Living Our Lives . . . Lovin Every Minute!

HAPPY FIRST JELLY BEAN!

2011-04-04T23:34:00.001-06:00

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!!! A little late . . . hahaha

2011-03-31T00:44:00.001-06:00

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!

Our little Home . . .

2010-11-21T01:39:00.001-07:00

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!

A Sad Little Girl!!

2010-11-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

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!

BUSY BUSY BUSY!!

2010-11-07T22:57:00.001-07:00

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!

~~~~~~~~~

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!

~~~~~~~~

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!

Saying goodbye is never easy . . .

2010-08-03T14:51:00.000-06:00

Hard to say that we have had another loss. Matt's Uncle Gary Williamson (Matt's mom's little brother) passed away this weekend after a valiant fight against cancer. He fought hard but in the end his body was not as strong as his spirit. It has been hard on all around him to see him suffer and we are relieved he is no longer in pain. My heart and prayers are with all his close family, especially his wife who I know will miss him so dearly and his daughter Traci who will be expecting her first baby very shortly, a boy who will have a middle name after his grandfather. I have to say to her that I know Gary is watching over her sweet baby till he is in her arms! My heart and prayers are also with my sweet mother-in-law and her parents who will also miss him so much!

It is never easy to say goodbye!! That is why I am so grateful for the Gosple of Jesus Christ! To know we never really have to say goodbye, that some day we CAN be with those that we have loved and lost, that families truly are forever brings such comfort and light into my heart! It has been quite a year for losses in our family . . . but I know it is not the end! They are with us, watching over us, helping us along the way. What a wonderful thought . . . comforting and sweet!

So farewell for now Uncle Gary, Uncle Mark and Grandpa Payne . . . We can't wait to see you again!

Gary 1954-2010

Untill We Meet Again Uncle Mark . . .

2010-07-26T11:26:00.001-06:00

This last week my dear sweet Uncle Mark Payne, my mothers little brother, passed away suddenly. My heart hurt terribly when I got the news! He will be terrible missed! What a wonderful man! It was amazing to see how many people came to pay their respects. What an wonderful way to tell the impact he made in this world and to see who his life touched. I am so honored to have known and been close to him! I will miss so dearly all his teasings at the family gatherings and the light in his smile! It just beamed so bightly from his face! He was such a strong loving man and had such a strong testimony of the gosple! His funeral was beautiful and I know his memory will live forever! I feel so sorry for my Aunt and cousins who will miss him more than anyone! And also for my Dear grandmother who lost a husband and a son within 6 months of eachother. It is so sad to see him go so soon. . . but I know he is watching over all of us and someday we will see him again!

LOVE YOU UNCLE MARK!

DeLa is 5 Months Old

2010-06-02T07:12:00.001-06:00

She is just growing up so fast! She Weighs about 16 lbs and is 26 inches! We LOVE her so much and just can't get enough! What she's up to Lately:

She loves to babble!

She LOVES to hear herself talk and

will even start laughing at herself after she rambles on a bit.

She Loves to eat Apples sauce and Apple juice!

She will down a whole bowl of the apples!

She has the biggest grin and thinks Mom and Dad are SOOO Funny!

We Love to bring out that big sparkly smile!

Her Cheeks are SOOO Cute!

My mom says every time she sees DeLa

her cheeks just keep getting bigger!

She loves to hear mom sing!

My Grandparents wrote a lullaby called "Sleepy Eyes"

IT'S HER FAVORITE!
If she's fussy - 90% of the time

I can start singing that song and she will calm down!
Matt likes to sing "Summertime" to her

She still plays with the Angels!

We will catch her staring off into the distance and cooing or smiling!

My mom always told me that babies talk to angels
and I know that is what she is doing!

I tell her to tell my Grandpa hi for me all the time . . .

I know he plays songs for her that only she can hear!

She has SOOOO much jewelry! Maybe even more than I do!!

My Mother is a jewelry designer and every time we visit

DeLa leaves with AT LEAST 2 new pieces of jewelry!

She is the happiest little girl . . . except for when she's not!

Hahaha!
She can get fussy!
But the Good stuff out weighs the all the fussiness!

WE LOVE HER SO MUCH!

Randy Hickman Dancing and Singing!!

2010-05-16T23:18:00.000-06:00

Never Say No - Randy and Rulon Church Talent Show @ Yahoo! Video

So I went to my old home wards talent show this Saturday to see my father sing and dance!!! YES MY FATHER RANDY HICKMAN SING AND DANCE!! It was so fun to see him and he did such a great job!! Enjoy the video!

My First REAL Mothers Day!

2010-05-10T06:58:00.001-06:00

I was so happy to celebrate yesterday! All because a sweet little girl came into our lives 4 short months ago I now have a whole other day every year to celebrate for me! I'M A MOTHER! It was wonderfull! My sweet husband bought me flowers and made a cute wall hanging which has DeLa's hand prints and foot prints on an old piece of barn wood! IT WAS MY FAVORITE!

