Take Two...Seattle

I love going to see my sis.  She is one of my favorite people in the world.  That's why after coming home in October I immediately booked another trip for January.

(Sorry, these are all phone pics!)

 Naturally Lincoln joined me and was such a good boy for the flight...he especially enjoyed walking around before...

 Oh how I love these two little darlings.  They are so fun and were so good to Lincoln.  I can't wait to meet their new little sibling in August!

 Mia and Lincoln were such darlings.  They would just look at each other and smile and whisper sweet things to each other...

 We enjoyed lots of yummy food...such as Chinooks for lunch...

(I have craved these fish tacos since leaving last time...)

 And went shopping by night....

 And ate this hunk of loveliness after a fantastic meal....

 And loved seeing all the water and the beautiful boats...

 And enjoyed a whole row to ourselves for our flight home.

Yep, it was quite lovely.  Can't wait to go again.

1. Holly

2. Lucy and Mia and Jansen

3. Fish Tacos from Chinooks

Brett Rocks

Last week was hard.  One day in particular was very hard.  I cried a lot that day.  Lincoln was being so cute but so hard.  Let's just say that learning to stand up also included 5 days of no nap and lots of tears....from both of us.  Being a mom is the best blessing I could ask for but also comes with some really hard days.  One of the days upon picking up Brett, he brought this bag of cinnamon-bear-goodness.  Love that man!!  He knows me so well and is so good to me.

Thanks baby!

1. Brett.

2. Sugar to ease the pain.

3. Naps.

Gratitude

I need to vent. Not in a bad way.  In a therapeutic, good vent way.

My life right now is so great.  It's crazy, but oh so great.  This last Sunday as my family was around us to celebrate Lincoln, I was overcome with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for all that he has given me.  I am so blessed to have family, shelter, education, and a loving husband and beautiful little boy.  The future scares me, but it makes me excited to dive into the unknown.  I wondered on Sunday where we will be next year on Lincoln's birthday.  Maybe here, or there, or everywhere.  Sometimes I find myself overcome by how good our life is and the blessings God has given us.  Brett has been so blessed in school.  He works so hard and is so righteous.  He's my rock and makes me strive to be a better person.  I'm so grateful that God gave him to me and then gave us a little boy to love.  He's a crazy little boy.  Today as we were eating lunch together he was babbling away, looking at goldfish and then eating them up.  Claire always says that he's so beautiful, and he really is.  I'm so thankful to be his mother.  Before I was a wife and mother I found joy in such weird things and now my biggest joys come from seeing my husband happy and playing with Lincoln.  Lincoln woke up at 7:30 this morning and I gave him a bottle and we laid on the couch and cuddled while he drank.  Once he was finished with his bottle we cuddled and read the new books he got for his birthday.  He loves reading and loves to turn the pages.  I love his curiosity.  He was born with such big, open eyes.  I love them so much.  A man at the grocery store yesterday talked to me in line for a while.  He told me to cherish Lincoln everyday because pretty soon they are all grown up and then you miss them interrupting your dinner and waking you up in the morning.  I know he's right and I'm trying so hard to gobble up all the little moments I get with him.  Anyway, to sum up this post-I am grateful. That's all I had to say.

Lincoln turns 1

Lincoln turned 1.

Ah, it hurts my heart that he is growing up so fast.  

We started the morning with a decorated room fit for a first birthday.

We had a small family party for him at my parents home.  I am so grateful to live by family and so grateful they came to celebrate with us.  We love this little man.

 My mom got this awesome cake for Lincoln-so cute!!

 Lincoln wasn't so sure about it though ha ha....but after tasting of its' goodness he loved it!

 The group-thanks everyone for coming!

 Like I said...Linc loved the red velvet goodness....

 Lincoln got so many great gifts!!  He is so spoiled.

Trevor gave him the cutest pair of Reebok shoes.  He was so excited about giving them to Linc.  He also included the sweetest note.  What a great uncle!

It was such a great day!  Happy first birthday to our sweet Lincoln!!

1. Lincoln.

2. Family.

3. Baby Einstein Videos-the only way I was able to complete this post.

Peek a Boo

Man we love Lincoln.  In the last week he has learned to stand in his crib which has caused him to lose sleep because he's so excited to stand.  It's especially frustrating for him at night when it's dark and he can't see but still yearns to climb.  He is such a ball of energy and we love him to death.

The other current love of Lincoln's is peek-a-boo.  He loves to crawl around and find us behind doors or couches or beds.  He thinks it's so funny!!

 Gotta love that darling little face....

1. Standing!

2. peek-a-boo!

3. Went to the park today!

Red Neck Shoot-Out

This year we held our annual Red Neck Shoot-Out on January 2nd.  The weather was by far the best we have ever had.  We go out past Tooele and have a blast shooting targets.  This year we brought books, gallons of water, an old stereo, and some random little objects.  It was so fun!!

The men and their targets...

 I was surprised by how good Trevor is!!

 Deven has an eye for shooting...

 Brett shot the books and it went through 5 levels of books...way to go babe!

 Meanwhile I defeated the tide bottle of water...

 I can just see him in a western movie...

 My dad and his very first gun he got when he was twelve...

The basketballs got quite a few pebbles in them to say the least ha ha....

It was such a great time!!  Thanks to my dad for taking us.

'Til next year...

1. Amazing weather.

2. Went running outside!

3. Fun shooting day.

A Few More Highlights

Here are some more highlights from our break.  

 Brett's catapult that Katie gave him got some good usage and gave Laura great practice for catching grapes in her mouth... 

 Cheesecake Factory and a day at Fashion Place shopping was much too good to us...

Lincoln was so good at the restaurant, it was so awesome....

Katie and I have the same taste and got the same shirt... 

 The Mellor girls recreated a pillow from Anthropologie...

 Puzzle time madness....

 Delicious breakfast at Granny Annie's....

 Craving another scone....yum!!!

 Discovering that Lincoln thinks it's hilarious to ride piggyback on Brett's shoulders...

And a few more games....

=another success story.

1. Lincoln silliness.

2. Shopping.

3. New pillow!

Video Games Live

A month ago Laura found out about a show that Abravanel Hall was hosting with the Utah Symphony, called Video Games Live.  She invited me and we got tickets for our hubbies for Christmas.  The show was really awesome.  They played songs from lots of different video games and showed video of the games on a screen behind it.  It was so fun to be with Matt and Laura and have Claire and Bob babysit Lincoln so we could go.  Thanks!

1. Date nights.

2. Lights on Temple Square.

3. Lincoln's Grandparents!

Lyla Van Bibber Shower

Over Christmas break, on the 28th, Andrea and I threw a shower for my cousin, Hannah.  She is due in April with a darling daughter, Lyla.  I am so excited for her and I know that she will be such a fabulous mom.

 We had the shower at Andrea and Deven's fabulous home and almost everyone was able to make it.  We love her so much and can't wait for her to join the ranks of motherhood, cause it really is the best ranking of all.  

1. Lyla.

2. Darling little girl outfits, I was drooling everywhere.

3. Family!