South

Day to Day

2012-01-24T21:52:00.005-07:00

Here are just some random pictures of our sweet boys!

Luke is enjoying his exersaucer and bouncer. He's working on sitting up but doesn't last long before he dives head first into the ground.

He's learning how to eat and not really loving it... he does like to wash it down with Mountain Dew though.

These brothers are really loving each other. Luke's eyes light up when Griffin talks to him, and Griffin gets annoyed when Luke doesn't talk back. Luke does however know how to screach at the top of his lungs to which Griffin says, "No sceamin' Luke!"

This kid cracks me up everyday. He's a little goofball. He got some dinosaurs for Christmas and he named the triceratops "Gompa" and it's baby is "Baby Gompa." We're not sure where this came from because he calls his Grandpa's "Papa."

Luke got a little nervous that this other baby was moving in on his territory.

So that's a wrap. These guys are pretty amazing and we are happy to have our lives revolve around them!

And So This is Christmas

2011-12-31T09:33:00.006-07:00

I am totally NOT Bah Humbug, but we didn't put up a Christmas tree this year. Reasons being that Marc worked every single day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve and I couldn't get it out of the storage by myself. Also, glass ornaments and Griffin certainly would not mix. I'll be sure to get some shatterproof ornaments before next years festivities.

So here is where our presents were presented.

We had a great morning! Griffin, however, doesn't like to open presents. "No paper, no presents." He would run and hide behind the chair when we tried to get him to open them. So we would take the paper off and then he was excited saying, "open it, open it!" And then while Marc or I was trying get the toys out of the darn twist ties/screws that kept them in the box, Griff would stand there and say, "Thank you! Thank you Dada, Thank you Mama!" over and over again. The more excited he got, the higher pitched his little voice got. It was pretty adorable.

Luke, on the other hand, loved the paper and boxes and his flashy new toy that lights up and makes music.

I love to see Griffin get down on the floor and play with Luke. It makes me so happy!

So, I'm pretty sure that this wrapping idea is gonna be a hit coming up on Pinterest. Not only is it very eye pleasing, we're going "green" people! All you need are a few used sheets of road construction plans and some white duct tape! I love my husband and his awesome creativity!

And it doesn't stop there! Rather than a stocking, I got a soccer sock filled with all kinds of great loot!

After the boys all napped we headed over to my parents for dinner with the Miller fam.

Papa Elf

We had our very own little Christmas miracle. Luke pooped! It had been 17 days since his last poop! Overshare, I know! And yes I know that's not normal, but for my boys it really is and I have taken them to the doctor and they are really ok, so please don't think I'm a bad mom. But he decided to wait until he was dressed in his cutest Christmas clothes to blow it all out so he had to wear the reserve outfit all day.

Hiding out in the corner planning his next scheme of mischief making...

Making humanitarian hygiene kits

Here is the family model all the way up from Mona! Work it Miss!

My beautiful Momma and her Bee themed gift from me

We never got a family photo with all of us that day so this is the best I could do!

It's that time of year...

2011-12-26T21:17:00.006-07:00

...when there is a party around every corner! So here is our month in party pictures, and very important commentary, so listen up!

We started our partying with Marc's company party. It was "semi-formal" and included one free drink and dinner. They failed to mention that there would be a DJ and dance floor. What a nice surprise?! The DJ got bored when no one was dancing so he just sang into his microphone along with all of the songs that he was playing. But you'll never guess what song it was that did get people up to dance. Well, I'll tell you, it was the "Electric Slide." It was very much like "Thriller" from 13 Going on 30. Hilarious!

Too bad that most of the people Marc work with didn't stop after their one free drink. We heard that the party got more interesting after we left... because everyone continued to get more drunk. There was even dancing on tables. Man, too bad we didn't stick around for that!

Next we had the Thompson Orthodontics party at La Jolla Groves.

We had a yummy dinner and Dr. T gave a super cute gift boxes.

Maybe I just think that they were super cute, because I put them together and got to pick out all the stuff that went in them. I made 10 of these things. Did I mention that I have the best job ever?

The next partay was a couples party at the Bishop's. We had an absolute blast! The food was fabulous, the decor was darling and the friends were so so so fun!

Rein-beer, so cute!

We did a white elephant gift exchange where Marc and I totally scored!

Here's our whole group with our shwag

Next we moved onto the minute to win it games. So stinking funny!

These facial expressions are fantastic!

Here is Mark and darling little Hadley both decked out in their Holiday gitup

Now the invitation said to "wear something festive, use your imagination. Raf and Claudia were so creative as "Grandma got ran over by a Reindeer." I love it!

We tried not to disappoint with our festiveness.

And here are our fabulous and festive host and hostess for the party. And boy do they know how to throw a great party. We had so much fun and I have not eaten that much or laughed that hard in such a long time! I really think they should host us once a month! They were just so good at it! Thanks Mark and Torrey for such a fun night! (and all the great pictures!)

Next we move on to our family parties. Heath and Steph had my family up for the Miller family party. Griffin loves to go to Aunt Steph's because she has tons of awesome cars!

We put together a care package for my nephew who just left the MTC for the Des Moines, Iowa mission. We are so proud and here is his pround momma, Jill.

My amazing sister, Steph, is always a wonderful hostess who is constantly making sure that everyone is taken care of, before worrying about herself.

Griff fueling up with some juice so he has more energy to play with the cars

Marc and I got to be Mary and Joseph and Luke was Baby Jesus for a short and sweet little nativity. It still made me bawl.

Marc is such a ladies man

My sweet Momma made all of us girls an apron and gave us the book, "The Christmas Apron." It is a very sweet story about the importance of family. My mom amazes me every year with the wonderful homemade projects that she comes up with.

Baby Nuke did not want to miss out on any of the action and managed to stay awake all night until he finally crashed in his dad's arms about 3 minutes before we went home.

Another wonderful party with wonderful hosts, lots of yummy food and wonderful family.

And last, but certainly not least, the South family party. Always a good time with this group. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that night but I got this group picture from Marc's sister Ashlee.

We did a cereal exchange. So fun, and the Reese's Puffs were a hit! Again, wonderfully delicious food, fantastic hosts and amazing time with family!

This is My December

2011-12-26T14:10:00.004-07:00

There has been a lot more brotherly love going on at our place. Griff likes to lay down next to Lukie and chat with him. I just have to watch closely and stop Griffin before his fun turns fearsome.

This is a typical Luke face, "Huh?"

Griffin is getting bigger each day and he now insists on sitting at the bar every chance he gets. "A sit a bar." It makes me a little nervous because he is up so high but he is very good to wait for help getting up and down. Here he is enjoying one of dad's daily protein shakes. "Dada make a shake?"

The following pictures are part of the new chick-fil-a outer wear collection designed by Marc South.

We took Griffin to see Mater at the Christmas tree lot on Center in Orem. He was so excited on the drive over there and kept saying, "Go see Mater! Dad Gum! Go see Mater! Dad Gum!" Once we got there, not so much.

He was a little nervous to get too close.

So, we left and as soon as we drove away he said, "Go see Mater? Go see Mater?"

We also ventured out to Thanksgiving point to see the reindeer. Griffin was in love!

Momma tried hard to keep Luke warm, but he wasn't diggin it.

We took the boys to get their pictures taken with Fotofly Santa... that is actually Marc in a santa suit. This is how much Griffin cooperated. He really dislikes having his picture taken but really likes to look at the pictures afterward and say, "Griffin crying, Griffin Sad."

Luke, on the other hand, was much more cooperative.

Ok, so this one worked out alright.

Marc and I went for a date night out with our friends Joe and Hayley. We went to the Salt Lake Temple and did sealings. Oh my how I love the Salt Lake Temple! It is so amazing and beautiful! And then we did a quick jaunt through the freezing and crowded temple square. It was beautiful as well.

We finished the night off by having dinner at the Garden Restaurant where Marc got his very own Christmas tree!

And finally, we got Marc's sister, Ashlee, to snap some quick pictures of us so that we could give one to Marc's dad for Christmas... we didn't get Christmas cards out this year, so here ya go! Again Griffin did not want to participate in anything involving a camera so this is the best we got. Good news, Luke survived the choke hold I have him in, and that calf stretch that I'm working really loosened me up for the night. Oh, and can you tell that Marc works outside in the sun and wind all day? I really wish that those tan lines were from skiing instead of working.

November in a Nutshell

2011-12-13T21:02:00.001-07:00

Marc and I were lucky to score some free and Awesome seats to a BYU game. Sad, but true, I don't remember who they played. I do remember that they won by a lot. I also remember that I enjoyed watching the cheerleaders and drill team more than the game...

Along with our sweet seats, we had access to the hospitality tent, with tons of great food. Marc was diggin the ribs!

I also remember that it was freakin freezing! It was such a fun night and I loved the whole atmosphere at the game!

Later in the month, I got to go to Logan with my Mom, Auntie's and Uncle to see my cousin's family have their new sweet baby sealed to them.

Abby was abandoned by her mom at the hospital and my cousin, Kate, has been fighting for a year to make her an official part of their family. It was a very sweet and amazing experience.

Whoa Blickenstaff's in full force here! Can you tell they are siblings?

Love to spend time with my sweet momma!

Now, on to the kiddos. Griffin still very much dislikes hearing Luke cry, so he plugs his ears.

Luke is grabbing on to everything and rolling and rolling and rolling all over the place!

My dad is back to cruising around town on his bike after having his knee replaced this summer! This makes me so happy! As always, safety first with the bright orange attire. I love that he has a curves water bottle.

Oh, and Nuker is still growing, can you believe it?

Ashley's Baby Shower

2011-12-11T21:41:00.004-07:00

First, let's start with a little blast from the past. I met my dear friend Ashley while working at Alpine Dental Care approximately 6-7 years ago. She, Cort and I have had some super fun times together. Here we are on Ashley's wedding day 5 1/2 years ago.

She moved away to Colorado and we would make a point to get together when she was in town.

Now she is living in Arizona and is pregnant with her first baby. I was so excited to help her mom plan her baby shower.

I was in charge of the decor. Thank you pinterest for giving me so many fun ideas. I spent many hours making the decorations and several of my fingerprints became victims to the hot glue gun. Ashley gave me the color scheme that she had in mind for her nursery and I went with that.

This little crepe paper rose ball was another pinterest find. Soooo time consuming and not a good idea to start this project at 11 pm. I also made the "subway art" that I centered around this sweet little new bundle.

I switched out the ribbon in Lukie's bassinet to go with our color scheme and to make a perfect gift collector.

The favor boxes were filled with hugs and kisses. Thank you to my mom and sister who helped me put these together.

This little momma couldn't possibly open gifts without a proper crown! My crown making skills could use some work...

Everything turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! The best part is that she is planning to use all of the decor in the nursery, so it isn't all just a waste! The shower had a wonderful turn out and this baby made a haul! I can't wait to meet this new little bundle when she gets here!

