Jimmy * Esther * Zeke * Lilly

Zeke loves sports, so I have been so excited to see how he would do on a team. We started with T-ball, it’s the cutest thing ever! Zeke wore his little T-ball shirt to the practice, and they let him wear this too-big helmet :)

Trying the pitcher position

Zeke up to bat at his first game

running to first

on second with Dad- Jimmy got to help, and be on the field to manage 2nd base

For the second half of the game, Zeke played in the dirt. This is when he was supposed to be pitching the ball, and then throwing it to first when the batter hit it :)

Great job Zeke! We love to watch your games! You’re awesome!

It’s late, I should be in bed, but I wanted to write about this moment so I can always remember. I was heading in to go to bed, and noticed Zeke’s lights were on. I went up to turn them off, and then sat by his bedside to watch him sleep in the light of his little baseball lamp. He looked so sweet under his blanket made by his Aunt Suzy, and his bear across his chest. Watching him sleep, he is so peaceful, and angelic, and I wonder how in the world I can ever be upset with him. I made a better resolve to be more patient, and understanding of the things he does.  I stayed in his room for a while, and thought about how fast he has grown, and about all the other times I have sneeked into his room to watch him peacefully sleep…wonderful memories.

When I went into Lilly’s room, she was sleeping perpendicular in her crib on her blanket made by her grandma, with her soft tiny snuggle blanket on her arm next to her sippy cup of water. I watched her chest rise and fall, and listened to her breath. I love to hear her breathing-sometimes I turn up her baby monitor so high so I can hear each breath. I wondered what she was dreaming about. I wanted to pick her up, and rock her in the rocking chair, but instead, just enjoyed listening to her sleep. I love these quiet, peaceful moments.  My heart felt so happy as I watched each of my little angels sleeping, I was overcome with thankfulness for them! Being a mom is the greatest blessing, and privilege!

Having fun the the potato head accessories

Haha! My favorite!

Lilly posed so cute, and serious for this one, I love it!

I must have had a lot on my mind one morning, and I put Zeke’s shirt on Lilly, instead of Zeke. Lilly thought it was so funny!

We had a family night with the “return of the diaper helmets”!

Jimmy held Zeke, and Carlin held Lilly, and they raced around the house.

Lilly kept her helmet on the longest, she thought it was so fun :)

I got called to serve in Young Womens, and I get to teach the Beehives :) (12 and 13-year-old girls.) I love it!! Our lesson on Sunday talked about the wonderful creations Heavenly Father has blessed us with, like the beautiful Earth, animals, and above those, His children. Lately I have been trying to notice beauty in nature. I think I take advantage of all the beauty around me, and I want to appreciate it more, and remember to thank Heavenly Father for providing such lovely things for me to enjoy. Here are some pictures I took from my yard-

We were on a walk a few Sundays ago, and Jimmy noticed the sky looked like it was on fire. The sun was setting, and the clouds refracted the light in such a beautiful way.

Jimmy actually took these, you can see my brother and I on the left corner.

One morning last week, I noticed the clouds looked extra cool with the sun coming up. I stepped outside on my back porch while still in my jammies to capture these pictures :)

They almost looked fake to me, because they looked so neat.

Lilly wanted to enjoy nature after a rain shower

She splashed in the puddles, and then went for the mud. She thought it was so fun!

When she was done, she crawled into the garage, and up to the door to go in.

It took filling up the bath a few times before all the mud was gone :)

Classic Fun Center in Sandy is one of Zeke’s new favorites! We went there with my family a few weeks ago, it was so fun! The kiddie pool area was perfect for Zeke.

hanging on for dear life, slides always look scarier from the top :)

Zeke was so excited to go skating too!

Our nephew, Kendall won 1,000 tickets playing Big Bass

Look what Lilly can do! She can stand by herself! Sometimes she will stand, and then clap for herself :)

It’s the cutest thing for me to see her standing all by herself!

Look what else she does! She is her brother’s sister :) Lilly did this all by herself. Lilly is a thrill seeker, she loves to go down slides all by herself, even big ones, she likes to climb things, and she loves the thrill of things that are a little scary.

Last week, Lilly’s birth mom, Amy, and her boyfriend, Nate came to visit. We only had 3 1/2 days with them, so we were always on the go. At the end of the week, we were all a bit sleep deprived, and worn out, but we sure had fun with them :)

Here are some of the highlights-

Seeing Amy again after a whole year! It seemed like it had been longer in a lot of ways, but at the same time, the year flew by, and it felt like it had only been a few weeks since we were in North Dakota when Lilly was born.

Going to Thanksgiving Point Gardens

I loved having Jimmy with us all day, and coming to the fun places too. It was his first time at the Gardens.

We went to the Dinosaur Museum after the gardens. Lilly pointed at everything, and thought it was all so amazing :)

Lilly and Amy with the statue of Christ on Temple Square.

