Temple Square trip #1

After my HS Reunion (I know I still need to post about that!) my HS girlfriends decided that since half of us live in the same state and NEVER see each other that we should meet and go see the lights at Temple Square! We met at my friend Robyn's house for some awesome taco soup (Thanks Rob!) and then headed to temple square. It was as always, beautiful! If you have a chance to go their new (At least new for us!) nativity on the water is so pretty! It was of course freezing!!! Luckily it was a warm up trip for us because we are going tomorrow night for our Fairbanks Family Christmas Party. Note to self: Remember stroller, blankets, hats that fit, and teach Sophie to wear gloves! 

Soph and me just trying to stay warm! Her poor little hands were bright red! We could not get her to wear her gloves or put her hands in her pockets!

Emma with her new friends! Katie's little girls Kaley and Kenna!

Robyn and Joe (with Parker) Avery was staying warm in the stroller! Smart baby!

Katie and her Husband Aaron! We took a family pic of them but it was a little far away!

I WAS RIGHT....

Wow! Finally on my third baby I am right! I still have to admit that even though I was sure it was a boy, I was still shocked! This will be quite the new adventure! Although regardless of what the baby is...I am pretty sure the 3rd will be crazy either way! Jon is super excited! I'm just nervous! I have all sisters and two girls...I KNOW girls! But on the other hand I have 10 absolutely darling nephews that I can use as guides and can call to come teach my little guy how to be a boy! No sissies allowed! Emma is surprisingly excited! She wanted another girl...but mostly because that is all she knows! She is ready to take on a little bro!

Halloween

Halloween is so crazy! The second we arrived at Brandon and Jana's, Emma disappeared so she isn't really in any pics! So my scary husband dressed up as a hunter, I was an expecting angel (ha ha), Emma was belle, and Sophie was a ladybug! It was lots of fun! And I am making a goal to be better prepared next year! Linz and Matthew popped in for a minute to see the girls! It was fun to see them all dressed up!

How did that happen???

Yep! That's right! Baby #3 is well on its way! In June during Matthew and Lindsey's Open House I wasn't feeling great, was super tired, and got a cold. All huge indicators that I was indeed expecting, but I was in DENIAL!!! Finally I told Jon, and after he picked himself off the floor we began to get excited!  As most of you know Emma and Sophie are 3 years and 4 months apart....I was really nervous to have another baby! I am pretty sure I was headed down that same path! So maybe it is a blessing just to have a little (HUGE) surprise and get it done! I am 20 weeks along today (halfway yeah!) and due March 16th! We will find out what it is in a few weeks, and can't wait to see who is right! Jon thinks it will be baby girl #3 and I think it will be baby boy #1. Although I have to admit I though Emma and Sophie were boys too! Anyway I felt like it was time to let the blogging world know! Plus I just had my 10 year high school reunion and before I posted pretty obvious pictures I thought I should come clean! 

How sweet!

Jon and I found this note on our bed the other night! It is so nice to know that even though I feel like I say no, stop that, be nice....all day that my cute 4 year old still thinks I am a princess and the best! Thanks Emma we love you lots too! 

Can't Wait...

I love when October rolls around and it cools down a little bit and I can break out the Halloween outfits for my girls! And my mom found the best halloween ribbon last year which makes the outfits complete! My mom loves Halloween and loves decorating for the holiday. Emma is so excited to go on Sunday and see all the skeletons, rats, crows, and the grave yard! I am sure there will also be lots of surprises awaiting us. I did lay down the law and say NO BIRDS in my room! That would be freaky to wake up to! 

Poor Sophie

Sophie took a good spill on the deck on Sunday. She had me in a panic, when I picked her up and she was bleeding from the mouth and couldn't seem to cry normal. I figured it was a mouth injury and passed her quickly to Jon saying "something is wrong with her!" I thought for sure we were headed to the ER! Her nose was huge and had a large knot on the bridge! We called Linz and Matthew to let them know that we would drop Emma off on our way to the hospital! They were so good to just say ok! After waiting a few minutes the knot went down and Sophie calmed down! So we decided to wait until the morning to see what we should do! In the morning it looked so much better and she is just left with a slightly swollen and very bruised nose! I was really worried she would have black eyes too! But they weren't too bad. I don't think I will ever handle watching my kids fall and be calm! 

Sweet Emmie

My dad called yesterday afternoon to let me know that they had to put our sweet golden retriever to sleep after 13 years! It wasn't an unexpected call, she has been going down hill for the past few months, but it still was so shocking! Every time we have gone to California I was sure it was the last time I would see her...and then we would go again and Emmie would still be alive! I somehow managed to make it almost through the whole phone conversation without crying, until he was saying goodbye! It all kind of hit!

We got Emmie for Christmas when I was 15. She was so little and so sweet! My sister Whitney did the cutest pictures from her whole life here And my mom reminded us of lots of stories of having a dog for so long, here! I am glad they did all the hard work, because as soon as I start thinking about it I get all teary-eyed. Emma was really sweet yesterday when I was crying and brought me her new golden retriever stuffed animal so I could hold it since it was the same color as Emmie. 

Emmie will be missed by our family so much! It won't seem real until I go home and she isn't there to bark and cry that we are home! Good-bye sweet Emmie, we will miss you! 

