Finally..Updates!

My camera is fixed! Addison accidentally dropped it on the ground, and I took out the memory card, and now it works! YEAH!!

I've been behind on my blogging, so here's what we've been up to...

While my sister Alyssa was in town, she gave Addi her first haircut. She did an amazing job with the wiggle queen, and gave Addi darling bangs!



Here's the finished product. She looks so much older now.


We went camping up in the Uintas with Trav's friends, Kyle, Val, and Tyler. We left Friday, July 17, and came back Saturday, July 18. Addison wasn't a fan of sleeping squished in between her parents in a tent! She really didn't like camping at all. All she wanted to do was touch the fire, and eat dirt..two things that I didn't let her do. Despite the cranky baby, we still had fun!


We had a restful 24th. We hung out together, just the three of us, all day long. We watched movies, ate BLT's, icecream, and rested. It was great!

Broken...

My desire to blog is broken, and so is my camera. Together, the two make my blog a boring place to be lately! I am going to the camera doctor tomorrow. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, and it'll be up and running in no time, and for very little money.

Until then, because I know that you are missing us, I have included a video for your viewing pleasure!

Please don't judge me because I fed my 15 month old a bean burrito and tater tots for dinner, sans anything green and leafy. It's far to hot to use the oven, and I've been working my head off trying to cover for my Dad who has been out of town for the last week and a half..yep it's been a rough couple of days!

Surprise!

My sister Alyssa is in town for a few more days, before heading home to Alaska. She turns 30 next month, and so we decided to surprise her with an early birthday party. Her husband, Nate, did an awesome job at convincing her to come back to my Dad's house, even though she was mad about it. She had no idea, and was brought to tears by the surprise!

It was really a fun party...complete with Silly String, a piñata, a tiara and feather boa, a cute princess cake, and of course, lots of good friends, and family. We decided Lys deserved to be the princess for the day because she lives with all boys and never gets to do girly things.


We had lots of fun being silly together, and celebrating with Alyssa!


No party is complete without a few gifts!


I am so grateful for my sister, Alyssa! She is a huge example to me for good, in so many ways. She's a strong, beautiful woman, and a great momma! I love her and I'm glad that she's a part of my life. I just wish she lived closer! Happy 30th Lys! I hope this is one of your best years yet!!

4th and 15...

We spent the morning of the 4th at Grandma Gines' house. Her birthday is the 4th of July, and she lives right on the Centerville parade route, so we always celebrate there. It was fun to have Travis there this year! Although we didn't stay long, it was a fun time.

The rest of the day was uneventful for me. Travis was working on setting up his man cave, complete with a new home theater system (sigh!), and I took a nap. Later, we had my Mom over for a BBQ, and Trav headed to work. Addison and I hung out until bedtime, and I read my book. It was a restful, fun 4th!









My baby grew up so fast! She turned 15 months old yesterday. I look at her now, and see a big girl. She's so smart. Although she doesn't say a lot..she really knows how to let you know what she wants. Lately, she has started to use her hands, and sort-of do a backwards wave, accompanied by a begging noise to get you to get her what she wants. Unfortunately for us, it works every time! Addison is loved by everyone, and almost always gets what she wants.

Lately, she's really into pushing buttons. Before nap, and bedtime, we have a routine. First, we have to turn on the fan, by flipping the light switch, and then she turns on the CD player, and arrows over to song number 6, because song 5 has a skip in it, and it wakes her up, so we skip it altogether. Then, she turns on her fishy lamp, accompanied by the pursed lip fishy noise. She has to turn the lamp on and off three times. If I try to pull away after two, she gets mad, and she won't do it anymore after three. She's very methodical! She loves the garage door opener, and every time we go in or out, she's the one to push the button.

Addison no longer sits in her highchair, or should I say, refuses to sit in it! She has to be a big girl in her own chair. She's obsessed with having her own seat. Grandma Jer has a perfect Addison-sized pink Disney Princess chair at her house. The first thing Addi does when she gets there, is grab the chair, bring it out into the living room, and hoists her little body up into it.

She's pretty much done with all baby food, and eats anything and EVERYTHING that we are eating. She's like a dog, if there's food around, she'll find it, and find a way to get it. Baby Cheetos are still her VERY favorite. On the plane ride home from California she ate almost an entire can. They're only thing that keeps her attention in Sacrament meeting, and so every week, we have to buy more. She loves the things!

I love my little friend. She's so fun, and getting to be more and more fun everyday! I love it when she is happy, and wants to be my friend. She brightens my day - ALWAYS! I am happy that she is learning and growing. It's fun watching her explore, and develop new talents! I'm so proud to be Addison's Mom! I love you Addi!

(These pictures were taking after a long, hot 4th of July, please excuse her scraggly hair!)

San Diego

Addison and I just got back from a trip to San Diego with my family. EVERYONE was there, except for Trav...even my Mom, and Alaskan sister, Lys, her husband, and DARLING boys. It was a blast, and even though we missed Trav, we had fun at the beach, at the Zoo, eating lots of yummy food, getting to know new a nephew/cousin, and laughing too hard for too many days! My Dad and Marty just bought a house there, and it's beautiful! It was fun to all be together, but when it was time to go, we were all ready. It's hard having 15 bodies in a three bedroom house for 6 days, but it was lots of fun!

After we got off of the plane, we took the kids to the park to burn some energy.




We spent day two at the beach. Addison L-O-V-E-D everything about it. She loved the sand, the water, the sun, but mostly the freedom of running, and playing as she pleased. Uncle Nate was nice enough to take her out into the water because it was too cold for me, and she was in heaven. She's not afraid of anything! We had a great time. Alyssa made awesome beach towels for the kids, but the adults got some good use out of them too.











Saturday, we all had different plans. Janelle and Tim headed out on an adventure. Madi, Troy, Ethan, and Grandma Jer headed to lunch with some of Madi's old friends. Nate, Alyssa, and I headed to the temple, and the Grandpa watched the kiddos for us. I was glad to be able to go to the temple. It was fun to see the beautiful brides. I had forgotten until we got to the temple what the date was..it turned out to be my anniversary. It was awesome to be in the temple on my special day! The temple is beautiful! If you're ever in San Diego, schedule a trip to the temple..it's gorgeous! After we finished doing our separate things, we headed back for some silly fun at the house. I have some pretty cute nephews, Ethan (age 5), Ian (age 5), Finnigan (Finny - age 3), and Lincoln (age 6 mos.).








On Sunday, we went to Balboa Park. It's beautiful there, and there is so much to see. I guess I took a vacation from taking pictures, because I really don't have many. After the park, we went home, and hung out with the fam.







I didn't take very many pictures at the Zoo, either. There was so much to see, we were a bit rushed to get to it all. Right as we walked in the front gates, Addison did a head plant on the asphalt, and got a huge goose egg on her head. It was bruised, and had gravel marks in it. Luckily, the gift shop had baby Tylenol, and she was okay. She's tough, and would never pass up an opportunity to explore new things!





The day before we flew home, we headed back to the beach. This time we decided to go over to Coronado Island, and check out the sights there. The water was colder, but the beach was nicer. Addison ate almost as much sand as we found in her diaper, but had a blast!