Baby Jaxon's Shower and Goodbye!

See you later, Kristen and Andrew! They left for Santa Barbara, California about 3 weeks ago. Before they left, we were able to throw Kristen a baby shower for baby Jaxon. It was such a huge success- the decorations were so much fun and amazing! The desserts were darling and I think Kristen really enjoyed it- that's what's most important! There were lots of her close friends and extended family members that showed up and celebrated baby Jaxon coming. Minus the freezing temperatures Utah decided to shower us with (on June 2nd!), the whole night was a great success and tons of fun!

Here are all the lovely ladies that made the shower a great time:








Aren't these cupcakes SOOOOO cute???? My mom spent so much time on them and they turned out AMAZING!!! Good job MOM!











After everyone left from the shower, we gave Boose Boose a gift too! It was a child's accordian- kind of a joke (since it was only $10), but also so she could practice her mad skills on it :). Don't you love her expression!


Kristen and I saying goodbye before leaving to Cali:


I am going to miss her so much. I already do. Kristen is and has been a best friend to me my whole life and we've never been apart for more than a few months- and that was only once! We've had so many fun memories to sharing a room when we were little to sharing a room in college (except one time being roommates, we grew out of scaring each other and jumping on our beds :)). I've loved having her close by to go out to eat, have girls nights, and having her shoulder there for me to cry on. She has always been there for me and I am excited for her new adventures in Cali! I know she will have such a great time and she has no problem making new friends. She'll be everyone's best friend before long! Kristen, I love you so much! And I can't wait to see you in August! I hope you know how much you have meant to me in the past and how much you mean to me now. I love you with all my heart! See you soon!

Family Fun!

I have to combine some of these posts into 1 since, well.....you can see I've been slacking as of late and haven't had as much time for blogging with girls camp coming up NEXT WEEK!!!

We've had a lot of fun with family lately! Memorial Day weekend we drove to Vegas and spent the holiday with the Close side. We had a lot of fun! We went swimming (which I had been DYING to do since Utah was NOT working of the summer weather), saw a movie, hung out, went shopping, and just had fun watching Ashur and Emma play with each other. One of Emma's favorite things was the rocking horse! I just bought one online just like it because she loved it so much. We had a lot of fun with them and are looking forward to spending the 4th of July in Arizona with them as well!



We also have had a blast going on hikes! Cade and I want to be a "hiking" family and do a lot of hiking and camping in the years to come. So we bought a really cool backpack for our kids to sit in so we can make is a family adventure. Emma LOVES it! And I am so happy about that :). She hiked.....she played.....she passed out! Both times she fell asleep on the hike...too much fun for her :)!

Hike to the "G" in Pleasant Grove. It was VERY uphill, but a beautiful view in the end:



Hike to the Waterfalls in PG, about 2 min from our house!

These are a few of my favorite things!

SPRING!!!! Yay! I love everything about it (when it actually feels like spring weather here in Utah and not winter still). The three of us went on a fun picnic up the canyon and we had so much fun. Now that Emma has discovered that she is allowed to play outside, she wants to be out there all the time now!







Things I also enjoy about this time of year:
Smell of freshly cut grass
Playing at the park with Emma
Picnics- any place, any time
Going on walks/jogs outside
Beautiful colors of flowers and trees/plants
The smell of fires and roasting marshmellows
Camping- getting dirty, setting up tents, tin foil dinners/BBQ's, watching the fire, singing songs, everything! I can't wait for our first camp out!
Summer clothes
Popcicles and juice and slush
And best of all...planting my VERY OWN garden!

Here are some pictures! I was so proud of myself. My friend came over and helped me and gave me tips. But I am excited to grow produce of my own! Well, I guess I'll be really proud of myself if I actually DO grow produce. We planted Roma and cherry tomatoes, green, red and banana peppers, lettuce and lastly zuchinni (well, we didnt' have that at the time, so I'm going to finish the garden by planting zuchinni). It was a goal this year to plant a vegetable garden, so one goal checked off the list! (Obviously, now the hard part is the actual growing of the veggies, but at least it's a start!)




Another favorite thing...Emma knows when Daddy goes to work it's time to pray, I thought this picture was so cute. "I'm ready to pray Mom! Why are you taking pictures?"

Happy Easter! (VERY belated!)

So yes, Easter was almost one month ago, but I finally put our pictures on to the computer from our old camera. I lost my good camera (and I am still very very sad about it cause I loved it) so I didn't post anything for a while because I couldn't take pictures until we got a new one.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Easter. It was fun seeing Emma find her basket and go in the backyard and "find" the eggs...they were in plain sight, but hey she's a year and half. Next year I can hide them harder :). She found her Easter basket in one of her favorite cubby places and when she discovered that if she cracked the eggs open, fruit snacks would fly out...she was in heaven! So we went outside and every egg she picked up she would shake to make sure there were fruit snacks in there.