This last picture is a replica of a picture that we took on my last day of work at Alpine Dental... I can't find the original and my two friends here are apparently too busy to send me their copy. But who doesn't enjoy a good pyramid, especially with a pregnant lady on top?!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-17T22:02:00.005-07:00

October is always a fun filled month for us since we love all things Halloween. That includes jammies! We pulled out the Halloween books also. Griffin learned a whole new realm of things like a ghost says "boo", a spider says "creepy crawly", a witch says "ahhh, ahhh ahhh", werewolf says "ow ow ooooo", and a jack-o-lantern says "Happy Halloween." He's pretty adorable.

What's better than glow in the dark jams? MATCHING glow in the dark jams! So CUTE!

We enjoyed these through the month and beyond.

I had a super fun day with my sisters and niece. We bummed around and made these little crafty lanterns. Vases from DI and tissue paper. Officially the cheapest craft ever!

Actually, I didn't make any, but Steph didn't want hers so I gave them a good home.

Of course we attended Witches Night Out and Witchapalooza. I went as a bird witch. My hat weighed 25 lbs... it was a super bad idea.

Then there was Breakfast with a Witch at Gardner Village with Griff and his cousins. He was a little young to fully enjoy it but he had a good time listening to and dancing to the music!
Here is the Queen Witch! Watch OUT!

Griffin's costume is actual lederhosen that my mom brought home from Germany a couple years ago and it finally fits! I took a ton of pictures because he looked so darling!

Here are the rest of the kiddos. Griff's cousins Tanner and Carson, and their cousins Tate, Whit and Reese.

And, finally, Halloween night the whole family dressed up as the Von South's.

And little Luke was our yodeling goat

Happiest little goat!

What a great month!

The Boys!

2011-11-01T16:00:00.006-06:00

It's time for this momma to write down some random happenings for my memories sake!

I wish that I could pause these boys right where they are! Griffin is talking up a storm all day everyday. He is so funny and sweet. And Luke is such a happy baby who smiles every time we look at him!

This is the sign of a good nap!

Can you tell Griffin has a favorite shirt?

Just getting some work done on their laptops

Some of my favorite things about Griffin right now:

He tries to comfort Luke when he is crying in the car by saying, "Almost done, Luke," over and over again, while he is plugging his ears so that he can't hear him cry.

He wants everything to "say" something, ie.

What does the car say? "Vroom Vroom" What does the cow say? "Moo" Those two are easy and he knows all of his animals and what they say. It gets a little harder when he wants to know what the space ship says (we taught him that it says "outer space" or in Griffin's cute language it sounds more like "our pace") and what the flag says (we say "USA") and the list goes on. What does the bus say, "The Bus, the B U S." One of my favorites is What does Jesus say? "Come follow me!" And he says it with so much excitement it's so adorable. I wish that I could just follow him around with a video camera. The faces that he makes and the things that he says crack me up! He also closes his eyes and pretends that you aren't there if he doesn't want to hear what you have to say.

He is getting taller and climbing on top of everything which means that nothing is safe anymore. He recently started calling me Mom, which made me kinda sad, because I liked being momma. He loves his mom, dada and baby Nuke.

Our bed time routine is awesome. We usually read a few stories. Right now his favorites are Happy Birthday Moon, Goodnight Moon and Frank was a Monster who Wanted to Dance. He knows them well and if we pause while reading he will fill in the blank. We say prayers and Griffin tells us to fold our arms and close our eyes and then we sing a few songs. He loves "I am a Child of God" and "Give said the Little Stream." He sings along too!

He's mostly good with a few little naughty streaks here and there.

And then we have our little Nuker. He's quite a tank. He likes to eat, barf, sleep and smile. He has rolled over a few times and he scoots around in a circle if we lay him down on the floor. He has recently discovered his voice and likes to screach and babble. He tries to shove his entire hand in is mouth if his binky isn't already in there. He's adorable and we can't remember what life was like before him. He's the perfect addition to our family and we just love him a whole lot!

He makes some pretty awesome faces too!

Oh and Luke doesn't seem to be having any trouble growing. Like I said, I really wish that I could just push pause!

Sometimes we all like to cram onto the same chair with Dada...

Life is Good!

The MOST Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-10-16T22:23:00.003-06:00

I like Christmas too, but I love the calm before the Christmas storm. When it is cool in the mornings and evenings and perfect during the day. When there are lots of get-togethers with friends and family to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. When I'm not stressed about getting the perfect gift for the ones that I love... I like to pretend that Christmas is far far away. But after typing all of that, I'm starting to stress, so lets move on.

We have spent a lot of time up American Fork and Provo Canyon's over the last 3 weeks. Week one we went to Cascade Springs.

Just momin' my two boys

Week two we took an evening drive over the loop and ended up at Sundance.

Week three we drove up to Tibble Fork and Silver Lake.

I absolutely LOVE autumn! I love living so close to the mountains and being able to watch the colors change right before my eyes. And I love being with my little family!

Griffin is TWO!

2011-10-09T22:00:00.003-06:00

My sweet Griffin is growing up WAY too fast! I can not believe that he is TWO! We had a super fun fire truck party to celebrate 2 fantastic years!

We both have such big families! It was so fun to have everyone there to help us celebrate our little guy!

Someone is missing...Our little baby Nuke slept through the entire party! What a pooper! Actually, I was a little relieved, that's mean, I know!

He still didn't really get what was going on with the presents. Griffin did not want to put anything down to open another present. I can't say that I blame him. He got some awesome stuff!

My mom made Griffin this darling quilt. This boy is in love with dump trucks and tractors so he LOVES this quilt! I love it too, and can't even believe how much time must have gone into this! We will cherish this quilt forever!

Griffin got lots of trucks! Including a new big firetruck, a garbage truck ("baabage cuck") and some little hot wheels trucks!

When I am in charge the food involves lots chocolate and cream cheese!

Oh, and sugar... I like sugar!

Which is just one of the reasons that I LOVE this boy so much! Because he is so so sweet!

Happy Birthday to my Baby?...Griffin!

We are Blessed!

2011-09-22T21:28:00.005-06:00

My sister's-in-law Jeni and Wendi both had babies within weeks of me having Luke. Jeni lives in Kentucky so while she was out for a visit we had a triple baby blessing for these three sweet baby cousins.

I had fun making the centerpieces and banners... I just wish I would have started on this project more than 3 days before the blessing. But, that's just how I roll. Why be prepared in advance when you can procrastinate and go a teensy bit crazy?

We decorated each table with photos of each of the babies.

So many friends and family! It is so fun to be surrounded by the people that we love!

My friend McKell was due 6 days before me, but ended up delivering one week after me. It was so fun to go through this pregnancy with so many others who were feeling my pain! We are gonna have some fun playdates in our future with Baby Ivy!

This was a rough night for Griffin. First of all, we were at church... and on top of that there were a lot of people and anyway, he was just a cranky little guy who would not let his dad put him down.

If I could do it all over again, I would have taken more pictures. How sad is it that we didn't take one single picture of these three babies together or of our families all together. So sad! But, there were so many people and it was just a little crazy!

Luke is so big that his blessing outfit barely fit! By the time we got around to taking this picture, Luke was over being the star of the show...

I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who gave our little Luke the most perfect blessing. I am so blessed to have this sweet blessed baby and his amazing older brother!

I love my little family!

Laboring at the Cabin

2011-09-11T17:17:00.003-06:00

We went down to my parents cabin for Labor Day weekend. We went to get some work done like clearing trees and weeds and other jobs, but since Sunday is a day of rest we got to relax too!

Griffins face in this picture is hilarious!

Luke was a little angel! Seriously, he must have loved that mountain air because he was so chill and is never that easy when we are at home.

Here is some of my family hanging out on the porch.

My mom and niece, Taylor, shuckin some corn.

Sweet Baby!

Griffin ran and ran and ran all over the place!

Relaxin' with Dad

My dad hasn't been able to drive for a few months now. He loved driving the Ranger and the Four Wheeler. It made us all a little nervous, so we made my nephew Dalton go with him. They both made it back alive, so that was good!

We left Luke in good hands and went for a little ride too!

Griffin does not sleep well when we are away from home. He gets really cranky too, so here he finally passed out while watching CARS. Sorry that I look so terrifying... that's what happens when we go to the cabin. I love these boys, especially when they are asleep. Haha!

More and more running, this time with a dump truck!

So, I felt pretty lame since I didn't really get to help much with the work on the cabin but I had a great time hanging out with my family! Thanks mom and dad for such a great place to get away!

Nursery and Newborn Photos

2011-09-02T12:53:00.006-06:00

So, I'm finding that life with two boys is a little crazy, but I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of the nursery!

His name on the old window was my first and only attempt at using vinyl.

Marc is so talented and he did the beautiful wainscot and trim around the doors and windows. We actually did this same wainscot in our old house, in the nursery that was supposed to be for Griffin, but we ended up moving and then didn't have time or money to do it in this house before Griffin was born. So, we got to do it for this room and baby Luke. Did any of that last run-on sentence make any sense? Anyway, this room is bigger and will eventually be the room that our boys will share someday in the future.

I was looking for fabric when I was about 5 months pregnant and found this cute line by Michael Miller (which also happens to be my dad's name). I fell in love with the vintage bicycles and sort of took off from there.

I found the above print on etsy! I love that it went so perfectly with my theme.

This rocking chair is one of two that I got from my Grandma Oli when she died. This was by far my LEAST favorite project for the nursery. Painting all of those spindles and making new cushions...It was hard and time consuming and I was pregnant and tired before I even started. The cushions were especially frustrating because I didn't know what I was doing and they look pretty pathetic!

I enjoyed making the bedding. It was a much more rewarding project for me. I had to piece some of the fabric for the crib skirt which was annoying, but at least I didn't have to buy more:)

I made these pillows too! The bicycle I actually cut out with my cricut and ironed it onto the fabric. And I used up a lot of my left over scraps on the little pillow.

This room has been so fun to put together! I love it and I think Baby Luke does too!

Way back when Luke was 2 weeks old, we got some newborn photos taken. My friend, Ricks, told me about Fotofly and I would recommend them too! They were quick and edited that same day so that I could get my announcements out.

Ok, so brace yourself... the following collage might just shock you!

What happened between month 1 & 2 you ask? I'm not sure who gave my newborn steroids, but I sure do love this little giant!

The Hills Are Alive...

2011-08-10T21:24:00.004-06:00

My mom treated me and my sisters to the Summer Theatre at Sundance. IT WAS AWESOME! I had so much fun that I would go again this summer if I could! Does it get any more gorgeous than these mountains?

Can you tell that we're related??? Just LOOK at those chins!

The musical was very well done. It started with Maria singing behind us and walking down the mountain. One of my favorite parts of the night was when we got to sing along as the audience. They had the words printed in the program (not that we needed them) and they would have us join in or sing during set changes. What made this part even better was sitting next to my sister Stephanie. We belted it out as often as they let us! This whole thing was Steph's idea! I am eternally grateful!

