Happy Independance Day!

We had a fun celebration for the 4th of July with the Burraston Family this year! We were able to fire off some aerial fireworks this year in Utah, which is not normally legal, so it was quite a show just from the front lawn! The kids got to swim in the pool before we exhausted them with late night fireworks. FUN!

:: fathers ::

[taken another day... but still! Such a stinkin' cute Daddy!]

Well, of course I didn't get any good pictures on Father's day, I probably left my camera at home! But we had a great time!! We headed over to the Burraston's lunch at Ryan's brother's house in Springville (Tyler & Nicole). We stuffed ourselves, and then we went to Mom and Dad's house for a BBQ:) and stuffed ourselves some more! (oomph!) It was a lot of fun, and it's always so nice to spend the day with our families!

I just want to say that my Dad is really amazing! He does so much for our families... all of us!(and there are a lot of us to be doing stuff for!) and he never complains. He is so willing to give, give give. I really appreciate everything he has done for us. I love you Dad!!

Ryan is such an amazing Dad. He has really taken on the role so perfectly with Preslee and Cash and now that Jack is here I get to see first hand how much he loves him! I am so thankful to have Ryan in our lives...

now I can just be Mommy again, not Daddy too! ;)

"A father is a fellow who has replaced the currency in his wallet with snapshots of his kids"

Go Bees!

Preslee wasn't so sure she wanted to play T-Ball this year...she really wanted to start piano lessons instead, but I signed her up anyway. She gets to be on the same team as her cousin Oaklee and she has a lot of fun playing! Her favorite position is catcher, even though she's been caught a time or two just staring off into space I think she does a great job at it:)

GO PRESLEE!!!

Kindergarten Graduation!

I didn't forget about my little princess graduating, but my camera was MIA at the time so I've got to get the pictures from the Grandmas!! Preslee did such a great job in Kindergarten. Her report cards were always fantastic, she started reading on her own and she has great handwriting!! She makes friends so easily-my little social butterfly. She spent a lot of time playing with her friend Sydney. They were little best friends....almost a little too much when we counted Sydney's phone calls up to 8 per day!! But they sure had a lot of fun together! Preslee is so excited to be starting first grade because she gets to eat school lunch! (Or packed lunch, but at least it's at school) I'll get some pictures loaded up as soon as I can get them emailed to me :)

Congratulations Preslee Jane!!

{{ bridals }}

Finding a dress was easier than I thought!! Meg, my Mom, Pres and I headed over to Veronica Michaels here in town intending to find an off white, full lace, tank-strap dress. We left there with something completely different, and I was in love with it! I felt

like a million bucks in this dress.... and my friend [who is also an amazing photographer] was able to make me feel that way during the pictures too. I have been looking forward to the bridal session since the day I got the dress..I knew we were heading out to Elberta and Eureka (crazy, I know!) and that she'd have some fun ideas. I'm so happy with what she was able to capture! It was hard keeping them a secret. Ryan has thought that I bought a coral or bright green dress that is tea length (just below the knee) and off shoulder; I let him believe these stories he was telling himself, so its been hard to keep the dress a secret! Here are a few images from our bridal day. It was so fun...My Mom came with me that day and it was so awesome to spend that time with her. Love you Mom!!!

See more images on Ashlee's blog: www.afackrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/emilys-bridals.html

she made an appearance

FINALLY!! Baby Girl Sears made her arrival! I went over to check on Meg [in labor] and while I was there the doctor said it was time!! Me, Mom and Dad all waited in the waiting room for about 30 minutes, and she was here! April 27, 2011 ...Beautiful round little face, perfect fingers toes & nose, strawberry auburn hair like her mommy's...

And after a day or two, she was finally named!

Madelyn Mae Sears

heart

he asked....

...and I said YES!!

