I'm One of Shade's Top Five Fans!

I entered a contest for Shade Clothing's Five Biggest Fans...and I won! Well, five girls won, and I was one of them. Here's the link--you'll have to scroll down, since my entry is the last one posted.

http://blog.shadeclothing.com/2009/11/best-evidence.html

I won a $50 gift card to Shade Clothing--but it's going to a special person who has done a LOT of favors for me these past couple of months.

Oh, and I also won a blog giveaway on http://www.sweetlifeinthevalley.com/ for a $25 GC to Shade, so I'll be saving that for when I really want something new and cute from Shade!

Ally's Last Hoorah as a One-Year-Old

So, Ally turned 2 on July 22nd, which means that she can no longer fly free as a lap baby!

Hence, I felt the need to take her on a trip right before her birthday. :) Ally and I went to visit David's family in Colorado. We stayed with his sister, Kris, who invited us a couple months back (since Ally and I had to miss the family reunion--everyone wanted to see her!).

Ally had a blast with her cousins, and totally fit right in with the fam--even calling Kris and Sam "mommy" and "daddy" by the end of it. We got to visit quite a bit with David's parents as well, and even got to see their beautiful new home in Parker. Ally was very well behaved for most of the trip, especially considering she usually doesn't sleep well out of her own crib. She had a difficult time on the plane ride out there, but was an angel on the way home.Maybe she could sense how tired I was and decided to give Mom a break!

Anywho, here are some pics of the trip. :)

So beautiful.

Our goofy girl.


OK, terrible picture of me, but it's one of about three pics of the two of us together on this trip! What can I say, it's all about Ally!

Sue, Kris and I went to the Molly Brown house in Denver while Scott and Sam took the kiddos to the zoo. Good times for all!

My oldest nephew :)

Playing with the boys!

I have more pics to post--Ally's Aunt Kristina made her a too-sweet-for-words birthday cake shaped like a penguin! And Ally had about 4 different birthday parties during the week of the 22nd. Will post soon!

Update: Our Fam

Hey everyone! Well, all about two of you who read our blog! So, just thought I'd update a bit. Ally is TWO!! And I still need to post pics of her birthday. :) We went to Colorado, the beach, and have been enjoying (OK--suffering through) the heat in Manteca.

I (Shellie) am in the local Manteca Idol competition. It's a fundraiser for our Boys and Girls' Club, and it should be lots of fun. I'll be singing just about every week starting next Wednesday night (Aug. 19th) at Chez Shari--until they kick me off! One of my friends is singing in it, too. Did I mention that I know two out of the four judges?? One is my high school choir teacher. Ha, small town.

We'd been trying to expand our family this past year, but NO NEWS. Guess it's just not time for Ally to have a sibling yet. We're taking a break, and then we'll probably start trying again in a few months. I'm trying not to stress too much about it, but to leave it in the Lord's hands. But everytime I see a baby I sigh!

David is still working at Lawerence Livermore Labs, and mostly enjoys it. :) He provides well for us--it will be two years in Nov. that we've been in our house! David also just went to the airshow in Salinas on Saturday and enjoyed that. We weren't going to take a toddler, so he just went with some of our extended family.

Ally has been talking SOOO much! But she's also been sick these last two weeks. Hopefully her tests will come back soon and tell us what's been going on with her digestive system. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not celiac or another chronic something, but just something that's passing through her little body and will clear up pronto!! (For those of you who aren't grossed out too easily, keep reading. She's had diarrhea for the past 13 days straight, and has been extremely tired these past few days. She keeps telling me "nap" and "tired" and "go poo-poo." She's not dehydrated and hasn't lost much, if any, weight. We're thankful for that! But she's rather lethargic--not energetic, like her usual self. And her stools are frequent and increasingly more watery. Low fever last night.)

That's all I can think of at the moment. Pics to follow in the future!

June Activities

Sidewalk chalk grafitti.

What are YOU lookin' at?


Fun with Anny!

Chalk as a body paint.

David went on a family reunion campout with the Hoyt side since there was no way we could put Ally in a car for that long! We thought about flying, but then we couldn't bring camping gear. There's always next year!

My honey at the Grand Canyon.

David at Meteor Crator. I really want to see this someday!

David and Choo.

Sam with Nathan and Matthew.

Ooops!

Cutie pies! I miss my nephews and nieces!

Sidney, Matthew, Taylor, and Andrew (the big kids). Wow, they are looking older in every picture I see!

Ally was determined to ride the broom when I was sweeping the kitchen, so I just let her do it. My little witch in training! As, David pointed out, she's riding it backwards.

Ha!! I didn't even see this was on our camera until tonight. David took it when I wasn't around.

June was swimming lessons! You can check out my Facebook pics for a reminder of how Ally looked a year ago, her first year as a Tadpole at Lincoln Pool. She didn't pass again this year (a few things to master, like getting in and out of the pool by herself, putting her face in, etc.), but she'll probably be ready for Starfish by next year, when she's nearly 3. The kids who passed this year were 2 1/2, so I think she just needed to be a few months older to pass everything off.

Ally LOVES to kick in the water!! She was one of the most active "swimmers" in the class. Granted, some kids were still babies--9 months, on up to 3 years. She blew bubbles for the first time, and can climb out the side with minimal help (just someone to push off of with her feet.) Many times each lesson, she would try to swim away from me toward a toy or another kid. I'd have to grab on and keep her head above water! She is so busy; it can be exhausting just taking her to a 35-minute swim lesson!

Thanks to my mom for taking these pictures!

Memorial Weekend

On Memorial Day, we decided to go to the Presidio National Cemetary in San Francisco for their Memorial Day service. It was chilling to walk through the cemetary, reading the names of those who gave their lives in service of our country. It made me even more proud to be an American, and so grateful for our good soldiers throughout each war we have fought.
We want to raise Ally to have a reverence for the United States, freedom, and everyone who has fought and is fighting for the cause of freedom throughout history.

We also attended the Manteca Memorial Day celebration, and I sang Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy with two friends. We dressed up forties-style and did a little dance while we sang. It was fun, and it brought back memories of the plays I acted in as a kid.

After we sang, I walked over to pick up Ally, who had not seen me since before I had dressed up and done my hair. She started to cry--she didn't know if it was Mommy or not!! But she realized who I was in a couple of minutes.

I am so grateful for all the blessings that we have been given from our Heavenly Father. I know He watches over our little family, and only gives us the trials we can withstand. I'm so grateful to live in a country where I can vote, worship how I believe, and raise our children how we see fit. Although America has plenty of problems, especially during these times, I am still so thankful for all the freedoms we have each and every day. God bless America!

Ally's Second Easter

I love this one. She's so carefree.

What a runner! It was hard to get a glimpse of her face as she busily found eggs in the grass. But David managed to snap a few good ones.

Day Before Easter

We drove down to Bass Pro on the Saturday before Easter, since they had a storewide egg hunt going on, plus free pictures with the Easter bunny. Ally didn't cry like she did with Santa, so it was a good day! We went with our family friends, April, Alyssa and Anny. The girls looked so cute and springy!

Here's a pic of Ally while we were watching the giant fish being fed. They have a huge tank with a waterfall that's full of sturgeon, catfish and other fish.

Alyssa and Alyssa.

Our three A girls: Anny, Ally, and Alyssa.
It was fun, but Ally only lasts so long in a store.