MONTANA OR BUST!!!

Well, I don't have all of the pictures from our Flathead Lake trip yet, but I can at least post the pictures from our visit with Gary's family! His dad lives near Glacier National Park in a little touristy town and we haven't seen his brother and sister in almost three years! His dad was down here in March when Gary's other brother went through the temple, but he's the only one who's seen Olivia since she was about 3 months old! It was nice to see everyone, and I especially had a great time holding Gary's 8 month old nephew as much as I possibly could. Talk about a sweet baby boy! It was heaven. Olivia loved the baby, too. Here are just a few pics:


Olivia and Uncle Sean

Posing with Aunt Sheri

My favorite picture of baby Kristian!

Playing games on the porch (Olivia took this picture!) The weather
was so perfect, we spent a lot of time outside. It was beautiful!

Olivia and Kristian

Me and Kristian (he was kind of popular that weekend!)

More birthday pics...

It wasn't easy tying in the elephant theme with the water theme, but we managed to do it! Heather bought Olivia the cutest elephant pinata and the cake turned out to look just like her "Lely" (her much loved stuffed elephant which is now lost). What a great birthday for our 3 year old bundle of fun!

Since the plane from Australia was delayed a whole day and Grandma and Grandpa and Heather missed the party by only a couple of hours, we celebrated AGAIN that night and waited to cut the elephant cake until we were all together.

Happy Birthday, Princess!!!

Yes, I'm finally posting pictures of Olivia's birthday. It felt like we celebrated for a week! I made her a little cake (pink, of course) on her actual birthday, but for her birthday party she requested an elephant cake. The cake is always a big deal for me, and I love making them for her. It took a lot of planning, but I'm so thrilled with the way everything turned out. The kids all had a lot of fun and it was so nice to have so many of her cousins here to celebrate with her. Olivia is such a friendly, loving girl, and she has made a lot of friends here. We love our little princess who brings us so much joy and laughter!

Homecoming!

I know this is a little late, but I haven't taken pictures almost all summer because my sisters have such fancy cameras and take SOOOOO many pictures, I just rely on them for all of my pictures. WELL.... I just barely got all the most recent ones downloaded on the computer, so I'm finally posting them! Mom and Dad's homecoming was so emotional and great! Grandma was worried that Olivia would be more excited to see Heather than her because her and Heather got so close while G & G were gone. Well, Olivia ran right to Grandma (who was crying because almost EVERYONE in the family was at the airport). And I am happy to report that the bond Olivia had with her Grandma before she left is still there. Whenever we go over there, the two of them are inseperable. It's so good to have them home!

Olivia was getting VERY impatient!

With most of the grandkids

The happy reunion

The WHOLE clan minus 3 - We miss you Kyle, Katie & Britt! They are away serving in the military. (Well, Katie's not, she's just married to Kyle and is dragged wherever he is stationed!)

Just the beginning of the promised pictures...

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention that Olivia had her first sleepover at her Grandma's house the day before we went camping. She was playing in Grandma's room with her cousin when she fell and hit her face on the edge of the metal bedframe (OUCH). Grandma felt so awful and we did our best to reassure her that Olivia will fully recover and will still be going to sleepovers at Grandma's! We did everything we could to keep the gash clean while we were camping and it is healing just great! She'll probably have a little scar, but what kid doesn't...

Chillin' by the campfire

Olivia and her cousin, Benson LOVED playing in the tent. Benson was so good to read to her and play with her. What a lifesaver!

ABC's About Me...

A. Attached or Single - Attached
B. Best Friend – My husband/my mom and sisters
C. Cake or Pie – Cheesecake. Does that count?
D. Day –Saturdays or any day I get to sleep in
E. Essential Item(s) – extra clothes for Olivia, lotion, diet coke, cash
F. Favorite Color – purple
G. Gummy bear or Worms – bears! Worms gross me out in any form
H. Hometown - Currently? Kaysville
I. Indulgences – Shoes for Olivia!
J. January or July – April????
K. Kids – Have one, want more...blessings from heaven!
L. Life is incomplete without – My family
M. Marriage Date – April 4
N. Number of siblings – 2 brothers, 3 sisters
O. Oranges or Apples – apples, I guess. Not a big fruit fan
P. Phobias or Fears – Losing a loved one
Q. Quote – "What yer said?" (Olivia) or "Get that corn outta my face!" from Nacho Libre
R. Reason to Smile – Olivia's emerging sense of humor, being with family, finding a good bargain on shoes for Olivia, basically anything to do with Olivia!
S. Season -Spring for sure!
T. Tag – All of my fellow bloggers!
U. Unknown fact about me – None. I'm an open book
V. Vegan or Opressor of Animals – ??? I'm not really extreme either way
W. Worst Habit – Two words....Diet Coke
X. X-rays or Ultrasounds – What kind of question is this?
Y. Your favorite food –Mexican or Italian
Z. Zodiac Sign – Sagitarius

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

WELL...What a crazy month! I keep waiting for the hundreds of pictures we've taken of all the recent events, but I still don't have them on my computer, so you'll have to wait for pictures! Since my last post, we have had Olivia's birthday party, my Mom and Dad's homecoming, family visiting from out of state, a camping trip to Tony Grove, and a family vacation to Flathead Lake, Montana! It has been a blast! We are finally home and I think we are settled in for the rest of the summer.

Olivia's birthday party was so much fun! She loves the water, so we had a bunch of her little friends over for a water party! We had a small pool, water balloons, sprinklers, treats, and lots of fun! Of course she got spoiled and she got her first Barbie! She's getting so big...

We went straight from Olivia's birthday party to the airport to pick up my parents and Heather. They were supposed to be here for her party, but they got delayed 24 hours in Sydney. But they finally made it and we spent a week hanging out with them and lots of family from out of town. It was so good to have my sister Shauna and her kids here for 10 days. We don't get to see them enough.

When everyone left, Olivia and I packed up and left Gary home for a camping trip to our favorite spot, Tony Grove Lake with Grandma and Grandpa, Heather, Sherry and her boys! It was great! Then we had 1 day to do laundry, and pack up for a ten day trip to Montana! We visited Gary's dad in Whitefish for a couple of days, then went to Flathead Lake where my family rented a house right on the lake for a week. We were in a perfect little cove where the water was shallow enough for the kids to play in ALL DAY and Shauna and Steve and their kids came for half of the week! It was so relaxing and so much fun! The kids all had a ball, and it was hard to get them out of the water at the end of the day. We took one day and drove up through Glacier National Park and over Logan Pass which is the most beautiful drive I've ever taken! (Pictures to follow, although pictures could never do it justice...) It was hard to come home from such a great vacation, but now we are back to reality.

Somewhere in that busy month my sister came to my house to take pictures of Olivia which turned out SOOOOO cute! She starts a dance class this week and she is so excited. It will be so good for her. Sorry for the long post, but we had a lot going on! I promise pictures soon...