“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”

-George Bernard Shaw -







It was our sweet DeLa Ruth's Birthday December.30.2010!!
It is hard to believe a year has gone by!! My how time flies!
We had a party for her on January 2

These are a few pictures of our celebration! Her nickname is Jelly Bean  . . .  So that was our theme . ..

Matt printed a cute banner!


We made a 3D jelly bean shaped cake! 





So EXCITED for her party to start!!! YAY!


In both Matt and my families it is a tradition to put the birthday cake in front of the baby and see what they will do!  But in Matt's family they have always gotten this cute bear cake!  Matt's mom made it for her!  She loved it!! As you can see . . .







We had lots of people come and help us celebrate!!
Thanks to all who came!!

Here are her 1 year photos taken by
BlackIvory Photography!
Enjoy





















Happy Holidays All!!! 
Hahahah . . .  I know Im a little behind, but I have this thing where I can't just move on
. . . I have to catch up!  So here it is in a nutshell!!

THANKSGIVING!!
Her first Thanksgiving! She loves sweet potatoes! And I am so mad . . . I have only few pics from this day!  But it was fun!!  First at the Lee home then at the Hickman home!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Here are some pics from our family photo shoot at Temple Square!  Oh DeLa Ruth was soooo sick this day! But she did so good!  Way to tough it out baby!!
*Thanks BlackIvory Photography*





Christmas Eve!!
At Grandma and Grandpa Hickmans DeLa Ruth got one of her favorite toys . . .VIOLET!!
Violet has sung her to sleep every night since!

Next at Grandma and Grandpa Lee's she got to open up the traditional PJ's!! 
Doesn't she look adorable!   . . . . and kinda in a coma!! 


We are ready for bed!!! SANTA IS COMING!!!


CHRISTMAS MORNING!!
Here is our front room after Santa visited us!!  I loved my Tree this year! And before Santa came . . . that was all that was in this room!! Santa brought Matt and I new couches! and All the stuff adorning the couches belongs to DeLa baby!!  Her first Kitchen!! I was afraid she might be too little . . . BUT she loves that thing!!




Christmas was great! We spent the time with family and loved every minute!  New years was fun too! Matt's parents joined my family for a night of fun!! My grandmother brought an old movie to keep us all up till midnight . . . and it worked! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
 We also had DeLa's First Birthday!!  . . . But that's a WHOLE OTHER POST!
We have been in our house now for almost a year! We moved in last December right before Christmas! It wasn't completely finished but enough to move in! Then this Summer we finished it!! It is soooo beautiful! My father-in-law and Matt did most all the work themselves. My dad did help frame the new garage. It turned out so beautiful! This house has so much history to it too! My Aunt actually grew up here before she married my moms brother. And before the renovations were started Matt's sister lived here. Then 2 years later . . .We moved in! Most every thing was changed except 2 things.  One wall has the original bead board and the fireplace has the original rock. Other than that EVERYTHING is completely different! I am still working on decorating the inside! Little by little. I do have DeLa's Nursery done, and my kitchen and dining room basically done. I will get pictures of those later. But right now I have a before and after of the front of the home. Take a look for yourself . . . .


WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

My FAVORITE part of the house is the front door!! Matt and his dad basically built it from scratch. Matt even glue chipped the windows himself!! And my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PART . . . The SPEAK EASY! I have always wanted one! An I love it!! In this pic it is decorated for halloween!
 Ooooooo I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
So 3 weeks ago our sweet little baby got sick :( With a temp that lasted 4 days.  On the 5th day in the evening Matt was changing her to get ready to go out and noticed all these little bumps everywhere. . . Obviously the first thing that pops into my mind . . . CHICKEN POX!! After a trip to the doctors come to find out it was Hives ON TOP of Roseola!!  Poor thing!
She was soooooo soooooo itchy!  She was really uncomfy at nights too, so we brought her in bed with us and she was tossing and turning cause she itched so much! It finally went away 3 days later after getting a little worse! She got better and just now is coming down with something else! . . . Poor Thing!


Wow!! It was a crazy busy summer! And I can't believe it is Fall and almost Thanksgiving!  AHHH!!! Which means my baby is almost ONE!! Still can't belive it some times!  I try not to think about it and just Relish EVERY MOMENT with her at this age!

Here is a compilation of our summer and our happenings . . . .

My brother Brent and his family came in town for about a month in May/June!! It was sooo good to see them! I sure LOVE them!

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In July I did my first 5K in an atempt to shed baby weight! It was for the 4th of july freedom festival!
Then we wtached the parade!



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Then latter In July we had a Lee Family 3 day Vacation! We went with Matt's Family to Northern Utah!
First Stop LAGOON!

