Our Birthdays

Gabe's Birthday was the 13th and mine was the 18th of this month.  He turned 27 this year and I turned 23.  It's funny because he was my age when we got married and I used to tease him about how old he was and now I don't feel old at all.  I guess that's what happens when time flies. ;) 

For Gabe's birthday I made him a cake, that was a slight disaster by the way which is why it's not shown in detail in the pictures. :)  I didn't have enough candles either, but Gabe was fine with me using two candles for the 2 and seven candles for the 7.

You think he would be able to blow them all out since there weren't 27 of them.

But he had a hard time getting that last one out.  I won't tell how many tries he needed. ;)

Of course when it was time for him to open his presents Preston thought they were for him.

Especially when Gabe opened his Boeing 787 lego airplane.  Bentley wasn't quite as excited about it as they were.

A few days later on my birthday Preston helped me open my presents too of course.  He probably uses them as much as me.  He loves "the basketball show" aka "High School Musical" and "the baseball show," "High School Musical 2."

I also got a screwdriver because I'm always needing to open toys to put new batteries in.  Preston loved playing with that too.

Gabe bought pink wrapping paper just for me because I'm the only girl in the house.  He's just thoughtful like that.

He also helped me light my candles.

My mom made this YUMMY raspberry cheesecake for me.  My favorite!

Tyler, Mara, and Ashton, but Mostly Ashton

Here's my brother Tyler with his beautiful wife Mara and their baby boy Ashton.  While I was in Utah they asked if I could take some family pictures of them after church.  We seriously only took pictures for about 10 minutes, but I think some of them turned out pretty good.  It helps when you have nice looking people to photograph!  Anyway, I've decided to start a photography blog as a place for me to post pictures I take of other people besides my own immediate family.  Check it at apieceofyourpuzzle.blogspot.com.  You can also access it from my sidebar.  Hope you enjoy!

Here is just a sneak peak of what you'll be missing if you don't stop by. ;)

Oh, and of course some snapshots of the adorable Ashton.

He was so alert when he was awake.

Look at how small his head is compared to her hand!

He has a slight resemblance to Gordon B. Hinckley in this one don't you think?

Sweet little profile.

He always slept with his hand up by his face.  So cute!

Best Friends from Birth

On the last day we were in Utah Ashton and Carter layed next to each other (awake) for the first time.

At first they didn't know what to think

Then Ashton decided he really liked Carter.  Let me point out that he's only 3 weeks old in this picture, that's pretty young for a baby to be smiling.

They held hands

and cooed at each other

Then Carter decided to punch Ashton in the face

He's lucky Ashton is forgiving. :)

He decided just to snuggle in closer so they could link arms.

Isn't that just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

New Temple

I'm telling you, we had our impromptu trip to Utah at just the right time.  While we were there the open house for Utah's newest temple, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (don't ask me how to pronounce it), was going on, and my parents just happened to be planning on going the last weekend we were there.  Before a temple is dedicated they have open houses like this so that anyone can go inside and see what the new temple looks like.  I was really excited for Preston to be able to go inside.  His favorite song is "I Love to See the Temple," I have to sing it for him every night before he goes to bed.  Just like I thought he loved seeing the temple, and even showed a pretty good amount of reverence (for a 2 year old) while walking through it. 

Here is the temple as we saw it from the freeway, it was up on a big hill, hence the name.

Right before we got there we stopped to meet my cousin Megan on the side of the road, she had something for my mom to pick up from her.  She was on her way to help someone paint their house.  I wish I looked that cute when I was going to be painting all day!

Once we got there we parked in a gravel lot a little ways away from the temple.  Here's everyone waiting to get picked up by a little golf cart.

Preston was glad to have Grandpa there with him, and I was glad to have him there to help carry him.

 

My dad pointed the temple out to him in the distance.

We had a pretty good view from the parking lot.

After walking through the temple we went to a tent outside that had cookies and water bottles for everyone (it was really hot!), Preston really liked that part.

Then we got out and he got to see how big the temple was up close.

After walking around the grounds a little bit we decided to head back and had to spend a little bit more time waiting for a golf cart.  We could have walked, but I'm not sure I would have made it after walking up and down all those stairs in the temple.  Hey, I did just have a baby three weeks before this.

Bryant enjoyed waiting for the golf cart too.  He didn't want to look at the camera because candids make for a more interesting picture according to him... I think I agree. :)

The inside of the temple was absolutely beautiful of course.  I always love looking at the different artwork they have hanging on the walls and how they set things up.  I hope that one day I'll be able to go back there, with Gabe maybe. :)

Babies and Grandparents

Here are some of the pictures of my parents with their little grandbabies.  They were all so cute together!

My mom and Ashton.

My dad and Ashton.

My mom with Carter.

My dad making Carter smile.  He started smiling right at 4 weeks while we were there.

My mom enjoyed helping out with the babies.  Carter looks like he doesn't know what to think.

Of course she wanted to let us know she could take care of both of them at once... she did a pretty good job.

My dad liked holding both boys at once too.

My mom came outside to show off the babies while we were starting fireworks.  She so should have had twins. :)

Another one of my mom with Carter, just because I like it.  He looks so sleepy and relaxed.

The Bean Museum

One day we decided to venture down to BYU to visit where I used to work when I was a student, the EFY office.  My brother Tyler and his wife Mara used to work there too so we all thought we'd pay them a visit and show off our little ones.  Mara and I were both receptionists (at different times) and Tyler was in charge of organizing sessions.  Yea, I was the one on the phone if you called to register your child, trust me there are a lot of moms out there who don't know how to use the internet. :)  I didn't get an actual picture in the office, but I got one of everyone hanging outside in the shade waiting for us.  It was a nice visit though, and even though I don't know a lot of the people who work there anymore I did get a cd from this years session.  Shhh... don't tell.

My Grandma was very excited she got to hold Carter for a while when we were waiting for Tyler and Mara.

Of course we had to get a four generation picture on my mom's side.

After our short visit at the office we went over to the Bean Museum on Campus.  It's a natural history museum, and oddly enough the first place I ever voted.  That's right I voted for the President of the United States surrounded by dead animals.  My dad took his turn showing Preston around.

He was also willing to carry my bag because I had Carter in the bjorn.  I think he was also holding him right before I put him in, hence the burp cloth on his shoulder.  This picture cracks me up because my dad always refused to carry my mom's purse because he doesn't want to look girly.

My mom held little Ashton for a while...

until his mommy had to feed him.  I love the elephant behind her head.  Yes, it's a real stuffed elephant.

Then, my mom took her turn taking Preston around.

He really liked the lion

and especially the ducks

but he wasn't so sure about the bears.  I think it scared him just a little bit.

Last, but definately not least, I had to showcase a picture of my brother Bryant with the famous Liger they have there.  She used to be in the Hogle zoo.  It's pretty much my favorite animal. :)