Lexi's Dance Recital

Last night was Lexi's dance recital. She did such a good job and had a lot of fun. Lexi has enjoyed dance so much this year and is sad that it is over for the summer.

Miss Torri was Lexi's teacher this year. She taught Lexi so much. Lexi took tap and ballet this year. She was in two performances last night and did a fantastic job in both. Her class danced to "Once Upon A Dream" for ballet and "Emerald City" for tap. They were such cute little girls to watch dance.

After the recital, we went to Leatherbee's for ice cream to celebrate Lexi's great job. She ordered her own banana split, but I think she only ate about 1/4 of it. Grandma and Grandpa Brady brought Lexi so roses and Ryan and I gave her a "Hannah Antenna" doll.

Great job again Lexi on a fabulous year in dance!!!

Exciting News!!!

We have some exciting news to share. Our little family is about to get a little bit bigger. We are expecting our second little baby at the beginning of 2009.

We were planning on adding to our family and since it took a while to get Lexi here, we thought it would take a while, but this must be one anxious little peanut. This time it happened a lot quicker than we thought.

Me and Lexi surprised Ryan with the news by bringing home some pink and blue balloons. Lexi wasn't really sure what we were doing, but if it involves balloons, she is all about it.

This is our first picture of our little peanut. It is amazing the technology that we can see him or her already. I got to hear the heartbeat and it was amazing. It was the exact same feeling I had when I heard Lexi's heartbeat for the first time.

We are really excited for the change this is going to bring to our family and we can't wait. My due date is January 2 so we will either end 2008 or start 2009 with a great addition!!!

...And they call the thing Rodeo!!!

Herriman city has a really nice new park with rodeo grounds. This park is fairly close to our house, so it is fun for us to go to the rodeo when it comes to town.

We decided to go on Saturday night. Chaz and Whitney decided to go with us, so after a yummy dinner at Training Table, we were off.

We went last year and Lexi can remember yelling "Get That Barrel" during the bull rides so she was really excited to see them again this year. Along with the fireworks and the snack shack, this is her favorite part of the rodeo.

We got settled in and Lexi decided she was ready for a treat. I think we stood in line for 1/2 of the rodeo. She decided that she wanted a churro, even though I don't think she has ever had one before. She was so happy with it!!!

By the time the rodeo was over, it was really cold!!! I didn't plan very well and I forgot a blanket. Luckily we had jackets, but they didn't help much.

After all the fun of the rodeo, there were fireworks. This was definatly my favorite part and I am pretty sure it was Lexi's too.

We can't wait to go again!!!

Visit To The Zoo

Lexi has been talking about going to the zoo since last fall. We took her once when she was just over 1 year old, but of course she can't remember any of it.

Ryan had to go out of town for a while, so when he got back we thought it would be fun to spend the day at the zoo. The weather hadn't been too hot yet and we wanted to make sure we went before it was miserable to be outside.

I guess a lot of people had the same idea we did, because when we go to the zoo, it was packed. I couldn't believe it. We had to park in the upper parking lot. Even though there were a lot of people, we had a really fun day. Lexi had a lot of fun, but she wasn't as impressed as I thought she would be. She was really excited to see the zebra's and elephants, but she really didn't like the other things. We were kind of disappointed that the train wasn't working, but it ended up okay. Lexi had fun playing on the playground. They are getting ready to open a new area at the zoo with a really neat carousel. We told her that we would be sure to come back once it was open. We will be sure to go when the weather is a little bit cooler so the animals will be more active.

This ended up being a really fun outing for our little family!!!

Mother's Day

Today was such a special day for me. It was Mother's Day. After I got married, but hadn't become a mother, this was a tough day for me. I thought I should get a day for me - I kept a house clean and took care of Ryan. I wasn't sure what was so much more difficult about adding a few kids to the mix.

