We're back from the dead!

HELLO!! Sorry it has been so long since our last post.... I guess life just gets in the way!! So what new with us? I really should ask what's not! So here goes....

Eric has started school....again.....but for the last time (at least until grad school)! That's right-- he graduates in December! We've felt like it would never come but here it is creeping up on us.... YIKES.... real life? What's that? :)
He has a new calling.... he is now that second counselor in the Stake Sunday School Presidency. And he is enjoying the last few weeks of working up at the caves since he will be done in mid-October.

As for me... I am now working a little bit. Back at Alpine, but only PRN (on-call). I am so excited to be back- sometimes it's nice to have a conversation with someone that will/can talk back! Sheena is such a sweetheart and is watching Sawyer on the days I have to work! I am still in the Young Women and loving it! And we just found out that next summer for Youth Conference, we are going to get to go to Nauvoo...via train! So we are hoping that everything works out and we can stay until next fall. I am currently trying to come up with a clever name for my "company"-- well....sort of. I have decided I am going to make and sell cards. So if you have any brilliant ideas that you are willing to share... i just might have to give you a credit!

Sawyer is growing like crazy. He is crawling now, and he has discovered that he would much rather stand up in his crib and look around than sleep! He is almost 9 months old....and he says "mamamamama" all the time!! I like to pretend that he actually knows what he is saying! His favorite food is currently cheese, although he will eat pretty much anything-- not a picky eater.

Our garden is flourishing. We have way more than we will ever use. Eric likes to make salsa with all the tomatoes and peppers, and the pumpkins have taken over!

One of my best friends and her husband have moved in right next door... talk about convenient! It's a lot of fun to have them there!

So that's what's been going on with us. Maybe someday I will have the time to just sit down and share my thoughts on completely random things.... since that is kind of what a blog is for.... but for now- it is what it is! :)

Vacation/Family Reunion #3

Viva Las Vegas!! For our third and final family reunion this summer we headed down to sin city! The few times that we've been before I always tell myself to go a little bit crazy (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas right?), but for me it's not that simple. So while I wish I could tell you that we partied all night at the clubs and gambled our share of hundreds--- you all know better! We really did have a ton of fun though. We went to a memorial service for Eric's grandfather. He was a veteran so they did the military salute and shot the guns. It scared Sawyer pretty bad, but it was a really cool experience for us. I never got the chance to meet him, but since I am a major baby, I cried. We also had a birthday bash for Eric's grandmother!
We took family pictures, ate at In-n-Out, swam in Mandalay Bay's wave pool, Lindsay went and say Mama Mia (the play, not the movie), Eric rode the roller coaster at New York New York, and we tried our hand at Blackjack- but we weren't quite as good as the people in the movie 21.

At the birthday party.

Taking a break from family pictures.

Eating at the "greatest" place in the world!

Now that we're a little older and we have a child, it seems like it's a lot more work to have a vacation! Before every one we always seem to get so stressed out and cranky that we think "Why are we even going, it would be so much easier to just stay home." But we always go, and we are always glad that we did! Because once it's over, we don't remember how hard it was- all that we remember are the fun things that we did and the great time that we had. I'm so glad that we are programmed to do that- that we always remember the good things, and usually we forget the bad! I've noticed this in almost every aspect of my life- have any of you?
Well anyways, now that I've rambled on about that, I just want to say that we are so glad that we have the families that we do, and that we found each other and are able to be together every day, creating good memories for us and for our children. Life is good- sometimes we have to work to make it that way, but it really is good!

That's Mine!

Normally when you say "that's MINE" to a little kid and take something away from them they start to cry-- but our's.... LAUGHS! This was probably a lot funnier to us than it will be to any of you, but I was laughing so hard it made me cry!

Can i just say that I love my little boy! I hurt when he hurts, and I laugh when he laughs. He has brought so much to our lives that I can't think what we ever did without him.

Vacation #2

OK- technically it was family reunion #2, but I'm calling it a vacation! Over this past weekend we went to the Hepworth family reunion. I'm talking about 4 generations worth of people....or in other words A LOT!! We go back to my great-grandmother, who wasn't there in person but in spirit- her 6 children (my grandparents generation), all of their children (my parents generation), all of their children (our generation), and all of their children(the up-and-coming generation). It was really cool to see and meet some of these people that I had no idea I was related to, and to catch up with others that I hadn't seen in a really long time. All-in-all, we had a really good time!

Here we are standing next to the "welcome sign".

Each family got matching shirts! They have our first names on the front- so that we could remember everybody's names, and then on the back it stated which of the 6 children we belong to! As you can see ours say "Janet's Clan" (Janet is my grandmother) and her decendents were assigned bright orange (each family was assigned a different color). I thought the names that the reunion committee came up with were rather clever. The other five were (in no particular order): Ron's Squad, Bill's Bunch, Alan's Army, Wayne's Gang, and Mary's Mob! Pretty creative! All weekend we wore our "shirts" so that we knew who came from which child.

We had access to a pool and decided to take Sawyer for his first real swim- in a real pool! He loved it!

Sawyer, Grandma, and Grandpa! This was as he was getting ready to go to bed, so he wasn't decked out in the orange shirt...

Sawyer, great-grandma (Janet), great-grandpa, and us!

Pool Party

I've decided that I love putting up pictures of Sawyer! Maybe it's because I think he is so darn cute, or maybe it's because I would rather look at pictures of him than pictures of me! But, whatever the reason, here he is playing in his little kiddie pool.
So glad to be in the water.

Check out that splash!

The first time he ever got in was with his grandma and he ended up staying in for an hour and a half-- he was so wrinkly when he finally got out! But he absolutely loves it!
Just having a good ole' time!

Playing with cute little Emma!

Happy 4th!

OK, so I know that the 4th was almost a week ago, but I'm still going to post this even though I'm really late.....
Anyways, Eric had to work on the 4th (and the rest of the weekend),so I ended up taking Sawyer to Burley. We bummed a ride from Aimee and took off to enjoy the holiday! Grandma and Grandpa Mitton bought Sawyer the cutest little life jacket so he could ride on the boat, but he ended up HATING it.


So we just let him ride without it.... (shhh, don't tell!)

After we rode up and down the river a couple of times, we headed out to another family get-together on my side. Sawyer got to meet his great-grandma & grandpa Duncan for the first time (and I didn't even get a picture). I was so glad that we had the chance to do that because we don't make it out there very often and we want Sawyer to know as much of his family as possible.
We didn't watch any fireworks this year since Sawyer was already asleep, but there's always next year! We had such a great time, but I think the best part was coming back home to Provo and being together as a family again.

I am so glad that we have to opportunity to live in the country and enjoy the freedoms that we do. To be able to believe and worship as we choose, and make our own decisions. I really think that we take for granted what so many others are denied, and I hope that everyone will take just a moment to remember the sacrifice that was made on our behalf, and remember the blessings that we all enjoy.

Vacation #1

A few weeks ago we went to Island Park for a family reunion! It was so much fun to get away for a weekend and spend time with family. Some highlights of the week were...
* Sitting in the HOT TUB (for the first time since BEFORE I was pregnant!)
* Playing in the bean-bag tournament (Go Sawyer's Best!!)
* Visiting Quake Lake. (kind of creepy)
* FARKLE!! (a way fun dice game)
* The ice cream shop in West Yellowstone.
* Fishing.
* Taking family pictures.
* The fields of wild daisies. (georgous!)
* All the YUMMY food!

Here are a few pictures from our trip.