Sweet One

Our little baby turned one this last week. I am so sad to see her growing up. She has been such a delight and the joy I find with her is as if she were my first all over again. I am tickled with how her One Year Old photos turned out, but just in case anyone is wondering...yes, it was a lot of work, and no I don't think I will be doing it again. But we'll see ;)

I made this special little cupcake for Lydia, but I was a little disappointed when she just picked away at the top of it and then signed all done after a few bites. It was good, I tasted it to make sure. She is just a picky eater. But I sure do love watching babies go to town and make a mess out of their cakes...which that's kind of weird for me, but it must be the only situation where I think the mess is cute. :)

Emma was so darling all day and so excited for Lydia's birthday. I know there is a lot of "anti-spectacle birthday" people out there, and I am sure some people/most will look at this post and think PA-LEASE! But let me just say...yes I am aware Lydia will have no memory of this day, and she doesn't even care. But I care. This is a passion of mine. My kids are my whole world, and for me, spoiling them on their birthday is one of my ways I show them how very very glad I am to have them in my life. So Lydia probably won't remember her birthdays for many years to come, but when she is older and reflects back on her childhood (through photos and home video) I want it to be with the fondest of memories and a sense that she was truly cherished. And in the process, it is fun to have an older sister who knows what is going on and to have an excuse to invite family members over.

Summer schedules are kind of crazy and it is hard to accommodate everyone's schedule. So my sisters couldn't join us but I was delighted to have the Jensens, Hatches and my parents be the party guests. They are the ones who know her the best and who she knows the best and who have invested so much time and love into her. Also it was very neat for Lydia to have her great Grandma and Grandpa attend as well and I think it's so neat to see a relationship that is 4 generations long.

I made a Candy Bingo game, Lydia Trivia (that just happened to rhyme) and also a candy bean bag toss where you got to keep the candy inside the bean bag every time you scored in the bucket.

Ryan and I just adore both our girls so much and I can't think of another man who I would want to help me be the best I can be to raise these girls.
Happy birthday to our little sweet one!

We-are-FAM-I-LY!!!

This is just a typical day in my life right now, family, family family! Pop ins, play dates, lunch dates, babysitting, festivals, you name it, we do it together! My friend Carrie asked me if I have made a lot of new friends, I laughed out loud. Friends? What are those? I haven't seen friends (except for you Carrie :) In weeks, possibly months by now. I am so busy with family and I love every minute of it. Below is s'mores by the fire with the Caspersons.

My little Lydia turned one this week :'( I have just loved every minute of my life with her. It really makes me smile inside to see that she has quite the fan base and some of her fan club members come in the most surprising form. Like this little boy. Cute isn't he? Quite cute actually. But he loves to run and play with his older boy cousins but he will always stop what he is doing to hold Lydia or play with her and he gets so excited over her little victories, like standing on her own, or trying to talk. I always loved my nephew Spencer, but he just shot himself to the top of my list.

My niece and nephew work at the Logan pool so they hooked us up with a killer family discount pass. We went there Friday and LOVED it. Crowded, but a great way to pass a hot summer's day.

Emma went down the slide all by herself. I didn't cry like I likely will on the first day of Kindergarten, but I did see this as a big step for her, and for me! It was so nice to know she is becoming more independent and brave and gives me hope that maybe it will be fun to watch my kids grow up, even though it means they will be growing further and further away from me. I can't think about it. So anyways, Yeah for Emma!

COUSINS! COUSINS! COUSINS! Emma is in HEAVEN! She sees so much of her cousins. This was at Firehouse Pizza on Tuesday night when kids eat free. Hello! Free! Weekly tradition here I come :)

There has been one acceptation to the cousins trend and that is in my friend Carrie who lives in Ogden. Carrie has been sooo good to take Emma while I run errands for our home or take Lydia to Dr's apts. or whatever I need to get done. I stole these photos from her blog but we don't want to leave Addi out in all of our day to day adventures. Thanks again Carrie! I promise your turn will come around.

So speaking of Dr. apts. We got Lydia her one year shots and took her to a dermo appointment for her little face rash. Turns out it is just from saliva and likely thumb sucking. Hmmm. I hate going to the doctor. Not quite as bad as I hate changing a dirty diaper, but they might be tied. We waited for an hour before we even saw the dermo. Hello nap time. These photos below are of us trying to pass the time.

Father's Day we met and had a picnic and then all went for a hike. It was a great day to be together and I really missed having my sister Stacey and her family there with us. My brother-in-law Todd just recently lost his dad and I had his family heavy on my mind all day and I just really tried to live in the moment.

This man here...in the above photo....I'm pretty sure is my husband. It looks like him, but I hardly see him any more so who knows. Ryan lives in Liberty in my parent's guest house since we moved all of our stuff into storage. My parent's sale failed two days before they were supposed to close. So poor Ryan goes to work all day, then goes over to our new house, works his guts out there, goes up to Liberty around midnight and repeats the schedule every day. He comes up to Paradise on Sundays and the girls just LOVE having him home. I LOVE having him here and really miss his company and just having him around, he is just sooo likeable. I hoped we would move in July first...HA! Now I'm hoping the weekend after the 4th...hoping! Eventually we'll be a family again...right? Right?

More posts to come soon. I'm on alternate computers so it's hard for me to post the photos I want, and none of them are edited...I feel like it's the stone ages just posting a raw photo :)

Best Places to Raise a Family

Forbes has recently released their top ten cities that are the best to raise a family in. They ranked them on seven different categories... the cost of living, the prevalence of home ownership, commute time, median household income, housing costs, crime and the percentage of young adults who graduate high school. Here were their results for top ten cities for families...

