Some "Firsts" for Ashley

Ashley has had several "firsts" lately! I just cannot believe how big she is! Here are a few:

In the highchair!

Eating cereal! In her exer-saucer!

Sitting in her Bumbo

In her walker

Fun at the Fair!

Charles took Emily to the fair in Ft. Smith this year. Ashley was way too young to go, so her and I stayed at home! Uncle Jackie met up with them at the fair and I think a good time was had by all! Emily apparently LOVED Uncle Jackie's fried Twinkie...shew!!!

Emily's 1st experience on the bumper boats!

Such a big girl, riding everything all by herself!

Cute Kitties!

For some reason a momma cat decided to have kittens in our front flower bed. One day when Charles was mowing the yard, something shot out of the front flower bed! He finally realized that it was a cat! So, he started looking and found kittens in the back of the bed. We didn't see them again for awhile, then one day they showed up on our back porch! They were so cute! We could hear them at night when we were sitting in the living room! One night Emily and I walked around the neighborhood to see if we could find out who's they were. No one claimed then and we didn't really know what to do about them, so I called the Animal Shelter to come and get them. We did NOT need 5 more cats at our house!! Anyway, the day I called the Animal Shelter, they disappeared and we have not seen them since!

Vegas Baby!

For Charles' 30th birthday this year I surprised him with a trip to Las Vegas! He is the HARDEST person to surprise, but I think I actually did it! If he had an idea he sure isn't saying! I had contacted his boss at work to make sure he could get off on Friday, they 3rd. When he got home Thursday night, Mom was there to watch the girls. I had gone back and forth about when to tell him, but decided that he would probably want a say in what clothes he had out there. So, when he got home I told him he needed to pack for 4 days and 3 nights and for hot weather. I also told him we were flying somewhere at that point!

After we got packed and said our goodbyes we headed out! I couldn't stand it any longer and told him about 3 minutes after we left the house! We went to eat at Western Sizzlin in Springdale, definitely not as good as the one in Ft. Smith, but that's ok! We took a direct flight from XNA and got to Vegas about 9:30 that night. Our package included transportation to the hotel and we were out of the airport in no time!

We had a wonderful time! We stayed at the Paris Hotel, walked into just about every hotel/casino on the strip, ate at Margaritaville and the Hard Rock Cafe, saw the Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian, saw Cirque de Soleil's O at the Bellagio, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, walked the 2 1/2 miles to the "Las Vegas" sign and just had a nice relaxing trip!

We got home about 9:00 on Sunday night. Monday we went down to Ft. Smith to pick up the girls and have a little party with the family! Charles' work also had a surprise party for him at work on the Thursday that we left! I think he had a wonderful 30 birthday!

Charles' office hallway decorated!

They had a Rick's cake for him at work. He had told someone that that was the only thing he had asked for for his birthday, and it was! THE Sign!

Charles' favorite slots were Wheel of Fortune! Every now and then you would get to spin the wheel and would win quarters! Charles and Emily blowing out the candles on his Rick's cake that we got him!

Tap & Ballet

Emily started a dance class this year. Mommy thought we would try that instead of doing gymnastics! I think there is less of a chance for her to break her neck in dance :) The class is an hour long and they do both tap and ballet. This is Emily's Christmas present from Mimi and Bub! Thank you Mimi and Bub!

Emily really doesn't know anything about either one, she just likes to dance! So, we went and got her some ballet and tap shoes and a new leotard with a skirt and she was ready to go! She absolutely loves it! Everyday she pretty much asks if its time to go to dance! We have even found a song that they dance to on iTunes and she's been "practicing" at home :)

It is so cute to watch her try to be graceful and do ballet! She just kind of runs around with her arms out, but it's still cute! Her favorite part is in tap when they get to march around to the Mickey Mouse song and "dress up" (pompoms, Mickey Mouse ears, feather boas, pirate hats)! She loves it! They will even have a recital in June...I just can't wait!!! Sorry I don't have very many good pictures. We have to stand outside to watch and it's hard to take pictures through the window!

She's actually doing what she's supposed to :)

Jay's Gator Golf Birthday

Jay invited Emily & Ashley to his 4th birthday party at Gator Golf. Emily had never been to Gator Golf and once I pointed out where it was, every time we drove by there she would say "There's Jay's birthday party. When is it Mommy?"! She didn't even know what Gator Golf was, she was just excited that there was a party there :) Now that she knows what and where it is, every time we drive by she says "That was Jay's birthday party!"

There were quite a few of Emily's friends from church there. They pretty much played the entire course. The attention spans were getting short closer to the end! But that's ok! Emily "made" a hole in one on the first hole! She was excited!

After they played we had pizza and cake at the pavilion! It was such a nice party! Thank you Jay for inviting us :)

Waiting to get her ball and club!

It's a long way to #1!

Who needs a club!Savvy, Emily and Jay, the birthday boy!The whole group!

Elmo's Green Thumb

Tracey and Lily invited Emily and I to go and see Elmo in Ft. Smith. It was on a Tuesday night so we just drove down and back that evening. We left Ashley with Daddy and had a girls night! We went to eat at, where else, Chick-Fil-A before the show :) Emily was so excited because Daddy had just bought her some "Dorothy" shoes (red sparkly flats) at Target and she HAD to wear them to Elmo! The girls were VERY well behaved. They talked the whole way down and the whole way back. And yes, we did not get back until around 10:00! I am so glad Emily has such a good friend in Lily! They call each other "best friends" :)

Posing with Elmo!

Ready for the show to start!

Emily said I had to take a picture of Abby Cadabby!
Silly girls!