Jordanelle

This August our parents treated us to a week at Jordanelle Reservoir in Heber. Oh how wonderful it was to get out of town and enjoy the fresh air and cooler temps. We rented a couple of gorgeous houses about 1/2 mile from the reservoir and just hung out! We had so much fun boating, riding the SeaDoos, playing on the beach, eating yummy food, playing games, hot tubbing, shopping and just enjoying the beautiful scenery. Ariyah loved spending so much time with her aunts, uncles and cousins. What a blessing it is to be together as a family for a whole week! Sadly, I didn't take many pictures. I guess that is what being nine months pregnant does to you!

Jonah and Willis playing in the sand

Baby Lilly staying out of the sun and the wind!

Ariyah could play all day in the sand with Zander.

How cute is that?

Spending quality time with my sisters and brothers makes me so grateful for a large family. It is so much fun to be with them. But saying goodbye is so hard! We miss you all so much. Can't wait until Christmas. Four more months...

This is the Place!

In the middle of July Emily came with the boys and little Lilly. We were so excited to get to spend a whole month with them! One of the first places we ventured to was This is the Place Heritage Park. Wendy came with Zander too. We had a great time playing with all the kids. What a fun place to hang out during the summer!

Zander and Willis playin' on the train...

Travelin' in the caboose!

Ariyah's first pony ride! I wasn't sure how she would react, but she loved it!
In fact, she begged Titi Wendy to "do it again!"

All aboard!

Panning for gold. Ariyah didn't find any, but all the cousins did.

We had so much fun playing with the cousins! We miss you guys!

Workin' at the carwash...

One very warm, sunny day in July Ariyah and her Daddy decided that the cars needed to be washed. Ariyah rolled her little car out next to Daddy's car and got to it!

Fourth of July Parade

One of our favorite family traditions is to go to the West Bountiful Fourth of July Parade. Chris and I have been going since we have moved to Utah, and Ariyah hasn't missed a year yet. I absolutely love the hometown feel of the parade. It is short, fun and they throw LOTS of candy, which is a ton of fun for the kids. This year the parade was such a treat because it was so cool that morning. It felt like late spring rather than summer! We had a great time with the cousins. The boys were so sweet to Ariyah and helped her collect a ton of candy.

We love the Fourth of July and everything that goes with celebrating the holiday!

My Silly Girl

I just love this fun-loving girl! She loves to be silly and loves to try to make me laugh. She definitely takes after her Daddy that way.

More Cali love...

After spending some time in L.A., we moved down the coast to Cardiff. We stayed in a very quaint little bed and breakfast called Cardiff-By-The-Sea Lodge. It was perfect! We were only about two blocks from the beach. The weather was absolutely pristine. Every day we woke to blue skies and cool temps. It really was a little bit of heaven on earth! We had a fantastic time spending the days on the beach with Stephanie, Gil, Nick and Zoey. Ariyah LOVES playing with her cousins!

Ahhh....need I say more?

Ariyah was just so happy to play in the sand all day long. It was perfect.

The cousins played and played and played. Cousin Nick was so great with his little cousin.

Zoey and Ariyah had some fun girly time too!

OK, does she look like she loves the beach, or what? She would literally roll in the sand as if she were trying to just soak it all in. Ariyah is definitely a beach lover! I cannot wait to take her back to this little slice of Cali perfection. Road trip, anyone?

California love...

In May we took a long trip to California to visit family and friends. We wanted to make sure to get a summer vacation in before our baby came. So, we packed up the car and headed to L.A. to meet up with our loved ones.

We had a great time visiting with the Cordova side of the family, attending a Davenport family reunion, and of course, seeing Mickey Mouse too!

I took this picture of us while we were flying around on the Dumbo ride. Ariyah doesn't look like she is having fun, but she really was. Granted, it was 9:30 p.m. and we had been at Disneyland ALL DAY! If we look a little giddy, that's why!

Ariyah loves carousels. Here she is with her Prince Daddy.

These are not great pictures, but if you look close you can see Granny Najor, Chris and Ariyah enjoying a ride on the teacups. Ariyah was so excited to ride the big teacups and kept talking about it all day.

In jail at in Toontown!

Disneyland was a lot of fun this time around. Ariyah was timid about some of the rides and downright scared on some of the others, but overall, she had a great time. I loved experiencing Disneyland through her eyes. I hope we can make this an annual trip!

Auntie Andrea was so kind to organize a Cordova family BBQ while we were in L.A. It was wonderful to see her, Uncle Chris and all the Cordova clan. We absolutely LOVE spending time with the Cordova side of the family. We always have GREAT food and even GREATER company. Ariyah had fun getting to know her family better too. We spent a perfect afternoon eating, talking and enjoying each other.



Thanks Auntie Andrea for playing bubbles! Ariyah had a great time hanging out with you, Uncle Chris and with cousin Nick too. What great memories we have of the time we spend with the Cordova family!

Dance class!

In January, Ariyah started a little dance class. She wasn't too sure about dance class at first, but after a few times, she really began to look forward to it. We could not have asked for a better teacher. Miss Michelle loves little Ariyah and loves to teach dance. She has the patience of a saint!

I didn't get around to taking pictures until the last day of class (I know, bad mommy), but hey, better late than never!

Here's Ariyah in her first "tutu". She loves to twirl around the house in it.

On the last day of class Miss Michelle had the girls be a marching band. Ariyah LOVED playing the drums!

Then, she had the girls dress up like one of the Disney Princesses and dance a "solo." Ariyah chose to be Snow White.


We can't wait for dance class to start up again after the summer break. Ariyah asks me all the time "where is Miss Michelle?" and "when is dance class?" What fun it is to see her learning new things and exploring the things her body can do. I hope she sticks with it!

Asleep on the kitchen floor...

Ariyah isn't one to fall asleep in weird places, but I came down one afternoon to find her asleep on the kitchen floor. I could not resist taking a couple pictures!


I love how she is all curled up with her blankie. She stayed that way for over an hour. Who would have thought the kitchen floor would be a good napping spot?

Denver here we come!

In April, we took a little road trip to Denver to visit our dear friends the Westenskows. They opened their beautiful home to us and showed us a great time. Stacey took such great care of us. I felt so spoiled! The kids had a great time playing together. They played so nicely all together and seemed to look forward to seeing each other each morning.

Denver is a beautiful city! We enjoyed seeing downtown Denver, the Denver Aquarium (definitely worth the trip!), and the beautiful Red Rock Amphitheater. We can't wait to go back!

Me and Stace and the kiddos! What fun!

Thank you to our sweet friends! We miss you!

More Easter Fun...

As part of our Easter fun, this year we decided to go to the Thanksgiving Point Easter Egg Hunt. It was really cute and fun, but REALLY, REALLY cold that day! It felt like the middle of winter, rather than spring!

One of the little activities the kiddos could do was ride the cow train. Here's Ariyah "enjoying" a ride!

The best part of the day was the candy, of course. Yum!

All that cold and fun must have worn her out. She fell asleep on the way home with the candy still in her hand. You'll notice she still has quite a grip on that candy stick despite the fact that she is sleeping. Love it!

Then on Easter Day, Ariyah got a big kick out of collecting the Easter Eggs the Easter Bunny left for her. She was so excited to find jelly beans inside of each one.

Here she is following the trail of eggs down the stairs...

A new ball! And, more jelly beans! The Easter Bunny is so AWESOME!

Checking out her basket...

Later that day, she discovered the chocolate bunny...

We had a wonderful Easter with our sweet girl.