Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend! We managed to go on two mini-vacations and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Jake had Friday and Monday off and also took Thursday off. We headed down to Goblin Valley area Thursday to Friday. It was beautiful weather! We hiked Little Wild Horse and Crack Canyon slot canyons. We ended up with the wrong baby carrier, but we managed both hikes quite well. We LOVED Little Wild Horse even though we had to trek through red sand water for part of the hike. It was quite an adventure. We didn't get as far in Crack Canyon as we hoped due to water again, but weren't quite as impressed anyway. My favorite part of the Crack Canyon hike was getting to the trailhead. We had to travel on a few dirt roads, the last of which is definately better suited to four-wheel-drive vehicles. Our car did just fine and I was impressed with Jake's off-roading skills. What an adventure! I loved it!

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We had a day to recuperate in-between outings, which was so nice! I was pretty tired after all our adventures.

Then it was off to Logan for Sunday and Monday. It was a lot of fun to see family, play games, and visit with everyone. Emma is often quite brave these days with other people, so it's fun to see her interacting with everyone up there, especially her cousins.

Our community swimming pool also opened up on Memorial Day so we've taken advantage of that. It's surprisingly warm! If anyone wants to get together for a swim sometime, just let me know!

Favorite word

I forgot to mention that Emma's favorite word is "no." She's used the word for a couple months already. It really is kinda cute how she says it and shakes her head like she is so sure the answer is no, even when you ask her something you know she'd really say yes to.

She also loves playing in toilets, throwing things down the stairs, and throwing things in the bathtub.


But overall, she's still pretty easy to keep an eye on. Especially with a copy of the Friend or Reader's Digest close by.


She is also becoming more independent, wanting to feed herself or walk alone.

A major update!

I am so behind in posting. So that means it's update time!

The biggest update is that Emma officially decided she can walk. She's been able to take 4 or 5 steps for weeks, but didn't officially take off on her own until last week. May 3rd. It still surprises me to see her walking out of the corner of my eye. It's adorable. She usually walks with her hands out in front of her like a zombie for better steering and balance.

Perhaps an even bigger update that I forgot I haven't put on here is that we're expecting baby number 2 in September. Labor Day to be exact (fitting, isn't it?) We found out a couple weeks ago that we're having another girl. We're excited! I haven't been nearly as sick this pregnancy, which is so nice! Some days I hardly notice I'm pregnant, which is quite a change from last time. Pretty sure I'll notice this summer though.. Everyone tells me I will love having two girls close in age because they'll play together so well. We're not planning on an immediate move, so we'll be tight in our little two bedroom place, so it's nice we already have all we need.

Other updates.. lets see. We got a bike trailer so we can go for bike rides. It's great! We always put a book in with Emma, and 70% of the time I look back at her she is reading her book. I hear her get excited about something and look back and she's engrossed in her book. What is this child going to be like 5 years from now? She loves LOVES her books.

After a week of protesting her naps and falling asleep standing in her crib a time or two, Emma finally started going to sleep all by herself. She ends up in some awesome positions. We were surprised she still tucks her legs right up under her on her belly like a newborn. How I love Emma's naps!


Mother's Day was great! I got a great note from Jake and one from Emma. That's my favorite. I love notes. I also got a darling plant and a belt we'd picked out together last week. I talked to my brothers who are both out on missions and doing great, one in Alaska and one in Texas. I also got to see a lot of family that weekend, which was great! My brother and sister-in-law and nephew came up from Arizona and we had a lot of fun playing with them.




Jake was in charge of singing in primary so we made paper flowers they could choose with a song attached and give to their moms. I was pretty proud of them. We made quite a bouquet!


About a month ago we went to the zoo with some cousins, it was fun! Emma is starting to LOVE seeing all the animals wherever we go.

I made Emma a skirt.
Emma is starting to talk even more. She loves to repeat words. The ones we hear most regularly are "toes, shoes, bye, dad, nigh-night, bah (which means bath, ball, or bike) and more I can't think of right now." She also wants to feed herself, which will be nice when she can actually do it. Now it just takes forever.

We've also made a couple trips to visit cousins in Logan, hiked Ensign Peak, gone to Wheeler Farm, and all the other day-to-day things that keep us busy. You can check out the videos of Emma walking. I hope you enjoyed our little update.

Emma's First Birthday

Emma turned one on March 12th. She got to spend most of the day with her mom's parents while her parents were heading back from Vegas. We celebrated her birthday on Sunday with some of Mom's family and a few friends. She had to read every book, hug every stuffed animal, and eat the graham crackers her parents gave her right away. She wasn't very enthusiastic about the cupcake mom gave her, but she sure did look cute for some pictures. Happy Birthday Emms, we love you!

On the temple and driving

Last night I had the opportunity to go to the temple with my family while my youngest brother went through. In our church, we believe making it to the temple is a big deal. In a way it is choosing to follow what you've always been taught and choosing it for yourself and making it a part of your life as you transition to an adult. All five of us kids have chosen this now and I am delighted. We also believe that making it without everyone in your family is really sad because we want to be together as a family eternally. That means we all have to chose it and "endure to the end" individually so that blessing can be realized. No matter how great it is to "make it," if someone is missing it just breaks your heart. We all have a long ways to go and our own families now to get there, but we'll all be able to help and support each other along the way.

On another note, getting to the temple yesterday was quite a fiasco. We were already running late, and had to detour back to the house to grab something. My mom was driving with 3 of her children and daughter-in-law in the car. We were telling her to speed and someone told her to go when there was a car coming. If she would have listened to us, she would have gotten a speeding ticket and gotten in a wreck, possibly killing someone in the car. This reminded me of a time on our way to elementary school when we were kids where my mom was driving. There was a bump in the road on the way and we wanted her to speed so the bump would be bigger. She did and got pulled over. She must have learned her lesson, and we did not. It's ironic how everyone likes to tell the driver what to do, but the driver is the one with the responsibility.

Jake's Birthday

Thursday was Jake's birthday. I had high ambitions for cleaning the house, baking a cake, finding a few last minute gifts, and decorating. I have found that I really just need to set my sights a little lower with Emma around. I tried to let her help me with the cake and she sure had fun sneaking frosting!

We visited him at work and then that night he chose to go out for pizza. He spent a lot of the evening on the phone with his family. The Watson cousins sang Happy Birthday cha cha cha and the Walker cousins sang Happy Birthday old man. Emma had a blast playing with the wrapping paper and ribbons. We also got a helium balloon for dad that she enjoyed playing with.

We were excited to get to share the news that he took the GMAT last Saturday and scored in the 97th percentile. We're looking at grad school in the next year or two.

We're grateful for Jake and hope he knows it and was able to feel it on his day.

The Zoo

Wednesday the zoo had a free day so I took Emma. My brother Steven joined us, which was awesome! Emma had fun playing in her car seat all the way up to the zoo and then while we were waiting for a parking space, she started to get fussy and didn't enjoy the zoo as much as I'd hoped. But we all had a great time.

The tigers were the hit of the day. The three babies from last year are all grown up and we couldn't tell which was the mom. One of the tigers played with balls both times we went by them and it was so cool!

So while I write this, Emma is over in book corner in her room reading away. This really is so fun to watch. I always think how I'd like to go get the video camera, but know as soon as I get up, she'll want to follow me. So someday I'll be able to share that joy. I stack the books up and she will either demolish the stack or take one off the top and look through it.