Treva

Okay, so it may seem a little self absorbed to write a post all about yourself, but I promised updates on the whole family and I didn't want to disappoint anyone. Also this gives me the perfect chance to show off some of the things I've been learning in my photography classes. Yes, for those of you who do not know, I've been taking some classes on photography. Sam spoiled me for Mother's day and let me buy a brand new Nikon D5000. I love my camera and am having a lot of fun learning how to really use it. Sarah actually said to me the other day, "Mom, go to your photography class. And don't forget your camera!" I didn't have a class scheduled for that day so maybe she was trying to get rid of me. It really made me laugh because this summer I had been doing some photography workshops where we would go on location and get some hands on experience. One of the workshops was out on Antelope Island. I got all the way to the entrance of the causeway where we were meeting up with the rest of the class and I realized I had forgotten my camera. It's hard to learn how to take better pictures if you leave your camera at home. Luckily I had a cell phone and was able to arrange for someone to meet me halfway home with my camera. I guess I'll never live that one down.

In order to push myself to keep learning and using my camera, I am starting a new project. It is called a 365 project and I will be posting my results on a new blog. The goal is to take a picture every day for a year. I would love for anyone to give me feedback on my photos and any suggestions to make my images better would be appreciated.

Go to www.treva365project.blogspot.com

Other than that, I am enjoying my kids and loving being a mom. My kids make me laugh everyday. It's the hardest thing I've ever done but it is so worth it. Being a mom is such a large part of who I am these days and I am so grateful for that opportunity. We have been so blessed with our beautiful girls.

Here are some of my favorite images that I've taken through my photography classes.

Lily

My little baby is one year old. When did this happen?!

Lily is the little firecracker that keeps us going and laughing all the time. She attacks life and makes things interesting. She's been walking for several weeks now and is climbing up on everything.

We had some cake and ice cream with granparents the night before her birthday so that my dad could be there. We handed her a cupcake and she didn't hesitate in the least bit. That cupcake didn't stand a chance, it was consumed and pulverized in no time flat!

Even though Sarah is the big sister, Lily is the instigator. She's the one who is always chasing, jumping on, grabbing and making her older sister cry.

She says "hi" and "bye", and tries to say "mommy" which is fitting because she is such a mommy's girl. I love when she just wakes up from a nap and will tuck her little arms under her and snuggle on my shoulder. I miss the tiny baby already but I'm enjoying her so much right now. She's going to take us on quite a ride, but I find myself really looking forward to it.

Happy birthday Lily!

Sarah

Rather than try to catch up on all the events that have taken place lately, I thought I would instead devote a blog entry on each member of our little family. First up is my Sarah. There are so many things that I love about my girl. I love the way that she doesn't just call us Mommy and Daddy, it's My Mommy and My Daddy. After waiting so long to hear a child call us that, it is even more sweet that she adds that special "my" to the title. She has been such a precious gift to us. She is amazingly smart and she is so funny. A few weeks ago she was in the bathroom and I hear her say, "Um, we have a bit of a poopy situation." Words you love to hear from your three year old. We were driving in the car the other day and she said, "Mommy, look to your right." She wanted to show me something and sure enough it was on my right. She decided that this little area in our yard should become Pixie Hollow from Tinkerbell. She and her dad have been busy getting that spot ready to be transformed into her fairy wonderland. After working on it one night, she and her dad were roasting marshmallows. She turned to Sam after finishing hers and said, "That marshmallow was pretty da** good!" She has used that word a couple of times now and we honestly don't know where she heard it. I swear she didn't hear it from us. We've asked her and she said she made it up. She is also not convinced that it is a bad word. I guess we'll keep working on that one. She has recently started taking dance lessons. She has wanted to be a ballerina for awhile now. It was one of the biggest incentives to getting her potty trained finally. There are few things cuter than a three year old running around in a pink leotard and thinking that they now know how to dance. She dances all over the house and sometimes she'll say, "That's a little tricky. I guess I need more practice." I hope that throughout her life she will be able to pick herself up when she falls and just say "I guess I need more practice." She also started preschool this last month. The first day I dropped her off, she wanted me to stay. I told her I couldn't stay, that it was just for kids to have fun. She was crying "Mommy!" as I left and holding her arms out to me. I cried all the way home, longer than she cried at school I'm sure. This business of being a parent is so bitter sweet. These are all the moments that we have longed for and make all of the rest worth it. I love you My Sarah.

Sarah insisted one morning that we go out and find Pixie Hollow.

Sarah fell asleep in the hammock.

The first day of Preschool.

Wading in the Great Salt Lake.

Sarah is such a daddy's girl.

My little ballerina.

