Flower Power

About a month ago I made my girls and I some fun Flower Clips for our hair. We thought it would be fun to display our our entire "GARDEN"... EnJoy ;)
Some might say I get a little obbsessive about my "collections" and I would have to agree :) I can't just have one white flower or one pink one. An assortment will cover all the fashion possibilities. And I am always prepared ;)

I kinda like this look. It is a great way to pull back your hair out of your face and CUTE too :) hee hee hee! I feel the makings of a halloween costume....hmmmmmm :)

Kaitlyn looks so FAB too!

Carly you can ROCK our Flower Garden too! Oh Yeah :)

Here is a better view of our Flower Clips individually. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for some more cute clip ideas :) share any ideas you have :)

He Hoped They'd Call Him on a Mission....

Yes that is right folks. My baby brother Michael has been waiting impatiently for this big white envelope to come in the mail. He is 19 yrs old and is excited to be called to serve as a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I got a call from him yesterday afternoon and knew right away it FINALLY came from the happiness in his voice. So an impromptu Mission Call Opening Party was instantly planned.

This is it... The moment we have been waiting for!!!

So at 7 pm last night at my parents home we gathered family & friends to see where the Lord has called Michael to serve. We were all so excited and nervous too. I wrote down every one's guess of where they thought he might go. We had guesses from Idaho to New York & New Zealand to England & Canada to Argentina & much more. It was like pins and needles I tell you! I can't tell you where he got called I like this suspense. Watch the video for the result...








Wow!!!! How Awesome the Dominican Republic Santiago Mission. Spanish Speaking!!! Reporting to the Provo, UT MTC on Dec. 16th 2009. He has 4 long months to brush up on his Spanish ;) get his Visa & vaccinations and the rest of his mission gear...White shirts and ties :) It was so neat being together as a family as this special call was read. You could feel the Spirit strongly in the room as shouts of joy rang out seeing where Mike will spend the next BEST 2 YEARS of his life serving the Lord and teaching his gospel to the great people in the Dominican Republic. Did you know there are over 50,000 missionaries of the church serving all over the world??? in fact in 162 countries. That is amazing!!

We all had cell phones on speaker to other family members and friends who couldn't attend the OPENING PARTY!!! He is so EXCITED!!!

Missionaries serve voluntarily for either 18 months or 2 years, receiving no payment for their service as official representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Missionaries teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and perform community service in the areas they are called to serve and are instructed to have the deepest respect for the laws and customs of the countries where they serve.


So what do they teach? They testify of Jesus Christ. They teach the Plan of Happiness...Why we are here on earth, what is the purpose of Life? And where do we go when we die? They teach about how you can become an Eternal Family. They teach about the Book of Mormon and that it is another Testament of Jesus Christ a companion to the Bible. They testify of Truth that the Savior Lives and that He wants all men to come unto him and have eternal life which was made possible through the our Savior Jesus Christ's sacrifice for each of us. Missionaries are so AWESOME!!!

I am so excited for my brother to serve the Lord in the Dominican Republic. Some call it a HUGE sacrifice but I know the Lord will bless him greatly for his service & help him and guide him. His testimony will be strengthened as he teaches families about how they can have happiness. As he serves, he will grow as a person and will learn how to rely on the Lord. It is a wonderful thing and I am so happy for him and for all those men and women who dedicate 18 months to 2 years of their life teaching truth and happiness & serving the Lord!

Blake the PRESCHOOLER!!

Today my baby boy started PRESCHOOL!! Can you believe it! He has been so excited and has been on the countdown to this morning :)

3 1/2 years old, new shoes, new backpack, new shirt = One Handsome Happy Boy!

I love his poses as I took his pictures this morning. Can you tell he is my son?? I am a big fan of the head tilt. He has watched me take LOTS of pics of his sisters and he has the moves down! He was cracking me up. Especially when he put his hand on his waist. I told him, "wow nice pose but hands down and head straight, you need to make your dad proud."

Oh Blakey Boy! You are too Cute!!!

Check out the Spiderman Backpack he picked out himself yesterday. WOW!! He wore it around the house all day long too - NO JOKE!!!

I hope you have a wonderful first day of Preschool Buddy Boy!!!

PS - do you like the scrape and goose egg on his forehead? he was running full steam ahead last night right into the wall in the hallway. This missionaries we over and Blake loves the missionaries and gets CRAZY when they come over, so the head wound is the result of CRAZY BOY BLAKE! Poor little guy.

School RULES!!!

Summer vacation flew by way too fast this summer! I can't believe the girls are already back to school! Lucky for me they are EXCITED to get back in to the swing of things with school and schedules. They think that SCHOOL RULES!!! How sweet is that?

