Grace's Birthday

I am woefully behind on my posts. This post is of Grace's first birthday which was June 1st. I know, that's like almost 3 months ago. Oh well, there are cute pictures and it was a fun time I don't want to forget.

The day started with an early drive to Logan. Here's Junior trying to enjoy the drive in his carseat.

Mommy's sunglasses are a necessary distraction.

And treat.

We got to Randy and Kim's early enough to help them set up the party at the park. Junior was really good playing on the grass (one of his favorite things) while we rolled out the tablecovers and decorated.

The pacifier, again, is a necessity due to his inability to not put every single thing he finds in his mouth.

My angel.

Kim had the whole place decorated so cute. White tablecovers, pink and white picture frames with adorable pictures of Grace. Pink and white flowers. So pretty!

She had these adorable little glass jars for the punch, with pink and white straws. I was lovely.

Beautiful cakes she made and decorated. I wish I had gotten a better picture, but things got crazy once the party actually started.

And they had this cute pink and white candy display for party favors.

Here's Grace with her daddy.

And Junior with Grandpa and his hat.

This is a video of all of us singing Happy Birthday to Grace.

This video is of her blowing out the candle and eating her smash cake. She was very dainty and ladylike.

And opening the presents, she loved everything she got.

We're so happy to have Grace born so close to Junior, I know they will have a lot of fun growing up together. More posts coming soon!

Loves,

Karen

Lehi Parade

This summer we went to the Lehi Parade. This is a tradition for my mom and her mother & sisters and all their families, especially since my Grandma lives right on the parade route and can save us stellar seats. Junior really loved the parade - not because of all the fun parade entries - but because of all his cousins, the grass, the toys, the food. I don't think he ever looked up at the actual parade, except maybe when the marching bands would go by. Here are some pictures from the day.

Junior and Madison

In the chairs are my mom, grandma, sister Allison, my cousin Janalee in the distance. And my niece, Megan on the grass.

Here's my nephew, Dylan, eating a rice crispy treat.

More people shots. In the middle of this one is my cousin, Ashley, with her baby boy whose name has escaped me at the moment.

Here's Megan, and Braden in the background looking quizically at the camera.

Love the face, Emily!

This is one of my all time favorites of my sweet little boy!

Here's Junior playing with his first cousin once removed (I think). Why can't I remember his name?! He's such a cutie pie!

Baby boy loved playing with Junior, he got so excited when Junior crawled over to check out his toys.

I think they'll be friends when they get older.

Hope you all enjoyed your summer!

Loves,

Karen

Playing in the Flower Bed

One morning while weeding the flowerbed - well, okay, I was supervising my nephew who was weeding the flowerbed, but, anyway - I decided to let Junior get down on the ground and play. I wanted to see what he would do. This wasn't his first encounter with grass, but it was his first encounter with flowers. Here are some cute pictures of his adventure.

First, he inspects the flowers. Notice the binky in the mouth, that is essential so mommy isn't constantly doing finger sweeps to get all the dirt/grass/flowers/weeds out of it.

Now he gets insterested in the camera.

Now he's sad that he can't have the camera.

Now he's just being cute!

And he's discovered the dirt!

I didn't let him play too long in the dirt. I didn't want to give him a bath and the weeding was done. But he had a really fun time playing outside on this nice morning - before it got too hot!

I just love watching him discover things that are really mundane to me. Having children is amazing, it's like seeing the world for the first time all over again!

Loves,

Karen

Las Vegas

For Memorial Day weekend Jonathan actually had a few days off so we decided - very last minute - to go to Las Vegas for a little vacation. We brought a couple of our nieces with us for babysitting fun! I wasn't that great at taking pictures, so here are the only photos from the trip when we went to the Hoover Dam and looked out over the new bridge.

Junior was very content in his stroller. But he loved getting out and looking over at the dam. I was a little worried, but had to tell myself he wouldn't fall over the edge.

Our pretty nieces, Mallory and Kierynn.

Junior and Mommy, what a face!

A happy family.

We decided that traveling with a baby is a really different from traveling as a couple, but we survived! Maybe we will plan ahead a little more next time so we can do more.

Loves,

Karen