Clara's blessing

Posted by Alyssa


This past Sunday we blessed Clara at our house in the evening. It ended up being a perfectly relaxing and enjoyable event! There were only the adults there and it was fun visiting with everyone while eating some valentine treats I made! I've decided doing blessings at home are so much more enjoyable. Its more intimate and special in my opinion!


I actually bought Clara's dress before Connor was even born! I found it on clearance at Dillards for only $6! I love that its just a simple cotton fabric with eyelet details on it. Her flower was the first one I ever made by burning the silk layers to give it the curling effect. So many fun things to do with girls!



David had Jake and Connor laughing like crazy by throwing them in the air!




We are a happy Family!

Firing it up!

Posted by Alyssa

This was our FHE activity a couple weeks ago. That's the nice thing about having no landscaping in our backyard yet and living on the edge of the desert-we can build a fire in our own backyard! We cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows on sticks. The boys were in heaven and I loved having that campfire smoky tasting food without having to pack everything and head out to the desert!



Clara Rose Lines

Posted by Alyssa

Sorry so late on this post! Here's our little Clara who was born on January 1st! She weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. She's now 5 weeks old and a chunk! I'm amazed at how quickly they grow! She's the sweetest little girl and smiles all the time! It's been pure joy watching Mike fall in love with his little girl and Connor and Jake can't get enough of her!

My aunt Stacy gave me this dress as a baby gift: it's my grandma Peters' baby dress! What a special gift that will be treasured!



She always has this expression on her face!

Our first picture as a family. I can't believe we're now a family of 5! Where does time go?!?


Jake is always so soft and always whispers to her. We're still working on Connor to do the same most days.... We're so blessed to have her in our family!

Sugar Plum Fairies Baby Shower!!!

Posted by Alyssa

This Saturday my sister-in-law Shannon and my dear friend Briauna threw me a baby shower for our little Clara and Shammy hosted it in her beautiful home. Because of Clara's name, Shannon did a gorgeous Sugar Plum Fairies theme from the Nutcracker. There was glitter, sparkles, fairies, pink, gold, silver, and purple shades everywhere. It looked like a spread from a magazine-I swear this lady is so talented she could make a business of throwing parties! There was a ton of desserts-each gorgeous and delicious! Bri had a few hilarious games that we played. The first was a sugar and spice smelling game. The other was the first couple pics where 3 girls were blindfolded and had to get ready in the dark and cold to go to the hospital and put on everything in their bags-ranging from bright pink lipstick, pantyhose, jewelry, hair clips, body spray, scarves, nursing pads, slippers, etc. all with a huge pillow under their shirts. My favorite part was watching them try and put their pantyhoses on and nursing pads in!

Shammy shoving her pad in as fast as she can!
attempting to put on the nylons

My mom only got to stay a little while before she had to get on the road to go to Phoenix for my brother Robby's sealing to their adopted daughter, Grace
the diaper cake Bri made-GORGEOUS
Shammy, Lisa, and Shannon-I'm so lucky I got a picture of Shannon, she has a talent of disappearing when the camera comes out!
Me and Briauna-she's 3 weeks ahead of me and due any day!

The table was absolutely breathtaking. Everything sparkled and glittered-even all the food!

I had a blast visiting with friends and family and appreciate their support! Thanks Shannon and Bri for sharing your time and talents with us all-love you TONS!

A train and Monkey....so fitting.....

Posted by Alyssa

If you know these boys very well, you know their costumes fit them to a T! Connor lives and breathes trains and Jake is just our little monkey! Mike made Connor's train costume by spraying foam on a cardboard box, cutting out the train shape and then painted it. Add a conductor's hat and train whistle and the boy was in heaven! Mike told me he didn't want to spend any money on costumes this year, so I made him do the work! :-) I did spend $6 on Jake's costume only because I found it 90% off and its so stinking cuter in person! I love his little blonde curls that kept poking out!




Cruising on the Ranger

Posted by Alyssa

One nice thing about this rental house is that the desert is right in our backyard. Mike borrowed his dad's Ranger, loaded up the boys' carseats, and took them 4-wheeling out in the desert. After an hour I started getting worried and called Mike to see where they were. They cruised all the way to David and Shannon's house on the next exit East! Boys and their toys, what can I say.



Dry Ice again.....

Posted by Alyssa

For those of you who know Mike, you know how much he loves dry ice. He's the expert of dry ice bombs. Well, he found a tiny wart and of course what does he need? A huge piece of dry ice! So, the boys had some fun with it the rest of the night. He tried to make a bomb, but luckily the ice evaporated too soon.



Once Mike put a big chunk in this bowl Jake was terrified!
But like father like sons, it only took him seconds before they all had a blast with it!