23 Months

So this will sadly be the last post before the 2 yr one. seriously I can't believe time has gone this fast but we have enjoyed all of it. Seeing the world through a child is like nothing you have ever seen or done until you do it. Hallie is learning more and more how to exert her independence with in turn is helping me to learn increased patience. She just within the last couple of weeks puts herself in her room when she throws a fit. Most of the time she is still my sweet girl that is a big helper and curious about the entire world around her. She loves to sing and sit at the piano and play while singing. Her favorite song is "you don't see me" I have no idea where it came from but she sings exactly that you don't see me over and over..pretty funny. She has also become a major mommy's girl and no one can do it like her mom which is sometimes nice but most of the time inconvienent and a pain(hopefully it is just a stage). She loves to color and read and never ceases to amaze me with her vocabulary skills that grow on a daily basis. She has learned that mom and dad have "real" names but only uses them if you ask her. She also knows what we do for jobs: mommy takes care of "sick babies" which she asks about on a regular basis and daddy well at the moment she thinks he works at the airport or on an airplane that flies away d/t all his traveling lately. She can now count to 10 pretty well and knows all her colors. Im excited to start some preschool lesson plans with her this fall mostly so I have designated time to spend with her once the baby gets here. I know all parents say this but she is growing up way to fast

21 Weeks and Counting

So as the title said we are now just over half way to meeting our newest addition. I feel somewhat bad for this little girl. With Hallie by this point we had bought tons of stuff and had a list full of names(for some reason we are struggling with names)and with this one I am just hoping for time to pass so we can finally meet her. Since about 17 weeks I have been feeling more like myself again minus the ever growing tummy and constant moving of our little one. I have been craving fried chicken and veggies. Every time I eat veggies she goes crazy(loves them/hates them?) I am pretty much the same size I was with Hallie. Thursday we go in for our "big" ultrasound to make sure everything is developing and working correctly, hopefully all good news will come from that.

Cherry Hill

Does it seem to anyone else like the 1st part of the summer went slowly and now summer is all but over? Well that seems to be our story but we are trying to enjoy the last weeks of summer before fall sets in and yesterday was no exception. Yesterday thanks to Brit and her free tickets we got to enjoy a fun family outing. The weather, company, and water were perfect. The kids had a great time which made the time all that much more enjoyable for us. We got to do a little of everything.








Thanks Brit for a very enjoyable day we need to do it more often.

A Day at The Fair

Probably one of our highlights of the summer has become the Box Elder County Fair and Parade. For as long as Matt and I can remember we have been part of both. From remembering back to the day that you met at the zipper in your new favorite school clothes to hang out with your friends to the new tradition of meeting old friends and letting our kids enjoy the activities that were once our favorite. One Wednesday we headed to Tremonton we met up with Mindi & Corey's little family as well as Matt's mom. We enjoyed the parade in a nice shady spot(thanks to Mindi saving one for us). The kids stayed cool with the popsicles they handed out and had planty of candy by the time we were through.

For some reason the lady that came by gave us a whole bag of popsicles we didn't know what to do with that many.

After some awesome fair food dinner we headed to see the animals. Hallie loved and wanted to touch all the animals. This year they had a mini goat tent that had some cute and fun goats that were very people friendly they were really fun.


After one more amazing scone we headed for home. Box Elder Fair we will miss you until next year..thanks for the memories.

Lake Powell....Our Happiest Place on Earth

****Prepare for Picture Overload*****
One of my favorite pics I think it perfectly describe show she felt about the trip

For me Lake Powell holds so many memories and fun times and it has been so fun to have Matt and Hallie do the same thing. So the story goes as follows we headed out on Wednesday afternoon hoping to make it to Lone Rock Beach at Wahlweap before dark. Hallie was great in the car and Matt enjoyed some great catch up and planning talk that I feel sometimes gets pushed aside by other things. It took us just over 6 hours to get there. Once there we looked for a camp spot for everyone that would be arriving shortly after. We drove on a lower road and quickly found ourselves sinking in the soft velvet like sand. Matt asked for someone to help push us out and Hallie yelled help out the car window(which was so cute). After getting somewhat "stuck" one more time we found a nice flat spot near the water where our ever growing family would fit. About that time my parents got there. Hallie was more than thrilled as she ran to the car to see grandma and popa but she was more excited to show them the sand and water that we have been talking about for weeks. We quickly set up camp in the sweltering heat, had a few snacks, and took a much needed swim in the lake by moonlight. The stars were absolutely beautiful and the slight waves crashing on the beach were like a sleep inducing cd(how could you not love this place?!?) Just after heading for bed we heard Kim/Ez & Nic/Ky arrive Hallie was out like a light so Matt and I headed out to say hi. They had decided to bring a trailer this year to help put nic's mind at ease with 2 month old, Rigden, and the heat. They set the trailer up and we were all off to bed for a couple hours before the fun would begin. The next morning, Thurs, we relaxed around camp mostly finishing setting up and visiting. Hallie found some friends very quickly, a group of ducks that she was more than happy to feed bread.

Shortly after breakfast we dumped the boat in and the fun began. Hallie asked all morning about riding in the boat so she went with grandma and popa to dump the boat in.

Rigden is such a good baby and was totally go with the flow.

The rest of the afternoon we floated, played behind the boat, and in the sand



Grandma volunteered to watch the babies while we played some more and prepped for dinner when we went to check on them this is what we found. Two sleeping babies and a sleeping grandma!(priceless pic)

After a rough evening that included high winds and lots of rain(cool sleeping) we awoke to a beautiful cool morning ready to play.





Playing so hard equals tired little people


After a quick rest it was back to playing Hallie had a great time standing on the tube and swimming she thought both were really funny(who knows why)



Friday evening was beautiful we enjoyed dinner, played some games, and discussed next years vacations which I am already excited about(rafting, lake powell, and Hawaii are on the agenda) Sadly Saturday brought a close to our fun we spent until late afternoon playing before breaking camp.










Sorry Disneyland, Lake Powell makes you look like a bore!

Tired!

Friday morning after getting to bed very late Thursday night Hallie came into our bedroom about 6AM(way before I was ready to get up) I told her to go back to bed and when we woke up a couple hours later we found her sound asleep with blanket, puppy, and binki in the hall just outside of her room. Silly girl its amazing how kids can really sleep anywhere.

Jon Schmidt Concert

Saturday after we flew home we headed to Wolf Creek to see Jon Schmidt concert. The weather was perfect for pants and a light jacket it made me really excited for fall. We spread out our blanket and snacks and just enjoyed the music. We also found Hallie, like her dad, loves Oreos. Well at least the cream inside of the oreo and then she is content to give the cookies back.

A Week in Las Vegas

The 1st week of August Hallie and I flew to Vegas for some serious family time. With Matt starting as an ad-junked professor the end of August he needed some time to get lesson plans together so we had to go without him.
Hallie loved the pool and since getting home asks to ride in the airplane to go swimming(funny how literal kids take things)

It was so HOT while we were there so we ran most of our errands in the morning and ate plenty of slushies

We did have some brain freezes


The piano was another favorite and Nate was just the one to play with he has gotten so good!

Maddie mentioned one day wanting to make cupcakes and Hallie was set on the idea until they were made. Maddi was her definite buddy and she wanted to know where she was at all times.

We had a great time but it was really hard to be away from Matt but mission accomplished he got all his lesson plans done and we are now ready to finish our summer with more vacations and lots of family fun!