(Hahaha . . . Matt was talking to his dad the other day saying how he lucked out in the gift department! He said, "Dad isn't it great how my wife loves and old hunk of wood for a gift over any thing else?" Hahaha . . . It's TRUE! What can I say? I love Rustic Old Beat-Up stuff!! But even more when my sweet Matthew turns something old into something gorgeous!! And he is GOOD at it!!)

To Celebrate more yesterday we had a lunch with Matt's family and then we made dinner for my mom! Chicken Cordon Bleu!! YUMMY! We also paid a visit to Matt's Grandparents and my Grandma Payne! It was a wonderful day and I was sooo happy to spend it with the people I love most!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY ALL YOU MOMS!!

She is 4 Months Old!

2010-05-03T07:45:00.000-06:00

My baby is growing up! Just went to the doctor on Friday and she is growing GOOD:

Weight: 14 lbs 13.5 oz 80%

Height: 25.25 90%

Doctor says if she keeps this up she will be 5'-8"!! Lots taller than Mom! I guess we will see!

We were told to start letting her put herself to sleep, and if she wakes up at night just to let her fuss herself back to sleep. MAN. . . it's been hard for me to let her cry to sleep! But I don't know if it's been harder on me or Matt. He is soo cute . . . He has been going in there every ten minutes and lays by her and sings to her. He says, "It's not cheating if I don't pick her up!" Even though last night we did end up picking her up and rocking her a bit more! Hahaha . . . Hopefully she can learn soon! I don't know how much more our hearts can take!

Cutness Caught on Camera

2010-04-29T23:00:00.000-06:00

Caught on Camera! I love when I get to the Camera in time! Which is really only like 30% of the time. Most of the time she is being cute I RUN to get the camera and by the time I get back she is done! Or she gets too mezmorized by the shiny-ness of the camera right infront of her face!! But in these photos I CAUGHT HER!! Enjoy . . .

I love this one ! Her face is so adorable!

She does this ALL the time! She loves her hands infront of her face! Almost like she is plannning something!! Duh Duh Duh . . .

Dad got her ready in the morning before heading off to Auntie Amy's! And she just looked too cute to pass up the camera!

YES . . . We have a Thumb Sucker!! She Loves her thumb! She will even be sucking her bottle and as she is holding it she slips her thumb in at the same time!! (I still need to get a picture of that!!)

So this was adorable!! I take her to work with me on Tuesdays. This Tuesday she was taking a nap in her carseat and woke up and started to squirm. So I took her out and put her in her Bumbo up on my desk so she could see what I was doing. I started working on the computer and then looked over and she had fallen asleep again! Slumped over in her Bumbo! She was Sooo Tired!

Here she is at Grandma Lee's house while I was at work! I got this picture Text in the middle of the day and it just made me soooo happy!

DeLa LOVES to lie on the bathroom floor!! WHO KNEW? The other floors in our house not so much . . . but the bathroom floor is SOOOO FUN to her!

In her sleep it looked like she was praying! Hahaha . . . Maybe she was!

Extreme Close Up! Look at those eyes! Beautiful!

Yep she holds her own bottle! And she does a great job at it too!

Can't wait to catch more on camera!

Go Bananas!!

2010-04-25T13:28:00.000-06:00

So we started feeding DeLa bananas regularly! (I can't belive she is old enough to start real food! AHHH!!)

Every night before she goes to bed we feed her bananas and she LOVES it! As you can see by the expression on her face.

She is pretty good with a spoon and is learning fast. Most of the time she stays pretty clean . . .but this time she DIDN'T! So we HAD to take pictures. . . Enjoy!

YUMMY!

Bella likes Bananas too!!

And DeLa loves to share!!