Until I actually became a mom. My eyes were quickly open. It is a whole new ballgame!!! Being a mom is one of hardest, most challenging things I have ever attempted, but it is also the most rewarding and fulfilling thing in my life.

This morning, Lexi was so excited to show me the card she had made for me. It brought tears to my eyes!!! She is such a blessing in my life. I can't believe I was chosen to be her mommy. Each day I learn more from her than I think I can ever teach her. I learn how to look at things in a different light, to not be so judgemental and to have a brighter outlook on life. She is so Innocent and so full of life. She is so excited about each day and the new adventures she has to look forward to.

I also had the opportunity to honor my mother today. I am so lucky to have the mom I have. I also learn so much from her. She is one of my hero's and I hope to be like her as I continue to grow up.

We had a great "Mother's Weekend". I was able to spend Friday night with my dad and family, along with my Grandma Ona. It was a fun night that included dinner at Bucca di Bepo. The kids were all really good and we had a fun night together.

Saturday night, Lexi went to play at the babysitters, while Ryan and I joined the rest of the adults in my family for dinner and a movie. We at dinner at Tepanyaki and went to see "What Happens in Vegas". We had a great night out and Lexi had a blast playing with the babysitter.

This morning we woke up and Ryan and Lexi had some fun presents for me. They got me a Kitchenaid Mixer. This is one of those things that I have always wanted, but I have never asked for so I was so excited to get this. They also got me a fun cookbook with lots of yummy recipes to make with the mixer. I can't wait to start using it.

Later in the morning, we went to Grandma Susan's for lunch. We had to make it an early lunch, because Ryan and I had to be to church to teach primary. We had a yummy lunch of ribs, beans, coleslaw and homemade strawberry pie. Grandma Brady and Grandma Joanie came to lunch, so we got to spend some time with these great mothers on Mother's Day.

After Church, we met Grandma Jil, Grandpa Rick, Ashlie, Shannon and her family for dinner. It was just a casual dinner at Texas Roadhouse, but we had a fun time. It was a great end to a great weekend.

This weekend, I was able to spend some time with all the great women in my life. I am so lucky to have all of these women as examples and teachers to help me along the way with Lexi.This picture is of my Grandma Donna, my Mom, me and Lexi. This was four generations of Shepherd women that was taken about 10 months before my grandma passed away. This is the only picture of all of us and I will always treasure it.

This is the first picture I could find with me and Lexi. As you can tell, I like being on the other side of the camera. Lexi is about seven months old here and you can tell how happy I am. Again, I am so lucky to get to be the mommy of such a sweet little girl.

Cute Stuff

Ryan and I teach the CTR 8 class in primary. Our kids are so cute and we love each of them. We look forward to seeing each of them every week.

Since they are all seven years old and getting ready to turn eight, I wanted to do something fun for each of their baptisms. I saw this idea on line and thought I could do that. I ordered the vinyl letters online and I found the cute frames at Ikea. This was so easy to do.

I hope each of the kids likes their frames, because I sure had fun making them!!!

Girls Day Out!!

This past Monday my mom, sisters and I had a fun day out. It was a great time for all of us.

I TIVO Good Things Utah everyday and I watch it every night while getting ready for the next day. I have always thought it would be fun to go be a part of the audience. Monday was the day that we all could take off work and had available.

It was a lot of fun. All of the people at the show were so nice. They gave us free movie tickets, a coupon book to the Gateway and some coupons to a local spa.

After the show, we all went to lunch at Stella's. It is a lot like the Pub at Trolley Square, it was very yummy!!! After lunch, we all went shopping.

Shopping with my two sisters is quite the experience. I always vow to lose twenty pounds after shopping with them. It is kind of depressing watching them buy their size 2 and 4 clothes...oh well, what can I do. I was able to find some cute new stuff for spring, which is always great.

We had such a fun day. I am so lucky to have my family so close and for us to all have such a great relationship. I love them so much - I don't know what I would do if I didn't have them around.

I can't wait for our next day out!!!