Here are my 2 gorgeous gals yesterday morning as they were anxious to begin the day and not be late. Yeah for me, they were on time :) That's a good start ;) PS... new school outfits are so fun! They each got a few shirts and a couple pairs of shorts to start out the year. It was fun to see what they chose to wear on the first day of school! Good taste I'd say :)

It's a tradition to have a pic with the backpacks. They are both so cute! Man oh Man!

Kaitlyn is going into 5th grade...I can't believe I have a 5th grader! I am so YOUNG ;)....well I feel young! Carly is going into 3rd grade. They both love their new teachers and are ready to make new friends this year. Cheers to a new year of learning and growth :)

It's GREAT to be 8!!!

Aug. 8, 2009

Carly told me she has been waiting all her life for this special day. The day she gets Baptized. She is so excited to follow Jesus Christ's example and be baptized and become the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Granny & Pappy Zito flew down to AZ to support Carly on her happy day. She couldn't wait to wear her new pretty white dress too.

Granny caught some pictures of me helping Carly get ready.

Aahhhh! What a beautiful girl! I can't believe she is 8 years old. She loves her new baptism dress and adores the new scripture tote I made for her. It screams CARLY :)

A close up of our Beauty :)

We had to take a couple pics with the jacket off. It is cute both ways :)

I found her dress by chance and when I brought it home to show her, she was in love. I was so happy it fit and she has room to grow in it. Isn't she just a doll? I know :)

Carly has the prettiest brown eyes!

3 cute zito kids :)

Father & Daughter

The Zito Family

Blake is as happy as can be. Can you tell? He is showing off his candy that Pappy gave him! Blake sure loves his Pappy. He calls him HAPPY!!! It is too cute!

Carly with Pappy & Granny Zito.

We were so excited Leonard's folks came down to spend the weekend with us. They are some amazing people. I am so blessed to have them in my life. They love us so much too! :)

Carly is dressed in her baptism clothes. So here is a ? you might have if you aren't familiar with the LDS faith. Why get baptized when your are 8? - because age 8 is the age of accountability. When you are 8 you have the ability to chose right from wrong. This is a tender age where you make choices that will affect your future. Heavenly Father wants to help us every step of the way. When we chose to be baptized we make special covenants and promises with God that we will follow Jesus. We promise that will remember Jesus Christ & that we will keep his commandments. Heavenly Father promises us that He will forgive us of our mistakes. He gives us the Gift of the Holy Ghost (His Spirit) to lead and guide us and always be with us. This will help us to do what is right and helps us to be happy. And if we chose the right, He will give us eternal life. Pretty special hu? Carly is ready!!!

Her dad will be baptizing her today.

Here is another ? you might have... Why can Leonard baptize her? He holds the Priesthood and it is a gift from God which gives him the authority to perform this sacred ordinance. We feel so blessed that we have the priesthood in our home. It has blessed our lives so much.

Our Happy Family!

I love this picture of Granny & Pappy & Carly! What a great shot :)

Her hair is wet (because we are baptized by immersion....this means that your whole body is put completely under the water and then brought back up out of the water. Being under the water is a likeness of Jesus' death and burial. Being brought up out of the water is a likeness of Jesus' resurrection to a new life, and a likeness of your being born to a new clean life of righteousness.) and the baptism is complete. She is a brand new girl! It was such a sweet experience to witness. The spirit was so strong! I could feel my heart swell with happiness and joy. Carly could too. That warm feeling in her heart was the Holy Ghost testifying that Heavenly Father is so pleased with her choice to follow his commandment and be baptized. What a great day!

The Family! All these people love Carly and are her to show support and witness this special ordinance.

We are so proud of Carly and we will do all we can to help teach her to chose the right :)

Carly & her other grandparents. Grandma & Papa Daddy! ( they are looking great hu?)

Carly & her cute cousins Claire & Ethne. Claire will be 8 in Sept. We are excited for her too :)

The missionaries and the gals. We love these Elders! Leonard is serving as the Ward Mission Leader and we love to help these elders in way we can! We are even lucky enough to serve these great elders dinner here and there. We love the spirit they bring to our home. :) We love the missionaries :) You should have the missionaries over to see what I mean :)

So after the baptism, we had a little luncheon at our house with my family and a couple friends. Isn't this the coolest sandwich ever! a #8?? No way! SWEET!!! It was a tasty sub and we can thank Krazy Subs for this yummy number :)

The decor.... and some of the food. I threw this together late into the night :) Easy and simple and perfect :)

The Luncheon bunch! :) love you guys!

