HAIR CUTS!

One of my friends got me a gift certificate for a hair cut for my birthday so I decided that it's time for a change! (please just look at my hair, It's not the best picture)

I also decided that it was time for Addi's first hair cut! Her hair was starting to look like a mop more than hair! (As you can see in the christmas morning pictures!) My mom cut it for her and she was such a good girl!

My Growing Girl

Addi got a new bed for Christmas!

She LOVES it! I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast. And I want to proudly say that I took apart the crib and put the bed together all by myself! (hope it holds...ha ha...)

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning was amazing! Addi was in SHOCK with all the new toys she got! She definitely got spoiled! (and so did I) We had a great morning!

She was so excited about her kitchen

Opening all the presents

Spolied little girl!


New Elmo
Addi loves her new bike (and boots)
We had a lot of fun opening presents and spending time with family. Addi is such a doll and I am excited for her to have some new fun things to play with!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we always have a big family dinner and then we get to open one present (pajamas) and we hang out stockings! Addi had a great time! Here are the pictures and a video of her hanging her stocking.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve dinner

YUM YUM!

Our Jamies! Reading Christmas stories with Grandpa

Hanging Stockings for Santa... Addi made sure they were right by the toys!!!

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I love you so much! I am so greatful to have such amazing friends and family in my life. I have spent the past few weeks explaining the nativity to Addi. She is very in love with the "donkey" and Baby Jesus. We are reading a couple of Christmas books every night that explain that special night and I have been singing her a song: Mary Did You Know. (here are the lyrics)

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy

will one day walk on water?

Did you know

That your baby boy

will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know

That your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that youve delivered

Will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy

will give sight to a blind man?

Did you know

That your baby boy

will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know

That your baby boy

has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby

Youve kissed the face of god

Mary, did you know?

The blind will see

The deaf will hear

And the dead will live again

The lame will leap

The dumb will speak

The praises of the lamb

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy

is lord of all creation?

Did you know

That your baby boy

will one day rules the nations?

Did you know

That your baby boy is heavens perfect lamb?

This sleeping child youre holdingIs the great I am

I love that song. I love the special meaning, it is such a simple reminder of what the Savior is for all of us. I am so thankful for the gospel in my life. I am thankful for the Savior, I am thankful for the unconditional sacrifce that He made for me. I am thankful that no matter what challenges I face I know He has felt my pain, that He has suffered for me. I know that He lives and loves me. I know that He hears my prayers and comforts me. I am so thankful for this special time of year when I can remember Him and celebrate His birth and life.

God bless all of you. Merry CHRISTMAS and Happy New Year!

Rainy Days

We've had some rainy weather the past few weeks! Addi is a very "outdoorsy" child so the rain and her don't get along! She's been pretty antsy, I've had to take her to the mall a few times just to let her run around! One day though I entertained her painting some Christmas decorations! Addi loves to paint, she talks about it all the time! Anyway- here are her masterpieces! :)

Ginger Bread Houses and Temple Square

One night while I was in Salt Lake Addi and I got to hang out with her little "boyfriend" Jack, and his awesome parents! We started the night off making a ginger bread house! It was so much work because the pieces were broken in the box! I am proud to say that even though Quinn tried to fixed it my friend Annie is the one that worked the magic! Then the kids decorated the house, and by "decorated" I mean ate as much candy and frosting as they could! HA HA! It was a lot of fun!

Then we headed to temple square! I love Christmas lights and I have missed Temple Square since moving to California so even though it was extremely cold I had a great time!

Annie came with us! Addi loves her Aunt Annie and I LOVE HER TOO!

This is my favorite picture of the three of us! Addi is actually smiling!

The temple is so beautiful!

I really love Ben and Steph and Jack! I miss them already!

Happy Birthday To ME!

Last Thursday was my 23rd birthday! I know... I'm not old yet... :) I was in Utah so I got to spend the day with my friends (family) and Addi! It was a lot of fun! Dave took me to lunch and a movie and then we all went to dinner and back to the house for cake! It was a really fun day! Thanks to all my friends for making it special! I really miss my girls! It was so great to see you all!

Jesse's Mom

This past week I went to Utah for a very sad occassion. My best friends, Dave and Jesse, lost their mom the Wednesday before thanksgiving. I wanted to share her obituary with you because she was such a special woman. I loved her so much. She was always there with open arms, the May's house was always open to anyone to visit. She was such an amazing person and I know that Jesse and Dave will not be the same without her here, but I also know that she made them the men that they are. I love you Suzy!

Susan May 8/12/1954~11/26/2008 Susan May, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend passed away on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008, surrounded by her family.Susan was born on August 12th, 1954 to Ralph and Marjorie Whitehead and was later adopted by Ralph and Evelyn Jones. Susie married her knight in shining armor, Ted L. R. May on July 5th, 1972 in the Provo LDS Temple. Together they had five wonderful children and told people that they got married to "breed athletes". Susie was very active in her Wards with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and magnified her many callings. Susie was loved by all those who knew her. Susie is survived by her loving husband Ted; her children Joshua (Layna) May of Logan, UT, Rebecca (Douglas) Ruegger of San Diego, CA, Jacob (Annette) May of Salt Lake City, Joseph (Michele) May of South Jordan, Jesse (Jo'Leigh) May of West Valley City, Ted (Monica) Brown of West Valley City, David Sundblom of West Valley City; 20 grandchildren; adoptive father Ralph; father-in-law Jay May; five sisters Patricia Searle, Helen Wyant, Julia Cagle, Marjorie Fox and Lori Morrison; three brothers Butch Whitehead, Jim Whitehead and James Jones; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins, and numerous surrogate children that call her mom. Susie is preceded in death by her parents Ralph and Marjorie; adoptive mother Evelyn; mother-in-law Fay May; brothers-in-law Butch, Dale and Tom May; her first born grandson Joshua "Butchy" May; sister Kenalyn Howard; grandparents and several aunts and uncles. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 29th at 1:00 p.m. at the Granger 25th Ward, 2101 West 3100 South, West Valley City. A viewing will be held on Friday, November 28th from 6 to 8 p.m. and one hour prior to services also at the church. Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.starksfuneral.com. Susan and her cooking will be greatly missed till we meet again.

