The Perfect Birthday

My 34th was pretty awesome. I woke up early, hung out with the fam a little, then I took a nap here: Yep, that's the ocean from my brother's back patio. Then we went and ate on the Malibu Pier.
I do have the best brother ever, before the day started, he presented me with a bunch of ideas to do for my birthday. I decided on the nap, lunch on the pier, surfing/boogie boarding, tide pools, and take out Thai for dinner. Yum.

My folks went to So Cal with us this trip and it was so great having the time to spend with them.

After lunch, we went boogie boarding and played on the beach - my mom has all those photos, so I will have a separate beach post later. After all that fun, Anne picked up Kieran and Asher from school and met us at the tide pools, where the kids had a ball exploring all the little creatures of the sea. Notice no Harry? He crashed in the car on the way to the tide pools, so he and grandpa had a nap in the car!

I love the ocean and it was a beautiful day to play.

I have the greatest brother ever - strangley it seems I manage to position myself in their company for my birthday often....and they always make it fantastic! Anne and Tom both rolled with whatever we wanted to do regardless of their crazy, busy lifestyle with the two teenagers and two little kids!

Exploring...

Luke fell on a little rock and scratched his leg, but he was a trooper.

King of the Rock!

The little prince of the rock!

Grandma's always good for some help with uneasy feet.

Z and Daddy had a ball with Asher on the sand.

Z thinks sand on his little toes is so funny!

Pretty girls.

Baby Z crashed on his cousin Dax that evening. What a perfect day.

Thanks Tom, Anne, Mom, Dad, Jon, and all the kiddos for making my birthday so wonderful. It really was the perfect way to spend the day.

Warning...

Getting my DISNEYLAND pictures uploaded and organized, finally - many posts to follow!!!

A Nice Thought

My sister-in-law, Anne, just had a brithday - we share the excellent month of October- and this summer while they were visiting, she left me a list of quotes and scripures she would like to have displayed around the house. My job is to make them more pleasing to the eye.

This is the first one I've done so far. I printed an 8x10, and framed it in one of the Ikea "Ribba" black 11x14 frames. I was very pleased with it and I think it will look great in their house. It was fun to get to hand deliver it last week while we were on our vacaiton. Happy birthday Anne!

Me and My Guys

Here are just a couple more pictures from our little drive up the canyon Sunday. It was such a pleasant evening.

Fall Ride Preview

I feel like all I ever post is "more to come" and perhaps one dark, dreary, winter day, I'll sit down and get all caught up on this blog. Some is better than none, right? We went for a nice drive up the canyon Sunday and everyone had a great time, especially Tiera - I took this as she was sticking her little head out Daddy's window.

Happy 9 Months!

Nine pictures of my sweetest little nine month old. And just for fun, here are nine things I love about the little goofball (corresponding to the pictures):

1. His sweet little songs he sings while he sits.
2. How he gets stuck under the couch and happily stays there until someone helps him out.
3. His silly little faces. He really is such a ham.
4. I love the look in his eyes just before he cries. He makes sure I'm watching before letting the tears flow.
5. "Soooooo Big!"
6. His look when he is determined to get somewhere.
7. That he endures countless photoshoots for his trigger-happy mom.
8. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, but always with a smile.
9. His super sweet, peaceful, happy demeanor. He is such a pleasure to have in our little family.

I'm Just That Kind of Girl

Why I even tried to grow out my hair, I still don't know. My friend Gayelynne cut it last week and I'm feeling much more like myself again! I'm just a short haired gal, what can I say?

Such a SAD Boy

I'm not sure he was sad because the "U" lost....or because he was wearing the shirt. Of course I am kidding, we do have some mixed blood here at our house. He actually was wearing BYU Football pants that same day!

Harvest Time

Picked all the corn last week (the ones that weren't blown over in the wind storms) - the red sweet corn was especially red and especially sweet. Note to self, don't freeze full uncooked ears of corn for later use. Not so yummy - not as bad as the peach, but a close second.

We Live in a Pretty Awesome Place

I was going through pictures and ran across this I took at our favorite mtn. biking location - Lambert Park, 15 minutes away from home. I love having the mountains so close. We're pretty darn blessed.

