Pumpkin Patch

 Several weeks ago we went to the Ferriri Farms Pumkin Patch with our friends the Halls. It was a gorgeous October day and I only wish we had had more time and more batteries in my camera to stay longer and possibly do the corn maze. Asher had a good amount of fun except for when we visited the farm animals and a cow mooed in his face and he started to cry. He was really scared of that cow and it was rough for him. We did a cute hay ride then looked at pumpkins and took lots of pictures. I have a new fondness for October. I never grew up loving Halloween, but I do now. It helps that I married to a Halloween nut and also Drew's birthday lands right before Halloween so there is a lot of anticipation for October :)  I still hate anything scary, but Halloween is more about celebration and family now and I love it. Enjoy all our pumpkin patch pictures! We had a blast!

General Conference Weekend

 This General Conference weekend we went down to Gardnerville for a visit. We stayed at great grandma's house and it was a huge success. Asher slept great and I'm starting to have confidence that we can cart him anywhere and he will still be well rested! He is becoming so portable! It's amazing to think that just one year ago it was soooo hard to get him to sleep anywhere but his own crib. In that entire sleep deprived first year it's as if you will never enjoy sleep again, but phases come and go and before you know it they are easy peasy!

We were so spoiled all weekend: 

Waffles & bacon with ice cream & fruit on top for us when we arrived 

 Lasagna, Dutch Crust Bread and brownies for dinner

Pumpkin waffles with caramel sauce and bacon on Sunday

Cranberry POrk! 

On the way to grandma's house!

Great weekend that just went way too fast! I was able to hear a few talks here and there, but we had a lot distractions ( 3 little boys and family fun) to sit for too long a period. On Saturday we hit up the thrift stores and had an amazing success I even bought a skirt from J.Crew for $3 which I haggled down from $5 even though that was with 50% off already. I know, I am so cheap. I got a haircut, but it wasn't that satisfing because I just feel like I need to turn around a get another haircut. Asher had so much fun at great grandma's and with his cousins Jake and Everett. They are going to be good friends when they grow up. Also, great grandma's trees were LOADED with apples, both pink lady and golden delicious, so we picked apples as a family on Sunday. We also got a ton of granny smith apples for Julie's neighbor's tree whose branched are hanging over into her yard. Wow! Nevada's growing season was amazing this year... because of the extraordinarily long warm season and drought that brought a mild winter. These fruit are huge too! Anyway, I am hoping to make applesauce, apple pie, dehydrated apples, and hopefully also can :) I'm not much of a home-maker, but if I can save myself a little money by not having to buy apples from the store then count me in! Nothing is better than free.

Sunday morning I woke up to Asher playing the piano with his daddy- it was so cute! We don't have a piano at home and I think Asher enjoyed it. I sure did! 

Hope you all had a wonderful Conference weekend! 

Also, the boys got haircuts from grandma Julie while we were there. It was like a personal barber shop!

First Asher got his hair cut...

Daddy entertained with a sonic toothbrush and a cartoon on his phone

so squirmy

Then Daddy got a haircut too!

 

And then grandpa took a turn (not pictured since he was down to his g's in the kitchen I thought I would spare you the image) 

And then since the Barber Shop was in full swing John decided to get his hair cut too!  Everyone got haircuts!! 

Children's Museum and Safari Zoo

Reno finally has it's first Children's Museum-  The Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum! And I must say that we are loving it! We bought a membership back in August and we've been there every week sometimes multiple times a week since then. Even though the yearly membership costs $85 (that's for an entire family) it more than pays for itself after just a few visits :) Definitely worth it. It's been nice to get out of the heat when it's too hot to go to a park and frankly too hot to stay in our own house (no A/C remember?). And I can't wait to got there in the winter when it's too cold outside as well. Museum days are always fun days. I'll have to say it is also helpful that many of my friends have memberships too so there is always a fun play date. The museum has lots of exhibits -- art, science, history, etc and everything is hands-on. Asher and I love it. Asher's favorite exhibits are the Little Discoveries Room (5&Under room), the river downstairs and water play (Truckee Connects Exhibit), and the Nature/Camping Room (Under the Stars Exhibit). Here are just a few pictures of Asher in the Little Discoveries room with his favorite sorting/counting blocks.

