Aspen is 3!

There are times when I can't believe Aspen is already 3, than at other times she seems so much older. Aspen seems really mature for her age to me. She communicates better than some 4-year-olds and she has really good control of her emotions. Yes she still can be whiny at times but she is a pretty mellow child. She isn't a roller coaster of emotions with lots of lows and highs. Another funny thing about Aspen is that she is not nostalgic at all. She will make a project at story time or nursery and as soon as she has shown both mommy and daddy what she has made she will throw it away! Its really funny. She is proud of what she made, but I guess she thinks what do I do with it now?

In the morning Aspen got to eat her yummy pancake breakfast on the your are special plate! Than she opened her present from Daddy, Mommy and Danny! If you can't tell she gets really excited about everything! We had already set up her pool outside since we needed it for her party and she even more excited to see that it was already up.

When I asked Aspen what kind of party she wanted she quickly said a barbie party. We had already wanted to do something outside with water since that is Aspen favorite thing in the world so we decided to do a mermaid barbie theme! Wow it couldn't have worked out better. The party started off with letting the girls color some barbie mermaids coloring pages. Than I read Aspen's new book about Merliah who is a barbie mermaid. In the book Merliah has to complete some tasks so she can save Oceana and get her mermaid tail. So I told the girls they were going to do the same thing. Outside we had lots of task for them and when they completed them they would get their very own mermaid tails! For the obstacle course we did: Ring around the girls legs as they hopped across the driveway, running through a slip n slide, saving the fish (we had a bunch of toy fish that we outside of this blow up pool and the girls had to find them and throw them back in, of course Tyler kept throwing them back out so the girls could keep doing it), finding a pearl under seashells on the water table, running through the pool sliding down the slide and putting a ring on a fish, and the grand finale; throwing water balloons at the pirate (Tyler)! Once the girls completed all their tasks they were given a special mermaid necklace and than their earned their real mermaid tails! My mom (and I helped a little) made these incredible mermaid towels as party favors. One of the girls even asked if she got to keep it! Thanks mom for the towels they turned out perfect and I know the girls loved them!

The obstacle course was just about the right amount of time and after we let the girls have free time in the pools! Than we let them dry off while eating otter pops. Than it was time for lunch, cake and presents. For lunch we kept the mermaid theme and had yummy flower pb&j's, gold fish and fruit flower bouquets. For the cake we had a mermaid barbie cake that my mom helped me with! It turned out perfect and I hope I can always make special cakes for my kids birthdays. Aspen was super excited for presents. My mom and Kathy were a huge help at the party. I was so thankful they were able to make it. Aspen was so happy to have both her Grandma's at her special party! Sarah even took a break at work to stop by and wish Aspen a happy birthday. Thanks to all her little friends that came to. We had Kaia Sperry, Kylee Sperry, Summer Sperry, Lola Fenn, Abby Southam, and Ella Pack!

Aspen really got spoiled this year and after her friends party we took her to Mcdonalds for dinner. Than we started a new tradition this year and let Aspen pick out a book from the bookstore for her birthday. She picked my name is not Isabella. And it is such a cute book.

Than it was time for more partying! The Mason's all came over to celebrate some more! We ate cupcakes and ice-cream. Than we let Aspen open her presents! Nick started a tradition of giving the kids sweet shoes and Aspen loved them. Sarah got Aspen some great pre-school books that

Aspen uses everyday. The grand finale of the night was when Aspen got her new bike! For about the last 2 months all she has asked for is a bike for her birthday. Well she got her wish and boy was she excited!

