Signs of Summer randomness

 This week we've just been playing and taking it easy. Pictures say it so much better than I can. Here you go:

This is what Cyrena worked on during "quiet time"  Don't worry she gave me a turn next and put about 20 clips in my hair.  It was lovely...

We've all been enjoying the summer harvest, especially Natalie.

We went to the splash park to play with our friends, the Mechams.  Thanks for a great time guys!  Natalie loved the water, and Cyrena got to try out her new baseball glove.   

David doing what he loves...playing catch!

Made it to first!

And here's  just a cute video of Natalie laughing at her headbanging sister.  

Day of Celebrations part 2

Yesterday was our 7th anniversary.  Here's a little of our story: Seven years ago David and I were sealed in the Salt Lake temple.  I remember it as a warm and windy day.  And I was HAPPY beyond description.  

David and I met in 1998 when I was visiting a friend, Jessica, on BYU campus in Provo.  He was in her ward and was working at the creamery.  Jessica and I went to the creamery and he was working so she introduced us.  David has no recollection of this meeting.  And I guess I wouldn't have either except that soon after, he went on his mission to Mexico and corresponded with Jessica while he was gone (FYI there was nothing romantic between them, just a friendship, right guys?).  :) So for the next 2 years I would hear little bits and pieces about David Dean from letters/postcards he would send her. 

Then, in the summer of 2001, David was back from his mission and by chance moved into the apartment complex where Jessica and I were living.

 On the right is Jessica with her now husband Cory. We got married 3 weeks apart.  Jessica deserves her own post, so I will work one up for her birthday or something. :)

That summer David and I became great friends.  After a few months, that friendship developed into something more and the rest is history, we got married the next summer and have been blissfully happy (he used those words yesterday, I promise) ever since.  Cyrena was born in 2005, and Natalie came along almost 3 years later.  We've had our share of trials and heartache but through it all we've been able to make each other laugh and that's what's important!  I never knew married life would be so amazing and fulfilling.  David is the most down to earth, unselfish, nonjudgemental person I have ever met.   I'm so grateful to have him as my eternal partner, he continues to bless my life with his quiet, gentle ways.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.  There was a 2nd photographer following around the main photographer.  She took these amazing black and white candid shots.  I think that's why I like them so much.  They capture the little moments in between our picture posing.  They capture how truly happy we make each other.

So this year since I knew our anniversary would have to share the spotlight with other celebrations, I wanted to make it special.  So a couple of months in advance I planned a surprise overnighter for David and I.  Except at the last minute I ended up having to tell him because he kept trying to get us tickets for a baseball game the night I had something planned for us and other things kept coming up.  But he was still very pleasantly surprised, just 2 days early.  So we dropped the girls off at Torrie's and went out to Scottsdale for dinner and a movie, then stayed in a hotel out there.  We stayed up late, went swimming, ate our leftovers at 11:30p.m. and had so much fun together!  We've only left Cyrena overnight once besides when Natalie was born, so this was so enjoyable. We got up the next morning, had an awesome breakfast and enjoyed a little bit of Scottsdale before heading home.  A BIG thank you to Torrie for dealing with my girlies!

Day of Celebrations part 1

Today is a day of celebrations.  And boy do we like celebrations in our family.  It is not only Father's Day, Cyrena's 1/2 birthday, and our 7th anniversary, it's also the first day of summer! Now that's a lot to pack into one day, but we're doing our best to make everyone feel important.  

We'll start with Cyrena's 1/2 birthday.  The poor girl has a birthday so close to Christmas it makes a 1/2 birthday necessary.  We've been talking about it for a few weeks now and she has eagerly looked forward to having cupcakes on her 1/2 birthday.  While I was in Utah I found her the 'cutest' pink baseball glove for just $5 at Big Lots!  I love that place.  She has been wanting a pink baseball glove for awhile.  Excuse her lack of vocabulary in the video, she forgot what they were called.  She loves to play baseball outside with David and is so happy she can play catch with him now!

Now on to Father's Day.  I'm so grateful for this day to honor and think about all the wonderful fathers in my life.  I'm so grateful to be surrounded by men who honor the priesthood, who treat women with respect and who can always make me laugh!  That's important.  A big thank you and I love you to David's dad and stepdad and to my own dad.  

This is how I found them yesterday afternoon, watching a movie together.  Or was it golf?  

Cyrena made this candy poster for David.  She had so much fun picking out treats at the store since we never buy candy from the checkout line.  She helped me compose the words then taped on all the candy for him.  She was ecstatic to show him this morning.  She drew a picture of her, daddy and Natalie in the top right corner.  

Natalie wanted to grab all the candy off the poster, she loved the noisy wrappers.  She is such a grabber, changing her diaper is a nightmare.  

I'm so grateful for the effort David puts into fatherhood.  He is always willing to stop whatever he's doing to play with his girls.  Cyrena is his sidekick, where he is she wants to be also.  She gardens with him, fixes things with him, eats with him, watches sports with him, laughs with him, and dances with him.  David is quick to laugh, can fix anything, and has the patience of a saint.  All great qualities in a dad!

Evening Bliss

I'm in shock that we are still able to go outside and play in the evenings. I LOVE that it hasn't been too hot yet. It seems that every evening when David gets home from work, he and the girls play outside on a blanket while I finish up making dinner and David waters the garden, etc.. Last night I got dinner done EARLY and David wasn't home yet so I went in the backyard with the girls to play. It was nice to just spend time with them laying around on a blanket enjoying the last of the day's sunshine. Here are some pictures, with a few by a guest photographer!

Those mormons and their horns!

Go ahead, eat her up already....

