Happy Birthday...

To my one and only. You are my everything. I love you more every day I get to spend with you. You may not like this day but it is one of my most cherished. xoxo

Birthday party anyone?

Every 1 year old needs a party and Oliver had his. On Sunday we had both sides of our family over for a little BBQ, cake and ice cream to celebrate Baby O's big day. It was a pretty warm day but it was nice to have a little sprinkling of rain and a bit of cloud cover. It seems to be that anytime we plan a party at our house we have unusual weather, be it the first snow of the season the first week of October, to downpours the last week of August. I don't know that we've ever had a "perfect weather" party. Besides that, it was wonderful. Our families are incredible and we're so grateful for those that came to share your love with our babe. Oliver slept through dinner, and once he was awake, he wasn't quite sure about things. In fact, he was quite concerned. We sat him down to eat his cake and he was not happy. He dantily tried his cake and thought about it for a minute (still concerned) so Daddy helped him out. It was good. He liked it. We sucked and sucked on our fingers. Mom, have you tried this stuff? Why have you been holding out on me? Delicious! The end product. Sugar coma has set in. Ok, I'm done, can we play? Happy, Happy Birthday Oliver! We love you!

My dear, dear Oliver,

It was one year ago that I was anxiously awaiting your arrival. You have been a sweet boy since the minute you entered this world. I don't know how I could be so lucky to have such an amazing little boy. You are the apple of my eye and my little buddy. We have a special connection and I absolutly love it. Even though you are obviously a momma's boy, you are happy to see others, to snuggle with another, to share a smile with a stranger. You are so kind. You are so happy. You are so funny. You are so content. I love your chubby cheeks and your babble. I love your hugs (and especially when you'll pat my back during them). You are the funniest crawler. You started out as an army-crawler, but lately you have preferred to walk on your hands and feet with your bum in the air. It is darling and it makes everyone laugh. You love to eat and if the food is not there quick enough you are sure to let out a squeal and let me know I need to pick up the pace. This is especially noticable during church. It's quite embarassing for me, funny to everyone else. Your brothers love you. You and Charlie are going to be the best of friends. He is your watch-keeper. He is my assistant with you. It's been this way since day 1. D loves to bring you toys. I'm sure when you're a little bigger, D will be so excited to have another playmate. Your daddy and I adore you. You are our baby. Thank you for bringing so much joy and happiness to our family. I love you with all my heart. Happy 1st Birthday O!!!

God's Country

A week ago we got back from a quick mini-vacation to Eden, Utah. My parents had a condo for the week up at Powder Mountain and invited us to spend some time away with them. Can I even tell you how beautiful it is up there? You drive up a steep dirt road and then come around the corner and, bam, there is a little retreat right there on the top of the mountain. With the cool, wet, spring we had there is still plenty of snow up there but it is also quickly melting. Around the village there was constant water flow down the dirt road. Temperatures were about 60-65 degrees with sunny skies. I tell you, just a little fresh, mountain air is fantistic for a little rejuvination. I miss, miss, miss my mountains. It's pretty sad that I have not strapped on a snowboard (and probably most of them are now click-on's anyway) since I got married 100 years ago and I haven't been camping since before my twins were born 3 years ago. I am desperatly in need for a little mountain time, but until it's a little more feasible to do that, this was a nice escape. I continually am in awe of the beautiful earth the God created. How blessed we are to be able to live here and enjoy this beauty. I feel a little sad for those that don't enjoy the great outdoors. They truly are missing out on something special. Anyway, while in Eden we watched lots of movies, took lots of walks (usually just down the hill followed by a "go home" or a "I need to go awesome", etc.) and lots of swimming. That was the highlight for the boys. They loved the little kiddie pool and loved their "hoops." Such a fun time and makes me anxious to go to Bear Lake later in the summer.