That's Life

2010-04-19T08:20:00.003-06:00

I love Weekends! No Work . . . Get to be with family . . . Relaxing! But for the past like 5 weekends it has been GO GO GO. Usually We have a busy weekend followed by a chill one, so they even out. Not recently. We had a wedding of a friend a couple weeks ago (which was beautiful) and it was kinda busy. Lots of events to share with them that kept us driving all over!
Next it was Easter the following weekend and another driving adventure to the cabin! Which (being at the cabin) you figure you will relax but by the time you get home you realize how even though it was lots of fun . . . it was also tiring.
Then the following weekend was a baby shower at . . . of course MY HOUSE! Which I was SOOO excited for! I LOVE having parties at my house. But I really should learn to start cleaning the whole week prior so I'm not racing the clock to get it all clean before people start showing up. But I did PROCRASTINATE and of course was cleaning all Thursday and then up late Friday and up early Saturday to clean some more. It was a wonderful shower though. And all I really had to do was Clean . . . the food and setting up decorations was all done by Matt's sweet cousins. But after the shower as I'm passing out and finally relaxing . . . my mother in-law calmly kneels down next to me and says, "Do you have your talk ready for tomorrow?" Thank heavens she remembered!! . . . Cause I might not have!! Hahaha . . . Yes, Matt and I both had speaking assignments (15-20 minutes each) in church the next morning at 9:00 am!! So I decided to take a nap now (cause DeLa was!!!!) and write later. Needless to say procrastination is my life!! (Which I am not proud to admit, but hey all I can do is try harder next time!)
So THEN . . . we stay up till 2:00 am writting our talks! Okay . . . I stayed up till 2:00 am writting my talk and Matt was kind enough to keep me company. . . Matt was done at about 10:00pm - I don't know how he does it! He glances at the material and could speak for an hour from just his thoughts and recalling scriptures, he is too Amazing! NOT ME!! As much as I love to talk and could talk ANYONES ear off!! In front of a crowd I have to be SOOOOO PREPARED or I am SOOOO NERVOUS! But by 2:00 am I felt I was . . . and hoped that in my exhausted state I was making sense and that it would still make sense in the morning! So we get to bed at 2:00 am and usually DeLa sleeps till 7 or 8 . . . But NOT THIS NIGHT!! (Oh the joys of Motherhood!) Sweet Girl had a hard night and was up a 4:00 am, then again at 6:00 am! Hahaha! THEN . . . I had a meeting I had to be at before church at 7:15 am! By this time I am loving life and everyone around me could tell by the way I looked. I don't even think I was completely awake driving to the church for the meeting. But hey I think I was there!
I get home and there is my sweet sweet Husband and sweet sweet baby passed out together on the recliner! Sadly enough I had to wake them up and we all had to get ready and head to church.
Thank Heavens for Grandparents who live in your same ward!! They took care of DeLa for us as we sat on the stand waiting to speak. I was so tired but as I gave my talk I got a surge of energy and I really felt the spirit so strongly! Through it all I was glad to speak! It was on member missionary work and it touched my heart! (I'll have to post part of my talk later!)
Too bad the energy left soon after I sat down because by Relief Society Meeting I was dragging, and though the lesson was wonderful I could barely keep my eyes open. THAT was probably the most tiring weekend! And I haven't really been able to catch up since!
This weekend was busy too (Not as busy as last) Thursday, Friday and Saturday I had to be up in Park City for a Parent Baby Massage class! It was really fun - and DeLa LOVED it! My sister in-law was taking a class to be certified to teach these classes and I was the class that the class was learning to teach on (if that makes sense). It was really fun! But a LONG way to travel 3 days in a row. Then Saturday we had our Family pictures taken and DeLa's 3 month photos taken. (on a post coming to you soon!!) Next, Matt wanted to go to an Antique Shop Liquidation that was going on in Salt Lake and we spent the day up there and in Park City too! So it was a lot of driving AGAIN, and even though driving is just sitting there doing nothing . . . I almost feel MORE tired after I get out of the car on a long drive.
DeLa through all of these past weekends has been so sweet with putting up with her parents! I feel bad when I get too over tired, because she is the one who suffers! But she was our ray of Sunshine through it all!
WOW!! I know there are people with lives much more busy/stressfull than mine . . . but some times it gets a little much! Matt and I agreed that this next weekend it is VEGE-time! We might leave the couch we might not! Who knows?! Hopefully nothing pressing comes up . . . but hey That's LIFE! Hahaha . . .

Easter Sunday/Conference Weekend FUN!

2010-04-05T22:32:00.004-06:00

So this weekend was conference and Matt's Family has a tradition of going to the cabin in Mt. Pleasant and watching conference there! It is so fun and we haven't been to the cabin since we found out we were pregnant with DeLa, so we were really excited to go! Plus it was DeLa's first vacation! She did so good, especially on the trip down their and sleeping in a new place! She is so wonderful!

Here is the DeLa Bug in her cabin garb! Grandma Lee got her these cute jeans and a cabin onsie with trees and moose and cabin stuff all over it! She looked adorable! And it was flannel and kept her nice and warm since it SNOWED while we were up there!

Here is Matt with TayTay (Matt's sisters youngest son) He is so cute and gives such great hugs! Such a snuggley kid!

HELLO!!

Just chillin on the couch with Dad! Listening to conference!

Here is Grandma and Grandpa Lee cooing at DeLa as she coos back! They love her so much!

Here is Matt with Abby . . . Bella's Arch-Nemasis! Bella is not the fondest of Abby! But Abby LOVES Bella and was harrassing Bella to play with her all weekend! Bella at one point even got in the cupboard to hide from Abby! Hahahah . . . Her safe haven was atop the back of the couch on anyones shoulders she could find! She made it through the weekend though . . .and in one piece! Below we forced them in a picture together! You can see Bella trying to find a way out!

Caught Grampa sleeping as he held DeLa! SOOO TIRED!

