Family of Four?

And for those of you who haven't heard... we are very excited to be expecting baby #2 in early January! I guess January is our lucky month! We will find out in a few weeks what we are having but we are so thrilled about our upcoming addition!

Parker's 1st birthday trip

Maren's little boy Parker turned one yesterday so we all met up in San Diego last weekend to celebrate. Matt had to wait to leave until he finished up at his internship for the day so Crew and I left early and took Amtrak down to San Diego. Crew absolutely loved it! His little face was plastered against the window for the entire first hour. It was really fun. Here is our arrival party waiting for us at the train station. I still love that Christian is home and there with us now.
Our train approaching. I seriously can't describe enough how much Crew loved this. He was so sad we didn't get to ride it back home.

Grandpa and the boys at the station

After they picked us up the grown ups ate at Roberto's and the boys had chicken nuggets.

After lunch it was back to Maren's where the boys anxiously awaiting opening Grandpa's yellow suitcase. Anytime all the kids are together the yellow suitcase is packed full and waiting.

Maren and Cam's ward was having their ward camp out that night. Since it was only 20 minutes away we went for a little while. Crew and the boys loved playing in the woods. Throwing rocks, finding sticks and playing in the tent, all the perks of camping without spending the night!

Throwing his rocks he found while exploring with grandpa

Matt got in late Friday night and was up early surfing the next morning. We all spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the beach in Del Mar. Who doesn't love the beach?

After the beach it was party time. The whole reason for the trip was for this little boy. He did ok with the cake but was really fun to be around the whole weekend. Maren threw a darling Monster party, since Parker really is kind of like a little Monster.

Crew very into his cupcake

Grandma and Grandpa with the kiddos

We drove back late Saturday night. It was a fun trip and Happy Birthday Parker! We love you!

More from the Allen's trip

When Dave and Becky came out to visit us the end of June, I missed a day and a half because I flew down to Phoenix, then drove to Nogales, and my totally awesome, amazing surfing, and skilled dentist brother-in-law Michael, fixed some teeth problems I had going on. I left Sunday evening and was back Monday evening but here are some of the fun things that I missed out on. After they dropped me off at the airport, they went to the Griffith Park Observatory. Crew and Grandma looking through the telescope.
From the top

More from the top

Crew and Grandma exploring at our park

Cooling down with some Jamba Juice at the Glendale Americana

Visiting the local stables

I was glad to get my teeth fixed but hated missing out on their visit. Luckily I still got in two days of fun but Allens come back soon! We love having you!

Eaton Canyon

Matt has started his internship so his days are long and Crew and I are both going through withdrawls! But, he does have Wednesdays off so last week we decided to check out a little hike not far away. Crew loved it! The rockier the better and if there was water, awesome!

While we were hiking Crew suddenly stopped and said "Mom, stop! I'm hungry!" So we had a little snack break.

It was a great morning together.

This is just a funny little story. I have been a bit stuffed up at night so I have been wearing Breathe-Rites. One morning Crew came in my bed before I had taken it off and said "mom what's that?" I told him it made my nose better and helped me breathe. That night Crew was going through drawers and found tape. He got a piece and put it on his nose then told us "look, my nose is all better." What a funny kid.

Mountain Home: Day 8

Saturday morning Matt and all the men went fishing on the White River. I don't really have any pics of him but here is how beautiful the morning was! They caught quite a few trout and even had them cooked up for lunch.

While Matt was fishing, I took Crew to the lake again to get in one last swim then we came home and it started to rain. Matt got back shortly afterwards so they played baseball in the rain. Crew loved it! Hey batter batter!

We did managed to squeeze in a few family pics. Here is one of Christian and my sweet grandma.

That night the rain cleared out and the fireworks began. You can buy all kinds of fireworks in Arkansas so we had a big show that night on my grandma's yard. But we did get some little things for the kids too.

Crew loved the fireworks. He was a big fan of Roman Candles

I think we created a pyromaniac!By the end of the night Crew was completely exhausted. I had to give him a bath and he was so delusional he was yelling, "I don't want a bath I want to be dirty and sweaty!" The sad thing is we threw his dirty clothes on him to calm him down while we were trying to get him dressed and it worked! It will be days, maybe weeks, before this kid recovers from this fun trip!

We packed up the next morning and began the long trip home. It was a fantastic week and we really love Arkansas!

Mountain Home: Day 7

Friday we went on a canoe trip. We all parked our cars and loaded this bus to take us to the drop off. We took up the entire bus!

It was a beautiful day on the White River. Here are some of our clan starting down.

Crew wasn't so sure about the canoe at first. He really thought he should have his own paddle but he got comfortable quick. Lots of fish and things to look at and touching the water in general was his thing.
The entire group

Crew became a big fan of Christian's over this trip. It was fun to see them catching up from the last two years.

After the river, Crew helped me make brownies for dessert. I'd say it was a good day.

Mountain Home: Day 6

I think this day may have been the top for Crew. We had two ski boats and a pontoon boat and spent the whole day on the lake. Crew and Christian showing off their muscles to get pumped up for tubing.

I know Crew's face isn't totally convincing but he did great tubing. We laughed at the big waves and may have topped 8mph?

Since these lakes are so big and not crowded, we always pick a cove to throw over our anchors then swim and hang out in the middle of the lake. This is my favorite thing! The pontoon stays and ski boats come and go. We just ski then relax, then ski and relax some more.
Matt catching some air. Do you think he lands this?

Crew watching the skiers and getting some rays

Crew's favorite thing was jumping off the boat into the water, swimming around the boat to the ladder and then doing it all over again. He honestly did this way over an hour! He also just enjoyed playing in the middle of the lake and swimming around.

7 big guys all trying to stand up. They were so close.

Crew has told me a few times since: "Mom, member when mommy, daddy, grandpa, and Crew all went to the lake together? Can we go again?" Poor guy I wish we could!