This is us at the top on the ferris wheel! I usually Love feris wheels! But I got really nervous at the top!
It was still fun though!

 This is DeLa with Grampa Lee at Lagoon!

Next stop was the Hill Airforce Museum . . . No Pics!! UH OH!  But it was fun!

Then off to the Dinosaur Muesum in Ogden!  It was fun and DeLa loved the moving Dinos!

There was a reptile exhibit the day we were there and I HELD A SNAKE!!!
So Brave!!



First hotel stay for the Baby!!

Our last stop was the ZOO!! I think I was more excited than anyone! I have been wanting to see Baby Elephant Zuri!!  AND WE DID! SOOOOO CUTE!! Matt has almost conviced me to get one as a pet!








LOVE Matt's Fam! It was so good to spend so much time together!
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The 24th of July!  We spent the day with my fam and had a picnic!  My grandma came and my sister came down with her fam!





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JUNE
What is a Summer without the LAKE!! 
We actually only got to go out a couple times ~
Because we were really that busy!  But the times we did go it was fun!

DeLa Loved it . . . .

My Dad LOVES boating!
He always says . . . "A BAD day on the lake is better than a Good day at work ANY DAY!!"



. . . Until she got in the water!  Hahaha!
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In August we had a surprise birthday party for my Aunt Gay! It was soooo fun! My cousins did a "farwell to the fifties' sock hop for her and it turned out amazing! They had a whole diner theme going on and every one dressed up!  I wore a circle skirt and did my hair half up with a old hat I bought at an antique shop in Cedar City and I wore my grandmothers pearls!  Then I made a poodle skirt for DeLa Baby that turned out so good! And she looked adorable in it!  Then Matt greased his hair up and rolled up his sleaves and his pant cuffs! Ooooo . . . My fifties greaser man!! We had fun! Danced, played around and ate sliders!



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Also it was Matt's birthday in August . . . both our parents and I got together and bought him a nice grill!
HE LOVED IT! We also finished our fire pit out side and have really been enjoying our back yard!
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In September we went to my mothers Pirate Party!! FYI: every year on September 19 it is
National Speak Like A Pirate Day!
And my mother has adapted this holiday and made it her own! Every year she holds a pirate party!
She has food and games and gives out pirate booty.  BEST of all she invites
Captain Jack Sparow!
(Moroni Hair . . . a close family friend!)
Who has turned his Boat into the black pearl!!! It is AWESOME! This year he added a slide! And we get our pictures with him! He acts JUST LIKE Captain Jack!!
Here are some pics from the night . . .




Captain DeLa Baby

CAPTAIN JACK ~ She found him sooooo interesting!
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Then in October Matt's parents along with Matt and I  got to go down to Vegas for a print show!  It was quite fun!  Matt and his Dad are starting up their printing buisness again and it was fun to go with them and see what they can do! Also it was the nicest trip to Vegas ever! We drove in Matt's parents RV and I fell asleep soon after we left  on a nice bed and woke up 5 minutes before we got there! COMFORT if i ever had any!!  It is probably the only way I will drive long distance again!!! Hahahah . . .
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Just this Last weekend, for Halloween, we had our Harvest Festival in the ward!  Matt and I are the Activities Committee Chairs and plan all the activities! So we had a pie contest, a chili cook off, a trunk or treat, and a costume contest!  We did get rained out so we had a "Classroom Or Treat" instead in the church! But other than that it went GREAT!  Our costumes were AMAZING I do have to say myself! . . . Sadly we only got 2nd in the costume contest though!



YEP . . .That's right . . . Bert, Ernie and a Rubber Ducky!!!
. . . And YES I did make the costumes!!! I am so proud of myself! :)
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Pretty Much those were the events of our summer up till now!
We did have a couple family members pass away also and will miss them so very much!

Also DeLa has grown LEAPS and BOUNDS! She learned to sit up, then on her own, has gotten 7 teeth, learned to eat on her own, has learned to crawl (AND IS ALLLLLL OVER THE PLACE!) and is now pulling herself up and scalling furniture!  She is our sweet little jelly bean!! We love her so much! She learned to say Dada first, then the first time she said Mama was on my birthday (BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!!!) and now waves and says Bye Bye and Hi!!
She is also a little FLIRT and flirts with EVERYONE!!  I kid you not . . . I get AT LEAST 10 comments everywhere we go EVERYTIME we go out, about how adorable she is!!  Her smile is to die for!!
Here are some pics of her growing up . . .











These last ones are our latest family pics and her 9 month pics! We just went up to the cabin with some friends and took them together on spur of the moment. But the leaves and time of day were so perfect they look professional!! 
Love Them . . . ENJOY!!















Well thats my getting you up to speed!! Sorry so long!! Hope you enjoy!!
Love You All!