Cade and I enjoyed one item in Emma's basket probably more that Emma did. I got a wind-up chick and so I wound it up and let it go....the chick was born "different". It was a moon-walking chick...it didn't know how to go forward. It was pretty funny ;).

Well, in the future for our children Cade and I want to develop spiritual traditions with our kids. Any traditions you do with your family that you'd like to share?

#2 on the way!!!

Yes, we are expecting again and are happy and excited that I am a few days away from the 2nd trimester! I am now feeling good again and food actually tastes good! Yay! I don't have a lot to complain about since I never throw up during my pregnancies, however, having to deal with nasea (sp?) and having to eat every 2 hours when nothing in the world sounds remotely good...I'm happy happy happy to be over it!

I am due November 27th and we are praying that I will end up delivering very VERY close to that due date! Not early! I have a great doctor this time that has been very good about explaining pros and cons with this pregnancy, having a VBAC, and the statisics with preeclamsia, and we are pretty positive this will be a very healthy baby as well as pregnancy! We are excited and will keep you posted on gender and other updates!

Bryan's Wedding!

Yay! It happened! We are so excited for Bryan and Jennie! They we married on Friday, May 6, 2011. The whole 2 days was just perfect and wonderful. The sealing was probably the best sealing Cade and I have ever attended. It was so spiritual and beautiful and the words given by the sealer were just amazing! I'm sure after he quoted his 2nd and 3rd poems, Bryan and Jennie were probably ready to get the show on the road :). But we enjoyed every minute of it and learned a lot that day.

And when they came out of the temple, they were SO happy and excited! And we all were too! We, of course, went around and took pictures with all the family and friends there...all the many, many people that love Bryan and Jennie. My favorite part of the couple days (besides the actual sealing), was the luncheon. A lot of the siblings shared something about Bryan and Jennie and then the parents did too. And then at the end Bryan and Jennie both shared some thoughts and feelings. It was so great to hear them speak from their hearts. Bryan read a list of attributes he wanted in a wife that he wrote about 7 years ago. As he read through the list he mentioned that Jennie more than fulfilled that list (except maybe the love for reading :)...that's okay Jennie, you've got time for that one!) and more. He had been told by many people in the past that maybe he was TOO picky and needed to settle a little, but how he found the perfect girl for him and she was worth the wait.

Jennie, we are so happy to have you be a part of this family! We love you! And Bryan and Jennie, we wish you happiness and know you will be such a strong, great couple and parents some day. We love you both!!! (pictures courtesy of Stephanie)

Halleluja!!!

Emma LIKES to eat!!! For those who do not know how wonderful this is....let me tell you....I can finally sleep again! For a picky, picky, picky little eater who liked to throw all her food on the floor (this is normal for her age, I know), refuse to eat most of the time, spit out most food, and make herself throw up when she REALLY didn't want it...this is a miracle! Just the last week and half Emma really likes eating! I ask her "do you want to eat?" and she signs "eat" with a huge grin on her face, squeals and goes over to her high chair! She tries most things now which is huge because in the past if it looked funny or similar to something she knows she has tried and doesn't like, she wouldn't try it AT ALL.

Some of my friends who have gone through this or similar with one of their children have said to me, "this too will pass". But just like anything else, when you are going through it....it seems like FOREVER when you are in the moment. Now...IT TOO HAS PASSED. I gave it a good week and half before blogging about it so I wouldn't jinx myself. She used to have a good day, bad day, good day, bad day...Now they're all good days!

I am so proud of Emma!!! She still hasn't completely gotten over the throwing of food yet, however, it is MUCH better. One thing at a time, right?!

Some things Emma LOVES:
Olives (black or green)
Cheese
Noodles (from ramen or chicken noodle soup)
Strawberries, grapes, and apples
Most veggies (depending on the day)
Homemade chicken noodle soup
FRUIT SNACKS
Go-gurt
Pasta with Italian dressing
Sippy Cup concoction (whole milk, half & half, and carnation mix all put together- the doctor after telling her what I put in her sippy cup said, "Man, I've gained a pound just listening to what you feed her, yet she remains skinny!")

We're still working on other fatty foods...but for now, she is doing really good! She is still skinny, but she is still growing and doing much, much, much better! I will give an update at her 18 month appointment in a couple weeks :).

And here she is in all her glory...