Rose is 3 months now! Yeah, I said it, 3 months! She is a smiley, opinionated, chubby little girl. Lately she has been grabbing at her sister's necklaces and all the toys that surround her on a daily basis. She sleeps okay... Meaning she sleeps, but it is all over the map most times. Most nights she gets up 1-2 times going to bed around 8:30 pm and waking for the day around 5:30 am. She is drooling quite a bit and two little teeth can be seen right under the surface. Maybe next week, maybe in 2 months -- that is how teething goes!
In these last few months we have been on quite a few excursions, including two weddings. I just got my camera back (my mom and I switched our similar cameras at the wedding!), so I have some pictures to show off. We had A LOT of fun, and the kids all did fantastically! So without further adieu, here are the photo evidences off our trip.
But before we start with the trip pictures, here are a few from Rose's baby blessing on April 17th. Rose was calm during the blessing and it was a lovely day for having family in town!
Now onto Utah! We arrived in Utah on April 22nd. Joe and Ashley were married the next day, and that was lovely. We had lunch (Sam slept on the floor of the restaurant), we partied and we enjoyed seeing family from all over the place. I didn't get any great pictures from this wedding. Hopefully, I can add some later on!
We also did all sorts of fun things at Grandma Marie's house! In the downstairs there is ping pong and a great assortment of toys! We enjoyed them all!
Rose met Grandma Marie! Rose was and still is, quite a mama's girl, but she will learn very quickly that all her family, especially Grandma Marie are exceptionally wonderful people!
Part of our trip we went to Temple Square (Monday April 25th) . It is a beautiful place, especially in April when the flowers are blooming!
He only bolted for the road once...
We also had a fabulous tour of the Conference Center. There are some really inspiring pieces of art in the conference center. It was fun to go all throughout the building -- including the top that is a full garden of Utah native plants.
This was one of the only times he wore his sunglasses. He is pretty cool!
And here we are in the Tabernacle. A little blurry, sorry!
After our tour of Temple Square we made our way to Tucanos with Grandma Coop. This is Jimmy's favorite place to eat. It is a Brazilian style buffet, with lots of meat. It was yummy, though we all agreed we liked the one in Provo better.
Then Grandma Coop took Rose in the wrap and we took the two older kids to the Clark Planetarium. We watched a show about the universe and then walked around the exhibits. Sam fell asleep during the show, hence the blob on Jimmy's back.
The next day, I think, we went down to Provo. We started by going to the Provo City Temple, which use to be the Tabernacle. Jimmy and I lived a block from the Tabernacle so it was were we had Stake Conference. It is a beautiful temple. The weather however, was not! We were not there very long!
We then stopped at J-Dawgs for lunch. Jimmy and I loved this place when we were going to school. Neither one of the kids really cared for them.
Then we headed over to BYU campus. It has changed a lot, but it still has things that make us reminisce the good ol' days. We were able to talk to a few of my old professors and play with some of the exhibits in the Eyring science building. Then we got some Jamba Juice and heading back to home base -- Grandma Marie's house!
The last full day in Utah hung around with Grandma Marie and Dean and then went to see some of my old Graduate School friends at a park that had an Aviary in the center.
The peacock was showing off...
The last time I saw these friends I was only married a year, no kids. Three kids later, here we are!
One of the last things we did, Thursday morning, was visit Uncle Joe's farm. He has the most amazing garden. It is completely a hobby and they give all the excess to a local food bank. It is something I aspire to, every time I visit. Sam and Lucy were both super excited to ride the tractors! It was certainly a highlight of the trip.
We can't wait to visit Grandma Marie and Dean again! We always feel like we are at home when we are at Grandma Marie's house. Even Sam kept asking to go back to Grandma Marie's house once we had flown to Arizona.
Thursday afternoon we flew from Provo to Mesa. It was a small plane, but Rose and I had great seats and the other kids barely had time to get in trouble. The flight was only 1.5 hours long.
Gretchen set us up at a friends house, just minutes from their house. They were great hosts, including their two boys who happened to be the same age as Lucy and Sam. Look at their backyard -- it is entirely sand and dirt. Sam was in heaven!
And then we saw all of our favorite people -- aunts, uncles, and this newest grandchild, Lily. She is so little and cute!
Happy to be with the cousins!
Included in the mix was Uncle Geoff, who had just finished his mission. It was so fun to have him around.
We headed home on Sunday afternoon. The week after our trip was....rough. But we have come back to some sort of normalcy. We have a baby, so who really has a schedule when they have a small child. Since our excursion we have celebrated Lucy and Mommy's birthdays, finished preschool, ate ice cream at our local farm, hiked, spotted salamanders, and enjoyed seeing our families in small gatherings.
Now onto the summer, Sam's birthday, potty training and hopefully some more predictable sleep....haha!