He Loves It!

Here's the story of Harry's first day of preschool - I need to get these things written before I forget all the details.

That morning we got Luke ready and off to school and I had about an hour to get Harrison psyched for his first day. He wasn't excited. AT. ALL. We practically forced him to take a bath, then I had to dress him myself after quite a battle of what to wear.

Then came the blessing. We explained to him that daddy was going to put his hands on his head and give him a priesthood blessing like he does for Luke before the school year. He's seen many blessings, not a foreign concept to him. "I don't want a blessing," he says in his little cartoon-y voice. I ask, "Do you want one if you get to sit on my lap?" Sure. So he climbs up and all goes well...until he starts knocking his dad's hands off his head saying, "Get your hands off me, I don't want a blessing!"

We eventually made it through and a few minutes later he was sitting in the corner sobbing. "What's wrong, buddy?" I asked. "I DON'T WANT ONE!!!" OK, bud. Got it....."BUT YOU ALREADY DID IT!!!" he yelled.

Jon did give him a really nice, short blessing and off to school we went. We're doing the co-op thing so it was at a friend's house. He didn't want to be there, didn't want to take his shoes or his backpack off, didn't want to get on board the make believe choo choo train that takes the kids into the family room to learn. I stayed for the opening part, and then told him I needed to go. I whispered, "I'll even get you a doughnut if you're good." He was devastated that I was going to leave. So I sat quietly on the couch, hoping Baby Z would not distract the kids.

About five minutes passed and all of the sudden, Harry turned around and announced, "You can go now, Mom." And he LOVES school ever since! And I LOVE having a few hours a week of just me and the Z. All is well in Harry's little world of school now. I just hope we don't have to go through the same thing every time we switch houses!

I'm an Equal Opportunity Mom

How could I make a cute poster for the Lukester and not make one for Harry's first day of preschool? And...there is a story to tell about this little sweetie's first day....I'll save it for another post.

Kat and the Tiny Peach

I have a little peach tree and like a good girl when the little peaches started to grow, I plucked them all off so the tree could be nourished....well I picked almost all of them. I left three little baby peaches to grow for the season. One blew off in a wind storm, one was a little rotten and smooshy, and one was a beautiful little peach. Yesterday I picked it. It smelled so sweet and delicious, I couldn't wait to get in the house, wash it and have it for a snack. I snapped a few quick pictures of my precious fruit and as I walked back into the kitchen I took a bite.

It was YUCKY. Maybe next year's peaches will be a little sweeter.

Go Cougars!

Afterschool Poll

I want to know what all you moms do with the afterschool routine. Do you do jobs first, then play, then homework/reading, or do you dive right into the homework first? What works for YOU?

THANKS!

Preschool, Already?

I know people say time seems to fly faster as we get older, and I never really grasped that idea until recently. Z is suddenly eight months old (need to do the photo shoot), Luke is a first grader, and Harry is starting his first year of preschool this fall.

A group of us are doing the co-op thing as moms and we needed to provide a picture, so here's the one I took of my little big man. He's grown up so much since Luke has been in school and I know in less than 16 short years we'll be taking his mission picture. Crazy.

Good Morning Sunshine

Baby Z is the happiest baby ever and we love him so so much. Morning is one of his happiest times of the day and his little fuzzy bedhead just makes me smile.

I Spy...

Been meaning to post this little gem for awhile. Jon sold my Nikon D40x to a friend of his and we upgraded to the awesome D90 - complete with HD video. Here's our very first video on the new camera. We play I spy all the time, but this was one of my faves. Also, free legwarmers to the first to identify the song in the background. We heart the 80's.

Routine - less

I thought that getting Super Luke in school would push us all toward a routine. Unfortunately all I can report four days into school is I am more tired, less organized, and more scattered than ever. Perhaps things will change when Harrison starts preschool and other fall activities begin.

I do keep waiting for that surge of energy to whip the house into shape, do a major weeding of the yard, and attack all those projects I have been putting off all summer - painting the garage, cleaning out the office, staining the front door, organizing the basement, among other countless things I keep meaning to get to. But sadly, that surge of energy is buried far beneath my exhausted exterior and good-intentioned attitude.