It was overcast when we got there and we were worried that we might get rained on. Well we did! We definitely got wet but we just pulled on our jackets and hoods and we were fine! I felt bad for the actors, but they didn't miss a beat!

The whole experience was so fun! From hiking up the mountain to the theater, singing along, eating yummy treats, getting soaked, and hiking back to the car in the dark we had a blast! I love my sisters and my mama!

Life at the South House

2011-07-29T13:22:00.009-06:00

Griffin is loving Luke more each day. I can't even count how many times a day I hear, "Baby Nuke, kiss." Griffin doesn't understand that he can kiss him on his cheek or his head with his lips. Instead he thinks that a kiss is touching his cheek to Luke's cheek or his head to Luke's head. I love it!

Here Griffin is getting a little aggressive with his brotherly love.

We took Griffin to the splash pad. We thought that he would love it... but not so much.

Marc was trying to warm him up to it.

He did much better when he had something to play with in the water. So we emptied out some snacks from the diaper bag and started to have fun.

He got even more brave when we gave him a car to play with.

And then another kid running by and kicking water splashed him, and he was done. We'll try again before the summer is over.

Anytime, we go anywhere in the car Griffin wants to see horses. Living in Lehi that's not too hard to accomplish. The other night we pulled over to get an even closer look.

Griffin was still a little scared at first but he warmed up really fast. And, as you can see from the pictures below, these horses were stretching through the fence and loved the attention that we were giving them!

We have been trying to enjoy the firepit, but considering that as soon as it cools off it becomes a freaking mosquito infested wasteland, it makes it a little less enjoyable. Marc said it's death by firing squad. So, we hurry and roast up some marshmallows, snarf down some smores and that's about all we can handle.
Baby "Nuke" is now almost 6 weeks old. Earlier this week he weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz. and he's wearing clothes that Griffin wore when he was 3 months old! I am watching him grow right before my eyes and time is flying by faster than ever before!

Marc got a little extra workout while mowing the lawn this week. Griffin was in heaven (I love that he has a fire truck in his hand).

Griffin is learning how to feed himself... this is how that is going.

Hike to Timp Cave
My sister Megan and her family are visiting from Washington and some of our family got together for a hike up to the cave.

We loaded up our boys and were on our way! Good thing Marc got some training in with Griff on his back while mowing the lawn!

Griffin did pretty well in the cave as long as Marc had a steady stream of jelly beans going into his mouth. We had a blast!

Weekends

2011-07-18T16:19:00.004-06:00

Our last few weekends have been really fun. We have been enjoying the summer and love getting out of the house! Most nights when Marc gets home from work we go on a little walk around the block. This is how Luke rolls.

And this is how Griffin rolls. He loves to push his tractor and dump truck!

It takes quite a while to get all the way around the block with Griffin. He likes to stop and pick up every rock and throw it. He also has a fascination with ants... so anytime we see one... like I said, it takes a while.

Since Griffin LOVES firetrucks we thought that it would be fun to take him to the Steel Days Parade so he could experience them in real life, not just on YouTube. So glad I have this video!

It's a love/hate relationship.

Here he is still recovering from the HONK!

And little Lukie just chills through it all.

Our next outing was the Zoo. We thought that Griffin would LOVE this. However, he was more interested in the water, than the animals. He pointed out the water in all the animals cages. It was so stinking hot that day, so a lot of the animals were sleeping, so that was kind of a bummer. I had not been to the zoo for probably 7 years. HOLY HILLS! That place is crazy with hills and (and I'm really out of shape) and it was so hot that we only lasted a couple hours.

We couldn't get him to stand where he was supposed to for the photo op, but you get the idea.

And once we were in the nice, air conditioned car he crashed. That means he had fun, right? Or he had heat stroke? Not sure.

Our most recent outing was to the duck pond at Highland Glen Park. Is anyone else bothered that it's not called Adventure and Learning Park anymore? I remember coming here with my preschool and many times since then. It will always be Adventure and Learning Park to me!

Griffin loved throwing bread to/at the ducks! Anytime he gets to throw something he's happy!

Luke in his little cocoon! He is a little angel who sleeps through most everything when we are out and about. Sleeping at night, now that's another story.

And on to the playground

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt!

July Fourth

2011-07-12T21:36:00.002-06:00

Our day was filled with family, food, fireworks and fun!

My dad got to come home from the rehab center for the day! He was rockin' those superman pants!

And here we are, the family of four!

Luke at Home

2011-07-05T21:39:00.005-06:00

Things got off to a rough start at home for Luke. His Bilirubin level was high so he had to be under the lights. We started out with just the Bili blanket for one day but his level still went up so they moved us on the suitcase. After 3 days on the lights and 4 days of heel pokes he was finally able to get out. I hated having his little naked body in there. It made me so sad that I had to just watch him lay there when I should be holding and bonding with him. It was heart breaking. I am grateful for the technology that we have that keeps our babies healthy and safe though.

Griffin came to visit us at the hospital but wasn't interested in his brother at all. I said, "Griffin, do you want to come see the baby?" and he said, " NO, bye baby."

When we brought Luke home, Griffin decided to take a little more interest. At first Griffin would imitate every little squeak or grunt that Luke would make. It was pretty funny. When we let Griffin hold him he started out by poking his eyes...

then his nose...

then his lips...

and then his head.

Finally, he decided to give him a hug. I love my boys! Luke is gonna be tough. Griffin pulls Luke's blankets off and throws toys or pretty much anything that he can find over the side of the bassinet. Brotherly love, right? He makes up for being naughty by saying, "Cute Baby Luke."

My dad recently had his knee replaced and is recovering at a care center in Orem. Grandpa was excited to meet his new grandson. He called me to check on Luke everyday until he got to meet him.

It is so nice to be home and have everybody under the same roof. Marc has been back to work and I have been able to handle being a mother of two pretty well. We even made a quick trip to Walmart and made it back home in one piece. I was worried!

Baby Luke is Here!

2011-06-30T21:07:00.004-06:00

Luke Michael South

Born June 23, 2011

6 lbs. 14 oz 18.5 inches

So for those who want to know:

Luke was born 3 weeks and 1 day early

I started contracting at about 2:00 p.m.

Got to the hospital at 3:00p.m.

Monitor me for 1 hour

New Nurse (not very smart or confident) told me that I was just dehydrated and not in active labor and told me to drink some water

Contractions started coming faster and harder

Because I am now crying and shaking, New Nurse says, "Are you in a lot of pain? You LOOK like you're in labor." She has another nurse check me (because she couldn't tell) and I am at a 5+

They admit me and New Nurse tries to get an IV started so that I can get the epidural

Having major contractions about 2 minutes apart

New Nurse tries twice (my hand was bleeding everywhere)

I finally get the epidural and the anesthesiologist tells New Nurse that her IV job stinks and to try AGAIN! 3rd times the charm, now I just look like a domestic dispute victim

I start to feel GREAT! LOVE THE EPIDURAL!

Shift change: Yay! Loved this nurse!

Started pushing at 7:55 p.m.

Baby is facing up (a lot harder to push out)

Luke arrived at 8:30 SAFE AND SOUND!

Thank Heaven!

I'm so happy to not be pregnant anymore!

So happy to be going home!

Feels Like Home

2011-06-21T21:18:00.004-06:00

Finally, after living in our house for almost two years it is starting to feel like a home! This summer we have finally been able to work on our yard and it makes such a huge difference!

I have always wanted a porch to hang bunting from. I've kinda gone a little crazy with my patriotic-ness!

Griffin loves the porch too. It's a great place to practice climbing..

and to play with cars...

and to practice yoga!

Now on to the backyard. Here is the before...

And after!

These pictures are from last summer when Marc was building the deck.

He designed it himself and it was a lot of work! We are grateful for Marc's dad and Brother Jeff who came and helped with the finishing touches.

And TaDa! Isn't it beautiful! It is so fun to come out here and relax!

I love the stairs and the bench. Marc is so talented and creative! I need to get some flowers in that planter box...

Marc got a firepit for Father's Day and we've added it to the circle. We tried it out tonight for the first time and it is wonderful! You should come hang out with us... or at least use us for our smores!

Marc's 30th and 31st Birthdays!

2011-06-17T15:49:00.005-06:00

Last year for Marc's 30th birthday I decided to do something special since 30 is a big milestone. So I got him a gift certificate for skydiving!

Well finally, the day before his 31st birthday he got around to using his gift certificate. He took his brother Jeff (mini Marc) and his friend Joe with him. Here they are before any of the action started. They began by watching an "instructional" video that was hilarious. It featured a man with a beard down to his belly button who basically told you if you die, your family can't sue. It also showed video a footage of an ambulance driving away to which Joe stated, "do they need to show the ambulance? Why don't they just show a grave?"

Here they are all suited up and ready to go!

What's wrong with this picture? We had some time before they went up and we took tons of pictures with this little demo plane. I was laughing so hard, I thought I was gonna go into labor!

One last kiss for the unborn...

And they are on their way! Que Kenny Loggins Top Gun Theme...

They each did a flip as they jumped out of the plane. They free fall for about one minute before they pull the parachute rip cord. While free falling Marc's tandem guy did tons of spins and Marc said he thought he was gonna toss his cookies!

They got to steer the parachute so that was pretty cool!

And luckily they all landed safe and sound! They had a blast and are ready to do it again!

What is Up

2011-06-07T16:24:00.004-06:00

Griffin LOVES fire trucks so on Memorial Day we went to the American Fork Fireman's Breakfast. Griffin loved being able to get close to the truck and said "Fire Truck" about 1000 times, followed by "Weee ooo weee ooo weee ooo" (his sound for the siren.)

The food on the other hand... well I'm pretty sure that I've never eaten so many calories for so cheap. Nuff said. We picked up my dad and took him with us. He saw so many people that knew him and would come and say, "hi" and as soon as they would walk away he would say, "I don't know who that was." It was pretty funny.

Marc has been spending every spare second that he has getting the backyard ready for sod.

Finally, last Saturday, it stopped raining long enough to get it done!

We had the best help! Our neighbors just showed up to help, and Marc's dad and my family were a huge help too. The sod got to our house at 7:00 a.m. and they were done by 9:30 a.m! Thank you for all of your help!

I will get a better picture but for now here's a preview of our new greenery!

Sunday was so beautiful so we went up Provo Canyon to soak up some sunshine.

We ended up at Bridal Veil Falls. The river is so high right now! We were brave and walked through the little stream at the bottom of the falls. Griffin wasn't happy about the freezing water, but he had a great time throwing rocks into the stream.

It was such a beautiful day!

We're getting closer! 34 weeks!

May...

2011-05-26T21:29:00.013-06:00

Griffin and I ventured up to Layton to visit Cort. While we were there, we made a trek to the park... probably not a trek for most people, but it was up hill and I am 7 1/2 months pregnant. Griffin had a good time exploring. And, no I don't think that a onesie works as a shirt. He had on long sleeves and it was just too hot so we stripped off a layer.

