A Very Pirate Birthday

So, even though everyone tells me it is a phase, I don't think so! I think we have a pirate for life. She decided that we had to have a party at Pirate Island, in Orem. If you haven't been there, I seriously suggest it. They have pizza, arcade games, balloon animals(or swords in this case), and a pirate ship slide. We loaded up the girls from the neighborhood(Dave calls them "The Pack") and headed down. They had a great time. They all got hats and swords. Courtney got great presents from her friends. A lot of them were pirate themed, which was great!! Hopefully next year, we get something different. I'm not holding my breath though!

Soccer Ends

Courtney and Garrett

Courtney and the coach, Adam, and his son Kade

Giving a team cheer

Look at all that hair!

I'm going to begin where I left off in June. Apparently we have been so busy having fun all summer that I didn't feel the need to post anything. Lots of posts to come. I promise. Courtney played spring soccer and wasn't too happy about the crazy Utah weather. Some days were so hot, the kids looked like they were playing in slow motion. Other days, like pictured above, were so cold that we had tons of whining about not wanting to be on the field. Overall, I think it was very fun. Unfortunately, all of the little boys that she usually plays with are switching over to flag football. That means she doesn't really have a team anymore. She wants to do gymnastics instead!

Kindergarten Celebration

Last week, Courtney graduated from Kindergarten. I can't believe how fast the school year went! She has absolutely loved school. She loved everything about learning at school. She learned all about the continents, animals, ants, nursery rhymes, math, reading, and so much more. She has a great love of learning and even told me that she didn't want school to end. Grandma and Grandpa Johnson were able to come attend and it was a good celebration. We took her out to dinner before the graduation and let her choose where. She picked Cafe Rio and we were so happy that she would want to go there instead of McDonald's. She has made lots of friends and even has a little boyfriend. The summer will be fun but I look forward to her starting 1st grade next year and being gone all day. It's a love hate relationship I have. I hate seeing my baby grow up and I admit, I cried at graduation. But it's nice that she is growing up and experiencing the world and being self sufficient. We love her so much and are proud of all she has accomplished!

Our Model

Courtney had the opportunity to model for a coaching session. It was up in Salt Lake and she had a great time! I've always told Dave that she could be a model, and now he believes me. He says he would never let her because of the radiating sassiness you can see in her. She is just so grown up! We love her so much and think the photographer captured a lot of her attitude as well. Thanks, Whitni, for this experience!

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day started about a week and a half ago. Dave brought me home this sweet, new phone and couldn't wait to give it to me. We've been talking about upgrading our phones and he thought it would be something I would want. I love it! Although I have to share it with Dave and Courtney more than I would like, it's great.

Then, yesterday, Dave brought me home this beautiful bouquet of flowers. They have filled the kitchen with a wonderful fragrance. Today, Dave and Courtney made me pancakes for breakfast and brought me a card in bed.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a mother. Although I wish our home could be filled with more children, I know that Courtney is an absolute miracle in our lives. She makes me laugh, cry, smile, scream, and everything in between. I love her so much and am grateful to have the opportunity to raise such an amazing daughter. The world better watch out because she is going to make a huge difference and I can't wait to see it. I love being a mom and wouldn't want to do anything else in my life than raise my sweet baby into a lovely woman.

Spring Soccer

Courtney started spring soccer and we were lucky enough to have Dave's family in town for her first game. She played really hard, knowing that so many people were watching her. She loves to play and is getting so good at it. I guess I'll have to say goodbye to my dreams of a dancer. I guess I always wanted my girls to play sports but when they are young, dance is just so cute! I will be happy with whatever she does, as long as she is enjoying it.

First lost tooth

Courtney has been waiting for the day when she would lose her first tooth. Her bottom one has been loose for so long! It had been dangling for awhile but both she and Dave were scared to have me pull it out. We were at some of our friend's house for dinner(the guy just happens to be a dentist) and they convinced her to let me try to pull it out. She gave me one try only! It came right out, she didn't even realize it had come out. She told me that I could try one more time. I showed her the tooth and she was so happy. She was even happier to get a whole dollar from the Tooth Fairy. Her dad and her argued about the amount. Dave said he only used to get a quarter but I think inflation had something to do with the dollar. She doesn't have any other loose teeth but can't wait to lose more.