Grandma Charlotte met up with us at Temple Square, and we all ate at the Garden restaurant. Amy’s friend from home, Michelle, lives in Utah, and we were able to do some fun things with her too. (She’s sitting on Jimmy’s right side, and my little brother, Carlin, came too.)

Lilly liked my water :)

I told Amy and Nate to pose on the pedestal, don’t they look cute!

We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a picnic with some of my family.

Jimmy, Carlin, Nate, Amy, and Zeke played a game of “Pig” in Zeke’s room, and Amy won!

The last day we went to the Aquarium. Lilly liked the fish this time, unlike the last time I blogged about it :)

Amy and Michelle petting the sting rays

Nate was such a good sport to do this picture, even though he didn’t want to. I think it turned out great! It’s one of my favorites of the two of them :)

Yeee ha!

The penguins are so friendly at the aquarium, they swim right by you next to the glass.

After the aquarium, we drove up to hike at Donut Falls. On the way, we drove through La Calle Restaurant. I hadn’t ever been there, the atmosphere was beautiful!

Lilly did well staying in the baby back pack the whole hike.

Lilly and I stayed down at the bottom of the falls, but Jimmy took Zeke up on his back!

Jimmy and Zeke in the cave of the falls, Zeke was really scared, but still tried to smile for the picture

Thanks for offering to take one of Jimmy and me, Amy! I like it!

The little animals were very friendly!

We found the Hatch Family Chocolates shop in Salt Lake. There’s a reality show about it. I think it’s on TLC?

We went mini golfing that night. Lilly was SO good watching us from her stroller!

It was such a fun week! I loved playing games at night, and talking. We sure enjoyed having them come visit, and are already excited for them to come again some day!

We went to the Kangaroo Zoo earlier this month, (it’s a bouncy house like Jumpin’ Jack’s). This was the first time Zeke dared to go down the big slide, and I think it’s because his friends Ethan, and Jace were going down it too.

Zeke even went down on his tummy a lot of times, and on his back upside down :)

Lilly thought it was a neat place too, and I think she’ll love it next year!

Resting on Daddy’s knee, so cute!

We went to a fun carnival at the park, this was my favorite picture of Zeke- peeking while fishing for a prize

Lilly at a playgroup at the splash park

Zeke has so much fun with Grandma’s toys!

I loved the castle when I was little too

Lilly letting us know she’s awake and ready to get out :)

We moved from my parents’ to our new home a week ago, and are settling in quickly. We are about all unpacked, and are making lots of new friends! We went to a neighborhood BBQ Friday night, and love how friendly, and social the neighborhood is. We are really happy to be here! Our kids have done well with the move- Lilly loves crawling all around, and learned how to go up the stairs.  Zeke also enjoys it here, and especially his new room. He chose the bonus room for his room, and it has tons of space for all his toys. He misses Grandma a lot, and keeps asking if she’s going to move down here. Overall, it has been a nice transition, and a lot easier than I was expecting.

Lilly crawls up the stairs all day, and heads for any bathroom that’s open to try to splash in the toilet. Luckily, we’ve been able to catch her all but once :P

Last Sunday Zeke said he wasn’t tired enough to take a nap, and the next thing I knew, he was out :)

Lilly loves to sit on Zeke’s 4-wheeler. It’s her favorite thing in the toy room!

We are all so thankful, and happy to be here! It has been awesome!

Last Saturday morning we drove down to our family reunion. Zeke thought the playground was the coolest, and Lilly did too, she crawled all around on it, and had a lot of fun.

My cuties on the playground

They did “Minute to Win It” games at the reunion, my sister Adela, (in the pink), did the tissue pull contest :)

Me and my beautiful niece, (who is more like my little sister :)

We drove back to Salt Lake in time to have a picnic at Sugar House Park, and watch the big firework show. Zeke got his own Subway sandwich, and I couldn’t get enough of watching him eat it!

My mom and I love to wear matching shirts :)

Lilly didn’t like the fireworks at first, she had a sad frown for about 5 minutes. She liked them after that, and she would point up at them. I liked watching her face, and Zeke’s face more than the fireworks.

Our last celebration was at Jimmy’s parents’ on Monday. We had a fun BBQ dinner, and sat on blankets to watch the fireworks Grandma and Grandpa bought.

Grandma gave the kids glow sticks, Lilly held one in each hand the whole time. I thought it was so fun sitting out on the blankets on the grass together :)

We went swimming with my sister and her kids last week. It was a blast!

Lilly walking in with her special auntie! These two really do have a neat bond, I love to watch Lilly with her Aunt Shirley!

Lilly didn’t want her sunglasses, or hat on :)

Zeke and his cousin Evan were inseparable. These two also have a special friendship, despite the 4 1/2 year age difference between them. They love to play together!

Lilly in the clouds, I’m sad the lighting turned out dark in this one, I think it’s so cute!

Zeke and Evan trying to get up the courage to go down the water slide.

Lilly thought it was so cool to stand by herself by holding onto this.

It was a fun day! I’m sure we’ll be going back soon :)