Sleep

Samantha had decided that she does not like to sleep. Instead, she fights me tooth and nail. She wants to be awake ALL the time. Today I had to much to do to fight her anymore. She played in the living room and then proceeded to scream because she needed a nap. I was in the kitchen and started to sing. She would stay calm as long as she could hear me. A few minutes later I walked into the living room to behold this cute site. Samantha cuddled up with the teddy bear Grammy Robbins gave her at Christmas and fell asleep. Even though the nap didn't last long it was nice to have her fall asleep!!!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend Michael went camping with the young men. While he was gone I was busy getting ready for a Daddy-Daughter Ball. I'm one of the Faith in God leaders in my ward and I had the brilliant idea to throw a ball. I remember doing the same thing when I was about 8 and I loved it!!! When I had my daddy-daughter ball, my dad (actually probably my mom) bought me a cosage and my dad had a matching boutinierre. I was so excited! So I decided to have the girls make boutinierres for their dad's out of tissue paper at our last activity. The next week I heard about a few girls that were going to get corsages from their dads, but not all of them were. I decided to make some corsages for the girls. Now, I'm not really that crafty and I don't have all the needed supplies for corages. To make things better, there is no budget really for the activity so I had to use what we had on hand. This was a bigger undertaking than I realized going into it, but I finished 9 corsages and all the other fun projects that go into a big to-do like this ball just in time. The girls loved them, and that made everything worth it! Here are a few pictures of them. They all are made out of red roses because that was what we had.

Michael had a lot of fun on his camping trip. I sent him with a camera and told him several times to make sure he got some pictures. He came home and told me that he went repelling (which he said he wasn't going to do) and I asked if anyone took a picture. He said no, he never took the camera out of his bag. So, hopefully I can find someone else who took a picture so I can share it with you. It was a cool experience for Michael! I think he enjoyed it more than he thought he would.

Happy Anniversary Michael!!!

Today is our three year anniversary. Three years isn't a long time, but is sure is a good start to forever!!! Happy Anniversary Michael!!!

A Family Filled Week

Starting Valentine's Day weekend we have had the chance to spend lots of time with family. We went to Phoenix to spend time with Uncle Chris, Aunt Shirley, their family, and Grandma Robbins. We went to a hoop dance festival. I forgot a hat for Samantha so Aunt Shirley was nice enough to let Samantha borrow her hat! Aunt Shirley also bought Samantha a Heard Museum shirt (that is where the festival was held) and it works great for a night shirt!!!

Samantha took an instant liking to Kim. It was really funny!!!

We had a tired girl on our hands most of the weekend.

Grandma and Samantha in their chairs!

Grandma sat on Ron's Harley!

My Grandma and Grandpa Averett spend much of the winter in a little town about an hour and a half from Phoenix called Quartzsite. We were able to go over and see them since Michael had Monday off for President's Day.

On Wednesday of this week, Grandma Robbins, Randy, and Sally (a.k.a Papa and Grandma Sally) were able to come to Sierra Vista to visit us.

We found a store in Tombstone that had some pretty fancy hats!!!

We visited Tombstone and took a carriage tour around the town. It was a fun, old cowboy town with a lot of interesting, wild history.

It took a while for Samantha to warm up to everyone, but once they shared some crackers with her, she was fine!

Fun at the Park and Dad's Visit

Saturday was nice so we decided to go to the park. Samantha had been before, but this time she actually liked it! She loved the swings and just kept kicking!!!

The tunnel slike was a little scary for her.

My dad came for a visit last week. He had to come down for work and was able to come see us. He wasn't here for very long, but we had fun. Samantha really loved playing with Grandpa!!!

Birthday and Party

Samantha's birthday was on a Wednesday this year which meant I had Faith in God and Michael had Young Men's. So, we decided to have a birthday party with our friends on the following Friday. It was really fun. My friend Jennifer has a daughter that is only three days older than Samantha so we had a combined birthday party. We had pizza and cupcakes. The kids watched Samantha's new movie, The Aristocats, and the adults played Would You Rather (thanks Theresa!!!). It was low key, but a lot of fun!!!

Janelle and Samantha had a cake to themselves.

Samantha Robbins and Janelle Joven, the one year olds!!!
Samantha is wearing her new birthday outfit.
On Samantha's actual birthday we didn't have a cake, but we did have Oreos!

Samantha is an expert present opener!

Happy 1st Birthday Samantha!!!

What a big girl!!!

Our tiny baby isn't so tiny any more.

I can't believe it's been a year already! I can't imagine life without Samantha, but it' weird to think that she is one year old. She's been a huge blessing in our lives. Being parents is the best job in the world!