Mmmm, Corn

This summer Connor discovered corn. It took a little bit for Connor to really figure out how to eat it, but as soon as that hurdle was crossed, all he wanted to do was eat corn. Thanks to my parents who gave us some of their corn and also helped teach him how to eat it.

Entertainment Tonight

Zach and I had the opportunity to take Connor to participate in the filming of a new little kids movie for a company called Little Play Dates. Entertainment Tonight came out to film some of what was going on to do a special on it in a month or so. We thought that this was Connor's chance to be a star. We got up to the ranch in Heber where the filming was going to take place and met with all of the parents and kids. They split us up into a few groups and then sent us out to play. This was Connor most of the time:
I didn't know that he was so antisocial. All of the kids were playing great and looking great for the camera. Connor enjoyed pushing his stroller around about as far away as he could get from everyone else. We did finally get him into playing on the hay with some of the other kids. Once he got there he really enjoyed dancing to the music and looking into the camera.

Overall I think that it turned out well. I don't think that it is quite the occupation that Connor would choose. But it was fun to take him and watch him play.

Owie

Two days after Connor's 2nd birthday, we were out for a walk and Connor was running down a path and fell. I think that all that hit the ground was his stomach and his forehead. He didn't have any scratches anywhere else.
Connor could not stop scratching it. He would do it at night and so every morning it looked a little bit worse. Two days after he did it we had his 2 year doctor's appointment. When the doctor came in to see him I quickly explained what had happened. The doctor just laughed. Connor then proceeded to fall down exactly like he had when he had done it. I am just thankful that it wasn't any worse.

Terrific Twos

Connor turned two a couple of weeks ago, I know I am slow in getting this up. This picture is him saying how old he is. He had a great birthday with lots of family coming over. Thanks for everyone that took time to call or come by to see him. I can't believe that he is actually two. It seems just like yesterday we were heading to the hospital to have him. He certainly has grown.
For his birthday I decided to make a monkey cake. I looked in many places and finally found a pattern that I thought that I could make. This is what it turned out to be:
I hope that Connor liked it. I think that his favorite part was the eyes. They were Jr. Mints and as soon as we finished singing "Happy Birthday" he grabbed the eyes and ate those. He wasn't such a fan of the cake, but he really isn't much of a dessert kid.
We are so lucky to have such a great kid.

Connor Update

Connor is growing like crazy. He is talking more and making more talking sounds. He will be two in a few weeks and I can't believe it. Here are a few pictures of some things that he does now:

Connor use to be really scared of the lawn mower. He didn't even like to be outside when anyone in our neighborhood was mowing their lawn. One day he saw Zach out mowing the lawn and decided that he wanted to go out and help. He now is a great helper with mowing the lawn.

Connor's hair is growing like crazy too. It seems like we give him a hair cut about every other week. These were taken when he has gone a little longer than that. We tried to keep it really short for the summer because he gets so hot. He actually kind of likes to get his hair cut now. Well I am sure that I will have much more to post about his birthday in a few weeks. I wonder what new thing he will be doing then.

A Camping We Will Go!!

My family has a tradition of going camping every year in July. I think that this tradition started with my grandparents. We would always go camping with them. It was always a highlight of summer. Zach wasn't able to come up this year, so it was Connor and I. This was Connor's first year to be walking when we went camping. He did very well. One of the nights I put Connor down for bed in his Port-a-crib. My dad walked past our tent on the way to his and when we came back he was laughing. I asked him what was so funny. He said that when he walked past our tent he could see Connor smiling at him and waving at him. He was standing up in his crib and just smiling away. I was pretty sure that I had closed all of the windows. I had my Dad walked back with me to show me where he had seen Connor. When we got to our tent, the window was shut and we couldn't see Connor anywhere. Well, while we were standing there talking about that we saw a little tug on the tent and heard a "zziiippp" The window zipper slowly started to unzip. When Connor saw that we were standing there he tried to close the window as fast as possible. He got it closed by the time I got the door zipper open. When I looked in on him, he was laying very still in his crib with a very big smile on his face. I had to move him away from the window, and he soon fell asleep.
It was a great camping trip and I can't wait until next year when we can go again. Thanks to my family that was there and all of the help that they were.

