October 21st 2005.......

...is mine and Derek's engagement day two years ago TODAY!!
Here's our engagement story: Derek and I took a road trip to visit my mission in Anaheim, California and went to the Newport Beach where I spent 7 months of my mission. We went to the beautiful Newport temple where Derek asked me to marry him. I was SO surprised because I didn't know he had asked my dad for permission yet and we also picked and ordered my ring the day we left for California. We had a very special $8.00 ring from Walmart from a few months before pretending we were engaged at a mission friends wedding reception. That ended up being the ring that he proposed to me with. It was SUCH an amazing day. After he proposed, we went walking into the temple as an engaged couple. In the words of Derek when we were walking in there he said, "I wanted to come to the Temple with my Fiance." That was the first time we had ever done a session at the temple. Very special day! Then we were married and sealed for time and all eternity on January 12th 2006 in the Mt. Timpanogas temple.

We went to a nearby park where they have a BUNCH of different birds like ducks, geese, and all sorts of different flying creatures and we fed them. We had fun with that. You might be able to tell from the pictures below.
Then we made our way to the beach and took some fun shots. Look at these two love birds!

The same day we went and visited the Auza family that I taught in the mission. The parents Manuel and Maria and their son Luis were baptized. Then February of 2004, Manuel and Maria were sealed in the L.A. Temple. They are the most amazing family. I love them so much. They were SO stoked to hear the news of our engagement.

Who does Emma look like?

Mommy??

...or Daddy??

(We couldn't help but notice Derek's shirts. . . We're starting to wonder if mom was hoping to have a girl first. Look at the shirts and you'll see what we mean.) Love you mom!

Let us know what you guys think in the comments.

Later that day.....

We had fun going to Nielsen's Park and going for a walk, swinging, going down the slides, etc.. Emma actually really liked it, she was SO content during all the fun. I think she liked being out doors and seeing all the different parts of nature. We are just trying to get in all the fun outside before the weather completely changes.

Picnic Day!

We decided to go have a little picnic in front of our condo in the court yard area. We made some sandwiches and enjoyed the nice weather while still have it.
As always Emma is very relaxed with Daddy
Emma was pretty content and we even got a smile out of her.

The hat...well it's a little big for her, but isn't she adorable?

And of course, then she had enough toward the end. hehehe

Little Emma girl!!

We are starting to see alot more facial expressions from our sweet little girl. Derek and I absolutely love it when she first wakes up and after we change her diaper and seeing her so content. She'll just look all over the place observing all around her. She'll throw out cute smiles and make the cutest noises.
She still has the cute dimples. I wonder who she got them from. I only have a very small one on one of my cheeks....face cheeks that is!! :)

What a BIRTHDAY!!

Today was my 27th birthday and what a day it has been. Of course most of the day was just like any other day. Stayed home with our little caboose and didn't get a chance to shower just like any other day :) and Daddy was at school most of the day. Derek got home later this afternoon and took Emma for a little stroll outside for a couple minutes and brought her back with a surprise of two dozen BEAUTIFUL roses. Isn't he wonderful? Then he had me go into our room while he surprised and decorated the living room with crape paper and a happy birthday sign and birthday 'cheesecake' with candles.......refer to pictures below!

mmm....cheesecake

Daddy and Emma were wearing their cute little party hats to surprise me. Don't mind me, I hadn't showered for the day yet. Emma looked SO stinkin' cute in the birthday hat, but she wasn't liking it so much. :)

What a nice surprise!!

Then my mom came over to watch little Emma so Derek could take me out to dinner to "Olive Garden." It was our first time leaving Emma but it was good for us to go on a date.

Thank you so much Derek for making it such a wonderful and memorable Birthday. I love my family so much and am so grateful for such a wonderful husband who never ceases to amaze me and for such a sweet daughter that brings us much happiness. Love you guys!!

Emma is ONE MONTH OLD!

Our Emma is one month today, can you believe it? We can't believe how FAST the time has gone. I wanted to take some one month old photos of her. She fell asleep just after I got her dressed. Then you can see she started waking up as I was taking some photos. She's getting so big. We had her weighed yesterday and she is now 8 lbs and 9 oz. We took her to the doctor's yesterday to get her cold checked out. I was up with her all night two nights ago and wanted to take her in yesterday to make sure it's nothing more than just a common cold. Unfortunately they did find that she has an ear infection. I was so sad to hear that. So, we're trying to keep her upright while sleeping so that it drain better instead of laying her down too much. We have her on Amoxicillin, we think she is starting to like the taste of it. :) We love our sweet little Emma. She truly is a huge blessing in our lives.

As you can see, she got tired of pictures REAL fast!! :)