..july in pictures..

..finn's nap was lasting longer than normal, so i went to check on him. the first picture was when he saw me open his door - he knew he was in trouble! but he just looked up at me and said, "uh oh." lol this kid is a total crack-up!!..

..uncle z's biggest fans, watching him golf in the web.com utah championship..

..9 month dr appointment. happy as a clam...until those darn shots, that is..

..family night at station park in farmington. the boys were loving the fountain!..

..visiting grandma keller one last time before she passed away. the second pic is sam & great-great grandpa sam - the person sammy boy was named after (grandma keller's dad)..

..dad & finn in their kilts, off to play in a scout court of honor. i told ya finn's kilt would come in handy one day!..

..nordstrom balloons strike again! kept both kids entertained long enough for me to do some anniversary sale shopping..

..celebrating robby's 30th b-day in style - in a limo!!! after we went to dinner, lindsey booted some of the grown ups outta the car so that the little kidlets could come in. finn was loving that he didn't have to sit in a carseat!..

..one day in nursery, laurel asked finn (for no particular reason) if he wanted to wear this helmet. she put it on him, then a few minutes later went to open the toy cabinet. finn was standing by her, and when she opened it, a large toy fell off the top shelf and hit finn right on the head, cracking the helmet in two! good thing he was wearing it. i totally think laurel was inspired to put it on him..

..1) lounging on the hammock at carol marriott's 2) hillary's baby shower 3) finn asleep in the car. looks comfy! ;)
4) finn practicing the 'pipes with dad 5) finn, unsure about his new haircut 6) right before dad jumped out of a plane!!
7) sammy asleep in the car. those cheeks!!! 8) brothers playing together on a warm summer day 9) finn being cute. 

..pioneer day..

we had a lovely pioneer day this year. very laid back, but wonderful none-the-less. our holiday kicked off with the bountiful pioneer day parade (yesterday). our amazing friend/personal trainer, heather, lives on the parade route, so every year she has a big party. this year she invited us to come, which was so nice because it saved us the headache of having to find a place to sit! her family was so nice and gave us popcorn and ice cream and all kinds of treats. we are so lucky to have her as our friend. :) finn and sam loved the parade, even though it was like 105 degrees out - it was so hot! yikes. but they were definitely entertained by all the different bands and floats. it is a tradition i hope to keep alive in the years to come. :)

lance took the day off work today, which is always a treat, so we started off the day with breakfast at the original pancake house with my mom. the rest of the day was spent doing errands and taking it easy. later in the evening we met up with lindsey & robby and brant & laurel. we stopped by the neighborhood block party, where lance and i fought it out in the boxing ring. don't worry, i won. ;) we ended the night with fireworks and dessert at lindsey and robby's. lindsey was so sweet and bought a birthday cake and my favorite kind of ice cream - she lit candles and everyone sang happy birthday to me. i feel so lucky to have these new friends in my life. :)

happy pioneer day! i'm so grateful for all those who sacrificed what they did to make it to this great state. this is the place!!!

..one year older and wiser too..

happy birthday to yours truly! haha i hope you don't mind while i sing the birthday song to myself. ;)

i'm 27 years old. how is that possible? typing it, it sounds so old. ;) yet i feel so young, so i guess i have nothing to worry about. hopefully. i am so grateful for all the blessings i have in my life. to be 27 and have done all the things i've done, and have all the things i have...wow! puts things into perspective.

my day was filled with family and friends, which is just the way i like it. today is thursday, which means playdate with the phippen's. we went to the fountain at the gateway and let the boys run around in the water to their hearts content. turns out none of them really liked it haha. i don't know what it is about locke, mccoy and chelsey, but finn turns into a shy little dude when we're with them. i think it is because chelsey was really the only person i left finn with when he was little. only for a few hours at a time, and i could probably count on one hand the number of times i left him with her, but apparently it was enough time to scar him for life?! haha he just shuts down when we're together, it kinda breaks my heart. :( but we do have fun together, and usually finn warms up to them...it just takes a little time. after the fountain, chelsey took us to rocky mountain chocolate factory to pick out a birthday treat. i got my usual - chocolate english toffee caramel apple, and finn got a sucka.