I love this girl and her skinny little collar bone

Meanwhile, back at the South House we have been doing lots of yard work. Marc has been working hard to get the backyard ready for sod. Too bad that we didn't get it in before it rained for a week and turned all of his hard work into a mud puddle. Griffin had a blast on the tractor with dad and just kept saying "tractoo, tractoo, tractoo" over and over again the entire time!

Last Saturday we worked in the front yard. This is our first time planting flowers and we really didn't know what we were doing so we are just praying that they thrive and fill up our flower beds this summer. My poor sister Missy got roped into helping us when she came over for me to help HER with a project. She ended up getting down and dirty with us and made it go so much faster! Not to mention, she helped me figure out how to arrange everything. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of her, but she was the cutest and best dressed gardener that you've ever seen! Thanks Miss!

It's still a work in progress, we need to get some bark and a few more flowers and then I'll post a picture of the finished product. I can say that nothing has died...yet!

All of the hard work in the yard has really worn us out! Luckily we are blessed with one of the best sleepers on the planet, or at least we think he's the best! He takes a 3.5- 4 hour nap everyday, goes to bed around 7:30 and usually sleeps about 11-12 hours every night! I'm enjoying it while it lasts because I know that there are gonna be a lot of sleepless nights with a newborn right around the corner.

A little more about Griffin, he is AWESOME! He is so smart and isn't afraid to tell you so. For example.

Me: "Griffin where is your nose" (or eye, hair, head, ear... the list goes on)

Griffin: Points and says the word

Me: "Good Job Griffin!"

Griffin: "Mmmmmaaaart!"

It is so funny and cracks me up! He knows all of his body parts and it is so funny to hear him say them. Every time he points to his belly button he also follows it with a "beep beep." He loves belly buttons and points them out every chance he gets. Like on people magazine at the grocery store. He also points to my belly and says "Baby!" It's so adorable!

He knows all barnyard animals and the sound that they make. My favorite is piggy because he says "a-hynk." Griffin still loves horses on t.v. or in a book, but is absolutely terrified of them in real life.

He will finish some of the words to songs like Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

He loves busses and is always pointing them out on the road.

He just talks non stop all day long and I love it!

He is a horrible eater. He lives on juice and milk and if we are lucky some cheerios and goldfish crackers. He only eats things that are crunchy. Oh, and dog food. Sick I know! But he is always sneaking it out of Ruka's dish and it makes me gag, especially when his breath smells like it! Hey, it's his only source of protein but I still don't let him get away with it.

He RUNS everywhere, never walks. And will repeat most anything we ask him to except for "I love you." The kid WILL NOT SAY IT! He hears it all day long but refuses to say it back. Oh well. I'm writing all of this for my own sake... so kudos if you're still reading!

We got together with the South Family to place Marc's sister, Carrie's headstone. Carries kids designed it, Wendi engraved the granite, Jeff set it in the concrete and everybody helped place it. Carrie passed away last year and we have been looking forward to placing this in memory of her. We always get together on Mother's day at the cemetery and let balloons go for Marc's mom and for Carrie. It is a great tradition and way to celebrate these women that we love!

I love these handsome boys of mine!

And of course we are still working on the nursery and getting everything ready for our sweet baby to join us! It is coming together and I am excited to be done, with the nursery and the pregnancy!

32 Weeks!

Mooooooooooooooooooo!

2011-05-05T15:53:00.002-06:00

The 3rd trimester is here!

We are working on the nursery and it is turning out awesome! Hopefully we can wrap it up this weekend. I wish that I could clone Marc so that he could be working on the nursery and the backyard at the same time. I made him stay up until 1:00 a.m. last Saturday, working on the nursery, which resulted in him getting a migraine. Sorry Babe! I will feel so much better when they are both done!

This pregnancy has flown by! I can't believe that I only have 10 weeks (or maybe 7-8) left... Griffin came early so I'm really hoping that I don't have to see the month of July as a pregnant woman!

Easter

2011-04-25T22:38:00.008-06:00

We got Griffin a basketball hoop for Easter. What a great investment!

He played this way for an hour and a half before church. He was so worn out that Sacrament Meeting was actually enjoyable!

I made a quilt for Griffin that he loves because it has cars and buses on it. Every time he sees it he says "Bussss sh". It's pretty cute. It was not intended as an Easter gift but I just happened to finish it 2 days before, so I saved it for Easter.

Thank you Costco for carrying adorable suits for little guys. He looked so handsome! He still looked cute even with green crayon on his vest and face (he likes to eat crayons in nursery...)

My food assignment for this year was rolls. My mom has had 2 different teaching sessions with me on Thanksgiving in years past. I did a practice round last Monday and called my mom 15 times. But they turned out so I was up to the task for Easter. Only there were going to be a lot more people so I doubled the recipe. I ended up with 85 rolls! And they were pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

They may not be much to look at but at least they tasted good!

We attempted to take some nice Easter family pictures, and this is how it went down with Griffin.

So we let him get down and play with a ball and got a good one of just us.

Griffin and Papa. I love that Griffin loves my dad so much. It's so adorable. He LOVES to go visit Papa!

It was a great day! Church was awesome. I am so thankful for the Atonement. I love and am grateful for my family.

Random Catching Up

2011-04-24T22:09:00.007-06:00

Well, I'm a little behind so here we go. Last month was the Utah Dental Association convention in Salt Lake. Our office went up and our wonderful Doctor Thompson treated us to dinner at Benihana and a night in the Marriott.

I have so much fun with these cute girls that I work with. The next day we went to the Ortho meeting which was fun and motivational. I love anything that makes me want to be a better person and this was a good pick me up!

I got spoiled to the max for my birthday!

My handsome husband treated me to a night out at Kingsbury Hall to see Romeo and Juliet by Oddessy Dance Utah. This is the only picture that I took, and I love it! It is one of the coolest dance concerts that I have ever seen. I absolutely loved it. Marc knows me so well. I called him when I heard an advertisement on the radio for this concert and I asked him if we could go. He was a little ticked because he had already bought tickets and was planning on it... apparently he's on their mailing list and he knew about it way before I did, so I kinda ruined the surprise. Then on my actual birthday, we went to Tepanyaki which is my absolute FAVE! It was the best!

I also got spoiled at work! They decorated my office, treated me to lunch at PF Changs, gave me presents and made an amazing rainbow cake just for me! Everything made me feel so special!

So as you can see, I LOVE food and I got LOTS of it for my birthday!

I also got a gardening basket and gift certificate from my mom. We are working on putting in our backyard and I really want to plant some flowers in the front. I have no idea what I am doing but I am excited to learn from the best! (that means you mom)

And, wonderful friends stopped by with birthday wishes and gifts too! I really am so grateful for all of the amazing people in my life! And not just because you brought me presents.

We have been loving the warmer weather that we get here and there. Griffin loves to be outside and it helps get lots of his energy out!

I think that this was the first day that Griffin discovered his shadow.

It's pretty hard to get him to stay on the sidewalk or to keep him going on a walk without lots of exploring so we do end up picking him up and carrying him so that we eventually make it back home!

We celebrated our 7th Anniversary this month! We dressed up and went to Flemings for dinner. It was fabulous! Again, a night centered around food... I see a dangerous pattern here. Then, for old times sake we went to Clark Planetarium and went to a laser show. It had been at least 10 years since we have done that. Man there are some weirdy's at that place.

Oh, and I got my braces off!!!! Hallelujah! Thanks Dr. T!

And FINALLY, Marc's buddy Joe got married! This is only a few of the bro's that met up at our house before the bachelor party started.

The party involved shooting guns and eating steak. A good time was had by all, I guess.

This Little Guy

2011-03-17T21:40:00.003-06:00

I am one lucky lady to get to chase this little leprechaun around all day!

Man he's Cute!

He is a little ball of energy that NEVER stops! He runs and dances and spins and throws himself around, all while his mouth is going a hundred miles an hour!

Oh, and he hides too! This is one of his favorite spots.

Griffin is lucky to have a dad that can not only keep up with his energy, but can also turn a simple diaper box into the coolest little car in town! Marc pushed Griff all over the family room in this box and kept him entertained for like 3 minutes!

Griff is going through a "no-eating" phase, but he loves to share a smoothie every morning with his dad. Luckily it's packed with healthy stuff!

We just got Griffin some shades and he LOVES them! He wears them everywhere!

He's super cool!

Luckily, at the end of the day, he holds still long enough for a bottle and a couple stories before bed. This is our nightly routine.

And sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a little snuggle.

He is so dang smart and learning new things everyday. Here are some of his new words.

tee (teeth)

hair

Meeee (which is Mottley, the dog next door) Griff begs to see him all day

side (outside) he begs to go outside all day too

heeee (horsey) LOVES horsies

byboo (diaper)

The list goes on but of course I can't think of any more right now. He really is such a good little talker. He is starting to put words together too. Like, "Bye Dada." He is so stinking fun!

Boy Oh Boy!

2011-02-28T11:51:00.003-07:00

Is this inappropriate to post? Oh, well!

Isn't this the coolest picture? Most babies are all crunched up, but this one was showing us what he's got! I can't believe how much I love this picture! From his cute foot right up to that little round bum! I already wanna squeeze it!

We are thrilled to be having another little guy around here. I can already picture Griff and his little bro playing together.

I also have fears of the teenage years...

Marc has a brother pretty close in age. Apparently they liked to beat the crap out of each other and his mom would call the police and make them sit on the curb in handcuffs... awesome!

Thank goodness I have a while until I need to worry about that!

I'm still feeling great! Just large and in charge, but I was that way before the pregnancy, so what else is new?

Romantical Weekend

2011-02-15T20:02:00.004-07:00

My fantastic husband treated me to a night away in the big SLC for Valentine's day. We dropped Griffin off at my mom's and the night was ours. We had a reservation for dinner at PF Changs but we got there too late. I have been craving this for about a month and had my heart set on it. The next available reservation was for 8:30 pm so we took it, and went for a little pre-dinner snack.

This little, teeny, tiny place is awesome! We had the "torpedo, " which is a Belgium waffle with dark chocolate in the middle and a side of ice cream.

It was delicious and we can't wait to go back to try the frites!

After we checked into our hotel we walked down to PF Changs and my mouth was already watering. Unfortunately, my pregnant mind had a much bigger appetite than my stomach and we didn't even come close to eating half of the food that we ordered. Marc kept saying, "Lets just share something." I really should have listened. We were so stuffed that we practically rolled out of the restaurant.

This picture is 50% real baby 50% food baby

It was so great to sleep in and just mosey around the next morning. We went to breakfast and then spent a good 4 hours at the Gateway. After all that shopping we needed some sustenance. So, we braved the smelly food court. Any confined space with that many different kinds of food is bound to stink!

Marc was double fisting it with a cheese dog and a corn dog

I realize that from the pictures that we took it appears that all we did was eat! Well, obviously that was a huge part of our weekend, but we had such a great time chatting while we ate!

Plus I'm not gonna tell you about the good stuff anyway :)

It was nice not revolving our day around our little Griff's schedule. And we even got to take a nap of our own!