We've even dragged Heather's kids there too- they loved it and Asher loved showing them the Museum!

Another fun attraction we visited recently was the Reno Safari Zoo! The first Monday of every month is Free day so Heather called us up and treated us to a day at the zoo. Very kind! You probably didn't know that Reno had a zoo, huh? Well, it's not so much as a real zoo, but a lot of dirt and rocks and native animals and then a few exotic animals scattered in too. This was a fun visit because Asher and I have never been before, it was free, and surprisingly there were a lot of babies around--it was just too cute. I loved the little baby peacocks, baby monkey, and baby baboon!  Asher loved to help Heather push Q around (see pic) and was a little more interested in the balls and play things in the cages for animals a little more than the animals themselves.... at least until we got to the petting zoo! Asher loved the petting area with a herd of free range domestic deer and goats. Was he shy or scared? No! He was chasing deer and goats like crazy, he was so happy to pet and chase those animals.  One deer was so friendly and hungry apparently he started to eat my shirt, then Heather's pants, then tried to eat our strollers. While most of the deer there tried to stay away from Asher (squealing and laughing and charging as he was) this one I could hardly get to stay away and stop from trying to eat us. Needless to say it was a fun filled afternoon and a good way to tire out the kids!

So, the only clean shorts I could find that day for Asher were swim trunks...don't judge me. 

Asher has officially been 16 months for  a couple of weeks now is cuter than ever:

*Asher's finally started teething again. It's been a long time since his last tooth. Which means he's been waking up at night here and there, but nothing so bad really since he goes right back to sleep. However, he has been drooling like crazy- he's been drenching his clothes again in drool. And he is a little crankier on some days than normal- those molars are no fun! And due to all this teething he has gotten super attached to his pacifier. I am a little nervous about that since the pacifier is usually just for bed. Even then... he's just a little too attached for my taste.
*He is obsessed with big boy steps.  He no longer cares for crawling up and down when he can hold my hand and step up and down like a big boy! Why are kids so anxious to grow up!?
* He has also been holding my hand a lot... melt my heart! When we walk to bed, or up/down stairs, or to go get a snack he'll reach up and hold my hand so we can walk there together. But like most other little kids he holds my hand at home or down a scary slope, but when he's out and about he wants to be Mr. Independent!
* One other update: it seems he must have gone through a growth spurt- I am constantly amazed at what he can reach now! Things on the table are no longer safe if they are near the edge or the top drawer in my bathroom! However he's eating like a bird these days so he must be over the little growth spurt for now. I can't keep up with him. He is now in 24 month onsies and he's outgrown most of his shoes except for his Adidas that we bought 2 sizes too big. Crazy!

15 Month Update!

Asher is now 15months old and it is true that 15 months is a milestone month. I am really starting to see the toddler in him grow!At his 15 month appointment we saw Dr. White (normally we see Dr. Sorensen, but this was a very nice change). She asked if Asher had developed any 'personal space' and thus might not let her examine him. I said No... he's so easygoing! She did all the things she needed to do, answered my questions then headed out the door. In the hallway I could still hear her through the door she announced to the nurse, "Wow! Not your average 15-month old! He just let me do everything!" Ok, Ok, everyone tells me that Asher is super easy going, but I know it. I tell Drew all the time how lucky we are to have such a happy-go-lucky, easy, independent little guy! I love him so much. And I'm a little terrified of having a second because I'm sure that the next one will be my little hellion.

 Here are his stats:

8/22/12 15 month appointment & stats:

Ht: 32" 75%

Wt: 26 1/2# 75%

HC: 46.9cm 50%

And here are a few things about our 15 month Asher:

- I'm silently cheering because he is 75% for BOTH height and weight. He has always been between the 50-75% for height and then 90% for weight, but now he is really leveling out! He is such a big boy! Often times he is larger than most 18month old boys we meet. And people joke that he is already half the size of me! Here's a few pictures of this chunky baby just a bit ago. I miss those days already, but he is seemingly thinning out now :)

5 months: All head!

 10 months: What a chunker! Just a few months ago!

15 months: Currently ...still a big boy! On the little bench in the Ped's office
(Notice how his hair has gone from brown to blonde!)