Here is Matt Coloring Eggs! We had so much fun! I have to admit I . . . think mine were colored the best!

THE EGGS!

Matt's eggs are the back 2 and mine are the front 3! Rainbow and Tie Die! Im sooo good! The pink/purple one I dedicated to DeLa

This is Amy's egg (Matt's older sister) It was her dedication to Matt! So Appropriate!

ALL THE EGGS!

I tried to take cabin-esque photos with ALL of Grandma Lee's cabin trinkets!

EASTER MORNING!

The Easter Bunny visited us at the cabin and brought DeLa lots of presents!

Silly Face! I love when I catch these on camera!

She was loving this bunny that Granma gave her!

Here are her presents from the Easter bunny! She got some new Jam Jams in Easter Colors and a spring outfit and like 6 rattles! She was loving life!

The Little Lee Fam Easter Morning!

Don't judge my tired face! DeLa woke up every hour this night! I think she was trying to catch the Easter Bunny in action! Hahaha! MAN was I tired!

Easter Coma! She was so excited (or maybe so tired from no sleep the night before!) She Zonked out!

Here is daddy putting on DeLa's snow outfit! She looks like our little bunny! It reminds me of Christmas Story! "I can't put my arms down!" Hahaha

First time in the snow . . .Doesn't look so happy! I think the Bumbo was a little tight with the snow suite on! Still so cute!

A Little happier! hahaha. . . Oh how I torture her for a picture!

The Family in the snow! This is just after we took her 4-Wheeling for the first time! She drove like a pro!! HAHAHA . . . no really though - we took turns holding her and getting pulled in a sled by the 4-Wheeler - SHE LOVED IT! All the bumps and noise! She was in heaven! I will have to load the video we took and blog it later! It was fun!

My 2 little marshmallows!

Mommy and Baby girl!

View from the cabins!

This is the cabin!

This is the cabin from a lower view through the brush!

This is the field where we go 4-Wheeling/Snowmobiling

After the cabin we drove home and spent some time with the Hickmans (My Family) for Easter too! DeLa had had a very long day and was a little tired and fussy at my parents house, so my mom suggested feeding here bananas! I immediately said No she's too young and my mother quickly corrected me saying its time to start her on actual food! I can't believe she is already old enough to start FOOD! Well I was a little skeptical but my mom mushed up some nanas and added a little rice cereal and sure enough DeLa LOVED IT! And it only took about 3 tries for her to learn how the whole spoon thing works! What a SMART girl! My little baby is growing up! Her first try at food was Easter Sunday! Yay!

What a wonderful ful weekend! On top of all the fun we he had, he also had the opportunity to listen to general conference and hear the prophet and the 12 apostles speek! I always love conference! Especially when it is on EASTER! This year was a little harder to listen to with the baby and being tired! (Thank goodness they have a whole Ensign dedicated to it so I can read what I missed!) But through it all I love listening to conference. One thing that continued to stay in my mind was (I can't remeber who said it but) when it was talked about how EVERY relationship we create here on earth we are creating it for eternity! It made me think of all my friends and especially my family! I am so glad to know that FAMILIES ARE FOREVER! I am grateful for all my wonderful friends! And I am grateful for my Savior! Those are the relationships I can't wait to have for time and eternity! I am so grateful for my Savior for breaking the bands of death that we can have eternal relationships and that one day we can return and live with our Father in Heaven! I love my family and I love you ALL!

HAPPY EASTER!

80's Baby!

2010-04-05T21:05:00.000-06:00

Here are some Super Cute pics of my 80's baby! Notice the leg warmers! She is too cute!

Daddy, Mommy and Baby!

2010-03-31T07:30:00.002-06:00

Here are some shots of the little munchkin with the proud parents! She is sooo sweet! We can't get enough!

Sweet tiny feet! They fit in the palm of my hand!

Just chillin with dad! She LOVES her daddy!

Baby feet and Mommy feet!

Ali Ruth and DeLa Ruth

Every time I hold her its like my lips are glued to her sweet little face!

Cheek to cheek!

Daddy and his girls!

Such Kissable Cheeks!

Just Hanging around! Hahahaha . . .

I know I say it all the time . . . but man do I LOVE being a mommy! It is so fun to litterally watch her grow and learn! Today she held her bottle ALL on her own! It took a couple of tries . . . but she figured it out! Its almost like I watched it click in her head! It was so Amazing! It might seem like such a small little thing but to me it was wonderful! She is so smart and so alert! I am so glad I get to be a part of this!

SAD FACES!

2010-03-29T22:30:00.002-06:00

I hate when our sweet little jelly bean is sad! But no matter what mood she is in she is always ADORABLE! Here are some sad face shots! :( Lately She has been doing this sad lip for about 5 minutes without making a sound before she really starts to cry! It is soooooo sad! But sooooo cute at the same time!

This is a very sad cry!!

Here is the sad lip again!

Soooo Cute! Even cuter when she smiles!! :)

GIGGLES!