The first words out of my mom's mouth when we walked in the door were, "Well, I can see why you needed a break!"

My sweetheart surprised me with these beautiful flowers that were delivered on Valentine's Day. Flowers are awesome, flowers that are delivered just make me feel extra special!

Thanks babe for a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I love you OH SO VERY MUCH! I am the luckiest!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T09:46:00.002-07:00

Walking! and other stuff

2011-02-03T10:02:00.003-07:00

That's right! About 5 days after I told you Griffin wasn't walking it happened... and man he didn't just start out with a few steps. We're talking, he pretty much just up and walked across the room the first time! And he's been NON-STOP ever since! The funny thing is that his crawling speed has gone double time, so when he's really in a hurry (to get away from me) he drops to his knees and he is off!

Just chillin with dad, watching some Sunday football. Notice the golfball in his hand... he rarely lets it go, except for to throw it and run and pick it up again.

Sharing a smoothie with dad. As you can see, he's learned to ham it up for the camera.

Playing with cousins. He loved the doll house!

Don't worry, he only played with Ken and still had a ball in his hand... so he was masculinely playing with dolls.

LOVE LOVE LOVE what I see in my rearview mirror now! Griffin is finally big enough to be in a bigger carseat. I know that you are supposed to leave them rear facing until they are a certain weight, but this thing would not strap in securely to my car if it was rear facing, so we thought it would be safer to have it in there nice and tight.

And finally, brace face scored herself a date! We went bowling, by ourselves, and had a blast!

Ya Ya Night

2011-01-26T20:04:00.001-07:00

Once in a while my mom, sisters, nieces and I get together for a girls night. We start out with some yummy food and then we do a craft project of some sort.

This time we had it at the Queen Mother's house. She filled our bellies with yummy soup and we were ready to craft!

My wonderful friend McKell gave me a darling dishtowel for a Christmas present. Then I turned around and made six of them for my mom for Christmas. Everyone loved them and wanted to make their own so that's how this ya ya night came about. Thanks for inspiring us McKell!

Apparently I'm a horrible instructor because I just like to read the instructions and then eyeball things and figure out what looks best as I go... well, that's not how this group of crazy perfectionists operate. They hated me for not have exact step by step instructions with precise measurements. Oh well, they still turned out great!

They are "Stay Put" towels that tie around your oven handle so that your kids and husband can't pull them off and drop them on the floor! Brilliant!

Since Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday I went red and pink fabric, which also just happen to be my favorite colors!

Here it is in action! Fabulous!

The Talking (not walking) Toddler

2011-01-15T21:40:00.002-07:00

It has been a long time since I've done an update on Griff! He is learning and doing more and more every single day. In the last week his vocabulary has exploded! He jabbers all day, everyday! Here are the words that he's really good at:

hi (says this all day to everyone, including strangers, several times over and over)

bye-bye (while waving)

night-night

mama

dada

papa

ruka (sometimes just ka)

no no

go go! (loves to watch Go Deigo Go, mostly just the opening credits with the song)

tree

ball

juice

drink

ba-ba (meaning bottle)

cracker

eye (while poking either himself or us in the eye)

down (which means up and down to him)

bite

moo

meow

He will also repeat after me if I tell him to say:

cheese

please

thank you

choo choo

woof woof

Mary (our babysitter)

He is such a blast! He is so funny and keeps me busy all day long!

He goes up and down the stairs at light speed. He has also learned how to climb and is quite proud of himself. He throws the pillows on the floor and stands on them to get himself up there.

Here are a few more pictures of the boy in action.

So, no, he still isn't walking. He stands up on his own all the time but as soon as he realizes it, he sits right down. He actually took about 6 steps today, but again, plopped down when he looked around and noticed he wasn't holding on to anything. So, I think he'll probably be running circles around me by the end of the month!
At his 15 month check up he weighed 20.8 lbs (still in the 5th percentile) and is healthy as a horse!

Baby Love

2011-01-10T21:12:00.004-07:00

I had my first doctor's appointment last week and we got to hear the heartbeat. Oh my gosh, I love that sound! It makes everything seem real and it makes me cry everytime. Marc's sister Heidi was nice enough to let us come in for an ultrasound tonight.

It is so fun to be able to spy on this little babe. Everytime there was any movement I got so excited. We just sat and watched for a little while. It was awesome! We are loving this baby so much already!

A New Year!

2011-01-07T22:54:00.005-07:00

Ok, well I'm a week late as far as wishing you a happy one, but we're making big plans for 2011. Most of the planning revolves around a new addition that will be joining our family in July! Holy Moley we're excited!

When Marc and I were driving down the road the other night, listening to Griffin jabber his jibberish in the back seat, I said, "Oh my goodness, I love him so much, I can't even imagine having two of them!"

I really can't! We saw a couple at lunch who had two young, little ones. I think we were both staring at them without realizing it, and we watched how things were a little chaotic for them. We just looked at each other with wide eyes knowing that things are about to get crazy around here!

Griffin on the the other hand, isn't so sure about what's going on ...

You can tell by that nervous look on his face.

But we can't wait for it!

So here are the details:

-I'm 3 months along

-Due July 15th

-I'm lucky enough to not be sick at all

-I have two sisters-in-law that are also having babies in July! Jeni-July 4th and Wendi-July 15th! That's right we are due on the Same Day!

P.S. Marc is 2 for 2. Apparently, we're quite fertile. Although, he claims that he was just kidding around and I took him seriously... so I guess this baby is all MY doing! Go ME!

Christmas Day

2011-01-04T20:53:00.002-07:00

We started the day with my parents coming over for breakfast. We got the best part of the deal, because they came to our house and brought the breakfast with them!

I love this picture of my mama. She looks beautiful. This is the gift that I gave her. I'm pretty sure that she loved the bow more, than the actual gift.

Watch OUT! Here is my dad in the new coat that we gave him. Safety First! Look for this sweet old guy riding his bike ALL OVER American Fork at the surrounding cities!

Griffin calls both my mom and dad "Papa." So Cute!

Griff didn't quite get what was going on yet, but he still had a good time!

That afternoon, my family got together for dinner at my parents house. Instead of giving each other gifts we all pitch in to buy supplies for humanitarian kits. It's so nice to spend money on something that is actually needed and not have to come up with an idea of what to give a sibling, that doesn't actually need anything. After dinner we all helped put the kits together.

And here we are. Looking like haggard Christmas Elves who are all worn out after a LONG and wonderful day!

Temple Square

2010-12-30T16:47:00.003-07:00

Em came to town for Christmas! We haven't seen each other since last Christmas and that was WAY too long! We went on a double date with Emily and Josh to Temple Square. It was so fun, and cold, and beautiful and crowded!

Then we headed over to the Gateway for some Hot Cocoa and to warm up by the fire.

Josh had never been to Temple Square before and the rest of us had not been there for years. It was so beautiful and we had a ton of fun!

Family Christmas Parties

2010-12-30T15:52:00.004-07:00

This year the Miller family Christmas party was at my sister Jill's house. We had yummy food followed by Minute to Win It games and of course the Nativity.

As you can see from family member's #1,2,3,and 4, it's pretty funny to watch. #5, however, didn't find it too amusing.

The Nativity this year was especially awesome. Each family took a section from Emily Freeman's book "A Christ Centered Christmas." It is an amazing book and I highly recommend it. There was not a dry eye, (well, amongst the women) and it really brought the Christmas spirit to our party.

Griffin was a lamb, but his outfit was rather toasty and it was way past his bedtime, so he was in the other room with dad being a little cranky.

South Family Christmas Party

Again, lots of yummy food! And, white elephant stealing!

Griffin and Gabby had a good time playing together.

And Everyone loved on sweet little Parker!

Thompson Orthodontics Christmas Party

2010-12-30T14:48:00.003-07:00

Dr. Thompson is so good to us. He took us to Harvest Restraunt at Thanksgiving Point for dinner and gave each of us a beautiful gift basket. It was a fun night out! I was so excited to get dressed up and go. We spent lots of time chatting and eating. After dinner I got up to go to the bathroom and when I was washing my hands, I looked in the mirror and saw that I forgot to put any eye makeup on! I was so embarrassed! I guess in all my excitement to go and be on time (rare for me) I skipped a step. Lucky for me, Marc still loves me, sans makeup and with braces!

Dr. T and the Girls! Love that I get to work with these awesome people! Aren't they beautiful?!

Family Pictures

2010-12-30T13:52:00.003-07:00

We finally got some family pictures! We haven't had any since we've had Griffin so it was about time! My babysitters daughter is a college student and she wanted some practice, so she was gracious enough to take them for us.
First, we have our darling Griffin

The biggest problem was that I was DETERMINED to NOT show my braces. Huge mistake, HUGE! You'll see for yourself. Marc kept telling me that I looked ridiculous and that I was gonna look mad in all the pictures. He was right. I should have listened. Good thing my boys are so handsome that hopefully you won't even waste your time looking at me!

These boys are the best!

I managed to smile for one picture. Love this boy... hate the braces!

Vegas!

2010-12-12T21:38:00.002-07:00

Jeni and Patrick flew into Las Vegas from Kentucky this weekend for a medical conference. We drove down for a couple of days to hang out with our favorite country bumpkins.

The Huffs are so good to us. They let us stay in their two bedroom suite at the Mandalay Bay. It was so beautiful and definately the nicest place that we'll ever get to stay. The room was so nice we really had no reason to leave... but we did, a couple of times. Jeni and I did a little shopping, while Marc and Patrick were at Patrick's booth at the convention.

This was our first get away without Griffin. Thanks Wendi for taking our boy and our dog! We sure did miss him, but we enjoyed the 2 days of sleeping in.

Everything in the hotel was decked out for the holidays. It was gorgeous!

We really just took it easy all weekend. We ate, talked and walked around the hotel. Oh, and a little gambling took place. Marc won $6 and I lost $4. I know what you're thinking, Whoa big spenders! Jeni taught me how to play roulette, so technically I lost $14, but $10 of it was Jeni's. Apparently, I'm not very good.

We had a blast! Thanks so much Patrick and Jeni! You two are the best. We love you!

Not Quite Clark...

2010-12-06T21:31:00.005-07:00

I had to beg Marc to put lights on the house. He had lots of excuses, but finally gave in to my begging. This is how it went.

Does this electrical mess make you nervous? I was a little worried! The plug on the lights was on the opposite side of the power for our house so Marc just reversed it... no big deal.

Griffin and Ruka enjoyed watching dad on the roof by sticking their heads out the window.

And finally, the finished product!

Now that it's done Marc is already talking about what he wants to do next year. Perhaps I'm creating a little Griswald after all. Meanwhile I was working away inside.

Not nearly as impressive or dangerous as the outside. No ladders were involved.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T16:52:00.006-07:00

This Thanksgiving was the best we've ever had. We fed the homeless at the Road Home Shelter in Salt Lake. Marc's brother organized the whole thing and we all helped. We started out by getting donations of food and money. Once we had everything we needed, we split up the food assignments and brought it all together to serve on Thanksgiving day. We were in charge of the cooking four turkeys. Marc set the alarm for 3am to start cooking these birdies. Thank goodness for double ovens!