- I keep telling myself that this is the easiest time in life right now. Asher is an amazing mellow and happy boy. He sleeps through the night, independent, and takes naps without a second thought, loves to play and still goes along with pretty much anything/anywhere I drag him.  Which is another reason that I just want/need to enjoy life right now and I really don't want to rush trying for another baby until the time feels right, I get that baby desire back, and we get prompted by the Lord.  However.... looking at these 5 month pictures has my baby heart aching just a bit!

-My sisters think that Asher is the easiest baby that either of them has ever met! Hearing this from someone else is a little validating, but scares me a bit to have another. I am constantly wondering how we got so lucky? Drew and I love him!

- Schedule Snapshot: wakes up around 7-8am. Naps either between 10-11am if he is going to take two naps or between 11am-12pm if he is only going to take one nap. If he takes one nap he'll sleep for about three hours (Wow! So much free time!) If he takes two he'll usually take a 1 1/2-2 1/2 hour nap in the morning and a smaller 1 to 1 1/2 hour nap in the evening. Bedtime is at 8pm. We're right in the middle of that transition phase. Some days it's one nap, sometimes two...

 -He's currently wearing 18 month clothes and fast approaching 24 month

- He loves corn, peas, black beans, most veggies, PB & J sandwiches, cheerios, bananas, & blueberries. Oh! Blueberries! Currently he dislikes hot dogs, and any type of melon.

- I'm not sure if he has had a few nightmares or something just startled him, but several times in the last two weeks he has woken up at night or early morning. It is in these rare instances that he doesn't sleep solidly through the night I get to hold Asher like a baby again. When I go into his room, I pick him up and comfort him, tell him he's OK then I sit in the rocking chair and he usually will rest his head on my chest and fall asleep again. It's at these times, even though I am in a sleep daze, I hesitate to put him down. I cradle him in my arms and hold him next to me... and cradle him like a baby and I put off going back to bed and just enjoy holding him. I think Drew is jealous because he never gets this anymore (he doesn't do night duty-he rarely even hears Asher when he cries). My heart just melts just thinking of these rare moments Asher lets me hold him like a baby again!

- Really becoming an adventurous boy: he plays in the dirt almost everyday covering himself in dirt from head to toe, climbing up on everything, trying to figure out shapes and nesting toys, drives his trucks & trains all around the house, read books, he LOVES to play on the computer, water the plants with mom and dad, he loves to get hosed down by mom and dad and play in the water and making daddy angry by picking his peppers off the pepper plants. Loves going on walks and going to the park to swing (honestly I can't get him OFF the swing to do anything else!) and to the Discovery Museum (really a great deal for a membership since we don't have A/C and will come in handy during the winter months!).

- At 15 months he is starting to understand so much, but is hardly saying anything recognizable. In his language I'm sure he's saying a whole bunch! He understands what most things are used for like a brush and the remote, switches for the fans, when it's time to go he'll bring me his socks and shoes and attempt to put them on (then hands them to me for help) etc.. He follows commands and will go turn on the fan when I ask him to or to go into the other room to look for a toy. He is also picking up on cute little routines: in the morning I go pick him up from his crib and change his diaper then take his pacifier away and throw it back in the crib "for naptime". Today I picked him up off the changing table and he pulled his pacifier out and tried to throw it back into the crib. That is literally the first time he has willingly given up his pacifier! The pediatrician told me not to worry about him not saying any words... like most boys he is working on his gross motor skills while girls his age usually develop language earlier.

-He cannot get enough of family walks and the park across the street. I am SO grateful we live directly across from the park because it has been amazing. If I open the door to the garage Asher marches right over to his stroller and climbs up, turns around, sits down, and pull the tray over the lock it is place then he'll swing his feet back and forth like, "Let's GO, Mama!" And if we even drive by the park or walk by the park he will lunge and point and whine for the swings.... and the one time we walked by without stopping he actually started to cry. He's getting to that age...

- His favorite toys right now is all his cars & trucks, trains, digging implements, farmhouse, gears toy, chicka chicka boom boom magnet book,  nesting objects, and books!

-When we read to him he will no longer let us dictate what we read. After each book he practically jumps out of my arms to show me the next book he wants, but won't lean back again until you pick out the book he wants or he'll push other book out of your hand if you have the wrong one. I guess his daily choices are so limited after all! His favorite books right now are, 'Un gato y un perro' English/Spanish book that I am getting better at, 'ABC U LATER (Ugly book), and 'Egg in the Hole' that Grandparents Hines gave to him for Easter. Asher goes through these phases with different books, just a bit ago it was "The Mitten" that he loved and after reading then for the 100th time they do start to grow on you, but also get a little redundant, however I have memorized several books this way too!

