New Do, New Friends

This week I did it.
I chopped off my golden locks.
It feels great. Such a good change for summer.

Nick says he likes it.
And so do these guys...

A few weeks ago I saw one of them pop his sly lil head up at me from the sidewalk and I thought,
"Sick! Oh well, I would rather have a snake then a bunch of bugs."

A couple weeks later I saw two of them cuddling it up in the sidewalk crack and thought,
"Hmmm, I was ok with one, but two is pushing it."

Today I was spraying weeds and found this:

Not one. Not two.
But three slithery little heads peeping up at me.
I am pretty sure there is a nest somewhere.
I despise snakes. But I am also tenderhearted and don't want to just kill them.
What to do, what to do?

Family Vacay!

Our lil family took a nice trip down to St. George for a few days.
Let me tell you - it was perfect!
We went down to for some much needed "R and R"
Relaxation? Check!
Rest...eh, not so much.
Paisley must have been having too much fun because she insisted on starting each day at 6:30 am.
A little tough on her parents considering they were enjoying staying up late each night.

Nonetheless, we had a really fun time.
The babe enjoyed her first swimming pool experience, mama enjoyed shopping at the outlets, daddy enjoyed hiking in Zions National Park and we all enjoyed spending quality time together in the SUNshine!

POOL

Perhaps a bit nervous at first?

She actually seemed to enjoy it.
She'll do anything as long as she has her first to chew on!

It worked out SO well that the Connetts were taking vacation at the same time and same place as us! We were able to play in the pool with them!

Brigham Young Winter Home

We went to the Brigham Young Winter home.
What a privilege to be in the home that used to belong to a Prophet of God.

Zions National Park

This kid makes the best faces.
She wasn't too sure about hiking at first, but I think she enjoyed it.

Here's just a few pictures from our trip that I think are cute.
I know what you are all thinking:
My reply is Yes. Yes, I do know I take a ton of pictures of Paisley.
I just can't help it.

She loves grabbing our faces. Anything she can get her little chubs on.
The nose, the chin, the mouth.
Watch out! Her nails are sharp and she doesn't let go without a fight :)

How happy is this baby?
I think she liked St. George.

4 Month Photoshoot....Take 251

Alright, so maybe a I didn't really take over 200 pictures for PJ's 4 month photoshoot, but I did take a ton!
For some reason, she just wouldn't give the camera a real genuine smile (it's ok Paisley, daddy has the same problem :) ).
Also, Paisley requested that this month's photoshoot be taken in her "natural element,"
hence the crib backdrop.
Although I may not have gotten a smile out of it,
I got some pretty entertaining photos.
See for yourself...

As all baby models know - it's important to stretch out before every photoshoot.


Not too thrilled about sitting up without support.
She's strong but not that strong...

Point proven.
This was taken as she was falling over.
Whoops.


Much more content now that she has "Friends"
to help hold her up.


We decided the corner of the crib would be the best (safest) place to take some pictures.
Paisley really went with it and gave me some good faces.




She also wanted to show off her new trick:
She's mastered the "Happy Baby Yoga Pose"
Or she just found her feet.
Either way she Loves it!


I am not going to lie, I once thought I would be sad when Paisley would no longer be a newborn baby.
But I have to say, the last month or so I have had so much fun seeing this little girl's personality come out. I also really feel like she has turned into such a happy, good natured little girl.

Here's just a few things Paisley has done over the last month:
-Giggled: and my oh my it is the best thing ever!
-Rolled over: Both ways (back to front first, than front to back)
-Found her cute chubby little toes
-Started babbling more (she generally does it more when she's tired or hungry. It's pretty funny to listen to, almost like she is screaming but she's not)

And finally, a bit of a smile!

We're pretty excited to see what else this little girl has hiding up her sleeve.

Traditions!

Some of my favorite memories growing up consist of our family vacation each summer.
My mom worked hard all year round teaching piano so that each summer we could go for a week long family vacation.
We went all over the place -
Grand Canyon, California, Oregon Coast, Mount Rushmore, and Montana - just to name a few.
I really enjoyed this time with my family and I have a lot of fond memories.
We still laugh about the time we went to the Oregon Coast.
I found a starfish on the beach and decided to take it home as a souvenir.
When we got back to our car, my sister and I decided that it probably wasn't really dead so we kept adding water to it. It also continued to sit in our hot muggy car for the entire vacation.
This resulted in one stinky, decomposing starfish.
But I just couldn't get myself to part with it.
When the stench became too much for everyone to handle inside the car - I negotiated to move it into a bag on top of the car.
One time we pulled up to a gas station (the kind where someone actually pumps your gas for you). The man who was pumping our gas said "You know, you got something rotting on top of your car." My dad, who was being very patient with the whole situation, simply replied "Yeah, I know." There probably was a rolling of the eyes, but I didn't see that.
With each passing day the smell continued to get worse. Pretty soon there was an entire area around our car that just stunk like rotting flesh. But I, being the persistent little kid that I was, refused to part with it.
Finally, on one of the last days of our trip, my mom told me she would pay me $20 if I would just throw away the rotting starfish.
$20 sounded like a steal of a deal and I immediately threw my smelly souvenir in the trash.

It's memories like these I hope to be able to create with my family.
Nick and I decided to carry out the summer family vacation every year.
So this year (this weekend actually), we are taking our little family to St. George for a few days.
Although we don't have any big plans, we have been looking forward to it for quite some time.
Nick is in major need of a break from work and I am in dire need of some quality hubby time.
Paisley is just excited to relax by the pool.
Let the tradition begin!

Here are just a few pics of me on some past family vacations.

Ashley and Me. Not sure where this is at :(

Hogle Zoo

Salt Lake Temple

The Surprised Graduate!

Last December my 'bomb dot com' husband graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Sociology and a minor in Business.
We were a bit preoccupied at the time (uh, having a baby and moving!) so his accomplishment kind of went unnoticed.
Nick wasn't too keen on the idea of walking with the University this Spring so I decided to throw him a Surprise Graduation Party.
It worked out perfect.
Nick had to work half a day Saturday so I went to the park ealier and got a spot and was about to start setting up when Nick called - he had gotten off earlier than I expected! So I rushed home to meet him. (Huge thanks to my mom, Nick's mom and Ann for finishing setting up for me!).
I told Nick I thought we should go for a picnic and sent him to the store to get drinks. When he got home, I had a nice picnic basket ready - which he was NOT allowed to look in.
I proposed we walk to the park (because we were still a bit early for the party).
Nick had no idea I was up to anything.
Even when we got to the park and was walking up to the party he didn't notice -
I finally had to say, "Hey, don't you recognize all these people?" and then he finally realized that he had been tricked!
Ah, I LOVE a good surprise! (well, as long as it's not on me)

We have the BEST family and friends in the whole world.
Thanks so much you guys!

The party was complete with a Tiki Man Pinata

The Pinata was a hit! It attracted random kids throughout the park.

Nick finally busted the Tiki Man
(My dad nicknamed him Osama Bin Laden- Oh dad!)

Plenty of candy to go around!

The party must have been a success because I had a surprised hubby
and one tuckered out babe...

At the end Nick said he had just one question....
What was in the picnic basket we brought with us...

Food Storage.