20 lb. 12 oz, 30 1/2 inches of LOVE!

Those are Andrew's stats from his nine month doctor appointment. I am having so much fun with this little man! I keep saying I wish I could just freeze him at this age. (I think I say that about every kid at every stage) Here are a few things that make him irresistable...

• His BIG kisses! If you ask, "Can I have a kiss?" He immediately comes at you with a big, open-mouth, slobbery kiss. He's even given me a couple of kisses spontaneously--melt my heart!

• "Ba, ba, ba" is what I hear all day long. It's his favorite sound to make. Sometimes it's loud and screechy, sometimes it's a soft and quiet little babble.


• He loves quesadillas. Okay, this is probably not one of the TOP ten things I love about this boy, but I just love this picture. I could not feed him little bites of this quesadilla fast enough--he was growling for more. So finally I just handed him the whole thing and he figured out how to rip off little bites with his two bottom teeth.

• The growl. Whenever he does the growl in public, people laugh. My favorite is when he alternates the big, mean growl with his tiny high voice.


• His meaty legs. I cannot get enough of his chunky rolls. They remind me of those big juicy turkey legs you get at Disneyland. I love to munch on his squishy little body.


• His little feet. Compared to his big legs, he has tiny feet. He's just starting to be more comfortable standing and cruising, and it's just funny to watch him try to balance on his twinkle toes. Those toes are amazing--it's like another pair of hands and fingers the way he reaches out with his legs and tries to grab things with his toes. I also love that when he rides in the stroller, he sticks his legs straight out, and keeps them flexed the whole time. It just makes me laugh.

• He LOVES his silky blankie. It never fails to help him relax. I love how he just hugs and snuggles it like a long lost friend when I give it to him at naptime.

• He's my buddy. Sometimes it's not convenient to have a "mama's boy", but most of the time it makes me happy knowing that he still needs me.


• The upside-down binky. I had to get a picture of this one, although it's not the best. I love coming in to find him in his crib sitting there with the upside-down binky in his mouth and looking at me like, "what's so funny?" He just doesn't seem to care if his binky is in the right way or upside-down.

• He loves the bath. Ever since he was tiny, bathtime has always been one of his favorite things. He would probably splash for hours if we let him. I can't fill the tub too high, because he likes to lay on his tummy and kick and flail his arms around. I get such a kick out of watching him have so much fun in the water.


• "The Fing-ee". A friend started calling his pointer finger this one day and it stuck. He loves to touch things with his one finger and point at things, especially facial features. Also, if he doesn't want to eat the Cheerios I put on his high chair tray, he will methodically flip them off his tray one at a time with his "fingee",


• His smile. With those cute cheeks, and little teeth coming in, how can you resist?

Two little fishies

Thanks to our wonderful teacher Kaegan (a boy in our ward), we were able to squeeze swim lessons into our summer on a week when we didn't have anything else going on. It worked out great for each of the kids to have a private lesson. Kaegan gave them a good foundation of skills to practice for the rest of the summer. I think that is the key--practice. Hopefully the kids will get enough pool time this summer to continue improving on what they've learned (There are actually many days here that it's just too cold to go swimming, at least for Mom!). Here are a few shots of swimming lessons...

Cheerleading Camp

Lauren really wanted to do cheerleading camp this summer. I have no experience in this area, so I was just hoping she would have fun. They did some really cute things with the girls that prepared them to be cheerleaders someday (yikes!). They played some dancing games and the girls had to "show their moves", a "mother-may-I" type game, "Little Sally Walker", Freeze dance--Lauren even won it one day! I loved how they all shook hands and told each other "good game" afterwords. Apparently writing in block letters is an important cheerleader skill, so they also made big posters (Lauren colored in the letters). They learned all the arm poses, did a cheers, and even learned a dance routine. Here are some shots and a little video from the last day...

I Love to See the Temple, and the Visitor's Center, and the Conference Center...

We were so glad we took time to visit Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We had never taken our kids to the Visitor's Center, which has some really wonderful displays. We also toured the Conference Center, and were impressed by the beautiful (all original) artwork--I had no idea of all the treasures that are there. It was of course great for our kids to see in person the actual place where Conference is held, where the Prophet speaks from, how big it is, etc. It was a wonderful tour.

Salt Lake Temple

Listening to the Prophet, President Monson

A view from the fountain inside the Conference Center, looking up to the snowflake skylight
Family photo on top of the Conference center, overlooking Temple Square

Family Ties

The best part about visiting Utah is getting to see our families. We are grateful for any precious minutes we can squeeze in with our loved ones during our always-too-short-visits. I wish I'd taken pictures of our Brick Oven dinner with Phil and Ashlee, and the huge group of my cousins at Seven Peaks (I still can't believe we saw you guys!) Here are a few of those precious moments that we were able to capture...


Almost all the cousins together


Visiting and cleaning gravesites of Grampa Lester, Grandma Kate, and Grandma Renee


Swimming with our other cousins


Hugs with Nana and Grandpa


Grammie is such a treasure!

Fun on the 4th

It had been a long time since we were in Provo, UT for 4th of July. We had a great time with family. The kids got great seats at the parade (and we didn't even camp out like it seemed most people had done). Brad was the grill-master and the pyrotechnic king that day. He didn't disappoint the crowd when he put on one of his best fireworks displays ever, and to Mom's dismay began letting Caleb participate as well. The night ended with a view of BYU's Stadium Fireworks from the hill. It was a 4th of July we'll always remember.

Tahoe...Ten Years Later

June 30th was our 10-year anniversary! We decided to celebrate by revisiting our honeymoon spot, Lake Tahoe. It was just as beatiful as we remembered it, and even though we had three little ones in tow this time, we had a very fun and relaxing vacation. In fact, we promised ourselves that we won't wait another ten years until we return again. Highlights of this family trip were: staying at homey three-bedroom condo at Incline Village, (the kids didn't want to leave!), hiking, enjoying the views, playing at the beach all day, yummy Italian food at Lanzas, miniature golf, ice cream, and just having a slow-paced vacation. It couldn't have been better. Here are a few (or more) photos from the trip...

While hiking to Eagle Falls, Caleb offered us some profound words that sum up our trip quite well. He said, "First it was a dream ... then it was a view ... and now it's a hike." Deep thoughts.