Hogle Zoo

May 21, 2011

This particular weekend Spencer and I had made plans to go visit my family in Centerville because my mom had planned for us to get family pictures taken.  Well, last minute we had to cancel the pictures because my brother, Josh, got a job for the weekend in St. George.  Lovely... but because we already had it all planned, and because it was one of the last weekends we would have with both Aimee and Porter, we decided to go down anyway.

It ended up being a total blast!  We ended up going to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie on Friday, and after a great girls outing to the mall on Saturday, we met up with our husbands at Hogle Zoo!

Trying to fit both Smoot and Maggie in the backseat.  They looked so cute!

We had such a great time.  It was Maggie's first visit to the zoo, so I had a great time taking pictures of all the animals that Maggie had never before seen.  

Oaklee loved her ride on this horse.  She was so cute!

Monkeys

A vulture.  Apparently vultures are closely related to dinosaurs.  Weird.

I think the elephants were my favorite

I especially loved this mom and her baby.  I thought it was really cute.

More monkeys

One of the big cats... I can't remember if it is a cougar or tiger or what...

Maggie and the big cat :)

This was the tiger!

Little girls picture!  Sadie, Oaklee, Maggie and Sydnee

I love Maggie's expressions when she's put next to the windows with these huge animals on the other side.  

What do you think's more exciting to Maggie?  The giraffe or Daddy's hair?

It's a sloth!

Cute Oaklee and some sort of mini kangaroo things :)

Spencer and Maggie

Porcupines 

I think this was an alligator... it may have been a crocodile though...

The zoo's thing this summer is Zoorassic Park - so there is dinosaur stuff everywhere.  Oaklee kept walking around saying, "Oh no, It's Sharp Tooth!"  So we decided to get a picture with him.

The animal adventures didn't end when we left the zoo though - Look what we found on the window sill at my parents' home.

They're newly hatched baby birdies.  They had literally hatched while we were at the zoo.  I couldn't believe it!  They were adorable!

After a long day of play and in preparation for church the next morning, both Maggie and Smootie were in need of a bath.  They were so cute in my parents' bathtub.  We laughed at them almost the whole time.  Smootie kept wanting to roll over onto his stomach, but would then get mad because he couldn't put his face down without getting it in the water.  And Maggie realized the joys of splashing in the water.  She would throw her feet and hands down just to hear and feel the splashing water.  It was a lot of fun.  

Gotta love these cute babies!

Temple Grounds

May 19, 2011 - A kid Spencer knew from the mission was getting married to a girl from Hong Kong.  Her family was in town and she had 3 siblings and a good friend from Australia who wouldn't be able to join them in the temple.  Spencer was asked to accompany them on the temple grounds while everyone else was inside, so that if they had any questions they had somewhere there who could help them out.

Maggie and I joined the party on the grounds and because it was a perfect day for picture taking, I seized the moment and got Maggie into the flower gardens.

Right here, I actually sat her in the dirt, inside the tulips.  It was so pretty!  I couldn't help it.

I think Maggie enjoyed the flowers as much as I did.

She can't quite sit up yet, so I tried relentlessly to hold her up without letting it show... it didn't exactly work too well.

There's a good smile!

The smile's gone here though... She was probably sick of me taking so many pictures of her.

So while I didn't exactly spend a lot of time getting to know the people that were there for the wedding (I didn't even know who the kid was to begin with), I had a great time taking all these pictures with the beautiful temple flowers!

Grateful to be a mom

This year was my very first mother's day!  I have loved being a mother so much and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and darling daughter.  I thank our Heavenly Father every day for blessing me with their love and I felt so privileged this mother's day to be reminded of how blessed I am.

Spencer did an amazing job of showing me how much he loves and appreciates me.  I couldn't have had a better day.  

My breakfast - and it's happy to see me!

After church, we were able to join the Johnson family and Uncle Kim and Aunt Pam for an incredible mother's day dinner.  They did chocolate fondue for us and everything.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family so close to us.  It was the perfect way to spend this special day.

Here are a few other reasons, from the week or two after mother's day, that remind me of why I love being a mom.

May 10, 2011

Maggie spit up while doing some tummy time - the result: a face full of vomit.  We could not stop laughing.  I know that's bad, but she didn't even seem to care.  We were the ones freaking out about it when we noticed her lying in the pile of white goop.  Oh the funny things that happen with kids.  I'm so glad we are able to find so many things to laugh about.

