Lacrosse

#10

Erik played lacrosse for Jordan High School this year. They made it to the State Semi-finals! It was Erik's first year playing lacrosse, and he lettered on Varsity. Good job, Erik!

Priya and Paul watching one of Erik's game


At Erik's lacrosse banquet-holding his varsity pin

More Mother's Day pictures

More pictures from Andrew's family BBQ: Natalie and Priya

She loves her dad

Flowers from Andrew

Some pictures from our celebration with my family...

She loves the cat, but he doesn't like her too much...

With Namama

Priya and the Cat

Mother's Day

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

Abraham Lincoln

I have always loved Mother's Day, but I appreciate it even more now that I am a mom! Not because I now get the flower from church that they hand out to all of the moms in the congregation, or even because I got cute cards and presents from Andrew and Priya. I appreciate it so much more because now that I am a mother, I am so much more grateful for my mother and all that she has done for me! Mothers definitely deserve a special day.

Here are some pictures from our Mother's Day Celebration with Andrew's family:

Mmmm... hamburgers

Me and my baby

Mega, Aunt Michelle, and baby Lora


Grandma and Priya

What a ham!

Happy Birthday Grandma Cindy!

Earlier this month, my grandma celebrated her birthday. We got together as a family at our house and had a BBQ.

Priya learned a new little trick for Grandma Cindy that we just had to share:

Year's Supply!

Hooray! Because of some mad basketball skills, Andrew won a year's supply of Powerade at a Jazz game a few months back. We were a little slow getting around to picking it up, but we finally went and got it last week. It included 15 cases of Powerade! We did the math, and there are over 700 bottles! Crazy! Priya had a fun time helping Daddy find a spot for them in our garage, which we now have enough room to park BOTH cars in. I have never had a garage that I could actually park a car in, let alone 2!

Priya was excited!

Wow! 68 Years!

Andrew's grandparents recently celebrated their 68th Wedding Anniversary! That is absolutely amazing, especially in a world where it seems like marraige rarely lasts. They are such an amazing couple, and absolutely amazing individuals.

Due to some recent health problems that Andrew's grandpa has been having, they celebrated their Anniversary at a rehab center. We had a party with the entire family, and it was neat to see the families and descendents they have created. It was absolutely ispiring.

Cameron and Megan at the party

What a ham!

Joanna and Calvin

Earl and Dorothy and 7 of their 9 children

Andrew, AJ and Daniel

For some reason, my camera was blurry and not cooperating, so I didn't get very many other pictures.

Future Lacrosse Player?

We hope so! Here she is working on her cradle... she pulls this lacrosse stick around the house and plays with it for hours!

Updates and The Zoo

Wow! You know it has been way too long since you have blogged when you can't even remember your log in or password to get into the blog...

Life is good. That is all I can say. We have been busy finishing up the lacrosse season, we just got back from a fabulous vacation to Seattle (pictures to come), and we have been busy improving our yard and house.

There are more exciting things to look forward to this summer with me being called into Young Women's (again), which means I get to go to camp (yeah!), more lacrosse stuff, camping trips and mini vacations, and working in our yard. It is Andrew's 31st birthday this weekend, too! I can't believe that he is so old!

A few weeks back (or maybe longer, I can't remember quite when) I went with my mom's school class for a field trip to the zoo. It was Priya's first time at the zoo. She loved it. She adored the monkeys, and she liked the pig that shook mud all over us (I didn't care for him too much), but overall, I think she was more fascinated with the kids than the animals.

Sound asleep

Me and my baby

My mom with some of her school kids...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I just want to say, "Happy Birthday" to the most wonderful mom and woman in the world. I am so grateful that she is my mother and Priya's grandma. The world is a much better place because she is a part of it.

I love you mom!

Mom and Dad at the restaurant to celebrate

Christian and Grandma Cindy

9 Months Old!

Our beautiful baby is now 9 months old! Time goes by and she is so big! She really is such a good baby. She is usually very content, although very curious and active. She loves other babies, kids, and animals. She is now fully crawling instead of army crawling, and she discovered about a week ago that she can pull herself up on furniture. I am now constantly having to keep her away from the fireplace because she loves to pull herself up on the mantle and I am so afraid she is going to fall and hit her head. Bathtime is still her favorite time of day, and naps/night time is still her least favorite. She discovered about a month ago that she could have an opinion on things, and life became much more complicated after that. She is always happy, unless she is mad. When I go to put her in her crib, she tries to climb over my shoulder to get away. When she doesn't want to get in her car seat, she arches her back and tries to slide out. Changing her diaper has become a two person job because she loves being naked, and tries to get away as soon as the diaper is off. She knows when she wants something, and she doesn't easily forget. There is no distracting her from what she wants. I am a little afraid the terrible two's have come early... but I am so grateful- I am much happier with a high-spirited child.

