Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Nguyen Girls in Utah!

Last month, I took the girls back home to Utah to visit the family while Rich had to work and go on a business trip. We had so much fun with Nana, Papa, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Lissa, Addy, Dawson, and Kyler! We had a lot of "firsts" on our trip home to Utah, so be sure to read the captions to find out what they were! WARNING: Tons of pictures ahead!


Halloween Spoiler: An Asian Jessie


Cute cousins: Jessie and "Woody"


Ellie went to the Greenshow at the Utah Shakespearean Festival for the first time. Ellie loved the Loch Ness Monster!
Mommy loved the tarts.


Julesy loved it too!


The Monster! ("Ellie see the monster again!" was all I heard the rest of the time we were there.)


Playing the piano with grandma


One of the first times for both girls to sit on grass. I'm not kidding. I wouldn't let them walk barefoot in our Texas grass...so I am totally jealous of the AMAZING lawn at my parent's house.


Addy, Jules, and Ellie in their cute matching dresses!


Randomly, while we were taking pictures, a miniature pony was being walked down the street. Definitely a first!


Julesy can fly!


Beautiful daughters!


And then there's this picture (which cracks me up every time I look at it!)


Jules doesn't really like headbands. Mean mommy makes her wear them for pictures.




The girls adore their cousin, Addy!


Our little princess!Align Center

They played tons in the play room!


Aunt Lissa teaching Ellie during her first time playing air hockey at McDonalds


Jules, Ellie, and Kyler in the laundry basket...too cute!


Ellie's first time with Play-Doh


"Ellie see the monster again!"... so we went to the Greenshow ... again.


Ellie enjoyed throwing grass into the river at West Canyon Park.


Julesy liked crawling around on the blanket and chewing on everything she could get her hands on...


...but she loved playing with Aunt Lissa the best!


Ellie's first run through the sprinklers




Ellie, Dawson, Jules, and Kyler before the rain


Ellie's first time (not in utero) at Cedar Breaks


Everyone's first time to Brian Head Peak. It was FREEZING up there. It was a lovely 85 or so degress in Cedar that day so we were wearing our shorts and didn't have any jackets before we decided to head up the canyon. Yeah...it was like 50 degrees and the wind was blowing...but the views were spectacular.


This was taken the day before we left. I had been scurrying around the house trying to gather everything together and Ellie was pretty much following me wherever I went. Then I went to get something...came back downstairs and thought to myself, "Where's Ellie?"
Plum tuckered out on the couch.

We had such a wonderful trip. We can't wait to go home at Thanksgiving and see Aunt Nanny home from her mission!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Go Fish!

Ellie has loved Finding Nemo and all things "fish" related since she was about 18 months old. We have wanted to take her to the Dallas World Aquarium for some time, but wanted to wait until she was old enough to really enjoy it. We went this morning as a family and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, my camera battery wasn't charged so here are the few shots that I got of our fantastic family outing.


The three-toed Sloth


Red-footed tortoises (way in the back)


Not sure what this bird is!


Our own little monkey


More turtles


The family in the Orinoco Rainforest


A giant red-tailed catfish


Ellie looks at the arapaima, catfish, and manatees


Viewing the sharks in the Cenote tunnel

Monday, August 2, 2010

Mommy, Wow! I'm a Big Kid Now!

When Ellie turned 2, we went out and bought her a potty seat and a step stool to get up on the toilet. She tinkled a few times at the beginning, but wanted nothing to do with the potty for the last few months. I think that she developed a fear of the toilet, or something like that. Anyway, while Rich took his last trip to Mexico, I noticed we were running low on "Ellie diapers" and, not wanting to go and buy another big box, decided to give potty-training another try. I put Ellie on the toilet and we sang some of her favorite songs from nursery. We sang The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, Book of Mormon Stories, Popcorn Popping, and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam. This made potty-time fun, and Ellie was tinkling again. I decided to put her in some big-girl panties that I had bought (which are really big-boy panties since she loves Buzz Lightyear, The Incredibles, Lightning McQueen, and Wall-E) and she continued to go in the potty all day, accident free. I am happy to report that it has now been two weeks, and she has only had a handful of teeny-tiny accidents where she is able to stop herself, and we are still able to rush to the potty and go. We are so proud of our big girl!


Two of Ellie's big incentives to go poo-poo in the potty:
Woody and Buzz




Ellie's Buzz Panties


Another of Ellie's favorite incentives:
Calling Dad on the phone to say, "Ellie go pee-pee uh potty"
(uh = in the)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Happy Birthday, America!

We had an awesome 4th of July including many wonderful testimonies born of the great country that we live in and the wonderful freedoms that we share. I am so blessed to live in this great nation and am so thankful for the men and women (including my little brother) who have fought and will continue to fight to preserve the liberties that we hold dear. We had a very non-traditional dinner of chicken fajitas, and went out to watch the Plano fireworks for the first time since we moved here. The show was really great, and our viewing location was awesome! Here are some pictures of our 4th.


The girls in their red, white, and blue before church


Juliette turned 8 months old that day


Ellie gives a shout-out to Uncle Tay-Tay


All-American girl


Waiting for the fireworks




Mommy and her girls


Proud to be American!


Daddy and daughter


The finale

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Family Photo Shoot - June 12, 2010