6 years!

Happy Anniversary to my best friend! We have been married now for 6 yrs, and can't believe where the time has gone. 6 reasons why I love you:

1. You ALWAYS make me laugh. Yes, sometimes it is annoying, but I still end up laughing.

2. You are an amazing dad to Zoe. I love the comments I get from others that notice as well.

3. You have a really good heart.

4. Your smile, your eyes, and your long eyelashes! Zoe got all of these from you.

5. How devoted you are to our family.

6. You love your dogs, even when they smell and are being naughty.

There are so many more reasons why I love you, thanks so much for loving me back.

Family Pictures

It has been over 1 yr since we last had a family photo, man has that time flown by. We decided to just go out with the tripod, and no I don't mean my three-legged dog, and snap a few ourselves! We had many that did not turn out, trying to arrange two dogs, a toddler, the timer on the camera, blah, blah, blah, but a few that did. Here are my fav's.

I really, really wish Zoe was opening her eyes in this one!

A few extras of this girl just for fun.

Lately

My mom told me I need to update my blog...here you go mom! (I know, I am a bad blogger)

Before summer was over we were able to do 2 more trips down the Green, one of which was the very first time we left Zoe for a night! I missed her so much, but loved being able to sit and relax! We went with our good friends Alli and Dan, and Tyler's dad and friend Chad (the nicest guy). I think he may have thought I knew more about fishing than I do. The first day when Ty was doing the shuttle, he kept asking me about different flies, and what I should tie on, haha! We had planned to keep 2 or so fish the second day to eat for dinner, thank goodness for the monster fish Al caught! Tyler would catch fish and then just throw them back, or they would  "slip" out of his hands and get away. He can't bop them on the head...but neither can I, so once I caught one, luckily we were close to Al's boat so that he could do the dirty work. They were yummy! We also enjoyed playing a killer game of Boche at one of our camps. By far the best game to play on the river. I was in the lead, and then Tyler kept telling everyone to not let me win, knock my balls out of the way, or whatever. Then who would you think snuck right through with the win?? Ah, yes, Tyler!! I can't believe Alli and Dan fell for that! Haha. We had a few good swims, which felt so nice, and a really good time just talking with each other while we floated. By the third day though, I was done a ready to go see my baby.

 Fish Fry!

 Ok, so Al may have brought back up ribs in case the fish meal didn't pan out, but the second biggest one on there is Al's fish, he was huge!

The other time we went with most of the Finch clan. Milo and Zoe got to float together this time, which was so fun to watch them interact. They played in the sand on the beaches, Zoe would follow Milo around like his little shadow. Milo was such a help when he was with us on the boat, making sure Zoe had plenty of toys, snacks, and whatever. She did a lot better this time with her life jacket. They even made a fort under the table in the trailer.

 On our way to the river!

 At one place we stopped to wait for the other boat and noticed this little guy with a few others! They looked like they had been there a while, but we had never noticed them before.

 Dad teaching Zoe how to play fetch with the dogs.

So sad to see summer go, but really enjoying the weather right now. Perfect to be outside, and not sweat to death. Zoe would live outside if we let her. Normally she just comes to me, wants me to pick her up, then points to the door. She will now just point and say "side" I am pretty sure her cousin Cambri taught her this. Zoe's words are pretty hard to understand unless you are with her a lot, I can usually make it out. I love when Cambri and Zoe get together, because Cambri's words are more clear, and she will say  "Zoe!" in the cutest way.

Zoe is almost 18 months, and I am loving her personality so much. She is such a good helper around the house. She loves to do laundry, wiping anything with her wipes, using the mop, and she is really good at helping to clean up her toys, even in the bath! She turns the back side of the bathtub into a slide, and loves to make big splashes. She loves books, animals, and shakin her booty to music. I snagged up a little slide at a garage sale for $5, it is so fun to watch her climb up, say "Hi," then slide down with a little plop at the end onto the grass. She is eating a lot better too, now that she can kind of feed herself with a spoon, but she likes the fork the best. Not that she was ever a bad eater, just now will eat a better variety, instead of just cereal, applesauce, cheese, and crackers.