This picture was taken at Provo River Falls. I think that I have a picture at these falls with me and my family for about every year that I have been alive.

Las Vegas

For our 5 year anniversary, Zach and I went to Las Vegas and stayed a few days. It was a great trip and we had lots of fun.

We went to the Blue Man Group one night and I would highly recommend it to anyone and all ages. It was very funny and pretty amazing the illusions that they created.
We also took some time to walk around and see all of the many one-of-a-kind-things that there are in Las Vegas.
I think that the gardens at the Belagio was one of my favorite things to see. The way that they used plant and water was amazing.


This is the highest chocolate fountain in the world. It has white, dark, and milk chocolate that runs from the ceiling to the floor. It was amazing to just sit there and watch. It was a really great vacation. Thanks so my parents and Zach's mom. They watched Connor for us.

Happy Birthday Zach!!

Today is Zach's birthday. For his birthday I wanted to describe some of the reasons that I love him so much.
1. He is always so patient with Connor and I.
2. He has a whole different type of excitement that only come out when it snows, and snows hard.
3. He is always planning surprises for me.
4. He is my best friend. I can tell him anything and he he will listen. After I have vented to him, he will ask "Are you just venting, or do you want some suggestions how to fix the problem." It is so great because then I can just vent if that is all I want to do.
5. He is Connors favorite chasing mate. They will run from the front room, into the kitchen, and around the island, and back, over and over again. They will take turns chasing one another and have so much fun.
6. He has a wonderful sense of adventure and is willing to try about anything. No rock is to high to drop from, and no gas is too much to explode.
There are so many more things that I love about him and there is more everyday. But I thought I would just share a few. I am so glad that I married him 5 years and 8 days ago!! (maybe I will try and put pictures on, it just always take so long and I am trying to do this before he gets up)

Tagged!!

I got tagged a while back by my friend Chely and am just getting to it now.  So here goes:

What was I doing 10 Years ago?  

 10 years ago I was enjoying summer.  I was 15 years old and working at the Scera Pool in Orem.  I was getting ready to start high school and kind of nervous about that.  

5 Years Ago?

  I was getting ready to get married in less than 2 weeks.  I was making sure that everything was ready to go.  I was working at UVSC and still wondering where we were going on our Honeymoon, since Zach didn't tell me until the day of our wedding where we were going.  

1 Year Ago?

 Connor was 10 months old and crawling all over.  We had moved into our new house about a month earlier.  We didn't have a yard at all and there was dust everywhere, inside and out.  We were still unpacking boxes and getting our house put back together.  

Yesterday?

  Connor and I went to my sister's house and then to Smiths.  We then came home and had lunch.  That night we played outside with Zach.  We played a game with our neighbors also.  

5 Favorite Snacks?

  Apples, Cheetos, Tootsie Rolls, Yogurt, Hostess Cupcakes

5 Favorite Books?

  Goodnight Mr. Tom, Any Mary Higgins Clarke, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Emma.

5 Places to Runaway?

  The grocery store :), walks around Harvest Hills, about any restaurant, my own house with a good book, camping up in the mountains.

5 Bad Habits?

  Eating to much junk food, buying too much food at the grocery store, reading too much, not sweeping my kitchen floor enough, buying something just because it is on sale.

5 Things I Would Never Wear?

  Tube top, Belly shirt, really short shorts, 5 inch heels, one of those hats that holds 2 cans of pop and has straws coming down.  .

5 Things I enjoy?

  Cold winter nights when I can put on a sweatshirt and read a really good book. Reading books with Connor.  Trimming roses or working outside.  Cooking a really good dinner.  Taking a nap.

5 Favorite TV Shows?

  Wipeout, The Office, Bones, Numbers, Curios George :)

5 People I Want to Tag?

  Zach, Ashlee Swenson, Anne Pimentel, Chelsi Crockett, Sarah Heath

  

Skydive Utah!!

