Memorial Day Weekend @ Bear Lake

For the 3 day holiday weekend we headed up to Bear Lake. It was such a great weekend! The weather wasn't the greatest but when it was sunny we headed out to the lake to go kayaking. We just got a couple of inflatable kayaks and have been excited for a chance to take them out. 

When it was stormy we played a ton of games, watched movies, went swimming, went on a tour in a nearby cave and played sight seeing bingo (a game Josh made up for the boys)

 Minatonka Cave

 North was SOOO excited to finally eat some watermelon. He literally at almost half of the watermelon.

 On one of the days when it was stormy we decided to go for a long drive. Josh made a bingo game for the boys with items they might see along the drive. The boys loved it and Josh and I loved it because it kept them entertained. :o)

A week with little Catalina

 Catalina is now a little over a week old and what a sweet and wonderful week it has been. Life is now completely back to normal with work, yard work, kids school, soccer games, programs, running after kids and oh yes......loving our little Catalina! I feel like life has just became 10x busier....but I love being busy, now if I can just get organized :o) 

We all love and adore this little girl and it is SO wonderful to have a new born in the house. 

 Sunny days, frozen yogurt, park and hanging out with their new little sister....couldn't get any better :)

 Catalina started sucking her fingers the moment she came out and has been every since. This picture is actually just 10-15 minutes after she came out.

 All the boys adore their little sisters. It is so cute to see these 3 wild ruff little boys turn into such gentle little boys when they are around Catalina. They love to just sit by her and watch her. Hopefully their kindness towards her last!

 Railay had his last day of Preschool and program this last week. He was SO cute when they sang their songs. This is his teacher Miss Jana.

 The boys got their soccer pictures this week too!!! 

If I could stop time

IN LOVE

If I could stop time right now, I would.
I want to just hold onto this precious newborn
stage Catalina is in.  I adore this sweet stage!!!!
I only wish it lasted weeks....no months longer.
As for now I will enjoy every moment of it. 

IT'S A..........................

 IT'S A GIRL!

 Life has been a little bit of heaven this last 2 days. I am filled with happiness beyond description not only because I have a healthy baby in my arms but also because I have a beautiful, sweet, adorable little girl! 

Say hello to our little CATALINA

 The birth story - 

Catalina was born on May 16 @ 6:36 pm. 

She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces

20 inches

She had a 10 on her after birth score

I had the joy of being able to have Catalina naturally with out an epidural. It was such a great experiance. Josh was an amazing support through this time and at the last moments I had both of my mothers - Denise and my mom in the room to watch her come into this world. Labor came fast. After my contraction started to get really hard, painful and close I had her within 30 minutes. I had maybe an hour of being a little uncomfortable, 20 minutes of horrible pain and then maybe 5-10 minutes of yes that indescribable pain and then I pushed maybe two times and out she came.

When I heard it was a girl I was not only shocked but overwhelmed with so many emotion. I cried and cried with joy. I could not believe that I actually had a little girl and she was so beautiful. I loved as I watched Josh hold his little girl for the first time. 

It was such a beautiful moment!

 It was SO wonderful when the boys came to visit their new little sister. I can not describe the joy I felt as I watch their excitement to see her, hold her and tell me how cute they thought she was. 

North kept wanting to hold her. He told me he could not wait until we could bring her home and that he wanted to help take care of her. I don't think he took his eyes off her the entire time. SO cute!

Railay was the most surprising of all because he as always said he does not want a sister because he DOES NOT like girl things. But from the moment he saw her he was smitten. He wanted to hold her, put bows on her head, kiss her and had this cute little smile on his face as he watch her. At one point the boys were eating some cookies and Railay brought one over to feed Catalina but i told him she does not eat cookies but only milk. He then went over to the table and grabbed a little carton of milk that was on the table and brought it over to her thinking he could at least feed her milk. ;)

 Rowan was what I expected he took one look at her smiled said baby then looked at my tummy a little confused and then went on to play with something else. 