madison came over to babysit that evening, and lance, my mom and dad took me out to dinner at my favorite place - fiveall's. my aunt becky was our waitress, which we're always grateful for - she treats us well. as in, gives us lots of extra food! i went all out this year and had the filet oscar, rather than my usual chicken kiev. i'm telling you, maybe 27 will bring out the party animal in me?! haha jk. it was so nice of my dad to make the trip up from st. george, just to celebrate my birthday with me. he even picked up the check, which is always a bonus. ;)

lance and i ended the night with a movie - grown ups 2. it was really stupid. i'm talking realllllllly stupid. the first one was so unbelievably funny so i really had my hopes up. and they were really crushed. haha i'm serious, we almost walked out.

i was definitely showered with love by lots of different people. i got the sweetest cards, texts and facebook posts - many of which brought tears to my eyes. my mom and lance sure know how to make a girl feel spoiled. lance surprised me with my favorite flowers and a shopping spree, and my mom gave me a generous gift card to my favorite place (nordy's). and my cute friend lindsey gave me the cutest card and a gift card to the gap (she knows me well)! it was definitely a great birthday!

..sammy boy is 9 months..

dear sam,

another month has come and gone and i see your first birthday rapidly approaching! ahh yikes!! i love that your growing and developing and doing all the things a boy your age should be doing, but at the same time it means you are turning from baby to toddler and that makes me quite sad. i want to keep you my baby. ;(

this past month has been so fun - we are loving summer! although it is rather hot, but still, something  about the sunshine and blazing hot temperatures just make me happy. we spend quite a bit of time each day outside in the backyard. you love being on the grass, in the swing, on the trampoline - wherever! you just love being outside. we went camping. we've had lots of bbq's, celebrated the 4th of july, watched lots of different firework shows (most of them put on by dear ol' dad). this is such a fun month, and i'm so happy to have you here to celebrate with us. last year at this time you were snug as a bug in my belly and i remember then, thinking how a year from now you'd be here and we'd be doing all the same things, but with you in tow. i must say, i absolutely love it. :)

some things about you as a 9-month-old:

- you started clapping this month! yay!!
- you still love food, and have pretty much loved everything we've offered to you. some of your favorites right now are eggs and peanut butter.
- you say mamamama all day. even though i know you don't know what you're saying, it makes me so happy. and when you say that after you've been bonked on the head by your big bro, or fall over, it just breaks my heart. i love hearing you call for mama. ;)
- you can get yourself into a sitting position.
- you officially started crawling! GO sammy boy!!! i'm not gonna lie - i've been a bit worried about ya haha, mostly just because finn had been crawling for nearly three months by this age! i know that's why we don't compare though - because all babies move at a different pace. and apparently you were comfortable just being stagnant. it's so fun watching you move though.
- we had to lower your crib. :(
- you love the water! we've been to raging waters a few times and you just have the time of your life relaxing in the lazy river. :)
- you take 2 naps a day. they vary in length, but i'd say on average you take 4 hrs worth of naps each day.
- you sleep from 8-7/7:30ish every night. dreamy!!
- you love your dada. i love seeing this bond form. it is very apparent how excited you are when dad gets home from work - you just light up and can't stop smiling.
- you are not a fan of your carseat right now. i have a feeling you'd be much more comfortable in an upright seat, but i'm not ready to move you to one of those just yet. any time i have to put you in your carseat though, you immediately arch your back and start whining. silly boy. ;)
- you can pick food up by yourself, such as puffs, cheerios or anything we put in front of you.
- you put EVERYTHING in your mouth that you can lay your hands on. i mean everything!! this is quite frustrating and sometimes scary. like i'm pretty sure if we opened your belly up, we'd find grass, bugs, rocks, dirt, lint, dog food, dog poo, and a bunch of other stuff that ain't pretty! ;)
- it is super easy to make you smile and laugh still, and that is one of the things we have loved about you from the very start. you are so happy (most of the time) and people comment on that everywhere we go. :)

at your 9 month doctor appointment, dr reese said you are developing right on track and are healthy as can be. he sure gets a kick outta you whenever we go in - he said you haave a great personality already. :) your stats at 9 months old are:

weight: 20lbs 3oz (44th percentile)
height: 28.5 inches (60th percentile)
head circ: 43.5 cm (8th percentile)

we sure love our little samuel james. you light up our life and i can't imagine our family without you! thanks for always putting a smile on our faces, making us laugh and keeping us on our toes. you are the best!

love,
mom

..the fourth..

the fourth of july has always been one of my favorite holidays. something about the red white & blue, hot dogs & hamburgers, fireworks and pure patriotism that is displayed all over the country on this one day is just magical to me. too bad we don't live in a small town - they seem to know how to celebrate this holiday best. the only tradition our family employs on this day is breakfast with our cousins, but hey, that's better than nothing, right?

