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! 

Happy Birthday Dad!!! (a few days late!)

Happy Birthday to my GREAT Dad!!! It was my Dad's birthday on Sunday, and the poor guy had to spend the day at a million church meetings, and pretty much by himself....my Mom was doing sister and cousin duties in Michigan! Luckily Whitney took care of him and had him over for dinner! It's a good thing she lives in California! Here's 10 things I love about my Dad:

10. He is so funny! He always makes me laugh! 

9. He is a great Grandpa!

8. He works really hard to provide for his family that shouldn't need providing for anymore! But we really are grateful for all the help!!

7. He handled/handles 4 girls so well! When we were little he would let us do his hair and put every single hair clip in his hair! He is the perfect Dad for all girls!

6. He loves my mom and has shown us how we should be treated....and shown our husbands how to treat us!

5. He always makes time when I call. I know I won't be rushed and he will let me ramble on as long as I need to!  

4. When we are at his house he plays with Emma, they have had countless tea parties and he has read countless books.

3. He tells the best camp stories! (Bomb the Biffie!!!) I still laugh at some of the songs he taught us...and I can't wait until Emma learns them! (Little Annie!) 

2. I have never heard my Dad complain about all the duties (church, work, family) that he has to accomplish! 

1. He just is the best Dad!!!

Love you Dad! I hope you had a great birthday! 

Happy Birthday Sophie!!!

I can't believe Sophie is ONE!!! This year has flown by! Sophie has been such an easy baby! Although there isn't any middle ground with her....she lives each emotion to the fullest...if she is happy, sad, angry, or tired! Luckily she is happy most of the time! Since I haven't updated she started walking on March 29th (I know Kim, on your birthday!!!! It made it easy for me to remember!) She loves playing with Emma and thinks that Emma is the neatest person! She has been more of a daddy's girl than Emma was...but she still knows that her mom is the best! Sophie is willing to give a kiss to anyone...it's a little embarrassing! Here's a look back at her first year....

Taking Sophie home from the hospital! She was born in Kentucky, although we moved when she was 3 weeks old, to California! Her life was nothing but busy with a vacation to lake lure at 2 weeks, moving, Ryan and Whitney's wedding, and another move! She was perfect throughout it all! 

Three Months old- We moved to Utah and instead of being busy going everywhere, she was busy being loved by 15 cousins! Her good nature and easy smile were very appreciated by Jon and I while we were trying to figure out the whole Dental practice thing! 

6 Months- This is about the time we realized that Sophie was very busy! She couldn't hold still! Emma was a pretty kick back baby, it was funny and confusing to have such a different baby! 

9 months- She decided it was time to walk around everything, and crawl and get into anything that was in reach! I am not sure how she has not choked! She puts everything in her mouth. She loves laughing! 

Today! One year old! Crazy! I can't believe how much she has grown! She still seems so little to me! She only has three teeth, but 5 SLOWLY starting to come in! She loves dancing and trying to keep up with Emma and all of her cousins! And gladly she loves my Mom way more than Emma ever did! I am always amazed how much change there is from newborn to 1 year old! Thanks for being the best baby Soph! (Jon asked when we are going to get our bad baby! I hope never!)

Easter

Yeah I know I am the worst at updating! Now that the guilt trip is over....Easter was a little crazy! If you read my mom's blog you know that Jon and I went to California for the BYU game in the NCAA tournament (it was a sad game)! We went without the girls, much to our joy and my parents dismay! We decided to get back saturday night so the Easter bunny could come and we would be here! Anyway it all went well, except I never took a picture! I also made Jon's family wait to hold their annual easter egg hunt until the week after easter, promising that it would be better weather! We had missed 5 years of the Fairbanks Easter hunt and I didn't want to miss it again! Well of course, the weather was cold, luckily the snow held off! It was fun to just hang out and find Easter eggs!