Rian's Favorite Pastime

Like her mommy, Rian loves to talk on the phone. She also loves to play with her baby. So my car was in the shop and I took out Rian's car seat and had it in our foyer. I kept catching her climbing in it and just sitting there. So I brought it into the family room. A few minutes later, this is how I find her. How cute is she?!?

Logan's 3rd Birthday Party

Our nephew, Logan, turned 3 in May, but didn't have his birthday party until recently. We had a great time, but I only had my camera out the first five minutes. It was 108 degrees and it was outside at the park. I snapped these cute shots of Rian and Aurora on the astrojump before I put my camera away. Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots of the birthday boy :(

The Time Has Come....

for us to say good-bye. I drove Matt to the airport this morning at 5:45. I just hate good-byes. I've started a countdown on the blog and we are all hoping that this time will go by quickly. We all knew when Matt joined the Navy that he would have to be away from us at times, but I am so proud of his decision to serve our country and protect our freedom. This is an exciting time for him and I know that he will do so well at OCS. My sister bought some recordable picture frames for Rian while Matt is gone, so she can hear his voice everyday. We will miss him so much.

Last Week with Daddy

This was Matt's last week here, so we decided to spend the time as a family, enjoying one another, and the beautiful city we live in!

On Monday, we decided to have a picnic at La Jolla Cove. We picked up some sandwiches, laid down a blanket, and enjoyed the sun and ocean! We played some frisbee and chased Rian around on the grass. It was the best day ever!!!

On Tuesday, we headed to Sea World for the day. They just opened up Sesame Play so we met some characters, which Rian did not enjoy, and rode on some new rides, which she did enjoy! Then we saw the Sesame Street 4-D show. Rian really liked it, even though she did not want to wear her glasses.

On Wednesday, we hung out at home and played some 'Rock Band'. If you haven't tried playing it yet, you should try, it's tons of fun! Then we enjoyed one last date night while Grandma Lois babysat. We ate at Benihana which was our always our restaurant of choice while we were dating, so that was a lot fun!

On Thursday, we had our niece and nephew, Aurora and Logan, over to swim. It was such a hot day, so the water was perfect. Rian even showed her cousins some of her tricks she learned at her swim lessons! And Rian went down half the waterslide for the first time! We were so proud of her!

On Friday, Matt packed in the morning. Then we just spend the day playing together and trying to stay cool in the 100 degree weather. We ended the night with a nice mexican dinner (Matt's choice of course) with my parents and Matt's dad (his mom was working). Then we came back home and Matt played with Rian a little more before he had to say good-bye to her and put her to bed.

It was such a fun week and we were so lucky to have the time to spend it as a family.

1, 2, 3, GO!

Rian loves to play "1, 2, 3"! Here's a little video for your enjoyment :)

Happy Father's Day

Matt is such an amazing father! Rian LOVES spending time with her Daddy reading books, going to the park (especially the swings), dancing and singing, blowing bubbles, swimming, or just hanging out! She is always imitating everything he does and when they stretch together or do push-ups, it's so cute to watch! I am so lucky to be married to this man.

This Father's Day is most special to us today because Matt is leaving on Saturday for 12 weeks to OCS (Officer Candidate School). He has a 4 year commitment to the Navy and his first duty station is unaccompanied training in Rhode Island. Rian and I won't see him again until September 12th. We are so sad to see him go and will be counting down the days until he returns. But at the same time, we are so incredibly proud of him! We love you Daddy!!!

It's been so fun to watch Rian's relationship grow with her grandparents now that we are living back in San Diego. My Dad always read the books 'Make Way For Ducklings', 'Horton Hatches an Egg', and 'Horton Hears a Who' to me when I was a little girl. Those were my favorite books and I remember sitting on his lap from a very young age and spending that special time together. Now that we are living with my parents, he has those same books next to his chair and reads them to Rian everyday. It melts my heart watching it. Rian loves her "Ducky" and "El-phant" books, especially when her Pa-pa is reading them to her. We love you Pa-pa Fred! Thanks for everything you do for us! Happy Father's Day!

