Family Night at the Pool

On Thursday night we met Meredith's family at Hamilton Pool. It is a really fun pool with water slides, diving boards, a small lazy river, and a kid's area. The weather looked a little stormy and I think it scared people because it wasn't very crowded. It was a bit windy so we didn't take the babies in at first. About an hour into the evening, someone pooped in the pool so we had to evacuate it for 30 minutes. The kids enjoyed watching the lifeguards fish the poop out! Once it reopened the weather was perfect, so we took Zac in for a few minutes. We had so much fun, we'll probably go back next week!

I love my daughter dearly... but I also know that she can be really funny looking at times... this was one of those occasions. Seriously, I'm not sure what's up with the face she's making but those goggle are just really attractive!

Lindsay and Hayden getting out of the pool after jumping off the diving boards

The kids waiting patiently during the poop fiasco!

Andy and Meredith tending to the babies!

Andy and his cute son Zac!

Swimming Lessons!

Hayden did so well in swimming lessons this year. He got to be in the same class as his cousin Lindsay and Friend Ellie. I had fun watching him grow in his swimming skills, he even learned to go to the bottom of the pool and pick up rings. Now he is totally confident when he swims! Poor Brynley was so sad that she couldn't do swimming lessons because she was too young but I convinced Laurel to take her on for the 2nd session.

Brynley isn't exactly swimming on her own but she is totally fearless about jumping in and going under the water and blowing bubbles, she was so good in her swimming lessons and she loved to come to the edge of the pool and say, "I jumped down, mama!". She was very proud of herself and I was very proud about how brave she was! This is how Zac spent his time at swimming lessons!

So Proud!

I just wanted to take a minute to say how proud I am of my husband. As many of you know, Andy had Lap Band Surgery last November, just 7 months ago. This was a huge decision for him and our family and truly one of the best decisions he has ever made. To date, Andy has lost 81 pounds and looks incredible! As Meredith put it the other day, he is a shadow of his former self. For those who don't know much about Lap Band it is a surgery that essentially puts a band at the upper portion of your stomach, restricting the amount of food that can go through. You may think this is an easy way at losing weight but it really isn't, many people fail and in fact, Andy's doctors tried to convince him to do Gastric Bypass instead because the success rate for lap band is lower than GP. We decided that the risks of the GP were not worth it and that if Andy put his all into it, he could lose weight, and he sure has! There are many ways to cheat with your band and that is why many people are not successful but Andy has committed to this life change.

It has been fun to get rid of the clothes Andy was wearing even just a few months ago and to see him back in item of clothing he hasn't worn since we were dating. I wanted to post before and after pictures but Andy only wanted me to post the after picture. He is more than half way to is goal of losing 150 pounds and the weight keeps coming off!

Out with the old... In with the new (Sort of)

Well we did it, we finally got moved out of our house. It was definitely bitter sweet, we were so sad to leave so many incredible neighbors! We have felt so blessed over the last 4 years to live in such a great neighborhood and it was hard to say goodbye, but it was time, our family was growing out of our cute house. Surprisingly, I only cried a little while I was cleaning on the day we were leaving, I think I was mostly exhausted and bored and tired and overwhelmed... I am a little surprised that I didn't spend days crying or anything, I guess it really was the right decision!

Our Old House

We don't have a "new" house yet, we are renting for awhile as we look for the perfect house for our family. It just so happened that right when we were looking for a rental, our Stake President needed tenants in his old house, so that is where we are now. It's a great house but not exactly suited for our family in the long term, the master is down stairs and I have found that a little challenging, so Andy and I moved upstairs to be with the kids. The house is 3100 sq. ft. so we have plenty of room to spread out, it is really nice to have this much space! As we've been looking for a house to buy we have been looking in the 2800-3100 sq. ft. range so this is a good trial run so to speak!

Our Rental

We are really hoping to build again this time around, if you would like to see the plan we are hoping to build, check out this link. It would be elevation C and we would add the 5th bedroom and bathroom downstairs. If the link doesn't work, the plan is called the Silverado and you can just click on that when you are on the builder's website after you click on floorplans. http://www.taylormorrison.com/Community.aspx?CommunityID=307
Anyway, we are pretty excited because Aunt Shelly and Uncle Joe want to build a second home right next door, with a pool! We would be so thrilled to have them living part time right next to us! We are trying to work on a deal with the builder since we would be building two house, so I will keep you all updated!

Moving has been quite a huge challenge and I really never want to do it again, accept of course when we move again in a few months!

Happy Father's Day!

What can I say about Andy besides the fact that he is the most amazing father and husband that I know! I won't write much because I already did that for our anniversary a few weeks ago. I will say that we feel so lucky to have Andy as our husband and father, the kids are so excited to see Daddy when he comes home from work every day. We are so proud of who he is and we love him soooo much. Happy Father's Day Andy!

