Sweet {Tooth Fairy} Dreams

Ella loves leaving little notes for the Tooth Fairy. I thought she had quite high hopes when asking for $10.00!!  I guess she felt flattering her with words such as being the favorite above Santa and the Easter Bunny might help her feel inclined to leave more money.  Hint- she did not get $10.00

Happy Birthday Ella!

While at the pet store, my mom and Ella learned about a horse riding instructor.  It was so funny because her name is Natalie Robbins (my maiden name is Robbins).  Ella was able to take lessons and rode this sweet horse named Sunny.  Natalie (the other Natalie Robbins)  told us they usually call the horse Bubs.  We told her how funny that was because we call Cannon Bubs and we always sing "You are my Sunshine" to him.  Also Sunny is such a beautiful copper horse.  It was a fun connection.  Ella was able to do work in the arena and then go mountain riding up some trails. She was in heaven!

Since my birthday is three days before Ella's, Camille set up a surprise party for the two of us- complete with the whole family and a blow up water slide!  It was so much fun!

I am so lucky to have this big amazing family that is so good to me!

This is how we light candles at our house, doesn't everyone use a blow torch?  

The morning of Ella's birthday we had breakfast out on the sunny patio.  I remember going to California for our summer vacation each year.  Since my birthday is in June, we'd be in California on my birthday.  It was always a treat to have my birthday breakfast on the patio at my grandma's.  I love seeing Ella look forward to the same treatment on her birthdays.  I'm so thankful for this spunky little cowgirl.  She keeps us on our toes and melts our hearts.  We love you, Ella!

Of course Ella wanted to do another horse lesson on her birthday!

This present is a little bit of Ethan, a little bit of Ella. A lego horse farm.

For Ella's birthday celebration we went trail riding up Logan Canyon.  

My friend, and old roommate, Rhonda was in town and came with us. We all had so much fun. The weather was perfect and the views were incredible. 

At the top of the trail we stopped for a sack lunch.

 

 We got up pretty high on the mountain, so coming back down was a lot of work.  It was fun to see how brave the kids were.

Remember Cabo?

It's been a few months since our trip to Cabo and I regret not journaling each day about how amazing it was.  Kent and I love our children and feel it an honor to be their parents.  We have so much fun with them and truly cherish our time together.  That being said, we also look forward to times when we have the opportunity to take a break from "real life" and spend quality time together as a couple.  We are blessed to have amazing support to help us with our kids when we take time to ourselves.  Even now, when we feel we are having a stressful day, Kent and I will say to each other, "Remember Cabo?" and it makes us smile.  We stayed in two different hotels. The first was very quiet and peaceful right on the ocean with a private beach just for the hotel guests.  Our room had fresh guacamole and chips waiting for us each day.  We had a pool on our balcony with a view of the ocean.  I really wish I knew how to speak Spanish and I learned to appreciate Kent's talent to speak so fluently.  Kent loves golfing and after spending a day on the course with him, I can now see why! We were able to spend a day out on the ocean doing a deep sea fishing trip.  We caught a huge beautiful fish that I was under the impression we were on a "catch and release" tour.  I was very sad when I realized that was not the case.  I think that led to my nausea that had me gripping to the side rail and holding my head over the edge of the boat for most of the ride back to the shore.  At one point the swells were so large, the breaks literally sprayed us down, which was a relief to me as I was burning up. When we got back to the marina I was feeling better when my feet were on solid ground.  We went back to the hotel and got dressed to spend a night walking around town to do some souvenir bartering and then on to find a local restaurant for dinner.  After a couple nights at the first hotel, we went and stayed at an all inclusive resort with the swimming pool at our back door.  Kent and I like to try a lot of things so it was fun to stay in two different places and give our vacation a more enhanced experience.