 Railay was so excited to put bows on her and make her look pretty.

 Our hospital does this cute dinner for you on the night before you leave. A romantic dinner in your hospital room what more could you ask for :o)

My last belly pic about 5 hours before little Catalina came :o)

Reminiscing on the past & North's award

We are constantly doing things in downtown SLC. This time we were down there we thought we would reminisce on the past and take the boys to one of our FAVORITE restaurant we use to go to all the time when we lived downtown. It's called " The Atlantic Cafe" and it is SOOOOOOO good! It's Mediterranean food that will make your taste buds smile :o) Afterwards we took the boys to the apartment we use to live at which was also North's first house and then the Bed & Breakfast I use to work at. The boys like hearing all the stories about our apartment, work and places we would walk to while living downtown. 

 Our first place apartment we lived at when first married and North lived hear until he was about 10 months. We first lived at the bottom basement right side and then when North was born we lived on the first floor left side. So many memories of sitting out on the porch watching eating, laughing, talking and people watching at they walked by. Also below is the Bed & Breakfast I worked at.

 Here is North getting his PRIDE award at his school assembly. It was a surprise to him so after hearing his name called out he was SOOOO excited and had a huge smile on his face the entire time.

 Grandma Rust came to support North at his assembly.

What happened to the little homeless boy?

I finally got Rowan's hair cut....you might say he needed it. I actually love the shaggy hair look on my boys, but with Rowan it started getting unmanageable, so it was finally time to break down and get his cute little shag cut.

 Before

 After

 All day long I kept getting Rowan and Railay mixed up because they now look so similar to each other and they were wearing the same clothes that day too!

My cute little men with their new hair cuts :o)

 Rowan looks similar to Railay but if you saw a picture of North when he had his hair short around the age of 3 they look even more similar.

Happy Birthday Josh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

 This last weekend on the 5th was my wonderful, amazing, hot hubbies birthday. We had a great day spending it with just our little family. We did some fun things earlier in the day and then all headed to the movie theater to see "The Avengers." Super hero's are a big deal in our house right now so this movie was perfect for them. Josh and I delighted in watching the boys as each super hero came to the screen and then seeing their excitement as all the super hero's battled it out. After the movie we went out to eat then home for cake and ice cream.
Since is was Josh B-day I want to write a shout out to him and how wonderful I know he is.

Top 10 reason why Josh is awesome

1- When it comes to great dad, Josh is at the top of the list. He is such a wonderful father to his boys. Each of the boys adore their dad. There is nothing I love more then seeing all 4 boys hanging out and having fun together.

2- Josh is an amazing husband. I know every wife will say they are lucky to be married to their husband, but I TRULY feel lucky to have Josh as my husband. I sometimes stop and think about our life and how happy we are to be with each other. We both have a mutual love and respect for each other and we both want nothing more than to love and make each other happy.....and that's the way it should be.

3-Josh is my best friend. He is the one I always want to be with, the first person I call when something exciting happens, the one I turn to when sad or in need of advice, someone who I laugh with, someone who makes me smile, someone who I love with all my heart, someone who would drop anything to help me out, someone who understands me, someone I trust, someone who knows just what to say to make me happy, someone I can depend on.

4- Josh is adventurous and always up for something exciting or new.

5- Josh is SMART.....anyone who knows him can testify to that.

6- Josh is the MOST honest person I know. 

7- Josh is such a hard worker and I am SO proud of him and what he is accomplishing at work.

8- Josh is the perfect  person at explaining things to little kids. Whenever the boys have a questions about anything from life to why something is the way it is, Josh is always so great at helping the boys understand.

9- Josh loves his family more than anything and is always trying to become a better dad and husband.

10- Josh is always thinking of others before himself. 

 Our messy faced little boys at the restaurant.

I had North and Railay decorate the B-day cakes. They wanted to decorate them with army men and candy. Because of the army men the cakes turned more or less into battle scenes.