2010-03-29T07:52:00.003-06:00

GIGGLES!

Here is DeLa Ruth Laughing Her Head Off!! I was picking her up after work from her Aunt Amy's house and she was just cracking up! Amy was getting her to laugh so hard AND I finally got it on video! YAY! So here is just a little taste of what we get to have in our lives on a daily basis! ENJOY . . .

Do Brunettes have more fun!?

2010-03-29T07:33:00.005-06:00

BROWN HAIR!

So on a whim this last Thursday, I decided I would like to go dark haired . . . So I DID! And I love it!! My Friend Sara is in Hair School and she did a BEAUTIFUL job! I told her I wanted to Go ALOT darker . . .. and I think she thought I was a little crazy! But she picked the perfect color for me! I have shocked a few people (mostly my mom!) and some people have not recognized me! But I have gotten alot of compliments! And people say it brings out my eyes! I have never really liked my eyes until now! Hahaha . . . Needless to say I wasn't sure how I would like it . . .But like I said . . .I LOVE IT! And I think I am going to stay dark for a while! We'll see . . . and We'll see if Blondes or Brunettes really do have more fun!

My Little Angel!

2010-03-19T16:24:00.006-06:00

We were just relaxing with our Sweet DeLa having a relaxing day . . . and she looked so cute I had to take pictures! We Love Her Soooooo Much . . . Can I say it enough??
Bella loves her too! I have been so surprised with how good Bella is with DeLa! She does get a little jealous sometimes . . . but for the most part she is a really good puppy! Loves being and older sister! Hahaha . . .

I Just LOVE her eyes! I never thought I would have a baby with blue eyes! I just hope they stay this way! They are gorgeous and I just love staring in them!

DeLa giving the 'Hang Loose' sign!

Look at that Belly! Oooooo oooo ooo . . . .SO CUTE! I just want to sqeeze!

She looks so sweet! What a Beautiful Angel!

DeLa is such a great little girl! She is pretty picky and HATES having a dirty diaper! She is starting to Coo alot! She just likes to tell us her stories . . . and We love to listen!

She has laughed a few more times for us! But the first time has been the biggest . . . how Grandma Lee got it out of her I am still trying to figure out - we try every thing! I can't wait till she is doing it ALL the time!

She is soooo happy in the morning , she just grins from ear to ear! Her fussy time is at night . . . I think she wears herself out during the day and it catches up with her!

She loves her daddy! He snuggles her and she cuddles right up to him! She also is so interested in Bella! She will just stare at her . . . It will be interesting to see their interaction when DeLa can move around more and GRAB at things!

I love when DeLa smiles! When she smiles big you can see her dimples! Just like her daddy!

I love dressing her up and so does Matt! She probably has more clothes than both of us together! Hahaha . . .

We Love being DeLa's Parents! I thank my Heavenly Father Every day for the opportunity to have her with us! How lucky are we!

I had a dream last night where I was just staring at DeLa and all of a sudden she got up and did a little jig! The kinda where she kicks her legs out either side and throws her fist straight down . . . If that makes sense! AT 2 MONTHS! Dancing a jig at 2 months! Then she started talking! But she only said two things . . .Calendar and Denise! Hahaha . . . It was crazy! I know its not real! But it was kinda silly and it freaked me out like she was growing up to fast!! I know its only been 2 1/2 months! But time is flying! I hope I really cherish these times! And that I truly understand how precious every minute is! . . . . OH NO, there goes my little sweet jellybean waking up! Better go!

Cruisin! 2009!

2010-03-16T23:09:00.010-06:00

Here are some pictures of our cruise this past September! It was our last vacation before DeLa joined our family!!

We went with a couple of Matt's Friends from his mission! As you can see in most of the pictures . . . I was UBER pregnant! Hahaha. . . actually I was about 30 weeks along and after we had bought the NON-REFUNDABLE tickets we read the fine print and . . .TADA . . . it said "NO pregnant ladies beyond week 22 will be admited on the boat!" AHHH . . . We just did the "don't tell and no one will ask" policy! Hahaha! Thank Heaven I got on the boat and we had tons of fun!! We speant a couple days in Miami, Florida and then did a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas! Then spent a couple days in Ft Lauderdale! We LOVE cruising! Our prefered mode of travel! Here are the pictures! (They start backward cause I'm still new at blogging and loaded them in backward and don't know how to switch the order!! Hahaha) Here we are at the airport on our way home after a fun vacation! It was GREAT to vacation . . .But also great to come home too!! As you can see we are pretty tired!

Matt almost didn't make it home either! Hahaha . . . I left my cell phone and pillow at the hotel and Matt went down to wait on the curb for the courtesy van to drop off my things. The hotel was 20 minutes minimum away and the plane was departing in 30 minutes!. . . LUCKILY, some lady was VERY anxious about flying and caused a BIG stink that delayed the plane 30 minutes . . . and Matt made it on the plane!! The very last one to get on! He was my HERO!! I love him!!

