You gotta have friends

Friendships have always been important to me. Once I make a friend, I try sincerely to keep in touch and continue to develop our friendship even if we move away. I love calling old friends when I am in town and having lunch with them to catch up. Paul has never really understood this...he thinks it's kind of strange that I still keep in touch with friends from High School, or that I recently had a roommate reunion with my friends from BYU. I guess he's never been blessed with the kind of friendships that I have.

Since being married, though, I have made very few new friends. The first four months of our marriage we were in a student ward with about a zillion other newlywed couples. We knew we'd be leaving soon, so we didn't really befriend anyone. Then we lived at my parents for the summer, so I didn't make any new friendships. We lived in American Fork for a year while I was working and pregnant with Hattie. But that ward was unique in that there weren't many young couples, and no other married students in the ward. And since I was working full-time, I didn't have as much time to spend at ward functions. I did make one wonderful friend at my less-than-stellar job. We still keep in touch.

Then we moved to Spanish Fork. I had a new baby and lived at storage units. I made another great friend who also worked the storage units with me and lived upstairs. But again, there were no other students in our very old and established ward...we were the odd ones because we were transient.

But then I moved to Lubbock. After 3 years of marriage and only two new major friendships, I was really feeling the need for female friendship. And I have certainly found it! I have been overwhelmed by how wonderful our ward is...how willing people are to be your friend. When I moved here, all I had to do was attend playgroup or book club a few times and I felt like I was home. When I was home in Oregon for the summer, some of my sisters said, "Wow, you have a lot of friends in Lubbock...I can tell from all the comments from them on your blog!" There is always someone willing to have lunch, watch Hattie, have a playgroup, or go to the park. Being a stay-at-home mom has been wonderful since I have so many friends in the same situation. It has made moving to a new place so much easier. I find that I really miss Lubbock when I am away.

Thank you Chelsea, Kristina, Debbie, Kristy, Kristi, Cynthia, Jenni, Brittney, Lindsay, Kimber, Julie, Kat, and SO many others who have helped make Lubbock a wonderful home for us.

Look alike

Can you tell which baby is Hattie and which is Anna?





Too bad Paul's hair is a giveaway!

Our little 2 year old!

Happy 2nd birthday Miss Hattie!

Taken when she was 1 day old

Snuggling noses with Uncle Michael, a few weeks old

Her first grins, about two months old

3 month photo shoot...I love these picture...thanks Tandy!




7 months old


Her 1st birthday...living in our dumpy apartment in Lubbock


Opening the Gator from Grandma Dame...thanks Mom!


A new little pony from Keira


Modeling...this will be her Halloween costume too, without Tinkerbell of course

We had her party first thing this morning since Paul had to head off to study. She would open up one present, look at it, and quickly toss it aside to open the next one. Finally when they were all out of their wrapping paper she took the time to actually see what she got. I made her the tutu, thanks to Chelsea's help, beaded the necklace, and knitted her the boa. Paul made her some French toast, but she was more interested in watching "Cars." By the way, Laura, when she first saw it, she said, "Anson!" You can see Hattie has many interests: dressing up, trains, cars, and recently, pajamas.

I love how she is afraid of the fire at first!

Since Paul is studying all day, her friends Callie, Brooklyn and Juliet came over and swam in our little pool. They had such a ball...for about 20 minutes, then they all wanted out. But they loved the cupcakes, or better said, the frosting.

This is how she sings Happy Birthday...and she has been singing it all day. Thanks Lindsay for the cute dress up stuff...she loves it!

Growing

I can't believe Anna has only been in our family for 2 months...it seems like she's always been with us. She is a wonderful baby...eating and sleeping great. And when she is awake, she is usually pretty happy. She's a bit congested right now, which is hard since there isn't too much we can do to help. But she is growing! Here is a shot from when she was 6 days old and still in the NICU, chicken legs and all:



And this one was taken this morning...check out those rolls!

Wedding bells

Paul's brother Michael married Julia on August 20th. Sadly Paul couldn't make it, but everyone else in the family was there.

My mom came to Utah with me to help handle the two kids


The happy couple


Aunt Tandy and cousin Nora


Hattie all dressed up for the reception


But this is how she spent the evening...shoeless and bowless


Anna spent the evening in Grandma Jessie's arms


My girls with their grandma


Hattie enjoyed wandering around the lawn...


and following Keira around


Cake time


My amazing in-laws: Christina, Erika, and Jessie


The next day we hung out at Scera Water Park


Daniel loved the waterfall


Anna with both grandmas

July and August in Ontario

I know the summer is long gone, but I still have two posts I want to do so that I have them documented.

