3 Years and Counting

So Mike and I have been officially married for 3 years. It has been a wonderful few years and we have been blessed with so much. As I look back at everything we have accomplished together it seems like we have been married for a whole lot longer. So a baby, 2 pets, a Master's Degree, a new job, house, and a whole lot of love later, here we are at 3 years. I sure love you honey. Thanks for being my bestfriend.

It's so nice to have someone to be a dork with!

"Smores"

So we didn't cook smores while camping, but we did get to use this fun new gift that we received. It's a microwave Smore maker. It is pretty sweet, and we have had some good use out of it. It's all in the "Core Fusion Technology":) (Inside Joke) In only 10 seconds, perfect gooey smores everytime.

Emma's 1 Year Photos

So these are the first professional pictures that we've had taken on Emma. We decided it would be good to do it now that she is 1 year old. They turned out o.k., but it is hard to capture her cute personality on camera because she just wants to go, go, go. The photographer was VERY patient, first with Emma and then with me while I attempted to "decide" which pictures to get. "Decisions are the worst!":)

Attempted Campout!

So we haven't been camping as a family since we left Logan and so we were definitely due for a nice overnight camping excursion. It was a last minute decision, but Mike got home early from work so we packed everything up and headed up to the campsite. We found a nice campsite about 30 minutes away that was right next to the Kern River. It was really nice to be out in nature and to just get away from it all. Mike got a fishing license so he could catch a ton of fish, but as usual we don't have much luck in the fishing department. I would have bought a license as well but they were 41 dollars!!! Crazy. Anyway, we pitched the tent, had tinfoil dinners, went on a nature walk, and just enjoyed being together as a family. Then the night came.:) Emma was loving the tent all day long and once we put her to bed she just sat up talking to herself for about an hour. We finally got Emma to sleep and then Molly woke her up barking at the neighbor dog. Our air mattress deflated within a few hours (sorry to those who have had to sleep on it recently, Jackie), and then Emma woke up at 2 a.m. screaming! It was a little chaotic for mom trying to get her settled down, but in the end we just decided to head home for the night and then just come back in the morning. Luckily we were only 30 minutes away, and we all slept better in our own beds. So the next day we got up early and headed back to the campsite for breakfast and a relaxing day at the lake. All in all it turned out being a nice weekend, and for Mother's Day Mike was a sweety and made me breakfast and took care of Emma all day. It was such a nice break. He also got me some wild flower seeds because I have been wanting some. The best thing about Mother's Day besides our own Mother's is having Emma in our lives. She sure is the best thing in the world, crying while camping and all.

Murray and Sharp Family Farms

Mike has been super busy lately and so it was a nice change of pace for our family to take the weekend off and spend the day picking strawberries!!! There is a cute little farm/market/petting zoo about 20 miles from our home and we have stopped before and thought it was a fun place. We have been wanting to go back and look around some more and finally got the chance. They have this great "U-Pick" package that includes a hayride around the farm, strawberry picking, yummy blueberry pancakes in the morning, as well as entrance into their petting zoo and other kid themed areas. We ended up having a lot of fun and we were even able to bring Molly with us. It was a nice relaxing afternoon and the strawberries were so yummy! (A lot better than the ones we bought at the store last time) So I think we will have to go back for their Nectarine U-pick.:)








So there's a lot pic, but here is an updated one of our gardens. We are currently looking forward to the following homegrown produce:carrots, peas, green beans, zuchinni, corn, strawberries, raspberries, cilantro, spinach, romaine and leaf lettuce, cucumbers, and rhubarb. We're crossing our fingers that everything will grow.

Visit from Grandma, and More

We have been keeping ourselves busy the last few weeks with visitors as well as some previously postponed projects. It was so nice having my mom come out for a visit. My sister Jackie and her family came to California for a vacation and brought my mom along. It was great to see them all. Unfortunately my mom was sick for the entire trip so I don't know how good of a time she had, but it was just nice to visit with her and for her to get to know Emma a little better. Emma sure loved her Grandma Marla, and my mom was even pretty patient with the pets in the house. I don't know what it is with our house, but everyone who comes to visit ends up getting sick. Please don't let that deter anyone, let's break the cycle. It's just pretty sad. Mike has been super busy with work the last couple of weeks. They have a lot of projects going on, but we finally had an open Saturday and so we started working on our Square Foot Gardens. We are starting out with 3 garden boxes, with the possibility of doing more in years to come. I was amazed at how much dirt we needed. We ended up getting 24 bags of "Mels Mix", (special Square Foot gardening dirt)! It took us a couple trips, but we are finally on our way. Next up, planting the seeds. Let's hope that they grow for us novices.


I also planted some snapdragons yesterday to brighten up our yard a little.


Emma is just growing up in front of our eyes. She is taking steps on her own and will probably be walking within the next week or so. She has also decided that "Sippee Cups" are o.k. now. I was worried about how I was going to wean her since she would not drink out of anything, including just a cup. She finally figured out how to drink out of a straw and not loves her "ba ba", or drink cup. We also put her in her big girl carseat that faces forward. It's fun being able to see what she is looking at, like the train we were stopped at yesterday. That was a good learning opportunity for us. It's fun to see her learning how to do all of these new things, but part of me feels so sad that she is no longer our little baby. I'm sure that will never change.

Happy Birthday Emma

I can't believe that my baby's 1st birthday has already come and gone. This year has gone by so quickly. We didn't do a whole lot on her actual birthday. For dinner we went to the park and had a cookout. It was nice to get out and Molly enjoyed herself as well. On Saturday Mike's sister Merilee and her family came up for Emma's birthday party. It was nice to have some family and friends over for cake and ice cream. Emma loved her cake as you can see from the pictures. She was really getting into it.:) She is growing up so fast and we are so grateful to have her. What a blessing she is in our life.