One fine day.....

Play date with Sophie

2010-02-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Sophie came to play with Berlin and their outfits coordinated so I hatched up a great photo op and they were perfect little models. Behold.. the two cutest little nerds this side of Mesa.

Little Miss Strawberry Shortcake turns 2!

2009-09-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Berlin you are my most favorite little muffin cake. I am lucky lucky lucky to have such a yummy strawberry shortcake dolly pop. You are Twinkles to Grandpa Bagley and Grandma's cupie doll. Ashley's little sister and the apple of all our eyes. XOXOXOXOX - mommy.

I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the flowers, and all the daffodills...

2009-07-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Arizona,

It's not you ..it's me. Okay it is you. Your too hot for me I had to leave. You understand don't you? Much love - Leisel.

(No I am not dating this cutie pie. He's 16 but I am hoping he'll wait for Berlin because we both loved him!)

So the past several weeks have been action packed. I went to Lake Powell for 5 days followed by a Pine family reunion. Then straight back up to Utah for the second time in 2 months so that Berlin could spend time with the Decker's. She had a blast exploring the outdoors all week with her dad. I spent most of my time in Utah with my sister Heidi , Jean , and Jacque Decker. I made a few connections with some Utah friends and overall had a great trip. I wish I could have seen everyone I wanted to that week. I ran into an old friend in Utah who invited me to come celebrate the 4th of July in Montana with a large group of people who all have second homes in Montana. I refused the offer several times over thinking I couldn't possibly go out of town for the 6th time in approx 2 1/2 months. Too much time off work. Too much time away from Berlin. Well long story short after many rebuttals and an extended invitation to bring Berlin along with me I decided heck why not? It's not every day you get an invitation to step into lifestyles of the rich and the famous. O.k. that might be exaggerated but I can't even begin to describe how amazing this place was. Who knew Montana was so gorgeous? I didn't. The water was so clear and clean it looked like Carribean water. The weather was absolutely perfect. The colors in the picture of the sunset were not photo shopped. That is exactly what it looked like in person. Breathtaking! Usually when I go somewhere I have to leave Berlin behind and I was looking forward to getting to have several uninterrupted days of quality time with her. The cabin we stayed out was sooooo nice and right on the lake. Berlin and I had a blast on the boat, jet ski, and raft rides. It was an unforgettable trip and a lot of bonding took place. Since being home from that trip she has been so attached to me and she has never been a real clingy baby so I am enjoying her constant hugs since being home. Aaaghhh.. back to reality...

Lately there has been some issues with my cosmetics...

2009-06-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

San Diego, Mission Beach, Coranado, Seaside Cliffs...