- Drew entertains Asher with some crazy YouTube videos that I just recently became aware of myself. It's amazing to hear about what my boys are up to when I'm not around :) I love how time with me and Dad are so different. Little did I know.... these are a few of my little boy's favorite videos! THanks Dad! For your viewing pleasure...

1. Narwhals, Narwhals, 

Causing a commotion...

 

2. Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Mushroom Mushroom 

3. And Deadmau5 Ghost N'Stuff 

 Asher loves to dance to this music!

3. HeMAN

That! Mama!

And a little about what's going on in our lives these days:

Drew has started his second year as a school counselor! Hooray for a real career. Just last year  at this time Drew was recovering from emergency surgery to remove his appendix and was a recent graduate with his School Counseling Masters Degree.  Asher was 3-4 months old, I was home full time and Drew felt the full pressure of finding full time work with the school district. I remember just a year ago living in the McCombs basement and praying long nights for a job. What a difference a year makes! It's such a relief to be in a stable situation. Also, Drew has had two recent pay raises in the last year for continuing his eduction. However, Drew has currently put off his internship as a Marriage and Family Therapist once again (read earlier post) due to budget cuts and schedule conflicts with UNR. We are ALL loving his new freedom, getting off work at 3:30pm and being home a lot more! Putting off his internship has also given Drew the opportunity to take up an after school job on Thursdays and Friday teaching children life skills and coaching soccer. Which will be another welcome income :)

As for me, I am still staying home daily with Asher and enjoying it! I love owning a home and I am constantly busy trying to keep up with the added cleaning duties and finding amazing projects for our house on Pinterest. I am so addicted to Pinterest. Drew and I have discovered a new passion since buying our home. While we have always loved rummaging through thrift stores and garage sales on a weekly basis together we have just now started refurbishing furniture. I am always on the hunt to find antiques and vintage finds for us to up cycle, refresh, and rejuvenate. I am slowly filling our garage with unique pieces to paint! I love to sand, prime, and paint and if I had my way I would be in the garage all day long. Good thing we have a three car garage! Stay tuned for some exciting news....hopefully we will start a business in the near future :)

 I am also still working from home on special projects for the dental office I used to work at full time. This month I filled in for some vacation time and I was able to feel what is was like to be a full time working mother for one week. My feelings are mixed on that subject. It was a crazy week. Lately I've at the gym a lot  discovering Zumba! and rediscovering Cycling and BodyFit. Love it! I've also been running in the mornings with a college buddy of mine Heather, who graduated from the Dietetics program with me. It's been hard work to get back to running, but I love seeing the progress of sticking with it. In the last week I've had to run on my own however since our schedules don't work out together as well anymore. Sad! :( I am so happy to live just 5 mins from Heather (please don't' move Heather!) and getting together for play dates every now and then. I miss friends from college!

This is long I know. This is what I get for neglecting to blog in months.

This is Drew...

This is Drew. I realize that I rarely post on this blog, and when I do it is usually about sports. This time will be different. I usually don't blog because I am a more private person. My chosen profession suits me very well. However, I would like to share a bit of what has transpired to lead mt to where I am now. Many years have passed and it's time for a little reflection.

Many know that my first major was civil engineering. I was never suited for the field, and dropped it after one year in which I did nothing but generals anyways. Upon returning from my mission I decided I wanted to go into a helping profession. In hindsight, I think the conversation i had with myself went something like this: " I liked being a missionary and helping people, maybe I can make some money while doing it. I don't want to take calculus or cad. I should try psychology. That sounds easy and fun." So, with no research really into the field, I changed my major to psychology. My college counselor gave me little insight, which now looking back was his bad. I guess my situation happened a lot and he had better things to do. Anyways, off I went into the psychology field.

During the next three years, I came to enjoy certain aspects of psychology, and then there were some that I really disliked. What it has come down to after 9 years studying in the field, and has been since high school, was the teacher. Even a dull subject like stats can be made fun by a professor who enjoys teaching. That has held true up through two graduate programs. Then, in perhaps one of the most researched and well-documented aspects, behaviorism, the professor can make one abhor. I have since come to respect behaviorism. If you're a parent or soon to be parent and have no idea what behaviorism is all about, we need to talk.