When we got to the shelter we put everything together. I was the gravy lady.

Marc helped make the stuffing... outside, it was FREEZING!

Dinner was served! We didn't really keep track but we estimate that we fed around 150-175 people.

We had a lot of rolls, pies, soda and butter left over. We donated everything to the people and the shelter.

One of my favorite things is that we were so busy that I didn't stuff myself like I normally would! Normally, I eat my weight in mashed potatoes and then I'm miserable for the rest of the day.

It was an awesome experience and I would do this again in a heartbeat! I am so grateful for all that I am blessed with, especially my wonderful family and amazing in-laws! Thanks so much Steph for keeping Griff for us so that we could do this! I am also thankful for all of the generous donations from our friends. Without thier help, this wouldn't have been possible.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

2010-11-21T20:15:00.002-07:00

My perfect, loving, sweet and amazing grandma passed away on November 11th. We went down to Blanding this week to celebrate and remember her wonderful life. She was a righteous woman who didn't go a day in her life without finding someone who she could serve. She made each and every one of her 8 children, 38 grandchildren 39 great-grandchildren feel like we were her favorite. Her example of Christ-like service is one that I will surely try to follow.

This home is so full of memories for me. It was so hard to pull into town and drive up the hill and know that Grandma wasn't there. All of my aunts, uncles and cousins gathered to go through pictures and share memories of Grandma. Her funeral was a beautiful celebration of the wonderful life that she lived.

Blanding is in South-Eastern Utah. It is surrounded by absolutely beautiful country. We made a few pit stops on our way home to take it all in.

First stop was Newspaper Rock covered in petroglyphs that date back to 2,000 years ago. It's pretty awesome! Then we were off to The Needles overlook. It was really windy and cold so we bundled up and did a little exploring.

This darling boy just clapped and gabbed everywhere that we went!
Then we were off to Moab and Dead Horse Point where it was even COLDER and WINDIER than the last place. Griffin was double bundled and we pulled out the lamb jacket... look at these cute little ears just flappin in the wind.

The view was breathtaking!

And again, more clapping!
We enjoyed our little roadtrip and Griffin was a little angel for the whole trip.
I am so grateful that my Grandma and mom lived in such a beautiful part of the state so that I have had the opportunity to visit it. I am sad that my sweet Grandma isn't here anymore but I am so happy that she lived a long, happy life and that she is back with her sweetheart after 14 years. What a sweet reunion!

Our Latest

2010-11-14T21:09:00.004-07:00

We headed down to Mona last Sunday for some dinner with the Marbles. While we were there we decided to see if we could help Griffin get over his fear of Horses.

No such luck. He still doesn't like them.
He is wearing the very most adorable custom hoodie though! Cort made this for him when he was born and it finally fits!

SOUTH PRIDE!

In other news, we have taught Griffin to start pulling his weight around here by doing the laundry...

And Marc and Griffin have been busy playing with the dump trucks that we gave him for his birthday.

Oh I LOVE that face!

Now all I need is a perm...

2010-11-13T13:02:00.002-07:00

and it would be the eighth grade all over again!

Halloween Happenings

2010-11-13T11:14:00.004-07:00

This was the scariest part of our Halloween. Marc tried to put Griffin on a pony at Thanksgiving Point's Barnyard Boo and it was he was TERRIFIED! Our friends Scott and Kari invited us to go with them to the Barnyard Boo and it was really cute. I'm excited to take Griffin back and try the ponies when he's a little older.

After we got calmed down we went for a wagon ride (Griffin would NOT look at the horses) and then went into the diner to warm up with some hot chocolate.
It was really fun and the perfect opportunity to get more than one nights wear out of his cute little lion costume.

I went to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village, including Witch-a-Palooza with my mom and sisters. Always a good time!

We went to annual Wengel Halloween Bash dressed as the Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts and Griffin as the Lion. Had I thought about dressing up earlier then I would have incorporated Griffin into the theme.

My sister Steph had these costumes and was kind enough to let us borrow them! She's the best! Special thanks to a couple pairs of Marc's socks to help me in the fill the bust of this lovely dress.

Ruka HATES Halloween (and me) not only because the doorbell rings and she barks everytime, but also because I dress her up in these adorable little costumes and bows.

My darling sister and her handsome Gladiator boys came to visit. She and her boys always have the best costumes! We were honored to have them visit us on such a busy night!

We had a great Halloween as usual and are excited for the rest of the holidays to get here!

12 Months

2010-10-16T16:32:00.007-06:00

I can't believe how quickly things change each month! And I can't believe how much he has grown in one year!

Griff is so much fun! His new favorite thing is to climb up all the stairs. He is fast too! Luckily he hasn't fallen down them yet!

He has also started crawling around Mogli style. On his hands and feet. I'm pretty sure it's because the tile is too cold for his little belly. He's so funny!

Griffin loves to grin! All I have to do is "Say Cheese" and this is what I get! It cracks me up everytime!
We have been going for lots of walks at night after work. It has been so nice with the weather cooling off. And Ruka is loving it and feeling a little less neglected.

We are proud to announce that Griffin has moved from the 3rd percentile up to the 5th! I know, WATCH OUT! He weighs 18 lbs 12 oz and is 27 3/4 inches long. And I'm not sure this is even possible but he just keeps getting cuter!

This boy LOVES his daddy. They have such a strong bond and it makes my heart melt!

ONE

2010-10-09T10:05:00.006-06:00

Well, Griffin is obviously only going to turn one once, so I had to throw a party for my boy!

We had an airplane theme, and if you know me, I go a little crazy with themes so I had a blast.

I can say that now that it's all over and I'm back to going to bed at a decent hour and not stressing out.

Please Check Baggage Here (gifts)

It was so fun to have a party with both of our families and lots of friends. Griffin was so spoiled although his favorite thing to play with was of course the boxes and paper.

I went a little crazy with the treats and I was on a sugar high for a good 3 days while I was baking everything.

We had truffles, caramel and chocolate dipped pretzels, airplane shaped sugar cookies, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and brownie bites. At one point my dad said, "Lindsey, what kind of a party is this? You don't have any ice cream?!" Sorry Dad.
I wish I could say that I made the cake, but I'm not a caker so I had it made by someone who knew what they were doing.

We had favors including pinwheels, little toy airplanes, peanuts and airplane candy.

And of course we had to let Griff dive into some cake. He loved having everyone sing to him!

He had no problem going to town on the cupcake. He even picked it up and clapped with it in his hands. This kid loves to clap!

Going along with the theme we also had an "In Flight Movie" which was a picture/video montage of the first year of Griffin's life. My friend Cortney and I made it. Well more like I just told Cort what order to put everything in and she came up with the music and used her mad skills on the MAC to complete it. I cry everytime I watch it! Thanks Cort!

It was a wonderful celebration for our sweet Griffin. It's been the best year ever, so how could we not want to celebrate? Thanks to everyone that came. It meant so much to have the ones we love there with us!

2010-09-26T23:35:00.005-06:00

What could we possibly be up to now?
Well I am in the middle of a transition at work. I am going to be in charge of marketing in my office, rather than office manager. I am having a hard time thinking about someone else taking over my job because I really do love it, but this will allow me to be home more with Griffin which is AWESOME!!!

My first big task was to create a booth for the Orem Elementary School Carnival. Thank goodness for my fantastic husband! We whipped up this little beauty in less than 48 hours!

The kids had to throw the rings onto the brackets and it was no easy task! They kept coming back and trying again and again! We were a hit! We also donated 2 sonicare toothbrushes to the auction to help the school raise money.

It was a crazy and stressful 48 hours and then a fun 3 hour carnival!

Baby Barrett

2010-09-26T23:01:00.006-06:00

My friend Cortney and I met eight years ago while working together at a dental office. We have since moved on to greener pastures but have remained very close friends. Cort and I are so different in so many ways. For example, she loves surprises and I can't handle suspense, so I really don't like surprises. So, she decided not to find out if she was having a baby boy or girl. Well, since I couldn't give her a gift for the baby because we didn't know what it was I decided to pamper the expecting mama instead. I made her a hospital gown with a coordinating pillowcase and slippers. After all, you have your picture taken a million times in that hospital gown, so why not be as fashionable as possible right? I think so! It was so fun for me to surprise the person who loves surprises with this little gift!

Who looks this fabulous when getting ready to have a baby? Well after all that suspense she had a perfect, beautiful baby girl! She has 2 boys and I begged Cort to let me throw her a shower and she has always refused. I kept telling her that every baby deserves to be celebrated and finally she gave in. This little sweetie is Barrett Whitney Vance.

This is the first baby shower that I have hosted and I had an absolute blast! Since Cortney lives in Layton we held the shower at her house.

Rather than playing games (don't we all hate those dumb shower games anyway?), I brought my old fabric scraps and we created some custom onesies for baby Barrett. It was so fun to see everyone's creativity and Cort has gone onesie loco, making all kinds of cute things ever since!

After everything was done it was so fun for me to sit and hold this sweet baby. There is nothing like holding a newborn. I just love how they melt into your arms.

I love you Cort and your little MV3!

His Eleventh Month

2010-09-26T20:55:00.003-06:00

Look at this boy! How did this happen?!

Not only has September been a busy, crazy blur, but so have the last eleven months!

What's Rockin in Griffin's World: aka- New Tricks!
-crawls all over the place
-pulls himself up on everything
-says: Mama, Dada, Ka (which means Ruka), Uh-0h, Baba, Unt-uh(when he's doing something he knows he shouldn't be, like eating Ruka's dog food, while shaking his head)
-waves bye bye- it's very flowy, kinda like a beauty queen...He's hilarious!
-gets his groove on whenever there is music playing

-refuses to eat baby food- and loves everything that we are eating. For example: chicken, pork, hamburger, beans, spaghetti, bread, potatoes, french fries and much more!

Here are a few pictures of this little cutie this month!

I can't believe how he just, all-of-a-sudden grew up! He looks so old to me in this picture!

Hanging out with his friend, Olivia

He looks so young in this picture, but I promise it was taken just yesterday!

HAIRCUT

2010-09-04T09:40:00.002-06:00

Same look, just a little less punk rock.

2010-08-29T22:42:00.002-06:00

Griffin loves water! He loves the tub and now has a new love for the pool. He splashes like nobody's business and he's all over the place as soon as we let him go. We had a blast!

What's better than finishing out a good swim with a snack? Griffin was GOING TO TOWN on Marc's ice cream sandwich!

2010-08-29T21:31:00.002-06:00

At this time last year we were excitedly preparing for the baby in my belly.

Here we are a year later...

The VERY Talented Liza Burdette made this beautiful window and frames for Griffin's Nursery

Liza also made these canvases with Griffin's Photos

This bassinet has been in my family for 40 years. I was adding the ribbon at about 11:00 p.m. and 3 hours later my water broke! Talk about good timing! Griffin slept in here for his first four months, right next to my bed. I made the quilt and pillow. I also made the matching skirt for his crib.