Let's eat :)

It sure is great to be 8! One last pic of Carly on her special day! Oh and the white roses on the table is gift from her dad! It is our family tradition to get a dozen white roses from daddy on your baptism day! Beautiful Roses for a Beautiful Child of God! We love you Carly!

Carly's 8th Birthday Swim Party

So our baby girl turned 8 on Monday August 3rd. It was a day filled to the brim with FUN in the SUN!!! Carly wanted to have a swim party with a few friends and cousins. So the planning began. It was a WET and WILD afternoon for sure! :)

Carly begged and pleaded with me to let her open JUST ONE present before the birthday party. I...the softy...let her do just that. She loves Littlest Pet Shop and collects all these cute little pets and this is the latest addition. Come on you have to agree this little giraffe is too cute :)

I love to make fun and creative Birthday cakes for birthdays. Summer Birthday Cakes are always fun to make. This year I attempted to make SUNGLASSES cake. Lucky for Carly she got 2 cuz the recipe calls for it to bake in 2 round cake pans and so she got two pairs of sunglasses cakes. Plus I liked the idea of a practice cake too :) it is all still edible if I really messed up. my favorite part of the cake is the fun "diamond" bling in the corners! a last minute detail that I think makes it completely cute!

Carly was sooo happy I made her 2 cakes! She thought her friends would be so excited to see what I made this year! It was funny, some of the party guests remembered Carly's cake last year and couldn't wait to see what I made this year. Talk about PRESSURE :)

We made it to the pool. Look familiar??? It's the Gordon Resort! The perfect place for a swim party! Carly and her pals!

*Courtney, Ethne, Marley, Carly, Claire, Tristan, Kaitlyn & Ashlyn...oh and Blake too :)

The Party Decor Set Up... We had to do a Hawaiian Theme again :) it only fits for a hot summer day. Go TROPICAL all the way :)

The best part of the decor, is that I own all of it. I did borrow a couple Hawaiian shirts from my folks. I have been collecting bits of decor here and there. It comes in handy every year and it have decorated ward parties, youth dances, girls camp and been borrowed here and there~ Hooray for Hawaiian Decor! It was fun setting up this party. I was gonna simple it down this year and not really decorate at all but then I remembered who I was and couldn't let myself down! It's all or nothing with this gal :) I ended up staying up til midnight & it was worth it. I wanted it to be extra special for my birthday girl. You only turn 8 once :)

The gift table and Party Favors. What a cute idea hu? I stole it :) and the "pineapple" or "palm tree" drink bottles are filled with yummy candy! (i thought they were pineapples but on girl said it was a palm tree, hu! i think she might be right LOL!) What else would a little girl want?

The girlies getting ready to show me their best tricks, jumps and twirls! Bring it on Gals :)

SWEET!!!

AWESOME HEIGHT KAITLYN!!!

WOW!!!

OH YEAH!!! SPLASH!

Blakey Boy loved the pool too. He tried out these pool noodles. He is getting braver every swim.

Warming up and keeping cool!

PIZZA TIME!!! Swimming works up quite the appetite :)

Make a Wish Time! Everyone is so excited to taste this cake! It was tasty :)

Carly is THRILLED to open PRESENTS!!!!

This one is from Claire & Ethne. They knew it would be her favorite! They might be right :) It's a TAYLOR SWIFT barbie that sings!!! wow! cool I know! Carly LOVES Taylor Swift. She plays her music as loud as it can get and she knows every word. I sense loud music issues in our future. GULP!!! ;)

Well, it looks like she LOVED ALL her presents! She was spoiled with a new purse filled with girls favorite stuff, make up, candy, nail polish. She got a rescue pet, littlest pet shop pets, more, more and more candy. THANKS FRIENDS!!!

Presents from Mom & Dad. Her own sweet Sunglasses and a cute little mermaid barbie.

It was cute to see all the friend oooh and aaah as fun presents were opened like this Little Pony playset.

It wouldn't be a birthday without a new addition to the Webkinz collection. This cute pup she named Lily to remind her of Granny & Pappy's Lily.

The Last one.... I love this picture. Look at all the girls leaning in and their in awe faces. GIRLS ARE SO MUCH FUN! What could this present be?

Mermaid Falls!!! SWEET! what she always wanted ;) It is a fun toy to play with in the bath for her mermaid barbies to have fun on. WOW!!!! What a fantastic Birthday Party for our Carly girl! We love you sweet girl! Happy 8th Birthday!!! A couple more birthday surprises to come too. She got to have a fun cousin sleepover and swim some more. Grandma Gordon was going to take Carly out for a date to get her first set of scriptures with her name inscribed & ice cream. I made her a special scripture tote too! (what a surprise!) Carly will be baptised this Saturday and she is so excited.

Stay posted for more It is Great to be 8 posts :)