Tyler has also been very busy working on finishing the basement, getting a good start on the backyard, and hunting season is here. We were hoping to just have grass in by this fall, and worry about the rest in the spring, but we will see. We wanted to seed the backyard, and that takes like 4-6 wks to come in, we just worry about this crazy Utah weather! Pictures to come of both these projects, that is another thing I am bad at, taking pics, aaahh!

Green River

Another one of our favorite weekend getaways is floating the Green River. It flows out of Flaming Gorge, and is beautiful. This was our first time taking Zoe and she had a blast. Zoe loves the water and had so much fun splashing around. She would want to just walk out farther and farther in the water, and didn't like that I was holding her back.

On Friday when we got there, Tyler and his parents, brother Cody, and nephew Milo were just getting off the river. We hung out and played at camp, went to the lake to fish a bit, and had some yummy river ribs. Milo was so fun and cute with Zoe. He was making sure that she had toys to play with, and even gave her his "girly" toy he got from a happy meal or something.

When we went to get on the river Saturday, Zoe was not thrilled with the whole life jacket idea. She has always been a little claustrophobic since she was a baby, never wanting to be swaddled or cuddled too tight, always likes her space. So she really put up a fight. We decided to just stick her in her car seat, and she did a lot better. That way we were able to keep her shaded, and she napped well too, I was completely shocked at this. Now that she is walking and getting around so well, she is not a big fan of the car seat, but did really well on the river. We would show her some of the fish we got, and she would just ooohh at them.

We did this 2 days in a row and she had fun both days. On our way home for the last 30 min or so she was done. Really wanted out. Thank goodness Mike rode with me and he was able to entertain her and get her snacks. Once we dropped Mike off, she was really not having fun, so for the next 20 min until we got home, we played the "What does the ____ say" entering and animal and then saying the noise. I probably repeated each animal I could think of a dozen times, but it kept her entertained for the last little bit, what a good little sport!

 This was really cool, never seen a deer cross the river before!

Art City Days Parade

I used to think parades were sooo boring! Just another thing that becomes fun once you have a kid. We had so much fun, Zoe's favorite was the cops on the motorcycles making lots of noises, and the horses.

Feeding the Ducks, Zoe walking??

There is a duck pond in Springville that we have been excited to take Zoe to. When we got there, there were just a few ducks around, but it only took a few minutes for them all to figure out we had bread. I am pretty sure this is a popular place because they all came swarming, ducks, geese, and even a few pelicans. I am not gonna lie, I was honestly a bit nervous with them all surrounding us, but it was really fun and Zoe loved it. We handed her a few pieces of bread, but she didn't throw it to the ducks, she wanted to just eat it herself. It will be fun when she gets the hang of what to do.

On another note, Zoe is finally starting to take some steps! It has been so fun watching her develop and learn new things at her own pace. For the past 6 weeks or so, she has been so comfortable cruising around just barely hanging on to one of my pinkies. We kept thinking she would just take off and go any day, but with her cautious personality, we knew it would happen only when she was well and ready. So on Monday night, she was on the one side of the couch and I saw her little head pop up. Then she sat back down, and popped back up a few times, and then just walked over to the window! I didn't say anything yet, she didn't know I was watching, so I wanted to continue to see what she did. Sure enough, next she went from the window to the couch. Then she saw me so we clapped and had a little celebration! Since then it has been funny, because she will go off by herself or facing away from us to "practice" I guess (of course we are secretly watching). She will get up, take a few steps, fall, have a little frustration tantrum, and then get up and try again. Tyler says she wants to get good and confident before she just comes out and does it knowing we are watching, haha!

We have been so lucky to have this little girl in our lives, she has taught me so much already. Mostly being more patient! I am kind of a freak and a perfectionist with many things, and she has brought out being more laid back in myself. If the house isn't perfect, so what, if I have spit up or slobber on me, it is not the end of the world, if she won't keep a headband on so people don't call her a he, who cares! One of the things I feared about being a working mom, was missing out on big firsts that happen especially in the first year. I have been so blessed to be with her when she accomplished many of her firsts, and grateful for those experiences.