2011 Family Vacation

This year, my mom, dad, BB, Maci & I traveled back to the Virgin Islands for 2 weeks! It was amazing and we all had such a good time! On the way there and on the way back we stayed the night in Miami.

This is in Miami in the Everglades. My mom and Maci were the only brave souls to want to hold the alligator. We went to an alligator park where literally those critters would come right on the road that we were walking down... I was a little scared!

This is an amazing beach we went to in the British Virgin Islands. I can't believe how freaking pretty some places are there!
This was a common occurrence during our trip... the two 4 year old's fighting (ALL THE TIME)... I don't know who was worse, the real four year old or the ADULT uncle! Thankfully they were just playing in this picture...

This was on an island in the British Virgin Islands, called something in Spanish that means fat virgin (something gortha ...) anyway these were called the bathes. It was so pretty there.

Me & Maci in a little outdoor bar called The Love Shack! While we were in the town of St. Thomas, we felt the safest in this bar! The town is so gross and the people are so rude... We tried to stay out of town as much as possible.

This was at Coral World. I HATE birds, but Maci really wanted to feed them so I agreed to take her. She loved it at first until...

The stupid bird attacked her head! I tried to get a picture, but Maci was screaming and freaking out, all the birds took off flying and we were all laughing so hard that this was the only picture I got!

Waiting for the sting rays to swim back around to feed them

Maci decided that she loves to pose, so these are her new moves!

I finally had to tell her that was enough for the day! Every time I broke out my camera she wanted me to do a whole photo shoot in her honor! Thanks Mom & Dad for an amazing trip. Maci & I are so lucky to have the family that we have and it's so nice to be able to spend 2 weeks with people that we love so much.

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to open one gift before bed. This year Maci got a Baby and Me doll with matching pajama's and robes. She loves matching her clothes with her dolls so it was perfect!

Sleeping with her new baby

Wearing her birthday outfit from the Pruetz family. She didn't want to take these clothes off for days!

Christmas morning, playing in her new tent from Nana & Papa


Christmas evening we had another small little birthday party!

Oooppss, these are a bit out of order, but here she is opening MORE presents. My house is now packed again...!

Maci & Uncle BB, oh yeah and Chloe!

We had such a great Christmas with part of our family. It's so much fun with Maci and it makes me even more thankful on the holidays! It was so funny because Maci was pretty astonished that she actually made it onto Santa's nice list... I'm telling you - 3 was ROUGH!

Christmas Recital

Here are some pictures of Maci's school Christmas recital. She was so cute! She had quite a bit of lines to say and she remembered all of them!

Maci with her future sister-in-laws Cameron and Reagan (: They all love each other so much!

She was so nervous that the whole time she said her lines she had her hands around her head!

I just had to put a picture of handsome Tristian! Maci says he is her boyfriend. She told me the other day that he couldn't wait to grow up so he could marry her because he loved her so much. She says they will have two children named Sally and Jacob! They are so cute together!

Me & my beautiful girl. Doesn't she look so grown up?

Taking her final bow!

School Christmas/birthday Party

Maci's school had a little Christmas party and since they weren't going to be in school for Maci's birthday they sang her the birthday song!

Opening her gift

Telling Santa that she really wanted a shopping cart for Christmas!
Her classmates sang her happy birthday and gave her a hat and stickers

4th Birthday Party

Last month, unbelievably, Maci turned 4! I really don't know where the time has gone, but it seems impossible to me that she's already that old. Although I was ready to see 3 go bye bye (2's are not terrible... 3's are) it was a little sad to celebrate since I still think of her as my baby. She had a great birthday party with our family and some friends! Ignore her hair. It was fixed really cute, but within a few minutes she had pulled out all the bows. I wasn't in the mood to fight with her so this is what she looked like!

She wanted a broom... has she used it? Once... (:

Nana putting her new make-up on her!

Blowing out her candles!