Once I graduated, I really had no plans other than "I need to go to grad school." My joke after earning my degree was "I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and it's only good for delivering pizzas." So the choice was really made for me before I realized it. Again, I put in minimal research time to find a grad program that would suit me. I had checked out school counseling as part of my undergrad, but never really considered it an option because of the low pay. I wanted to be a forensic psych like my internship supervisor. But I didn't want to put in the time and work that he did. Sure, he makes big bucks now, but it was a long road that I didn't find interesting. Even his current job sounded boring, but the money was huge. I decided that path would be another "civil engineering" and looked elsewhere. I figured that the school I chose would be more important than the program, so I had to chose one that 1.would accept me with an average gpa of only 3.2, and 2. would be decently priced. I didn't want to be in debt forever. I applied to several schools for varying programs. Most turned me down without and interview, a few decided I would be worth their time, and one never responded at all (I want my $70 back New Mexico State! I would not attend your school anyways.) After interviews, I received two offers, Denver University and UNR. Denver was gracious enough to offer me a scholarship for 15k a year to offset the 33k in tuition (per semester!). So UNR it was! Truthfully UNR was my first choice even over some PhD programs that interviewed me. Having 18 months to think about grad school from the time I graduated to the time I had to select a school gave me lots of time to think. I had whole-heartedly decided that I wanted to be a school counselor, and UNR had a top-notch program, CACREP certified (this is actually a big deal) and my degree would be accepted for licensure in 42 states. So off we went.

The first two years of study at UNR were great. Fantastic professors, especially one Dr. Conte (who just did an analysis for a New York magazine analyzing Tebow vs. Sanchez and their mental states of readiness coming into the season.) But, in February of year two, the economy took it's toll on the state-funded University. We received word that our program was going to be cut at the end of the next school year. We would all be able to finish the program, but those who had only one year would have to do two years work of classes and internship in only 3 semesters that remained. The news hit many students and all the professors hard. We ended up saving the program, but much damage had been done. The program lost all but one non-tenured professor which left a heavy burden on those that did remain to teach all the classes necessary.

During my internship at McQueen High School I had a strong internal conflict coming to terms with what I thought would be my future career. I had doubts about becoming a school counselor and consulted with my adviser and program director. I inquired about becoming a marriage and family therapist in addition to school counselor. He told me this would be possible, and that it may suit my desire to actually sit and talk with people. (School counselors do far more paperwork and 'garbage work' than I was lead to believe the two previous years.) So I immediately began taking the classes that I would need to earn a second masters degree in MFT. Or so I thought...

It's been another two years since then, and I have worked very hard since beginning my collegiate academic career. I have earned 122 undergrad credits, far more than required, and now have 84 graduate credits. I graduated high school over 11 years ago. By most accounts I could have been a doctor by now. But, I chose my career based on what I liked to do. Christina and I agreed that we would never be rich, but we would not be left without the necessities. I would be home a lot, never have to work late or on weekends or on holidays. I would be home all summer long. I would never be on call. I would never be gone on long trips out of town. Time at home with family cannot really be measured monetarily, but that is why it's so important to me. I have missed so much of Asher's life already by just being gone at work and additionally at class 3x a week. So maybe the following occurrence was meant to be.

I have completed all necessary class work to earn my next degree, all I lack is an internship. 600 hours worth of free slave labor. To be more precise, I am paying them to work for free. Not only that, but the clients I would be seeing are paying for my services. Not much, but it still seems like a scam to me. Because I work for Washoe County School District, I am bound by a contract. I am to work certain hours each day during a very specific time. Half hour before school starts to half hour after. No more, no less. This internship is requiring me to be on campus 2x each week during the work day. The times are non-negotiable. Literally, the professors will not accommodate me working full time to come in for supervision. I tried mightily to make the times work. Still, I am bound by a contract to be at work during the day, not on campus. The district pays me for that time, I should be working. I agree. My contract works in my favor as well. I can't break it, but neither can the district. In my opinion, the offending party is the University.

