Idaho Trip

Last month, Seth and I made the trip home to visit family for a few weeks. After hours and hours of delays at the airport, we finally landed in Salt Lake City and it was such a relief to see Bethany waiting for us; ready to take us somewhere we could sleep! Seth did SO well, even though it took us almost 5 hours longer than planned. We were supposed to arrive around 9 p.m., but we didn't arrive until about 1:30 a.m.
The first weekend we stayed with Aaron and Melanie and we had such a good time. You guys know how to have some fun! :)

Seth trying out a swing for the first time at a park near their house. He thought it was pretty awesome:

I also had the opportunity to make the trip down to St. George to visit with my Grandparents. (My Grandfather has cancer and unfortunately, I knew this was probably going to be the last time I would be able to see him.) It was so much fun talking and laughing about old memories and all the crazy stuff we'd done as kids. As Grandpa put it, "I wasn't sure you kids were going to live to adulthood..." Well, we did, and it was fun to spend the day reminiscing about all the good times.

After getting back from southern Utah, my Mom met us halfway from Idaho and took Seth and I the rest of the way to Rexburg. Again, Seth was such a sport during all this driving.

The rest of the next couple weeks were kind of a whirlwind -- trying to spend time with all my siblings and planning a few hours here and there to see friends. No matter how long I stay, it seems like I never quite have enough time to spend with everyone.

Seth on the riding lawnmower with Grandpa Hoopes:



Loving the "Big Swing" at my parents' house:



There's a baby granny on my blanket!



Cutie pie:



For the last week, Luke was able to join us. Seth was so happy to see his daddy. It was cute. Those two together just melts me.

I've been dying to go over to Jackson Hole and spend some time in Grand Teton National Park, so Mom and Dad took us over a few days before we had to leave. My goodness, it was breathtaking! I've seen those mountains about a million times, but they still never cease to amaze. It was unseasonably cold for being almost June, so there was still a good amount of snow left. On Jenny's Lake, the ice was just beginning to break up and it was incredibly picturesque.

It was a fabulous trip. Thanks everyone for the beds, the food and all the fun! 'Til next time! :)

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Posted By Emily to Livin' the good life at 6/22/2011 03:57:00 PM

[Livin' the good life] Out with the Old...In with the Cash!

We participated in our annual neighborhood garage sale this weekend. Our first ever. The verdict? Not as bad as I thought it would be.
I had a friend come over Friday to help me and we had a great time just chatting all day and taking turns caring for the babies. Seth did so awesome! He was pretty content just to sit on a blanket and play with his toys and stare at all the strangers that came wandering in the garage. (It was pouring rain for part of the day, so we literally had a 'garage sale'). He has quite the stare-down face when he first makes eye contact with a stranger. He did warm up to a few people and give them a smile, but mostly he played it cool.

His 'cheeser' for the camera:



The days went fast and we actually sold almost everything! Awesome!

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In other news, we've been doing A LOT of work in the backyard. We thought it was going to be a pretty low-maintenance backyard when we first bought the house, but boy, were we wrong. I've been weeding for three weeks straight -- every nap and pretty much every free moment I've had. Granted, the reason there is so much to do this year is because we've never had it under control. The first year we bought the house it was pretty overgrown, but we were so overwhelmed with all the projects to do inside, that the outside got neglected. And last summer, I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, so bending over to weed just wasn't going to happen. (Oh, and I was on a pesky little thing called 'bedrest' for most of it). So, hence the three weeks of working our tails off.

We did build a DIY firepit in the back and we're really liking it.
(Can you spy Seth in the background?)



Oh, there he is:





Now, we can start enjoying the backyard and invite people over for some s'mores. :)

As soon as I get pictures rounded up from different cameras, I'll post about our trip to Idaho in May. It was so fun!

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Posted By Emily to Livin' the good life at 6/13/2011 09:26:00 AM

[Livin' the good life] Omaha

At the beginning of April, Luke and I drove to Omaha to see his oldest brother's family and also his parents while they were in town for our niece's baptism. We could only get away for the weekend, so Thursday evening after Luke got off work, we packed everything in the car and made the 8 hour drive. We figured because Seth usually sleeps during most of that time anyway, it would be ideal. He wasn't too thrilled to sleep in his car seat for that long, but all in all he did really great. He was a bit confused when we woke him up at the hotel at 1 a.m., but he settled in pretty nicely after a while.

Friday we met up with his family and toured "Old Market" in downtown Omaha. It was a really fun place to walk around and they had some really interesting shops and restaurants.

Grandpa Werrett bought the kids some candy at little shop and they were pretty excited:



The whole crew (minus Luke, the photographer):



Seth has just started to like the baby bjorn -- Luke caught a rare moment of cuddling:



Feeding the ducks:



Saturday morning, Luke and I were able to sneak away early and attend a temple session (thanks Alan and Brenda!), and we also went to the visitor's center at Winter Quarters. Coincidentally, Luke's youngest brother is on a mission in Omaha and apparently there were several near-sightings of him throughout the weekend, but to Luke's disappointment, we didn't get to see him.



Our niece was so excited for her baptism! It really was one of the most special baptisms that I've been to.



I couldn't resist snapping a picture of Seth in his little tie:



With his cousins:





It was a great weekend, despite a nasty flu-bug that made the rounds...but we are so happy that we were able to see everyone! It was so fun.

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Posted By Emily to Livin' the good life at 5/03/2011 07:43:00 PM

[Livin' the good life] Easter Weekend

Happy Easter! We had a great weekend that included friends, hints of sunshine and massive amounts of dark chocolate. Yum!

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Posted By Emily to Livin' the good life at 4/25/2011 09:20:00 AM

[Livin' the good life] Light Easter Dessert

With all the great fruit (especially strawberries) just coming into season, I decided to publish an Easter dessert that features all that fruity goodness. It is a Strawberry & Melon Compote with an Almond Streusel. For the full recipe go HERE.

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Posted By Emily to Livin' the good life at 4/13/2011 07:32:00 PM

Whoa! Seven Months!

I cannot believe how fast time has flow by since our little Seth joined the family! He is learning so much so fast and changes every day. Seth has also been sitting up on his own and he's pretty proud of himself. We have only had a few bad tipping moments, and he recovers quickly, so it is his new favorite thing.



We can also see his little teeth a lot better when he smiles. It looks like he might be getting another one on top soon.



When Seth gets a hold of anything resembling food he thrashes like "Tyrannosaurus Seth" with his little razor sharp teeth. We have to watch to make sure his bites are reasonably sized, as he can tear off large chunks of whatever he is gnawing.

Seth has a lot of silly expressions, and it has been so hard to catch them with the camera, but I think we finally got a few.






One of our favorite things that Seth does, is his "High Alert Mode". Since I like to surprise the little bugger so much, he keeps a close eye on me until he decides Daddy isn't going to do anything crazy. But I usually do something crazy, so his heightened awareness is probably justified. We can get him laughing pretty hard with a good surprise or Chris Farley bit.

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Posted By Blogger to Livin' the good life at 3/25/2011 04:50:00 PM

[Livin' the good life] Little Fishie

That's what Luke calls him because he loves water so much. He is fascinated with running water and he loves, loves, LOVES his baths. I love that he's so dang cute in the bathtub...







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Posted By Emily to Livin' the good life at 3/02/2011 09:02:00 PM