While we were busy helping Aspen learn to ride a bike my sweet tooth Danny man found his way into the house, climbed up a chair and helped himself to another cupcake! Man he is sure one you have to watch all the time :) Is that not a face of someone who has been caught. Gotta love the buddy man! Aspen I hope you know how much you are loved by so many people around you. Here are a few things about my sweet princess:

• She is the best sharer!
• She is quite the social butterfly and is always asking to go play with her friends. The great thing about this is everyone is her friend!
• Everyday she ask me when she gets to go to preschool.
• She runs to nursery and doesn't even look back to say goodbye to me.
• She is constantly thinking of things for Danny and doesn't like to leave him behind.
• She talks in complete full sentences and everyone can understand every word she says. Maybe that is because she is a parrot and always repeats everything!
• She is tough and when she falls down she rarely cries. Instead she gets back up and keeps doing whatever she was doing.
• She loves to be girly and dress-up, but she also loves to play with cars and balls!
• She can swim all by herself and swimming is still her favorite thing in the world to do.
• She still loves her 2-3 hour nap everyday!
• She loves to be active doing whatever everyone else is doing. She loves hiking, camping, playing at park or anything that is outdoor! She is sure her daddies little girl that way.

4th of July Festivities

Its no surprise that 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the year! We have lots of Sperry traditions that I love. Plus its really stress free! This year the boys went golfing on Saturday and we they were finished we took the kids to the Provo Carnival. Usually all the cousins go, but Mike and Kel were in Colorado and Rob and Janie'a's kids were in Arizona with her family. So it was my family and my mom and we had a blast. We walked around the booths and even got a few things. My mom got her toe nails glittered and Aspen got her face painted. Than we let Aspen pick out some carnival rides. I love this picture of Danny starting down Aspen very jealous that she is on the ride. Aspen had a pretty bad crash, but like the brave little girl that she is she didn't even cry! After the rides we went and did all the free craft things they have and ended the day with some snow cones! Delicious is all I can say.

We also took some great 4th of July pictures!

Than on the 4th we went to my parents house for our traditonal yummy breakfast! After that we headed up to play tennis. We always let the kids play first and than the adults play some while the kids play at the park!

After tennis we went back to my parents for swimming. It was fun to see Barb and Jax and their families there as well. We don't get to see enough of the extended Sperry clan.

Then we finished with a yummy bbq dinner and of course some fireworks. Aspen and Danny have so much fun with their cousins. They all get a long so good. Michael was absoultely amazed by the fireworks and you can tell he will probably be a pyro just like his daddy when he grows up. At times Aspen got a little scared of the fireworks and hid in the van, but she enjoyed them for sure. She was also found covering her ears from the "noisy" as she called it. I think Mike and Tyler enjoyed lighting the fireworks even more than anyone else enjoyed watching them. They are pyros for sure!

It really was a perfect day! Spending time with family doing what we love, doesn't get better than this! But it wouldn't be official until I thanked the men and women who fight for this country. I cannot even imagine what they and their families go through to keep us safe. I thank God for inspiring righteous men to create the Deceleration of Independence and for allowing me to live in this land we call AMERICA! God bless America, the land of the free!

San Francisco

Days 1 and 2:

We have been so lucky to go on so many trips this year! This time we got to go to San Fran, which is a place neither Tyler or I have ever been. Tyler's parents took us and it was a trip to remember! On the way there we decided to stop in Tahoe and sleep there. Luckily we got there before it got dark so we could enjoy Tahoe a bit. My kids were so excited to be out of the car they were jumping all over the place. Sunday morning we got up and went to church and than we took a scenic route down to Oakland. There was a beautiful waterfall that we stopped to see and than we were off to see the Oakland Temple. It was stunning and was definitely worth the trip!

Day 3:

Today we went to the Armstrong Redwoods. The trees were huge and unbelievable! This was just the perfect hike to get some energy out after 2 long days of driving. Nick had a great time carrying Danny through the forest and Aspen loved running around. There were even some great trees to jump off of!

Day 4:

Alcatraz! This was by far my favorite part of our trip! The tour was incrediable. To hear actually stories from the prisoners and guards with background noises similar to what it sounded like was so real! I can't even imgaine living in such a tiny cell for so long. Especially since they could hear the sounds of people partying so close in San Fran. But I guess when you are a criminal you kind of deserve it, right. Danny took a great little nap during the tour and Aspen was so excited when they gave her her very own set of headphones!