Here is Matt sleeping in the Limo! YES I said LIMO! It was fun! We got a Limo to pick us up and drop us of from the airport! We felt so important!

Inside the LIMO!! :)

Formal Night! I love this dress! It was a fun Venitian dress I got on a website and dressed it up with a Ruffled around the collar! Showed off the Baby Bump perfectly!! Hahaha . . .

Sexy!! Matt in his tux with a BRIGHT french cuff shirt he bought just for the cruise! The Tux is also the one he wore for our wedding! We found it later for cheap and he bought it . . .

AND HE LOOKS SOOO GOOD!

On the Transfer boat/ferry thingy from the Cruise ship to their private island!

Here is The Atlantis Hotel! We had to come here since this was a hotel featured in James Bond! And it was BEAUTIFUL! This is part of the inside!

Here are the boys! Matt, Troy and Chase outside the Atlantis! It is HUGE! It even has its own water park! and Indoor/Underground Aquarium!

Here is a cute little light house we found! I LOVE LIGHT HOUSES! Look at those colors!

Here is our Ship . . . The Norwegian Sky

This is us on Nassau . . . Gorgeous island! And we LOVE the people! They are so funny! The kept calling Matt the "Big sexy sweaty mon!"and trying to get him to buy everything! All the old Bahamian women could tell I was going to be having a little girl! It was crazy!

Chillin on the Beach!

Here are th boys on the Beach - Upclose Troy - Farther back Chase - and in the water Matt!

We had so much fun and the weather was so nice!

We were all playin at the hottubs one night! And Matt was being silly! And so was Chase (background)

Hello . . . TUMMY! Amazing sunset!

All of us!

Here we are in Miami . . . if you look close at this picture there is a Water Spout (A tornado in the water)off in the distance. It only really becomes a tornado if it touches land and it never did! But it was still pretty cool to see! A little nerve wracking too!

Our first night in Miami it was the BYU vs FLORIDA football game so we went to a sports bar to eat dinner and watch the game. We were the only ones to request the game . . . but once every one in the place found out we were routing for BYU (it wasn't hard to tell . . . we were All in BYU garb!) they ALL started watching and Routing against us. We were SAD that BYU lost!!! We couldn't even bare to stay and watch the whole game! It was a little embarassing! Hahaha . . .

DeLa's Blessing!

2010-03-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today Matt Blessed our sweet little girl! It was so beautiful and the blessing was AMAZING! The Priesthood holders in his circle were: Leonard Lee (Matt's Dad) Randy Hickman (Ali's Dad) McKay Tressler (Matt's Bro in-law) Brian Hickman & Adam Hickman (Ali's Brothers) Craig Brighton (Ali's Bro-in-law) Lynn Payne (Ali's Uncle) Ted Lee (Matt's Uncle) Todd Jaramillo (Family Friend) and of course Matt gave the blessing.

We had so much fun dressing her up! And the Lucky little girl had 2 blessing dresses!!! One I made and a Gorgeous Long one made by a friend of Matt's from his mission - Brother Plante. Just look at the pictures . . .

This is the one I made! . . . with a LITTLE help from my sister in-law . . . okay alot of help! It was my very first atempt at sewing and I think it turned out great! I wanted the puckered look like on my wedding dress . . . plus with puckers its hard to see mistakes! Hahaha . . . She looked ADORABLE in it!

Here is the one Brother Plante made! She looks so cute!

And She Loves the Camera!!

Here is a longer shot of the dress! It was Beautiful! It had embroidery all down the skirt of a design and Chinese symbols . . . .BEAUTIFUL! Then the slip underneath had her name and birthdate embroidered at the bottom!

Here is a full shot of the length!

Here is my mom with the DeLa

Here is Taylor (Matt's Nephew) with DeLa . . . CUTE!

Here is my Grandma Payne holding DeLa . . . DeLa's Middle name is after her!

Here is Makenzie my Best Friend with DeLa.

Look at that SMILE!!

HOW CUTE! This reminds me of yesterday when she laughed out loud for the first time! Grandma Lee made her laugh so hard!

DeLa with her sweet Daddy! If you look close you can see Matt's cuff links, my mother gave them to him the day before the blessing . . . they belonged to my Grandpa Payne who died 3 weeks before DeLa was born. So Matt wore his Cuff links to bless her and it was like he was their in the circle too! And I know he was with us watching!

DeLa Ruth with her Mommy Alison Ruth

Kisses for the Jelly Bean!

Our first realy family picture!

It was a great day!! Also it was Testimony Meeting today, so I felt inclined to go up and bear my testimony! My heart was so full of happiness and filled with the spirit! I have had such joy in becoming a mother and I had to express that! In part of Matt's blessing he said " . . .DeLa you have an amazing mother and I bless you with strength to listen to her and heed her words." I started bawling at that point and began to think . . . now I need to be worthy of the blessing too! I need to make sure that I teach her right and live my life in a way so that when she listens to me she will be lead in the right direction. I hope I always will!