2009-05-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Ashley her good friend Cali and I rented a car and escaped for 5 days to San Diego. We rode beach cruisers on the boardwalk at night and basked in the sun during the day. We had free accomadations at a sweet lady's home from my parents ward which made the trip oh so affordable. My mom was incredible as usual to let me wisk away like a carefree kid while she took Berlin off up to the cabin the entire time I was away. I'm pretty sure Berlin didn't even hardly notice I was gone because she had a blast with her cousins up in the mountains. We discovered our new favorite yogurt shop called Yogurt Land and went almost twice a day. When we learned they just got one in Az we drove straight there on our way home from California because we were so excited. Vanilla wafer will surprise you. To die for! The highlight of my trip was one of the nights we rode our bikes to the yogurt shop with some friends we had run into from Az and as I am sampling yogurt flavors I behold this very attractive guy cracking jokes next to me. If I have a type this guy fit perfectly into it. He was dressed adoreable, tall dark and handsome, and for as little amount of personality as one could imagine showing in 15 minutes in a yogurt shop this guy seemed like a lot of fun. I was totally feeling a strong vibe but what the heck do I do? A. what are the odds this guy is even a mormon..B. He lives in a different state.. C. How am I going to get him to approach me? We keep making eye contact and then Kylie Minogue's song..It was loooooaoaoaooovvve at first sight comes on. This had to be no coincidence right? Well I knew I had to do something I couldn't let this dream boat slip through my fingers. What if this was my only chance at love? We finished sooner than him and his group so we lingered outside the yogurt shop as I am scrambling for how to get this guy to talk to me. So just then a bum off the street starts chattin it up with me and as this is happening the guy comes outside and is walking past us. I sence he is thinking the same thing as me.. dangit the oppurtunity is slipping past. He walks away and keeps looking back and just as he is almost out of sight he looks back and we both wave. What dorks! So then I get a brilliant idea. I scramble for a pen and paper scribble down my number and I tell the bum to chase after the guy in the plaid shirt that just turned the corner a few blocks down. He of course wants to know what's in it for him so I tell him good karma! Off he goes. I have no idea if he will even find the guy. So we get back to our friends condo and I get a call from him but of course don't pick up. "Hey this is Brian and I just wrestled a bum for your number! Call me." So of course I was so excited but a total chicken to actually go hang out with this cute stranger late at night. So we ended up texting a little back and forth. Apparently the bum gave him the peice of paper but then immedietly ripped it back and the guy chased him for a block and had to rip it from him again! I guess you shouldn't trust a bum to run these types of operations but hey it worked out. Well not exactly... he added me on facebook and the magic faded. As I was stressing about whether or not I should make my photo albums with Berlin and I private he was blocking all of his drinking and partying with girls pictures. We both saw the albums we were trying to hide from eachother before we could block them fast enough so the magic was lost. He wasn't looking for a mormon mother and he wasn't the boy of my dreams. Darn. Oh well it was worth the ego boost.

2009-05-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

So the last few months have been a bit challenging.... juggling motherhood, work, and a few minor adjustments to my life. But just to calm your inquiring minds and hearts we are alive and well. Very well in fact. Not the put on a happy face and then cry on your pillow at night when no ones around kind of well. The doing so well you actually feel a little guilty and think maybe you should start bracing yourself for round two of a dose of hard knocks. But I'm not going to sit around and miss out on this time. I'm embracing it. I don't know why I am not more sad or discouraged but I figure there will be plenty of times in the future where I will have to feel that way so in the meantime I am just loving the here and now. Not to mention I don't think I need to point out to anyone how it seems like people every where are experiencing some of the most challenging times right now. There are personal tragedies happening all around me. It puts things into perspective and makes me feel very small. I can handle the hand I am being served right now. The deck could be stacked so much more against me. My burdens feel light and my problems seem small. I don't credit myself to much of the reasons why I am doing so great. Credit goes to my Mom for loving my child as much as I do. (seriously maybe even a little bit more those two are glued together) For helping me out so much. To a loving and supportive family. Members from both fams. They know who they are and they will always feel like family. The support from them has been the number one source of comfort through these months. To acts of kindness like a sister-in law who literally tries to fix lunch for me 365 days a year. Or another who made sure I didn't go without a fun gift under the tree at Christmas. Sister in laws who made my last birthday my best ever. The knowledge that I have generous and loving Heavenly Father that still wants abundant blessings to come in my life. I have felt less fear and sadness in the last several months than I have felt in years and quite honestly I am loving my life. Accurately I am spoiled with help and support. It's flawed and uncertain but for some reason I am having a great time with it. Alright alright enough with that. Here's a little of what we have been up to.

Kara's Birthday!

2009-05-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

Andy's 30th

2009-05-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Andrew!

I idolized my brother Andrew from as early on as I can remember. I followed him around like a puppy dog. I loved getting advice from him especially in junior high about boys and what outfits I should wear. He kept me in line for many years and I didn't want to dissapoint him. He didn't kiss till after he was sixteen so I followed suit. I cried like a baby when he left on his mission. All my girlfriends had a crush on him and I had crushes on his friends. He has a hilarious sence of humor and is very savvy. I still look up to him today.

