Friday, June 29, 2007

Lazy Days at Bear Lake

As most of you know we like to get away to Bear Lake as much as possible during the summer. There's something about being outside, be it sitting by the lake, hiking a nearby trail, or watching the birds and butterflies from the cabin deck. It makes me feel young again. Not only are we grateful to their Opa and Oma (Ryan's dad & mom) for giving us the means to enjoy it all, but we are so grateful that Finley and Berlin can share and experience what their Oma loved so much about this place. These are just some of the special pictures from our last 2 trips:




Hot Summer Days

This blog is a bit long (hang in there - the pictures make it worth the read) as I catch everyone up on our summer thus far. I promise that future blogs won't be this long :)

It has been so stinkin' hot the past couple weeks, so I took the plunge and bought a big blow-up pool for our yard. I have to say it was worth the $30. Finn absolutely loves it and he likes to have his friends over to play. Here he is with Kate one of his favorite gal pals to play with.



Berlin also loves the water. Here she is in Pat's pool for the first time. She didn't cry, that is until we took her out.

Last week we went to an indoor gym "Bouncin Off the Walls" with Ryan's family. It had all sorts of the bounce houses and toys inside. Finn was a bit scared when we first got there, but it didn't take long for him to warm up to everything and "jump" on in.



About a month ago we took Finn to a "Day Out with Thomas" up at the Heber Valley Railroad. These pics are from that outing. Needless to say he loves trains more than ever and he loves to wear his train conductor hat and blow his wooden train whistle. Aside from the train ride, the little petting zoo was his favorite thing there. We had to go back twice and then practically dragged him away from the little baby billy goat that he couldn't (wouldn't) take his hands off of. He was pretty smitten with him.





These are just some cute pics of Berlin on her tummy reading her McDonald on the Farm book. I know I'm totally biased, but dang she sure is a cutie! And here's Finn playing pirate at his cousin Avery's 5th birthday party earlier this month (Finn, Avery, Kemry) ... Aargh!



Here's Finn at the Zoo (on his Bday this last April). I FINALLY got pictures of him with the Lion Drinking Fountain and with the Bronze Ape. Usually he's so scared of them he freaks out if I try to get him to pose by them. This is Berlin and I at the Zoo watching Finn as he goes down the snake slide.



I hope to have some new pics from the 4th of July holiday next week. In the meantime we hope everyone has a safe holiday.

We love you!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Life as a mommy of two

Ok ... so here goes my 1st official blog:

When people said that life with 2 kids would change me in ways that life with 1 kid didn't, they knew what they were talking about. Having Finley and now Berlin has truly completed our family. I never knew that my heart was big enough to love TWO little beings so completely and equally. It's amazing. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and two amazing children.


Finley is now 2 years old and he keeps me very active. We try to have 1 outing a day even if it's just a quick trip to costco or the store. But usually it's to feed the ducks or play on the slides at Sugarhouse park or Liberty park. He's a little gabber who loves Bob the Builder and will often break out into the Bob theme song at the most random moments. He loves to play dress-up with his Bob construction hat, pirate hat, train conductor hat, and footie hat. He's ALL boy - but he's my boy which means he's also a softie who loves to snuggle. We love to sing songs, especiall Do as I'm doing, The Wheels on the Bus, and the ABC's (he knows the song and can recognize all his letters!). And he's a dancer. We were at the zoo and there was bayou music playing near the albino alligator exhibit and he decided to do a combo dance move of Elvis Presley & John Travolta. He definitely didn't learn those moves from me - he's too good.

Berlin is 4 1/2 months old and she is an amazingly calm baby. I didn't think it could get better than Finn cause he was so good, but it does! We are sleeping thru the night (thank heavens) and she only cries if overly tired or hungry. She is so smiley and she loves Loves LOVES her big brother and Bently (our dog). She is almost sitting up and loves to bounce in the doorway jumper or in her exersaucer.

Ryan is still with Beehive Glass. I am officially a stay-at-home mom since I closed the doors on my baby boutique and I LOVE IT!!!! It doesn't get any better than this. We are living in Sugarhouse (Salt Lake city, UT) and we love it here. We love to spend our weekends at Bear Lake in the summer and usually head up a couple times a month. Finley loves being outdoors, especially if there's a soccer ball to kick around. Finley got a bird feeder for father's day and can often be found watching the finches gather each morning and afternoon on our back deck.

All in all our life is pretty good and we love it.
With Yahoo photos shutting it's doors, this BLOG will be the new way to find out what's new in our lives and see pics of our kiddos. We hope you check in with us often. We love you!

Ready, Set, BLOG!

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