4th of July, Jeff's birthday, and Swim Diapers!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I love living in a small town. Our church actually does the festivities for the kids on the 4th and it was so fun. Sister Lyman (we live in her house now) started the 4th of July Children's parade with her kids from our driveway years ago. It has grown into a community event and now our church holds a carnival after it. Here are our fun pictures.

After some long Saturday afternoon naps, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and played with sparklers and watched Jeff and Wes's fireworks show they put on for us! Out of all the fireworks, Hyrum's favorite were the fire crackers. He laughed so hard he couldn't breath when Wes would light them and they would go "POP". It was so great!

This is Brad trying to write my name. lol

Here is Steph's attempt at writing her name. (my camera wasn't really cooperating with me)

Next was Jeff's 22nd Birthday. He got A LOT of church books and church movies. Perfect for Jeff!

Jeff *LOVES* putt putt golf, so we got him a putter so he can play on the local course.

Hyrum enjoyed the bows and paper.

Wes made Jeff a YoYo. It was pretty cool!

Hyrum thought it was funny that the bows could stick to him!

Those have been our recent events but I do have a couple other pictures. One day after coming home from the pool Hyrum found his extra swim diaper. He started going crazy with excitement. It was so funny. Here are those pictures.

We have had a fun summer. On Sunday we leave for our family vacation in southern Utah and then Hyrum and I will head to Texas! We *CAN'T* wait!! Pictures coming soon!

Motherhood

Yesterday was a really difficult day for me. The morning sickness is now more under control but the exhaustion that comes with pregnancy seems to be the bane of my existence. I have been feeling overwhelmed and alone lately. With my support system all the way in Texas, I have been overwhelmed with no one to call in my moments of distress and have felt alone. I also haven't been feeling like I am the mother that I know I can and should be to Hyrum. His attention span isn't very long and it seems as though he goes through is toys in a matter of minutes, bored with them all. This has been quite difficult with me already being fatigued and tired. Life goes on and I am grateful for the calls of daily support from my husband to see how the day is going. He is truly amazing!


I was reading on a friends blog and she had posted this video. It was truly inspiring and the perfect pick me up. Thank you Kristina! I hope that it lifts you up as you watch it!







I know that when I am feeling alone, my Heavenly Father is there to lift me up and help me carry on. I also know that Motherhood is a gift given to us from our Father in Heaven. I am truly grateful for this gift and know that there is no greater desire than that of being a mother!

Thanks to all of you for the support and love in my times of need.


We hope that you are all having a great summer as it winds down. We send our Love!

Sundays

This has been a long week for me. I am always sad when Sundays get here, because I know that tomorrow Brad will be returning to work and I will be all alone ALL DAY! Usually I get to spend my Sunday nights with Brad catching up on some cuddling, but tonight he had a Stake Priesthood Meeting in Santa Fe, leaving me at home alone with Hyrum. Well I am happy to report Hyrum is sleeping peacefully. So what do I do to keep myself entertained until he returns... Watch Ever After, Bake Zucchini Bread and eat it (I'm still in the cooking stage) and look at Brad's Senior Yearbook. Here are some pictures of my "Entertainment" tonight. Hope you enjoy!

Isn't he handsome?!

He had this cute quote on a senior page!

Of Course there HAD to be a running picture of "the best runner in the school"!

Mr. Popular got voted lots of things but you can only win one, so he chose "Best Personality"

Here is Hyrum sleeping tonight! I LOVE this boy!

Did I mention Brad got me flowers?

I LOVE these boys more than I could ever tell you!

I Hope this post finds you with Love in your heart!

Look Whos 9 Months old

So Hyrum is now 9 MONTHS OLD! I can't believe time has passed so quickly! He definitely is his Dad's boy! We love and treasure him!

Here are his 9 month Stats

19lbs (40th percentile)

29 1/2 inches in Length (85th percentile)

19 in Head Circumference (96 percentile)

He is tall, skinny, and BIG headed!

Here are some fun pictures!

He loves HATS!

This was his first time pulling himself to standing! Just 2 Days ago!

He LOVES standing

He LOVES DAD!!!!!

And He LOVES Brushing his teeth (all 2 of them)!

WE LOVE YOU HYRUM!!

Summer Fun!

So this past week my WONDERFUL Mom and Sister, Arena, came to visit me! I was so excited to have them here and am so grateful that they came! This was suppose to be a "relaxing" vacation, so we just took it easy and day by day! On Tuesday, I took them up to Los Alamos and showed them around. Here are some of the pictures my sister took!

Isn't it beautiful up here in the Mountains?

Tuesday Night we got a call from my Brother, Andy, telling us that he needed to bring my niece, River, to stay with us because his wife Alex was having some health issues. So we had to adjust our plans and decided that the zoo would be a great place to visit.

Here are some pictures. All credit goes to my sister, she is an amazing photographer!

 

 

First was the monkeys! 

 

They were amazed!

Next up were the Rhinos!

We all couldn't believe how BIG they were!

We stopped by the giraffes!

 

 But this was the big hit! Elephants! 

River was SO excited!

Hyrum liked them too, but not as much as River!

We then stopped at the duck pond and fed the ducks. This duck was our friend! She wouldn't leave us alone. I think we fed *handfuls*of food to her.

Here she is again!

Even River LOVED feeding the ducks!

River loved pulling Hyrum in the wagon! She was *VERY* helpful!

Hyrum's favorite was the seals! He really loved it when they would swim right by our window!

It was so fun!

I love my little Man!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful Mom and Sister! They were such a help with Hyrum and he loves both his Nanna and Aunt Rennie! He couldn't get enough of them! He also LOVED following River around and doing everything she does! She teaches him so much!

We hope that everyone is having a blast of a summer and having memories that last!!

Brad, Jet, and Hyrum!

The Great Sand Dunes

With Andy, Alex, and River living in Denver, we HAD to meet up and get some quality time in. We had a blast and River and Hyrum bonded right away. Here are some pictures! We hope you enjoy!

 This one is for Aunt Renie and Pappy!

 Time for trench Digging!

  Hyrum loved watching them dig!

River loved carrying her baby around in the backpack!

Andy taught River how to roast marshmallows

River fed Hyrum Marshmallows

Saturday Brad, Hyrum, and Andy hiked to the tallest sand dune

Saturday Afternoon we went to the Colorado Alligator farm. Pictures to come!

Hope you enjoy