Visitors from Minnesota

Right after Faye's Party, we had company fly in from the Great White North.  Aunt Gin and Mckay!  This was Mckay's first time visiting Utah, so we made a list of things he wanted to see and began ticking them off.  Number one on the list was to visit Temple Square.  In attempts to be efficient, we took Trax down town since Mckay had never been on a train.

Waiting at the train station.  Note the smoke in the back ground!  Gotta love wild fire season. 

Faye was happy to bring her new Sophia toy and her new necklace on the journey.

 We have proof of the train ride!

Me and Auntie Gin.

Faye and her Grandma, whom she loves more than life itself (even though her smile doesn't show it.)

Mom got so many great shots around the temple; Conference morning worthy kind of shots. 

Faye sure loves her Uncle Reed.

Surprisingly there were no weddings while we were down town, so we took advantage of the pedestal in front of the temple.

I love taking extended family down to temple square.  It's so much fun to tell them about the buildings, our pioneer heritage, and about the basics of our beliefs.  

After our fill of admiring the temple and the visitor centers, we nipped over to City Creek for some lunch.  Faye was almost excited about the water areas.

Reed and Mckay were good sports as we ladies talked and walked, continually dragging them around down town.  Finally, Faye was loudly hinting her need for a nap.  We rode the train home and enjoyed a quiet afternoon from that point on.

Haapy 3rd Birthday!

 Happy Birthday to our little girl!  Who would have guessed three years would have flown by so quickly?  We celebrated with family and friends at Grandma Lisa's house again.  Everybody was so kind to come party with us. 

We did a shark themed cake this year with corresponding cups of shark jell-o.

The Jell-o was definitely a hit with the kiddos.

 

It was so fun to have so many friends come to play!

We were surprised to find out almost all of Alan's family would be joining us for the party, even Annette and her kids and Ryan!

Friends and cousins were eager to see if Faye could blow out her candles. 

I couldn't help but add this picture, it made me feel so good about my cake!

Faye actually opened her own presents this year!  Yay for that first! 

However, the rate at which she opened her presents was a bit too slow for the other kids.  They helped out this year by bringing presents to Faye.

The favorite of the night was a custom made shark inspired princess dress made by Grandma Sharon.  Faye is in LOVE with this gown, as well as the dress up shoes and crown combo given to her by uncles. 

Thanks again to everybody who came to party, and to my mom for always letting us use her home!

Bye-Bye

Faye's been behind in her speech development, this is quite obvious if anybody tries to strike up a conversation with her.  However, she's made great progress since January, and most of that progress is thanks to Miss Marcie, a speech therapist through the school district. 

 

Since Faye will be turning three this week, Miss Marcie came by for her last visit.  As a three year-old, Faye will be attending the same program but in the form of preschool!  We're excited for Faye to be a big girl and ride the school bus every school day, but it was hard to say bye to our new friend.  Thanks for everything, Miss Marcie!

Three Year Old Pictures

 Mom and I took Faye up to Wheeler Farm for some candid photos of my little girl.  Little did we know she had a different plan in store...

 ...Plotting her mischievous ways....

Faye wouldn't let Grandma get back far enough to take a picture!  So Mom and I had to 'toss' the camera back and forth depending on who Faye would respond to, and quickly snap a picture.  

These two are inseparable.  Faye throws fits when we have to leave Grandma's house, or if Grandma leaves our house.  Grandma is equally as in love with Faye.  It's so fun to watch these two together.

I know some of these shots aren't the most beautiful, but they definitely capture Faye's goofy personality.  She's so silly and happy all the time.

This shot could be for a cloning company....Faye looks so much like her Aunt Heidi did at three years old.

We love our Faye!  Here are some thoughts about Faye at three:

-Still in love with sharks, fish, and ocean animals in general.

-Also loves My Little Pony, Princesses, and feeding princesses and ponies to her shark toys.

-Favorite book is The Pout Pout Fish

-Coloring and playing dress-up are daily activities in her routine.

-Her most complimented skill is how well she holds a pencil/crayons/spoons.  She has the fine motor control of a kindergartener, according to the speech therapist.

-Faye's talking is picking up so well.  We can actually have conversations and reason with Faye now!

-She definitely has an appetite.  After listening to horror stories from friends of their picky eaters, we definitely have it easy.

Happy Birthday to my little girl, who's not much a baby anymore.

Summer Fun

 There seem to be so many big events during the summer time that our day-to-day fun falls through the cracks.  Here's a bit of what's been going on:

Playing in Uncle Reed's luxurious Chelsea pool.  It's almost big enough to soak your feet in.

Cheering for Aunt Camille at Parades!  Faye loves having a princess for an aunt.

Getting another hair cut- it can't all be fun.  

 Playing with the cupcake kitchen at the local cupcake store.

Trips to the park.  Faye typically doesn't leave the house without at least one toy in her hand.  She's very insistent, and very good at not dropping anything.

More trips to the aquarium!  So fun to see it be more finished.  Faye was so excited to hug the killer whales.

 And mostly just playing until we're all tuckered out.  (yes, that is sharpie colored up and down her leg.  She had a fun time with Daddy that day.)