Food, Parade and Fireworks

What better way to celebrate the 4th! We spent the weekend in Burley, Idaho with my sister and her family. All the usual elements for a great holiday were present: festive red white and blue pancake breakfast, parade, afternoon BBQ, and of course, fireworks. Since Burley is such a small town, we had the best seats for the firework show. We didn't even have to camp out or wait hours in advance. They set them off at a golf course overlooking the Snake River, and I have to admit, I was really impressed! It was fun to be so close and I could not stop myself from oohing and ahhing. I was nervous about Sophie since this was her first real firework show, but she loved it!

Birthdays and Vacations

I need to play major catch up on my blogging, so this is going to be a long post. Our most recent excitement was Sophie's first birhday celebration. She turned 1 on Sunday, June 1st. It was a pretty low-key party with cake, ice cream and a few presents. Matt and I gave her a little car she can either push or ride on and she LOVES it. In fact, last night Matt had to let her sleep with it in her crib! It was the only way to get her to go to sleep! We took it out of her crib once she had fallen asleep, but not without snapping a picture first. We had a good laugh about it.

We also recently got back from our visit to San Ramon, California. We had such a great time visiting friends, shopping, and eating out. The weather was a little cool, but we still had such a great time. We miss California, but we are getting more and more used to being back in Utah.

CALIFORNIA TRIP

Sophie loved the sand...so we burried her in it!

I got to spend some time with the family I used to nanny for. They were so sweet and took us to dinner and gave Sophie a present for her 1st birthday.

We were able to see my friend Brinly's brand new little baby. He was so sweet and tiny!

Try this...

I probably spent 30 minutes on this website. Matt and I had a little competition going to see who could type the fastest. Try it, it's addicting!


89 words

Speed test

She's got skills!

I can't believe how big Sophie is getting. Here are a few short videos...



Sophie has been giving kisses lately...even to herself!



Sophie's first words



She is already "reading" books!

Neked Little Bum!

Lately Sophie has really been hamming it up for the camera, and I couldn't resist posting this classic little naked picture. After her bath, Sophie's favorite thing to do is pull all her clothes out of the dresser. She also yells a bit while doing it. I wish I knew what she was trying to say. I just sit back and enjoy the show, and have to reorganize her drawer every day. Totally worth it, though. She's still a little wobbly with standing, but definitely getting better.

We also went to the park on Saturday and enjoyed the beautiful 73 degree weather. It was so appreciated after all the cold we have been through this year. (Note to California friends: I noticed that on Saturday you were suffering through 97 degree weather. I do have to rub it in your faces because, man, did that day feel good for us!!) Only kidding. :)

Sophie loved the swing!

This weekend we also had the chance to get together with some of Matt's old roomates from BYU. We always have so much fun together, but it doesn't happen often enough since it's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time.

We attempted to get a group picture of all the kids, but you know how that goes.

I had to include a picture of Sophie and her cousin, Sydney (whom we live with) They have become such close friends!

Sophie is obsessed with Sydney's hair. She is constantly grabbing at it, and Sydney is such a good sport about it.

So proud of herself for standing!

Where Is Spring?

I don't want to complain too much here, but it is April 2nd and SNOWING outside right now. A little depressing, I have to say. We are definitely missing California at this point. We did, however, recently enjoy some warm weather. We spent three days last week in sunny St. George. It was BEAUTIFUL, and one day it even got up to 80 degrees. We went swimming, played at the park, had a pic-nic, and just enjoyed the nice weather. We didn't get very many good pictures, but here are a few from the trip.

Random pictures...

I know I'm not very good at keeping my blog updated, and it's not just because I'm lazy. Well, okay, maybe that is part of it. But mostly, we just don't have that much going on! My daily routine of cleaning, shopping, and playing with Sophie just doesn't seem exciting enough to share with everyone.

Anyway, I definitely wanted to post some pictures from the most random Valentine's party I have ever been to, or maybe that has ever existed. It was hosted by Matt's family and, get this, it was a Nacho Libre themed, dress up if you want, white elephant, pot luck party. There were some pretty crazy, homemade costumes, which made it totally worth it. We had some pretty good laughs.

Here are some other highlights from this month...

We have a season pass to The Treehouse, the children's museum in Ogden. Sophie loves playing here, especially with her cousin, Sydney (we definitely need to get a picture of them together.)

Sophie just discovered the convenience of taking a drink right out of the bath water....even against my attempts to distract her otherwise.

This may quite possibly be the cutest picture ever. I'm loving the bed head and matching mischevious grins.

Playing on the inflatable slides at Classic Fun Center in Layton...Matt is clearly the most enthused of us all!

I'm in love with this little contraption...the Ergo Baby (thank you S.R. and Tesha!!!) Almost daily, I put Sophie in this while I get things done around the house. It has been SO convenient....and sometimes puts Sophie right to sleep.

Poor thing looks like an orphan here...or maybe she's just ashamed of getting prunes all over her face. Either way, it's still a pretty cute picture.