Everybody Loves Baby!

I haven't done many baby pictures yet, so here are some of our little guy who is already 5 lbs. and 4 inches bigger! He sure is loved!






Of course there aren't any of me and Bryant, but that is because I'm the one who is usually behind the camera. Maybe soon. Anyway, isn't he just so cute? We are really enjoying our new little man.

The World is a Craft

to Lydia. Seriously, she can make a craft out of anything at anytime. She made this while dad was mowing the lawn.

Lydia Knows Everything!

Lydia thinks that when one turns 5 years old, that person can do and know everything. She turned 5 last month, so she now is one of these omnipotent and omniscient beings. She and her friend Aspen share the same birthday, so we combined their party.

They decided on a water party which we held at our home. We had a small pool, a slip and slide, and a blow up water slide for their water fun.

To top it all off my friend and cake genius (thecakecow.blogspot.com) made this cute beach cake! I strongly recommend her if you need a cake for an event!

Lydia had a great time. I can't believe my baby is 5 already. It causes me to want to savor this time with Bryant even more.
I love my Lydia. She is such a caring soul. When she sees I am sad or sick, she will make me a card or a present. She loves to take care of her little brother and sister, and tries to help around the house as much as she can. Lydia is a little artist and will spend hours on a project. If she wants a toy and doesn't have it, she'll just make it! I'm proud of who she is and look forward to seeing who she becomes.



We love you Lydia!

Camping in Washington!

My family reunion was this past week near Spokane, Washington. We went camping for a couple of days, and I admit I was a little worried on how this would go with a newborn, not to mention the 12 hour car ride to get there. All went very well though. The kids were so tired from the traveling that they slept great during the campout and they all had a wonderful time playing with cousins. Then we went back to my sister's house for Independance Day festivities. I'll try to narrate the pictures briefly as there may be many.

These four girls are close in age and all LOVE to play dress ups. Aren't they beautiful princesses?

Sitting around the campfire singing songs, telling jokes and stories is my favorite part of camping.

We had a little birthday party for Lydia and her cousin Aspen. Lydia's birthday was on the 28th, and yes that blog will also be forth coming.

On the 4th, my brother and brother-in-law had created this big water slide on their hill that Tim and the girls really enjoyed...untill the rocks won out.

Here's that cuties foursome of cousins again in their matching swimming suits. They were SO excited about all being "twins"

Bryant with grandma.

Awwww, I just love my guys!


Happy Birthday America, land that I love!!

Strawberry Days '09

I love living in this cute town. Strawberry Days is a big part of that. All last week there were fun festivities and most of them are within walking distance of my house. Tuesday night we went to the concert in the park where there was great music and decadant (and free) strawberries and creaMmmmm. We went with some friends so the kids went up front and danced to their little hearts content. So cute! Sorry, I forgot the camera for that part.
Wednesday was the children's parade which was great despite the sprinkles. We also got a couple of tickets to the carnival for that evening.

Fifty cent night at the carnival is very crowded, but I'm too cheap to go any other night. The girls of course loved the rides and yes, more strawberries and cream!!


Friday we went to Huck Finn Day at the park with the Arnold's. Lydia loves the princess' face painting (the PG royalty do that), Ali likes the bouncy slide, and my favorite is that they actually create a pond and fill it with fish for this event.


Saturday was the parade. Sure, it was cloudy and rained a little, that didn't stop us from enjoying the shower of candy that came with it too. Again, we met up with the Arnold's. Lydia and Jake were good at getting out there and making a lot of noise, so they came home with a lot of stuff like popcycles, sodas, candy, frisbees, and even a t-shirt. Bryant slept through the whole thing, even with all the sirens and marchinig bands. I love this newborn-sleep-through-anything stage.

We had a great week! I love Strawberry Days! It is the perfect summer week.

Birds...peck peck peck peck

To give mom some needed rest, I took our girls up to Salt Lake to visit the Tracy Aviary for the first time. I highly recommend going there (especially if you have the entertainment coupon book). We got in for $5, and paid an extra $6 for a great interactive display called the amazon adventure.

Every hour, the aviary does a feeding demonstration where you enter a cage of beautiful birds. The host gives you some chopped apples on popsicle sticks. You hold them out and pretend to be a tree. The birds come flying down and land on your arms to snack on your apples.

Ali went crazy. She thought it was the best thing in the world. Even Lydia calmed down and laughed at how the birds tickled her arms. Needless to say, I became the "best daddy ever". Getting chased by the frisky peacock was kinda fun too.

A Week with Grandma!

My fabulous mother came to Utah from Washington for a week to help out with the new baby. Of course the girls were thrilled to have grandma around for a week. She got up with the girls (and let me sleep in to 10:00), fixed all meals, got kids dressed, bathed Bryant, cleaned my house, read stories, and entertained the girls. I pretty much only had to feed the baby. On top of all of that she took the girls somewhere everyday to keep them entertained. They had loads of fun this week. Tuesday we all went and watched the new Pixar movie "Up". It was a great movie, fun for the kids while still enjoyable for the adults. I recommend it. Bryant slept through the whole thing, but he does sleep all day (not all night though). I realized that I'm not ready for outings, so on Wed. mom took the girls to the pool without me. Now, the pool is pretty much Lydia's favorite place in the world. For nine months out of the year, Lydia asks when is summer so she can go to the pool. She trotted off happily with Grandma, Ali, and her best friend Ellie. Thurs. was a little rainy, so they went to IKEA, Lydia's second favorite place. Ali is still too short to go into the play place (even though she has been potty trained for over a year), but she is a good sport about it and still likes to play in the children's section of the store. Friday our whole family went to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. Tim held Bryant and got a lot of attention with such a new baby in his arms. Tim doesn't like attention...ok, he does. The girls favorite parts were the princess room (the bridal room), the chandeliers, and the player piano at the reception at the end of the tour. We all had a wonderful week. Thank you so much mom for all you did for us. It is a shame we don't appreciate our moms as much as we should until we become moms ourselves and realize what they sacrifice for us and that they know more than we think they do as teenagers. I love you mom!! The girls even had to sleep in "grandma's room" one more night because they missed her. Luckily, we will see her again in a few weeks as we go to a family reunion.