The rest of March

Birthday festivities included swimming at the over crowded pool and then dinner at the over crowded Olive Garden. Ellie has been asking to eat at the Olive Garden so we agreed to and well....it was the Olive Garden. Jared and I always struggle going out to eat. It's definitely for convenience and not always because it's out of this world taste. When we eat out we almost always agree that I could make it so much better. 

Ellie also requested to have her cousins over for her Birthday party. We ate a yummy dinner, the weather was nice enough to eat outside and play and we ate cake and ice cream. Perfectly simple.

For crazy hair day at school Ellie sported a birds nest. 

Lucy, my little buddy while Ellie's at preschool. Hard to believe we will have half the day together, EVERY day when Ellie starts Kindergarten.

The weather is so hit of miss this time of year, so when the sun come out we sit in the front room and bask in it. The back of the love seat is her favorite.

Finally dug up the rest of the grass along the fence. I have big plans for the yard this year. More roses and lots of flowers all along the fence.

We celebrate St. Patrick's Day in our house. Leprechaun footprints, green pancakes and corn beef and cabbage. 

Trying out of new Pterodactyl kite at the park.  

Ellie took my order and brought me my "food" . I think it was a hamburger, french fries and a diet coke. Sound about right.

Evening stroll to the 7-11 down the street for slurpees. Ellie used her chore money and was so excited to get some change back. 

Put together our fairy gardens, Ellie's birthday gift from Grandma. 

Walking to church. I think this might become a more regular thing.

Sunday night pudding

Well check ups for both girls. Ellie got her shots for Kindergarten and Lucy her 18 Month shots. I hate seeing the kids get shots, I usually tear up too. Grateful for healthy kids and we celebrated with ice cream and diet coke at Mcdonalds. 

I had to go check out the Ogden River, with the snow melting and frequent rain it was high and running fast. 

By the end of the summer Lucy is going to be a pro on that trike.

Ellie Ann Medley - 5 YEARS OLD

Honorary photos for Miss Ellie. Oh man so many emotions about Ellie turning 5. She is such a great kid. Jared and I were just talking about how Ellie will compliment us or others. I love her ability to do this. "Mom this is a really good dinner" " I love your painting that't beautiful"  etc. etc. This is a testament to the type of kid she is. She is loving, friendly, outgoing at times and shy the next. She is becoming more confident and brave to try new things. She is excelling at preschool, and she's loved by her teachers.

In the car on the way home the other day she told me she told a boy she liked him and he "freaked out".....um excuse me?! I asked what she said she like about the boy and she said "I told him I thought he was cute, he freaked out, then I chased him" .......  :D Oh boy we are in for it!

I love watching her learn new things, and develop new interests. She enjoys art and sports. She is as energetic as ever, always bouncing and jumping and pretending to be an animal. She doesn't realize how big she is and jumps on me constantly. 

She cares for Lucy and does the cutest baby talk to her. She is helpful and I think she enjoys Lucy being around 95% of the time. She's not happy when trying to build a train track or build with legos. 

I could go on and on but I just I'll wrap up by saying how overwhelmed I am by the love others have for Ellie. Family of course loves her but our friends. Friend of ours that we've known for years and even people who've only known her a short time, like her sweet primary teachers. Her primary teacher brought her balloons and a cupcake. Our sweet neighbor, who act as an honorary grandma brought her a gift and takes her on regular walks in the afternoons. It's just so overwhelming and I feel extremely blessed to have people like this in our lives and especially our children's lives. 

5 IS GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!

March - Visit from Will and Stephen

Its been long enough since I took some of these photos that I really have to wrack my mind to remember the event or occasion. Going out to ice cream to our favorite Farr's ice cream, I think I was going stir crazy, or maybe it was for having FHE every Monday since the beginning of the year and that is deserving of a reward. 

We were so excited to have my brother Will and his partner Stephen come visit us early in the month. Will has never been to Ogden and I've been dying for him to visit since we moved here. We lucked out and had great weather and we were able to show them all the great things Ogden has to offer, along with a trip to Antelope Island and Salt Lake. We had such a great time!

We walked through downtown and visited the train station. They were having a train show and Ellie was able to ride a miniature train and get free popcorn. She was in heaven.

We went to Antelope Island, visited the ranch, saw tons of buffalo and walked out to the lake. Ellie brought her kite, it was probably too windy but we had a few successful runs. 

We went to Salt Lake the next day and got to see everything we wanted to before the weather got crazy. We ate at Harmon's, we always love the salad bar, it's quiet and we don't worry about disturbing a hip restaurant with our kids. We walked around temple square, through the visitors center and then we were able to watch organ practice at the conference center. We walked through a few block downtown, drove through the avenues and headed home just before it started raining and snowing. 

We really loved having Will and Stephen here. We just love sharing this awesome place where we live with the ones we love!