Lessons in the wind

So it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I was actually in different neighborhood after dropping off a friend somewhere.  So I decided to check out this new side of town.  Sky was a little gray, but didn't look too bad.  So we parked and I got the stroller out and off we went.  It was the single stroller with the car seat adapter, so I could just snap the girl right in. And Nate was walking next to me.  We crossed the street and went straight for the fountain.  Nate wanted to get in the fountain, of course, so I put the little brakes on the stroller and went over to help him touch the water instead of immerse himself in the fountain.  Well, in about 3 seconds it started to sprinkle rain, then POUR, then the craziest wind came out of nowhere.  It seriously surprised everyone at this shopping plaza area.  There were people eating at restaurants on the patio, kids playing by the fountain, people walking their dogs, the usually park scene.  Well this random storm surprised us all.  Well, I was probably 5-10 feet away from Aubrey in the stroller, no big deal normally, right?  Well, the wind blew her over!!!  The stroller toppled to the ground from the wind and rain that came with ZERO notice.  So of course I freak out and run over to her.  A man and his wife who were eating at the restaurant right there ran over as well and helped keep Nate close to me while I got Aubrey out.

Well, she was perfectly fine. It scared her, but she was strapped into her car seat and stopped crying the moment I picked her up.  I think it did more damage to me than her, I was a bit shaken by the thought of Aubrey blowing in the wind and crashing on the concrete. The nice man pushed the stroller and the lady picked up Nate and we ran through the rain to the restaurant.  The restaurant was so nice and actually gave me a table to sit at until the rain died down (which was only 5 minutes later...silly rainstorms!) So it was kind of crazy.  But here are my lessons learned, or should I say relearned for the billionth time :):

1.  Listen to the spirit!
     Seems to be a lesson we learn everyday!  Sometimes we learn that lesson because we didn't act on a prompting and then we find out later why we needed to.  And sometimes we learn that lesson because we DID act on it and later we are very grateful we did. Thank heaven this time it was the latter :)  When I put Aubrey in her seat I noticed it looked a little loose, so I tightened it.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but I like to think it was the spirit and that she was safer in her little windy adventure because her buckle was tight :)

2.  Always buckle your baby.  I don't want to sound like a Public Health extremist (which I should be since I did study it at college...) but seriously, I am so glad she was buckled in!

3.  People are good.  Every time I've been in need of help and was only surrounded by strangers, they always have stepped in to help me.  I love that.

My cute babies

For our family who doesn't get to see these kids every day.  We can't wait to see you guys! But for now, pictures to get you excited :)

He's a goof

And a handsome kids

Nate loves leading the music at FHE.  He's seriously really into it.

Most content baby ever

These two melt my heart

My little cheese ball.  I love him.

Sleeping babies are so dang cute

I'm in love those little socks :)

He's a good sport

She wasn't that into the swimming pool.  She loves it now though :)

My amazing sleeper.  She sleeps 10-12 hours straight every night.

My other amazing sleeper...

These two adore their dad and he adores them

He loves the shower

I love snuggle time

Cute cousins!

Check her out!  Head up and all!

I love these kids.  We are blessed to have them in our family!

Patriotic Festivities!

I have always LOVED the 4th of July.  And this year did not disappoint :)  We started the day off with a ward breakfast.  It was nice and relaxed and fun to see everyone in their Red White and Blue. 

Later that day Steve got some good playing time in with the kids while I went on a jog in the blazing heat with my friend Holly.  We're doing a 5K mud obstacle course in a few weeks so we gotta get ready!

Then Steve and I watched Mulan while we "cleaned the house" at least that was our plan.  Haha, we all say we'll do that, but who are we kidding?  The show sucked us in!  I love that movie!  And what's more patriotic than a woman saving her country and honoring her family?

We then headed to our friends' house for a barbecue.  Kelsey and I threw it together last minute and it turned out wonderful.  She's quite the talented party thrower. 

Here are all the kiddies.  They are cute, aren't they?