10- Buffalo-Niagra Falls, NY
9- Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
8- Knoxville, Tenn.
7- Pittsburgh, Pa.
6- OGDEN-CLEARFIELD, UTAH
5- PROVO-OREM, UTAH
4- Syracuse, NY
3- Rochester, NY
2- Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa
1- Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa


The best is that with all the other cities they have a beautiful photo of the city skyline or some famous building or monument of that city. With Ogden and Provo they just have a photo of a lake and some beautiful mountains. Oh well, it's the mountains and the lakes that keep us so family centered...or at least that's the way it is with my little family.

Carried Away

My friend Carrie (Carried Away photography) did me the hugest favor ever and came up to take one last photo shoot of me and my little family here on this property. This is the exact same spot that Ryan and I had our engagement photos and it just seemed very fitting that I would end my stay at this home with a family photo. Thank you so much Carrie, it was so nice to be on the other end of the camera for once ;)

Hip Hip Hooray!

Wow! It has been quite the journey in mine and Ryan's life from last summer to this summer. I'm not going to lie, last year was a VERY HARD year for us. But we hung in there, and in the matter of one year we had a new baby girl, Ryan got a new job, we sold our old home, got out of debt, and as of today we are the confirmed prospective owners of a house we are just beside ourselves excited about. I must give ALL the credit to God AND also to my parent's for helping us make the most of every opportunity life has to offer. I am so thankful for the humility I have learned, along with so many other things. So without further adieu, here is the new place we will call home.

Now let me just say a couple things about this property. We bought it for the location, the neighborhood, the schools, the yard (potential) and the generous garage and storage space. The house is actually kind of funky and a little on the small side of things being only 3 bedrooms and all. However there are 3 family rooms and so we can put those to good use. Oh, and also, it REEKS of cat urine. Yeah, we have our work cut out for us. But it's ours (or will be soon) and we couldn't be filled with more gratitude on this day.

We did a counter battle with the bank back and forth six times before we finally came to an agreement, but sadly, we came out on top, even with all we have to update and remodel, and CLEAN!

All of the houses back a common green belt area which I adore. I'll pay for it in HOA, but I like not being all boxed in. The houses we liked in Syracuse were very nice, but you could reach out and touch your neighbors house, we don't roll like that. The front porch can be quite charming if done just right, and the yard needs a lot of initial efforts but will be pretty cheap to get looking it's best. I love that it has two back decks and ivy growing up the side of the house. This is just such a step up from our last home....at least in charming features, but not in quality so much.

To celebrate our long awaited good news we went to Ruby River and enjoyed a gift card a friend had given me. Then we stopped by RC Willey to price out new carpet.....bleh! Let the expenses begin.

My mom who is the QUEEN of moving taught me a little handy trick when I watched her move out of Liberty....GARBAGE BAGS! Genius! I have what I like to call "quirks." My family calls them disorders but I try to steer clear of that line of thinking. Anyway, one of my quirks is that I can't stand cardboard, the feel of it, the sound of it, that film it leaves on your hands, but most of all, writing with a permanent marker on top of a cardboard box...I won't do it. So this time with moving I put all of our bedding, clothes, towels, etc., in garbage bags and I bought actual labels for all of our bags and boxes. Ahhhhhhhh, life is good now that I found a remedy to satisfy my "quirks."

Fresh hair cut, fresh attitude

I have had the same hair cut for the last 15 years now. Sometimes I would cut it short, or I got a perm once, or sometimes I curl it, highlights maybe once every couple years, but mostly this is how my hair looks. Long, black, straight. BORING. After having my babies my hair has these funky little short frizzy hairs across my forehead that forces me to keep it clipped back in a bobby pin. So I grew tired of my awkward hair line and decided to go for it and do something different. I can't believe how much bangs changes my whole face, but I welcome the change. I definitely look younger, but now at an age where looking younger isn't a big deal. I don't love the photo below of me, but it's a good comparison.

So with my fresh new hair cut I decided to change my stressed outlook and just make the very most of these next 8 days. I am going to pack us up, find a place to live, and check off a summer's worth of goals in the matter of one week. So last night we all sat out by the fire and I intend to do that every night that it's not raining. Lydia loves being outside and it was such a nice night.

Ryan found this little nest and really wants us to take the eggs as a decoration. I forbid it! That little mommy worked so hard on her nest and I can't take her babies. Mom, don't even ask where this nest is, I won't tell you until the eggs are hatched.

This is just one of the views we will be saying good-bye to.

Yesterday I finally made this orange cupcakes happen for Emma. I have wanted to do these forever and I kept putting them off, but there is no time like the present. Get an orange, cut it in half, scoop out the insides, pour yellow cake batter in one of the halves, put the top back on, wrap in tin foil, place over fire pit coals for thirty minutes, then eat and enjoy.

Also on my Summer Cram List I was able to bike with Emma down to the valley market to buy some treats and groceries...had a midnight hot tub soak...and made some new bows for the girls in preparations for our family photo. A very good day yesterday!

Still wanting to....

kayak at Causey

Eat at Harley and Bucks

Eat at Eats of Eden

Have friends join us down at the river to throw rocks

Have family picture on the property

Run with Emma down at the track

Bike with the girls every day

Have photo shoot of Emma and Lydia on the property

Have a candle light picnic dinner in Sherwood forest

One last BBQ with my sisters and family on the property before we move

Bike around Pine view lake

hike along the pine view lake trial with Emma