Pack It All In

My little brother was leaving on his mission to Knoxville, Tennessee so I decided to head to Utah for a visit with the kids.  And it just so happened that my brother going into the MTC coincided with many other events including my 10 year high school reunion, my birthday, and Alpine Days.  It was a packed week!

We stayed the first couple of days at my Uncle Ryan and Aunt Shanda's house.  We love them so much!  And the kids loved their cat Aurora. My sister and I got in some good girl time shopping because I needed something to wear to my reunion.  We also went to a little day event for my high school reunion at a splash park followed by some snow cones.

Evy and Nate's first snow cone 

Honestly, I wouldn't have trekked out to Utah just for my high school reunion.  But since I was in town, it was nice to go and see my girl friends from high school.  Love these ladies!

We had to squeeze in an afternoon at the cabin.  The kids loved the ranger rides and romping in the woods.

One bonus of seeing my family is getting haircuts from Grandma.  Evy had her first haircut and we had to play beauty parlor with some hair curlers.

We had Byron's setting apart as a missionary. I'm so proud of his decision to serve!

We went down to Provo for one last family lunch and to drop Byron off at the MTC.  While we were down there, we stopped by the Provo City Center Temple since I hadn't seen it yet.  Byron was so anxious at lunch to just get to the MTC he had a hard time eating.  We stopped for some pictures and hugs at the Provo Temple before dropping him off at the curb of the MTC.  We are sure going to miss Uncle Byron, but we know he's going to be the best missionary!

The next day, Missy Evy was not feeling so hot.  Luckily, my sister-in-law/out-of-town pediatrician saved the day by checking out Evy.  Seriously, Alissa is amazing!  Evy had hand, foot, and mouth disease so she had to stay home for the days festivities.  Nate and I drove to Farmington to see Grandma Packer.  We sure love her!  After that we hung out with cousins.   It was so nice to see my cute cute nieces!  We were sad Evy couldn't come with us, but she had loads of fun with Grandma all to herself.  And Grandma needed a little buddy.  Both of my sisters were working that day and we'd just dropped of Byron the day before.  Evy kept asking, "Uncle Byron, where are you?"

Sarah and Nate trying to spray each other

I got to celebrate my birthday while I was in Utah.  My mom took me shopping and we went out for dinner as a family. And following dinner, my girl friends from high school got together for some more time to chat.  As far as birthdays go, it was pretty great.

One of the best things about my birthday growing up was Alpine Days was the same week.  I have so many great memories of the parade and fair I was excited to share it with my kids. Aaron and Kendra came up so we were able to have the grandkiddies play together for a little bit. Alpine Days has grown a lot since when I was little, but it's still a lot of fun. We enjoyed walking around and seeing so many people I knew from growing up in Alpine.

Some much fun in just one week!  Seeing all these pictures makes me want to do it all over again.  I'll have to remember that when I'm starting out on my next 8 hour road trip to Utah with 2 monkeys in the back.

Fossil Creek Reservoir

Evelyn at 18 Months

- Evy loves her stuffed animals.  She takes a load of them to bed with her. And she'll ask for a different one to snuggle each night. She's also very attached to her blankie.
- If I need to keep Evy entertained for a while I'll give her a sheet of stickers.  She loves them!
- Favorite word: no.  Of course.
- Bathtime is still her favorite time of day.
- Evy is becoming such a daddies girl. She loves running to find daddy and welcome him home.  She'll ask throughout the day, "Daddy, where are you?"

- She is a trouble maker!  She us always climbing on things, making messes, and putting things in her mouth!
- Her 18 month visit was delayed due to our move, but here are her 19 month stats: 32.5 inches (58th percentile) and 23 lbs (48th percentile.)

- Evy is always eating!  She is always wanting some little snack or hanging on the refrigerator door to try and get in.
- Such a little smarty pants.

- Evy is definitly a little water baby.  Loves, loves, loves it.
- She wants to read a million books at bedtime.

- She loves her big brother.  She usually wakes up and asks for Nate Nate.
- Loves brushing her teeth.

- Evy loves to be outside.  She loves playing in the backyard, at the playground, or just going for a walk.
- She loves to see the school bus.  She waves and grins as it pulls up.  And then she shouts for her Nate Nate.

- Such a good little helper.  She's getting the hang of cleaning up. And she desperately wants to help me with the dishwasher.
- Evy's learned to throw a pretty good tantrum.

- I love it when she sings.  She knows Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABCs, Child of God, Twinkle Star, and You Are My Sunshine.
- Loves to look for bunnies in the backyard.

- She's been getting into dancing.  It's too cute!
- Before we leave her room and sometimes before she goes to sleep, Evy will ask for a hair bow to be put in her hair. What a little cutie!

- Her favorite game has got to be peekaboo.  She plays it all of the time.  Even with strangers at the grocery store.
- She started nursery and she loves it.  Her first day she ran right in and didn't even look back to wave bye to mom and dad.

- So many hugs and kisses.  I love it when she'll spontaneously come over and give me a hug.
- Evy has such a cute little personality.  So happy and smiley and sweet and full of adventure and lots of trouble!  I wouldn't trade her for anything.