Hopscotch

It's really hot in Oklahoma, but both Katelyn and I love being outside. I hate having to put sunscreen on her every time we go out though and then coming in and later having to wash it off with a bath. So I usually try to find ways to keep her in the shade. One day we went out and the shady area was just right next to our garage so I drew a hopscotch to play with her and keep her in that area. I think she had fun, I did :)

 You can tell she's hot right? The heat and humidity just curl her hair in the back and make her get all red!

 Getting ready to start

 She didn't get what to do with the rock at first so she would give it to me and I'd show her

Picking up the rock.. learning the game took some practice ;)

 Trying to hop haha she's so funny

 Her turn to draw with the chalk

Last week was the first time we took Katelyn to the movie theaters. She did awesome. I took this picture right before we left, but it was for a different purpose. She has her little Winnie the Pooh and I wanted a picture with her and Winnie because we were going to go see the Winnie the Pooh movie. Originally that's the movie we wanted to see, but instead we decided it would be smarter to see a 2 dollar movie on her first time in case things backfired.

So next time we go it will probably be to see Winnie the Pooh. She has all the stuffed animals from DisneyWorld- tigger, winnie, and eeyore (still working on getting piglet from the disney store, that'll be a good 2nd bday present) She was so excited when I told her we were going to watch the Winnie movie, if you can't tell from the picture. Every time the commercials come on she says, "WIIINNIEE!! EEEE (for eeyore)" this time we saw Rio though, and she liked it (until about the last 25 mins ;) ). Can't wait to see the winnie movie with her now!

Ellie!

My sister (the one I always talk about) had her baby girl! She is so so cute and I can't wait to go meet her in August! We as a family are taking a big trip out to Colorado, then Utah, then flying to Washington. It should be a fun little vacation!
Ellie, full name Elizabeth LuAnn Walser, was born on June 25th 2011. She is the first niece or nephew I have from my side of the family so I was pretty excited. Here are some cute pictures of her:

 Ellie with Momma and Grandma

Ellie

I'm so happy for my sister and her little family. She is an awesome mom I can already tell. I can't wait for Katelyn to have another little best friend. :)

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. Did the usual, go to the parade, go out to breakfast (a family tradition of mine.. one i love :D ), we had a barbeque with some friends, and finished it off with some nice fireworks.
This first collage is just some pictures I took of Katelyn on Sunday. She was eating a pop tart and was just so happy and smiley.

 At the Parade:

 I love her hand haha, she waves with it kind of turned down.

 Enjoying the parade, surprisingly it wasn't that hot

 Katelyn having a good time

 Trying to steal someone's flag

 Out at ihop, Katelyn waited patiently for her food watching a movie on Nick's phone

 Watching the fireworks!

 She liked them :)

 All together

It turned out to be a wonderful Fourth of July, as always!

Summer!

Well,

I love summertime. It's probably my favorite time of the year, although I do really, really enjoy the holidays. We have had a lot of fun this summer. I just love being outside, going on walks at night, swimming, playing outside with Katelyn, and all of that.

We have really wanted to go on some bike rides lately so finally Nick got us a good deal on a bike trailer for Katelyn! She loves it so much. She always wants to go for rides in it now. I love it too. I love riding my bike. If it weren't so hot during the day we could go more often.

Nick is going to school and doing great. We get a break in August. I can't wait to go see my new little niece! I'll be making a separate post about her later ;)

Other news... Katelyn will be 18 months old in 3 days! I can't believe it. I'll admit I would think about sending her to nursery at church and how I could finally listen to the lessons and have a break, but at the same time it made me sad because I've been with her in church for so long and I get scared when she is around other kids and if she is going to get run over or something.

Well.. my problem is solved. I don't have to worry about that anymore.. but I also don't get to sit quietly and listen to the Sunday school and Relief Society lessons because they released us from cub scouts and called us to be Katelyn's nursery leaders!
I'm actually really happy to be in there with her. She is so good in there. She plays very very well and never steals toys or gets upset if someone takes something from her. Not to say I don't want her to defend herself, but I'd rather her be that way then get into a fight with some kid. She's still just so innocent.

