Saturday, August 20, 2011

Buggies


Livia's latest obsession is bugs. Yes bugs. Who do you think got her into that?

She and her Daddy each find a poking stick, and keep their eyes and noses to the ground. This is so much fun for her, and when she does find a bug she is beside herself with joy. 


This is something that she only gets to do with her Daddy, because little does she know, her Mommy is deathly afraid of bugs {spiders in particular}.  A fact that {if she is anything like her Dad} she is sure to exploit once she realizes it. I've heard many a story about B sticking spiders and frogs in his backpack and bringing them home to his Mom and saying, "I have something important for you in this bag. You can't look, you just have to reach in." She was a really good sport and always let him "trick her". I don't think I have it in me to do that, but we'll see what happens when the time comes :)

playing peek-a-boo 

Peek-a-boo

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Hogle Zoo

Liv and I wen to the Hogle Zoo with Carrie and her kids. It was so crowded that we had to park in the overflow of the overflow parking, and then basically hike to zoo. It was really hot and by the time we made it to the entrance to buy tickets, Colson was already saying "can we go home?".

We didn't go home, and once inside we ate and started seeing some animals, and I think everyone  had a good time! Phew!

Olivia thought the animals were alright, but the dinosaurs were awesome!
Dinosaurs and buggies, do I have a tomboy or what? I love it!

Roaring like a Dino



Look how happy she is on that dinosaur!

Roaring again




This next picture cracks me up. It is so her. She's pouting those lips, TOTALLY ACTING like she's sad/scared but I know for a fact that she LOVED this guy. Just after this picture she was jumping up and down and roaring back.


Thanks for coming with us!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Duck Pond

Its been kind of sad to think of all the places we won't be able to visit anymore when we move.
We took a little trip to the botany pond at BYU. They have remodeled it with a deck and a few little waterfalls above the pond. 





I was regretting my decision to stand in the water. It wasn't anywhere near as nasty as the pond water, but there were lots of bugs, and I had to steel myself from screaming multiple times, so as not to ruin the bug love Olivia has going on.

The next two pictures are when Liv was saying "thank you mama" over and over for no apparent reason. Sweet little girl.



Friday, August 12, 2011

Fin

 It was a total last minute decision for B to walk. I had wanted him to walk in April, and we were planning on it, but things were a little too crazy still (with me being in school, a bunch of big tests, money flying out the door left and right, B working full time, and both of us taking care of our sweet girl) and he missed the deadline to apply and register for graduation then. I was really sad. More sad than he was.

Anyway, we both figured that was that and didn't think about it again. That is until my mom mentioned/asked if he was going to walk in August (it was the end of July). We looked into it for the first time and saw that it was once again way too late. Registration had passed long ago, but this time (since there wasn't quite as much going on) I pushed a little harder and was actually able to get him to do it. After a few phone calls and one meeting he was all set to go!

We were so happy that his family was able to come. We didn't know for sure it was going to happen until one week before it happened, so no announcements were sent at all. We only gave his parents one week of notice so we didn't really expect anyone to come, but they made it work! It was so fun to have them out and I know it really meant a lot to B to have his family there to celebrate his accomplishment.

It was kind of fun that Dr. Barnes (the dean of his college) was handing out the diplomas. They took a trip together to Washington DC a few years ago and have been friends ever since. Dr Barnes gave B a big hug along with his diploma.

Dr. Barnes also came out and found B when the ceremony was over, and met his family.

Liv was pretty good during the commencement, after I settled her down with some fruit snacks and she had all her Grandma's attention. She wanted nothing to do with me now that Grandma was around! I love that she loves her grandparents so much!

After B had walked across the stage, I took her out so she could run around a little bit.








We celebrated with PF Changs, and we got some really good fortunes about hard work paying off soon, and Liv having a water adventure in her near future.



Congrats B! And thank you for walking (even if you only did it for me, I know you liked it).
Thank you for working so hard, especially these past few years balancing husband and father duties with school. Thank you for helping and encouraging me to go back to school even though it meant it would take you longer. Thank you for providing for our family this whole time, and for listening to me when I had multiple meltdowns, even though you were probably just as stressed (if not more). The end of an era is finally here!


Thank you for making the trip out! We love you guys tons and tons!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The playground at dusk

After The Hansen's got into town, Debi took us to the fun playground where she went to elementary school. They got to see how fearless Olivia is. She was climbing all over the place and going down all the biggest slides. We ALL had fun playing and chatting the evening away!










Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Olivia makes a splash

Once we were introduced to this splash pad, nothing could keep us away!

First we went with Jack {iphone photos}




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Then we went with cousins







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Then we went just the two of us {iphone photos}




Livy was completely independent at the splash pad in Alpine. It was heaven for both of us, because she got to run wild splishing and splashing on her own, and I could keep an eye on her while enjoying company I was with or some "me" time. The water is only 2 inches deep, and she seriously loved to hop around and climb on the rocks (which weren't slippery).