Blessing Day

Sept. 27 was a very special day for us as Isla received her blessing in our church. Aaron did an amazing job speaking words that will last throughout Isla's life and serve as a compass for her. I was so touched as I thought how grateful I am for my precious little family and that my family will be built upon a firm foundation of our Faith.

The day was perfect and beautiful. Not because of the amazing food that everyone so generously helped with, or because of the perfect weather - but because of our closest friends and family that were able to come share the day with us. We had quite the group here supporting us. Every single day I think about all the love that our baby is surrounded by, from her grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, to perhaps showering her with the most love, of course, the crew.

So to all of you who were here, and also those who wanted to but weren't able to make it, we love you and thanks for all the support. Not only on Isla's blessing day but every day of our lives.

ST. GEORGE MARATHON 2009

Psyche, I didn't run it. Well, I ran a little bit of it. I jumped in with my mom around mile 25.

My mom ran her FIRST marathon Oct. 3 and she KILLED IT! We are all so so proud of her. She trained so hard - ran it in 3 hrs. 50 min. - and qualified for the Boston Marathon. Not bad for a 49 year old Grandma! haha. She's my inspiration to start running... someday.

Anyway, Aaron and I decided that "supporting her" provided a great excuse to go lay in the sun for a few days. Road Trip! Lots of family and lots of fun. Oh yeah, and lots of pics too.



Here we are en route to St. George. Isla LOVES her carseat and enjoyed finally having company in the back seat with her.



Night before. Getting ready.



KT tape is magical, or so I hear. And Grandma with her 2 sweet grandbabies the night before the race.



We woke up at 5 am to drive up the canyon to Veyo to watch her run by. It was dawn and the sunrise was gorgeous. But it was cooooold.



At the finish line. Notice how Orion is the only "civilian" (non-runner or non-military) beyond the orange fence boundary... yeah he made friends with the security guard, chatted him up, and ended up getting let into the restricted access area. haha, OF COURSE HE DID!



Looking good, eating melon, sporting the medal, and celebrating.

GOOD JOB MUM! WE LOVE YOU!

Adventures

Having a tiny newborn around has reminded us that the little things in life that happen every day are actually big adventures. I think we really appreciate what we considered our "normal" activities a lot more now, as we experience them with Isla.

We love sharing our life adventures with Isla. Everyone warned us "YOUR LIFE IS ABOUT TO DRAMATICALLY CHANGE" - but we disagree. Life hasn't really changed, it has just been enhanced. We still do the same crazy adventures just with Isla strapped to our chest in the Baby Bjorn! It seems to have brought new life to our activities as we can't wait to introduce Isla to them.

We are so grateful and blessed that we are able to provide her these opportunities in life and can't wait for even more. In her short 9 weeks with us her list rivals even those with many more years on her such as:
Boating
Elk hunting
Camping in the Uintahs
Flyfishing
Bike riding
Road tripping
and tomorrow she will have her first ride on Jack (my horse).

Fishing on Grandpa O's Boat. Isla absolutely LOVED being out on the water!

This life jacket was huge on her, but the smallest there was. It was so cute though!

At elk hunt base camp with dad. SO pretty up there.

Taking a nap in the tent at camp. And yes, she is sucking her thumb. She sucked her thumb in the womb and although we try, we can't always keep it out of her mouth!

All bundled up to go camping in the Uintahs.

Camping at Lily Lake.

Sitting around the campfire making delicious hobo dinners and dutch over cobbler. (Sans utensils haha) Thanks Whit and Brady! So fun.

Road tripping to St. George for mom's marathon. (Blog on that coming soon!)