Reachel threw Andy the best party as usual. The back yard was the highlight. The pool had started growing it's own new breeds of indiscovered life forms and Reachel took it upon her self to do a scientific dig. She worked into the wee hours of the night removing the green slimy muck that once was water from the pool. I'm still not at all sure how this was accomplished but it involved buckets. At one point Reachel adorned herself with the green slime as an expression of love for her Drew. But in true Reachel form she was the perfect hostess by the next evening and stunning as always.

2009-05-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Turn the cameras off please.. we need a moment.

2009-05-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

New Years at Mr & Mrs Roboto's house. Futuristic glam with a side of Mocktails and Sushi.

A MOCKTAIL PARTY

2009-05-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

Ashley threw this froufy party for Cali's 20th

Uh Oh

2009-05-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Lipstick application 101

2009-05-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

White Christmas

Party Girl

2008-09-10T17:09:00.001-07:00

Berlin found herself being treated for a high fever at the hospital in Payson on her birthday. So a few days later, in order to rectify her birthday, we threw together a totally ridiculous birthday party that she would never remember of course. Thanks Chelsea!

Hardy's Party

2008-08-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Berlin's cousin Hardy Noah Decker turned 1 today. My sister-in law Chelsea should start a party planning business because this girl always throws together the best little parties and acts like it was all no big deal. I love a girl who throws a good party. The gourmet banana split bar was the cherry on top.

Uncle John's plane ride

2008-08-17T09:36:00.001-07:00

My uncle John is kind of a big deal. He has some very pretty and unique planes. Old war planes and planes he flies in airshows. Well he offered to take Ashley, Jarom, Layne, and I on an airshow style plane ride. Basically a roller coaster in the sky with no tracks. I wasn't afraid of the plane ride as much as throwing up inside his nice plane. So I decided to call dibs on having Layne fly on my lap with me. I am pretty sure my Uncle John is not afraid of anything so I figured with Layne on my lap he might tone it down a notch. Did I mention this man has survived not one but two fiery plane crashes..where he was the pilot, yep. Well up we went and before we knew it we were doing barrel rolls and flipping every which way. It was pretty awesome. Layne started begging for my uncle to stop going upside down so I told him I would give him a treat if we could do one more and then we'd go down. Well my strategy worked because although I was a little woozy I survived. Ashley was up a little longer and got pretty sick for about 30 min. Jarom was up the longest but didn't get too sick either. It was quite an adventure.

2008-08-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today we had two celebrations starting with a baby shower for my friend Denyse Carter. Can't wait to see her little muffin cake baby.

Then it was off to an Olympic Themed Birthday Party for Berlin's main squeeze Morris Childers. It was a fabulous party and all the kiddies went home Olympic Gold Champion Winners. Nice touch Em!

Summer time and the livin is easy....

2008-08-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Bagley Family Reunion July 7th-9th at Lava Hot Springs in Idaho.

Girls night out

2008-07-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Harmony, Marika, and I went out on the town. We ate dinner at the Bamboo Club on Mill and it was divine. If you have never been get the Mandarin Orange Chicken. It is unlike any orange chicken you have ever had. It is $14 dollars and I would pay double for it. I might even give up a spare kidney for it. It is that good. Okay speaking of dishes that are that good if you are dining on Mill and in the mood for pasta go to Cafe Boa and get the Polla Polla. It is creamy artichoke stuffed into raviolis topped with two different sauces split right down the middle. Half red sauce/half white. Afterward we did a little shopping and then stuffed our faces with cold stone ice cream.

2008-07-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Berlin and I had a great time hanging with the girls at Lizzy's shower on Saturday. Berlin found herself a cute new boyfriend and all was going well until she realized .."hey he's prettier than me." then she was a little upset. I told her life isn't fair...and that she was really cute of course.

Then on Sunday we had everyone over for my mom's famous mashed potatoes, roast beef, sweet carrots, and gravy. Yummiest dinner of all time. Brik is the cutest with Berlin and she is fond of him as well. No grandchild is more fond of their Grandma than this one. Berlin is obsessed and quite positively loves her grandma more than me.

2008-06-23T10:56:00.001-07:00

So here is a stroll down the past year or two.