I was given 4 options of different times to attend supervision with a professor. All 4 times were during the work day, none later than 2pm, none earlier than 9am. Not one professor would adjust a time to meet in the late afternoon or evening. I am currently not enrolled this semester, putting me behind by another semester. And who knows if I will be accommodated next semester either. Heck, I'm not even a real student in any program, so no one cares about my progress. Let me explain...

Two years ago I was told I would be able to complete this program, not as an MFT student, but as an EdS student. I would finish the necessary courses and then be moved out. It was not explained to me very well, but I would still get to do what I wanted so I went on with classes. The next year, budget cuts really did eliminate the EdS program, but it was no big deal because the program only had one student in it- me. I then became a "graduate special". What this meant, I had no idea. I was still able to enroll, still able to receive credit, so no big deal I thought. I lost all financial aid since I was no longer classified as a degree seeking student. This hurt, but luckily, UNR is reasonably priced for residents. (Remember item #2 from earlier?) So I trudged on. In March, I contacted my adviser again, seeking information about what to expect with internship and about graduation. He gave me a little bit, not much, but enough to put my mind at ease. The key phrase for me was "we will make it work." Guess what? LIE! Perhaps next semester, but it is still disappointing nonetheless. If next semester doesn't work, what then? No graduation? About graduation...

There is not going to be a graduation anyways. That's right, no second masters degree. No plaque to hang on the wall, no ceremony, no nothing. I was never told, even in my email where I SPECIFICALLY asked about applying for graduation, that I would not actually receive a degree. I am completing classes in order to apply to the MFT board of Nevada for an MFTI, which allows me to be an MFT intern and work towards licensure. Sure, it will have the same result in the end some 6 years down the line, but it's not the same to me. It's not as validating. In my last communication with my adviser, he told me about this situation. Not two years ago, not in March when I specifically asked, but one week ago when I asked if I was ever going to get to graduate at all. How's that for a kick in the teeth? What a runaround I was given so that the University could take my money and pass me off when it came time to give back to me. After all, how hard is it to place one more student in a class already occupied by 40 others? It's no different to them. Now that I need something from them, they show their true colors. It's as if I am a thorn in their side. I've endured financial hardship, placed great stress on my family by being gone at class, and even made waves in a school district where I am lucky to have a job.

I am the kind of person that sets big goals and achieves them. I have never not met a large goal like this before. I always finish what I start. But now I don't see an end, or a finish. That next degree in my hand was the next goal. The unsettling part to me is that it is out of my control now, and I have been strung along this whole time.

At the end of it all, I do feel a sense of relief. I did have plans to open private practice, and it probably would have been great. I know I would be great and be successful. At the same time, it was not my original plan. I only ever started because I doubted my place as a school counselor. I have since completed another internship at an elementary school and worked at two different schools for a year and have now started a second year. I no longer doubt myself or my decision, and I actually enjoy what I do. And, I have to say that summer break it amazing. Who else gets 8 weeks off straight? And currently for the first time, I come home every day after work with no class to attend, no homework, no papers, nothing. I'm home to be home just as originally planned. my education credits have moved me up the pay scale, so they are not for nothing. Not having class has opened up other options for our family as well, and I have been able to take on an extra position after school twice a week for a nice bonus (gotta love government grant programs!) teaching "Too Good For Drugs" and also coaching soccer.

So the way I look at it, it's not the worst thing in the world. Like, the house exploding, or spontaneous combustion. Or not having compressed air. Maybe it was just meant to be. That doesn't mean I'll go down without a fight.

PS- If you read this far, you're a champion!

Summer Vacation 2012

This summer has breezed by in the blink of an eye! And I have only one person (entity) to blame: Our first home! Yep. We've been slaving away to make our 'Short Sale'/perfect neighborhood/two story 'fixer-upper' an inviting and liveable place to call home. With no short of tremendous help from our friends and family who have helped paint, haul, move, clean, sweep, paint, rake, plant, and paint some more! Special shout out to my mother-in-law who has come help and been the main driving force in every paint job we have tackled. It's nice to know someone who not only LOVES to paint, but who is super knowledgeable and is the hardest worker in all aspects of life I've ever seen. But aside from the fact that we have worked a ton of projects around our house nothing really seems to be done? Well, that's not quite true... the paint does make a huge impact (I wish I had more before and after pictures!) but there are a trillion more things on the TO-DO list! It's amazing how a house can consume your life (in several very good ways!) and your every waking thought.... and any spare money in the budget. I'm not going to lie that I love working on the yard and spending my spare time on Pinterest and projects for the house :) It's given me a lot to do in my spare time!

