Happy Birthday

I can't believe that a year has already blown by. Lily is growing up way too fast. We celebrated her birthday today with some gluten free cupcakes. It was fun to remember how last year at this time we were anxiously waiting to hold and see our baby who up to that time we had only felt kicking. Today we have a rambunctious little girl. I asked Erin to describe her in just one word, for me the little papaka is determined...determined to make my hair turn gray faster than it is!

Ignore the cruise in at the end of this clip. It seems Erin decided to tape over last years cruise in in Logan.

Back to blog

L's new friends Blair & Davis
Cousins

Cutie pie
Britt is right. I need to get my A back to blogging. I have to admit though, I did a very poor job of taking pictures for our little girl's first Christmas. I guess I just got lazy. It is even more upsetting because I found this Christmas scrapbooking kit with a bunch of cute stuff for like 50% off and I don't even have pics to scrapbook now. Oh well. I guess you live and learn. On a similar note, I was telling my friend how I really regret not writing happenings of my child down; significant events (like when did she start sleeping through the night, when did she start sitting up, crawling, teething, when did she cut down to eating after longer intervals, etc.). Now when I have a kid next time I won't know what to expect when. It will be like starting all over again. Darn it. By the way, I can't believe it has almost been a year!! Holy crap that went fast. L's birthday is only a couple days away.

picture updates

milo and lils
deja & danny's puppies. she named hers after my child.
friends reunited. this was a few months ago, but I thought I'd include it.

we dressed our baby up as yoda for our "back to bethlehem" Christmas party

before
after

i recovered this chair. it cost me $4

little mermaid

Merry Christmas All

"At this time of Christmas, this season when gifts are given, let us not forget that God gave His Son, and His Son gave His life, that each of us might have the gift of eternal life."
Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Son of God,” Ensign, Dec 1992, 2

First steps

Our little bubba took her first steps today. I seriously cant believe how fast time has flown by. My parents were saying yesterday that it wont be long before we are going to the field across the street to watch her play soccer.

Halloweenie

Lils has recently discovered the light switch in her room, so whenever she would rather not take a nap she simply turns on the light and plays. It would have been nice if our builder would have maybe placed the light switch a little more conveniently near the door (it is seriously three feet in and you have to reach your whole arm in the room to touch it), but lucky for Lils nap times now become play times. Look at that guilty face.

The cutest zebra in town grazing on a tootsie roll.

Check it out

Our little model has finally been added to the JJ Cole website. Check it out here: http://www.jjcoleusa.com/bc.php
The burp cloths are very cute, but not as cute as our little munchkin.

Precious Vinyl

Here is our latest addition to the baber's bedroom...a stripe of paint and vinyl. I couldn' t be happier about the way it turned out. I feel good about my creative skillz. I just wish I was a better photographer so I could give you a feel for what the whole room looks like. It's pretty cool.

Pic from the Past

Check out this picture of us. I found this today. Some chops I had growing there, huh? Challenge to all those who read this. I want to go to your blogs and see a great "Pic from the Past." We should have a great laugh at each other don't you think?

More blog help

Why is my blog so skinny? What if I want it to take up the whole screen in width?? Help!?!

Yard Pictures

There you have it ...our yard. Special thanks to Orin, Dad, & Omai for all their hard work and in Orin's case expertise. Hey does anyone out there know how to change it to load pictures beneath where I am typing. Every time I post a blog I have to think bassackwards because I write something the pictures keep posting above. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Side view with old Gill.


So finally I am getting around to posting pictures of our semi-finished yard. Now all that has to happen is for our grass to grow. I am very pleased with the final product.
Just to let you know, these pictures don't do our yard justice. If you want to be wowed you will have to come visit us in person.

Yard

Riki has been working so hard on our yard lateley. I am so excitied to finally be getting grass planted this week. It has been quite a transformation. I will post pictures soon. Way to go Riki!

PA Vacay

We had such a fun time on our trip to the "keystone" state of Pennsylvania. We had many little journeys while there. It was sad to leave. Here are some pictures. (Note: Our friends the Whippermans treated us to a memorable night in Pittsburgh, but we neglected to take any photos. Sorry Cody.)
Nans & Lils in the car.

Gettysburg, the site of the turning point in the Civil War.


This is Amish country where they use horses to pull modern farm equipment, they ride scooters all over town (but no bikes), and they name their cities Paradise, Bird in Hand, Virginville, Blue Ball, and Intercourse....no kidding.
Graybill is a common name in Lancaster.Hershey, PA. Chocolate world....It's the milk chocolate, na na na nu...complete with Hershey kiss lamps lining the street.

Here is my cute bro in Philly. The lines on the sidewalk mark the size of actual homes that stood there at the time of the American Revolution. Tight quarters were the result of horrendous property taxes.

Here is Independence hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Here we are at the King Tut exhibit featured at the Franklin Institute. It was amazing. Photos in the gallery were not allowed so this is all you get.

Here we met Dani & Kurt at a dive in Philly called LaLupe. The food was excellent. We had "water ice" afterwards and saw their new home just outside the city.

To Nanna's House We Go

On Friday I took my Auditing & Attestation exam (test 3 of 4 to get my CPA license). It was LONG (4.5 hours) and I didn't sleep a wink the night before because Lily decided to scream all night for no apparent reason. Anyway, I won't find out if I passed for about 6 weeks or so, but at least it is over and I can relax for a week until I start studying for my last exam. We leave tomorrow night to go to Pennsylvania to visit Riki's parents on their mission. We will spend most of the week in Harrisburg with Nanna & Pappa, but we are also going to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to visit Riki's friends and Bracken's family. I am so excited for a week of relaxation and time to spend with Riki & Lily. It feels so weird to have nothing to do. I love it.

Family Vacation

We had a fun weekend this last week with my family up in Bear Lake. My parents rented a condo for all of us, my bro came in from NYC...it was a blast. We rented wave runners, a boat, and hung out at the beach all day. We finally got to see the Pretty Penny for the first time. How cute! Here are some family pictures we got taken while we were up there.