School Spirit

A few weeks back, Courtney's school celebrated a spirit week. There was tie day, slipper day, hawaiian day, and disco day. Courtney loved dressing up and having a little variety in her uniform life. She made me take these pictures because she thought she looked so cute!

St. Patrick's Day

We are lucky enough, or unlucky, have leprechauns visit us every year. This year they were not as bad as they have been in years past. They left lots of green things for Courtney! Then I made green shamrock pancakes for breakfast. I had really good intentions to make a green dinner too but with Dave working and a great deal from Chick-fil-a, we decided to go out for dinner. Courtney also had leprechauns visit her classroom at school. They made a huge mess and left footprints everywhere. It was a fun day for everyone!

Deja vu

For those of you who have been following our blog for awhile, we are no strangers to water. We just can't seem to stay away from it. Clear back in February (I know I'm really behind), we had a flood in our home. It was a seeminly quiet President's Day. Courtney was home from school, grandma was here visiting, and Dave had a bad headache. He didn't want it to turn into a migraine, so he decided to get in the bath. This was about 8 in the morning, so I was still trying to sleep. I was rudely interupted when Courtney came and woke me up screaming that water was coming out of the fan. I told her that she wasn't making sense and where was water coming out and what fan. She proceeded to show me (I don't know where she gets her dramatics from) by twirling her finger in the air and screaming, "You know what a fan is!" I was starting to get the picture. I ran downstairs to see a stream of water coming out of our ceiling fan light. I went upstairs to tell Dave to turn the bath water off. He did and then pulled the plug out. As the water started to drain, we heard a blood curdling scream. Apparently the draining water had made the water flow even faster. Dave replugged the drain and got downstairs. He was trying to find where the leak was coming from, by ripping apart my ceiling. I wasn't so sure about his tactics but in the end, he found out the the tub drain was leaking. We had to call a restoration company and get everything dried out. This process took about a week. Then we had to get people to put up sheetrock, paint, and replace our carpet. Our house was pretty much out of commission for more than a few weeks. I have to say, for the first few days, it was great. I couldn't cook in the kitchen, there was no reason to clean. Courtney loved eating McDonald's in our bedroom while watching tv. It got old really fast though. In the end, we ended up changing some of our paint colors and got the carpet we've always wanted. We love the way it turned out and are even happier that we are back in one piece!

Annual Snowboarding Trip

Dave's friends from high school always come to Utah for a snowboarding trip around January or February. They had a big group this year and we had about 5 people staying here with us. They snowboarded all day Friday and Saturday. They always love getting together and have a great time. The bonus was that Dave didn't even get hurt! Can you believe it? I was so glad he didn't come back with some crazy injury.

Hats!!!

My friend makes these hats and Courtney has been wanting them so badly. I finally ordered them and she was super excited when they came in the mail. She can't wear them to school but as soon as she gets home, she puts one on. We ordered brown and black and they have removable flowers so they match all her outfits. I found her like this in bed last week and had to take a picture. I think she likes them! She would wear it all the time if she could. Thank you, Jamie, for the cutest hats ever!!

Courtney's First Hair Cut

Courtney has been wanting to cut her hair for about a year. For those of you who don't know, Dave hates short hair and forbids Courtney and I from getting it cut. She has been adamant about it, so Dave finally decided to let her do it. She knew exactly how she wanted it. I told the hairdresser that I wanted it to be able to still be put in a ponytail, but she said it needed to be shorter. She loves it and says it's exactly the way she pictured it being! She is even fine with me round brushing it everyday. Dave actually agreed that it's cute but still doesn't like it because he said it makes her look way too old. I agree that she looks older, but she is going to be six in June, so she's going to grow up regardless of how we cut her hair. She is already asking when she can go get it cut again!