The crew:

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! She had a great time, got tons of neat things and is ready to take on the world now that she is 4! She even asked me if she could say bad words now that she is 4... I'm in TROUBLE!

Some catch up

SO now that I'm on a blogging kick, I thought I'd throw a few updates in... I mentioned in an earlier post that Maci had a sleep over with her friend Tristian. Well they have been great friends for a long time, until now.... Maci now says that Tristian is her boyfriend! I'm so doomed with this kid. I walked in on her asking him "Come on Tristian, just one little kiss"! Apparently they have kissed quite a few times! I guess them taking a bath together is no longer going to happen... My dad told her that she IS NOT allowed to kiss Tristian because he is to old for her and she told him - no he's not papa, him only 4! She's not even shy about any of this!

On a brighter note (I have to have a bragging mama moment), Maci's teacher wants her to start kindergarten a year early so I guess she will be starting kindergarten next year! It's so hard to believe that my little baby really isn't a little baby anymore. She has her first spelling test on 12/2. She knows how to do addition and subtraction and is starting to learn to read. It's so amazing how fast she learns and how much she loves school. Thank God she didn't take after me on that one!

Ok, my bragging moment is over for now! Thanks for listening!

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving we went to Durango to my Aunt's house to have dinner with my family. We had such a great time visiting with everyone. So much fun that I forgot that I had a camera there for most of the day... (what's new right???) Anyway, thankfully Maci was feeling better so we could spend time with everyone. Maci had a blast playing with her cousins Shaylee and Taylor (too bad I didn't get any pictures of them together) The girls' talked Maci into pretending that she was the mama and they were the kids, which Maci loved so she could be her normal bossy self!

This year I had so many things to be thankful for, but this is the thing I am most thankful for in the entire world:

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and have as many blessings as Maci and I do!

Snow... booooo...

Maci was home sick from school on Wednesday when it snowed and she BEGGED to go out and play in it for a few minutes. Obviously I let her dress herself... this is her getting ready for her big adventure...
Maci trying to hit me with a snow ball! Little brat I had to run from her the whole time she was out there!

Trying to catch snow in her mouth

I asked her to smile for me, but she was making a snow ball to hit me with again while I was distracted...

As much as I HATE snow, it is fun when you have a little one to play with in it!

Happy Halloween... a little late (like usual)

So once I'm again I'm a little late on my posts, but you know what they say - better late than never! That is the motto I'm going to live by these day!

I'm a little backwards on these photos, but... after trick or treating we had to stop by and see Brady! We were too late to see him in his costume, but Maci always enjoys seeing one of her favorite cousins!

This was the gang of trick or treaters that we tagged along with! Thank God for Kayla, because Maci was terrified to go to any ones door. I had to go with her to the first 5 or so houses until she got the hang of it and then she finally would go with the other kids!

Once she realized that everyone was giving her tons of candy - she loved it!

After trick or treating we went to a Halloween carnival at a local church. Maci ate a million bags of cotton candy and played tons of games, here she's playing ring toss for yet ANOTHER piece of candy!~

Maci's school had a Halloween party too. Her costume was suppose to be a fairy princess, but she refused to wear the wings or use the wand so I guess she was just a princess. She didn't even want to wear the crown trick or treating! I could have just put her in one of her old princess dresses for free, but...

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Maci's preschool took a field trip to Sutherland Farms today. The kids got to go on a hayride, get pulled in barrels, play in a huge corn box, go through a corn maze and pick their own pumpkins.

Maci & Tristian having a little snack together:
WANTED!!

The barrel ride with her buddy Cash:

Even though it was a little cold, Maci really loved going to the pumpkin patch again this year. I wish I would have got a picture of her pumpkin - she picked the oldest, wrinkled up pumpkin out there and LOVED it! Tonight she read it a bedtime story and it has it's own little bed in her room (only because I forbid her to let it "sleep" in her bed". She even wanted me to kiss it goodnight... I got out of that one! She's so funny!