Random Pictures

So, here are a few random pictures that I have that I thought I would post.

I actually forgot about these first two. Lydia was invited to a birthday party for her good friend Taijah at the end of January. It was like a sleep-over with out the sleeping over part. They wore their jammies there and got their hair done and had a makeover; then had a dance party. I really didn't think Lydia would want to go because that stuff is not Lyd's "cup of tea". But she really wanted to go, so went. When I picked her up at the end of the party, she was so GIDDY. She couldn't stop smiling and talking about how much fun she had. This following two pictures is what she looked like "all done up." She was so darn cute. She loved every minute of it. This was definitely a side of Lydia I've never seen before. They handed out a goody bag with lots of lip gloss and a nail filer and this goop called "Body Butter" that really scared me, but she was very excited about. In fact, her and Paige had locked themselves in the bathroom one night when I wasn't there and when Garrett found them, they both had this body butter stuff covering their faces and they told him that they were getting rid of the bumps on their skin. He said it was so thick it looked like they had mud masks on or something. So funny! Such the girls!

The next picture is of Paige and Bella eating their chocolate dogs that I got for them for Valentine's Day. These girls both LOVE candy--they ask for it all the time!

This one is Maggie and Lydia before school one day, dressed like twins (almost). Maggie fixed Lyd's hair in a ponytail just like hers and they were dressed pretty much the same way. These two fight a bunch, so I thought it was cute of them together. Lydia loves it when Maggie fixes her hair for her and asks Maggie to help pick out her outfit a lot of school days. So cute to look up to your big sister like that!

This one is Lydia just today. They had their 100 days party at school today celebrating being in school for 100 days. This is her glasses and headband. Cute girl.

This is a video from a couple of weeks ago. Maggie had prepared a power point presentation on baptism for FHE that night and so had used Garrett's laser pointer thing that he uses at work. So, after Garrett was playing around with the laser thing and the Paige and Bella were like cats trying to chase the red light--they had so much fun. (sorry it's so dark--the lights were off)

It's a BOY!!

Yesterday, we had my 20 week ultrasound and found out that our 5th baby is going to be a boy! I made the ultrasound tech point out his little boy part, just to make sure because I've never seen one on an ultrasound. Looked pretty official to me! :) After 4 girls, we're excited for the change. Garrett is really excited, still in shock I think, but very excited. I think our world is going to be turned upside down! Lydia was the only one who was hoping for a little sister, but I think once she meets our little guy, she will love him to death. As we all will!

He's been kicking a lot more, or rather, I'm starting to feel him move around more. This is my favorite part of being pregnant. I love to be able to feel the baby's movements--it's really the most amazing thing to feel! I think I'll miss that when this is all over, since this will be our last baby. It's crazy to think that after this baby, I can get rid of all maternity stuff and then baby clothes, and toys...that is so WEIRD. I've been having babies and taking care of kids for 10 years now, so that's all I know. It's kind of exciting to move on, but I think more sad. To think that this stage of my life is coming to an end, but that pre-teen stuff is already starting. It's really a weird thing to think about. But, I'm still pregnant and have one more baby to hold and love and spoil. I think I'll focus on that right now and enjoy it the best I can! (And deal with the pre-teen stuff at the same time. Scary!)

On a side note, I tried and tried to scan a picture from the sonogram, but for some reason it's not letting us scan it as a jpeg file, only a pdf; so I can't get it to download here. Sorry. If we figure something out soon, we'll post them. But until then...

(Garrett wanted me to use a sonogram picture from one of the other kids...because he says they all look alike anyhow! :) I didn't want to do that.

Our version of camping

This past long weekend, we dusted off our trailer and loaded it up and went camping. It's been way too long since we've been camping and it was a good weekend to go. We were going to go somewhere along the coast, where we usually go, but surprisingly every place was booked, so we went the opposite direction and headed to Mt. Hood. There's a fun campground there called Mt. Hood Village that some friends have stayed at and enjoyed, so we thought we'd check it out. It was a nice place. I hate to say that in 10 years of living in Oregon, I've never been up to Mt. Hood. I guess it was time to change that.

We left Friday afternoon and got there Friday evening and came back on Monday afternoon. It's so nice to get away and just hang out as a family. We swam and watched movies and read books, drove up to the ski lodges and watched people ski, we even got to have a fire one night and roast hot dogs. On Sunday night for Valentines, we did fondue for dessert and dipped strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and pretzels in chocolate. YUM! On Monday, it was sunny and beautiful, so before we left, we took a hike in the woods and walked through a little river. It was so pretty!

I forgot to take our camera with us on the trip so I had to use my phone to take the pictures.

Cooking our hotdogs on Saturday night

Playing at their playground

Garrett and Bella playing a throwing game with an orange. Check out the following video--SO Funny!

Fondue
Hiking down to the river

Bella showing off her stick that she carried around with her.

Anniversary

Today is mine and Garrett's 13th wedding anniversary. Wow! 13 years. We can't believe it. We went out and celebrated last night by eating at a Vietnamese restaurant called Vivi's. (His choice completely--I'm not that adventurous with food). It was good though, so I was glad he insisted that I try it. We then went out to see Sherlock Holmes, which was an excellent movie. Our night out was low-key and nothing exciting, but always fun to spend some alone time together.

Since we've been married, we've lived in Utah (going to school), Alaska and Texas (for summers between sememsters) and then Oregon for 10 years. He's been with Intel since graduating from BYU --although he's been involved in various jobs within Intel. We've had 4 kids and have one on the way. We've had a lot of fun vacations with family and had good times here at home (our second house).

Its amazing how your love for a person can grow and get stronger through the years. Garrett is so amazing with the love he shows me and the girls and how he's so willing to help around the house and especially with the girls. He changes diapers and gets up in the middle of the night with me when we have newborn babies, he cleans the shower for me which is the chore that I absolutely hate! He fixes the girls hair for them and helps me get them ready for school in the morning. He makes us all laugh and gets really silly with the girls. They love spending time with him and so do I. He is such a great person and he loves his family. Thanks for the wonderful 13 years Garrett and here's to many, many more!