Running in Circles

We had such a great trip to Utah for Thanksgiving this year!

 Flying over driving started the trip off on the right foot :)

While we were in Utah we got to visit Pear Johnson, Grandma Wilde, Nana, David and Michelle and their family, The Hunters, the Shermans, and Heather Hammond. Heather gave a free cougar ice cream coupon to Hazel and became her favorite BYU friend. We were able to see the Wrights and have dinner with them which really just brought back a lot of great school memories.

We ran our half-marathon, enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner, relaxed and watched Hazel love on Savvy. Haze loved all the attention she got from Uncle Jared and Aunt Chelsea too! 

We had family pictures taken at Gardner Village- I was freezing in my dress but I think the pictures turned out great! Its nice to see our family growing and to see everyone together at once. 

On Saturday Brice and I left the kids the entire day and drove up to cold, cold, Logan for the BYU vs UTAH STATE football game. It was an exciting game with a lot of scoring,snow, and being the visiting team at their stadium. It really was a much needed and a fun day just the two of us.

We were sure to eat at our favorites, stock up on chocolate covered cinnamon bears, and really take stock of what we were thankful for. 

SIX MONTHS!!!

 Height: 25.5 inches

Weight: 16.5 pounds

Head circumference: 6.5 inches

-Henry sleeps from 8:00-8:30 until 6:30 when I wake him up to feed him. He's been waking up on his own some days around that time but he usually will go back to sleep after nursing for an hour.

- Naps from 9-10:30 and 12:30-3:00 and begs me for one more in the late afternoon but I'm trying to weed that out so he'll just go to bed earlier.

-Sometimes having Hazel and Henry in the same room throws off the schedule from what I'd like it to be.

-Drooling and has had a fever off and on for a week now but still no teeth!

-LOVES his sister!

- Can scoot, get up on all fours, and sit up. He still is a bit unsteady sitting up on his own though.

- Thinks everything should go in his mouth and you can just tell he is so eager to eat foods!

- loves going on walks

- loves attention and will ham it up for anybody.

-Still loves his binkie and being swaddled!

- Took his first airplane trip this month to visit grandparents in California. It was a 3 hour flight but he did really great!

- blows raspberries,  farts a lot, and still has bright blue eyes!

- wearing size TWO diapers and 3-6 month clothes. they're not even getting snug on him yet.

- Henry loves the water! Whether its the bath tub or pool or shower he is just as happy as can be!

We decided to go camping this weekend to have some family time and celebrate the Fourth of July! 

After driving the two hours to the state park it just started raining so hard and so much. Eventually it started to sprinkle so Brice went to check out our actual campsite- puddles and mud everywhere! Now, I'll admit I am sorta a wimp but I told Brice since it was one night we could totally just get dirty and deal with it but we just weren't prepared for the mud and water. We decided to turn back around and camp indoors! 

We set up the tent, made walking tacos and s'mores, read stories and slept in the tent! Brice was sure to use pocket knives for all the chopping and still use his camping stove. I was sure to keep the air conditioning on and was grateful for the CLEANEST campsite bathrooms ever! 

Hazel loved it all! Camping Dinner! Camping toys! Camping dessert! I woke up feeling like I had camped- it was a rough sleeping night for everyone actually ;)

Next time hopefully we can be outdoors, but it was a good Friday night if I say so myself. Have a wonder holiday weekend and i might be a little excited to do some "hiking" at the mall instead of outdoors. 

We were so lucky to be able to spend a few days with several of Brice's siblings in Gatlinburg,Tennessee. We stayed at a cabin up high on a hill just outside of the Smoky Mountains National Park. It was a beautiful area, and it seemed like everyday longer we were there- the trees became more green and full.

Hazel loved spending time with her dozen cousins- running, playing soccer, hot-tubing, playing air hockey, and just playing the way little cousins do! 

She continues asking for them everyday now that we're home.

We enjoyed hiking, exploring streams and ravines, doing crafts, building matchstick rockets (Brice's project for the boys), celebrating Easter with an egg hunt, catching up with everyone, and visiting the Ripley's Aquarium. The aquarium was actually pretty cool and it was easy to spend a few hours there on a rainy day!

Thanks Emily for organizing the trip- we were so glad to come, even with a 14 hour drive. Which by the way went pretty great both ways with two small children, but I need a long break from road trips!

This last week my parents came to visit us in Dallas before they left for an international vacation! 

Being empty-nesters doesn't sound bad at all ;) 

We spent our days swimming, going on walks, playing at the splashpad, and showing them around our little part of Dallas.

 They even took us to a Texas Rangers game on Friday evening.

 Brice and I aren't huge fans of major league baseball but it sure was fun to be in a stadium and enjoy a little bit of America's favorite pastime. Hazel absolutely LOVED being at the game...jumping around empty seats,eating french fries, dancing and cheering, and clapping for either team any chance she could.

Thanks Mom & Dad for visiting us and treating us to a fun few days! Hazel sure loved showing off for ya!

Just wanted to wish a Happy Birthday to my mom! 

 You are so wonderful and so talented and so kind. 

Thank you for always being willing to listen to me and usually helping me to calm down and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for supporting me through years of soccer and piano (even if I really hated lessons), and coming to endless assemblies and elementary school performances. Thank you for showing me how to be compassionate, how to throw a party, how to balance so many responsibilities at once, and how to parallel park. Thank you for motivating me to finish my personal progress, to save my money instead of spend it, and for teaching me a meatball recipe that EVERYONE always wants seconds of. Thank you for teaching me to be a wife and how to run a household. Thank you for being a wonderful grandmother and friend to all- especially me! I could go on a lot longer but i just want you to feel loved and appreciated.

We love you so much and we hope you have a wonderful day! We wish we could spend it with you but we can't wait to see you in Costa Rica!