Blueberry Pickin'

Today we went with Suzanne and her 2 kids to a blueberry farm and picked lots of blueberries. Luckily it rained about half the time we were there. I say luckily because the rain cooled it down about 10 degrees which was nice :) And it was fun to pick berries in the rain!

Even Azure picked some! She ate about 20 or so while we were there!

Ideas Wanted

Friday night we went camping for the first time with Azure. It was a nightmare. Azure could not grasp the concept of sleeping in the same "bed" with mommy and daddy (something she hasn't done since she was 2 wks old). She woke up at 2am and didn't fall back asleep until 3:30. She crawled all over us in the tent (rubbing her eyes the whole time mind you) half trying to fall asleep, half figuring out what it was we were in. Our camera batteries were on the verge of death so no pretty pictures of the beautiful lake or the fireflies.

Charles and I being from the west have never seen fireflies before and were thrilled like little kids to finally see them on our camping trip. They are amazing to watch!

I am also happy to report that we are growing things! What things? Fruits and herbs! We are very excited about this as we have been unable to grow things before. So, here you have it!

Grape tomato, green bell pepper, basil and oregano.

I am especially excited about the grape tomatoes and the basil. They are growing so well and I love eating and cooking with them. I can make my very own pesto with my very own basil leaves now :)

So back to the title of this post. The reason we went camping was to hang out with the Young Women in our ward because I just got called as a YW leader! I am thrilled and a little bit scared. Please share any ideas/suggestions/advice if you have had a similiar calling in YW or what your favorite memory is from being in the YW program yourself.

The Proof

Birthday Steps

I know this is horrible but, I'm not really sure when Azure took her first step. I think she might have as early as 8 or 9 months but, I wasn't sure it really "counted" since it wasn't a full step and b/c maybe she fell right after so I didn't really keep track of that.

I do know that she took a full step that would probably count, before we moved and that was when she was 10.5 months. The most I had seen her take was 2 before she would fall or voluntarily drop to her knees b/c she realized that mode of transportation was a lot quicker.

On her birthday she took about 4 steps and then today about 5 or 6! So, we can fully count this! I wouldn't quite say she is walking though, she's still quicker on those knees.

Daddy made a fort for Azure's birthday and they had SO much fun playing in it all day.

Then we took a break to have our new friends over for some strawberry shortcut cake.

Yummy!

A year ago today...

Wow. It is crazy that Azure was born a year ago today. Charles and I have learned so much this past year and have grown in many ways. What a blessing she is in our lives. Though we were thrilled to welcome her into our family, the actual day of her birth was a hard one for me and somewhat devastating as all of my plans for the birth failed. You can read some of that story here. I'm grateful that the Lord allows us to learn humility when we need it and remember that He always has our best interest in mind, regardless, or especially, when we pass through trials and disappointments.

And we have nothing but JOY as a result of all of that as we celebrate this special day! She has grown so much:

Almost looks like two different babies!

There she is growing out of her infant car seat, good thing her new one is on it's way in the mail.

I love children's natural excitement for the simple things in life. It helps me put things into perspective. Azure is SO happy to splash in the pool and in her bath tub. She gets SO excited to see animals: birds, squirrels, cats, dogs.
Every day would be that much better if we could see the world through the eyes of a child and be filled with wonder, amazement and gratitude for every living thing.

"Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart" (Doctrine and Covenants 59:18).

She has a newfound joy in climbing in and out of boxes.

And her toy box

I love this pose (above)! What are you doing Cubby?

And there you have it, the cutest baby that ever was and ever will be :) We thank the Lord for this wonderful opportunity and blessing to have Azure in our lives. Happy 1st Birthday sweetie!

Father's Day Weekend

There are so many things to love about Georgia. One of them being all the parks they have, EVERYWHERE. Azure loved swinging at one of the many parks we've visited this past week.

And also chasing birds with mommy

Saturday we went to a puppet fair put on by Jim Henson's daughter! We bought a long wanted puppet stage :) And can't wait until our first home puppet show with Azure.

