Oh, hello

Its been awhile...

Olivia getting tatted up

We're in the process of packing every single item we own and moving 22 hours away from here. I haven't had the motivation to blog even though I need to do a post just about Olivia because she is getting so big and she's so funny. I used to be very serious about not letting her even have pens, but I can never find the crayons anymore (she probably broke them all and threw them away- its amazing what you don't notice when you're trying to sort and pack), and she love love loves to color, so pen it is. Then I was very serious about not letting her color on herself, and she was being very obedient to me and thought she would just color on the walls and couches instead. So, I decided it was better she color on herself than my couches or walls. And I hate having to say NO to everything, so I picked the lesser of two evils. The ink comes off her skin, and not as easily off the walls and couches. I owe a million dollars to whoever invented the magic eraser (my new bff). Oh the things you think you'll never let your kids do.

*We are moving to the grand state of Texas, my motherland. Every time someone asks why in the world we would ever go to Texas I realize that no one ever knows or remembers that I was actually born and raised there. It is apparent I need more Texas pride, and that is the only reason we are moving there. Kidding. We are going to establish residency and apply to med school in TX, as well as be close to my parents for the first time in about 4 years of our married life (or 8 years since I moved away). Very exciting!

faces

I've been teaching Olivia about feelings (not like she really understands) with different facial expressions.

This is her cheesy "smile with teeth"

If you say "smile" she'll poke her fingers in her cheeks to make dimples

Sad face

Happy face

Surprised face(s)

I can't get enough of the pic below (its now my desktop background). Chubby hands + chubby cheeks = perfection

More cute faces that I love!

Another {amazing} rooftop concert

On Friday night we met up with our friends Russ and Misty for the Freedom Festival on Center Street. We got some patriotic burgers and fries from Marley's and of course I needed some funnel cake. Then we headed over to the rooftop concert with Cheri Call, Sarah Sample, and the Abbey Road Show!

There were tons of giveaways, and we won these camis! Well, really Misty won them and said she would share with me. Little did she know I would end up accidentally taking them home in my purse, and then feel awful that I had them. I WILL get one to you Mist! I promise!

Left: Cjane and Mayor John Curtis. Right: A BYU student who was confused and thought he was a professional photog. He made us laugh.

The Abbey Road Show was a ton of local musicians who came together to cover the Beatles Album "The Abbey Road". It was so awesome! Kind of cool to see all these people come together to do this. Seeing things like this make me with I was musically talented. For now though I don't mind getting to be in the audience to enjoy others talents. For each song there was a new person to sing the lead, and by the end there were a ton of people on stage just having a good time! It was fun to watch and listen.

And I stole these from C.Jane's blog:

During the encore fireworks lit up the sky out of nowhere. Made me so happy!

Misty and I are famous! (Left center)

And here is a video (also from C.Jane's blog) mostly for my mom who is a true Beatles fan. I always think of her and my Aunt Linda when I hear Beatles music. (We are in the bottom right corner of the first frame!)

What a weekend

We had a such a fun time celebrating the 4th of July and our country's independence this year! Provo, hands down, has the best to offer for celebrating the 4th!

What we did:

-Parade-

-Freedom Festival-

-Rooftop Concert-

-Stadium of Fire Fireworks-

-Barbecue and slip and slide-

-Our own little fireworks-

Fourth of July: 2011

After putting Liv down for the night I was home alone while B worked the night shift. Sometimes I enjoy getting some time all to myself, and sometimes I get lonely. On this night I was feeling the latter and missing my husband. So when he did come home around 9:30 I decided we needed an improtu date night. We grabbed our camping chairs, cell phone monitors (to listen for Liv), chips and a coke, and headed down the street to the open field to watch the stadium of fire fireworks show!

Cant beat that view! LOVE those mountains.

On the morning of the 4th (Monday), we rolled out of bed at 8:30 and were wondering if we were too late to even try to catch the Provo parade. After some deliberation, we decided to try. After all this time here, I had only been once (with my rommate). We waltzed up just as it was about to start, and grabbed a front row seat by the crosswalk. That's the beauty of only being a family of 3 I guess. No need to camp out all night to get good seats :) 

The man above gave all the kids some flags to wave, which was just perfect because every time a band or any music marched by, Olivia stood and danced while waving her flag proudly. If she ever wasn't holding it and she heard music coming she would turn and frantically grab it and hop up on her feet. It was pretty cute if you ask me.

After the parade, we headed to my sister's for a barbecue and slip n' slide!

Olivia didn't quite understand the slip n' slide, but as you can see from above, she was fine just drinking up the run off water that collected on the basketball court. That's our girl!

Nope, not done yet.

We couldn't let the evening finish without a few little fireworks of our own.

On our way out, Liv had to check out what the buggies were up to first (her latest obsession).

She loved the snaps.

Pretty much all these photos are blurry, but I get a kick out of her reactions.

This girl has got the best expressions (below). She goes from kind of nervous, to thinking its fun, to wondering why its taking so long for the next one.

We let her stay up late, and I think she was getting a little tired by this point.

 The above pic was just funny to me because I squatted down to talk to Liv and she immediately hopped up onto my lap. I almost fell over. Either she was tired or just a little scared.

We watched as our neighbors put on a show for us with their BIG fireworks.

And ended with a sparkler.