Our Birthday's

I asked John what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said to just have our family and friends over. So I invited Steven and Jaime's families and the Pyne's over for dinner, cake, and ice cream.
Wow, that was a lot of people in one town home, but everyone had a good time. I made Cafe Rio pork with all the toppings and dressing and Jaime and Kat were nice to pitch in with the dinner. Jaime gave me the most delicious cake recipe and frosting so I made that as well! So good.

John's big surprise was a new bike I bought from a neighbor who was selling it! Other than that I think I just got him a few clothes, it is not May and it's hard to remember! The Shippen's are always so thoughtful and either make some sort of fun card. They made John that huge happy birthday sign and all signed their names.


For my birthday we went as a family to Heber and stayed at Jaime's in-laws (Laura and Charlie Allen) vacation  town home. It was beautiful and so fun to go hot tubbing, watch netflix, eat, relax, play tennis, and ride on the ranger. John bought cinnamon rolls for my birthday breakfast, which was fun and different than the usual cake. This is the third year in a row we have stayed in some sort of cabin-like place for my birthday. It's a fun tradition. I am officially in my upper-20's!

Oregon in October

John, Brian, Steven, and Nathan have started a tradition called "Mancation". They ride dirt bikes for a few days and have "man" time. This year they planned the trip in Tillamook and rented a cabin out in the Tillamook National Forest. 

John and Steven left for Oregon on the 1st, stayed the night at Cannon Beach and met Brian and Nathan on the 2nd. They all seemed to have a really good time riding and hanging out at night watching football, laughing, and ya know...stinkin' up the cabin. 

Since John was going to be gone, I figured it would be a good time to go visit my Young Women's President (LeeAnn Stahn) from my youth. She was dying of cancer and didn't have much longer. Jaime wanted to take her three youngest to visit our parents too so we decided to just take a road trip together. We left on September 27th and stayed a few days in Central Oregon and then went to Cannon Beach. My mom and I had a very nice visit with LeeAnn catching up on her family and letting her know we were praying and cared about her. She went downhill pretty fast after that visit and didn't allow visitors before passing away peacefully surrounded by her husband, two of her sons, and sister. I know that one day I will see her again in a healthy state with a smile on her face in heaven. 

The beach was so amazing! It was so warm (in the 70s and I think one day maybe even 80) for the Oregon Coast in October! We saw Elk, Whales, and experienced hearing the hilarious "cow warning call" for the first time and we've all been going there our entire lives! 

We did or went to the usual spots...relaxing on the beach while the kids play, swimming at the rec. center, Bruce's Candy Kitchen, and Fish 'n Chips at Ecola Seafoods.

After the beach, we went back to Central Oregon for a couple of more days before leaving for Utah. Jaime and I decided that it was time to go when our kids started destroying our parents house. Colby splashed so much water over the bath it caused some water to start dripping downstairs. Max locked Jaime's stuff in the bathroom and they had to drill a hole in the hardware and one of the kids knocked over the t.v. speakers. Our drive home was pretty good except for the nastiest diaper blow out by Colby.

Overall, it was so worth the drive and I enjoyed the time I had with my sister! 

Baby Days Fading

We are so excited every time Colby learns a new word or forms a new sentence. Although this phase of him saying, "No!" all the time isn't our favorite! ;) He also says, "I want it" a lot!

Colby is becoming such a toddler as he is starting to run, jump, and climb up into his high chair himself. He kneels for prayer and folds his cute little arms. Last night he repeated a sentence as John said our family prayer. It's funny how he will surprise us with a random sentence here and there. 

He loves anything farm...his farm books, singing "i-i-i-i-i-" (e-i-e-i-o), tractors, and saying "mooooo" and also loves the train by our house and saying, "choo-choo!" Speaking of which he loves watching "Thomas the Train", "Daniel Tigers Neighborhood", "Curious George", "Baby Einstein" and "Mickey Mouse". 

He says, "meow", "ruff ruff", "rawr" (for lion) , "Ooo Ooo" (for monkey), raises his arm imitating an elephant, and smacks his lip to imitate a fish. He likes to say, "ball"...he definitely came ALL boy which is fun. I remember being surprised when he started making "roooom" noises as he pushes his little cars...something no one taught him and just came naturally. He has quite the imagination already and turns anything he can into a truck as he makes the "roooom" sound. Oh he also loves to see the garbage truck come on Thursday mornings. 

Colby is allergic to cows milk (a rash will cover his back and tummy), loves tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, eggs, avocado,  ranch, ranch, and ranch, cereal, toast, and suckers. I have to limit the dairy though...his eczema is the worse with milk, but I see little spots appear when he has too much dairy.

We recently inherited a little potty (actually two) from Aunt Jaime. Colby loves it which brings us hope that potty training won't be so bad. He goes potty in it when he wakes up and goes to bed. If he doesn't want to, I don't push it because I want him to have a positive attitude towards it. He's adorable on that little thing and it makes music if he goes. 

No caption needed

Being a goof at the store...he loves to run after me in stores or
push the cart with me

Hehe, he loves it! 