We love the Spanish moss hanging from all the trees.

Last weekend was free admission to all state parks so we took advantage by going to two forts. The first one was Ft. Morris. This was a fort during the American Revolution so the women there were wearing Colonial attire.

Then we headed over to Ft. McAllister. This is a Civil War fort on the bank of the Ogeechee River.
There are also TONS of squirrels here and since our "backyard" is wooded we can see lots jumping from branch to branch from our living room. Azure squeals and waves her arms fanatically whenever she sees them. We'll have to get some pics soon but, they are quick little critters!

Famous by association

The day before we left Provo we went to Tucano's for a goodbye lunch with all of Charles' co-workers. As the hostess seated us I looked across from me and lo and behold, who did I see?Excitedly I turned to Charles and told him who it was. Then I turned to some others seated by me to tell them and no one knew who he was except Charles. I was surprised because he is in pretty much every church film! So, naturally I asked him for a picture with me and my baby :)

Do YOU know who this is?

Help!

I am currently researching convertible carseats and would like to know which ones you'd recommend. I'm leaning more towards one that will go from rear-facing to a booster seat so basically from birth to around 80 lbs. Any recommendations?

Georgia!

We were so blessed to see so much family this last month and so blessed to stay with Charles' cousin out on Tybee Island especially because we were homeless.

Eating breakfast with daddy
Sweet piggy car
Azure's first pool experience with her 2nd cousin in her new bathing suit (thanks Aunt Teri). She loved the pool.

And she loved the ocean even more, especially the waves. I'm so glad she'll grow up by a beach at least for a few years to further develop that love (just like mommy).

"Helping" unpack the book case.

More family time

Finally done with the Hawaii posts!
Apparently we were gone so long that Azure didn't even recognize us the night we got back! Sad! But, the next morning she finally came around and "forgave" us for leaving her and having so much fun in Hawaii w/o her. But, she had lots of fun too with my side of the family.
It was so good to see friends in CA while we were down. We got to see Adri and Greg and their 2 darling boys who Azure of course loved playing with.

We also had a pre 1st Bday bash for Azure since we were with family.

B/c of her love of kitties, we did a Hello Kitty theme.

Then we got to see even more family, Charles' Aunt Karlene.

And then we got to visit 2 of my best friends from elementary school. I love seeing old friends!

Day 10 &11: Wed & Thurs- Surfing, PCC

Our last full day in Hawaii was a blast. We woke up early to go surfing and Uncle Clark so kindly mentored us on what to do. "You take your car to work, I'll take my board." Surfwax America by Weezer was in my head the whole time I was surfing :)
Later that day we went to the PCC and visited the Polynesian villages, had a luau and saw a fantastic show.


Thursday morning we again woke up early (I don't think we actually ever slept in, that's mostly b/c the time is so early anyway then what we were used to) to watch the sunrise. When we got to the beach the sand was covered with thousands of CRABS, no joke! It actually looked pretty scary at first b/c they look like huge spiders. We couldn't really get a good picture to do it justice and show just how many there were.

Sunrise at Laie Point

Then we flew back to my parents house to pick up the cub. We missed her like crazy!

Day 9: Tuesday, Laie

Tuesday morning we headed to Charles' aunt and uncle's beach house right in between the Laie temple and BYU Hawaii. First we stopped at the Temple's Visitor's Center and saw our good friend Stephanie who is serving her mission there from our old singles ward, the ward that Charles and I met in. She was very surprised to see us!
Then we headed to the temple.


Then we chilled at the beach house. This is the back yard:


AMAZING! Staying here was probably our most favorite part of the whole trip.
Soaking in the sun

Charlie snorkeling.

If you've ever been to Hawaii you might remember a place called Snorkel Bob's where they rent out snorkels and other sea gear. This next video is inspired by that place.

Posing in the back yard :)

We also went sea kayaking which was really fun and a great workout. Then we made dinner and ate yummy fish and chilled with the fam, fun times.