Bear Lake

We actually went to Bear Lake at the beg of August, but I have not had time to blog about it. It was just for 3 days, but it was a fun getaway. We went with Tylers extended family. Aspen loved the playing in the sand at the beach and right at the edge of the lake water. She wasn't a huge fan of the boat becuase she had to wear a life jacket. I was worried with aspen about naps, but everyone told me she would just fall asleep in the boat! Yeah right :) I think she might be the only baby that will not fall asleep unless she is in a crib or pack and play. So we brought a pack and play down to the beach and put a blanket over her and she at least got one of her two naps.
This is the second time we have gone tent camping with Aspen and she had done really good! The first night she was freezing so she slept with me. I loved it for one night becuase I got to hold and cuddle her. Something she rarely lets me do anymore.

Tyler and Sarah got some major air

Sarah took most of our pictures so this is really all I have!

Time flies

Wow I feel like I never have time for the blogging world anymore. Between Tyler working at home, which I LOVE, but I am never able to use computer anymore, I am coaching the girls Timpview tennis team, and Tyler just finished up school!

Coaching these girls has been more fun than I ever thought possible! I have no drama or whiny girls, which has been so nice. Everyone gets along and they are always helping to set up and clean up. The best news is we won our first match on Tuesday.

Yes I said Tyler finshed school!!!! Wow its about time. He has been going since before we got married, but only had time to go part time since he was always working. He changed his major 4 times, but it has finally happened. He hasn't walked yet and I am not sure if he will becuase he doesn't really care to, but HE IS DONE!!! I am so proud of him for accomplishing his goal and working so hard to finish. Way to go Tyler.

My mobile little girl

I have always known Aspen was tiny and growing up so fast, but now that she can officially walk she looks even smaller, yet so grown up at the same time. She is transitioning into a little girl and I love it. She is still so sweet and so much fun. Everyone keeps telling me that my freedom is over now that she walk, but my freedom was over as soon as she could crawl, now she just wont be ruining anymore clothes by crawling everywhere! Aspen is learning so much right now. Everyday she figures something new out. Her signing vocab is growing quickly. She can now sign more, all done, food, milk, and cracker what else could she want :) She is also starting to talk lots more. She can say baby, dada and out-oh and is trying to say lots more words! She talks to all day. I love watching her grow and learn. Nothing in life brings me more joy!

Aquarium

Tyler needed to go to the aquarium for his last class!!! So we took Aspen. I have to admit, it was not as cool and fun as I thought it would be. It was tiny and there were not very many exhibits. I imagined going to the aquariums you always see in the movies. The ones where you walk through a giant glass tunnel and you can see sea life all around you. But Aspen still had a great time and it was worth 1 trip. I probably wont go back for a while though. Maybe it will be better when the penguins are there. Here are some cute pictures.

Aspen can Swim

Many of asked how can Aspen swim. Well here is a clip of her swimming. I drop her to the bottom of the pool and she kicks up. Also whenever we get close to the steps she automatically drops her head down and takes off. I have never seen a baby love the water as much as she does. It is so funny.

How I taught her: I watched a bunch of YouTube videos. We started dunking her as a baby in the tub. Than we taught her how to blow bubbles. Next we taught her how to keep her head up in the pool, than how to float all by herself. Once she caught onto that we started dropping her to the bottom of the pool and letting her kick herself up. She taught herself how to swim to the stairs based off everything else we have taught her.

Is she really one?!?

I can't believe Aspen is one now. She now weighs 16lbs and is 28.5 inches long, which puts her in 3% for weight and 22% for height. That is the most she has grown in between doctors appts. Aspen is such a happy baby and has brought so much joy into our home. Here are a few things I want to remember:

• She has 8 teeth
• Can sign milk and food
• Has taken 7 steps
• Can swim and float
• First word was out-oh
• She will only drink out of a straw

Every month on the 11th I took a picture of Aspen with her teddy bear. Look how much she has changed. If you look closely she is wearing the same dress in month 1 and 9. She actually still fits in this dress! Click on the picture to see it bigger.

Aspen's 1st birthday Party

For Aspen's birthday we had a little party with a few friends and family. We got a huge blow up slide from our cousins and everybody got to play on it. I had a fun pool cake for Aspen and pool cupcakes for the rest of the kids. They were a big hit. Thanks to all those who came out for Aspen's party. We sure had fun. Here are some pictures of the day!

4th of July Camping

I had such a great 4th of July weekend. I got to spend the weekend with the Masons at their favorite camping spot, camp Timberline. Tylers Grandparents were in charge of their church property up past Price for 10 years. Every summer Tyler's family would come up from Texas to help out and visit with his grandparents. So he had so many memories up there. It was great to see all the places Tyler had told me stories about.

