Night night time!

Malaya has recently made a transition from this: TO THIS!!! Let's just say...it was not my choice to have her make this transition at only 16 months old.... but she had figured out how to climb out and make it into our room for three nights in a row.... so we had no choice. Usually Malaya is a really good sleeper and will sleep the whole night no problem.... but not any more!! UGH! I even bought her a pillow cover with Buzz Lightyear (her favorite character from Toy Story) but she wants nothing to do with her new bed. We have been trying to read her some books and get her used to a routine but it has been really hard to get her to stay in bed. We have had two successful nights so far (out of 2 WEEKS!) but I am not giving up... she will learn to like her bed and that's that! :)

What we've been up to this Summer...

We went to McCall, Idaho for Greg's family reunion. We had a blast and it was great to get away from work and life's daily stresses. We had condos close to the lake and Malaya loved every bit of it. The weather was great and hanging at the beach was very relaxing. We also went rafting down the Salmon river in Riggins, Idaho. It was a lot of fun... and Grandma and Grandpa volunteered to watch Malaya while we went... thanks guys! We had lots of yummy food and water sports as well.

That same weekend just happened to be our
SIXTH anniversary!
Greg got me a nice set of snorkels and fins and we went exploring around the lake....okay... so we didn't see anything great cuz the water was pretty murky, but it was the thought that counts and we still had fun :)
Happy anniversary babe! I love you!

We also took a trip down to Stanley, Idaho for my family reunion. We traveled about 10 1/2 hours to get there... but we had a good time and it was great to see family that we hadn't seen in years. A big shout out to my cousin Jessica for putting the whole thing together. THANKS JESSICA! We spent 3 nights camping, eating, swimming, fishing, roasting marsh mellows, and playing games. We also went to the hot springs and took a trip to Ghost town (an old mining town that was abandoned after the mine shut down and was now turned into a self guided museum). We had a lot of fun and Malaya loved every minute of it. Unfortunately I forgot my camera battery so I only got a few shots with my phone. The picture on the right was our last day... Malaya was so worn out. I tried to keep her clean before the long car ride home... but as you can see I was unsuccessful. Oh well, that's the joy of camping. :)

What we've been up to this Summer... (part 2)

We have spent many Summer days at different parks. Downtown Spokane has a fun carousel ride and Malaya loves it. We also have a brand new park close to our house that has a splash pad and tons of cool toys. Malaya loves to swing and go down the slides. She loves seeing all the kids and saying "Hi" to everyone.

We have also gone on lots of Sunday walks...
of course after our Sunday naps... if we can get one.

This was at our ward picnic. Malaya ate pretty much the whole ice cream cone and lots of watermelon. It was a huge mess- but at least she was happy... right?

We have a nice family that lives below us and their kids are always outside playing. Alexa, who is 3 and just adores Malaya and is so sweet to her, and Manuel, who is 5 and loves to show Malaya his bike and scooter. They invited us to a fiesta, which was a joint birthday party for their kids at the park. Turns out we were the only Caucasian family that attended... can we say awkward?? Oh well, Malaya had fun and they even let her hit the pinata :)

We had a fun and busy summer- and of course it went by way to fast!

WARNING: BLOG OVERLOAD

It has been a while... and much has happened, so sorry for all the postings at once :)

Last week we went to River Front Park.
Malaya had a blast walking all around and chasing the ducks.

There is also a big water attraction there and of course we couldn't keep Malaya out of it. We didn't plan on getting her wet.... but she loved it, and screamed every time we walked away so we let her play.

Eventually she just ended up in her diaper because all her clothes were soaked.

Malaya with her daddy going down the big red wagon slide

Just too many cute pictures to choose only one...

Tyler and Aimee's Wedding May 29th

Congratulations to Tyler and Aimee!
Their wedding was in Blackfoot, Idaho over memorial weekend.
It rained a little, and was pretty cold, but everything turned out great.

All the girls helped out with the flowers for tables, boutineers, and the bouquet. There were 200 pink roses and also beautiful tulips from the garden that we used. It all turned out great (especially considering I learned how to do this from YouTube! :)
Aimee had me do her hair the the weeding, I think it turned out pretty good.
All the bridesmaids had pink and black polk-a-dot dresses made by Aimee's mom.
She even made one for Malaya. They were so cute.

Good luck to Tyler and Aimee with their new adventures!

*Malaya Turns 1*

I can't believe it... My little monkey is 1! Time has gone by so fast!

It seems like just yesterday we were telling family that we were expecting a girl....
And then we welcomed this sweet little spirit on June 5th, 2009.
AND NOW... She is 1!
We had my family over for pizza, cake, and presents. I made cupcakes for everyone, and Malaya got her own. She loved it- and surprisingly didn't make too much of a mess. She loved opening all her presents and getting all the attention... she even missed her nap and was still so happy. In the pictures above, you can see the polk-a-dot theme we had and her fun new jungle gym from Grandpa and Grandma Mitchell. Once everyone left we headed to the YMCA to go swimming. Malaya LOVES the water!
We even took her down the slides and she loved every bit of it.

At one years old Malaya is:
Walking, dancing, pulling apart everything in the house, loves talking to people, loves to go to the park, love puppies, loves her stuffed animals, she likes picking outfits to wear for the day, loves taking a bath and running naked afterwards while we chase her with a diaper (yes, she has had a few accidents on the floor). Malaya loves life and is so full of energy. She keeps us very busy and entertained. She now gives kisses to everyone that asks and is always talking on her pink cell phone (and when there is no cell phone, she just uses her hand) so so so funny to listen to her babel on to herself and her imaginary friends.
We love you Malaya!
Happy 1st Birthday!

Plato's Closet Conference

I took a trip to San Diego for a Plato's Closet conference in May. We had some manager workshops/ training, lots of food, and beautiful sunshine. It was my first time leaving Malaya so I was really nervous, but she did great.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for staying home and taking care of her. I took my computer so I got to skype them each night which was great... but made me miss her even more! She was just beginning to take a few steps so I was sad that she would already be walking by the time I got home... but she waited a little longer :)