Luckiest Mommy in the WORLD!

I am the luckiest mommy in the world! I know I am a week late but I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings after my FIRST Mother's Day! Gavin, from the moment I held you in my arms for the first time, to the day we brought you home from the hospital, to everyday since I have experienced such joy and love as to bring me to tears. My heart swells to almost bursting when I look at you and when you smile that cheesy grin at me. I can literally feel my spirit jump for joy when I see that you are happy. I cry when you hurt. My heart stops when you fall. My heart soars with excitement and joy when you succeed at learning new things. YOU are my most treasured possession. After such darkness and rain, YOU are my SUNSHINE! Gavin, I am truly the luckiest mommy in the world to have you as my son. You have such a sweet spirit. You are so full of life, always moving, always exploring the big world around you. You radiate such joy and purity. Your happy countenance lifts everyone around you. People are drawn to you and can't help smiling! :) Over the past three weeks your loving nature has begun to shine through all that you do. You love to give your blanket and puppy hugs and loves every time you see them. I love it when you wrap your arms around my neck and hug me tightly. I love the way you rest your head on my shoulder for the slightest moment to show your contentment. When you play you crawl over to me every few minutes to rest your head in my lap for a second or give me a hug. These are my most treasured moments and memories! Your daddy and I pray EVERY NIGHT that we can be the best parents for you. We pray every night that you will continue to be the happy little boy you are now and grow healthy and strong. We thank Heavenly Father EVERY NIGHT for your birth mother Ariel and birth father David. They love you so much and want you to have everything life has to offer, but especially to have the gospel and the blessings of the temple in your life. I know without a doubt, almost more than I have ever known anything in my life, that you are my son and that you belong in our family. My greatest joy and calling in this life is to be YOUR MOMMY!

Our First Camping Trip

Mother's Day weekend we packed up the family and went camping for the first time! As many of you know, my family DOES NOT CAMP!! Roughin' it means staying at a Motel 6 so I have absolutely NO camping skills. It's a good thing we went with our good friends the Nieders and the Clarks. We had a great time, despite the cold nights, sitting by the camp fire, hiking down to the creek, visiting the fish hatchery, and playing in the dirt. It took a little convincing from Julie and Treasure but I finally put Gavin on the ground and let him play in the dirt for the first time! It didn't take too long for him to get filthy and take a chunk out of a stick! Gavin LOVED it though! We can't wait for our NEXT camping trip with Jason's family in Yellowstone. So, props to me...although I didn't use Mother Nature as my toilet and my OOPS-I-Forgot list was rather large, I think I held up pretty well outdoors. :) Thanks for an AWESOME trip Nieders and Clarks...when are we going again?

BoYs LoVe FiReTrUcKs

First Birthday Party

Gavin went to his first birthday party on Saturday for Athena, daughter of our friends Ted and Heather from law school. It was at the Phoenix Zoo where they got to pet some cool animals!

Gavin's first taste of cake and ice cream!

Name tag and everything! What a CUTE BOY!

Daddy, Gavin and Josh and the b-day party!

Gavin and the birthday girl, Athena

Happy Birthday Athena!

Touching the turtle

Touching the Ferrat


Mommy and Daddy are SO EMBARRASSING!

Ready to go to our next party at the McLain's to watch the Kentucky Derby! Mom even made carrot cake cupcakes cause horses like carrots! Gavin LOVED them! hehe

Adventures in Walking

Gavin has been trying to walk lately...I know, he's growing up way too fast, little over-achiever...here are a couple of his attempts...or I should say, a couple of our attempts to catch him walking on video!

Travelin' Man

On April 22nd Gavin and I flew out to Houston to spend 5 days with my family. We had a blast!! It was so fun seeing my family interact and play with Gavin now that he is older and his personality is coming out. When I arrived at my parents house though I had to cringe...it was a Gavin Death Trap!!! There were two staircases, millions of electrical outlets (seriously who has that many?!), wires hanging out of the dishwasher, cords on the floor, a fireplace with rocks, and TONS of drawers to pinch fingers! We survived relatively unscathed, I'm glad to report. EGavin loved playing with his uncle Matt, even though that resulted in a few bruises. We were happy to celebrate Sam's 19th birthday with her (I can't even remember the last time I was actually there for her b-day...yikes). Gavin loved his Grandma Niece and Grandpa Jerry! He loved all the songs and toys (not to mention COOKIES) Grandma Niece would give him!! Grandpa Jerry would laugh at him (think Count Dracula from Seseme Street) and Gavin would flash his cheesy grin and laugh! SO STINKIN CUTE!! Thanks Mom and Dad for flying us out there to spend time with you! Love you tons!