In our Sunday School class, there are 4 other babies within a month's age of Priya. It is interesting to compare. Priya is much more active than the other babies. They seem so content to sit on mom's lap, or sleep, or play with toys. Priya is constantly grabbing at bolts on the chair, trying to slide off my lap to play, or trying to grab the people around us. Church is absolutely exhausting!

We haven't found one thing that Priya dislikes eating. She has had everything from onions to asparagus, and she loves it all. She also loves playing with balls, mirrors, and daddy's shoes. Her other big things right now are "Patty Cake," waving good-bye, finding people's noses, listening to animal sounds, and lifting her arms when someone says, "So Big!" She also loves patting me on the back when I try to snuggle her, and wiping my face after I wipe hers. Daddy is still her favorite person to play with, and she loves my mom. She is fascinated with our stairs, and our pet birds. She has the sweetest smile, and she brightens my day!

On the other side of it, Andrew and I are adjusting well to parenthood. It is better than we ever could have dreamed. I feel like I am finally figuring out how to juggle everything, and the house is finally staying clean most of the time. It is nice to be caught up on the housework. I am even getting my "sixth sense" as a mom. I was sound asleep the other night and I sensed Andrew rolling over in bed. I immediately reached out and grabbed his arm to "save" him from falling off the bed. I guess I will be prepared if he or Priya are ever really falling off the bed!

These are the best pictures I could get! I have a feeling that the older she gets, the less these pictures are going to work...

Kyle's Track Meet

We went to my cousin Kyle's track meet last Saturday. I am not a track pro, but I will try and get this right. He sprints the 100 meter, the 300 meter, the 110 meter hurdles, and the 300 meter hurdles. He is wicked good! He is currently ranked something like 22nd in the nation, and has some colleges trying to recruit him. It was so fun watching him run last week.

He is an amazing athlete and a great guy. We are proud of you Kyle! Keep up the good work!

Congratulations Carrie!

My cousin Carrie graduated this Spring from (sadly) BYU with her Bachelors of Science in Psychology. Congrats Carrie! We are so proud of you!

Carrie and Jason cutting Carrie's cake at her graduation party. Even though the cake had the word "Cougarette" written on it, it still tasted good.

Priya playing outside on the grass at Carrie's party.

Cousins Rachel and Jennifer got ducks! They are darling. Priya and I are currently in the process of trying to get Andrew to understand the merits of having a pet duck. If you see him, try and convince him that it would be a good investment for us!

Updates and Spring

Wow! Time goes by so fast. I can't believe that spring is finally here! It's felt like forever since we have posted anything on our blog. Life has been busy the past little while, but wonderful! I have been keeping busy with lacrosse, finals, and Priya, and Andrew has been busy with work, our house, and lacrosse. Our lacrosse team took first place in our division, and we are starting playoffs next week (go Oly!). This means there is a lot of extra preparation that needs to be done. I have my finals this week, and as long as I pass them, I will be a happy University of Utah graduate in Social Science Composite Teaching with a minor in Coaching. Wish me luck!

We have our city clean up day coming up next week, and Andrew has been working hard to get as many things taken care of in the yard as possible. There are a lot of trees to cut down, and last week we had neighbors come help us rip railroad ties out of the grass so we can start working on our vegetable garden (which is going to be fabulous, so if anyone wants to come eat over at our house this summer, it is going to be delish!). We are currently trying to get as much stuff as possible loaded on our curb so the city will take it away instead of us having to make a trip to the dump. We are going to be repainting picnic tables, railings, and benches in the next little while. I love working in the yard, and it is so much more fun now that we know the yard is ours.

And, oh Priya! She is such an angel and we love her so much! I never thought being parents could be so much fun! Andrew and I could honestly spend all day playing with her. It is really true what people say, that kids grow up so fast. It seems like it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital, and every day there are changes that we see as she grows. She is our little princess!

We have loved the sunshine lately, but even this past week, I have loved the weather! The earth has looked so fresh after all of this rain! Here are some of our favorite spring pictures from our yard for your springtime pleasure: