Mr. & Mrs. Dabel

8.9.2011

We were invited to attend the wedding of Rae and Patrick, and we were very excited to go! Even though it was a crazy day, we had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the day.

Jordan, Steven, Eric, & Andrew

These boys love sports, and attend a lot of sporting events together, and watch a lot of sporting events together. Plus they are all hilarious together, so we were entertained all day. :)

Jordan was supposed to be out of town, or he would have been in a tux too.

Steven & Jordan
Andrew & Ashley Hill

The Groom himself

Rae & Patrick both worked with/for Eric, and he kind of set them up and got the ball rolling.

Patrick should definitely be included in the sports group. :) These guys really do love to do anything together though.

We missed the cake cutting, but caught the remnants. They were covered in icing!

It was definitely a busy, and long day. But it really was great to be a part of their special day, and enjoy it with friends!

Pooped!

8.8.2011

In the midst of potty training, we wore this girl right out. Poor girl!

Three

8.17.2011

This little girl is THREE today!

She has been talking about it for months, and the day has finally come. She is three!

I know everyone constantly says this, but where has time gone? I can't believe that she is already three.

I couldn't help but look back at past years, and past birthdays. So I thought I'd share some favorites.

Second Birthday (8.17.2010)...

She looks so little!

First Birthday (8.17.2009)...

Birth Day (8.17.2008)...

We have this picture in a frame, and I've been looking at it a lot recently. Thinking how much that moment changed our lives, in so many ways. What a blessing it has been though.

How quickly she has grown! Oh how we love our Little Miss!

Happy Birthday Hallie Bug!

Potty Girl!

8.6.2011

Eric wasn't feeling too well, so I took Hallie to run some errands with me. While we were there, I stopped to look and see if they had some Rapunzel panties for when Hallie decided she did want to go potty, because they are hard to come by. As we were headed down the aisle Hallie saw a pink princess potty! We had talked about it before, and she told us if we would buy her a pink princess potty that she would start going potty like a big girl. Well, we didn't take it for much, and have let it slide. But when it was right there before her eyes she wanted it!

I told her we'd have to wait, because we didn't need to get it today, thinking she really just wanted the potty and didn't really want to use it. Plus, in my mind I was going to wait until we were moved, cause for some reason that made more sense. But they did have Rapunzel panties, so I told her we'd get those for when she did decide to go potty like a big girl.

Well, we did the rest of our shopping, and Hallie kept asking about her pink princess potty. I told her that if we got it she would have to use it, and sit on it until she went potty. We actually had a pretty long talk about it, and in the end she said she was ready to go potty, and no more diapers. So we put the diapers that were in the shopping cart back, and bought the princess potty. She was thrilled. I wasn't as much.

Now, in my mind, I'm still doubting. (Probably because of how unsuccessful our last attempts had been, plus thinking about how disgusting emptying potty chairs are, and I hadn't prepared myself for it at all.) But once we did our other errands, and Hallie had a nap, I let her open her princess potty. It was very exciting, it plays a song when she goes potty. Which I thought was a little excessive, but if that's what it took that was fine. But it has actually been quite helpful. That way we actually know if she has went or not.
She has done amazingly well. The first time she did sit there for a long time, like close to two hours, but ever since she has been great. I was surprised she had gone #1 and #2 on the potty on day one. We've had a few close calls, and one accident so far (8.8.11). But I am so excited that we have a potty girl! Happy day!

"I Made a Mistake..."

7.30.2011

I now understand. When Hallie turned two and I was worrying about the "terrible twos," and everyone said, "Oh two isn't that bad, it's once they turn three that they are trouble." I know Hallie won't be three for a little while, but she is making it count. It isn't that she is trying to be trouble, she just is curious, and thinks she can do things "all by herself." It seems like lately that she has been into everything!

This day, I was starting to clean/organize/pack some stuff in our bedroom, and Hallie was playing dress-ups in her bedroom...so I thought. She came in a little sad, with green goop all over her hand and in her hair and said "I made a mistake," then instantly started sobbing. I wasn't expecting that at all, but I couldn't help but hug her. Then she took me to show me what the mistake she made was. She had opened up my lotion and dumped it out. Now, not exactly what I want to see, but far worse things could happen. I wasn't too concerned.

It was just a mess, and this little Miss did not want a bath! And even more so, she most definitely did not want her picture taken.

The Living Planet Aquarium

7.21.2011

One day, I happen to be on Groupon and they had a killer deal on a membership to The Living Planet Aquarium, plus I had a $10 credit, so we were able to get all three of us memberships for next to nothing. It was great.

So since we were going to be up that way anyway for Eric to drop some stuff by the University of Utah, and to a doctor appointment, we decided to go to the aquarium. It was a good time, we hadn't ever been before so it was really fun to see everything.

