4th of July

I love the 4th of July! I love all the celebration, the fireworks, and just spending time with family, enjoying the freedom we have in this wonderful country. I was so excited to be able to let Austin enjoy his first 4th of July. We were lucky to have my mom, Chuck, and Charles in town to celebrate the holiday with us.

We went to watch fireworks on Thursday (July 3rd) in North Salt Lake. They put on an amazing fireworks shows every year. It is at the golf course, so we just take a bunch of blankets, and hang out with family waiting for the show to start. I was a little nervous that Austin might be scared by the fireworks, since they were going off right over our heads. He got a little scared a few times, but for the most part really enjoyed it.

Kicked back watching the fireworks

On the actual 4th, we stayed home, had a bar-b-que, and did some fireworks. I am so excited that one of my best friends, Katie, is back in the area for a few months. She and her family came over for the afternoon. It has been so great to be able to catch up with her. Austin has also really enjoyed having her 2 little girls to play with!

We set up the sprinkler and a little pool in the backyard, and let the kids run around for a while. Austin wasn't quite sure about it all at first, but eventually thought it was fun!

Testing it out

Roaming the backyard

This is a video clip of Austin trying to play in the water. It was so funny to watch him because he just wasn't sure what to think of it all!

Water Fun

This is Austin's first experience playing in water (besides in the bathtub). We had set up the soaker hose in the back yard. I took Austin with me while I was working in the garden for a little bit. He immediately found the hose, and began playing in the water. He really enjoyed it...except when he fell right next to the hose and the water was spraying right in his face. It is so much fun to get to watch him explore the world, and experience all these things for the first time!

Blossoming Personality

Austin is definitely getting more of a personality these days. He literally RUNS almost everywhere he goes. He loves to shut himself in rooms, so the doors are usually closed before he can get to them. He sure does keep me running!

He has decided that he only likes a very limited number of foods, including: cheese, cheese quesadillas, fruit, yogurt, and chicken nuggets! This is very frustrating, when this sweet little guy used to eat pretty much anything I would put in front of him. We are crossing our fingers that it is just a phase!!

It has also become very hard to get a decent picture of this child. Most end up looking like this...unless he is totally distracted and doesn't realize you have the camera.

It is a really good thing he is such a good looking kid, cause even the goofy looking pictures still turn out okay!

Birthday pictures

We finally got Austin's one year pictures back. They turned out pretty cute. (Really though, how could they not?) He didn't want to hold still for very long, so I was impressed that we even got these. I can not believe how fast he has grown. He just looks like such a big boy in these pictures.

They let me bring a cupcake for "birthday" pictures. The photographer thought it was amazing that he knew exactly what to do with it.

This is my absolute favorite! I think he just looks so handsome...even with frosting all over his face!

I decided that I was going to splurge and get this 10x10 collage. I didn't even notice, until Justin pointed out, that they had spelt our last name wrong. So, we get to keep this one until the reorder (courtesy of Target) comes in.

Here are a few others. They aren't my favorite pictures, but I am such a sucker for this little guy, I couldn't resist them!

5 Years Ago

Last Thursday (June 12th) was our 5th anniversary. Here are a few wedding pictures for old times sake! J, thanks for 5 GREAT years...and many more to come!

Austin's Tigger Party

We had a "little" birthday bash for Austin yesterday. (By little I mean just family that lives close by, which puts the headcount at 25 people!) Since he has loved Tigger more than any other animal or character over the past year, I decided to throw him a Tigger party. Here are a few of the decorations I got for the big celebration!

Grandma Jan made an amazing Tigger cake. It is truly amazing what she can do. I think she about gave herself a mental breakdown over this one because she had to redo the head a few time in order to get it to stay on. But, the end result looked (and tasted) wonderful!

We also had a pinata for the kids. Austin made sure he got to be part of the fun, then tried to help me after by trying to put the candy back into the pinata!

We opened ALL of his presents. I'll just put it like the aunts and uncles did...you could tell that it was a first child's first birthday! Oh well, we had fun, and he LOVES all his new toys.

Then it was time to eat the Tigger cake. Austin has had so much cake this week...he even tried to blow the candle out on his own.

Happy Birthday Austin!!

Today is Austin's first birthday! I can not believe how fast the last year has gone by. We had a really fun evening, filled with Austin's favorite things-Mom, Dad, food, and toys! Here are a few pictures of his eventful day.

"Helping" Mom with the frosting for his cake

We ate dinner at Cafe Rio. It is Austin's favorite place to go eat because he gets to eat a cheese quesadilla and black beans! Look at how happy he is!

Before the cake:

Yes, it is Funfetti. Do you think I would give my child anything else???

First Bite:

Diggin' in:

After Austin was finished:

Presents:

He seemed to really enjoy himself today. He really liked the new toys we got him, especially the toy puppy that he can pull around behind him as he walks.

Austin, we love you so much and are so happy that you are in our family. Happy birthday little guy!