It's a GIRL!

Patrick is going to have a LITTLE SISTER! We are so excited!

California Trip

This month we were able to go to California to visit family and friends for a nice long 13 day vacation. We had a ton of fun, but we are sure glad to be back home!

We drove down in two days. Our first day we drove to St. George, Utah. We got there early enough to play in the hotel pool, which was nice, because it was 105 that day! Well, I think it is that hot quite frequently, but that is warmer than we are used to. Patrick loves hotels. The first things he does is jump on the beds, and then he checks out the phone. After about 30 minutes, I had to unplug the receiver and hide it so he wouldn't accidentally call anyone.

The second day we drove through Las Vegas and headed to the LA area. My cousin Luke, was getting married that evening, and we had just enough time to shower quickly at the hotel and head across town to the temple. Well, what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour drive turned into a 2.5 hour drive thanks to Friday rush hour LA traffic. I am really thankful that we have been living in Denver for the last three years because it somewhat prepared me for the traffic there. There was still a lot more of it, but I wasn't as paranoid and panicked as I was the first time I experienced Denver traffic. Anyway, we ended up being about 30 minutes late for the sealing, but we weren't the only ones stuck in traffic, and the sealing was lovely. Luke and Brittany are a very cute couple, and I was so happy that we could be there for their wedding.

The reception wasn't until the next evening, so the next morning, Saturday, we drove down to Huntington Beach with my uncles Tim and Matt and their families. I had never been to a real live ocean beach before, so this was a very fun day. I was so excited to see the ocean! We had a really beautiful day. It wasn't too hot or too crowded, and the sky was really clear. The waves were fairly gentle, and we had a lot of fun playing in the water and sand.

Patrick was pretty hesitant around the waves. He enjoyed the water, but was just scared enough to not go running in my himself, which made me happy!

He went in the water with Dad a few times, but mostly just wanted to dig in the sand. He only ate a few handfulls.

Reed was a great dad and went to fetch water for Patrick when he didn't want to go in the water.

Then he buried Patrick in the sand!

The next day we drove up north to Lemoore, which is just south of Fresno. Reed's brother Adam lives there, and we stayed with them for a couple of days. After a busy weekend, it was nice to have a couple of normal, relaxing days. We all took long naps, and Patrick got in the water again to play in their pool. He loves the stairs, and likes to climb in and out of the pool. Sometimes he will jump off the side into Reed's arms, but mostly he just liked to splash. Who doesn't?

We also spent a day in Monterey with Adam and Kelli. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf and ate some awesome clam chowder (you really missed out Patrick!) and then headed up to the aquarium. I was really excited to go to the aquarium. I have always heard how great it is, and I think I was as excited to see the fish as Patrick was.

Emma and Jason looking at the fish.

Patrick LOVED touching the starfish. He was soaking wet from splashing too much. Reed probably wasn't that dry either!

The aquarium has lots of fun areas for the kids to run around and play, which was nice because we were there for a long time. And sometimes mommies and daddies play too!

Here we are at Monterey Bay!

And then one of Patrick picking his nose, which he does a lot right now . . .

Reed liked teasing the penguin with his cell phone.

Patrick was ready to crash after about five hours of non-stop running in the aquarium!

After the aquarium, we drove about 3 hours north to Modesto, where Reed grew up. We stayed with our friends Patrick (whom Patrick is named after) and Kelly. We had a lot of fun catching up with friends we haven't seen in many years. We had a calzone night and Reed's friends from high school came over. We spent one day at Reed's high school because some of his friends teach there now and we wanted to say hi. Reed enjoyed showing me around town, and we drove past his old house several times.

The Saturday before we left, we went into San Francisco to see Don (Patrick's middle namesake). After riding the BART and the bus, we didn't have time for much more than lunch, but it was a really fun day visiting. Patrick was really good in the big city, and he thought riding the bus and train was pretty cool. Especially since he didn't have to be in a carseat!

We also saw Reed's other brothers Jack and Lance while we were in the area. It was fun to see cousins again and catch up with everybody!

We were definitely ready to come home, and the drive home was a little more difficult. Patrick doesn't understand time or distance, so I can't explain to him how much longer we have to be in the car. Thankfully, we had a DVD player and a dry eraser board that kept him from revolting too much. Patrick really was a trooper the whole trip. He slept well everywhere we went, and he was in a pretty good mood considering how out of our routine we were. Now we are home, working on projects inside and out, and ready to be home for the rest of the year!

Tyson and Sariah come to Visit

In July, Tyson and Sariah came to stay with us for a couple weeks. My mom flew out with them, but had to go home after a few days. They stayed by themselves for about 10 days, then my dad flew out to take them home. We had a lot of fun while they were here. Patrick really enjoyed having them around to play, and still asks about them regularly.

I forgot to take pictures of a lot of things, but I do have a few pictures of our trip to the zoo and the fireworks on the 4th of July. Here are some of the other things we did while they were here:

• Played at the park
• Went on walks
• Went swimming at Pirate's Cove
• Had Patrick's birthday party
• Went to Cars 2 and Red Robin for Patrick's birthday
• Visited the Nature and Science Museum and saw the Pirates exhibit
• Played hide-and-seek and had root beer floats for FHE

We hope Tyson and Sariah can come out every summer and visit us. I know Patrick would be very excited for them to come out again!

Patrick's Birthday Party

We had a small party for Patrick's birthday. I didn't want to go all out, but I like Patrick to feel like he has a special day. He was excited to wake up to balloons all over the house. We opened a few presents in the morning. He definitely know how to open presents know. He needed very little help this year.

He is really in to puzzles right now, so he got an alphabet/animals/train puzzle from Grandma Cook. It is 10 ft long after to put it all together.

We got him a set of stacking blocks with the alphabet on them.

He built it all up and then had a blast knocking it over.

He also got a toy set that has letter boards that you fill in the letters to make the word. He is really obsessed with letters right now and is constantly sounding out words, so I knew he would enjoy this toy.

My favorite is when he finds all the letters for "hen" then sounds it out perfectly, "h-e-n," and says, "chicken."

This play tent was his big present from us. It was also the main entertainment for his party. We invited two of his friends to come over and play. We made pizza for everybody and then enjoyed cupcakes.

These cupcakes were really fun to make. I like to make something special for birthdays, so I did an animal theme this year. I make monkey, lion, and elephant cupcakes, and then chocolate-dipped oreos. I got the idea for the cupcakes from a cupcake book I have. I didn't think up the idea all on my own! Reed was really helpful and took the kids to the park so I could have some uninterrupted time to put them together.

Patrick really enjoyed his birthday cupcakes. He talked about them for days. He still mostly just ate the frosting, but he had a good time! When we sang to him, he laughed and covered his face, but loved blowing out the candles, and requested more candles for his other cupcakes.

I think Patrick had a very fun day for his birthday. He played hard and loved all of his presents. I think next year his will be really excited and understand when we start talking about his birthday.