Gone fishin'...

Andrew had so much fun going fishing with Jake several times this summer! I enjoyed it too, because it gave me a brake from my busy 2 year old. Having just one baby on my hands is a nice change, occationally. I love Andrew/Daddy bonding times. Andrew loves doing anything his dad does. I went once to take pictures and ended up being the only one who caught a fish that time... A sicko CARP! Yuck! It was fun anyhow! :)

My two handsome John Deere boys! Don't mind the dirt on Andrews face - he sure loves getting dirty!

Happy Birthday!

This is from clear back in June. SO OLD....We still love you Daddy!
These are my three favorite boys in the world!

Happy 4th of JULY?

We started our celebration at Great Grandpa/Grandma Terry's. We were going to have a cook out in the back yard until the rain came. IT POURED! and resulted in a beautiful double rainbow, but you can't see the double very well in my picture. We had to eat inside, but there was good food and good company... made for a great time!
The rain simmered down just in time for fireworks. We watched them at Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Leonards. Excellent view and not too loud. Andrew really enjoyed the fireworks this year. I think this is my new favorite holiday. I love watching Andrew's excitement about the big and small, loud, colorful fireworks.

Kinda silly :)

Since we got married, Jake refused to use any other bowl for his cereal - which by the way is practically the only thing he eats. A while ago, Jakes precious bowl cracked. At first I laughed to see him act SSOOOO silly - almost depressed about loosing it. I thought for sure I saw a tear in his eye when he mentioned it. However, after I heard him tell of the memories he shared with this said bowl, I almost cried myself. So we set out on a hunt for a new bowl similar to this one, and found NOTHING!! He has had to settle with some of my tupperware bowls as they are the closest resembling bowls to his favorite from almost childhood.

Cruise!!

Jake and I had the opportunity to go on a CRUISE this year. I never thought that would be a possibility, but we jumped at the chance and I'm glad we did it! We counted it as our honeymoon part two/early anniversary celebration! Although wonderful in every way, we felt we could have used a longer honeymoon... 5 days wasn't nearly enough time (including about 14 hours of driving). For me it was a much needed, far over due break from the stresses of mommyhood - don't get me wrong, I love my little dears. We definitly enjoyed ourselves and would do it again if the chance came our way and the circumstances were favorable, although probably not any time soon.
We stayed with Grandma Lineberry Saturday October 5th. It was nice to visit with her for a little while. Then we flew from SLC to San Diego Sunday Morning. Grant Hulse picked us up from the airport. Our first stop was the San Diego Temple. I wish we had the time to do an endowment session there. I have always wanted to but have never had the chance. This is where Jake had his endowments taken out - I did baptisms for the dead at the same time. We love this Temple.

We enjoyed spending time with the Hulses and are so grateful for them letting us stay there! We had a great time with you guys!

This picture was taken right before Grant left on his bussiness trip and right after the rest of us got out of bed... NICE! We look a little sleepy.

Jody showed us around old town San Diego right before we had to board the ship Monday afternoon. Good times!! San Diego is a nice place.

One of the best parts of the cruise had to have been Catalina Island. It was beautiful! Of course, pictures never do scenery justice... especially with my camera and photography skills. :)

This is the view from the ship.

From the ship to Catalina Island.

Right before we went snorkling - AWESOME! Too bad I didn't have an underwater camera... I LOVED IT! I had never been before so it was super fun for me. I want to go at least once a year. Jake had been before -in Cancun- so he had seen better. (Some day, if I'm lucky and if we're ever rich ;), he'll take me there to snorkle.)

Getting ready for formal dinner night... When do I ever have time to do my hair like this?! NEVER!! Even though my hair always goes flat 5 seconds later, this was a real treat for me. It's nice to feel pretty sometimes. Jake also liked it - it's nice to feel like someone else thinks you're pretty, too.

Our friends who talked us into going, Todd & April Itami, and Kendall & Deanna Johnson

I took a few pictures of the appetizers. The presentation was very pretty, but the portion sizes always made me laugh. The first one for example: One strawberry, one blackberry, one slice of honeydew melon, a few miniature ball sized cantelope pieces, and a couple drizzles of mango sauce. HA! When I ordered a side of fruit, I guess I expected a cup or bowl of fruit. It doesn't really matter, because you can eat any time, any amount you want while on the cruise, so it's not like I was starving.

I loved that I didn't have to cook or clean anything... A DREAM COME TRUE. Everytime we left the room we came back to either a bed made or covers turned down and a towel creature. Constant maid service. We had the option to have our food brought to us, although we didn't ever choose that route - it's nice we had the choice.