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is an AMAZING father and a Beautiful little girl who has brought such JOY to our lives . . . even when she cries!! Which she is starting to do . . . So I better go!

She is 2 Months Old!!

2010-03-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

DeLa is 2 months old!! We just had her 2 month check-up today!

She is 23 1/2 inches long 11 lbs 15 oz and growing just perfectly!

They asked us some developemental questions and one of them was "Does she smile?"

Well see for yourself. . . . .

She was smiling soooo much as we were waiting for the doctor! It was adorable!

She got her shots today too! She did pretty good! She was in shock when they first pricked her and barely started crying as Matt picked her up . . . and as soon as he did she calmed right down! She loves her daddy! She was just fine after that and started right back to smiling! What a great little girl . . . can I say it enough!

Our Little Doll!

2010-03-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

We love to dress up our sweet DeLa Ruth! She is our princess!

Pics of our jellybean all prettied up! . . . though she doesn't need it!

Awaiting Our Sweet DeLa's Arrival . . .

2010-03-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some tummy pics we had taken as we waited for our sweet DeLa to arrive.

They were taken by:

Devin Ashby

- Captured By Dash Photography-

http://www.capturedbydash.com/

He did such a great job!!

Welcoming DeLa Ruth!

2010-03-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

We have recently added our precious new addition!
DeLa Ruth Lee

She has helped us start our family and we love her so much!

She came on a cold winter night! My water broke at 4:30 am (Doctor thinks it was the storm that caused it!) December 30th and off to the hospital we went! Arrived at American Fork hospital at about 5:30 am and they started me right on pitocin since I wasn't having any contractions. Nurses kept saying it was going to be at least another 5 hours . . . which in my mind was FOREVER!! But they made us comfy and we set out for a long wait, and what a long wait it would be!

At about 9:40 am I asked for the epidural hading had enough and thinking it wouldn't much longer till I was going to start pushing. I got the epidural but much to my dismay I didn't dialate as quickly as I would have hoped! Actually I wasn't dialating hardly at all! Mom Lee and Mom Hickman came to the hospital to be with us not knowing when anything would happen but wanted to offer their support and be there when the big event happened! Our Dads where both working and would later come and also be there to keep us company! 10:30am came and went, as did 11:30, 12:30,1:30 and so on. 18 hours came and went and they decided to up the pitocin even more than they already had to try and help me along! (Since my water broke they had to deliver her with in 24 hours.) Just about the same time my body started to get use to the constant epidural drip cause I could start to feel the contractions! YUCK! (God helped doctors create an epidural for a reason!! ) As they continued to monitor me the babies heart rate and oxygen level droped because of to much pitocin,which was scary to us. They had to completely stop the pitocin and put me on an oxygen mask to make sure we were both stable. Then about 30 minutes later the doctor came in and said that I was still only dialated to a 4 and (since I was at a 4 for about 7 hours . . . ) they were going to try the pitocin for 1 more hour and if there was no progress then we would go a head and "throw in the towel" as he said. Hahaha . . In the back of my mind I was thinking WAIT . . . . She really is never coming out!!!! AAHHHH!! Hahaha. . . NO he just meant we would end up doing a C-Section! Never had I even thought I would have to have a C-Section! It scared me a little and I got really nervous! But my mom was there to keep me calm! And Matts mom also offered comfort as they both talked about their experiences with their C-Sections. Still it was very nerve wracking! Thanks to the Power of the Preisthood and a wonderful husband who is worthy to hold it, I was given a blessing and I was overwhelmed with comfort! I knew everything would be okay and that the baby and I would be just fine!

An hour went by and of course I did not dialate! 20 hours of labor later and off to the OR I went! Not before my mom threatened the anestheseologist with major pain if he didn't take good care of me! Thanks mom!! Matt prepared himself in the Marshmallow suite they make you wear so he could be by my side as our sweet little girl entered the world! I layed on the table and they put up the curtain. I made sure the doctor knew that I DID NOT want a play by play of what he was doing! I didn't want to know when they were making a cut especially! I was terribly afraid I was going to feel it! Hahaha . . .that's me . . . very paranoid! But they prepped me and started the C-Section . . . not 2 minutes later I heard the most beautiful noise I had ever heard in the entire world . . . the sweet little cry of our beautiful little girl! DeLa Ruth had entered the world at 11:25 pm December 30, 2010! I was a MOMMY! Tears filled my eyes as I asked Matt if she had hair!! Hahaha . . he was so overtaken with her beauty! He followed her with the camera and took a million pictures! He was sooo proud to be a DADDY! After a long 9 months of hard pregnancy and 20 hours of long labor we finally had our Gorgeous baby girl . . . and I realized IT WAS ALL WORTH IT AND MORE! I never knew how much I could love something and have my heart so overjoyed until I layed eyes on and held DeLa Ruth Lee!