Thanksgiving and Ginger Bread Houses

Thanksgiving was so much fun this year. My mom went ALL OUT (I love her) and made an awesome dinner. My cousin Mike, and his family came up for the occasion! After dinner we made ginger bread houses with the kids and I got a little crazy and made a santa beard for Addi out of frosting. It was great!

UTAH VS SDSU

Quinn came down a couple weekends ago and took Addi and I to a football game at the Chargers Stadium. I was SO EXCITED! I hadn't been to a U of U football game since I had Addi. She had a great time, she ran through the seats most the time and played on the rails, but I did catch her cheering a couple times! It wasn't the best game because WE KILLED SDSU, but I was so excited to go it didn't matter! Needless to say Utah won and since then we also beat BYU and we are headed to a BOWL game! YAY!

Finding Joy in the Journey

Sorry it has been a little while since my last post. I have so many pictures to post and so little time! We have been doing well. I am wrapping up yet another quarter of school, and Addi is rounding the corner on her 2nd birthday. She is growing, learning and changing everyday.

The past few months haven't been the easiest for me and I recently took comfort in this talk and I wanted to share it with all of you, hoping that it will find a way to enrich your lives. At the last conference, President Thomas S Monson gave a talk on Finding Joy in the Journey. He stated that nothing is as constant as change, and that the things we will regret in life are the little things that we overlook. This is my favorite quote:

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we
live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and
then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in
this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between
what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most
important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent
future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy
in the journey—now."

Here is the link to the rest of the talk if you'd like to read it:

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=92764bb52a73d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

I wanted to take some time before thanksgiving to express how thankful I am for my life now. I am more thankful for Addi than any other blessing in my life. She has truly been my saving grace and I love her more than I have words to express. I know I am suppose to be her teacher and I am suppose to be her support system, but I think she is mine. She is the reason that I live each day, she is my heart and there really aren't words to express the love between a mother and a child.

I love my family, and am so thankful for their support. Being a single mom is probably the most challenging thing I have experienced. There are days when I have never felt more alone. But I know that my mom, stepdad, and sister are always here to help me or just "be" by my side. Addi loves my mom and sister so much and I can't imagine raising her without their love in her life. I am also so thankful for my friends and their constant unconditional love that they have for me. I am thankful for the gospel and the amazing gift of the atonement. I am thankful that I have been given a chance to change my life and return to church. I have amazing friends in my ward and I love my calling in Primary and Nursery. The children are truly so close to our Heavenly Father and being around them makes me feel the closeness of the spirit.

Though this year has thrown me many challenges, I have never felt more grateful for my life and the people around me. I hope you all know how much I love you and appreciate your constant love and support. Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for all you do.

Sunday Fun!

A lot of you know my family, so these pictures won't be too suprising! My parents rented Journey to the Center of the Earth last weekend and loved it! Well, they heard that there is a 3-D version, (which should only be cool to a five year old right?) NO! WAL-MART was visited and this is what happened on sunday:

My stepdad also decided that he needed to finish fixing the bicycle he bought Addi at a garage sale a year ago, so while he was at walmart he got a new tire, and she got to test drive her bike on Sunday. Until Aunt Katie took over and Addi decided to push her around!

Another wonderful thing about Sundays (as the holidays get closer) is that my step dad gets the newspaper and I savagely look through all the ads hoping for deals! I went into the other room for a few minutes and when I came back I found Addi, laying on top of a pillow, reading the target toy book! GOOD GIRL HONEY! YOU LEARN HOW TO SHOP AND LOVE IT AND WE'LL GET A LONG FINE! :)

Needless to say, we're weirdos! But, you know, we have a great time! (And yes, I sure put on some 3D glasses and joined them!) And I'm very proud that I've addicted Addi to shopping at an early age and she is officially afraid of spiders! Watch out daddy, she might be becoming a Mommy's girl! :)

HALLOWEEN 2008!

This year Halloween was so much fun! We got to pick up my cousin Natalie from the airport in the morning and go to lunch with her and her husband, Cody in Long Beach.

Then we headed over to my cousin Mike and Kim's house for Halloween, like last year. Addi loves her cousin Tyler, and she was very excited to see him! We spent the day playing with them...

and then of course we went trick-or-treating. Kim's neighborhood goes OVERBOARD with decorations and it was a BLAST! Addi had a great time, she even got to see a few neighborhood puppies! A couple guys in masks scared her accidently, but for the most part she was very content running around getting free candy! I'm so glad I get to have these fun memories with her!

She's such an angel... and not too mention- SO BEAUTIFUL! It was a great time!

Halloween Crafts

Throughout the month I had little projects for Addi to do! We painted masks and little Halloween houses, and also decided we better make a good looking Elmo pumpkin! Here's a few pics of the fun we had!

Halloween Parties!

We went to our Ward Halloween party again this year. It was a lot of fun! Addi loves her nursery class, and had fun trick-or-treating and doing a Halloween parade with them!

We also had a little Halloween potluck at Addi's school this year. This is her preschool class and her preschool teacher, Cheryl.