(I used to have time to do things like that!)

Cabin Fever

2010-08-22T22:25:00.007-06:00

Talking, Singing, Laughing

Games, Movies, Ranger Rides

Deer, Sheep, a Fox, Humming Birds, Mice :(

Rain, Sun

FOOD, FRIENDS, FUN

Thanks Girls! Love you!

We're a Little Bit Country

2010-08-05T15:15:00.010-06:00

This year for pioneer day we had the funnest family party ever! We all "camped" in my sister Missy's backyard.

The next morning a few of us did the Mona 5k. This was one of the most interesting races that I have run. At the start a lady stood up in front of us and gave us some instructions that went something like this:
"OK, so yer gonna go down the street here and at the tree with the dog under it you'll turn left. Then you'll go a little ways until you come to a gate and then you'll be on a dirt path for a little bit... but don't worry you'll get back on the road in a minute... and then at Nyla's house yer gonna turn right and I'm real sorry that it ends goin' uphill but Mona is built on a hill so it's kinda hard."

After the race we went to the local parade and then headed out for lunch and then ice cream at the red barn in Santaquin.

We spent the afternoon just lounging and preparing for our shishkabob extravaganza that was to come later that night!

After stuffing ourselves we moved on to the nights activities. I got a bruise from the kick on this little beauty, but I didn't ever hit one of the skeet... Marc on the other hand was pretty good! And Kent got the award for best dressed!

Games came next

Then the entertainment

And finally, my favorite, the dessert! Missy made all of these patriotic petits fours herself and surprised us all! They were beautiful and delicious!

And we ended the night with a fabulous fireworks show and sparklers

Thanks for all of your hard work Marbles! We had a blast and can't wait until next year!

D.I. (Literally) Y

2010-07-23T11:49:00.004-06:00

We've lived in these new digs for a year now and our living room has always been empty. I decided to spruce it up one weekend while Marc was out of town. I'm sure that you probably don't care about all the details of how it came to pass, nor do I care to write it all. So,here are the pictures of my design on a dime.

This actually works! We have loved listening to my mom and dad's old Johnny Cash and Simon and Garfunkel records!

How do you describe this color? Heath pinned it down as "the color of infection."

Special Thanks to:

Heath, my brother in law, who was my designer and consultant through this project

Mark, my neighbor, who painted the wall for me at 10:00 p.m. Sunday night (with paint that he supplied himself!) I love the color!

Torrey, Mark's wife, for chatting with me while we watched her husband paint the wall

Mark & Torrey for donating the black rug to my cause

Ikea for making "infection colored" fabric, so I could make pillows to match the chairs

The 70's for building furniture that lasts and has given my room a total Retro Throw Back!

Concert in the Park

2010-07-22T23:33:00.005-06:00

On Monday night we went to the Concert in the Park at the American Fork Amphitheater. The Temple Hill Symphony was performing and my friends husband is the conductor. The music was so beautiful and the weather was perfect! We had so much fun sitting on the grass and letting Griffin roll around. It was really fun to go and enjoy something that we don't normally do!

Love that face in the lower right picture! He cracks me up!

Griffin loved the music and clapped through most of it. When he wasn't clappin' he was dancin!

Pictures

2010-07-22T19:51:00.006-06:00

Our office is treating Skye Johansen and doing trade with her for braces. I am lucky enough to have a very generous and thoughtful boss who offered part of his trade to me to get Griffin's picture taken! I was so excited! They turned out so wonderful and even though I didn't have to pay for them they are worth a mint to me! Thanks Dr. T! You are the best!

One of the reasons that I was so excited is because Griffin is such a happy baby and I was pretty sure that he was gonna grin his little heart out and this was gonna be a breeze! Boy was I wrong! This kid was not interested and just kinda stared at us like, "What. ARE. you. doing?" Skye was extremely patient but after so many pictures of a serious baby, what do you do? She sent me home and told me to come back and try again next week. So I did, and let me tell you, the second try made the first try seem like a piece of cake! He was in no mood to be dressed and undressed and posed and whistled at and sang to and so on. We only tried for a couple minutes before we could tell that clearly, it wasn't gonna work that day. So, I went back a third time and it was the magical day! Griffin was happy and awesome and we got some really great shots! I love them all, but here are a few of my favorites.

(Yes, those are supposed to be shorts)

Oh my stars I love this boy!

Proud to be an American...... Forker

2010-07-17T12:10:00.003-06:00

Nothing like the Bank of AF pig balloon and an American Flag to make you feel patriotic, right?

Last weekend was American Fork Steel Days and I really wasn't planning on attending any of the festivities since the Lehi Round-up just about did me in. But my dear friends McKell and Michelle were running the 5k so I thought I'd join them. This is the first race that I have run since I had Griffin and it was so fun especially to be running with my friends!

Cute Girls after the Race

My brother and dad were in the parade with the mule team and wagon. My mom and I went to watch and on the way there Griff fell asleep in the carseat, but that didn't last long once the fire trucks came. Luckily my dad was at the beginning of the parade so we didn't have to hang out too long in the heat.

That's right, we left right after they drove past and I think people were annoyed. I even heard a lady say, "They're not staying to see the band?" Sorry to disrespect lady, but I saw plenty of the band when I was marching behind them with the drill team and trying to get my groove on to "Come, Come Ye Saints." Plus, I've had my fill of parades, aight!

That night Griffin and I went over to my mom and dad's to watch THE fireworks and have root beer floats. Although they started kinda late I thought that they were awesome this year! Maybe they were a little extra special to me because I could have possibly been second -hand- high from the neighbors who were smokin' doobies over the fence. Classy! Either way, it was fun!

Just look at how much fun my dad is having! There's nothing like watching fireworks in your own backyard, in your bathrobe!

Griffin got his first taste of a root beer float and he LOVED IT! I couldn't keep it coming fast enough!

Blickenstaff's

2010-07-17T10:11:00.004-06:00

Have you been to Blickenstaff's in the Riverwoods? It is a fun new toy store filled with candy and toys of every kind.

It's a pretty unique name right, not one you hear everyday. Well my mom is Cathie Irene Blickenstaff and two of my cousins opened up the store and manage it.

Last weekend my dad took Griffin and I down to the store for the first time. It was also Grandma Blick's first time in the store and when Grandma is in town the family gathers. It was so fun to hang out with some of my uncles, aunts and cousins that I don't get to see too often.

Griffin loves my phone, so my dad bought him his own play phone. Griffin loves it... until he see's my phone and then he wants mine instead. Why would you want to suck on a phone that is made for playing with when you could slowly destroy your mom's blackberry?

Just like they say, it's fun for everyone! It was an amazing store with loads of fun things to try out! It will be so fun (and expensive) to take Griffin back when he's a little older!

Fourth. Family. Fireworks. Fun.

2010-07-09T22:44:00.004-06:00

South Family Campout

2010-07-07T22:45:00.012-06:00

Last weekend the South family reserved a site at the Heber Valley Camp. There are A LOT of us and the accomodations were perfect for such a big group!

It was a weekend of firsts for Griffin. When we got to camp on Friday night we headed to Legacy Lake and went for a paddle boat ride.

Griff was not enjoying the life jacket at first, but can you blame him? I mean look at him... it's like Grandma Oli at Lake Powell all over again! If anyone in my family read this they would agree but I don't think any of them do.

As you can see, when we got going he loved it! It was a fun new adventure!

Later that night we sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows and I begged Griffin to pretend to be a cuddly baby again and fall asleep in my arms. He finally did after a couple of hours and it made my whole night. Nothing better than a warm, little baby sleeping in your arms!

The next day we did the little ropes course that they have at Heber Valley. It was fun!

And this little angel just hung out with us and finally dosed off.

What better way to cool off than with a popsicle? This was Griff's first try and he wasn't too sure about how cold it was.

Nine Months Outside the Belly

2010-07-07T21:59:00.007-06:00

Griffin in now nine months old and I really can't believe it! Time has just flown by! He is getting more tricky each day. His new favorite thing to do is to roll over on his tummy as soon as I take off his diaper and pee. He's like a little corkscrew when I put him on the changing table and he just lays there and rolls over and over again. It's pretty hilarious.

At the nine month appointment Griffin weighed 15 lbs 12 ounces and was 25 3/4 inches long. He's still holding strong to the 3rd percentile.

He hasn't figured out how to crawl yet, he just rolls around to get whatever he wants. Everyone keeps telling me to be grateful for the days before he becomes more mobile, but this baby is a fast little roller! He's the jolliest little guy and we love him so much!

Caution... brutal honesty lies ahead!

2010-07-05T21:03:00.013-06:00

Ok so if you are from Lehi or the surrounding cities, you may have heard of a crazy little thing called the "Miniature Float Parade." If you haven't heard of it... Here's my very opinionated summary on the whole ordeal. The miniature float parade is when all the wards in Lehi waste a lot of time and money building a 8 x 10 foot float for the primary children to ride on or walk beside in the 95+ degree heat. Sounds like a good time right? Well, Marc and I were CALLED (that's right they make it a calling) to be the float committee chair people. I'm sure that you can tell from my tone that I was thrilled about this!

Since we, the South's, are really good at procrastinating we had 2 crazy, crammed weeks of non-stop floating. After almost getting a divorce we finally finished the damn thing, and then had two days of hell to make it through the two, yes you heard me TWO parades.

Ok, so the theme for the parade was "Guess What I Saw..." and we decided that we would use "Guess What I Saw On Safari".
We started with a barbie jeep and took off from there.

Then I cut out letters on the Cricut, glued them to styrofoam, Marc cut out the styrofoam with his saw and spray painted them black then I glittered all of them one by one... WASTE OF TIME!

The easiest thing that we did was rent some zebras from Modern display... Oh wait but then we had to transport them from Salt Lake.

Good thing Griffin didn't mind the company.

We had a few trials just getting to the parade route. The float platform that the city provided didn't have a trailer hitch. When we called to "the Float Lady" to find out how we were supposed to transport this little beauty we were instructed to "have someone sit in the trunk of the car and hold onto it, or have someone sit on the back of a 4-wheeler and hold on to it and just drive real slow." Yep that's right, we live in LEHI! So, on our first attempt the welding on the pull broke and I was sitting on the back of the float holding onto a zebra as we went careening into the curb. It was hilarious. I didn't know what to do except to hold on to that zebra. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that little diddy, but I did get a picture the next day when we were losing the tree and Marc had to do some emergency, roadside repair.
When we finally got there it was evident that we had no clue what we were doing. Some of these Lehites have been doing this for years and they really know their stuff. There were several floats that were darling! I have no desire to be one of them, so our mediocre float was good enough for me.

Thanks to Dan at Alexanders for donating this banner to us!

Our little primary kids wore safari hats and binoculars and some of the younger ones wore animal hats. They were cute.

