3.

 
This weekend was Addy's 3rd birthday party and she had a great time!  Her actual birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I have time to sit down now so I thought I better get on this blog writing while I can.  We had all of her little friends come up to the house and had lots of water play...kiddie pool, slides, slip and slides, water hop scotch...so much fun.  I don't consider myself very crafty or creative, but when her birthday rolled around this year, I got excited to add some special things to her day.  (Thank you, Pinterest.)  I made her a rainbow cake with hot pink and purple icing, because thats what 3 year olds like apparently and used a pizza slicer to cut it...talk about easy.  I pre scooped the ice cream into cupcake liners prior to the party which made that so much easier.  I bought small mason jars as their "cups", took the lid off and replaced it with a cupcake liner, then stuck a straw in it...super cute.  I impressed many a mom with that one.  Lol.  I made some flavored waters with fresh fruit...yummy trail mix...I had fun with it all.  And you would have thought I would have taken some pictures of all the cuteness, right?  Nope.

Miss Addy was in heaven opening up her presents.  Everyone really was very thoughtful and contributed to her feeling ever so special all day long.  Her BIG gift was the Jeep Rubicon Power Wheel...now she drives a car like Mommy!  She has been driving it around the house non stop since her party.  And because she has the best Daddy around, he customized it with her name.  Sweet, huh?  

We rolled right out of her birthday party into Father's Day.  Lucky for me, Dusty was just as tired from it all as I was and wanted to do nothing but lay low all day long.  He got to sleep in, take a nap, watch the race (awesome job, Jr!), eat some brats, and drink some beer.  He was a happy man.  Addy and I are pretty lucky to have him as ours.  He is one amazing husband and an even better daddy.  So much so that he was behind me 100% being away all summer with our daughter...that is how unselfish he is and that is how much he loves his family.     

Addy is finishing her last day at preschool today before we leave for Texas.  I'll be bringing birthday treats to her and her little class later so she can feel the birthday love from her school friends.  I thought about sending her to school on her actual birthday as her last day and let her bask in all the birthday fun, but this mommy wants her all to myself on her big day.  Still not sure what she and I will do...thought about taking her to see a movie, going to have pizza with her daddy on his lunch break, or play with some of her Springville friends, Bella and Annie, one last time before going home.  We just might do it all!  

She will be three tomorrow and I'm suddenly feeling all sappy about it.  This girl has rocked our world in the most phenomenal way.  I am so proud to watch her become the person she is.  

She is fearless.  

She is confident.  

She is brilliant.  

She is beautiful.  

She is strong.  

She is tough.  

She is a princess.  

She is a country girl.  

She is creative. 

She is artistic. 

She is loud. 

She is funny.

She is all heart

...and my heart too.  

Memory Lane...

Birth.

1.

2.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...right?

I hope the title rings true as I have been "absent" from posting for close to two months.  In my defense, I had a great post all written up a few weeks back and lost the whole thing while uploading pictures...#$%&.  I was pretty ticked and decided not to start all over again. Lol.  

We have been pretty busy and at this point, I won't be able to remember every little thing we have done since my last post.  (Pictures will be RANDOM!)  There have been rodeos, Jackass Mail Runs, fairs, BBQ's with friends, Mother's Day, picnic fishing...etc etc.  

We continue to enjoy our surroundings, our friends....life is pretty swell. :-)  We've got a great little circle of friends which has helped ease my still lingering home-sickness.  

School is officially out for me!  It is completely surreal that I have finished my first school year here in California.  Plain craziness.  I have made some good friends and discovered a new love.  Working at a continuation school introduced me to a completely different population than I had ever been around or worked with.  It was a slow burn, but I ended up falling in love with that part of my job.  Seeing my Seniors graduate last week was so touching and I couldn't have been prouder of them!  My focus will turn to Addy's first go of swim lessons and planning her 3rd birthday party.  She starts the swim lessons Monday and will go for two weeks 30 minutes a day.  I'm thinking she will be a little fish before we know it!  And yes, I said 3rd birthday...I don't know how that happened.  Three?  Really?  

We are down to 19 day until TEXAS!  Addy and I will land on June 21 and be there for almost 5 weeks until July 25.  Dusty will join us for the week of the 4th.  Wish he could join us longer.  I am a little anxious at the thought of flying with Addy alone.  I trust she will be a good little girl and that you won't see us on the news getting kicked off of our flight over a temper tantrum.  Have I mentioned the child has an attitude for days?  Don't know where it comes from.  Lol.  Someone I recently met told me within 5 minutes of meeting Addy that she has a lot of "moxy"...I like that and I'll go with it.

Big news for the Felderhoff world...my brother and his beautiful family have moved back to TEXAS as of yesterday!!  Woohoo!!!! Go Ray!!! They have been in the Seattle area for close to 8 years (I think) and he has been looking for something in Texas for the past two years.  Well, he finally found the job and its in Waco...halfway between Austin, where his wife's family lives, and halfway between Dallas, where our family is.  Don't forget that he is an AGGIE...so Waco puts him within an hour and a half to his college roots.  :-)  Our family is overjoyed...my parents are thrilled.  It goes without saying that when Dusty and I made the decision to move to CA, I struggled with a lot of guilt.  Self inflicted, of course.  I felt like I was "abandoning" them seeing as Ray and his family were already so far away.  I have struggled and struggled with it, weighing heavy on my heart, and when I got the news that Ray was moving home, I felt this sudden weight lifted off of me.  I am beyond happy that one of us will be near our parents.  I thank the good Lord that they won't spend another holiday season without either of us.  Despite us both being gone this past year, they have been nothing but supportive and we couldn't ask for more in our mom and dad.  :-)

I am so looking forward to being home and seeing my family and my friends.  I can't wait to soak it all up.  :-)

Ready for summer 2012!!!!!!