Labor Day, Li'l John, Lizzie, and Las Vegas

John Sterling Alleman

Labor Day + Little John + Las Vegas + Lizzie = Lots of fun! Lizzie and I flew out Thursday afternoon and hung out with my brother, Matt, and his family (Rebecca and John). We had a great time! Luckily, a portion of Becca's family also arrived early and brought a friend along for Lizzie to play with. Thanks, Jane!

Friday, my parents arrived and drove us to my other brother's new home in Kingman, AZ. GORGEOUS! I am so excited for them and this great opportunity! I know Dr. Wade is working crazy hours, but I'm thrilled he's out of school, and being the doctor he's been training to be for so many years! It was so fun getting to hang out with them. Saturday we drove back to Vegas, went swimming at the beautiful Marriott pool, and then headed over to the church for a combined dinner with all of the guests (around 30) and some BYU football. Luckily, we won. {Wish we could say that for the past 2 Saturdays' games.}

Sunday was John's blessing and a little open house at Matt's. My mom and I teamed up to record his blessing. I don't know how many people still know how to write shorthand, but my mom is awesome! I am amazed as I look at her scribbles that she can still do it, but also understand it! It's like Chinese to me. Between the two of us, her shorthand and my speedy cursive, we can produce a fairly accurate and very cherished document that I know Matt and Becca will love reading over and over.

The rest of the weekend was full of food, more swimming, and relaxation. I even threw in a chocolate tasting fest at Matt's Monday night. I have a fellow choco-holic in my sister-in-law, Becca. So, together we walked down the chocolate aisle at Target and picked out a few fun things to try. I will admit the new Willy Wonka bars are not what I was expecting. Too sweet, too waxy. Too much like Hersheys. What did not disappoint me were the 2 new flavors of Lindt bars. One was a Sea Salt Milk Chocolate and the other was Dark Chocolate with Black Currants and almonds. Mmmmmm! I highly recommend both!

Here is my handsome brother who passed down his handsome genes.

The Allemans-4

(We missed you Mandi, Ryan, Chris, and Max!)

I love my forever family!

My baby is 3 years old!

Lizzie Kay is now 3 years old! She reminds me of this fact every few waking hours. In fact, today she decided she was too old for nursery at church--because she is three now. Of course, this was all said with her hand on her hip, her hip pushed out, toe pointed, and some major attitude radiating from her skin. I think I might have even seen an eye roll.

I just love this girl. I love her singing (Twinkle, Twinkle is still her favorite song). I love her piercing blue eyes. I love her hugs and kisses. I love her desire to be tickled. I love that she still can't say her "l"s and will obediently repeat my grandmother's name, "Luella Lewis", whenever I need to hear her cute speech. I love how she has to hold hands constantly. I love it when she refers to herself as my "little helper" when we do laundry and clean bathrooms. I love how she points out every different color of flower on our walks and bike rides. I love her belly laugh. I love that she wants to play the boardgame, "Princess Charming" every day. I love her ability to chew gum and not swallow it. I love that she's potty trained. I love her sassyness and how she teases Steve. Lizzie is a light in our lives.

Being the girly-girl that she is, she requested a pink cake with pink frosting. Well, being the crazy mom that I am and the tradition of making specialty birthday cakes, I decided to fit her request with an emblem of her favorite toy--strawberry shortcake doll--and make it into a strawberry. We made the cake for our family party and the cupcakes for her playdate with her friends.

Lizzie has 2 great friends from nursery that she asked to come over to celebrate with her. With short notice, these friends came over bearing gifts! They played dress up, barbies, strawberry shortcake, and tea party.

Lizzie received a darling PINK princess umbrella. She also uses it as a parasol. Dainty!

Funny thing about these girls. We have an entire bin of dress-up clothes. They all decided to dress-up in Lizzie's actual dresses that she wears. I was a little surprised when they all came down wearing her real dresses.

She also got a Fancy Nancy dress with shoes to match!

Because of crazy schedules, sports, curriculum nights, etc., we didn't have time to sing as a family or even eat cake! So, the next night we celebrated.

Isn't she cute sporting her strawberry sunglasses?!

Make a wish!

In all seriousness, I love Lizzie's birthdays! Not only do we get to celebrate her life and how blessed we are to have her in our family, but I get to ponder on my 2nd chance to life that I got that same day. I am so grateful to be here to support Steve and raise these precious children--no matter how many things they lose or how many times they forget to make their beds. It is my privilege and I am glad it's not something I take for granted anymore...at least not as much. I had the unique opportunity to fly to Nevada to spend time with my parents, brothers, and sisters again over Labor Day weekend. This always brings up what we were all doing 3 years before. Although I don't remember much of what went on that weekend, my family will never forget it. It is so sweet to see their eyes full of emotion as we remember that event and all of the feelings associated with it. I am grateful to be a part of that 3% that survives!

School is in session

It's hard for me to believe I have 4 kids in school all day. Braxton is in 7th grade, Evan-5th, Carter-3rd, and Emma- Kindergarten. Wowzers! Where has the time gone? Wasn't I just refilling their sippy cups, playing peek-a-boo, and putting them down for naps? We are all excited, though, for this new school year. Everyone is happy with their teachers AND has friends in their classes. My kids' excitement is helping me with my anxiety. I know I am more nervous than they are at the start of the year. So far, we are off to a good start!

Braxton has grown as much as our tree!

My 3 Kendall Elementary students

Carter is excited for Mrs. Donivan.

We've heard she's strict, but fun. Perfect for Carter!

Evan's got a good group of friends in his class. His teacher is known for her math and science skills! Sweet! Again, perfect for Evan.

Emma gets Mrs. Brown! And so did Braxton, Evan, & Carter!!! Amazing. She said she's definitely requesting Lizzie in a few years because... "You can't break up the set!"



Emma's first day at Kindergarten was an hour-long orientation. She was bummed it didn't last longer, so I took the girls to Dupage Children's Museum. They had a great time learning, exploring, dancing, climbing, etc.

Lizzie was discovering her different parts of her shadow. So cool!

Here she gets to encase herself in a gigantic bubble!

I think Lizzie and I will be frequenting this museum this school year. She will be starting preschool at the high school at the end of the month...and can't wait! Every day she asks when it's her turn to go to school. Poor girl. I'm not in a hurry. Meanwhile, we'll keep playing memory, U-No, cleaning, doing puzzles, reading, and dancing to princess music.