Yesterday was my birthday, wahoo! To celebrate Tyler and I spent the weekend in Park City. After an awesome weekend with loads of relaxation, we brought Bella up to spend Sunday night with us. Thanks for the best birthday ever Ty! 
Swimming in thirty degree weather! 
Excited to go swimming
I can't believe how fast time goes by and boy does it fly when you're having fun. Dannielle has made my life so wonderful and I am continually impressed by her greatness!
Over the past 5 years there have been times when the light within me has flickered and faded due to the stresses of school, work, church, moving and having a child. Dannielle has continually been the flame that keeps my light shining. (Cheesy enough?) I love you sweetie:)
Here are a few pictures from our time together.
So glad you said YES!
Remember when I was skinny..er.
Your birthday puppy. What would we do without our Chester?
Hawaii was such a blast!
Our little princess!
Oh how I miss my girls.
I love you guys so much. I can't wait to see you in a few weeks. Sorry we are apart for our anniversary. I'm so excited to celebrate your birthday! Love you sweetie:)
We arrived in Utah safely and watched Tyler head back to Texas a few days later. When Tyler and I decided he would return to Texas and stay for 6 weeks (to study), I knew that it would not be fun. I never thought it would be this difficult to have my biggest support so far from me. I am in awe as I think of those that watch their husband leave and bear their burden so well. We love you Ty, Bella and I are counting down the days and can't wait to see and hug you again!
I will miss the warm weather, our wonderful ward, new friends, going to Sea World any time we want to, the unique stores, Longhorn Cafe, the awesome malls, the River Walk, hosting visitors, and many other things that don't come to mind at this time.
After much pondering we have decided to move back to Utah. Although we are excited to be close to family, we are sad to leave so many wonderful things behind. We will miss you San Antonio, maybe we will be back some day.
Some of you might think I go to school day after day, year after year to earn a position in a stable career field, you may think I do it to prepare a future for my family, or maybe even to go on and become a philanthropist of great measure. Well the truth is I do it so someday I can have a retreat in Island Park Idaho. Loved the boat, the water, the sun, the food, loved the company we shared, Loved it all!
I was searching through the camera after the girls got home and found this picture. I'm sure Dannielle can explain what's really going on, but it's funnier to think Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore are witnessing something horrific!
We were lucky enough to have some visitors this past week. Two of Tyler's little sisters came down to visit the heat and their favorite niece. We spent the first three days at Sea World, Six Flags and Schlitterbahn. We relaxed all day Sunday, after church of course, and spent Monday in a cute little town called Boerne. Hopefully they didn't melt while visiting, we have had record breaking heat for the last week and a half. It's been so hot we have a weather advisory to stay indoors as much as possible.
For those of you that didn't know, Tyler's birthday was on Father's Day this year. We celebrated and ate lots of yummy cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory
I can't even begin to describe my love for Tyler. He is an amazing husband and an even better father. I can't picture my life without him, he brings Bella and I so much joy. He is always making us laugh, and continues to amaze me with his selflessness. I love how hard you work for this family Tyler.
XOXOXOXOXOXO love your two favorite girls
So apparently no one agrees with me, and you all think Bella looks most like me. Fine, fine. But I will say that my vote weighs more than all of your votes put together, so there! Maybe as she gets older I will begin to see what the rest of you see :)
Here are some pics of us from the last month or so.
Me and sleepy Bella
So proud she could walk in my tallest stilettos 
Mesmerized by the snake 
Posing by the "feesh"
Bella and her best bud
So over the past week my office has been closed and I've been studying for days on end. I took a break one evening to go find a treat.
The closest stop that was convenient at midnight...The Corner Store! It has been a while since I've shopped the shelves of a corner store for a snack and was surprised to find that this store only carried King Size candy bars. Someone in sales was smart to go forward with this idea. You are left with one other choice. Go somewhere else.
Well I was already there and just like everyone else, I gave in and bought the bigger snack. Who am I kidding, I always buy the bigger snack. This was just a convenient justification! As a bonus I found two treats that I haven't had since Silver Tab Jeans rocked the shelves of ZCMI. I was like a kid again! Except now I could buy as much as I wanted. Please feel free to share your enthusiasm for my great find!
I guess there is a chance that this isn't really a "find" and these candies have always been available? I would love to see Bonkers and PB MAX make a come back. 
According to most people Bella looks the most like me. My own personal opinion is that she continues to look more and more like Tyler everyday, minus the hair that is resembling red more and more each day. So I leave it to a poll of friends and family to decide. I know I am tipping the scales in favor of Tyler by only posting one baby picture of me, but the one photo is all I've got. The rest are in Utah. Try not to laugh too hard at our baby pics, we were not as cute as Bella (and by that I mean me).
Tyler, 5 months old
Bella, 5 months old
Me, almost one year old
Bella, just over 1 year
Tyler, 2 years old
Tyler, 3 years old
Why is it that every year, around this time, I get a sudden burst of energy to clogg? For those of you that didn't know, I have clogged since the age of ten and didn't stop until 7 months pregnant (and only because I couldn't jump as high). As the clogging year dwindles down I become excited for next years routines, costumes and competitions. I miss it too much. Well clogging shoes, maybe next year we will make a special trip to Utah and win big :)
After being here for over a year I have finally found a yummy bakery! After becoming addicted to Schmidt's in Utah (if you haven't been there, you'd better check it out, they have the best orange rolls and their cakes are to die for!) I knew I had to find a replacement. Yesterday I visited Nadler's bakery, which is conveniently down the street, and shared some delicious treats with Bella. Unfortunately Tyler missed out on all the fun due to a talk he was preparing for church. I'm so glad I finally went in and experienced this place! Now if I could just find a Cafe Rio . . .
As I mentioned above, Tyler spoke in Sacrament today with the Elder's Quorum Presidency and did a fantastic job. I don't know that Tyler enjoys preparing for talks, but he is a fantastic public speaker. He can always get his point across and captures the audience while doing so. Good job hon! Wish I could have sat in the pews for the entire talk!!
Our family is growing!! 
We got a fish! Ha, ha what were you thinking? In the last few weeks Bella has slowly become addicted to Finding Nemo. I know, I know, awful parents that let their children sit in front of the tube watching hour upon hour of television. . . Ya well, this gives me at least 30 min of sanity every day! Back to the fish. . . Tyler and I thought it would be fun for Bella to have a fish, so after visiting the local Petsmart and spending more time than was necessary, we picked a male Beta. Bella could have cared less what kind of fish it was, or even if it had two eyes. She was excited just to have a fish. We got it home and all situated in it's new home. She was so excited she kept asking to see her "feesh." Now every time she wakes up from a nap or first thing in the morning she has to go see her "feesh." So fun!
Well, sorry if my story didn't satisfy the excitement from the title and beginning line. . .love you all!
So lets start out with the bad so I can end on a happy note. Today I had an appointment to get my hair cut. Below are pictures of how HE styled my hair after it was all said and done. For those of you that have known me long enough, this hairstyle is not as bad as the infamous "David Bowie from Labyrinth" haircut that sent me weeping back into Lindsay's arms. . . Tyler thinks it looks okay, and I do agree, it's fine. It's just really short on top (1 inch in fact) and is still long on the sides which isn't what I really wanted. Sigh, it will grow.
The good news is that two of my sisters just returned home from a week-long stay here in San Antonio. We had an awesome time, saw and did TONS, and played a lot of Carcassone. My legs still ache from all the walking and it's been two days since they left. Hopefully they had fun and were able to withstand the humidity. Thanks for the visit guys!!