At the last second the trip almost got canceled becuase of some heavy rain. Tylers parents called to see if we still wanted to go. We told them of course, all the work had already been done and the cars were packed. So we headed up the mountain. It was so pretty up there and we lucked out with weather. It only rained during the night and the days were perfect! Since we had A Frame cabins the rain didn't bug us at all.

I didn't grow up camping so I have had to get adjusted to it. At first I HATED camping, but I knew it was a big part of Tylers life and that we would be camping a lot as a family so I tried and have a good attitude. Well I have to admit I am starting to LOVE camping. It is so nice to be able to relax and play games with family. And that is what we did. We read books, took naps, hiked, played games, talked around the campfire and ate LOTS of yummy food.

Whoever said you can't take a one-year-old camping has obviously never camped with Aspen! She did so much better than I thought she would. The first day was a little rough becuase she had to sit in the car for 3 hours and than I think the high altitude affected her a bit, but the rest of the days she did great! She slept normal at night and took all of her naps. Of course she got extremely dirty and ate a little more dirt than normal, but that is part of being a kid, right. She loved it up there. Here are some pics of the trip.

Nap time hair

We were playing a game and kept getting the ball stuck in the tree

We went on a hike to the beaver dams and let Aspen play in the River. Notice her crying face when it was time to leave. She LOVES water.Here is Aspens 4th of July dress. She looked SO cute!
Still had to do P90x. No breaks allowed :)

Strawberries and Boondocks

I love Strawberry Days. Pleasant Grove does such a good job at running a fun week for its residents and people living close by. This year Tyler and I got to volunteer at the Rodeo in the concession stand. The rodeo puts each stake in the area in charge of a different item at the concession. They do this so they can keep it family friendly and not allow alcohol or smoking vendors to come in. I guess lots of vendors call up and run all the concessions for free if they can sell their beer and cigarettes. I also found out that everyone running the rodeo are all volunteers. No one makes any money. Actually all money made during the week is put back into the city. I thought that was great! Tyler and I had a lot of fun meeting new people and helping out. It seriously got crazy there for about 2 hours and we were running back and forth. After our shift was over we were able to the end of the rodeo. So much fun.Than a few days ago Sarah invited to her work party at Boondocks. We had a blast!!!! We played mini golf and rode the golf carts. I also got to play deal or no deal, and I must admit it was so much fun. They also had a bunch of blow up stuff just for her work and Aspen had so much fun. Here are a bunch of pictures of us playing. Thanks SarahThese pictures don't even show how much fun Aspen had. She loved going down the slide by herself. And yes Tyler is throwing Aspen around in the obstacle course. She loved it!!!

Loving life

Wow time is seriously flying by so fast. Aspen is 11 months and is still such a sweetheart. Her personailty is coming up so much. She loves to laugh. If she hears someone laugh she instantly laughs. She loves to do fishy kisses and wave to people. Right now she is in bit of a mommy/daddy phase. If someone else tries to take her she will cry. Even if its someone she knows. But luckily Aspen can be bribed with food!!! She will go to anyone that has food. It doesn't even have to be sugar or something yummy, so will go to you for veggies! She is the biggest mouch I have ever seen. I seriously love this little girl and am so lucky to be her mom.

Tyler has had his first officially week at home and I have to admite, I LOVE IT!!! He takes a 1 1/2 hr break to do P90x and eat luch with me in the middle of the day. We do it during Aspens nap so its perfect. Man if you have done P90x you can sympthazie with me. Its a killer. You do a whole bunch of different workouts that create muscle confusion. I feel like I am back in college working out with the tennis team. Its insane.

I have almost completed 2 weeks now, so I have 11 to go! After that I will back in the best shape of my life. Just in time to get pregnant again. Haha :) Oh well I am hoping to maintain my activity while I am pregnant next time so I don't get HUGE again. Anyway Tyler is loving being home to. No more travel time to and from work, no more packing a lunch, no more waking up at 3am and he gets to spend more time throughout the day with Aspen and I.

I had my first tennis camp last week. I had such a great time getting to know the girls that wil l be trying out this fall. I am even more excited to be their coach now. They are such great girls. Next week I have a tennis tournament and than we off to go camping over the 4th of July. Busy busy summer!!!

These pictures have nothing to do with the post, but I thought they were cute. My SIL Sarah wanted to take some pictures of Aspen with these cute ducks. Aspen loved them at first until the duck the tried to get the flower from her hair. Isn't Aspen's cry so cute!!!