tell by my her face she is dead serious about it.

 

She loves to multitask.

Brushing teeth and walking around with her popper.

She now has BARELY enough hair for little pig tails!

Yay!

I really think they are the cutest.

She's looking so grown up nowadays.

I have no idea what face this is.

But it was much to funny not to share.

Went for a romantic walk on the golf trail with this cute boy.

We even saw a small herd of deer which was a bit scary.

We drove down to Provo one afternoon, picked up Taco Bell and took Olivia to feed the ducks at BYU.

She was in heaven and screaming Du the whole time.

There were even turtles!

She was dang excited the entire time and loved throwing the bread to them.

As soon as they would eat it she would back up and let out a scream of pure joy.

It was absolutely precious.

Taking a Sunday walk up the street to see the kitty.

Another favorite of hers.

She was meowing the entire time.

Little cutie.

Blowing bubbles.

This child is constantly on the go.

Literally running around all day minus about 1 1/2 hours for her nap.

So it is only natural for her to completely pass out at 7:00 pm every night.

We sure love her.

And are definitely living up our last few weeks in Utah.

Park City.

 My mom, Sophia, me and Olivia took a little day trip right up to Park City to see my cute Aunt Tiffany.

We went to lunch and then of course shopped for hours and hours.

It was wonderful.

Here is what happens when she shops with mom for 4 straight hours!

Engagement celebration.

I am such a fan of celebrating or at least recognizing all of our anniversaries.

First time we ever saw eachother, first date, first kiss, first hug, engagement day, finding out we were pregnant with Olivia and so much more.

It's just so fun.

And makes me get those butterflies again that I definitely had at those moments.

I just love our love story.

Anyway, to celebrate our engagement anniversary we decided to take one last getaway before the move.

We also wanted to take advantage of our built-in babysitters.

I found this deal on Living Social for an old English bed and breakfast place in Salt Lake city.

So that's what we did.

First, we went to dinner at a little pizza place.

It ended up being pretty good especially since we had been driving around for 45 minutes trying to find a restaurant that we could park at instead of having to park in a lot that charged $10.

On the way back to our place, we stopped at the gas station to get some treats.

We wanted to go to this cute bakery but barely missed it.

Sad.

Right when we got to our room we immediately turned the t.v. on to channel 4.

Because we most definitely watched the Bachelor Finale.

It was pretty good. 

And I've come to the conclusion that I really like Courtney despite the fact that pretty much all of America hates her.

I decided that I would definitely be a brat if I was on a show like that fighting for my Michael.

So I like her, and I hope her and Ben are happy.

Anyway, we had so much fun being together and talking and all that fun stuff that doesn't happen as much with a busy 18 month old.

Michael wanted to sleep with the windows open but I didn't.

Even though we were on the 2nd floor I was still way freaked out about a crazy creeper climbing up a ladder and into our room.

So it stayed close.

And we got kind of hot.

But oh well, at least we were safe!

That morning breakfast was served to us in our room.

It was so good and so fun to be served in bed.

After breakfast we quickly got ready and of course raced home to see the Oli-do-de.

We missed her so much.

And she definitely missed us.

Here are a few pictures:

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 The English bed/breakfast.

 Our room had a fireplace!

 The happy couple 3 years later!

(Nice cheesy smile Michael)

Watching the Bachelor with our sparkling cider.

So romantic.

I'm grateful for my cute husband and fun overnighters.

And I'm of course grateful for a cute baby girl to come home to.

3 years.

Friday, March 13th 2009 will forever be I day I cherish.

As we celebrate this special day I thought it would be cute to look back at our journal to see exactly what we were both feeling.

Here are a few tidbits:

 (These are random parts of our journals that really stood out to me.)

Michael:

"Well when it was time for the big moment; I took her by the hand and led her up the hill to where we could see the temple and moved to where I was inbetween her and the temple.  I gave her a long hug and I could tell she was nervous because she wouldn’t let go of me because she knew that when she did I was going to pop the question.  Finally I just had to pull away from her and then I got down on one knee and said the following: “My beautiful Bella, you are my starry sky.  It truly was written in the stars that we would find each other and be more than amazing.  You are my motivation and my inspiration and I’m so excited for every moment and memory that God still has written in the stars for us.  Will you marry me?” 

"We had a pretty emotional moment in her room that night.  The Spirit and my love for her were so thick they were overwhelming."

Me:

  "The whole time he was purposing I felt the spirit so strong. I looked at him and everything seemed so familiar. I knew that I had been waiting for this moment for 19 1/2 years. I felt so safe and so good to know that we had finally found each other."