Surprisingly, Encinada, Mexico was the least favorite part of the cruise. I was so excited to go there. Everyone vacations to Mexico, so... of course it would be amazing right? I should have known. Neither one of us had heard of Encinada before, and now that I have, I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone... my oppinion, though. We had to take a bus to where we got a taxi. We gave the guy $4 for the two of us thinking he would give us change back if that was too much - we didn't know how much bus fair was. Turns out, it was only $1 per person. The guy just took it and sent us on our way. I know that isn't much but really bothered me. THEN we catch a van taxi, the guy tells us he'll give us a great deal, $5 to the blow hole $5 back PER PERSON. There were six of us... so I'm pretty sure that was a great deal for them! There was a long ally way of shops on the way to the blowhole. They were annoying to me... everyone just trying to get the highest amount of money for anything. It seemed dishonest to me, so I didn't end up buying any sovineers. I especially wanted at least a little toy for Andrew... the guy told us a little drum set was $5, we decided we wanted to keep looking and didn't want to buy anything until the way back. As we walked away, he told us we could have it for $3. On the way back we went to get it and the guy said we could have it for $15 and that was the lowest he would go. So we didn't give him anything. I don't know why it bugged me so much... I know that is the way those shops go... that's the way it was in China too. All the shops had basically the same items. Nothing too exciting, so I came away slightly disapointed. Oh well. There were several pharmacies with the shops, selling all kinds of drugs... they would always try to lure us in with the viagra... 'we have viagra, maybe for later eh? Just in case' WHAT THE HECK? So funny!

On the way to the blowhole.

The blowhole was pretty, but not worth the $24 bucks we paid to get there! :) We would have been happy to just stay on the ship!

With the Johnsons.

Last dinner.

Saying goodbye.

All in all, we had a GREAT time! We went to shows, tried to go dancing several times, but the music was always lame! I was so close to getting Jake to karaoke with me.... SO CLOSE. Our favorite was the hypnotist show - HILARIOUS!! We ate alot, especially the chocolate icecream. We both tried sushi. Jake loved it and I detested it, not because it taste bad but the thought makes me want to vomit! We layed out in the sun and just RELAXED as much as we could! Great fun! We would definately go again - despite the fact that I was sea sick for a whole week after we got off the ship - somewhere different, though. I heard Cabo San Lucas is an amazing cruise trip. Maybe in 20 years. :) It was so nice for us to get away from the kids for a while and have some time to ourselves, but we missed them too much by the end of the trip. It was great to get back to them. They didn't seem to miss us very much. It seems, they had too much fun playing with grandparents and cousins. Andrew cried when we got home, beging to go back to Grandmas. Thank you Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Leonard, and Aunt Brittany for watching them while we were gone.

LAGOON!!!

We sure had fun this year. Last time we went, Andrew wasn't quite sure what to think of the rides. This time, Gracie took good care of her cousin and made sure Andrew had a blast! Good times!

Jake and I had just gone on a SOAKING ride, so excuse my appearance, please.


My three favorites!!

Andrew generally looked confused while the ride was going, but he would run off laughing! :) We will definitly be doing this again!

Nasty!!

(I appologize in advance for this picture of my gross white legs!) The kids and I have gone boating with Leonard and Sandy several times this summer. We had a lot of fun, but unfortunately I did not always have my camera with me. The only picture I got out of these excursions was this...I haven't ever done any water sports, other than ski tubing. I was daring enough to try the air chair. I did okay, although I didn't try that many times, but I got out of the water for a few seconds a couple of times. The first time I tried, my seat belt wasn't fixed right, so I came completly out of the chair and hit my leg on the way. It hurt pretty bad but I kept at it. Anywho, long story short, my leg was massivly bruised! This picture was taken a week or so later. There was a lot of swelling and pain involved. I couldn't run for a while afterward. To this day, my leg still looks a little green/blue/purple and there is a visible divot in my calf that may be permanent. Hopefully that will go away with time, but I don't believe muscle rebuilds itself after the damage is done. It's not too bad, though. I would try the air chair again for sure!! :)

My Messy Munchkins

The fun has just begun with this little one! :)




Here are just a few examples of Andrews silly messy ways...

Peanut Butter is a real treat to him and he can get it out all by himself.

He found the Cinnamon&Sugar daddy left on the countertop... yum.
This one wasn't really that messy. Andrew unscrewed a brand new bottle of baby wash and dumped it ALL in the tub. He likes his bath bubbly and evidently I didn't put enough in for him to enjoy it.
As soon as I've cleaned one mess up, it seems Andrew has already made one or two other messes to be cleaned up. It's worse now that he has learned to open doors and cupboards and can climb up almost anywhere. He loves to pull dishes, blankets, and books off the shelves. He pulls all of his toys out of the closet and scatters them everywhere. Meal times are the most fun... he doesn't seem to care about his personal hygiene so much. When he is done eating there is food all over his face, body and the table & floor. Do 2 yr olds really have to be so messy? Not to mention all the messes that potty training entails!!! Sometimes I get real tired of cleaning up after everybody. Is this just a phase or will this be my life until my children are grown and gone? I would love some advice from all you mothers who have learned some good ways to teach your children to clean up after themselves... or keep from getting dirty :) and making messes in the first place. Is that at all possible?
Our little ones are so fun and give us too much joy even through all their craziness!

First...

Grant's first tooth broke through today!!! My little guy is growing up so fast. I just can't believe how the time is flying and it's showing. It's kind of funny, his bottom right front tooth has been showing for a long time, I thought for sure that would be his first. His bottom left front just decided to pop in. He is rolling all over the place. He pulls his knees underneath himself, then lunges forward... not quite crawling yet, but seems to be very close. He is full of smiles. He has a scream that can break glass, but thank goodness it's easy to keep him happy. :) We love our little 'Gant'. We have so much fun with him.