I do try to treat each day as a new beginning, however my list keeps growing and although I might check two or three things as done, I'm copying the same 43 things for each week that keep not getting attention. I had such a good routine - not perfect or even close - but a routine that worked for me with two kids. How did this sweet, giggly, happy, wonderful child completely annihilate that routine and I still have not recovered? Will it ever return or am I doomed to a never ending feeling of being buried deeper and deeper everyday?

Oh well, on to tomorrow. At least I can check off one thing done today - blog - check!

My FIRST Grader

Congratulations Graduate!

Grandma Kathy got her degree last week and we are all so proud. It's something she has always wanted to finish and it was fun to see her glow with the sense of accomplishment. As usual, lots more pictures to come, but I wanted to share this one quickly. It's my favorite from the day. Everyone looks so happy! Way to go Grandma! We love you!

I Just Love These Little Faces

Marathon Week

This week has been SO FUN - but I am exhausted! Here's a teeny tiny recap and a preview of many posts to come (if I ever get caught up):

Jon's Birthday - and Meri and Nate in town
Playdate with fun friends and a tiny little pooch
Karate
Zoo with Swog - wahoo!
Cute Hannah's Baptism pictures
Salt Lake Connect Pass Day 1 - Clark Planetarium, Lion House, Aquarium
Boating with Amy and Scott - and my first time wakeboarding
Salt Lake Connect Pass Day 2 - This is the Place, Discovery Gateway
Grandma F's BYU Graduation - and a tasty brunch
Ward activity - dinner hosted at our house
Relief Society Lesson - need to finish preparing
Jenny's garage sale next door - oops think I might have missed contributing my junk
BYU v. Dixie girls soccer game tomorrow night (Go Erin!)

I think that about sums it up. I'm going to bed.

Biz Cards

Just designed these for the little photog biz. I did a black with white version too, but I think I like the white more.

What I've Been Up To

Earlier this week, I got the opportunity to take pictures for one of Jon's friends who just had their first baby. Little Isabelle was WIDE awake the whole shoot and is already a cute little fiery redhead! She seemed so teeny tiny next to my 20 lbs of chunkiness Z. It's such a blessing to get to help people preserve memories.

Me and My Big Brother

I have ever so many posts to catch up for the summer....it was so much fun having my brother, Tom, and his family here for July. Tom and I have always been close, even though we're almost eight years apart in age. He's who got me into team sports when I was 12 and my parents were in London and I was forced to quit gymnastics for a month - thanks to mono.

With the lack of five hours of daily gym, I was bored stiff and Tom was in charge of us, so he found me a softball team to play on for the summer. The only one he could find said they needed a pitcher, so Tom said, "Great! That's exactly what position my little sister plays!" and he raced home that night to teach me how to pitch!

In high school, he worked hard to beat my dad's record of ten varsity letters, and earned 11. Seven years later, I bettered them with my 12! We've always had fun with sports and anything we could go do together and have a lot in common. Growing up, people would always tell me Tom and I were the male and female version of the same person. What do you think? Do we still look alike?

Don't Tell Him He Can't Sit

We've been working on our sitting since he's kinda moved passed it and wants to crawl. He's staring me down in this picture...just before he dove down and rolled over - a rare non-smile moment from the little Z.

New Thought for the Blog Header

I like to change the little quote under the title on the blog every once in a while and I saw this thought on my cousin, Sari's blog. It's from the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and it's one of those thoughts that embodies an attitude I try to have about life in general.

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

One of my volleyball coaches used to always say, "Better the ball," meaning make the play that leaves you better than how it came to you. If the serve is hard, make the pass great, if the pass isn't super, make the set great - if the set isn't wonderful, make the hit great. I've always tried to take that same instruction for life. Better whatever comes to you and make it great for the next person.

Thanks for the thought today, Sari. It got me thinking in a good direction!

Cute Brothers and My Tomato Lover

Handout for RS Lesson Last Week

I meant to post this last week - it's the handout for my lesson last week. Enjoy!

