What's Up

 

I'm glad the move is finally over. We absolutely love our new place so I can finally say it was worth the work. Moving is just no fun. I think I become a different person when I move, so my apologies to anyone who has met "moving Brianna." The cleaning, the packing, the organizing, the getting rid of, the cleaning again, the upacking, the reorganizing, etc. It's all done! And we are settled and loving it. Just cross your fingers we can stay here until pharmacy school is done because I DO NOT want to move again in another year. 

I was going to take a bunch of pictures of our new place and post them on my blog so you could all see our new house but I'm not sure I want to any more. You see, I love visitors. And I'm thinking maybe I could get more people to come out of curiosity. Yes? We have 2 spare bedrooms... with clean sheets and towels and the weather is always sunny... Just sayin'. 

Before we moved we got together with Andrew and the kids and went to Sealife Aquarium. (Nicole went up to the family reunion in Utah so she was absent). It was fun though! Mostly it was fun watching Andrew stress over being alone with the 3 kids :) He did a great job. 

 This picture took forever to take and we still didn't get them to smile or even look! 

Susie loves to smile for the camera! Most of the time it's just a quick "cheese!!!" and then she is back to her activity but sometimes I can catch it on camera. She had an 18 month. check recently. She has shot up to the 40th percentile in weight which is amazing because she's been under 10 most of her life! She is in the 68th for height and 9th for head circumference. 

She loves to have people sit next to her no matter what she is doing. She sits down and pats the floor or chair next to her and says, "sit? sit? sit?" She goes into hysterics whenever she hears a dog. She starts "ruffing" and panting with her tongue out, running around the house like a mad woman. It's hilarious. She is talking more each day and it is so fun! 

A Half Birthday

Happy 18 month birthday to our precious Susie. Being parents has brought us more joy than we could ever have imagined! Being a mom just keeps getting better and better with each day. 

Susie has grown up a lot in the last few months. She is talking all the time and understands tons! I've lost track of all she can say- she learns new things every day. She is a great sleeper, one 2-3 hour nap a day and a good solid 12 at night. She isn't the best eater (although she USED to be) she loves yogurt and applesauce, anything else we get her to swallow is a battle. She loves to play and watch all of the kids we have over. She loves her binky and her stuffed bear. She gives lots of hugs and kisses to Mom and Dad whenever we ask. She knows who Jesus is. 

Watch Susie grown! 

Her first few days:

6 months old:

 

1 year old: 

18 months!: 

ALSO! We have family in Arizona!!!!!! Woo! The Largeys have moved to Tuscon. We drove down on Saturday and spent the day with them. It was a lot of fun. Nicole made some yummy food and we enjoyed each other's company. We got to go to their club house which was pretty amazing. I'd consider moving to Tucson just for the facility. It has pretty much everything. We went swimming and played at the Splash Park which was pretty fun! 

Rhett couldn't be persuaded to join the picture. Next time! I hope we can hang out with them lots. 

Wrapping Up Our Summer

We've had a fun summer indeed. This summer I taught summer school for preschool, Susie started walking, Olivia came for a great visit, Paul completed two rotations (one at a compounding pharmacy and one at a rehab hospital), we visited Rexburg (one of our favorite places ever!), went camping with my family at Fish Lake, visited the Phoenix waterpark, Wet N Wild, lots and lots, had our 4th anniversary, went camping with our ward, 

and I just got back from yet another fun trip to Cedar. This time it was just Susie and I (Paul had school). We filled the week with lots of fun. We wanted to end our amazing summer with a bang! I got to see Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas with my sister, which was AWESOME! It was in the Venetian on the strip. The theatre was gorgeous, the music was breathtaking, and the special effects were super cool. 

I also hiked the Narrows in Zions National Park with Logan and Olivia. It was so fun. 17 miles wading threw the Virgin River, sometimes up to my neck. The scenery was so beautiful. Especially on the last 5 miles or so (even though that's when I started to feel like my feet were going to fall off). I did have some scrapes and bruises but it was a great adventure. 

 See this waterfall? I jumped off of it! Yep! 

Our new preschool year has started. I'm really excited to have 5 kids this year. So far we've had a great time! I'm so glad I can make a little income for our family. I teach this class 3 days a week, watch Sam 4 days a week, and watch Emma (on the end) 3 half days. We are grateful for the little income while we're going to school. Paul doesn't get many hours in at work because of his school schedule, but 2 more years and then no more worries (right!?!).

Here's a few of the Suser. She loves to say cheese whenever she sees the camera out. She goes into nursery next week! And we are all ready (my Gospel Doctrine class included). Susanna makes Paul and I laugh everyday. She is so funny! Every morning when Paul leaves for school she gives him a hug and stands by the door waving and saying "bye!" until she can't see him anymore. Then she closes the door and toddles on to her next activity.
When she sees us get the peanut butter or yogurt out she gets so excited and runs everywhere pointing to me and saying mmmm mmmm mmmm! And when there's cake. Oh boy. It's hysterics.

Our Fun Week

We had a fun week together!

 We have summer school for one more week until break. School starts again August 13th (if I can find enough to enroll...)

 We made a tent and had snacks and read stories. I loved making tents when I was a kid! Sam really liked hanging out in the tent with his flashlight. 

 Sam told me he wanted to make heart shaped cookies, so we did! 

 For one meal this week I used onions, shallots, AND garlic. Needless to say it was delicious. 

 Home made bread. Mm

 Susie is really good about folding her arms when we pray. She is even getting better about bowing her head and closing her eyes (sort of). It doesn't last very long but it is sure cute! Here she is trying to fold her arms and continue eating grapes at the same time. 

 We went on a ward campout up past Prescott Valley in the mountains. It was nice to get away from the heat for a little. Susie is such a cute camper. The campout was just an overnight trip and that night there was an awful storm! We stayed dry in our tent but it was hard to sleep with all the wind and rain. Kind of cool though! 

 Family picture! 

 I love Susie's smile. She is so adorable. 

So life is good. It's not always as easy as it looks but it is still very good. There are ups and downs and opportunities for learning and growth. I'm grateful to have so many blessings. Being a mother just seems to get better and better. I love my family! 

Family Vacation

  Yesterday we got back from a fun family vacation. First we drove up to Rexburg to spend a week with Paul's family. A long drive but every bit worth the wait (especially since Paul's mom bought a 5 gallon tub of Baskin Robbins world class ice cream). We enjoyed spending time with them and with Paul's brother Benjamin and his family. Ben and Lisel have the cutest 3 kids. They were so fun to hang out with. I hope we live closer someday so we can see more of them. They came up for the week, too. We went to Porter park and had fun at the parade on the 4th.

Traveling back down to Cedar :)

We drove back down to Cedar just in time for Ty's baptism. The following Monday we went fishing at Fish Lake! It was a blast! I love to fish and spending time in that beautiful place was very filling. We made some fun memories. It was Susie's first time camping and she did a pretty good job. She got VERY dirty and only wanted to be on the boat for a few hours before she'd had enough, but all in all, she was a trooper. We all caught lots of fish and had a great time together. We missed having Mackenzie there. I hope he will come next year. Can't wait- camping's great!