Courtesy of Cyrena Beana photography

I know it looks like I'm talking on a doll phone because my hand is so large, but I assure you, it's our normal, everyday house phone.  I just have large paws.

So mad I took the camera away

But never mad for long

Just for kicks, here's a picture of Cyrena  with her first pigtails.  She's a little younger than Natalie in this picture but again you can tell they're sisters.  Same fatty arm rolls, same crinkled nose, same hairline, etc.  Oh, and super cute as well!

Utah Trip

Whew! It feels like we've been gone forever, but it's just been a week and 1/2. We had a great time on our trip to Utah. I took the girls and we surprised my sister and her family by flying in the weekend of my nephew's baptism. They were surprised and excited to spend time with us, as was the rest of our family members. We stayed in Utah County for over a week then we drove down to Hurricane where my parents recently purchased a 2nd home. David met us there for the weekend. It was wonderful to see him after being apart for over a week, that was hard!! He made it very clear that we can never do it again. :)

Our time was spent playing with cousins, exploring outside, napping, reading, visiting, eating, baseball games and a whole lot more!  It was so very enjoyable.

Here are some picture and highlights from the trip. 

There are a lot, don't forget this is my family journal! :)

So happy to be at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Playing at the park with cousin Ty.  We've waited 3 1/2 years for these 2 to get along and finally it happened!

Jacob's baptism day.  It was a very special day and the spirit was felt so strongly.  Our family is so lucky to have this amazing little man in our lives!  Isn't that a handsome family?  And that's the Mt. Timpanogos temple in the background, their chapel is across a parking lot from it.

After the baptism, Cyrena wanted to stay with Jacob a little longer, so I headed home to give Natalie a nap.  Well that afternoon, Jacob heard the magic music of the ice cream truck.  He immediately rushed around the house trying find my sister's wallet.  Cyrena noticed the commotion and began rushing around with him saying "what?! what?!"  She had no idea what those magical musical notes meant; but she soon found out.  Here is Cyrena's first encounter with 'the ice cream truck'   Good thing my sister is so quick with her camera or else I would have missed it!

Afterward she said the ice cream man was so nice and he's her new best friend.  Creepy.

Grandpa is so fun to climb on.
It wouldn't be a visit without making s'mores (or 'snores' as Cyrena called them) in the backyard fire pit. 
Cousins Elise (17) and Jacob (8) slept over one night.  Cyrena got her fingernails and toenails painted and her hair done all fancy!  She had already taken out the hairdo by the time this picture was taken.  She and Jacob slept in the same bed.  I was amazed she stayed all night because she has NEVER slept with someone else in her bed.  She doesn't like it, even when we have tried to persuade her to sleep with us when she's sick.  She likes her own space.  But she loves Jacob and stuck it out!

The next morning, during Natalie's nap, I took Cyrena and Jacob hiking on some trails behind my parent's home.  Cyrena loves maps and we forgot to bring one.  So I gave her my phone and pretended it was a GPS.  She typed in numbers and told us which way to go.  In this picture she's telling us to go "55544 right" And I LOVE the patient look on Jacob's face, he indulged her!  

We were stalking a bluejay in the meadow.

I took the girls to visit David's grandparents.  Great-Grandmother and Great-Granddad Gerstner.  It is always fun to see them and visit.  They are such sweet people and love playing with the girls.  Granddad always has a comb in his pocket...his hair always looks nice!

We went to several cousin's baseball games.  There are a lot of Taylor boys and most of them are in the middle of baseball season.  Here we are at Alec's game which Seth (his little brother) got to fill in on his team since they were short a player.  So we got to watch both of them.  The weather turned a little funny and it was windy, cold and sprinkling.  Natalie was wrapped up in her blanket and my dad's jacket, but she was happy as always!

The support crew.  Baseball can sure get intense! Some phrases repeated often were "choke up a bit"  "atta boy"  "wait for your pitch" and "let's go Alec/Seth" Don't you love sports talk? 

Cousins eating some ice cream sandwiches after the game.

Cyrena was privileged enough to help my dad mow the lawn.  At one point she was yelling something, but I couldn't quite hear her over the motor.  I finally figured it out though...."I don't want to go back to Arizona!!"

Natalie helped Grandpa tie down some luggage on top of the car.  Don't even ask what happened to that green duffle bag that had all the stuff I'd bought.  Don't ask about it falling off and us searching in vain for 2 hours.  Don't even ask.  I think it was Natalie's fault.

Even though we were in Hurricane for only 2 days, I really wanted to go to the St. George temple.  So David and I got up early Saturday morning and it was a great session!  I didn't realize how small it was but it is so beautiful.  I'm glad we had the chance to go.  

Saturday afternoon we went to a lake that is close to my parents house.  We had a picnic and played baseball.  Natalie sunbathed on a blanket and loved every minute of it.  The wind picked up though and we had to end early because we were getting sandblasted.

My parents just got the landscaping done on the Hurricane house, so there was grass to play in outside.  This was the first time Natalie sat up for longer than a few minutes or so.  She sat and played with the grass for at least 20 minutes!  She was so cute grabbing the long pieces and trying to hard to get them to her mouth.  She finally succeeded at the end. 

Again ladies, he's all mine! This picture gives me butterflies....what a handsome guy.

Oh my goodness, look at the concentration! We had quite a few foot races that afternoon.

A happy family

My aunt and uncle drove up from Vegas to see us for the day.  He is a dentist so I had him do a quick check of Cyrena's mouth.  She was very cooperative and wanted a free toothbrush when he was done.  She was disappointed he didn't have one for her.  He said her teeth look great!

While David and I packed the car for our trip home, Natalie was tired and fussy so my mom took her inside and got her to sleep.  We miss our grandma and grandpa!