Bedtime

Tonight as we were putting the girls to bed Sarah asked if Hailey could lay down in bed with her.  So I tucked Hailey into bed with Sarah and thought it was so cute that I took a few pictures:

Then Daddy decided to jump in:

Sarah and Hailey love each other so much.  It's amazing how soon that love has manifested itself.  They both light up whenever they see eachother and Sarah loves making Hailey laugh.  Sarah is also very loving and nurturing to Hailey and helps calm her down by singing to her and telling her that "it's ok" whenever she is upset.  I hope they stay close forever.

New Moon

Kevin surprised me tonight by taking me out to dinner and to see New Moon (thanks babe you are the best!).  The show was sold out and was packed with 12-14 year olds, most of them girls (of course).  Everytime one of the leading male actors appeared on screen all the girls made cat-calls and swooned.  Jacob got a much bigger reaction than Edward, it was pretty funny. 

I had mixed feelings on seeing this movie because Twilight was such a let down but I have to say that I loved New Moon.  I am a big fan of the Twilight books and was very disappointed with the first movie, I thought it was a joke.  But with the new director on New Moon everything is so much better.  The acting, hair and makeup, special effects, cinematography, everything about this movie was great.  The storyline followed the book really closely, near the end it was a little different but not to the point where it bothered me.  My favorite part about the movie was the wolves.  I thought they did an excellent job with the CGI and they made them look awesome.  I can't wait until the next movie comes out.

Happy Anniversary Jewls!

Ok so it is my turn to post on our blog. Today Julie and I have been married for nine years. Holy Cow! Can you believe that? Time has passed so quickly. We were married and sealed in the Bountiful Temple. I remember a family picture that was being taken by Julie’s grandma after the ceremony in which just before taking the picture she says, “Everybody say SEX!” It was funny cuz everyone knew what was going to happen that night. BTW if you are in Salt Lake City and need a place to get away from the noise, look up the Armstrong Mansion (go for the December room – it smells just like Christmas). Now we have two wonderful daughters and are living in the city that was on top of our list for places to live.

Well for Julie today I want to tell her nine reasons why I love her. Now, being the great husband that I am, I have a list that could go on for hours but I would not want to bore you or her with such a list so I have only picked out one for each year that we have been married.
Julie:

1. You are just as HOT and SEXY as you were the day we first kissed on the practice field at Ricks College.
2. I have never had a closer friend in my life that I can talk to, cry, argue, makeup, and laugh with.
3. You are a great mother and teacher for Sarah and Hailey. They will both grow up to have the same Light of Christ that you radiate.
4. You still laugh at my jokes even when they are not that funny. (Definitely important for my ego)
5. You always work to be a better person intellectually, spiritually, and physically. This also helps me to want to be a better person. I appreciate the struggle and hard work to make it happen.
6. You make my lunch for me. This reason is mainly for my pride. I love being able to tell people at work that my wife made my lunch for me.
7. You keep our home a home. I don’t know that I thank you enough for doing the dishes, washing the laundry, folding the clothes, cleaning and vacuuming the house, squashing the scary spiders with big pointy teeth, mowing the lawn, taking out the trash…Boy I really look lazy don’t I? THANK YOU!
8. You love the outdoors. This is a huge plus! Our trip to Yellowstone (don’t worry she will post about it soon) was awesome! It couldn’t have been so cool without you to enjoy it with. The hiking, fishing, bird watching, etc are all things I love doing with you and I am glad that you enjoy them as much as I do.
9. You know how to make a husband feel proud to be married to the best woman in the world

Now this is not a cumulative list as I mentioned above but this is a list of the things that have most recently been on my mind. I love you immensely and I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Yours Forever,

Kevin

New Hair

My hair color has always been a funny thing. Growing up I was naturally a blond. As I got older it gradually got darker and darker but I still saw myself as a blond. After I had Sarah my hair had turned really dark and I started doing blond highlights which I loved. Last week I decided to go back to my original hair color. Highlighting my hair was getting to be too time consuming and expensive especially now with two kids. I went a little darker than my natural color and at first I wasn't too sure about it. Now I am really happy with how it came out and Kevin loved it so much he took a few pictures.

