We're back with a New Years photo shoot!

I know it's been way too long but we're back with a New Years photo shoot. This was not an easy task by any means. Lily was not the perfect little model. I had to chase her and then hope that we could get a good pose eventually. All that said, I think we got a few good ones.

They said it was temporary......

...but as we put her in the bath and attempted to wash off the tattoo, we realized that it would be with her for at least a week. That's exactly what happened. Several baths and scrubbing sessions later it finally came off. No more Thomas on Lily's cheek. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Day out with Thomas!

On Memorial Day we took Lily to "Day out with Thomas" and she had a blast. The weeks prior to the event, when a commercial would come on the T.V. for it, she would point to the television and with her cute little voice say,"ah? ah?". I knew we had to take her. She wasn't so sure about the train initially, but as soon as it started to move and the music started playing she lit up and had so much fun sticking her head out the window.

A view of scenic Heber Valley.

Kitty-cats and dandelions

Lily tried to play with Joe, the cat, but got distracted by the dandelion. This is her first experience with a dandelion. I love how she flicks it off her hand like it's dirty or something. She loves being outdoors. After being cooped up for the long winter we've had, I can't blame her.

They're goin' back to Cali....

Lenore and Brandon moved back to California just two weeks ago. Brandon got a great job in his field at a firm in Santa Monica. We are so happy for them but sorry to see them leave. It's one of those bitter-sweet things in life that we all experience. We loved having them here to play with the cousins and spend holidays together. We wish them all the best in their new life's journey. Here are some pictures of moving day. Lily didn't have the first clue that it would be a while before she saw Elise and Sean. Oh, to be young again.

The Skinner family on their moving truck!

Not quite the "kissing cousins."

See what I mean?

"YES! I get this thing to myself now!"

Elise with her cousin Liam.

"Don't cry for me Mapleton, Utah!"

Bye, Mapleton house.

Bye, Elise and Sean.

Bye, beautiful mountains of Mapleton.

Lily blowing a final kiss good-bye in front of their massive U-Haul.

Little Lily in action!

Lily had so much fun feeding the little baby animals!

After the baby animals...

After playing with the baby animals at Thanksgiving Point, we went to Mc Donald's for lunch. Lily never eats sugar. She really doesn't like it, but she loves chicken Mcnuggets. I can't complain, because otherwise she's a very healthy eater and loves her fruits and veggies.

Some more play time with the trains at Barnes and Noble.

Lily and the baby animals

It was cold and very windy. Did I mention that it was cold? That didn't matter to little Lily. She loved every minute of being outside and finally seeing in person the animals she loves to watch on her Baby Einstein dvds. It was so cute to watch her get excited when she first saw the baby calf. She smiled and laughed and there was no hesitation. She put her little hand right through the fence and began to pet her. Then she decided to pick the grass and feed her. As the calf nibbled, Lily made a face and laughed out loud. She had a great day and we had so much fun as parents watching her explore and learn with complete joy.

The cold wasn't much fun.

Daddy helped Lily feed the pigs.

"Those pigs were a little icky!"

What a fun day!

A double cousin B-day party!

Last weekend we went to a double cousin birthday party. Kailey and Cole turned 4 and 3 years old. We can't believe how much they've grown!! Lily got them both Melissa and Doug toys, which were a big hit. Kailey loved her dress-up doll and Cole got a tool set with it's own box. We've heard that they haven't put the toys down since the party. Excellent choices Lily!

Happy little working song

So proud of herself!

Lily loves to help mom do just about any chore. She loves to sweep, do laundry, and help load the dishwasher. I hope this continues into her teenage years. Anyway, this reminds me of a scene from her favorite movie "Enchanted", where Giselle cleans up Robert's apartment with all the animals. Too bad I can't call out to the neighborhood animals for some back-up.

Love that little face.

J.T.'s Big Birthday Bash!

J.T. lives across the street and has become Lily's little buddy. He just turned 2 and we had fun at his party. Lily almost ate a whole big bowl of popcorn on her own. A girl after my own heart.

Still Snowing in April

Yes, it still snows in April. Needless to say, we are ready for it to stop. Today we'll have good weather but tonight and tomorrow it will snow once again. Will it ever end? This is the question we are all asking ourselves at this point.

This is what it looked like out my front window.

Out the back window.

Weeds and dirt

We have the most enormous weeds in our yard! We are planning to seed rather than lay sod so that we can save a little money, but the weeding is not fun at all. Of course Lily loved being outside playing with her little shovel and eating dirt! She puts everything in her mouth.

Hey Mom. Take a look at this weed!!!

Lily at the piano,first slide,and first ponytails!

Lily loves to play the piano. I can never get any playing time of my own. Every time I sit down at the piano, she thinks it's an open invitation to come and enlighten me with her brilliant technique!!

We had so much fun with Lily at the park a few weeks ago. I think the weather was in the 50's. I was getting a little chilled, but Lily absolutely did not want to leave. We can't wait for beautiful weather.

Easter Parade

Easter Sunday was a bit cooler up here in the Mountains than I would have liked, but we still had fun for a few minutes outside in our Easter outfits. Lily and Elise had matching dresses and I attempted to make a bow for Lily. After a few practice bows, we ended up with one that looked o.k. I'm definitely not as good at it as my sister-in-law. Practice makes perfect, right? Well we hope everyone had a lovely Easter!

Grandma Betty's visit

Grandma Betty came out for a visit and we had a great time with her. She was here for Joel's b-day, and although both she and Lily were sick they managed to have lots of fun together. The pictures are not what I'd hoped for, but they do the job. We had to have photos of Grandma, Dad, and little Lily.

Christmas Day with Lily

Christmas was lots of fun with Lily this year. Even though she's still too young to understand
she definitely got that there were new toys for her. Lenore and Brandon got us our tree as a Christmas gift this year. It was really nice of them and we loved the tree. They came over for dinner on Christmas eve and we had a lovely evening, although the storm was a bit scary up here.

Lily decided that being an only child (for the moment) was'nt going to ruin her plans of acting out the Nativity. She had a great time portraying little Mary and we had so much fun watching her do it. We'll have to invite some kids to participate next year so that we have the full cast of players.

We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and that 2008 brings you peace, love, and hope for all things wonderful.

Thanksgiving Point

We had a quiet Thanksgiving this year. Just the three of us at home and we did the whole dinner. Lily was pretty sick so I didn't take any pictures. These photos were taken right before Thanksgiving. We had a little outing to, of all places, Thanksgiving Point and then we went to look at the fishies in the tank at Cabellas. She had a blast and was completely worn out by the end of the night, as you can clearly see by the last shot of that evening. She started feeling better but now she has a bad cold. Poor Lily has been sick with one thing or another now for 3 weeks. Hopefully she's on the mend and has built up some immunities for the long, cold winter.

Happy Halloween!

Elise, the kitty, and Sean, the froggy, came over and went trick-or-treating with Lily, the tiger on Halloween. Lily was a mean tiger but wasn't so crazy about the makeup application. Elise and Sean were a lot more cooperative in the makeup department. We had fun getting Lily all dressed up and she knew we were talking about how cute she looked. She kept posing for us in her costume and it definitely had us laughing. Oh what fun was had by all!

Lily's 1st Birthday !

My little Lily had her 1st birthday (back in August) and we had so much fun at her party. There were lots of friends and lots of cousins to wish her a happy day. She grinned from ear to ear as we sang " Happy Birthday " to her. It was absolutely adorable!