Owen's Baby Blessing

Owen's Baby Blessing was the day after Gavin's Baptism, so Jason's Parents and Grandma were still in town to see the baby blessing too. Owen was blessed on July 3rd, 2011. Here he is in his little white outfit.
I love those smiles :)
Jason's parent's with Owen.
Our family...Gavin kept closing his eyes, Connor was tired, hungry and ornery and Owen was also tired and hungry, but at least we got a cute little smile out of Aidan :)
We had dinner with the extended family after the baby blessing...Aidan came up with a creative way to eat his corn...just stabbed it with his fork and went at it!
Aidan, Connor, Taylyn and Talen.
Taydem and Gavin.

Gavin's Baptism

Gavin got Baptized and Confirmed a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on his 8th birthday. It was a wonderful day. Gavin and a friend from Church were both baptized and shared the same meeting beforehand. I had the opportunity to "spotlight" Gavin during the meeting before the baptism meaning I just talked about Gavin and shared some things about him and talked about how much we love him. After about a minute of talking about Gavin I could hardly speak because I got so emotional talking about how great Gavin is and how blessed we are to have him in our family. Gavin could tell I was nervous talking up there and gave me a little thumbs up while I spoke which was just so cute it made it even harder for me to talk! Gavin's Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Rick were also there along with his Great-Grandma Summers and his Aunt Trudy and her kids, Taydem, Taylyn & Talen.
Here's Gavin before his baptism.

Gavin and his Grandpa Rick and Grandma Debbie.
Gavin and his Great-Grandma Summers.
Gavin with his brothers and two of his cousins...this is the best shot we could get and one of the cousins, Talen, flatly refused to be in the picture! lol
Our family.
Mr. GQ here...I didn't even tell him to pose either! lol

Gavin's 8th Birthday!

Gavin turned 8-years-old last month! Eight is an exciting time...he got to get baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he got to join cub-scouts. We had a family birthday party on his birthday after his baptism. Jason's parents were there along with some of Gavin's cousins and his Aunt Trudy. Since this is a post about Gavin's birthday, let me just take a moment to write about him! Gavin is an extremely bright and energetic kid. He's so much fun and says the funniest things. He's a really sweet kid who makes friends wherever he goes...he's always been that way...making new friends even when he was two and three-years-old when we'd take him places like the McDonalds' playground, or park or wherever...he'd run up to me and say, "Mom, I just made a new friend!" and then tell me his or her name. Gavin is also tenderhearted and tries to do what Mom and Dad ask...most of the time anyway! At school, Gavin would write nice notes to friends, teachers, secretaries and helpers...even the principal. When we mentioned Gavin's name to the principal once, he said "I know Gavin...we were just talking about him in staff meeting, he's the one who gives us all those nice notes!" He's a sweet kid who likes to make other people happy. Gavin has more energy than any other kid I know. I don't think he has an off button, or if he does I haven't found it yet! He likes to play sports...mostly basketball and soccer because it involves so much running! He also likes to ride his bike or scooter, run around, do jumps and cartwheels or summersaults, and just run around playing make believe with his brothers (usually either Star Wars with the light-sabers or Harry Potter with sticks or other objects as the wands). We are very blessed to have Gavin as our son. He's a great kid who brings so much joy to our lives. We love him very much, and enjoy raising him and guiding him as we watch him turn into a wonderful young man.

Sunglasses

I couldn't find my sunglasses...when I looked in the rear-view mirror I saw this! Little stinkers stole them! But, they looked so cute I just let them wear them while I squinted while I drove! lol

Silly Aidan

Aidan decided to wear this on his head the other day...yep...it's underwear...luckily it was clean! What a crack up!

The Zoo & Scout Camp

Gavin got to go to his first Scout Camp this summer. He LOVES being a scout...loves the uniform, the friends, the patriotism, the patches and belt loops you can earn and all the fun adventures that come with being a scout. Where does the time go? I can hardly believe he's old enough to be a cub scout!
While Gavin was off on his fun adventures at Scout Camp, the younger boys and I went to the zoo with my cousins, Corinne, Carmen & Kelly & my Aunt Cindy. I ended up buying a season pass so I'm sure we'll be back lots :)
Awww...such sweet smiley boys...I didn't even tell Connor to put his arm around his brother...I love these moments as a mom.
Time for a little train ride at the zoo.
Aidan & Connor in HEAVEN! These boys love trains.
Owen not so interested in the animals, but still enjoying a little ride in the stroller.

June Happenings

I'm trying to play catch up, so here's some of what we were up to in June...
Baby Owen and I flew to California and stayed with my sister for a few days for a really fun visit.
Grandpa Ray and Grandma Laurie drove the six hours from Eureka to Sacramento to meet their latest grandchild.
I went to a wedding sealing for a dear friend Megan that I hadn't seen in years! She's kind of like an adopted little sister to me so I was so glad that I could be in the temple with them for their special day of being sealed together forever as husband and wife. The feelings were sweet in the temple and the groom got teary-eyed...it was perfect, and I really just needed the peace of being in the temple after so much craziness in my life lately. My sister Sherri and her husband Pat were kind enough to drive me the two hours to the Oakland Temple and then watch Owen for me while I was in the temple.
My mom and Cheryl got to meet the baby too! I was feeling so bad that when my mom came to Utah to help me while I was on bed-rest she missed meeting the baby by only a couple of weeks! I'm so glad they got to meet him now :)
We visited a train museum with my dad and Laurie...I was feeling guilty being there without my Connor monkey...he LOVES trains! I'll have to go back sometime with my little train man.
Gavin and Connor were busy with baseball all summer.
Aidan kept himself busy during the games with this little kite my sister sent home for the kids to play with.
Here's what Owen did during the games...

Our cute little "lefty" up to bat...


Gavin up to bat...
On the run...
Gavin with his team...this kid is such a crack-up I tell you...
Gavin bored in the outfield...at any given time he was just as likely to be sitting down as standing up! Once he hid an extra ball in his mitt when he was the second baseman...then when the runner got close he whipped out his extra ball, tagged the runner and stuck the ball back in his mitt! lol. Another time he got the ball between 1st and 2nd base and then ran the bases behind the runner all the way to home-base trying to tag him instead of throwing the ball! This kid loves to run...hence the boredom just standing in the outfield :)
For Father's Day I was in California, so before I left the boys and I put this little surprise together for Daddy. I had the boys hide it and promise not to let Daddy know about it until Father's Day when they gave it to him.

Awww...mud...sweet mud...
Yes, this is our backyard...a mother's nightmare and a little boy's dream come true!

Lazy Sunday afternoons...


Sweet little baby
One of the first smiles I caught on camera....LOVE it!!!!
We had a family day at the Children's Discovery Museum...FREE dollars...thanks to the kids virtual academy...gotta love those field-trips :)



We got a package from my dad with a bunch of "Giants" clothes for baby Owen. My dad knows that Jason is a Yankee fan, so hoping to bug him he sent these along and told me to send him a picture of Jason holding Owen in one of his new "Giants" outfits :) Jason didn't mind...really he just loves baseball...any baseball ;)