Finally

The last time we took family pictures...

Rebecca was six months old. As I was scanning this picture for this post, I noticed the copyright on the back of the picture said 2005. So sad. In my defense, we planned on getting pictures done when William was a baby, but then I found out I was pregnant. So we decided to wait until the baby was born. I love this old family picture, but we now have two more kids, so we were way overdue for an update.

We called our good friend Amy Adams to do our pictures. She did an amazing job. Here are some of my favorites:

I have so many more favorites, but I don't want to overload you on pictures. If you're interested in seeing more of Amy's work, she has a photography blog. There's even a post about our little family if you scroll down. Thanks, Amy. I am so happy with these new family pictures.

Have I let him go too far?

William started off wearing these. Today I caught him wearing this:


Maybe I should ask myself, "Have I let her go too far?" since I'm pretty sure Rebecca helped him put this on.

Visitors

My roommate Meighan came down from North Salt Lake two weekends ago with her husband Chris and their two gorgeous daughters Alina and Makayla. Sorry I'm a sweaty mess in this picture. We met up at Town Square, and it was so HOT. But the kids got to cool off at the splash pad.

Meighan and Claire were my older, more mature roommates during my second and third years of college. They helped me grow up A LOT during that time. Meighan taught me to appreciate some of the finer things in life like stage productions and ABBA. She also helped me get through the really tough final semester I had at BYU.

It's been about five or six years since I've seen Meighan - way too long, so I was so happy that she called me while they were here. She dated Chris while we were roommates, and we all took a fun trip to Disneyland with Claire and some friends of Chris and Meighan, so it was great to see Chris too. I'm happy they are doing well, and it was so nice to hang out with them again.

What I'm Loving Right Now

1. Hearing classic Michael Jackson all over the place

I was walking out of Target last week, and this guy was blasting a Michael Jackson song in his car so loudly that I could hear the song even with his car windows rolled up. Then on my way home, I heard four Michael Jackson songs in a row on the radio. I think the station was doing a tribute to him from noon to 1:00 pm. Today I heard a Michael Jackson song being played at the grocery store. I hope one good thing that comes from his death is that we'll start hearing his songs more often.

2. Mormons on my favorite reality TV shows

There's Chelsie Hightower - my favorite professional on Dancing with the Stars. She was also on So You Think You Can Dance last season. When I read she was from Orem, Utah, I knew she had to be Mormon, and I found a clip of her on YouTube that confirmed that.

Has anyone been watching this show that comes on after The Bachelorette?

I have been loving this show because of this couple:

Here's their bio from abc.com:

Sarin & Jed Hinkins: Virgins when they got married, this couple's honeymoon was the very first time they were together. Their honeymoon hotel turned out to be a clothing optional resort - which was incredibly awkward for them. Hometown: Cedar City, Utah.

So Mormon.

Then there's Randi from So You Think You Can Dance this season:

When I saw her cute A-line haircut, and she mentioned on the show that she was married, I thought, "This girl has to be Mormon." Sure enough she lives in Springville, Utah, and she attends Utah Valley University.

3. This sweet boy

Braden turned four months old last week. Right now he loves his feet and putting his toes in his mouth. He sticks his tongue out a lot, and he rolls from his back to his stomach. He likes tummy time a little bit more since he puts himself there now, but he still gets fussy after a few minutes of it and wants to be rolled back onto his back. We are all loving this boy, especially Rebecca and William. He is such a joy. I couldn't ask for a better baby for my #3.

Slacker

So I know Father's Day was a week ago, but I wanted to post what Rebecca did for Kevin in her primary class last Sunday.

This little questionnaire was on the back of his "World's Best Dad" certificate. She did this with her teacher Sister Kilber. I didn't help at all. There is a cute picture Rebecca drew of herself and her dad, and it says that Kevin is 26 (He's 28 - pretty close), he is 6'1'' tall (6'0"), his job is "writing with pens and paper," his favorite food is cereal, his favorite movie is Stars Wars (that's right), and he and Rebecca like to play basketball. I laughed at the last one because I know they've never played basketball together. Then I realized that we put William's little plastic basketball hoop upstairs in their playroom, and Kevin goes up there and plays basketball with the kids. She actually does play basketball with her dad, and apparently she likes it.

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen Rebecca bring home from church. I love seeing what she thinks about her dad. I hope Kevin had a good Father's Day. I know something like this would really make my day.

I Love California

If it were up to me, we would live there.

This past week we took a trip to Oceanside by San Diego with Kevin's family. The kids had a great time...

...hanging out with their cousins Austin and Katia. Katia is just five days older than Braden, and she has the prettiest red hair I've ever seen on a baby.

The kids also enjoyed spending time with aunts and uncles and Granny and Opa. My in-laws condo had a patio just a few feet from the beach. We were on the beach almost every day.

On the days we weren't at the beach, we went to Disneyland and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Disneyland was hot and crowded, so we didn't stay long. But the zoo was awesome! We especially liked the dinosaur exhibit, the cheetahs getting excited and running around, the lions sleeping on top of the SUV, the tiger howling for her three cubs, and the gorillas. Oh, and the kids loved the carousel - they rode it three times.

Rebecca and William had fun sharing a bed in our hotel room. They giggled themselves to sleep every night. And they loved the little towels that were just their size.

We ended the week by getting together with many of Kevin's aunts, uncles, and cousins. We didn't get any pictures from the party, but it is always so fun to see Kevin's extended family on his dad's side.

We were so sad to leave California. I think Kevin is still having withdrawals. Hopefully we'll be back again soon.

Trying to be like his sister?

(before)

Not while Mama's around.

(after)

Little stinker.