Getting settled

Moving into our house has been sooo great. But it has definitely been a process since closing on it. There is a ton to unpack and put away, stuff to buy that we didn't have before (like a lawnmower and blinds for the windows), and the task of figuring out what goes where is an ongoing thing. Here are some pictures of our home adventures:

Liam has become quite the handy man. He helps his dad "fix" things around the house. Cutest thing ever.

And they hung the blinds on all the windows together.

Then there is all the work outside that needs tending to.

Ahh home ownership. Isn't it grand!

A Visit to S-Town

Liam and I flew home to Sandpoint to visit my parents last week, while Anthony stayed home to work and prepare for Fall semester teaching. It was SO great to go home. I say it every time, but going home to where you grew up is special. And it was neat to have Liam with me and show him the house I grew up in and all the things I did when I was young.

I have the best parents in the world, hands down. My mom and I really are best friends, and probably went on lunch dates every day I was there. My dad would take a break from work some days to come with. This place below is right on the water, and had really good food.

Besides eating (!), we lounged around, went shopping, watched the Olympics, went to the city beach, went to the Craft Fair, and really had such a wonderful trip. I have to say, Liam and his grandpa became buddies this trip! Can you blame them? Look at all the fun they had together. From eating popsicles, to rides in the laundry basket, to eating bottles while watching the Olympics :)

On the Saturday before we left, we headed down town for the annual Craft Fair. It was fun, but super hot. And aftwerwards, we ate at one of my fave places Mick Duffs. They have the best gorgonzola fries. Liam had fun coloring as you can tell. He is very concentrated at his craft :)

Here is Sand Creek and the entracnce of City Beach. I forget how pretty Sandpoint is. I should have taken more pictures. ( I always say that).

Thank you mom and dad for flying us up to see you! Liam and I love you both SO much!

FINALLY!!

I have been MIA lately because.....wait for it, wait for it...We closed on our house!!!! We FINALLY closed on the house we have been building for the last year! Sheesh, a whole year. After a lot of hiccups and going back and forth with our builder, we became offical home owners on July 30. So the last few weeks I have been packing up our old condo, and unpacking our new house. I despise moving. It is so stressful, and if a marriage can survive a move, then I think it can surive anything haha I love you Anthony ;)

Liam, on the otherhand, loooved moving. He managed to climb into every box, and also unpack every box I was packing. This probably added a good amount of time to the moving process haha

And here we are at closing:. We don't look that happy, do we?! (And then the feeling of terror hit when we realized that we have a mortage and are really adults now, and now have a large amount of debt lol)

And actual moving day. It was really bittersweet. We loved the condo we were in the last 2 1/2 years. It was Anthony's and my first place after we were married, and where we brought Liam home from the hospital. A lot of great memories. I look forward to making more memories in our new house.

A Day at the Lake

We spent the afternoon at Utah Lake doing some sun bathing, drinking (bottle drinking that is), and lounging in the water---the way life should be spent.

We even did a little canoeing.

But mostly just relaxed.

Scottish Days

Well we trekked to Payson last weekend for the Scottish Days Festival. That's about the only time we go to Payson! Anthony went almost every year growing up, but this was my first time. It was pretty cool. Full of kilts, bagpipes, and everything else Scottish you'd expect to find.

Note all of the lovely characters in the backgroud. Probably should've cropped some all of them out of the far left picture (including girl with wedgie, and man in skirt. Yikes.)

Kid in a Candy Shop

Face pushed up against the glass counter, on his tip toes to see the top row of goodies, walking back and forth between the displays of deliciousness hoping to get a taste of something good. I am sure I did this when I was little. Heck, I still do this today! I'll admit it haha The treats at the Sweet Tooth Fairy are SO good--their cupcakes especially! Have you ever been?? Whenever I have a craving for something sweet I always ask Anthony if we can go get one of their cupcakes. I give him a sheepish grin and he just rolls his eyes and says okay. We went there this weekend, and Liam ran to the counter and was in awe of all the treats. We got cookies AND cupcakes :) It was a good night---everyone had sugar highs. That made it a little hard to get Liam to sleep for the night, but it was oh so worth it.

the 4th

We had a great 4th of July. We met Anthony's mom, sister and her kids at the Provo Beach Resort. I think that place has become my favorite and most frequented spot this summer. We got some ice cream, and rode the carosuel.

And then we were off to Anthony's brother's house for more festivities. We had some good burgers and hot dogs ( love summer grilling), lots of good desserts, an endless supply of soda it seemed, and then played for hours.

Then we had a gnarly fireworks show in the front yard. And given all the horrible fires that have started all around Utah this past month, everyone was extra paranoid. We had neighbors watching us, and one guy was standing in his front yard with a hose at the ready haha

And I had to include these two picures. We taught Liam how to "hulk out." Whenever we say "hulk out" Liam clenches his hands into little fists and tenses every muscle in his body and gets ths awesome look on his face. And the other thing we taught him is to "give knuckles." I love that we captured both on camera.

I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July!!

Playground Adventures

There is a really cool playground in Mapleton that we played at this weekend. It has a three story tall tree house playground, and the kids loved it.

Liam LOVES going down slides. And going up them, too :)

I love this picture because of the determination on his sweet face. And with a little help from mom he climbed to the top of the tree house. And his cute grin that says, "Ah, I made it!"