every year on the fourth of july i wake up listen to the song "god bless the usa," by lee greenwood, over and over and over again until lance hits me with a pillow and tells me to stop! haha this year i got kind of emotional while listening to it. come to think of it, i get emotional every time i listen to that song. i don't know if it is because i have kids now, but i am just so grateful to live in this beautiful country, where we are free to choose for ourselves. it's no secret how i feel about our president and the direction he is leading this country. i am scared for my kids' futures, especially the way things are headed now. but on this day - america's birthday - i choose to set all those feelings aside and just focus on the greatness that is america.

we started our morning at breakfast with the osbornes, as always. we went to mimi's cafe and sat at the same exact table as last year. the same people were there even. i even had the same meal! ha after breakfast we went to seven peaks to have some fun in the sun. i knew it would probably be way too crowded, but lance had the day off and we wanted to do something besides sit at home. grandma came with, which made it easier - a water park with two small kids ain't easy! we also met some friends there - the nelsen's and laurel - so it was a grand ol' time, even if we couldn't move it was so crowded. ;)

that evening we picked the ferrell's up and drove to sugarhouse park to watch their firework show. it was a beautiful night - perfect firework weather. the show was great, and the company even better. we love the ferrell's. they are so laid back and easy to be around. not to mention mike is hilarious, and always has us rolling on the ground. finn didn't love the fireworks as much as he loved the ones lance lit off at our house last night. i think he probably got bored of them because they weren't as loud, thus not as exciting. sam liked these fireworks way better though! he was mesmerized - just stared at the sky as if in a trance. not traumatized at all, like he was last night. ;)

the kiddos were sure exhausted by the end of this long day. it was so fun though, and the best part was getting to spend it with my perfect little family. i love them so much, and i love this great place that we live.

god bless the usa!

..new traditions..

i am a very nostalgic person. i live for traditions. christmas time is so exciting to me because of all the traditions that have been in place since i was little. that's probably why i love all holidays so much - because of the traditions. sure, the candy and presents and all that stuff is nice, but it's honestly more just about the celebration for me.

for some reason, our family doesn't have many traditions for the fourth of july. the only thing we do is go to breakfast with some of our cousins the morning of the fourth. we don't go to a parade, or have a bbq, or spend time outside doing summery things. we just go to breakfast. i'm grateful we have at least that, but i've decided we need to start some new traditions for the fourth of july!

since everyone else does seem to have plans on the fourth, i decided we would start doing a bbq every year on the third - a way to kickstart the holiday. we invited our friends from our ward/neighborhood, and a few others that live in bountiful/nsl, and i was so happy that so many could make it! the party planner in me decided to make things very festive, and even though i only planned this a couple days in advance, i think it still turned out pretty patriotic and cute.

we enjoyed a plain ol' american bbq - hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, dip, salad, fruit, corn-on-the-cob and soda pop. i wanted to make a festive dessert, so i tried my hand at a red, white & blue shortcake featured on martha stewart's website. turned out pretty cute, and was pretty yummy, if i do say so myself. ;)

after dinner, we chatted the night away until it was dark enough to start some fireworks. i was excited to see how my boys would react - finn has always loved fireworks so i was curious if he still would, and also curious how sam would like them. finn loooooooved them. lance told him to cover his ears, and he picked up on that real quick. he would excitedly jump up and down whenever lance would light another one, quickly cover his ears, look up in the sky and wait for the big "bang!" and glimmer of lights. we gave all the kiddos sparklers, and finn loved that too. he was a little uncertain at first, and just stood there, arm extended all the way, staring at it. after it died he kept asking for more. he sure is his father's son - pyro at heart. ;) sam, on the other hand, wasn't as enthusiastic about the fireworks. i ran inside real quick to get something and left him outside with someone - when i came back out his face was bright red and he was making his sad face. i'm sure the noise scared him, and he probably also just needed his mama. i wonder what would have happened if i stayed out there? anyhow, we put some ear muffs on him and he calmed right down. by the end of the night he was sleeping soundly on my lap. :)

it was such a fun night, kick-starting the festivities with our friends. just in the past few months we have become really good friends with a few families in our ward. it has made our summer nights much more fun and eventful. we love having good friends nearby who we can do things with, whether it be dinner, movies, bbq's or just lighting off fireworks. i hope we all stay in this area for a while so that we stay good friends. and i hope that our 3rd of july bbq is a tradition we'll keep alive in the years to come.