So aside from that I am going to post a few (very few) pictures from our summer vacation. I apologize ahead of time because I took a million pictures, but have none to show for it. See, Drew went out and bought me a new camera for my birthday (that would be today! and gave it to me 3 months early because he was so excited that he couldn't keep it a secret for that long...). However, most of the pictures were taken in RAW format and I've had a really hard time accessing them.

Our vacation was supposed to be a short and sweet visit to Utah to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary during the 4th of July. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday and is also nostalgic for Drew and I. We first held hands after the 4th of July Fireworks display at Thanksgiving Point and when we really started to date. We were married just a year after that in Salt Lake City Temple on July 1st (so we are always celebrating our anniversary about the same time as 4th of July festivities) and watched the Stadium of Fire Fireworks on our Honeymoon night in Provo from our Suite. Awesome, right? However our vacation turned quickly from short & sweet & everything nice to long & arduous & everything cramped.  Right before planning the details of our Utah trip I spoke to my mom and found out that Vanessa was planning a similar long & arduous road trip (with four kids) from Mississippi to Colorado to Utah to Idaho to Colorado again & back to Mississippi (crazy right?). And on top of that Natasha and her two children were going to visit around that same time. I had no idea that a little mini-family reunion was sprouting. The hardest thing was to convince Drew to go along with "the plan". My reasoning was this: We were already going to be in Utah, just 7 hours away, why not go to Colorado too? Drew had the entire summer off so we were flexible and free as not many other families are who work full time. And lastly, I only get to see my family once a year since that's about how often we can afford to travel long distance. (The previous year we took little 7 week old Asher to Alabama, the year prior to that I went to Washington DC .... etc.etc.) But to be able to spend time with my entire family (minus Erika, Mike, Dan & Layne) was if we were to go to CO during the Fourth of July. I had fond memories of Fourth of July celebrations in CO, but it would mess up our plans a bit and we would have to delay going to Utah for another week. We considered me flying out with Asher and meeting up in Utah and several other scenarios, but going all together and driving was the cheapest and I wanted Drew there and he wanted to see my family too (deep down at least).

So we spent our anniversary in the car during a two day car trip to CO with a 13-month old toddler. Saturday we got off to a late start because Asher was just getting over being sick and we were debating delaying our trip, but he was doing much better so we left. The only downside is that Asher was used to a lot of attention at night and sleeping odd hours so he didn't sleep well in the hotel room or during most of our trip. Here are a few pictures after day 1 we stopped into a hotel near the Salt Lake City Airport. Asher was adorable as we checked in clutching and hugging his lion. Such a cutie- he made my heart melt and had all the staff loving him! That night was especially hard because hotel rooms are almost impossible to separate a sleeping space for Asher. He ended up waking up at 4 or 5am and wouldn't go back down so we left early the next morning. Day 1 was worse than Day 2 (our anniversary) and Asher did better in the car - possibly it was from a lack of sleeping at night and we were able to make some good time in the early morning while he slept in the car without any crying or aggressive entertainment tactics on our part. We were also able to stop in Little America which is an amazing stop because it's family oriented, the bathrooms are nice, there is a restaurant and gift shop, and even a playground outside for kids to get the wiggles out! Different from your average truck stop or disgusting rest areas.

Once in Colorado we were greeted by all my family. Natasha and her two children, Vanessa and her four, my brother and (Derek was there at times too), and my parents. And we were all sleeping in the SAME crazy house. It was wild and cramped. There really wasn't a place for Drew and I. I think we really messed up bed situations, but we were able to kick my brother out of his room for a few nights until Derek came. Then we kicked Natasha and her two girls out of my old room since it had the crib in there and would be away from others during naps. This is about the time that Asher developed a strong dislike for Derek's crib and did not sleep well. He had actually done better in the pack and play, but oh well. Drew and I could hardly sleep in the same room so we spent several nights on couches.