We headed to fireworks at the High School when it was time and miraculously found a really good spot.  The whole field was crammed with people and we found this nice little corner spot.  The firework show was incredible.  I was not expecting that great of a show, but it was awesome and lasted a long time.  

Nate did not like that fireworks at all.  Poor kid cried and covered his eyes the whole time.  I thought he'd love them, but I guess it was a little too much for a little boy staying up way past bed time.  Aubrey watched the fireworks and even seemed to enjoy it. We had a good time, aside from Nate's misery.

Nice pants, right?  Well, there's a story to them.  I made them in high school with a friend.  We made them for when we went to EFY during the week of the fourth.  Matching USA pants, we thought we were so cool :) Well I have worn them almost every year since (it was like 10 years ago I think).  I've missed a few years, but it's my little dorky tradition that I like.  I love my USA pants :)

Virginia Beach

So we have these awesome friends, the Frischknechts, and they are really cool people.  Jake and Steve had all of their classes together their first year of law school.  Sierra and I hit it off as friends, so we're a pretty compatible couple-couple :)  Except that Jake is a Ute and we are Cougars...that's okay since Sierra went to BYU too.  

Anyways, we talked about going on a weekend trip and we put it on the calendar and actually did it! That's a big deal for us.  We always talk about doing things and sometimes it's just hard to actually make it happen.  Well, this time it worked!  So we left Friday right after work and drove down to Virginia Beach.  The next morning we met up with Jake and Sierra and ate breakfast and headed to the beach.  It was conveniently a block away from our hotel.  We had been worried because the forecast said rainy all day long.  But it wasn't too bad.  It rained a bit here and there, but worked out.  We were able to get some good beach time in and some good indoor relaxing time.  Steve and I enjoyed the Disney Channel (why I have always loved those cheesy disney channel movies, I don't know...I just do.)  We also had some salt water taffy (which i think is a must at the beach!)  And we enjoyed the swimming pool while the kids napped in the strollers on the side. It was a fun trip and we're glad we did it!

Nate loves kicking balls, I think we have a soccer player on our hands.  He didn't love the water, but he LOVED kicking the beach ball up and down the beach.

Not the cutest picture of me...but the waves were awesome and we did some pretty awesome body surfing.   How anyone wears a bikini and keeps it on while body surfing is beyond me. 

They are cute, right?

And how 'bout us?

Jake got Nate to keep his hat on!!!  

Relaxing on the beach!

I thought this picture was cool because Steve looks like a little boy, but also look at that man's running form in the back, he almost looks fake.

We had a great time and I would definitely go back.  3 hours isn't too bad a drive for the PERFECT beach!

Steve's Summer Associate job

Steve has only 3 weeks left of his job as a summer associate at Sterne Kessler Goldstein and Fox.  He has loved it and has learned a lot.  The firm has treated him well and given him some fun assignments.

Here's his desk :)  Pretty official looking right? I failed in getting him pictures of our family to put up.  Next year I guess.

  I got to meet lots of his coworkers at a couple of activities they put on and I like the people he works with.  The firm took us to a Nationals game, which was fun.  We've been wanting to go for a while, so it was perfect.  And to add to the perfectness, the Nats did win :)

If you can't tell, it was hot and humid, hence my shiny face 

The firm also took us on the Boomerang party yacht.  Sounds pretty cool right? We floated up and down the Potomac and the weather was great.  There was amazing food on the boat.  I think Steve and I probably ate the most since we weren't drinking the alcohol.  So while they were sipping their beverages, we were chowing on kabobs and shrimp.  Sadly I don't have a picture from that night.  But it was great.  

So anyways, 3 weeks left and then we're off to Arizona.  Steve will be working with Booth Udall Fuller again.  He's excited to work with that firm again even if it is for only 4 weeks.  He really enjoyed it last year and now he has even more education and experience so hopefully he can bring something to the firm.  So we'll see what happens at the end of the summer.  Who will give us an offer and where we will choose.  As of now, I choose not to think about it.  I hate making decisions!  Even choosing what flavor of ice cream to eat stresses me out!