Ryan took me out on a date on April 30. I just saw it as a normal date for us....few and far between, and dinner only, since we didn't want to be out too late for the babysitter. But as we headed up Provo Canyon, I started getting a little suspicious. He told me he had wanted to take me to Sundance Foundry Grill for dinner, but that they were closed for renovations and that they recommended we go to The Riverhorse in Park City. Knowing that the Riverhorse is such a nice place, I starting thinking it could be THE night!! I was getting butterflies... but as we enjoyed our amazing {see: A.MA.ZING} dinner, Ryan seemed so calm, cool and collected and just like it was another day in the neighborhood! Much to my surprise we left dinner without a ring on my finger!! So I figured I was wrong about the night, again. (I've thought maybe he'd do this one other night-and it didn't happen either.haha) As we walked back to the car Ryan spotted a little short cut to the parking garage. He headed across the street, and under a lit tree said to me "You make me so happy!" He gave me a sweet kiss and got down on one knee, pulling a little gift box out of his pocket. He said "Will you please make me happy for the rest of my life and marry me?".. I kissed him and said "OF COURSE!". He gave me the ring (which he picked himself!) and we haven't looked back. It was so fun to tell the kids the next morning. They have been so excited about the idea of us getting married!!

Ryan is the perfect match for me. The timing for him to walk back into our lives has been absolutely magical, and I am really counting my blessings that he is apart of my life. He is a great dad, he's smart, caring, giving and compassionate. He has a big heart and truly loves my kids as his own. He makes me feel special and beautiful every day---even days like today where I'm in sweats, cleaning all day, no makeup and hair pulled up in a bun. He makes me laugh, lets me cry, and teaches me new things all the time. Ryan is amazing to me, and I cannot wait to spend forever with him.

APRIL!

EASTER!! We had so much fun coloring Easter eggs with our "golden egg" kit. We only did a few as golden eggs because they took so long to do, but it was fun!! Ryan is so good to the kids and really loves to jump right into their activities with them. The kids have started calling him "Dad". It is so nice to hear them say that with such love in their voices again. They've really needed someone like him in their lives...and truly, so have I.

Once again, the Easter Bunny spoiled the kids. They each got outfits, bubbles and lots of candy. Preslee got jump ropes and a sidewalk chalk, and Cash got a golf set and crayons!

They both were great little Easter Egg Hunters!! Cash asked if he could have an Easter egg for breakfast; I said yes, of course! So he started chewing on the egg...unpeeled... hahaha... woops!

MARCH update

Holy Hanna.... I am finally updating!! I've been putting together pictures while the kids have played outside, so I can actually update on what has been going on in our lives!!

Starting with MARCH::
I went to Hawaii all.by.myself.!!! No kids this trip, because I was going out to help clean and pack so that the Sears family could move back home to Utah!! So excited to have them back! It was a quick trip (one week) and it was a lot of hard work, but we had fun while we were at it, and the good news is that they are in Utah again!

(( While the kids slept in the car, me and meg would eat the good chocolates and drink our soso [soda] without them knowing---it was our quiet time...^))

Megan and Andy's Hawaiian ward was so amazing. It is so nice to go to church out there. They make you feel so welcome and like you are family... well, they really were family to Meg, Andy and the kids. Since they were so far from home, they became their Hawaiian Ohana :) It was so sad to go to their ward the week they moved home and hear them sing Aloha Oy! (The Hawaiian farewell song!) I cried through the entire song and I wasn't even the one moving!! They got some amazing lei's as well.

We finally met Jack!! Jack is Ryan's little boy who lives in St. Louis. He gets to come out and spend his Spring Break with Ryan, so we were able to meet him before the summer! He comes out for summers and for the Holidays as well. Jack and the kids got along great right from the beginning. He's a very smart kid and we are excited to be able to get to know him and have him in the family! We did lots of fun things while he was here...mini golf, bowling, movie night and dinner out at Los Hermanos. It was fun to see Ryan in full daddy mode, too ;)

Jack's birthday is in April, so we celebrated while he was here in March. He got a new bike!