Proud of Our Heritage

Just for Fun

The International School of Color and Design offers this quiz to help you find your interior decorating style. I found it on a blog today and I thought mine was right on. Kinda fun.

Seven Months Old Today

Nicole's Shower Part II

Our first neice on Jon's side will be born in hopefully less than 10 weeks and we can't wait! Because our house is central to the Utah County-ers and the Salt Lake County-ers, we had the opportunity to host the shower for my sister-in-law, Nicole. As you saw in my last post, I had way too much fun with the pink decor. My mom made all the fabulous crepe paper flowers, I made some applique onsies with flowers and hearts for the clothesline, and the diaper cake just had to be a part of it all.

Jon's mom and sisters all helped out so much the morning of and I couldn't have done it without them. It was kinda fun all working together like a little army, cooking and cleaning and getting ready for the event. The food was delish and I ate way too much. Lots of family and Nic's Utah friends came with great gifts - mostly pink! for her little bundle of joy.

We were so glad Rob and Nicole fit us into their busy schedule and came here from California for the weekend. They were in a little fender bender on their way and handled it with grace and just rolled with everything all weekend. Not so sure I have the same patience while I am 29 weeks prego! We can't wait to meet their sweet little girl and we were so glad to get to be a part of the new baby festivites. If only they lived a llittle closer....

PINK Teaser

Here's a little taste of the fabulous pink shower we threw for my sis-in-law, Nicole, on Saturday. Clearly, I had too much fun with a girly shower!

We Love to See the Temple

My Relief Society lesson is about the temple today and Luke is giving a talk in primary about strengthening his family - and he's mentioning the temple. How blessed are we to have had the opportunity to take the kids to two temple open houses within the last six months. I remember going through the Jordan River open house as a kid and then worked as a missionary at the Timpanogos open house. I love that as you drive the I-15 corridor, the landscape is becoming more populated with temples. So much so, that the kids always seem to be saying "I spy with my little eye something that is white." I love the temple. I hope my boys love it too.

Happy Birthday MOM!

July is a busy month for our family with my folks' anniversary on the 1st, dad's birthday on the 10th, mom's on the 15th, not to mention the party of all parties on the Fourth - and some cousins' kiddos' b-days, and cousins-in laws also mingled throughout the month.

One of my favorite parts of July is my brother and his family come for an extended visit. While they're here, Grandma spearheads most of the fun for the month. She plans canyon trips, hikes, swimming days, movies, ballroom dancing - post to follow soon - and "camp Grandma" in general. Today for her birthday, we had fun at the pool, and enjoyed some Dippidee carrot cake in between dance and karate lessons for the kids. A few of the night owls also went to Harry Potter for a late show.

I hope you had a fun day today, Mom. We love you and appreciate all the time you have spent making fun days for us kids and your grandchildren. We love you and appreciate all you do! Happy birthday!

Lulla's Baptism

My oldest cousin had her youngest's baptism on Saturday and it was a really nice day. I kept thinking that I am only a year and a half away from Luke's big day and that makes me feel a little old. Why is it that time accelerates as we get older and have kids?

I clearly remember my own special day, November 5th, 1983 - at the same church as Talulla's service. In fact, all of us cousins have been baptized at the old white stake center. It was fun to share her day and to hang with the family for the day. Congratulations Lulla, we are all proud of you.

Happy Birthday to My Dad

I have this awesome post all composed in my head with pictures of my pops through all the years and stories of all the support, coaching, teaching, comforting, etc...he gave me growing up. Hopefully before his next birthday, I will actually get to that post, but for now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! Love you and thanks for all you do!

Behind as Always...

At what point do you say about an event you've been meaning to blog, "Wow, it's really been awhile, I guess I'll just scrap it." I have this continually-growing folder of things to blog and I often wonder if I'll ever be able to tackle it all. Maybe in the fall when Luke's in school all day, maybe in the wee hours of the night when I can't sleep, maybe in the winter while we're in the freezing tundra that is our area, maybe when my kids are all grown and married? Who knows?

Happy Fourth!