OH I LOVE HER! Matt loves her so much too and he is such an amazing Daddy! I love to watch him with her! Wow we are parents!! . . . . It boggles me every day!

Random Pics of the past 2 years!

2010-03-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Matt with my niece Daphne . . . She has him wrapped around her fingure! He had to buy her a diamond ring too when she saw my engagement ring . . . she just batted those eyes at him! Hahaha . . .

Ali and Daphne at the Lake around sunset! Two Hot Chicks!

Our first child . . . Bella Boozers! We love her!

Who's this cute guy? . . . Oh Yea thats My husband!!

Ali and Bella Chillin . . . DeLa is in the tummy too!

EXTREME CLOSE UP!
In Cabo San Lucas on our Honeymoon! Getting ready to go Parasailing!! It was super fun!

Just in the car . . . Matt changes his hair more than I do! And no matter what he does it always looks great!

BYU football game!! GO BYU!!

Just some pics I had on this laptop . . . I will post more from our other computer later!

The Begining of us for Time and Eternity . . .

2010-03-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our Wedding!

I LOVED my Wedding! It was exactly how I always had planned!

I was sealed to the love of my life Matthew Willey Lee in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple December 28, 2007 for Time and All Eternity!

My Colors were Brown Bronze Tan Gold and Cream.

We had our reception at Wadley Farm in Lindon Utah. I had always wanted a wedding in a barn!

I had wheat in my bouquet along with brown roses . . . that actually looked rusty colored . . . But BEAUTIFUL!

My dress was gorgeous! It had a sweatheart neck line, a puckered bottom and I had a brown sash that added some color!

The mens tuxes where this chocolate brown that had just came out that season and were perfect!

Bridesmaids wore a brown dress of their choice with a goldish shrug.

Matts Groomsmen where his brother Mike Lee, Brother in-law McKay Tressler, and my brother Adam Hickman.

My Bridesmaids were my sister Rachel Brighton, Matts sisters Amy Tressler and Rachael Lee, and one of my companions from my mission Melissa Scherck.

I hate regular cake so we had 3 tiers of Cheesecake drissled with chocolate.

My mother catered - she made a dinner similar to Cafe Rio . . . But better!

We had dancing and fun!

I Danced with my Daddy . . . who bless his heart . . . broke his toe in between the wedding and reception checking on a jobsite really quick, but danced with me any way!

I hardly remember the day! It was a blur. . . but a BEAUTIFUL blur! So many faces of family and friends that came to support us! So many things to do! We didn't even get to eat we were so busy! I did get some cheesecake though! When Matt shoveled it in my face . . . hahahah!

It was a everything I ever wanted and it almost didn't happen because of my silly mistake!! We left early in the morning about 5 am to be able to get to Salt Lake and be the required 2 hours early to the temple for oyur 8:20 am sealing. As we got up to the front desk the asked us if we had everything and of course we did . . . or so I thought! Then they asked for the Marriage Lisence, we had gotten the marriage certificate about 3 weeks prior to be safe . . . but silly me FORGOT IT AT HOME a 45 MINUTE DRIVE AWAY!

I paniced and called my siblings who had left on there way to Salt Lake but turned around to go search for the marriage lisence for me! They searched and search while I was on the phone with them but couldn't find it! I was soooo sad! I thought I had ruined everything and that we wouldn't be able to get married that day! I was standing outside of the temple on the phone with tears in my eyes as the guests started to arrive! I'm sure they all must of thought Matt left me at the altar or something! Hahahaha. . . . They continued to look with no success so they started on their way to Salt Lake. Finally Salt Lake county office building was open and that we could just go get a new one!!! Lucky me I picked a FRIDAY to get married and not a Saturday! We rushed to the county building and didn't even have to ask for the Lisence because by the way we were dressed the clerk kinda figured! Hahaha . . . then back to the temple we went now fully prepared and tears wiped away! We hurry and got ready and went to the sealing room. Since my brother and sister and stayed back to find the lisence they were running late . . . I was so afraid they were going to miss it! But we had a wonderful Sealer who passed some time telling us funny stories and giving us good advice! He stalled just in time for them to get to the temple and no one missed out! So 2 hours later than expected we got married on December 28, 2007 at 10:30 am! Boy am I really glad I picked a Friday to get married and that we got married when we did, because it wasn't 1 month later that the State buildings decided to do 4 10 hour days and be closed on Fridays too! :) Lucky Us!!

But through it all . . . EVERYTHING worked out! It was a beautiful day that I wouldn't change for the world! And we have funny stories to tell now! :)

Lets try this again. . .

2010-03-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

I started this blog when we got married . . . and didn't get too far!

Hopefully I will do much better this time because we have so much going on and MUCH I want to share with you all!