While in CO we went to an amazing water park and sports complex with the kids, celebrated Sonja, Vanessa, Tizita, Kimball, and just about every cousin birthday while we were there because everyone's birthday is in JULY! We were and played laser tag for a day which turned out to be super fun with my family even though we were mostly playing with kids and teenagers. It was Drew's favorite part of the trip anyhow. Thankfully my mom watched Asher and put him down for a nap so we could play, play, play! For the Fourth we went to the park and rode the train several times and strolled around the festivities (which are lacking in recent years apart from my childhood memories). Later that night we set up blankets and watched fireworks from the church house :) We kept Asher up late to see the firework display and he seemed to do great! I was afraid he might not like the noise, but he was just super tired after that. We also went to scrap metal-dinosaur park and of course we ate at Chipotle as often as possible! And we watched several Riff-trax with everyone which was fun!

There are no baby gates at my parent's split-level house so Asher learned to go up and down the stairs (he had only been doing one stair at our home) within instants of being there. All the cousins helped him learn to go down backwards- cute moments. Even though there were 8 children and 7 adults in one tiny house Colorado was actually several times more relaxing for me since I was with my own family for one and all the cousins entertained Asher nearly the entire time! I made sure I knew where he was, but he was so happy all the time to be with all those older kids. For the most part my mom's house was also baby proofed too which we didn't get in Utah so that was relaxing too. Derek is closest in age, but he wasn't there most times and then the next closest would be Kimball and he is 5! They were all very good around him. It was SO nice, but with the positives the negatives were there too!


We left for Utah on the following Saturday and the car trip went amazing! We only stopped once for Asher. He was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. And the trip went fast and sweet. Once we got to Drew's sister's house Asher slept much much better overall and we let him have his own room and took over the living room (sorry!) in their little apartment. Drew slept on the couch and I got to sleep on the floor. That first night we met up with Vanessa and watched her kids while she went to a mission reunion. I don't know how she does it!  In Utah Drew spared no time setting up a fishing trip with Jared while Lynette and I went to the gym and Allie and I got to do some shopping. Later that day we all meet up the the Fields family at the park and ate Cafe Rio and played. It was nice to see old friends if only briefly. I wish we could have seen them more. Summer is a busy time! Asher loves to swing, swing, and swing some more! At the park he just hung on to me and swung for quite a while. Now, we can't ever get him to leave the swing to go play on the slides or anything! He sure loves that feeling.

In Utah we also went up to Salt Lake to see the new fabulous mall across from Temple Square which was beautiful. First of all we stopped and went to the Aquarium, but it wasn't quite as amazing as I thought it was going to be. In Salt Lake we stopped in and ate at the Cheesecake Factory! Loved it!  I can't remember the name of the cheesecake we were eating in the pic below, but it was the best I've ever had there. I wanted to go to Temple Square and spend some time near where Drew and I were married, but it was already a packed day and Asher really needed to get home to bed so we settled for staring at it from the sky walk in the mall. We stood there just for a moment and shared a few private moments realizing how crazy lucky we were to have found one another and be married! I am so grateful for Drew. Not only do you have to find the right person, but I think marriage does take a certain degree of luck- I mean there is so much I am still learning about Drew that I didn't know before we were married. I am so so lucky! Anyway, at this point in our trip we were really starting to feel the anguish for lack of a better word of not getting any time alone. I stared at the Temple and wished we had more time to visit the square and connect more to one another. During the entire trip we didn't go a single date alone even though we had plenty of family around to watch Asher. I don't know how we managed that. It was the one thing that really irked me since we didn't even celebrate our anniversary. Our trip was our anniversary, but it wasn't filled with connecting or doing a single thing alone together. Next time I will plan better.

We finished out our time in Utah by visiting BYU, a few parks, Nick's Pizzeria, and Bombay House! There is so many good restaurants that I miss! We had a blast, but it was plum out exhausting. The trip home was weary as well.  We needed and good vacation from our vacation once we got home!

That was our big trip this summer, but we did take several trips down to Gardnerville as usual for special events and just to see Drew's side of the family so it was still busy busy :) 

Hiking to Devil's Backbone

Asher pooped out on the hike back just minutes from the car, but was so tired he didn't even wake up when I moved him.

Most of the cousins

The Twins

Dinosaur Zoo :)

Happy Camper!

Otters at the aquarium in Utah with Allison & John 

Such a good Daddy!