Where did the Summer go?

As I sit with my windows open... the brisk breeze floats through the house, and I realize summer is gone. What a fun summer! Our July was filled with travel! As you know from a previous post we hit SLC for my Mom's wedding. Oren was then gone in Seattle for 2 weeks while he taught at the Microsoft conference... came home all of 24 hours and we were off again to SLC! This time the visit wasn't as rushed, and we really were able to spend time with my family, get to know my Mom's new husband Larry (and yes he is awesome!), play with cousins... Eli LOVES watching and learning from his older cousins!! If only we lived closer!

With Grandma :)

At Aquarium with cousins!!

Eli LOVES to watch the fish!

Did you see that Mom!!!

Penguin love.... they would swim up and just stare at Eli! So CUTE!

After a few days in SLC Oren left us behind and met his Dad in Glacier National park for some amazing backpacking, and a slight bear encounter...yikes! (Oren came around a corner and whalla...a black bear!! He quickly remembered they had been told to make noise and so he yelled "BEAR!" and off it ran!) They had a great time....I am sure it took some getting used to the fact that there was NO cell service... AT ALL! It actually took me getting used to as well. I have always touched base with Oren everyday when he is away... not having that connection was a little nerve wracking! But alas, they made it out safe :)

At Glacier National

BEAUTIFUL!

BEAR!!

Eli and I then flew into Denver CO and met up with Savta (Oren's Mom) and the next day Oren and Kim flew in and we headed into the mountains to Avon CO.... which is the town right after Vail. The weather was BEAUTIFUL.... we did a very LONG hike and took the ski lift down, spent time together, shopping, and even snuck in a date night! And on the last day, Oren and I talked Kim and Candy into going on a white water rafting trip.... they LOVED it and I am so glad they had so much fun!

I'm not so sure about this Dad! Looks kinda scary!!

Loving the ski lift down after a very long hike up!

The wind in my face makes me silly

Our backpacks.. Eli loved riding in the hiker pack

We are STILL getting settled into our new home and I am LOVING every minute of it! We just got Eli's room painted and put together (for the most part! Still awaiting our wall pics from Etsy!) Deciding on wall colors....still! In the process of choosing kitchen back splash, Oren building our built-ins, choosing furniture and decorating, getting our fence put in.... a lot going on, but well get there :D

Eli is growing like a weed! It is hard to believe that he is already 8 months old! He is doing great! We did just have to up his Synthroid... seeing that his thyroid TSH levels sky rocketed to 18.8! The Endocrinologist said that can be a normal level for it to get to when he grows out of his dose.... but it is still scary to see those numbers, especially when it is supposed to be below a 1! Also knowing that it causes him to feel pretty yucky... makes me sad, but he is feeling much better already :) He is sitting up like a champ and getting around.... he isn't crawling yet, but he just wants to MOVE! He rolls like crazy and does 360 belly spins.... It is pretty funny to watch, I am sure we are going to have a crawler on our hands very soon! Then... let the baby proofing begin!!

Happy 4th 2012!!

So away we went to Utah for my Mom's wedding (which I will post about later, because I am waiting on pics). She got married on the 3rd (yep...on my birthday!) and we stayed until the 5th.

Spending the 4th of July with my family was SO MUCH FUN! We decided to wake up VERY... oh SO VERY early (4:30am early) to get ready and make it to the balloon-fest in Provo. I am SO glad we did because it was SO AMAZING! I have never seen a balloon take off before, I am used to seeing them from afar.... floating in the sky. When we got there, there were SO MANY balloons all crammed together, we went right up around them and watched as they fired up and took off.... it was so beautiful and fun! ....Eli was mesmerized! They are supposed to return and make a bean bag toss on a target, grab a balloon on a string, and land again (but due to the wind that day) we didn't get to see much of that. Afterwards, we did the big pancake breakfast (YUM!) and went home to....nap :D After all that, we had a BBQ with family and missed the fireworks due to wanting a well rested baby for the flight home the next day! What a great day!

Balloon-Fest here we come!

Sarah smiling big so early in the morning :D

Auntie Marianne and Jocelyn

Love!

Brooklyn and Danielle

Eli mesmerized... if you look closely you can see balloon reflection in his eyes!

Good-Bye balloons!

watching them float away with Daddy

Pancake breakfast...YUM!

All tuckered out!

Father's Day

What to do, What to do... for a wonderful Father to our sweet beautiful baby boy! I have to say I wanted to do something perfect. But at the same time was distracted. Father's Day is bitter sweet for me, kind of always has been since my Dad passed away. But this year was tough... I am supposed to be happy, create a wonderful day for my husband but at the same time I have such sad feelings. It was really hard to push those feelings I have felt for so long aside and have a wonderful day. But I did it, I had a rough day the day before... and decided that I was going to change my mood, and I am glad I did because we had such a wonderful day I will never forget!! The weather was PERFECT! Sunny in the 80's, not humid AT ALL.... I planned and made a picnic to take to our favorite winery in MD with our good friends, the Corbett family and our friend Matt (Hi Matt) :) What a perfect day for the perfect Dad to our son  anyone could ever ask for! I will let the pictures explain how perfect the day was :D Hope all you Dads out there had just as wonderful a day :D

My Favorite men

ADORABLE!

Talking to my Dad

:)

Eli trying to grab a taste

Proud Daddy

Eli, Brooklyn, and Addison :D

Mark... Not sure how you do it!! 1 is tough enough!

Fell asleep in Daddy's arms

We overtook the back patio :) (wanted to steal those rocking chairs!! Searching for them now for our front porch!)

Family visit

After our trip to AZ, Oren's parents and Grandfather (Saba, Savta, and GGPop) arrived for a wonderful week :) We relaxed....well I relaxed while Eli spent quality time with his Savta (who stole him pretty much every day;)  I even got to read some of my book, took long luxurious showers (even shaved my legs!!), and went on a date night with my husband!! It was so wonderful to spend time with family in our new home :) And yet again, Eli did not want to nap because so many wonderful people were there to pay attention to him, and he wanted to enjoy every minute of it!

Goodnight moon is yummy

Goodnight Sh'ma with Savta :)

I <3 GGPop

Family Vacation!

We decided to start off Oren's first week of paternity leave (he gets 4 weeks within the 1st year) and head to our timeshare in Scottsdale AZ! We have owned for a couple years, but until now have always traded else where for our trips. Now that Eli is here, we decided to keep our first family trip close by. It was fun, hot, and exhausting! Lol! Eli decided (we think because he was somewhere new and wanted to do everything) that he didn't want to nap... AT ALL!! So we just went, stayed busy, and he would cat nap in the stroller, doze off while Oren held him in the pool, or on my shoulder in the lazy river! Ha! It was to cute :) Then bed time hit and he cried to sleep :( It was a lot more work but so awesome to experience everything through his eyes. He was mesmerized by the pool and all the kids, loved looking up at the palm trees, the blue sky, and watch the birds fly by off our balcony. We also got to spend time with my BFF from high school, Heather Hege and her family that live in AZ. We had so much fun and can't wait for our next vacation :D (Heather, see you in Nov??) :)

On the plane heading to fun in the sun!

1st morning, waking up with Daddy

*GIGGLE*

getting my pool fish

In a pool daze

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

One of my very short morning naps

learning to kick my feet!

Ready for fun in the pool!

Getting feet wet with Dad

Ready for MORE pool fun! (Thanks Sherry for my way cool bathing suit, it is SO adorable on me!)