California Love

{Wiest Family Reunion 2011}

Juli took us on such a fun trip to Cali this past week- we all had a ball!  22 of us were off for a weekend of Disneyland and the beach. Considering there were 10 children under 6, we all survived and had such a great time together.

{Driving:: Oreo's kept Aubree (and the rest of us) entertained.}

{We went to Disneyland and California Adventure Thursday and Friday. You'll notice most pictures of Aubree are of her either crying/yelling at us.. I promise she doesn't hate life, she just is such a busy body that being contained for the sake of a picture is torture.  We had so much fun, but I think we'll wait to take her back til she's about 4 ish :) This was her 3rd time going (I know we are pathetic) and this was by far the hardest, but still SO fun!}

{Abbie, Allie, Aubree}

{Matt thinks it's funny to do "feminine" poses.}

{You can't really tell but Matt got completely drenched on Splash Mountain! He was so mad haha.}

{Aubree saw this Pluto stuffed animal and started barking at it; Matt's such a sucker that he bought it for her :) It was pretty cute and she carried it around our whole trip.}

Day 2:: Disneyland and California Adventures

{Apparently not the "happiest place on earth....."}

{Some of our cute family:: Ry, Jack, Juli, Allie, Ellie, Joy, Amanda}

{Dinner at Rainforest Cafe}

{After we ate, we took her outside to this little water fountain.. probably the most fun she had the whole trip.}

Day 3:: Huntington Beach

{Beach Day:: Aubree LOVED the beach! I was so excited to go b/c I knew she'd have a blast. The kids loved playing in the sand and running from the big waves.. Matt and I will eventually live on the beach someday, we both completely love it!}

{Lainey Lou and Aubree}

{Allie and Abbie}

{"Make sure to get a picture of me flexing and being awesome." You got it, Matt...}

{Kels and Me}

{Juli and Ellie}

{Lou, Natalie, Carson, Me, Amanda, Joy, Aubree}

We really had the best time! Everyone was so helpful and laid back (at least what I saw anyways haha) and we enjoyed being together as a family. THANKS so much Juli for an awesome vacation!

All About Aubree

{17 Months}

-My baby is almost 1 1/2 years old.. how did this happen people?

-Her new words this month are "ball," "ow sigh" (outside) and "a show."

-She LOVES her "Baby Einstein" movies. 

-Every morning she wakes up and says "a show." She woke up in the middle of the night

a couple weeks ago wanting to watch one of her shows haha.

-She doesn't walk, she runs.

-She is already so independent; she just started trying to feed herself with a spoon the other day.

-She loves pushing chairs, strollers, anything she can around the house.

-She's been a mama's girl lately but will eventually go to Matt if I'm not around.

-She runs the house. She is definitely in charge.

-She is obsessed with music- if we're anywhere that music is playing she will stop and start bouncing her knees- it's so cute!

-She's getting very particular about certain things; she hands me her blanket every morning before I can get her out of bed, she wants certain stuffed animals at different times in the day and I HAVE to hum "I am a Child of God" to her when I rock her before her nap/bedtime. I tried humming a different song and she yelled at me! If I sing to her, she gets mad; only humming. Haha- it makes me laugh I love it. 

-She's our diva baby for sure, and it gets frustrating at times, but at the end of the day when I think about it, I crack up. Mostly because I know where she gets it from...

Mom and Dad love you baby girl!!!

Other May Highlights

-Happy Birthday Auntie Kelsey and my mama!
-I love my mom so much- she is such a wonderful person and is SO helpful anytime I need something. I hope she had a great birthday, even though she was sick :(



-Matt went to Moab with his friends to go mountain biking. He forgot our camera but had a complete blast!

-I started an online class through USU- I was kind of freaking out a little because I haven't been to school in like 2 1/2 years but I really am enjoying it.  So in about 6-8 years I'll have my Bachelor's degree haha..
-This is sort of a highlight slash bittersweet moment; my brother moved to California- he is absolutely loving it and having the time of his life.. which he deserves and needed!! We miss him but are glad he's happy! Aubree loves her uncle Tay Tay :)

-Jenny and her family moved down for the summer!! We were so excited to play with the kids and see little Logan.. I love that Aubree is old enough to play with her cousins now, and enjoys it. They played in the sand box for about 2 hours. We missed the Losee's and are SO glad they are here!