I caught him working on Dada's dirt bike..he even got a screwdriver
out...makes me a little nervous to have him stand so close to it so
I had him come inside

Toddlerhood has begun... 

Cleaning the crayon off and he loved cleaning it so much
he drew on the desk after I tried teaching him we only color in
the coloring book! Then he ran back to the laundry room, grabbed the
magic eraser and started cleaning it again..stinker! :)

Morning snuggles

He's clearly mine

Happy boy after he gets a good nap

Loving his new play room stickers and can point to anything
you ask

Turn your back for a minute and bam...all the wipes pulled out

and soggy toilet paper

I love these moments of quiet time

Loves FaceTime with family

We say bye bye to Daddy almost every week day 

...and Colby is always sad when he's gone

As much as he has grown, he still loves his bottle and being rocked to bed. He takes a 2+ hour nap every afternoon and is the king of gibberish talk!

We love you Colby Steven so so much!! Thank you for bringing happiness and laughter to our daily lives.

The Beginning of Fall...September

I love Fall, especially here in Utah where all the trees begin to change colors and I am so anxious for the weather to cool down! Here are some things we have been up to so far...

Walks around the Jordan River

Brocks Concert

Late night BYU game...Colby clapped and clapped! :)

Snuggles from baby Pax

Hiking in Park City

Fell asleep and his awesome daddy carried him all the way down

Celebrated Lindsay's birthday going to Cheesecake Factory
and eating the most delicious cake EVER. Skyler forgot
birthday candles.. :) 

Left our boys and went to Courtney's wedding together
which was so nice to just talk

Cuties..we wish Luke lived close

The Month of August

We went to the Utah Motocross race yesterday at Miller Motosports Park with Steven, Benson, and our friend Scott! All of us planned on it raining, but instead we ended up getting sunburnt! We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers on the trucks tailgate and then watched the 450 and 250 races.

I have to say it wasn't near as exciting as the Washougal race two years ago when Ryan Dungey and Ryan Villopoto were neck and neck for first, but it was still fun to watch. :) Villopoto wasn't in the race since he is getting knee surgery, but we enjoyed watching Dungey who got 2nd in both races. 

At the very end of August my generous mom came to help us can and get food storage. We now have wheat flour, spaghetti, quick oats, regular oats, apple slices, hot cocoa, refried beans, marinara sauce, peaches, and a barrel of water!

My mom and I also made strawberry jam which was super easy! We went to "Waffle Luv" which is seriously delicious waffles and also had a BBQ in the park with Jaime, Steven and their families. Oh and we went to the "Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum" and the boys loved the slide. I love how kids see past whether things are updated or old. They just want to have a good time and they did.

It's always hard to let her go back to home to Oregon, but I'm looking forward to Kaitlin and Luke coming at the end of next month. :)

Waffle Luv :)

St. George and Zion's National Park

Last Tuesday my friend Karli from college picked Colby and I up in the morning and we drove down to St. George with her husband and son Brody. Karli and Blake live at his parents house this summer until they move to Las Vegas to take over his dads law office. His parents were out of town so Karli invited me to stay Tuesday until Saturday with them!

Our Week:
Tuesday: We went to their ward party at the St. George swimming pool which was fun! Colby enjoyed the baby slides and where the water comes down like a shower.

Wednesday: Karli and I did a turbo jam class at her gym that made me sore for DAYS! We also went to the splash pad and then just hung out at her in-laws.

Wearing Brody's BYU hat

Thursday: Brittney (Karli's freshman year roommate) and her daughter Noelle came. It was really fun to have them and Noelle was SO cute! She LOVED Colby and would call him, Tooby as in "too-bee". She was saying Tooby from the moment she woke up.

These three munchkins climbed up on the table when we were chatting away

The result of refusing to nap

Friday: We went to another splash pad, carousel, and cute candy store! Brittney left and John came late that night.

He was not so sure about the horse...

Saturday: John and Blake went golfing and we went swimming at Blake's. Then after nap time we left to check into a hotel before heading over to Jordan Hollowell's wedding reception. It was fun to see old friends we haven't seen in a couple years. After the reception we ate dinner at the Olive Garden and it is just too cute to see Colby interact with people. He just give everyone around him the biggest grins. You can't help but smile back at a baby grinning at you.

Wedding? Please, I'm too busy swinging.

Sunday: We did stroller friendly hikes around Zion's national Park, but before that we took a nap in the truck. ha-ha! Colby had fallen asleep and John and I were so tired from not getting a good nights rest on the hard hotel bed so we just napped along with Colby in the parking lot. We were joking we spent $25 to take a nap in the Zion's Visitor Center parking lot! :)
It was really fun go on these hikes I had never been on before and Colby did awesome! On the bus he played peek-a-boo and gave high fives and knuckles to strangers.

We are back at home to the normal routine of things, but knowing us...it probably won't be long before we are camping or doing something away from home. Colby learned to high five, give knuckles, say "Moo" "Baa" and show me his belly button just on this one trip. He also impressed me by climbing up the slide and sliding down in their basement and up the metal ladder on to the trampoline! He is sure getting big!