May 12, 2011

I had to take these next two pictures because when I set Maggie down on the couch this day, she just started flapping her arms and smiling at me like crazy.  It was the cutest thing.  Maggie's smiles and utter excitement when she sees me make every moment as a mother worth while.

May 13, 2011

Sometimes there are random moments that just seem too cute to not take down.  I found a little bit of joy with Maggie this day when I put her down in the bumbo.  With her in her all purple outfit and the matching bumbo, I just had to smile and remember how grateful I am to have this little baby as my own.

May 18, 2011

These moments are my favorites.  Times when I get to watch the sheer joy in Maggie when Spencer comes home and gets to play with her are more fun than anything.  Seeing these two together bring me more happiness and satisfaction in my life than I could ever even imagine.

I just love the way Maggie looks at Spencer.  She may only be a few months old, but I can tell she loves him and trusts his every move, and I can never get enough of it.

So here's to being a mom... The greatest job in the world!

Spencer's Graduation

On May 7, 2011 Spencer's big day finally arrived.  Graduation!!!  He got a BA in International Business and Economics, with a minor in Mandarin Chinese.  I think I was more excited to have him done with his bachelor degree than he was.  I LOVE having him come home from work and not have to worry about homework.  Yay for family time!  

Needless to say, his graduation was very exciting for me and I took lots of great pictures :)

Here are the graduates from the John M. Huntsman School of Business walking in.

Here's Spencer getting ready to take his seat.  He is the last one standing up on the left.

The program was actually really good.  John. M. Huntsman's wife spoke to the graduates and talked about John's willingness to serve and give money, even when he may not have had enough money to do so.  She attributed a lot of his wealth to his willingness to give.  It was pretty cool.  

She then explained to us how her husband always likes to make her get up and speak on a whim when he's asked to speak and she wanted to get him back for all those times.  So John M. Huntsman got to speak to the graduates too!  It was awesome!

When the speaking was done, the graduates began to file through.  Now this is always the more boring part of the program and since Spencer was close to the end of the line, we had some time to kill while we waited.

This is how Maggie and Grandma Marilyn killed the time.  I just thought it was adorable to see the two of them sleeping there like that.  I had to take a picture.

The Spencer finally to go through.  I wasn't able to get very close, but at least I got something.  He's the graduate at the front, walking to the professor in the red gown.

There he is, getting his picture taken with his diploma.

Here are the professional ones taken by the lady who actually got close access to those graduating.  Since mine aren't very good, I'm sure glad to have these ones.

 And then it was over... I always find it interesting how things that are so anticipated always end so quickly.   Maggie had a great time though and was so happy after her nap.  Here she is with Ema, (my mom).

The Lucky Graduate

We had so much family support there that day too.  We had to make sure we could get pictures with everyone.

Grandma and Grandpa Cox came all the from Wendell, Idaho for Utah State graduates.  My cousin, Crystal Cook, graduated too, so they were able to kill two birds with one stone.

Spencer had 3 of his siblings come for the graduation.  I love this picture with all of them.

Left to right:  Lana VanRoosendaal, Stephen Dearinger, Maggie, Spencer, Brianna and Amy Wyatt.

Spencer's parents and grandma:

Marilyn, Maggie, Spencer, me, Jerry and Grandma D.

My parents

My sweet family.

After commencement and all the picture taking, we all went out to lunch at Savannah's BBQ.  Spencer's cousins, Peter and Jessica Johnson and their kids joined us, along with Uncle Kim and Aunt Pam.  It was a party there.  Our combined tables spread from one end of the room to the other (width wise).  I wish I had gotten pictures there.  Seriously, Savannah's is probably the best little restaurant in Cache Valley.  Spencer and I absolutely love it, and is was so great to be able to share that with our family on this special day. 

In Her 3rd Month

It's been a while since I've updated the blog.  Here are a few pictures of Maggie in her 3rd month.

May 4, 2011

She's so sweet and smilely

And loves to suck on her hands

May 5, 2011

Maggie is definitely loved!

May 6, 2011

I went to the gym with our friend, Whitney, so Spencer got to stay home and watch the kids.  Tyler is a good 4 months older than Maggie and boy did he have a good time.

Maggie just didn't know what to do with him.

He was rolling all over her, sucking on her face...

And even stealing her binky!

Spencer thought it was hilarious, and I loved hearing all the stories and seeing these pictures when Whitney and I came home.  Classic.