Pigtails & Hikes

I can't believe Sophie is big enough for ponytails already! They are so cute and it makes her look so big! She even sits pretty still and is way better than Emma was about getting her hair done!




For Pioneer Day we hiked Stewart Falls up Provo Canyon. It is where Jon and I got engaged and the first time we had been back. The hike was way harder than I remembered it being! I was so surprised to see it was a 4 mile round trip. And it was so hot! I thought it was so pretty and so green! Emma chanted the whole way in "I hate this, I hate this!" Luckily on the way back out she enjoyed it a little more! At least for the picture she tried to smile! Sophie was pretty good about being in the backpack the whole time and not being able to get down and explore! Next time I think Jon and I will have to hike alone!

A Day at the Beach

We had a great day at the beach, the day after Matthew and Lindsey's Open house in CA. It was so nice to relax after ALL the hard work! Emma had a blast and even got in the water and loved it, (she isn't a big fan of getting her head wet!) I was really worried about taking Sophie because she is such a wild child, but she loathed the sand and wouldn't take a step off the towel! Although she eventually warmed up a little and would sit on the towel and play with the sand.  My aunt had a beach house for the week so it was nice to take a shower and get all cleaned up and then we went back out on the beach to enjoy some Bache (SP?) ball! It was fun to just all be together having a good time! And a little sad since it was the ending point of everyone's down time in CA! 

Emma loved building in the sand and finding sand crabs!

Sophie finally being brave and touching the sand.

Sunset is such great lighting! Soph looks like a beach bum! 

Jon and my dad posing during the game.

5 vs. 5 (at least for the Adults!)

For anyone who doesn't know my family is 4 girls! It was so awesome growing up with just sisters! My dad was the king of the household and just to make sure it was fair he came up with a point system he had 10 points, my mom had 5 points, and each girl had 1 point. He thought he was pretty smart because no matter what he won! As each of us got married the boy tally has increased....and as of Friday the boys evened the match! Thank heavens for my girls! Girls are barely holding on to a WIN!



My sister Lindsey and Matthew tied the knot on friday! It was such a great day! They got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder Holland. It was an unforgettable experience to be taught in the temple by an apostle! It was also awesome to be in the Temple with my entire family! (Thanks to Karen, Meghan, and Ashley for watching my girls at the Temple!) Wedding days can be so exhausting with kids! But my girls were great! The reception was awesome and so much fun! (Thanks to my Aunt Marcia for stealing Sophie and feeding her, so I could enjoy, and thanks to Wally and Fran for taking her home and putting her to bed so I could stay to the end!) Linz and Matthew even had their wedding dance choreographed, which was way cuter than I thought it would be! Although still a little dorky! And when they left they ran through everybody holding sparklers! It was amazing and I can't wait to see pics! The little lovebirds are in BORA BORA now honeymooning away....and yes it's hard not to be a little jealous!






PS: Coming Soon.....Emma's preschool graduation, and Emma's Dance Recital!

Our Garden

Jon has been so excited about the new gardening style of 1x1. He made his own 3x3 frame and then divided it up. Emma and Jon planted it and have kept a close watch on the small little buds coming up! Hopefully we will be able to show our AMAZING fruits and veggies! Nothing beats homegrown! And the this pic is after Sophie enjoyed (at record speed) a chocolate chip cookie! 

Palm Springs 2008

April 12th we headed to Palm Springs with 3 of Jon's brothers and their families! It was a very LONG 10 hour drive there! But it was worth it! After a long and cold winter it was so nice to see the sun! We had the best weather! My parents came and spent the night and even watched all 12 of the kids! Whitney came and spent the night...there were a few of my nephews that thought she was pretty cute! You better watch out Ryan! I tried really hard to not use too many pictures but it was too hard! My sister in law Jana did a great job at keeping it short! So here is a quick recap of the trip! And I was really bad and never took my camera to the pool- so I don't even have any pictures of what we did the most!

Here are all the kids that we had with us! It was crazy! 

We did a hike to a waterfall and through a canyon that was filled with palm trees! Jon really enjoyed showing off his 'knowledge' of animals....he did graduate from BYU in zoology! 

Toby and Sophie enjoyed sharing popsicles! Sophie really took off walking while we were there trying to keep up with Toby! She lights up when ever he was around! 

I really enjoyed getting to sit and read a book during Sophie's naps! I came outside one day and Emma was kicking back reading my book! (the book was the other bolyn girl.... it was WAY better than the movie!) 

Sophie and I sat this one out....a Tram ride to the top of a mountian...where the temperature dropped about 30 degrees! It sounded awesome! I can't wait to see it myself! 

Here is Brandon, Eric and Jon (Jeff had a meeting) posing all GQ (in their dreams!) 

Katie and Emma are such cute buddies! They had so much fun together! 

A definite highlight of the trip is when Jack (Brandon and Jana's youngest) pulled the fire alarm and not one....but two fire trucks came to the hotel! It was hilarious...although Jack was pretty sad! The not-too-shabby looking firefighters were so nice and let the kids crawl all over the fire truck! The kids had a blast! We tried to get a pic with the firefighters shirts off...no luck! 

Poor Jack!!

Sophie started teething and was running a fever and didn't feel too great! She still was really good! When we got home and I took her to the dr she had a double eye infection and double ear infection! Considering that, she was REALLY good! I also caught her eye infection...it was horrible!