After Alcatraz we tried to find the stop where we could get on our double decker bus tour. We spent about an hour looking at maps and trying to figure it out. While we were doing that my kids had a blast chasing birds. Danny was so determined to catch them. I think this was his favorite part of the trip!

Day 5:

We didn't find the bus stop until it was to late yesterday, so we came back today to ride the double decker bus through the whole city! The was the perfect way to see the city.

Than we ate lunch at Bubba Gumps. Wow was that delicious. We all got shrimp and all of us loved every bite of what we ate! Aspen ate quickly because we had promised her if she ate she could ride the carousel after. We also walked the shops at Pier 49 and saw the Sea Lions!

Than we headed to Stinson Beach. Poor Sarah got so car sick on the ride there, but she was a good sport. It was kind of late by the time we got there so we didn't change into our swimsuits, but that didn't stop us from having a great time!

Day 6:

Today was also one of favorite days! We went to the beach. It was a little windy but still who could complain about laying out in the sun playing at the beach. I was brave and even got in for a minute. Although I quickly got out because it was FREEZING! It was great to have a chill relaxing day and my kids enjoyed it as much as I did!

Day 7:

Today was also great! We got to bike the Golden Gate Bridge. Thankfully there were only a few hills because I am not in as great of shape as I would like. There were some parts that it was pretty windy, but overall it was a really enjoyable ride. I just think its cool that I can now say I have rode a bike across the golden gate bride. Really how many people can say that! We rode all the way into Sausillto and ate lunch there. After lunch Sarah and Tyler were brave and rode their bikes back up the steep hills, while the rest of us took the ferry! Aspen was so excited to go on another boat!

After the bike ride we went to check out Ghirardelli Square and got some cupcakes at Kara's Cupcakes. They were worth the $3.50 a cupcake and I don't really like cake so thats saying a lot! Danny got so excited eating it that everyone was watching and laughing. He also got very mad when there was no more left. He is my sweet tooth for sure!

And of course a trip to San Fran just wouldn't be complete without driving down Lombard street, it's got eight different switchbacks in a very short period of time. Than we headed over to Filbert street, which is the steepest street in the western hemisphere at 31.5% grade! Wow who needs roller coasters when you can go down streets like this!

Than it was time to leave San Fran! Look at this amazing picture Sarah took. Can you think of a better way to leave San Fran than seeing the lights from across the bridge.

Day 8:

Although we said goodbye to San Fran our trip was still not over. We actually stayed in Windsor which is about 1 hour north of the city. So on our last day Tyler, Nick, the kids and I went to the beach. Nick and Tyler really wanted to go surfing and I wouldn't miss that for anything! Plus the beach is probably my favorite places to be in the whole world. We lucked out because it was the warmest nicest day we had had the whole trip! Also we went to rent the surf boards the guy was nice and let us have a buggy board for free. So the boys got their surf on while the kids and I played in the sand. Tyler was nice enough to come in for a bit so I can try buggy boarding. The water at this beach was a little warmer and I enjoyed it so much! What a perfect way to end an awesome trip!

After the beach we rejoined Tyler's parents and Sarah and all went swimming. We actually went swimming quite a few days and the hot tub everyday, but these are the only pictures I have of it!

The last day we drove the whole 13 hours back in 1 day. With our new van Tyler and I took turns sleeping the back while the other one drove so it actually went really fast! The kids were so good and we only made a few stops. This trip will fill us with memories for a lifetime. We are so thankful to Tyler's parents for making sure this trip happened and I can't wait to go on another family trip. Aspen said her favorite parts were the boats, the bus and the beach! Tyler's favorite parts were biking the bridge and surfing. And my favorite parts were Alcatraz and the beach! We also all love spending so much time with family!