Oregon Trail

We just returned from our yearly trip out to Cottage Grove, Oregon to visit Sam's grandmother. We went out with Sam's parents. We spent a week out there picking blackberries, visiting family and flying kites at the coast. It was fun to introduce Lily to Grandma Spady. Lily even favored Grandma by taking her first steps while we were out there. Sarah got spoiled by Grandma as usual. Grandma stocks up on crayons, fun little notepads, stickers and all kinds of little toys. Sarah spent most of her time playing with a little bottle of bubbles in the shape of a bunny. She took it everywhere we went. Driving in the car, we would suddenly have bubbles floating in front of our faces. The girls traveled pretty well, but by the last day driving home they were more than ready to be out of the car. Vacations are fun, but it's good to be home.

Here are just a few pictures of over a thousand that we took while we were out there. That's right, over a thousand pictures. So, I realize that this post is heavy on pictures, but it could be worse.

Lily adored Grandma Spady.

Sarah and Lily exploring Grandma Spady's backyard.

We found this great little park with a river running next to it. Everyone had a lot of fun playing in the water and skipping rocks.

Grandpa Hacking was a great sport and kept Lily occupied. She loved playing with sticks and chewing on river rocks. Thats one way to cut teeth.

Thank goodness grandpa had a strong grip.

On the way home from the park, we stopped and picked blackberries. Lily tried them for the first time and it was all I could do to keep up with her.

The next day we went out to the coast. Lily loved the feel of the sand. She also wouldn't stop putting it in her mouth. Between her new found love of blackberries and her penchant for eating sand, we changed some great diapers in the following days.

Grandma Spady gives us seashells to "plant" on the beach for Sarah to find. She's going to think that finding shells is always that easy.

Grandma and Grandpa going for a walk on the beach.

We went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston the next day. It is a drive through wild animal park. We saw all kinds of animals wandering around different enclosures. It was a lot of fun. Animals were crossing the road in front of and behind our car.

We watched this brown bear swim around for awhile.

Lily and Dad and Grandma Hacking were outside in the backyard enjoying some wonderful Oregon rain.

We say goodbye to Grandma Spady for another year.

Fun at the County Fair

This past week was the Davis County Fair. We were able to go two nights in a row. We had dinner with Sam's mom and brother at the county employee dinner and the next night went to see our nephew Andrew show his lamb that he has been raising. This is his second year showing a lamb at the fair and he did a great job. We had a lot of fun and I loved eating almost an entire funnel cake all by myself. Sam went through the Army Strong challenge. He got to ride in a helicopter flight simulator, did 60 push ups to win a hat and went through their tactical operations simulator. We did indeed have a wild time at the fair.

Andrew with his lamb.

Sarah loved the petting farm.

Sarah and Daddy milking a cow.

We also got to see my dad while he was working the Ogden Standard Examiner booth at the fair. The girls were excited to see Grandpa John.

Lily enjoying some of Mommy's funnel cake.

And what is a fair without cotton candy. Sarah loved it. Even if she found out later that it also came in the color pink.

Catching Up

Since I have been such a slacker and haven't posted anything for so long, I will have to try and catch up on a few things and vow to do better from now on. We have had a wonderful and busy spring and summer and are now gearing up for fall and the start of the school year. Sarah will be starting Pre-school and is going to be taking dance lessons. We picked up her dance clothes and she can hardly wait until next week for her first class. Lily is now 9 months old and is extremely busy. She is standing on her own and I fear will be walking any day. She is so much fun and has so much personality. Sam is getting ready for the Lotoja bike ride in September so he is spending as much time as he can on his bike. I'm acting as support crew so I'm pretty nervous as well. Here are a few pictures to catch everyone up on what we have been doing for the past oh, seven months or so.

In May Sam ran the Ogden half Marathon. He did great and the girls and I had fun cheering him on.

This spring we also went to Yellowstone. We saw a lot of wildlife and enjoyed the time together as a family. Sarah was disappointed that the "park" didn't have any slides but she said she had fun anyway.

This is one of the four bears that we saw in one day in Yellowstone. We were very excited to see so many.

Yellowstone is such a beautiful place. It gave me a wonderful opportunity to try out my new camera.

Sam ran the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay. It is a relay race from Logan to Park City. It's really just an all day, all night party with twelve friends. He had a lot of fun and was very tired the next day.

Here he is with the guys in his van. They were called the Army of Twelve since 10 out of the 12 guys were in the armed forces. Sam and his friend Chad (the one on the far right) were the only civilians.

Of course, the 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays and the highlight of our summer. We had a great time with family visiting and all the wonderful events here in Kaysville.

Sam helps cook breakfast with the Kaysville Civic Committee every year. This year we had his cousin Ryan and family staying with us for the weekend and Ryan was able to help out. We loved having Ryan's family here, and not just because Ryan cooked for us all weekend (thanks again for the sushi and the tamales) or because his girls took care of my kids almost the entire time.

We really enjoyed having them and it was fun to spend the day with family.

Stephanie and Lily at the parade.

Lily loves Grandpa John.

We've had a lot more fun this spring and summer but those will have to go in a future post because this one is already too long. I promise I will do better for those few who check this blog periodically.