That's about the latest on our lives. Hope you all are having a great summer!

Father's Day

I'm a little behind, but I wanted to write about Father's Day because 1. I have a wonderful father who I love very much and really admire, as well as a wonderful father in law who has been a great influence in Nicks life. & 2. Because I have a husband who is a wonderful father to our little girl.

My dad has always been so kind, loving, and respectful to my mom and us kids. He is very honest in everything he does. He loves the Gospel and showed his children how important it is to honor the priesthood and always be a worthy priesthood holder. I'm so thankful for my dad and that Katelyn has such a great Grandfather.

Nick's dad is a very great person as well. From just getting to know him the past few years I see he too is very honest and makes sure his kids are the same way. He sacrifices a lot of his time and works hard for his family to make them happy and blessed.

Nicholas is such a great daddy to Katelyn. He makes her laugh more than anyone. He plays with her every day even when he comes home tired from school. He helps our home be a better place.

I'm so thankful for the Dad's in my life. I hope they all had a wonderful father's day!

My little baby

Katelyn has been very sick for the past few days. Probably the worst ever. I feel so bad for her. Being sick is no fun.
She is getting so big-- 17 months almost 18 months old. She is such a happy little girl and makes us laugh all the time. She likes to babble a lot now. I love looking at these pictures of her. Enjoy :)

 Feeding herself for the first time....I think she got a fourth of the container of yogurt in her mouth, pretty good if you ask me ;)

 After her baths she loves keeping the towel on her head and this day I kept asking if I could take it off and she would just say no. So she played with it on her head for awhile.

 She's always reaching for the camera. She LOVES the camera.

 She loves being outside. And she loves reading random things now like the newspaper and magazines. There she is with a USAA magazine.

 She likes wearing goggles and going swimming! She LOVES swimming. She's only been once this summer and keeps seeing our friends' pool and always points to it and wants to use it. We're in the process of buying a little pool for her :)

 what mom??

 yay for swimming!

 Katelyn and her friend Blake

All  cozy after a nice bath :)

Get better baby Kate!!

My Grandpa

The Wednesday before last I received a text from my sister letting me know our grandpa (my Dad's father) was in the emergency room. I immediately called my mom to find out what was going on. They didn't have very many details yet, but he had had a stroke and my mom said she would keep me informed. Over the next few days we prayed and thought of him often.

On Sunday, May 29th my grandpa passed away.

He was 90 years old and lived a life that we were all very proud of and honored to have known him and have had him in our lives. 

 I was very very sad for those few days. At first sadness was all I felt, but then after realizing where he was now and what happens after death I felt a peace and comfort knowing that he would be reunited with his wonderful wife who he had been away from for almost seven years. He would also return to be with his daughter and son who also passed away early in life. With out the Gospel I know death would be something much harder for me to handle.
I will miss my grandpa very much. He reminded me of my Dad in so many ways. So calm, so patient, quiet, loving. Every time I saw him and hugged him he had such a cute smile on his face and it made me happy. I wish I could have seen him more often as I got older. My parents did a good job though when we were little in making the effort to go out and visit my grandparents often so that we could become closer to them. I'm thankful for that. I'll miss my grandpa, he was a wonderful person.

  (With our Grandma and Grandpa way back in summer of 97)

We drove out to Colorado last week in case I would have to fly to Utah for a funeral. We stayed there for a couple of days and then on Wednesday night Katelyn and I were able to fly out to Utah. On Friday the 3rd of June we had the funeral. It was wonderful. I'm glad I got to be there for my Grandpa one last time. Katelyn was a sweetheart and handled the driving and meetings all very well. She even got to put two flowers on my Grandpa's grave, which made me so happy to see.

We had a fun little trip out to see Nick's parents and my parents. I wish we could visit our families more often. Our next break is in August and I am looking forward to it very much! My sister is having her baby any time in the next couple of weeks and I'm thrilled to be able to go out and see her and her husband and the NEW little baby girl! :)