I love this picture of Rian and Matt's dad, Dave. Rian really bonded with the Matt's parents when she stayed with them for a week in May and we went on our cruise. Dave is always helping to entertain Rian during Sacrament meeting. He loves to play with her when we come over and color with her....like in this picture! Thanks for everything you do for us Dave! We love you Pa-pa Dave! Happy Father's Day!

Congrats Chris and Lauren!

To The Bride and Groom!

Chris is such a fun guy and Lauren is just the sweetest girl!

Thanks to Grandma Wendy for watching Rian while we enjoyed the wedding!

Day 1 of Cruise - San Diego

Our friends, Eric and Andrea and Zac and Britni invited us on a cruise to celebrate their graduation and have one more blast together before we moved away. I think we said good-bye (for now) with a bang!!!

Caution - These next few posts are long, but what do you expect? We went on a cruise!

We did a little shopping when we first arrived on the ship. I really liked these glasses even though some thought that I looked like a bug.

I know it's silly for us to go on a cruise that stops in the town that we are living in, but it was a lot of fun to play hosts for the day. Matt's mom let us borrow her SUV for the day, so we were able to see so much. We started the day at Balboa Park.

At Balboa Park we first headed to the botanical gardens.....

then to the Rubuen H Fleet Science Center to play a little. We were very proud of ourselves for building this arch without it breaking. Then we headed to Mt. Soledad. The second picture is the view from on top of the mountain. Can you find the temple???

Here we are at La Jolla Shores. I love this place :)

Day 2 of Cruise - Catalina Island

This was by far the best day of our cruise. Both Matt and I have never been to Catalina Island, so it was fun to experience it together. We started the day by renting a golf cart with Eric and Andrea so we could see all the beautiful views. Then we decided to go snorkling in the freezing cold water. But luckily they had wetsuits for us, so it wasn't too bad. In fact, it was tons of fun. Then we headed back to the ship to enjoy the beautiful weather poolside.

Day 2 of Cruise - Midnight Chocolate Buffet

We stayed up late the second night to enjoy the infamous Midnight Chocolate Buffet. The desserts weren't all that great, but the decor was AMAZING. Hopefully you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. There were tons of chocolate carvings and 'flower' arrangements made of only vegetables. Talk about talent!

Day 3 of Cruise - Ensenada

We did a little shopping on the morning of day three in Ensenada and found a really cute dress for Rian. (I'll post a picture of her in it the next time she wears it). But we didn't take any pictures while in Mexico. So the pictures of the day are from the time we spent back on the ship after shopping.

We wanted to try out the rockwall on the ship. As you can see in the first picture, I was way too excited to try this. And check out those calf muscles in the second pic :)

And there I am.....at the top!!!

Matt hopped on so dang fast, I couldn't get a picture until he was already up the wall a few feet. I swear he made it up there in under 13 seconds. I'm talking way fast!

Day 3 of Cruise - Dinner

During dinner on our last night, they had a little dance party. And am I sure glad I remembered my camera :) I got some pretty good shots of everyone dancing!!!

Eric had such great moves!

Zac and Britni getting into it!

Matt even flattered me and did the Macarena. And as some of you might know, Matt does NOT dance, so he might kill me for posting this, but I had to anyways!

Here we are with our waitress and waiter, Maria and Rusbel. They are from Peru. They served us every night, so we thought it was appropriate to get a picture with them.

I guess I should also add that later that night we headed over to "Finish That Lyric" Trivia and almost won first place. That is only after we already won the "Classic Rock - Name That Tune" Trivia the night before! We all received a Royal Caribbean photo album that we should mostly thank Zac for....man that boy knows his classic rock!!!

And we want to give a BIG thanks to Matt's mom and dad and sister, Lauren, for watching Rian all week while we were cruising. We missed her tons, but it was also nice to have some 'alone time'.....if you catch my drift :)