Kangaroo Zoo

Have you been to Kangaroo Zoo?! It's so much fun. I will even admit that it was as fun for the adults who went as it was for the kids lol Anthony's nephew had a birthday there this weekend. Last week was the aquarium party, and this weekend was the kangaroo zoo party. I love that Liam is getting older because he can do so much more, and can actually participate in all the fun. He certainly had a fun time!

 Liam had so much fun and used up all of his energy that he couldn't stay awake through the whole party. He tried his hardest to stay awake for all the action., but eventually konked out. This is how he spent the last hour of the party---asleep in mom's arms. I love that he will fall asleep in my arms. Makes me feel like he is still my little baby.

Party at the Aquarium

Anthony's nephew had a birthday this past weekend at the Living Planet Aquarium. The very same place we took Liam for his first birthday. It's funny what a difference three months makes. When we took Liam in April for his birthday he was barely walking. Now he is a walking machine, and actually is running most places. He even had a better time looking at all the animals, and I could tell he understood more of his surroundings. It's so neat to watch him grow and develop and take in all the world around him. It was a day filled with fun entertainment, good food, and family. What more could you ask for?!

Do we have a tennis star on our hands?

We were wandering the aisles of Target the other day, and Liam venturd into the sporting goods section. He looked in all the sections, and very deliberately decided that he wanted to check out the tennis aisle. He was checking out all the balls, rackets, and equipment.

And when he decided that he was ready to leave, he put his tennis balls and other finds in the cart and pushed the cart to the front of the store. Oh this child of mine. He is so determined and knows what he wants. I love that about him.

Bridal Veil Falls. Splash Pad. Indoor Surfing.

From the title of this post, you can tell that we had a fun filled weekend. The morning was spent hiking to Bridal Veil Falls with Anthony's mom, his sister and her kids. Here is the group:

And the boys. Playing with rocks and sticks, naturally.

And then we headed to the Riverwood's to play in the splash pad and get some ice cream.

Mean mom took the ice cream away...Nice dad gave it back.

Then we went over to the Provo Beach Resort for some indoor surfing.

Summer and I are best friends. So much to do! Cheers to a great summer!

Everybody was kung-fu fighting

Anthony's dad runs a martial arts business. The other day we paid him a visit, and spent hours at the dojang running around and playing with all the equipment. It's safe to say that everyone had a fun time.

We had to dress Liam in some fighting garb. I don't think he liked it very much. He tried pulling it off as soon as I put it on.

But once dad put it on, too, Liam was much happier :)

Dear Old Dad

Happy Father's Day. To my own dad, you truly are the greatest dad. God knew what he was doing when I was sent to you and mom. I love you so much. And to my hubby Anthony. You are such a wonderful dad, and you steppd into that role so effortlessly from the very start. I am so glad that you are hands on and involved in Liam's life. A work friend said to me, "You sure are lucky to have a husband who does so much. Back when I was raising my kids, I was lucky if my husband ever changed a diaper!" Well, changes diapers he does! But he does so much more than that. I am a good mom, but moms can't think like dads do. We are wired differently. There are just things that only a dad can think of.  For example, I play softly with Liam and his toys. Anthony takes Liam's toys and makes up crazy stories and creates alter egos with them. I teach Liam how to blow bubbles in the tub. Anthony teaches Liam how to splash the water out of the tub. I roll balls to Liam. Anthony fills Liam's crib with all of his balls to make a giant ball pit. I take Liam to the store with me to "run errands." Anthony takes Liam to the store for "adventures." Thank goodness for dads!

Art City Days

Art City Days was last week. And because Anthony is from Springville, we went to take part in the festivities. A lot of his family still lives there, and his dad and brother were in the parade this year. I love going to parades. Aren't they a throwback to your own childhood? Although, once I got to be high school age, my mom couldn't get any of us to get out of bed at 8:00am on a Saturday to go to the parade! Thanks for trying mom!

 Some of the floats, and a marching band.

 And here is Anthony's dad, brother, and step-mom representing their local business, Kaesung Academy. Liam is going to start classes in a few years---he will be a fighter and defender!

 We sat on the side of the street with the sun...so my eyes were dying when we tried to snap these pictures.

And at one point Liam ventured into the street, in the middle of all the action. I guess he wanted to be part of the parade. Thankfully Anthony did a quick rescue. Man, you turn away for one second and he takes off!

I am excited for all the upcoming parades for the other cities. Especially Swiss Days in a few months! Ooh, I love going there. Anthony has to set a limit on the amount I am allowed to spend there haha smart man that one!

Blickenstaff's

If you haven't been to Blickenstaff's, you must go! It's an awesome toy store with vintage and new toys, as well as throw back candy from when our parents were kids haha It's supposed to be for kids, but I secretly love going there, too. Liam adores this place. He has like a 15 second attention span, so he doesn't last long at one toy. But when he is making his way around the store, he genuinely enjoys the toy for those 15 seconds lol. If you don't live close to a store, they have an awesome webiste that you can go to, too (Blickenstaffs.com).

Here are some pictures from our last outing:

And Liam's personal favorite--the balls!

And on the way home a shoulder ride from dad :)