This morning...

...we took a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon with our next door neighbors in tow to see if we could get a few family pictures in the fall foliage. Here's a specimen.


After pictures we had a lovely al fresco lunch and let the kids explore nature while we were surrounded by it. The colors were so breathtaking and the temperature was the perfect balance of cool and warm. It made me wish that I could find time to visit the canyon more often than I do.

Family fun for the 4th

We went to Star Valley, WY for the 4th of July weekend and my WHOLE family was there! Thanks, Matthew and Karen, for flying in at the last minute to make this picture possible!




We had some quality cousin time, lots of volleyball, cards, name games and golf cart rides. We had lots of laughs, a few tears, a few stubbed toes (thanks to the annual sockey game), a little music and a ton of fun. That place truly is Heaven on Earth.

Hand prints

A couple of weeks ago, we had some concrete poured on the side of our new house. When we first talked about putting concrete there, I told Dan that I would REALLY love to get the kids hand prints in the concrete. I told him that since this is our "forever house" I wanted to remember how small our kiddos were when we moved in. I wanted to preserve something of their childhood that could never be lost or washed away.

You see, I'm sentimental like that.

He is not.

He said no.

On the day they poured the concrete, we had great fun watching the big truck spinning and the men wearing those awesome boots, walking around in the muck and smoothing it out. They were there for 5 hours and after 4 and a half, I thought I'd give it one more try.

"I suppose it's too late for hand prints..." I said.

"Yeah." Was his short, full answer.

I gave up and put the baby to bed.

As I left the baby's room and sat down at the table to work on a project, Dan came running in from the garage.

"Come on! Hand prints! Let's go!"

As I stared at him in mute amazement, I thought I could see the touch of a grin on his face. When he started rallying the kids and herding them to the driveway, I knew he was serious and I didn't even hesitate as I ran into the baby's room and snatched him from his crib.

By the time I got to the driveway, our oldest daughter was walking back to the house to wash her hand off and he had our second daughter's hand pressed into the soft, wet rock. Jack was next, and then Dan helped me by holding the baby as I pressed his little hand into the cement.

Then, Dan carefully etched the childrens initials above each of their hand prints.

It was done.

A part of our children was frozen in time.

I don't want to wish the time away, but a part of me is secretly excited for the day when my grandchildren discover the prints and lead their parents by the finger to the spot and ask them to put their hand out to see how they've grown.

So anyway...

I went to lunch today with my darling cousins, my sister, my aunt, my mother and my grandmother and let me tell you: it was good to get some girl time in. These women are amazing and very unique. They inspire me and I love to be around them.

In fact, I want to dedicate this post to them. Thanks for the inspiration, girls. Because of you I want to get back to blogging. So here it is...

I'm back.

I'm not promising daily posts, but I'm recommitting to my blog.

Stay tuned.

Happy one-month birthday and some news

Happy one-month birthday to my sweet Nathan! I call him my little piece of heaven because he is just that. He's so precious and perfect and I LOVE HIM! I just can't get enough of him.

Here are a few pictures from his first month:



Oh, and our news... We're moving back to Utah! Dan got a job with GE Capital in Draper, UT! So we are in the process of selling our home and getting ready to move! Nothing like cramming a few different life changes into a short space of time, eh? (He got the job three days before Nathan was born.) Anyway, we're excited but we love Portland and will really miss our friends here. Such is life, I guess.

Welcome to the world, little one.

Nathan James Wadsworth
August 23rd, 2010
4:45 PM
8 lbs. 14 oz., 21"

I love you, son.

Happy Belated Birthday, Jack. I didn't post on your birthday, but we did celebrate it. We went out of town the next day and the girlies dance recital was that night so it was a bit crazy, but here are some pictures of the occasion.


One of our family birthday traditions is that we have birthday cake for breakfast. Another is that the kids get to put sprinkles on their cake. Jack had a lot of fun with that one... until the sprinkles ran out.


We gave you a bike and a water gun for your birthday as well, but you got those a little early. This race track was the only present you actually opened on your birthday. You loved it though, and you and Daddy played with it for a few hours that morning.

At the girlies dance recital that night.

And finally, some random pictures of you:


I thought I would take this opportunity to list a few of the things I love about you:

I love your freckles and the cleft in your chin - the only physical traits that you got from your daddy.

I love it when you look at me with your big cheesy grin and your squinty eyes say "Mommy happy?" It inevitably makes me happy.

I love your little brown back with a distinct line at your waist just above your little white bum.

I love that you love Beethoven.

I love that you love your sisters.

I love that you love babies. (It's a good thing you do, too, with baby brother on the way!)

I love your sound effects.

I love that since before you were two, you could hear the difference between an airplane and a helicopter flying overhead.

I love it when you say "take me" - which means you want to be held.

I love that you still love to snuggle.

I love that you call toilet paper "toppa pitcher."

I love your hilarious little laugh.

I love your pudgy hands and feet.

I love your dramatic facial expressions.

I love that you recognize how others are feeling and are concerned when someone is sad.

I love how you line up your cars (and other toys) in a row.

I love that you put your toys under your chair at the dinner table.

I love that when you want to go swimming, you say "I want to paddo paddo."

I love that you were brave enough to try tubing this summer.

I love that the on the night of your birthday, when Daddy was putting you to bed, you said to him: "Thank you for my birthday."

You are such a sweet boy, and such a blessing in my life. You are so happy and joyful that you are like a little ray of sunshine. I guess it was prophetic when I used to call you "my little sunshine boy" from the time you were born.

I love you, son.

Love,
Mommy