Curly Sue turns 2!

Bryn turned 2 about a month ago, but I just finished her pictures. She's getting so big! There are lots more over at my photography blog...

Hitting the waves, Utah style...

When we headed to northern Utah in early July, we got the chance to spend a few more days with our dental friends up at Bear Lake at our friends' cabin. It was so much fun!

 

 

 Isaac and Leanne

 

 

Dave riding the waves

 

 

Katrina makes this look so easy, it so was not...

 

 

Bryn wanted to drive the boat. Cute stuff, right? I actually tried to drive the boat, but it's been so long since I had driven one, I think Jordan regretted letting me try. :(

 

 

I was so proud of the kiddos -- I thought the lake would freak them out, but they were both super brave and jumped off the boat. They did it every time we stopped to cool off and switch off skiiers/surfers.

 

Leanne and Katrina were the sunglasses twins...

 

Later the first night we went to a Mexican restaurant and sang karaoke while we ate outside.

 

 

We so rarely go out on the lake with a boat that I don't know how to do anything. But Tuesday morning my friends were awsome and watched our kiddos while we went out on the boat. I was so super proud -- I actually got up on the surf board a couple of times! It was so fun and I was stoked I actually did it!!!

 

And Brent got up on the water skis for the first time, too. It was great!

 

We pulled out the big tube so we could let the kids do some water stuff, too. They had lots of fun. Then we let the big kids go by themselves and Jordan tried to buck them off the tube.

 

 

Jordan did actually knock Leanne off before we popped a hole in the tube. 

Nina was a pro surfer, too!

 

We went to the Idaho side to enjoy the beach. You could walk out in the lake forever. Drew loved that!

We really wore Bryn out the next day. She was fighting it but ended up taking a little nap on the boat.

Dave and Nina and their little guy on the tube

 

Jordan kept trying to surf without hanging onto the rope, and he finally got it. He went forever, too.

 

That night we had a big dinner at the cabin, put the kids down and stayed up playing games and laughing. It was seriously so much fun seeing our friends again before we all headed out to our assignments. The next morning we had a big breakfast and then packed up. We met my parent and brother and sister-in-law in Logan for lunch for my brother's birthday. Bryn just couldn't make it through. She has never fallen asleep at the table, but she did it at the restaurant...

 

 

Awwww... So sweet!

Take me out to the ballgame...

We unfortunately didn't get around to any baseball before we left Oklahoma, but at least we got some in when we visited home. Our nephew, Ty, was in Little League this year, and his team made the playoffs.

 

 

His team had won a game and lost a game going into the Saturday games, and they lost a few more. But they came from behind and ended up winning the championship! It was so exciting!

 

My brother- and sister-in-law with our baseball champ

 

We spent the 4th of July in Cedar City. We went to the parade and got tons of candy.

 

Then we headed up the mountain to Grandma's property and grilled up some burgers and hot dogs. The kids picked flowers and played in the creek until it started to rain on us.

We watched fireworks in Enoch with our family, then we headed out on the 5th to make the rounds in northern Utah.

Yeah for babies!

In late June, we made it back to southern Utah and hung out with Brent's family. Our time was filled with family dinners, baseball and, for me, baby stuff. My awesome SIL Julie was pregnant with her first, and to top it off, she was expecting a girl, which is big stuff for our family. We're a little (a LOT) boy heavy.

And yes, I toted my camera with me everywhere, so I got to take some pics of Julie, too. Doesn't she look like Gap Maternity should call at any moment??

 

 

 

Oh, we miss our family so much! But I'm so glad we were able to spend some time with them before we moved. We also threw a baby shower for Julie, and I was stoked that, even though I didn't get to see any of the babies this summer, at least I could shower them with gifts before they came. :)

 

 

Seriously, I love baby stuff! I think it's my favorite stuff to make. And I love having social events, and baby showers are right up there on my list. So this was so much fun to do with my MIL and SIL!

 

 

 

 

Mmmmmmm... So much good food! All the better with good company...

 

 

 

 

Vegas, baby!

So, we do Vegas probably a little different than most people -- our very good friends live there, so we don't hit the Strip or gamble or anything. We eat at some awesome restaurants, relax and usually hit the park. This time, we hit the park and I did a little shoot for one beautiful mama:

Oh, we miss our friends so much! We definitely don't get to see enough of Dave and Erin. And the kicker this time? I didn't get to see their newest addition. In fact, I had friends/family who had three babies this summer, and I didn't get to meet any of these new little ones. I was sooooo bummed!

Fortunately, I also got some shopping time in with my bestie; she was doing way better with her pregnancy than I was last time, so I'm glad she was up for some eating out and walking around the mall. We also stopped and let the boys play at the splashpark.

We also did some swimming at Erin's mom's swimming pool; it was too cold for me, but the kids (and the big kids) loved it!

 

Vegas was, as always, too short. But we had a jam-packed summer, so on we went...

Next stop: Cedar City!

Phew, it's hot in Arizona...

So just a quick update: We made it to New York on Tuesday, Brent is checked in at work and is still going through paperwork stuff before he can get down to the dentistry stuff. We found a good place to rent and we move in tomorrow. Just need to get a second car and we'll be doing well. We've had only one crazy day with the kids and just a few pull-your-hair moments (mostly because we've been crammed all together in a car and hotel rooms for more than a week now), but they're doing well.

On to our awesome summer vacation! We left our beautiful home in Oklahoma in June and we had a fun-packed summer vacation visiting family and friends. Our first stop was to Arizona to see our close friends Zack and Keri and their kiddos...

Holy cow was Arizona ridiculously hot! We hung out with our friends and went swimming every day. The kids LOVED it! The kids loved the neighborhood pool, and we also went down to the river to play on the beach. It was weird having it be so hot outside, but the river was so cold I couldn't get in.

So we got a big mud tower going on the bank instead...

The kids were brave and learned to jump off the side by themselves, even Bryn!

We miss our friends so much, can't wait to see you again soon!

Thunder up!

Our last week in Oklahoma, the Thunder made it to the NBA playoffs, and the Finals came to Oklahoma City. I'll admit: I'm not a basketball fan, but Thunder fever was contagious! It was awesome to feel the excitement throughout the whole city, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go be part of the action. We headed downtown to eat at one of our favorite places, Earl's Rib Palace.

I tried to get a picture of them together, and I got one, except it looks like Drew is trying to protect Bryn from the camera or something...

Drew found this among his fries, and I think it properly sums up how we feel about our Okie home:

After some yummy food, we headed up to Thunder Alley in front of the Chesapeake Arena.

All of us at the Finals...

Drew also played in a free bouncy house and we got free slushies and Thunder bracelets. It was fun, I just felt really out of place with our double stroller.

Too bad the Thunder didn't quite Thunder up in the end, couldn't quite pull it out against the Heat. I'm sure it's because we moved. :) More on our adventures across the west coming soon...