Happy Birthday Zac!

(I will add pictures later)

Today is Zac's two month birthday! It's hard to believe he's only been with us for two months, he feels like such a part of our family, I can't remember life without him. What can I say about our sweet little guy? He absolutely melts us with his gorgeous smile and he's even starting to laugh. He seems to think his daddy is the funniest things around, Andy can always get him smiling at the drop of a hat. Zac is really starting to respond to toys, trying to grab at them and he responds to sounds very well. He loves bath time and just kicks and splashed the whole time. The kids affectionately call him "Zachar" if you ask Bryn what his name is, that is what she says, not Zac or Zachary. Zac is a huge pacifier baby, just like his sister. But also like Bryn at this age, he wakes as soon as it falls out of his mouth, it's kind of annoying but I am sure he will grow out of that just as Brynley did, eventually.

We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have a sweet, healthy little baby in our family, we all love him sooo much and we can't believe how fast he is growing!

Smiling!!!

Zac has been smiling off and on for a few weeks now but just recently he has learned to smile on demand or when we tickle him. At this particular time I was changing his diaper and he kept smiling at me so I had to grab the camera. These pictures are priceless! He was 2 days shy of 7 weeks old when these pictures were taken.

Zac is a complete joy, I really do not think I could have asked for a better baby. (He has napping issues but I won't go into that) He is usually totally content just hanging out wherever he is placed, he lets me know if he gets bored by letting out a sweet whimper, once we go to him, he is fine. I remember one of my friends telling me that her son would sit in the bouncy seat for long periods of time and just be content, I was amazed, and now Zac can do that! I think God knew that I needed an "easy" one this time around... Zac has been quite the trooper with all of the packing and running around that we have been doing since he entered our family. He is so sweet, I love hearing his little coos and sweet voice, he totally melts my heart.

We were sad this week when all of our family left town and we really appreciated all of the help that grandma and Andy's parents gave us as we were trying to pack up the house. These are a few pictures from right before Grandma left.

Blessing Day

On Sunday, June 1st Andy was able to bless our sweet little Zac. Andy did a wonderful job and Zac was absolutely perfect through the whole thing.
This is the only picture I have of Zac alone in his outfit

Our best attempt at a family picture

The whole group after the blessing

Andy's parents

Meredith's baby Kate was also blessed the same day so the rest of the kids all got to sit through two different church meetings, that was fun! It was a beautiful day and we were so glad to have Andy's parents come from Utah as well as my Grandma from Oregon. My brother in law, Steve's parents were also here from South Carolina. We were so grateful to my dad and Debbie for opening up their home so that we could celebrate with a combined dinner that evening.

Meredith and I with Kate and Zac

Zac was all tuckered out by the end of the party!

Our little mommy...

As I was working on the computer the other night I caught Brynley practicing her mothering skills on one of her dolls. She had gotten a size 5 diaper and was trying to put it on her doll. I'm not sure why she didn't grab a size 1, it would have fit a lot better. It was funny to watch her maneuvering the diaper and the doll to try to make it work, she didn't even get frustrated as she was velcroing the diaper over the dolls face! Brynley is so cute when she plays with her dolls and puts them down for naps, and feeds and burps then. I love seeing this side of her!

Happy Anniversary Andy!

(I started this post on the 3rd and forgot to finish it)

Gosh, it's hard to believe it's been 8 years since Andy and I were married. Time has definitely flown and we couldn't be happier. I feel so blessed to be married to such an amazing man, Andy is truly my best friend and I could never ask for more. Thinking back on how it all started, it's actually a little bit amusing... Meredith and my friend Danelle knew Andy before I did and they thought we would be perfect for each other. A month after I met Andy at work (Kinkos) he still hadn't asked me out so I had to take things into my own hands. I finally got up the nerve to ask him out and we went to the World of Dance at BYU and I made BBQ Beef sandwiches for lunch. We had a good time, I think, because Andy asked me out to lunch and a movie the following week. Things progressed from there but Andy was still unsure about dating someone 6 years younger than him. Over the Christmas break he realized he couldn't stand being away from me (hee, hee) and shortly after I returned we decided we would get married. Andy officially proposed on my 21st birthday at Macaroni Grill. We were married on June 3rd, 2000 in the Portland, Oregon Temple.

Now, here we are after 8 years, about to move out of our first house with 3 kids under foot! I couldn't be more happy with where our life has taken us, we have had our ups and downs, mostly ups and continue to make each other laugh! Andy is one of the most kind, generous, caring people I know and I feel like the luckiest girl in the World to have him all to myself. I love you honey!