Our Favorite Things: It's a Party Month!

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, it's been a CRAZY few weeks! We've moved out of Spokane (thanks everyone who helped out!) and now we are living out of a suitcase and are homeless for a month or so before we move to Seattle in mid-September. While I love having the freedom to travel around visiting all the people we love all summer, I am also losing it a little bit! Wrinkly clothes from an overstuffed suitcase, carrying heavy bags where ever we go, and always leaving something behind. Haha. We left Emma's suitcase with all of her clothes and shoes for the summer in storage in Spokane! Good thing it's warm and everyone loves a naked baby! Haha I'm mostly kidding (we have a few outfits for her so we are getting by). We really are very grateful to all the awesome people in Spokane who have befriended us and helped us this past year. We had an awesome time there, and who knows, maybe we'll end up settling there? Only time will tell :)

We are having a blast on our vacation so far. Nate still has to study a bunch for his boards in September, but other than that we are just enjoying our family and relaxing. It is so fun for me to see my family bonding with Emma. She is so special! It almost seems like she's been a part of our family forever. We love her! :)

We made a few last rounds, visiting all the wonderful places in Spokane before we left. Here are some pictures:

Cherry picking at Greenbluff farms

Fishing at Spokane Lake

Bowl and Pitcher

Manito Park

Coeur d'Alene Lake

We spent a week in Walla Walla and then headed to Utah for Emma's birthday party. Lots of family and friends came and it was a blast! We even had three sides of Emma's great-grandparents there (top picture). I made carrot cake for Emma to eat (haha can you say nutritionist?) which I think she liked, but not as much as the chocolate her grandmas keep sneaking her. My cousin's two year old daughter Tenleigh helped Emma and I open presents. Emma was more content with sitting on/playing with her presents than with opening them. That's my silly girl! She was a pretty spoiled girl this year! And so was I (we held her party on my birthday since they are only three days apart). Fun fun fun! Thanks to all who came and for all the awesome presents! I think Emma will finally stop taking everything out of every cupboard, or maybe that's wishful thinking? We'll see :)

My favorite part of our birthday days was walking in on what was supposed to be a sleeping Emma but instead finding a guilty looking chocolate covered baby! She had pulled my sister's chocolate off the dresser near her pack n play! My silly baby! I was almost upset, but it was her birthday so I laughed instead :) We spoiled her pretty badly for her birthday. We even went to Coldstone and got her some ice cream, which she then adorably insisted on feeding to Nate. I think we were both satisfied with our birthdays :)

Emma playing with baby Landon :)

Here is the video (really a movie) that I made as a synopsis of Emma's first year. I'm hoping it will be a family favorite over the years :) It sure was fun (and stressful!) to make.

Here are some photos of our 4th of July festivities earlier in the summer. We came to Utah and spent the 4th with my family, then went to Nate's family reunion at Heber Valley Camp. We had a ton of fun!