"The feelings were overwhelming. They were really exciting but also very spiritual. I can’t really explain how I felt about Michael by the end of the night. He meant more to me than he had earlier that morning. Everything about him is absolutely perfect for me. Everything he does makes me happy.  I love him so much and I know that my love will only continue to grow stronger and stronger with every moment we spend together or apart. He is a part of my life now and he will be forever! And I couldn’t be more excited about that."

 Sometimes we both get caught up in the hustle and bustle of school, working, being parents, and all the other stresses of life.

But I love looking back on that special day and remembering how much we loved each other and how excited we were to start our life together.

It's been 3 amazing years since then.

Some days, weeks, even months have been hard but one thing I know is that night, I made one of the best decisions of my life.

I said yes to the best man I know.

The man I get to spend forever and ever with.

And I couldn't be happier and more in love.

Happy 3 year engagement day love!

Good friends.

After about 2 years.

We were finally reunited.

Kenzie got home in November from her mission in Texas and it has taken us nearly 4 months to finally get together.

These 2 girls are seriously 2 of my best friends and I'm sure they always will be.

The memories we have together are seriously the best.

I love that even after long periods of time we can get together and talk and laugh like we just saw each other yesterday.

The not knowing how to breath on a horse, the teaching Kenze a new term, getting stuck on Paige's purse, walking into a Coldstone that smelled like vomit, wondering if there were eggs in the cake batter flavored icecream, and the constant laughing about all the crazy things we did made me realize how lucky I am to have good friends.

Sometime, I'll have to post about some of those funny moments.

Pigtails and some funnies.

 

Yes, it is true, she now can have pigtails.

I think her daily head massages worked:)

Ahhh I just love this cute girl.

She's kind of looking like a toddler now.

And definitely acting like one!

Where to begin.

This one is a such a spunky little thing and keeps us on our toes every second she is awake.

Let me just share a few funnies.

So, she has this cute little toothbrush that she loves to brush her teeth with.

Every morning we go into the bathroom and brush our teeth together.

Well after a few days  of watching me she has become a pro at the whole thing.

I was brushing my teeth and leaned over the sink to spit.  As I looked up, I saw her squat right next to me and make the exact sound and spit right onto the floor. 

She was so dang proud of herself.

And I'm not going to lie, despite the puddle of spit on the floor I was proud too.

So every morning when we brush, she proudly does her little squat and spit every time I do.

I love it!

As I'm sure I've shared in previous posts, she can be a bit violent.

Which I will admit she got from me.

(It's a little embarrassing watching my family videos!)

So...she was nicely playing with her toys as Michael and I were sitting on the carpet next to her watching.

Well Michael decided to grab her and put her on his stomach.

Well she was not happy about this at all and immediately started squeeling and flopping around.

(Michael was in a teasing mood and wouldn't let her down.)

So I stepped in to save her and told him to let her go.

So he did.

And just as she sat up she lifted her little arm up and slapped him right in the face.

And this wasn't just a little baby slap.

It was a full on loud hard slap.

Well what we should have done was grabbed her arm and told her "No, do not hit daddy."

But we couldn't.

We were both practically rolling on the floor with laughter.

Sad, bad parent award right here.

Well after a couple seconds we realized we better get control of ourselves so that we could try and help teach her not to hit.

I have no idea how we are going to teach this child if every time she does something naughty we laugh.

It is just so dang funny to see this little mini thing be so stubborn and get so mad.

But we will do better:)

She can also be very loving at the same time. She loves to give long tight hugs.

I think that might be one reason behind the hitting. Because she knows right after she hits that she needs to say sorry and give a big hug.

Maybe that's why she hits?!

Olivia loves to play peekaboo with Michael before bed.

Michael will say, "Where's Olivia?" 

And she will pull the covers over her little head and then pull them down when he says, "there she is!!"

Well one afternoon, they were playing and after a couple times he said, "Where's Olivia?"

And no response.

So he said it again.

And nothing.

So, he lifted back the covers and she was completely zonked haha.

Funny little thing.

Anytime she sees a door open  she will immediately run over to it and close it no matter what she is doing.

Lately, she likes to say "num num" after she eats something good.

She sounds exactly like one of those wookie bears from Starwars haha.

We have this full length mirror right outside our bedroom.

She loves to look at herself in it right before bathtime.

She will stand right in front of it and say, "mee."

She also likes to suck her little Budda tummy in and out and give herself kisses.

That's all for now.

I know there's more.

Cause every moment with that girl is simply the best.

She is always putting a smile on her dad and I's face.

We love her so very much.

And feel so blessed that she's ours.