This last Saturday some of Zach's family and I went skydiving.  I never thought that it would be something that I would do.  I really am scared of heights, so I just didn't think about it until the last possible moment.  We went out to the Tooele Airport where they do skydiving.  We watched a training video and then waited to get suited up and meet our instructor that we would be jumping with.  I met Bryce, my tandem master (that is what they are called).  The first thing that he said to me was "I dropped my last guy, but I promise that I will try not to drop you."  I think that I almost didn't go through it when he said that.  I decided that I would still do it and was so glad that I did.  After getting our harness and everything on we loaded the plane.  When you are in the plane you are straddling a bench and looking at the back of the plane.  I got in and we took off, it was then that I noticed what the back of the plane looked like and what the whole plane looked like.  The back had a lot of rust on it and the plane was pretty rickety.  I think that they must do that so that you would rather jump out of the plane when the time comes up than stay in it.  I was the second to jump out and then free fall for 55 seconds.  I didn't think that there would be so much pressure on you when you are falling, but it makes sense.  The air is coming at you so fast that you have to breath through your teeth.  After those 55 seconds the parachute comes out and you have a chance to get a good deep breath.  On the way down we did many twists and turns.  It was so great.  This was my favorite part.  I liked this part much better than the actual jump out of the plane and the free fall part that others like better.  It is definitely something that I would do again.  I was great and I survived!!  Here are some pictures, I will try to put more up when I get them.

This is me coming down.  There were times that I was able to see the chute, and it seemed like it was below me.

This is Bryce, in green.  He was the guy that I jumped with and was in charge of pulling the cord.

This is Zach practicing jumping out of the airplane.

It was such a great day!!!

Memorial Day

This last Saturday we took a drive out to Vernal with Zach's family.  His grandfather is there and so there was a bunch of his family and us that drove out there.  It was such a nice drive and it is always great to be reminded of the heritage that your family comes from.  Zach's aunt and uncle were there also.  They have done a lot of genealogy and know a lot of stories about those that are buried in Vernal.  It was great to hear many stories and to be with family remembering Grandy.  After going to Vernal we went to the Orem Cemetery to put flowers on my families graves.  My Grandma and Grandpa Butler are buried there along with my Grandpa Downs.  Every time I see there names etched in stone I think of the many memories that I have of them.  They were all so happy.  There was always a twinkle in my Grandpa Downs eye when he was joking.  My Grandma Butler was always quick to laugh and had the best laugh.  My Grandpa Butler would light up any time you asked him about BYU or fishing.  I wish that Connor would have been able to know them.  I guess that it is up to me to let him know the great heritage that he comes from.  He definitely has two great families that make up his heritage.  

One Year Older

I can't believe that I am 25. It seems like just yesterday I graduated from high school. Zach asked me where I thought I would be when I was 25. I think that depends on how old I was when I was thinking about being 25. I always wanted to be a teacher. The subject is what changed over the years. I always pictured myself married and with a different amount of kids. I look back on my life and see where I have made mistakes and where I wish I had chosen differently. I realize that it doesn't matter where I pictured I would be when I am 25. I love the picture that I have right now. I have the most wonderful husband that loves me. I have a wonderful little boy that brings so much joy to my life. I really couldn't wish for anything else.

Tulip Festival

This Monday, Connor and I along with my sister Kristen and her kids and my parents and grandma went to Thanksgiving Point to see the Tulips.













Since my mom is still getting over a broken foot and Grandma gets tired when she walks a lot, we decided to get a gold cart so they would not have to walk so much. It turned out really nice and ended up being great for everyone. No one really had to pull the wagon.
The kids really loved to ride along in the cart too. It was overall a really great day.

Sprinkler Trouble

Last year we put in our sprinkling system right before the snow fell.  Because it was so late in the season, they had turned off out irrigation water and so we had not tried our sprinklers until last week.  We were hoping that everything would have gone well and we wouldn't have to do much work this year.  We were not that lucky.  Here is just one of the problems that we found that Zach has fixed.  It was like having our own mud bath in the backyard. Having a whole yard to take care of is always an adventure.

The Beginning

I finally jumped on the blog wagon.  It seems like most people are already blogging and Zach has one he has updated a couple of times.  I just couldn't figure out how to update it myself, so I guess I will start my own.  We will see where it goes from here.