An added bonus!

Sarah and Hailey

HAILEY AT ONE MONTH OLD

HAILEY AT TWO MONTHS OLD

HAILEY AT THREE MONTHS OLD

Rocky Mountain National Park

Right after the 4th of July we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was so beautiful and there were wild flowers all over the park. The day we went it was a little chilly but we had a good time. Sarah had so much fun exploring the meadows and seeing the mountains and wild life. On the drive up she kept saying, "Look mommy there's the mountains!" I loved hearing her get so excited about them. Hailey slept most of the time of course. We saw some amazing sights that reminded us why we love living in Colorado.

Sarah walking through a field of flowers backed by Aspen trees.

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Sarah loved this little stream that she and Daddy found.

Sarah at a lookout on our way over the continental divide.
It was very cold and windy. She was a trooper!

"Look ma, no hands!"

The beautiful Rockies. I love living in Colorado!!

Sarah ready to get out of the cold wind.

A marmot that was out on the overlook.

Here is a mother duck swimming with all her little babies.

If you look closely you can see the ducklings walking in front of their mother.

The little ducklings swam so fast when they were in open water.

Our Summer in Review

So many things happened this Summer that I wanted to blog about but didn't get a chance to. I thought I would give a few highlights.

At the beginning of the summer we got Sarah a little wading pool and Sarah was so excited that the first time we filled it up with water she jumped right in with her diaper and clothes on. Her diaper swelled up to about five times it normal size. I had no idea diapers could hold that much water! It was so dang funny we were laughing about it for days.

The diaper was so heavy it fell down over her bum!

Sarah has always been fascinated with bugs. Her favorite bugs are rolly-pollies and she would spend hours outside looking for them and collecting them in her hand. Then later in the summer she discovered worms. One day she asked me if she could look for worms so I emptied her pool and put a few shovel fulls of dirt in it for her to sift through and look for them. Well it didn't take her long to find some. She had to show me and thought they were the coolest thing. She kept saying they tickled her.

"Look mom, worms. See?"

My dad and his wife Rebecca got us this double jogging stroller for Hailey's birth and I absolutely love it. It is so nice to take the girls out on a walk and the girls love the change of scenery. When I took this picture the screws for the foot plate had not come yet so it's not on in the pictures.

And of course it wouldn't be Summer without watermelon! Sarah loves watermelon and could probably eat a whole one if we let her.

Over all we had a great Summer. I tried to take Sarah to our community pool as much as possible after just having a baby. She taught herself how to swim with the help of floaties and can now swim in the big pool with them on. She would swim for hours at a time and loved every minute of it. She is definitely like me, we both love the water!

Arapahoe County Fair

On Saturday Kevin surprised us by taking us to the Arapahoe County Fair. We got there about 12:30pm and left around 6:00pm. First we saw a stunt dog show which wasn't that great. Then we went through the petting zoo and tried to get Sarah to milk a cow. She wouldn't but Kevin did. After that we went into the livestock area and saw all the animals. Then Kevin took Sarah on a bunch of the rides. Sarah had such a good time on the rides with Daddy. I was a little nervous because she freaked out over the horse ride in the grocery store a few months ago but she loved the rides at the fair. She even went on the Ferris Wheel with Daddy and loved that as well. Of course we had to eat some of the food while we were there. We had snow cones, kettle corn, frozen lemonade, smothered burritos and tacos. It was a wonderful surprise and a perfect day. Thanks for such a great day sweetheart!

Petting the pigs

Daddy milking the cow

Look Mommy, sheep!

Sarah holding a baby chick

This seriously was the biggest rooster I have ever seen!

Pippi the Clown

Sarah and Daddy on the Super Slide!

Sarah's first ride by herself!

Going on the Circus Train

Sarah loving the Ferris Wheel