First we saw the little sting rays, and a big anaconda.
Then we saw the main event...the penguins! They are so so cute.

This is how close Hallie is to the size of an emperor penguin. Who would've guessed that they were so big? But the ones at the aquarium are just little guys.

Then we saw the alligator. He was just staring at us. You can see his head above the water, it kind of looks like a piece of wood. It was cool to see how he just floated there with his body sitting under water. He looked like he was sitting in an easy chair.

Then we got to see the big sting ray tank, and you could touch them. As Hallie went over one surfaced, and scared her, so she wasn't a big fan. But Eric and I both felt them, and they felt like goo. It was kind of gross.

Then we saw the sea turtle! She was my favorite!

And the shark.

They also had this cool little bar where you could go look at and touch the little creatures. It was really neat.

Then...the camera died. But we saw a lot of fun jellyfish, and an octopus, and some Utah fish. Hallie liked it enough that's where she wants to go for her birthday! So we are excited to go back.

We're Moving

7.16.2011

Kind of out of no where, but all to perfectly, it worked out that we are moving at the end of August. We are moving into Rob & Kelsie's condo here in Provo. We are very excited about it, and it will be nice to have some more room!

After we went and saw the condo on Saturday, we went to lunch with Kelsie and Rob and told them we'd love to move in. After eating the girls played ring around the rosies in the middle of Magleby's Fresh.

12 of 12 - July

Again, here we are on the 12th of July. I really love having a record of a normal old day.

1. We woke up and ate breakfast, and folded laundry.

2. Then we did some more laundry...I feel like that's all we do sometimes. Well that and dishes.

3. Hallie found her socks in the laundry and wanted to wear them. It's a good look right? :)

4. "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" was the favorite book at the time. It changes probably weekly, but Hallie gets stuck on the same book, and wants it read over and over. But it's a fun one for sure.

5. Hallie had a pair of leggings that she had got huge grass and mud stains that I couldn't get out of her white leggings so I dyed them brown. I was surprised how easy it was and how nice they look.

6. While Hallie napped I worked on my Relief Society lesson for Sunday. This was a calling that really intimidated me, but I have really loved it.

7. After nap time, Hallie wanted a Otter-Pop. A purple one. They are her favorite.

8. Eric took the car to the Mazda dealership and had some recalls taken care of and the oil changed

9. Horrible picture yes, but we (and by we I mean Eric) watched Lavell's last miracle. The miracle win against the U.

10. Hallie sliced her toe open, and required a bandaid. It's amazing to me that she always wants a bandaid when she doesn't need it, but when she does need one it's a battle.

11. We went to Grandma's and Hallie had ice cream on the porch. One of Hallie's favorite things to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

12. Then after we got Hallie and Eric in bed, I cleaned the couch with this little guy.

Sick Girl

7.11.2011

I've started nannying for a family friend, and it has been a really good thing for all of us. But one day we got up and Hallie said her tummy hurt. I didn't think much of it, and dressed and headed out. When we were driving past Thanksgiving Point Hallie started crying and screaming, so I asked what was wrong, just assuming she was just tired. She wouldn't answer me, but by the time we hit the point of the mountain she had puked absolutely everywhere! By the time we were able to get off the freeway and to a parking lot to get her cleaned up I think she had thrown up four or five times. So I called and told Lonny and Amy about it and we decided we better not come up. After getting Hallie, and her carseat cleaned up the best I could with baby wipes, we headed back home. When we got home Hallie laid on the floor to watch Tangled, and she was asleep within the first 15 minutes, which is not at all like her. Poor girl. Luckily it passed quickly, but it is never fun to have a sick little girl.

The Ducks...Revisited

7.10.2011

Since we didn't have much luck with the ducks a few days before, we thought we'd try again after church one day. We decided to try a different spot on campus. The big pond up by the bell tower.

And we found them! There were a ton of them paddling around in the pond and stream. There were three different sets of mom and babies.
Hallie was loving it!

Are these babies not the cutest?!

These ducks were not shy in the least. And for Eric and Hallie, close is not good enough, they want them right up there with them. So they were trying to convince these "Einstein ducks," to come up and visit them.

Here they come...

They achieved their goal! These white ducks were funny to watch, they had these puffs of feathers on their head, which is why we called them "Einstein ducks." :)

Eric and Hallie had them eating right out of their hands

Eric even got this one to jump up for the bread. It was quite entertaining, but these poor ducks, they had to work for their food. :) It was kind of like watching Mr. Popper's Penguins (the book, not the movie), but Mr. Patterson's Ducks. They were having a grand old time.

They weren't afraid of us at all. They acted like they hadn't seen food in months.

Then another storm started coming in, I guess ducks and storms go hand in hand for us.

Saying goodbye to the ducks.

Then we headed back to the car.

It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy the day while the weather was nice, and to finally really feed some ducks.