The tree was supposed to look like it had binoculars with huge eyeballs coming out of it, but it kind of just ended up looking like short circuit...

After all was said and done we still know that the church is true even though our testimonies waivered there for a minute. Ok, well Negative Nancy is signing off now. Sorry for my brutal honesty. I guess I just wanted to document this so that when I look back I'll remember why I didn't post anything else, because we were working on this dumb float. Ok, for real Nancy, get out of here!

How cute is Griffin in this jeep?!

Griffin's First Camping Trip

2010-06-09T22:44:00.008-06:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we drove down to Mesa Verde, Colorado with Marc's sister Wendi and her family. There are so many awesome cliff dwellings and Indian ruins to see and hike around.

This is Wendi, Chad, Kaitlyn and Elizabeth. These girls are little troopers and they had so much fun!

Griffin loved the pack! He was so happy to be hauled around everywhere. On one of our tours of the ruins we had to climb a 30 foot ladder. I happened to be carrying Griff in the pack. I was going along just fine and was thinking that I was probably almost to the top. I looked up and still had a ways to go and I started to get a little nervous. Then I felt this sweet little hand patting me on the shoulder. It was like Griffin knew I needed a little encouragement so I wouldn't freak out and make a fool out of myself in front of the rest of the group. In the above picture Marc is carrying Griffin. This was about a 10 foot ladder but then after that it was very steep and you had to hold on to the chains. I'm so glad that Marc was carrying him for that part!

I was so stressed out about keeping Griff warm at night. It got pretty cold. He slept in his own bed until the early morning and then I would pull him in to sleep with us. The first night he didn't want to be snuggled at all. He slept much better when I gave him my half of the pad and Marc and I crammed onto the other half. But he let me curl right up with him the next morning.

I have to thank my husband for still loving me. I was so stressed out going on this little roadtrip and I had my mind made up that there was no way it was going to be fun. To say I had a bad attitude is an understatement, but I won't go into the details. I thought that Griffin would hate it and that we would be miserable. I was so wrong! We had a blast and Griffin was so great! We even ended up staying an extra night!

So, pretend like you've missed us, alrighty?

2010-06-09T21:49:00.006-06:00

Obviously I am not doing a good job at documenting our lives. In case you were wondering, our world still revolves happily around this guy.

Griffin has changed so much in the last couple of months. He now:

-rolls ALL over

-sits up by himself

-jabbers constantly, which includes a lot of da da da da da (yes, I am jealous)

-claps for everything and anything

-grabs onto my shirt, hair, jewelry, face... pretty much anything he can get his hands on, and he has a strong grip

-has two bottom teeth

-loves to eat

-smiles at everyone
-melts my heart (but he's always done that)

Blue Eyed Boy

2010-03-25T22:23:00.003-06:00

I don't think that I have ever seen a more delicious little baby! He is just so yummy! Those blue eyes have my heart and his lucious little lips are just the perfect beginning for that sweet baby breath! And don't even get me started on how much I LOVE his long hair!

It's crazy how quickly his mood can change... and how I just continue to snap pictures while he throws a fit.

And finally he just puts his little head down while that little vein pops right out on his forehead. HE is so awesome.

FIVE MONTHS!

2010-03-05T11:29:00.007-07:00

I know that we've all seen pictures and video's of babies eating rice cereal. Well, you've never seen GRIFFIN eating rice cereal so here you go. This video stars Ruka as a helper and Marc's painted thumb nail, so keep an eye out for that. This was a little 5 month birthday celebration treat!

What would the month be without a carseat picture? I'm not sure what Griff is weighing these days but I know for sure that he is getting bigger! He's a solid little guy who loves to stand! He always arches his back so that we will stand him up on his feet. He's very happy and smiles at everyone! His giggle is the sweetest sound in the whole world. There really is nothing better than his ear to ear grin. I love when I go in to get him in the morning. He can barely open his eyes, but then when he see's me I get that HUGE, gummy grin! It's the very best way to start the day!
Here are some other fun pictures from last month!
Griffin Loves Bathtime!

He obviously doesn't love picture time very much

This picture was taken at the end of January. It is almost all of the South gang... unfortunately we are missing Mikle's family because they couldn't come. We love and miss you Carrie!

Dirty

2010-03-04T20:50:00.005-07:00

I wish that I could tell you that this mustache was some creative photo shopping, but unfortunately it was real.

Marc was sporting a full beard for about 3 weeks. It was getting a little crazy so I asked him if he would just trim it up a little. Well this is what I got. Luckily it was a phase that lasted less than 48 hours and now I have my clean shaven husband back. It was pretty hilarious and I ended up laughing everytime I looked at him.

4 MONTHS!

2010-02-11T21:55:00.005-07:00

Griffin is four months old! Here are his stats:

10 lbs. 9.5 oz

22 3/4 inches long

3rd percentile

He is a good little eater. I thought for sure that he would be over eleven pounds. Oh well. He is super healthy and a great little baby. Unfortunately since he is small the doctor advised me not to stop the middle of the night feeding. Why would I want to sleep through the night when I could hang out with this little babe? He's so completely worth it!

FIRST DATE

2010-02-01T20:35:00.003-07:00

Without Griffin that is...

As you can see we were excited and scared all at the same time! Since it was our first date we didn't want to start by "pairing off" so we thought we'd go skiing with as many of the South gang as possible.

We spent the whole day skiing at Sundance.

I have to admit that I felt really guilty for leaving Griffin on a day when I could have been home with him. But it was good for Marc and I to get out again. When we dropped him off we got in the car, looked at our empty backseat and then looked at each other. Marc said, "Something's missing." It was weird to be going somewhere together without Griffin. Once we adjusted to the fact the we were alone we had a blast. We wanted this date to be special so we started out with breakfast from McDonalds. Following breakfast I pumped in the car on the way up the canyon. Doesn't that just sound like the picture of romance?

Blessed!

2010-01-19T21:35:00.003-07:00

We had a double baby blessing with Jeff and Carole blessing baby Gabriella. This was the first gathering with the Souths and Millers combined, since our wedding. That is a lot of people! Carole and I had a lot of fun preparing for this special night. It was pretty convenient that both of the baby's names start with G. We had lots of fun decorating with them. We served a yummy dessert buffet. Thanks to everyone who helped bring treats!

These pictures make me laugh. I don't know how to say it without sounding bad but it's funny because it looks like Jesus is presenting the babies, which is good, but the pictures are just funny...

Marc gave Griffin a beautiful blessing. Griffin was so peaceful through it. He is such a good baby and we are so thankful to be his parents.

Too Late for Christmas?

2010-01-19T20:34:00.004-07:00

Perhaps but here we go anyway... This is our holiday season in photos.

We started the month off right with a photo shoot of this cute babe. My intention was to send out a card to everyone, but obviously that didn't happen. Here are the adorable pictures though. Thanks Cort, for your mad skills behind the lense! This hat is so cute! Thanks to Aunt Jeni for sending it to us from Kentucky!

PARTIES

South Family Christmas party at Marc's brother Mikle's house. We made and decorated gingerbread houses and had delicious fondue. Grandpa Lapworth surprised us with a visit all the way from Washington!We had the Miller family Christmas party in Mona. Our family starred as Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus for the traditional nativity. I'm very grateful for Mary and so very grateful that I didn't have to give birth in a stable. I have a totally new perspective on that now.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Jolly Old Saint Mickolas
Griffin's first Christmas was a great one. He was so cute in his Christmas Jammies. We had a nice relaxing morning followed by a long nap. This is the first nap that I have taken since he was born and it was fabulous!
CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON

Arrggh Matie!

Griffin sported his holiday pirate apparael. Ok so it had nothing to do with the holidays but it was adorable and Auntie Em gave it to him for Christmas! Griffin got to meet Aunt Em for the first time, but unfortunately I have no pictures.

We enjoyed our holidays completely!

3 Months Already!

2010-01-02T20:27:00.003-07:00

Please ignore my annoying voice, greasy hair and large schnoz. Just listen to that cute, sweet baby!

I never knew how awesome this mom business would be!

I CAN'T PUT MY ARMS DOWN!

2009-12-19T18:53:00.002-07:00

2009-12-19T10:50:00.001-07:00

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This Old House

2009-12-12T16:22:00.019-07:00

Once upon a time we had a dream. We thought that we could make this little old house (originally built in 1907) our dream home. We put two and a half years of work into it. No, we did not work the entire time. We definitely went through spurts of motivation and bouts of no motivation at all. But when we did work we worked hard. We had no idea that 900 square feet could be so much work. Through all of this work we fought with American Fork City to try and subdivide the property so that we could buy the house. But after two and half frustrating years of run around we finally gave up and decided to move. Here are some pictures of our efforts .

Let's start with the bathroom. I've already done a post on this but here is a refresher.
Bathroom Before

Bathroom After

What we did
Paint
New counter top
New mirror
Gas line for the washer and dryer
New fabulous towels and shower curtain

Nursery Before

Nursery After

What we did
Do you remember this post? And this one?
Destroyed all walls
Moved doorway
Vaulted the ceiling
Insulated walls and ceiling
Added closet
New windows
Beautiful Wainscot
Paint
This room was the only room in the house that we did everything that we wanted to from start to finish. It was my favorite and would have been so perfect for our little babe. It's so sad to think that he never got to see it!

Bedroom Before

Bedroom After

What we did

Painted

Baseboard

Added 2 BIG closets

Ceiling Fan

Made entrance through the hall instead of the family room

Family Room Before

Family Room After

We added the fireplace

Finished Fireplace

What we did

Closed entrance to master bedroom

Painted

Added fireplace

Kitchen Before Kitchen After

What we did
Stripped off Wallpaper, then pulled off tile that was under the wallpaper

Put up bead board

Sanded cabinets, painted cabinets RED, replaced knobs

New faucet at sink

New stainless steel appliances

Other things not pictured:
Marc did all new electrical throughout the house. It was still running on fuses and was un-insurable.
He also moved the furnace from the middle of the hallway, into the attic.
We put in an on demand water heater... it was amazing and we NEVER EVER ran out of hot water.
New blinds throughout the house.
Tore down the grainery and Marc built a darling little shed (I can't find my pictures of it... I've SEARCHED! I'll go over there and take some and post them later).
Poured a concrete patio in the backyard
Laid sod in the backyard
I'm sure that after I post this I will remember some more things that we did. But for now this is it. Marc is amazing and did a lot of the work all by himself.

We didn't really do anything to the exterior of the house that we would have liked to do. We had big plans but they involved big money. Now that we don't live there I can say that it was "fun" to remodel and transform this nasty house into our cute little home. I can also say that I truly miss it. We made a lot of memories there and it is really hard to put all of that work into something and then have someone else move in.

If you are still reading this...thank you! But now you should go read someone elses blog that is more interesting.

2009-12-12T15:42:00.003-07:00

For the mom who still needs to vacuum, clean, craft, blog, and so much more! It's so nice to have both hands again. And how convenient is it that his sweet little head is always right there for me to kiss and sniff?! I just love it!