Best Day Ever

Riding the Train

Fifty One Weeks

Gavin loves having things to hold in his hand. He explores them by sticking them in his mouth and slobbering all over them. He is content to sit in his stroller for long periods of time this way. He likes food best on his tray though. Things like goldfish, crackers, cheerios, or a bottle of milk.

We went swimming at the Bountiful Pool this week and Gavin loved it!! So much better than the lake a few weeks ago. He was so brave and kept swimming to the deeper water!! I think Gavin has the brave streak in him. Yeah!

We had a scary experience with Gavin this week too. We were out to lunch with the whole big family and I shared my shake with him. He drank the last of it and then started crying. I threw the cup away and then Gavin stopped breathing. His face turned red and then purple. Then his eyes started rolling back, and he started going limp. We thought maybe he was choking on a french fry or something. We almost called 9-1-1. We held him upside down, patted his back, blew in his face, shook him a little and squirted water in his mouth. Finally he came to and started crying. That cry was such a beautiful sound after not knowing if he would take another breath. It was horrible. I was SO scared. We came to the conclusion that he passed out because he was mad that the shake was all gone. Not a funny trick Gavin!!! (He has gone on to do this any time he gets mad about something. Serious temper issues I guess...)

Fireworks!!

Allison + Max

Typical Allison/Max fashion around these parts. Don't worry. Max learned how to give it back by the end of their visit!

At the Zoo

Pioneer Day Parade

Fifty Weeks

Don't you love the stragly - chicken scratch - fly away hair Gavin has going on??? He needs a hair cut so bad. But I have this funny thing. I have waited until all my babies were a year old for their first hair cut. Hang on a few more weeks big guy!!

pooperman

Max ran around today in a diaper and a cape. Saying "Pooperman!!! Pooperman!!!!" We thought that was just about right!!

Fourty Nine Weeks

So Gavin didn't exactly LOVE the beach. He likes baths at home, but I guess it is a lot different from sand and waves at the beach. The water was actually pretty warm, but not his cup of tea. Maybe next time.



Gavin is starting to take only one nap/day. And it is OK by me. Now I can run errands in the morning with a happy baby, and his afternoon nap is longer. 3-4 hours. Just like Max. So I get a good chunk of time in the afternoon without babies!!

Pineview

We were invited to the lake by some great friends today. What a great break from reality as we tubed behind the boat and ate snacks and swam and played in the sun. Ahh, summer.

Stake Lagoon Day

The fabulous tradition of Stake Lagoon day. Where we go and do all the free stuff. Ride the train, merry go round, music express and tilt a whirl. Not to mention the shows, and fountain and fun just walking around. I'm glad our kids aren't too big to think this is boring yet. We have a lot of fun on this day. And this year I wasn't prego so I got to join in the fun too!

Riding Horses with YW

When my friend Kim said the kids could come along to the YW activity tonight to ride her parents horses they were so excited!!!! They loved the attention from the cute beehives as well as riding on the beautiful horse. They were so brave and did a great job and want to go back for more.

Fourty Eight Weeks

Almost a year old and he is our bravest fireworks baby yet. Only crying half the time at the loud booms in the sky. He braved his first stay away from home with flying colors and is still our happy camper.

Happy 4th of July

Aunt Kim is so fun to paint Sophie's nails in such a creative and festive way! Showing off her cartwheels while waiting for fireworks

Gavin was digging the extra attention everyone was giving him. The kids were all over him for some reason tonight, but he didn't mind. What he did mind was the fireworks. He couldn't make up his mind if they were scary or not. Crying half the time and in awe the other half.

All the kids were so giggly with daddy tonight. Seriously a fun day :)

Scooting on the grass and eating it sounds fun to me, don't you think?

And we had to rush from dinner to fireworks. So we couldn't stop home for blankets and chairs, so we all had to squeeze onto one of Gavin's baby blankets. I don't know how we managed, but we loved the fireworks and maybe that was good enough.

Family Fun at Dinner

Gavin was really digging those french fries!

Love the fireworks on our dessert. The kids thought that was so cool!

After picking the kids up today Rich surprised us all by taking us out to the Mayan to eat dinner. It was so fun. It wasn't that busy and so we felt a little free. Taking turns taking our kids on walks around the restaurant to get better and different views of the cliff jumpers. It is so fun to go there. They switched owners and we don't think the food is as good, but the entertaiment is still awesome and the kids say it is their favorite restaurant! What a fun family dinner today.

Happy Anniversary

Seriously, EIGHT years??!!!!!! Time flies... And life is beautiful. When I finally got home and washed the campfire off of me we were off. We borrowed the hot yellow jeep of Aaron's and went to (an over priced) dinner, walking downtown Ogden, and to the drive in. What a great night! Even when it started to sprinkle on us on the drive home we were happy! And the BEST part was waking up with NO kids in the house. Ahhhh sleeping in is real without them. It is great that we can trade babysitting with Rich's sister for our anniversaries. It works out perfect with us both having 4 kids and having our anniversaries relatively close.

These past eight years have been wonderful, especially when I look back and see the growth and hard work and happiness we have enjoyed. Life is sometimes hard in the moment, but always amazing and unforgettable when seeing it in the past. I wouldn't change a thing, because in changing even one thing, I change who we have become, and that isn't an option. All things happen for a reason. Including marrying the most amazing man in the world. Here's to us, and all that we have become over the last 8 years. And here's to the rest of our amazing lives together...

Girls Camp

I am serving as beehives advisor right now and I love my girls. I feel lucky that I could go up to girls camp this year at Lake Lyman. It was great, even just for the one night. I went up the last night and had a carload. I didn't get the latest email and we took the roughest way possible. It was so bumpy, but we made it. We even passed a truck pulling a camper pulling a jet ski that had rolled over on the side of the road. Only later did we realize that it was from our ward! Poor family!! We love them and are thankful no one was hurt.
I will never forget the rain... And then some. It poured on us that day AND night as we slept in a tent. The next day was my anniversary and I was in a rush to get home. But for some reason our ward took forever to pack up. We did the best we could but we were still the very last ward out of there. Oh well, it was a beautiful day and the rain had finally stopped. And unknowingly again, we took the wrong and bumpy way home, but we still made it safe and sound.
The stake theme was Be Believers. And our ward theme was Be Strong. It was awesome and Biffy was so great as Ward Camp Leader. She was unbelievable in her preparation and energy and excitement and ideas. What a great woman and example to these girls. She made camp awesome!! Her and her assistants too. You can't forget them either. Together those sistas rocked out a girls camp never to be forgotten.
This was a great experience for me. I LOVE girls camp. Even if I only get to be there for one day. It is worth it!