Happy Birthday Big Sis

i can't tell you how much i love my sister holly, she is my ultimate best friend!! although we are very different we go together like peanut butter and jelly :)
we shared a room growing up and my mom would always say that we would fight all the time and you could never tell who was the baby and who wasn't...it's funny what we remember though because i really have no memories of fighting. i remember sleeping together and i would fall asleep with my head on her chest listening to her heart. i remember her doing my hair, i remember she would take me with her whenever she went and played with her friends, even when she was in college she would take me to class sometimes. i remember even when she was young she made the best chocolate chip cookies, but she would always tell me 'watching is helping Janie'. i remember the day she got married, i cried all day because i thought she would forget about me. as we have grown older, we have just become closer and closer. i tell her all the time that i don't think there are sisters as close as us :)
i love you so much holly, and i am glad that i have the greatest big sister, happy birthday!
we celebrated holly's birthday with eating desert first and then we all heading over to tepanyaki's for dinner...yummy!!

Ellie Bathing Puppies

my parents dog winnie had a litter of puppies on february 8, 2009. elizabeth loves them...she even helps grandmerry give them baths. she always tells me that the puppies are wet and then when my mom puts them in the blanket, elizabeth makes sure the puppies don't climb out of their little wagon.

Ellie's Birthday Celebration

i am sad to say that we have lost all our pictures from elizabeth birthday party...i am just catching up on my blogging and just noticed this, so i haven't accepted that i have no pictures from her two year old princess birthday party yet. it is what it is though.
i am glad that i have the memories of so many loved ones, that came to support and celebrate with us. elizabeth is our little princess and she also loves princess and loves pink, so we thought it was only appropriate to give her a princess party. she got so many fun toys...including her new pink tricycle. she was very excited with all the great toys she received. it was so nice that we had so many of our friends and family with us, we love all of you so much and appreciate all your support.

She Is Growing So Quickly, She Is Practically An Adult

my baby is two years old!! you heard me people, two! i have no idea where the last year disappeared to. i wish sometimes that i could freeze time because she is growing up to quickly. i have learned so much from her this last year though. she has taught me to have more patience, compassion, to laugh a little harder and a bit longer, that we learn from our mistakes, some days we just need to have a good cry, and that we can always show more love to one another.
i wanted to share some of the things that we love about elizabeth.
her nickname is monkey, because she is so small and she clings right onto us...i'm not kidding either, our legs, arms, waist, wherever she can get her cute little legs around us. she loves getting her hair done, and i'll tell you why. i sit her in the bathroom sink and she loves looking at herself in the mirror, she just sits there and giggles. she loves candy, or rather chocolate. anything that has chocolate she is like a little puppy dog and is begging you for it. she loves playing outside, she never gets tired of going down the playground slide. she loves to color. she loves makeup, she is right next to me in the morning when i get ready and has the biggest smile on her face when i put powder on her face (this also gives her another reason to look in the mirror). she loves shoes, we call her the shoe horde cause she is always getting into our shoes. she loves her dog sugar, they sleep together every night. she loves talking on the phone, the other day i came into the room and she was talking on my phone and coloring at the same time...it was very cute. she loves to dance. she loves to read books, she will just sit in her room and look through books...but she mostly loves when we read to her. she loves bubbles. she loves baths, her favorite part is when i cover her in soap and sing 'once there was a snowman'. she loves her two best friends, brighton and quintin. she has a hard time sharing, but really does her best. she has the lungs to cry for long periods of time when she wants something. she loves when we say prayers. she has the brightest smile, ever since she was a baby it was like her eyes just twinkled when she smiled. she has the most beautiful laugh. i do believe that she is growing so quickly because her little body can't contain her huge spirit. she is my pride and joy...happy birthday monkey.

ryan wasn't able to come, but the turners, and even papa & grandmerry celebrated elizabeths birthday by going out to an aquarium. we had a blast, and it was a lot more fun than we expected. i think the two youngest, elizabeth and gabriel had the most fun. elizabeth was gleaming of joy the entire time.

Draper Temple Open House

we were lucky enough to have some time together to attend the draper temple open house with the turners. it was such an amazing experience to be able to view the temple with the public, some of whom might just be learning about the gospel. it was breath taking inside. it made it even more special too cause it just happen to be march 10 that ryan and i went to the salt lake temple two years ago to be sealed for time and all eternity.

Happy Birthday Mystery

when the kids were little i always called them, my three little angels...but it wouldn't be three without mystery. i always loved calling her miss-teary because she cried all the time, but i loved being there to comfort her. one of my favorite things about mystery, is her motivation. she just has always had this incredible drive since she was very little. i'm glad that elizabeth has so many people in my family to look up too. elizabeth adores mystery, she always gets my phone and says 'talk to mystery'.
we celebrated mystery's birthday out at holly's this year, and i always say this, but it was so nice to just relax with my family. we always manage to have a good time.

Hula Girl

when my parents went to hawaii for a week, i never heard the end of it from elizabeth. she was constantly asking for papa and grandmerry. we even stayed at their house because we were watching jonathan, faith and mystery. and elizabeth would wander around the house looking for papa and grandmerry. needless to say she was very excited when they returned, and even more so when they came with gifts for her. she looked so cute in her outfits. she got this little hula outfit with coconut shells and everything, and also her and i got matching beautiful bright clothes wraps.

Happy Birthday Jonathan & Faith

i can't believe that jonathan and faith are already 14 years old!! although i was young, i will never forget the very first moment i saw them, and i knew they were meant to be part of our family. they were just learning how to walk when we brought them into our home. i would follow them around all day catching them when they fell because i was so worried they would get hurt. i used to read jonathan dick and jane books all the time, and even now i enjoy reading to him. i remember after playing with them, i would lay on the couch and i would set faith on my legs and tell her to tickle my back, and we would take turns for hours...i have so many memories of them growing up and i love spending time with them still because i don't want to miss a moment!!
we all got together to celebrate, jonathan was excited to get a mountain bike, he really loves playing outside. faith is more of a social butterfly, and she was very excited to get an ipod.

Big Smile

February 2009
elizabeth is so full of life...she always comes up to my randomly during the day and just smiles really big, like she knows something that i don't. she brightens our life so much for her beautiful smile and big personality.

Brighton & Elizabeth

January 30, 2009
i know what you all are thinking...did the rodgers fall off the planet!! no, we are still here!! i promise i will catch you all up on our life so far this year, just have a little patience...

here is elizabeth and her best buddy brighton playing. it's so fun to see her being so caring with her friends.

I Think My Baby Is Hungry...

February 2009
ryan made these raspberry cream puffs, well elizabeth thought her baby would like a taste. she got a little chair from her playhouse, and used it as a bowl. she then got a spoon and feed her baby, every time she got the cream on the babies face she was so worried about getting it the baby's eye and she would wipe it off with a towel. i love when i catch her taking care of her dolls.

New Years

December 31, 2008
this year we invited the garff's over to celebrate new years with us. rachael was even kind enough to make dinner and a yummy dessert! i helped...isn't watching helping? that's what my family always told me when i was younger and wanted to help make cookies, "watching is helping janie".
it was fun having them over and their little boy quintin, who tolerated elizabeth taking all his toys away from him all night. we are still working on sharing.
we played the wii and even broke out the board games! i love surrounding my family with good friends and it was fun celebrating the new year with them!
i can't believe that a whole year has come and gone! i'm so excited for 2009 and look forward to seeing all the adventures that take place in our lives. i'm excited to watch elizabeth progress even further and look forward to learning from her this coming year!