Isaac comes home!

We were supposed to move to Norway at the end of July which means we would have missed Isaac coming home by two weeks. But somehow me made it work with Barrett's internship and delayed moving so we could see Isaac. We really wanted to see him and he had never met Lily, so that made it even more sad to miss him coming home. Elder Isaac Yates came home from the Mexico City South, Mexico mission!

Here are some pictures preparing the decorations.

We made this sign for Lily and Barrett was a genius (as usual) and made these perfect handles on the back so she loved holding it... plus the jewels were fun to play with too.

We practiced and practiced that morning so anytime we asked "Who is coming home today?" she would say "Isaac".

Anxiously waiting at the airport.

These next two pictures are my favorite out of all of them. Barrett's parent's first reaction to seeing him walk around the corner.

 Meeting Lily for the first time! She was timid, but at least she went to him and didn't cry :)

Making it home to see the Mexico flag that has been hanging outside for 2 years.

Even though it was only for a few days, we were so happy to be able to spend time with Isaac. We love you!

Celebrating my birthday

When Barrett went to an Ariix convention with his dad he impressed some man with how hard he worked and he told Barrett he would get him a free night's stay in one of the new hotels in Park City. Wahoo! We decided to use it as a get away for my birthday. Barrett's parents stayed with Lily so we could enjoy a night alone (which we haven't done since Lily was born). 

This is a random picture that doesn't quite show how nice the hotel was. It was incredibly nice with our own hot tub on the balcony. We wished we could have used it for more than one night. But I guess this is what I was impressed by, ha ha? They even gave us free cotton balls and Q-tips :)

On my birthday we went shopping and then to the zip line at the Olympic park.

We bought tickets to go to the alpine slide, but it starting pouring while we were in line. Instead, we went to this amazing restaurant we now love called, Shabu Shabu House. It's a Japanese hot pot and Pho house. Mmmmm!

But the best part about the whole trip and my birthday was.... finding out that we're HAVING ANOTHER BABY!! Yay yay yay! My due date is March 6, so we will have a Norwegian baby. We couldn't have been more excited that we could tell our families before we left!

 Is it just us or does anyone else feel weird taking these "We're pregnant" selfies? We always look bad and one time we didn't even get the stick in the picture. Oh well.

This is how we told our families. We kept it really simple this time, and just sent Lily out walking to spread the news. Lily will be a great big sister!

Holidays

On July 3rd we were able to go boating with Barrett's family. Lily loved playing with the sand... as long as she didn't have to sit in it, ha ha.

A slow tube ride with Lily. 

Sophie and her friends.

We spent the 4th of July with my family playing at my parents house. Games, kiddie pool, barbecue, and fireworks. We also found out that my sister Melissa is pregnant and due on Milo's birthday!

 Lily didn't like the pool very much, but all the other kids had fun.

The 24th of July was more laid back. We went to the Cottonwood Heights parade to see Sophie walk with the Brighton High School, SBO's. And then we walked around the festivities for a short time.

Hanging out at my parents house before dinner.

This is the cutest video of Lily, maybe ever!

Watching the Cottonwood Heights city fireworks.

The following Saturday we spent the weekend with Brittney and her family again so we could go to Mendon Days. It was so fun! They do races, animal catches, a big relay race, a parade, baseball games, food, fireworks, etc. We were exhausted when the day was over.

Here is Lily lounging as we wait for the parade to start.

 My brother-in-law, Ryan, owns a lawncare business so he and the kids get to be in the parade every year.

 My sister's family participating in the relay, "The Great Race"

I love summer! And I love holidays! Glad we ended up being in Utah to celebrate both holidays.

My parents' surprise 60th birthday party

When we officially decided we were moving to Norway I realized I was going to be missing both of my parents' 60th birthdays, so I talked my siblings into throwing a really early surprise birthday so we could be a part of it :). I also really wanted to collect 60 memories for each of them and compile them into a book. We then decided we wanted to add pictures throughout their life too. Since I was staying at their house I was able to secretly go through old photos and find the best ones. It was SO much fun looking through old pictures of them! I was almost emotional going back to their early days of dating and marriage and then to see them as new parents. I definitely felt a stronger connection by seeing the them live in the stage of life I am in now. I also emailed their siblings for a few memories each to add to all the memories we have as siblings, in-laws, and grandchildren. Again, it was amazing to hear these fun stories and see what great memories everyone has of my parents. Then Brittney and I got together to compile the final books. They turned out amazing!

I came up with a plan to get my parents to go to the park with our little family to celebrate my birthday. My ultra-planner mom was a little hard to convince with some ideas, but I had a little more bargaining power since it was my birthday :). My siblings were surprised at my ability to easily lie, but that was what was required to make it all work right? Ha ha!

Barrett got some fun pictures of us hiding to wait for them.

Ha ha! Isn't this one great of my grandpa? People were probably wondering who the old guy was sitting uncomfortably close to the garbage cans.

If you're interested, here's the actual surprise. (Ignore my annoying yelling)

Some of the decorations

Opening their books. They loved them! 

We were all very pleased with how it turned out. They were completely surprised (who wouldn't be if your birthday was still 4 months away?) and everything came together well. We love you mom and dad!!