PROGRESS

Do you remember when you were young

running outside to the backyard and playing 

soccer

or "house"

or just running through the sprinklers with your friends?

Or did you ever just grab a blanket and a good book and just 

lay outside on the grass

 just to be outdoors?

Or just sitting there on your back or front porch watching a 

thunder storm and hearing the trees 

blowing in the wind?

Well, now we can.

Thanks to some neighbor friends and my brother chase for helping lay the sod

(and my mom for watching Gabe)

we have a yard.

It isn't finished yet because they underestimated the amount,

but

WE HAVE A YARD!

P.S.  We do have a bib for the hose, I was just too lazy to clean it up for the pictures!

THE PERFECT EVENING...

Its hard to find the perfect evening

Things always come up that need to be done

Or we are always too exhausted by the end of the day to really enjoy it

But tonight, we did

Sunday is the perfect day for a walk with the family

even though our family is small, we still have such a great time

we talk

we make gabe laugh

we sing

And we sometimes just let the noise around us do the conversation

So today after doing all of those things 

we were just rounding the last bend to our house

and there it was

one of the most vibrant rainbows I have ever seen

then Nate and I looked at each other and I know we both thought it

What a way to end the perfect evening...

P.S.  Sorry that you can't tell how vibrant the colors really are in this picture...but I promise it was beautiful!

Recommendations...

For all of you READERS out there

I know you still exist

PLEASE come to my aid and recommend a good book to me

I am DYING!  

I haven't read for at least 10 months now

because when I was pregnant it hurt my back

and then with a child who doesn't sleep

FORGET IT!

But now he is taking great naps

and ALMOST sleeping through the night

SO HELP ME OUT!

P.S.  I read anything.  I am not truly fond of the books that I call "self help" but if you found a good one, I am happy to try it!

DIFFERENCE?

MY HOW LIFE CHANGES

Nate and I bought this robe when we were in Europe last summer

We loved it!

So we couldn't wait to put Gabe in it when he was only a week old

It was HUGE on him

You can't even see those cute little legs of his

Well, we found it yesterday...

When did he grow up?

POOL TIME!

FIRST TIME AT THE POOL

For some reason, we haven't made it to the pool yet...

it could be the hurricane-ish weather we have been experiencing

or the fact that nate and I are crazy busy with our new house

but still, we finally made it!

Here they are in the pool for the first time!  Gabe isn't sure what do to yet.

After a while he started to get the hang of it.

Then we brought out his new pool toy!

BY THE END, HE LOVED IT!

Now time to dry off with daddy!

We will have to go back soon for sure!

NEW DISCOVERIES

I am absolutely loving being a mom right now.

I love the way that Gabe smiles when he sees a new toy

Or the way he giggles when a dog licks his toes

Or how his head turns to a new sound, or just to the sound of my voice

I love how I come into his room after his nap and he kicks for joy to see me

I love to see his face when I turn on baby Einstein and the little caterpillar walks bye, his face always lights up into a smile knowing what he is about to watch

I love how he grabs the spoon out of my hand when I try to feed him rice cereal because he can't get enough of it

and I especially love how he cuddles into my arms when he is tired because he knows he is safe there

I love being a mom

FUN WEEKEND

WEEKEND WITH JOSTO

Nate met Josto in Italy on his mission

We were able to visit him a few years ago, 

and so now it was great for him to return the favor and visit us!

This is us at the Checketts cabin trying to start a fire!

Don't ask me what they were trying to do, but it looks great!

So, I was just preparing some bananas for gabe and I guess he didn't want to wait for me!

4-wheeling!  WAHOO!

Gabe was able to go on his first SLOW ride, HE LOVED IT!

Then we took Josto around Temple Square and we had a tour

It is crazy that 4 1/2 years ago nate and I got married here...

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!

After this we were able to top it off with a REAL SALT LAKE game!  

We won 3-0!  GO TEAM!