It's your birthday-shout hooray!

It's your birthday (Livvy) shout hooray!
We want to sing for you today
One year older (4) and wiser too
Happy Birthday to you!

We Like the Beach...

We got to go to the beach! Here we are in California, visiting my family to celebrate Livvy's birthday. We fulfilled my summer long ambition to make it to the beach. So...they ought to have beaches in Arizona, then you'd be guaranteed a hot day. It was actually pretty cold yesterday but we still had a really great time. Different kids liked different things, but there was something for anyone. We played in the waves, made sandcastles, buried children in the sand, had KFC (a beach must) and played with a frisbee. Everything you need!

Samantha liked the waves as opposed to last time we went to the beach. She also enjoyed being buried in the sand. She thought that was super cool.

Tommy most decidedly did NOT like the water and waves. I tried valiantly to show him the good points but it was just too cold. He did enjoy the food we brought and the sand. I think his favorite part was to walk around on the warm sand and then fall down and roll around in it. I'm also fairly sure he ate a good pound of sand.

It wasn't a great day for boogie boarding but Tom caught a few good waves.

Oh-and did we manage to get sunburned despite putting on sunscreen? Yes, oh yes we did. All of us...badly. It was a complete day at the beach.

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.

The Family Reunion

It took me forever to post about this, but I wanted to share some highlights. Above is the first day, we played at Vivian Park. The kids had so much fun with their cousins. Some of my favorite memories of growing up are one with cousins, I'm glad we have a big family so that the tradition can continue.

The eating contest as part of the family Olympics. Samantha took first place in this for the 3-5 year old age group. What a girl!

The human pac-man maze-also part of the Olympics. Samantha's favorite.

What Tommy thought of the festivities.

Go Tom go! His team won first place in the "ball on the spoon" race. They won 2nd place overall for all the events.

Our two-legged team. It was supposed to be several tied together but this family takes their annual Olympics seriously! No one wanted to be weighed down by a three-year old and pregnant lady. The jokes on them-we got 2nd place.

The women's craft. A cute backstitch embroidery project complete with frame. So cute! I spent most of my free time working on it-as did all the other girls.

Seven Peaks-Probably the most beloved day. Way too much fun to actually take many pictures.

The reason for it all: Tom's grandparents. Thanks for making it possible.

*Picture at top taken by fabulous photographer Spencer. Thanks for all your hard work.

Let's Play!

Memory Game

I got this game from three of my friend's blogs:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I'm Proud to be an American

What better day to write about our 4th of July then almost 2 weeks late? We had a wonderful one. We drove all day the 3rd and the kids were thrilled to be doing something else. We made it to the Freedom Festival Parade in the morning. Samantha loved it and was so excited when she saw the big balloon of Curious George. Tommy was mildly interested in the big bands going by and he liked to dance to the music. He was even more into the snow cone we bought to share with him. He asserted his personal independence when it came to getting his own bites.

The next thing we did was to drive around BYU and choose a few different places for picture opportunities. Samantha seemed pretty interested in the fact that she was born there and spent her first year there. She's just that kind of girl-she had a lot of questions. Plus, we have a BYU book so she was SO excited to seem some of the places (ie: the Bell Tower) that were in her book.



After naps we drove up to my in-laws and had dinner at their neighborhood get-together. They have what they call "Cul-de-sac of fire" (A play off of "Stadium of Fire) where they get around and set off personal fireworks. Needless to say this was Tommy's favorite part of the day. I liked it as well, but watching Tommy constantly trying to blow himself up was a little nerve-wracking!

Next we drove back to Provo to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks! It was a grand show. We feel blessed and honored to live in this country. I was able to give a church talk when I returned home about the freedoms we enjoy and how they are blessings from God. I strongly believe that and feel grateful to live in this country and to have so much.

Oh baby!

My OB office gives one complimentary 3D ultrasound and I had one today! I have big babies so the real purpose of the ultrasound was to determine the babies weight (2 lbs 8 oz 75th %tile) but I absolutely LOVED the pictures of my sweet little baby. I had seen 3D ultrasounds before but I was truly amazed at how much I could see. I think he/she looks just like Samantha and Tommy. It's definitely one of ours!

Mawwiage is what brings us together today