LOOK WHO'S WALKING

So after about a whole summer of me thinking, "Stella could start walking any day now," our little Stella has decided to do just that. I believe it was Sunday night--I was home from my wedding weekend, she was standing in the corner of the living room, and all of the sudden she just took a step like it was no big thing. Then she kept walking back and forth from me to a chair for a good while until her little legs got tired. She is tickled to death about walking and thinks it is great fun. She has had a few tumbles, but most of the time when she loses her balance, she bends her knees and touches the ground with her hands. She then stands back up with balance restored and is off again. Now she is really on the move.

SAN DIEGO

Well I have just returned from my first wedding outside of Utah. I realized last week that I have never gone on a trip solo before without anyone meeting me at my destination. So it was kind of a monumental trip in more ways than one.

I had no idea where I wanted to stay. So to narrow down my choices I decided to find out where the Neiman Marcus was, and then to stay close to the mall it was located in. Seemed a reasonable enough plan to me. The funny thing was that my mom was so worried about me going alone. She even offered to fly with me so as to make sure that I made it okay. I told her she was plenty invited, but that I was 30 1/2 years old and that I could handle it fine. Which I did. The only vacation thing I had time for was a few hours at stated mall. It was just lovely and I got to go to H&M, and even seriously think about buying a pair of black Prada heels at Saks. (They were too small, which was maybe a good thing.)

Overall the weekend went without a hitch and I had a wonderful time documenting the day for this delightful bride and groom. It was my first wedding dealing with absolutely horrible lighting and I think I did an okay job.

Be sure to check out the photo blog in a week or so to see the results. Or, if you haven't been in a while, check it out anyway. I have been super busy!

31 YEARS OF BRENT

Today our little Brenty is 31. We really are old. Brent had simple demands for his birthday--he wanted to watch the Netflix movie he got in the mail, and spend time with the people he loves. That was easy enough for me to deliver, thank heavens.

We started off the celebratory day with Stella and I meeting Brent up for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Stella enjoyed her water and the bread. In fact, the birthday boy even sacrificed some of his share of the bread for Stella.

Then for the evening, I made another chocolate cake (it is becoming a family staple) and we went to dinner at Rafael's. Brent likes it, but I mostly suggested it since it is pretty low key and not too scary to take two toddlers there to eat. Brent got a huge signature drink that Stella loves. In fact, Rafael's might be Stella's favorite place. She loves the chips, the tacos, the smoothies, AND the Mexican Fiesta sounds.

For the past several weeks I have been getting almost a shipment a day in the mail from Brent buying DVDs. [Editor's Note: This is a gross exaggeration.] So I already told him I was not buying him a DVD for his birthday. Instead he got some new socks and several pairs of pajama pants, since his current pairs (of both socks and PJ pants) are terribly embarrassing to wear in front of others.

Happy Birthday little fellow! Thanks for all you do to make our family a success and the envy of all!

DRIVING THE WALKER

I am going to be honest here--I thought Stella would be walking by now. And she can, a few steps, but she certainly is not interested in a full walking schedule yet. I think she could do it, but just does not want to. Stella has loved her walker for a long time, but she used to only be able to walk in a straight line and then, when she would run into something, I would have to turn it for her. Just thinking about the time I spent doing that makes my back hurt. Well just the other day she learned how to steer it herself and she is loving it. Last night I let her use it outside and she thought it was a total treat. Another hilarious bonus is that when you lift her up while she is using it, she will just pick up the walker with her. She dies laughing every time we do that. She must think she is really getting one on Mom and Dad. It was tricky getting these shots--she goes pretty fast with this thing!

WHEELER ROCKIN' FARM

Heidi thought it was about time to have some portraits taken of our Catcher. We went to Wheeler Farm on Wednesday night just as it looked like a tornado was coming in. Then, when we saw that they were having a free concert and BBQ that night and there were too many people there, we gave up and decided to try again in the morning. Heidi and I are not really known for our get-up-and-go style in the mornings so when we were all out of the house by 9:30 it was a surprise. However, I did not have time to tend to Stella's overall look. She had her breakfast while watching the shoot and ate it proudly with a full head of crib hair. These are a few pics I took that weren't part of the shoot.

SUMMER CONDO TRIP 2009

I have had the craziest week ever! We have had family in town from both sides, I had several photo shoots including my very first wedding up in Logan, I had a baby shower to attend, a chocolate cake to make from scratch then show off AND let's not forget, the general adorableness of my only child to keep up with. All in all, a crazy week. I haven't even had a chance to fully watch the finale shows of So You Think You Can Dance. Last night I skipped to the end to see who had won because I still hadn't heard and didn't want it to slip out from some random person at church or something.

So here is my first catch-up post. Every summer, Heidi makes a point to have an extended stay with us, and we go up and stay a night at our condo up at Solitude. It is always a treat and the boys love it. Stella absolutely adores Cy and Catcher. They entertain her to no end. Plus they come with 100 matchbox cars to play with. On the evening we arrived we made pizza (and by "make," I mean Papa Murphy's) and then had an evening swim at the pool. It was a little too cold for Stella to get in, but she was still delighted to play with the water a bit.

Brent has not put on a swimsuit since an unfortunate chafing incident on a cruise about 4 years ago.

The next morning Stella was thrilled to find her cousins still with her. After a leaslurly morning we went on a nature walk while the boys played on bikes and scooters. I also got Cy to show off his signature model poses, Catcher only has one pose and it might need a little work.

Then it was to the pool again for our day swim. Ashley and Ava came up for that. Stella loves the pool. She even kicked a little as we practiced her swimming skills.

I took Ava to the flowers before she left. The light was super harsh and it was difficult to get a picture of her since she certainly was in no mood. Here are two that turned out well though.

It is always a lot of work to take the kids, the gear, and all of the food up to the condo. However, we always have a delightful time. While driving home, Stella was obsessed with getting fives from Cy and Catch in the backseat of the car. She would hold out her hand and beg for a five. When Catcher fell asleep she would still hold out her hand and move her fingers asking for her five until she finally gave up and got another one from her cousin that was still awake. Flash forward to the next night when she was in the car alone--Heidi and I looked in the mirror to find her with both of her hands out looking for her missing cousins to give her five. It was so cute.