-Ellie graduated high school!! Congrats smarty pants.. we are proud of our little Bill.

-The weather has been a little crazy this month, but we've managed to get outside with our little friends and go swimming, play at the park, and go to splash pads. I didn't pictures of it all, but I did get pics of Aubree and Kendyl playing at the Ivin's splash pad.. but mostly eating goldfish crackers off the ground.

-We've had a busy but fun month-- We LOVE the summer!!

All About Aubree

{16 Months}

-She is a talker!! She tries so hard to tell us what she wants.

-New words/sentances she has been saying are "Oh det" or "Oh wan det"- I want that. She'll point to what she wants and say it.. such a big girl! I love it and am sad at the same time. She also says "Day do"- Thank you.
-Honestly she does not stop talking haha- she has the cutest little jibberish language.
-When she gets excited, she's been doing this really, really low chipmunk laugh-- it's so funny.
- She is officially off of bottles. It wasn't bad at all- she maybe cried the first night without one for 10 minutes.
-Her eating habits are so much better now. Teeting was usually the main cause of why she was so picky I think.. but then again who knows, right?
-She loves Matt's friends. They were over at our house the other night and Aubree was loving it. She even got some one-on-one time with Danny :)

-She still is obsessed with books. Her two favorites right now are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Princess Baby."

- She kisses her favorite pages of those 2 books.. so freakin cute!

-You officially can't go outside now without being in water.. So we go to the splash pad a lot. Matt and I took her to one in Ivins and she completely loved it. Matt had to circle the splash pad with her like 20 times. She just laughed and screamed at the water- I can't help saying it but she is so cute and FUNNY!

{"For the love, Dad!! Hurry UP!"}

Aubree is full of personality- it is so much fun to see her grow and learn new things each day.
She's got us wrapped around her little finger, that one.

Mother's Day

My Mom

She is my best friend. She has loved her family unconditionally and is the most selfless person I know- almost to a fault! We talk on the phone at least once a day (even though we live like 5 seconds away from each other :) She is an amazing grandma to my Aubree. Our greatest blessing as kids was and is still knowing that no matter what our circumstances are, whether it be that we left our homework at home, got a flat tire, need a babysitter, need a ride, that she will be there for us. She has shaped who I am and I hope to be as good a mom as she is.. That's saying a lot!

(I have a brother too, I promise we don't neglect him.. He didn't want to be in the girl picture:)

Juli

Juli is so fun! She is always up for a party. Something that I admire about her is that she raised 6 kids by herself and each one of them turned out not just "ok," but amazing. She has 10 grandkids and treats each one like they are her one-and-only. She has such a great way of making all of us feel loved and cared for. Her greatest joy is being surrounded by family- that is her first priority and she has taught her children that, and each one has adopted that principle. She is a wonderful mama!

 Being a mom is nuts and awesome and everything in between! My biggest worry before having children was wondering if I had a strong enough testimony of the Gospel and if I would be able to teach them the ways of our Heavenly Father. Would I be able to teach them about the scriptures, to pray, to have faith? Do I even know enough about those things? So many worries, including parenting, money, you name it. But right when Aubree was born those fears completely disappeared. I knew from that moment on that she would teach ME. I love my baby and am proud to be a MOM!

Thanks to our husbands and families for making Mother's Day so wonderful!

Other April Highlights

-We celebrated Cousin Carson's, Angie's and Aunt Madison's birthdays!
-Enjoyed a wonderful Conference Weekend with our families. I honestly look forward to every Conference session; it's refreshing and full of uplifting, spiritual messages.
-After our Arizona trip, we went to Orem a couple weeks later to check out UVU with the Zander family. They are moving up there and if we decide to move there as well, it will pretty much be because we want to live near them haha- they have become such great friends of ours.
- Weather permitting, we were outside a lot-- Aubree loves her new little swimming pool.

-Weather NOT permitting, we spent a lot of time inside making messes...

 



-We had a little get-together at my house with my girlfriends and their families. Every one of us had kids around the same ages (except cute baby Tessa, but she still got plenty of attention :) The food was great, the company was even better!

{Tessa, Aubree, Ty, Kendyl, Cohen}

{Aren't they complete dolls? SO CUTE}