If you remember back the beginning of our summer vacation, we drove from Lubbock to the Grand Canyon, from the Grand Canyon to Utah, and from Utah to McCall. Then I was so busy having fun at my parents' house that I didn't post anything until my water broke and I was in the hospital. So here is a summary, mostly of photos (and there are lots of them), of the time I spent at my parents, both before and after Anna came.

Let's start with the Fourth of July celebration...

All the grandkids on the porch for dinner

My brother Spencer got us all addicted to Rock Band. By the end of the summer, all of the grandkids could sing ALL the words to "Eye of the Tiger" and "Living on a Prayer."

This video is great...check out Paul and Spencer getting into it, Myra and Natali focused at the mike, Val practicing guitar in the background, and Isaac clapping the beat by the drums.

All the grandkids (except Hattie was asleep) enjoying their treat from the treasure hunt

Fireworks of course

There weren't many scheduled activities while in Ontario, just a lot of down time. Four of my siblings live within 40 minutes of my parents, and my sister who lives in Iowa was also there for the whole month. It was wonderful to be constantly surrounded by family. After being in Lubbock for the last year, I had gotten used to being on my own without family support just a few minutes or hours away. At the beginning of my trip, I was afraid that we had scheduled too much time in Oregon and that by the end of the trip, I would have felt like we had overdosed on family time. But at the end of the 8 weeks there, I was extremely sad to leave. I have been blessed with such wonderful parents and great siblings. I find I miss being with them now more than ever. I miss the simple things: watching Laura's kids walk over to Grandma's house every morning for breakfast, Hattie having cousins to play with, my sisters to chat with as our kids play, having pick-up-parties with the kids while singing "Eye of the Tiger," all the kids asking for trips to Grandma's freezer, wandering around my parents' yard with a pool, trees, swing set, and chicken coop. It really was wonderful for Hattie, and for Paul and me.

Hattie enjoyed riding bikes every day

Spencer made root beer and explained the process of sublimation to the kids

Eating lunch with her other two-year old cousins Kate, Ansen, and Jonas

Spencer had never eaten fondue, so we had a party...yum.

Here Hattie is walking out to the tree house. That is where I remember spending my summers when I was a kid...we would play with our neighbor that we had ESP, explore the old abandoned houses, and jump across the ditch. I'm glad that old tree is still there.

My dad with his grandkids: Grace, Andrew, Hattie, Natali, and Myra


Hattie tries her hand at the drums with Dad before he leaves to go to Lubbock


My mom reading stories to Myra, Ansen, James, Grace, and Isaac


Laura's baby Owen. Hattie loves him. Even now this is her favorite picture to look at.


Hattie got her first hair cut...thanks Sharee!


And now it goes much curlier


Hattie and Sophie, who she calles "Ophie." They became best buds.


We had a sister in our ward take some family pictures for us.


I love this shot of Laura with her twins, Ansen and Jonas! It somehow captures a bit of what a feel about the summer...family, kids, and time together. I really loved watching Laura with her kids.


My crazy Patters


All 21 grandchildren with Grandma and Grandpa...check out Abby mid-air


The girls: Lisa, Me, Val, Sharee, Kerri, and Laura


All the siblings: Me, Lisa, Laura, Spencer, Val, Mark, and Sharee


Everyone in the family...except for Paul!


She learned to love the trampoline


But she mostly just runs or rolls around...Abby did most of the jumping


On the swing set, smiling at the chickens


A swing addict


We miss our cousins: Sophie, Paul, Andrew, Mack and Isaac


Ice cream with Kate and Claire


Hattie loved to feed the chickens. Every morning we would walk outside and she would want me to open the shed. She knew right where the feed was and would fill up the cup on her own.


Sand box with Jonas, Andrew, Grace and Sam


Spencer's 22nd birthday party. I can't believe my little brother is that old!


A visit from my friend Karli


We tried and tried to get a good picture of Anna before we left. This is the best one out of 20!

I am so grateful for a wonderful family...for siblings who care and parents who sacrifice. I am already looking forward to next summer. We love you and miss you!