Two!!

Updated belly shot. Rachel's doing great and the pregnancy is going well, we are very blessed and excited to see our new little girl. Only 6-7 weeks left!

Daddy taught Anne this game. I think she just wants to look like Mom (that's a ball in her shirt).

We got to attend one of Zac's old friend's wedding which was a lot of fun.

Anne loves her chocolate.

I've had fun the past couple months crocheting some items for our new niece Brooke. We hope she likes them and knows we love her! :)

Our little BYU girl. She recognizes the BYU "Y" on clothing and wants to give it hugs and kisses. We didn't even teach her that. She's just naturally blue-blooded :)

Some of our harvest. We are so excited to eat our own fresh squash, zuchinni, and tomatoes. Plus it gives me a good excuse to make lots of yummy zuchinni bread.

Anne sporting her cute new outfits from Auntie Dawn! Thank you for all the cute new clothes. She is a very stylish two year old!

Anne is two!!! Isn't that crazy!? I can't believe our little one is getting so grown up. She is one awesome little girl and we are very thankful and blessed to have her in our lives. We love you Anne!

She kind of had a rough birthday though, she started out the day being sick. So she was a little under the weather and cranky for the rest of the day. But that didn't stop her from some yummy chocolate cake!

Poor thing didn't like us singing to her this year.

Things were a little rushed due to a two hour pediatrician visit that was 99% waiting (our poor doctor got wayyy overbooked). So the cake was still warm when I frosted it, making the icing a little runny. But Anne didn't seem to mind.

We had fun celebrating with some family and friends! And as you can see, Anne cheered right up when we started eating and Dad pulled out his phone that played music.

Man, it looks like all this girl eats is sugar, but the sweets just make the best pictures. She actually is a really good eater and eats anything we give her. I think the weirdest things that she has eaten that most kids don't like are eel shushi (don't worry it was cooked), guacamole, and fresh tomatoes. She also eats spicy foods, looooves pasta...the only things she doesn't like are potatoes and lettuce. Anyways, this is Anne eating her first ice cream cone which she thought was ok, but ended up trading Dad for his cherry limeade slushi.

This is Anne's absolute favorite pastime the last couple weeks. She asks to play it every day by carrying out the guitars or controllers and pointing to the XBox. She likes holding the mic and dancing around while we play the guitars or drums.

Our little rocker.

Her other favorite activity. Grandma and Grandpa Russell got her this baby doll stroller since she absolutely loves pushing her own around. But this one is nice cause it's easier to maneuver and she can do it inside. She plays with it for hours every day.

This is what Zac and I gave her for her birthday which we gave her during the middle of the night when she was sick on her birthday early morning to help calm her down. She snuggles with it every night. Very cute.

Out for a walk.

For FHE one night we went and played put put with Anne. It was hilarious. We definitely did not keep score because she kept picking up all our balls and putting them in the holes.

Handsome hubby.

Anne and I had a fun outing one day. My friend Carlie invited me to go with a bunch of ladies in my ward to Thanksgivin Point on their two dollar Tuesdays. I had no idea how huge that place was! We walked around the gardens and ate a picnic lunch and enjoyed these very pretty waterfalls.

Anne and her buddy Timmy.

Me and my sweetie.

They really liked the fountain.

Just some cute videos.

Trip to VA 2010

So I know, we're kind of working through our pictures this summer backwards, but this is Anne and my trip to Virginia from the first week in August while Zac was at scout camp. We were originally just going to stay home, but after thinking about it a while, Anne and I really wanted to take a vacation this summer too. Plus I found some really cheap tickets online, so we decided to go! I forgot to take my camera so these are from Grandma Russell's, thanks Mom!

I have to say that the night before and the flight to Virginia were probably some of the hardest Mom moments I've experienced. Anne got really sick the night before and literally did not sleep more than 15 minutes at a time and when she was not sleeping she was screaming. So I took her to the doctor the next morning and she said Anne did not have an ear infection so we were good to travel. Though I think she developed the flu or something on the way there because she threw up on both flights. So right as I was about to step off the first flight she threw up all over me and herself. So I (and this sweet angel of a woman Priscilla from Brazil who sat next to me on the flight) helped wipe us off with paper towels and found some plastic bags to put Anne's soiled blanket and puppy in. We did not however, have time to change because the Fort Worth airport is crazy and we had to take a shuttle to our terminal. So covered in red throw up Anne and I ran to catch our next flight which was almost done boarding by time we got there. I don't even want to know how many crazy looks we got, but I was just concerned with getting us on that next flight and making sure Anne was ok. She slept for a while on the next flight and very luckily no one was sitting next to us. When she awoke she threw up again and cried until we landed. When I saw my Mom in the baggage claim I had tears in my eyes and was barely holding it together. But we made it! And we ended up having an incredible time visiting with my family in Virginia. It was relaxing and fun and just absolutely perfect. I am so blessed to come from such a wonderful family.

Anne hanging out with Grandpa Russell. She likes Grandpa's computers.

Anne loved all of the Grandma toys my Mom pulled out for her, some of which used to be ours when we were little. Her favorites were this door...opening toy which had little animals that went along with it, and a train that she could pull around the house.
She liked helping Mom and Grandpa make cookies.

It was kind of fun timing that we happened to go out there when one of my brothers that also lives in Utah was also visiting so I got to hang out with all my brothers at once. We had fun playing video games in Loren's high tech room :) I have to say, I'm a fan of Super Mario bros. on Wii.

So from the left to right there's my little brother Gordon, then Loren, then us, then Kenric.

Beautiful Virgnia sky. It was so nice to visit during the summer and be reminded of all the smells and beauty from my childhood.

We went to Uncle Gordon's orchestra concert in which Gordon did great! Anne didn't quite make it through the performance.

We also had very fun camping trip in the forest almost accross the street from where we lived. Anne is such a ham :)

I love this picture of my Dad.

Uncle Loren let Uncle Kenric ride his sweet motorcycle around the forest. I was jealous ;)

We even got to chat online with Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jason who are stationed overseas! It was a lot of fun to talk to them and we are excited to see their new little one who should be arriving any day!

Anne liked Grandma's shawl.

We took a trip to the library where Anne did what she does best.

Anne absolutely loved Grandma's super soft fuzzy blanket. She is definitely a sucker for anything soft and says "niiiiice" while she snuggles with it.

Anne loved the food and Grandma and Grandpa's!

Holy messes but you can see how much she eats: a cup of milk, an entire yogurt, an entire bowl of raviolis and I think there is some pear thrown in there.

We also got to go swimming at the lake which of course Anne loved. She liked the fact that this water had fishies in it, unlike the one back home.

Anne's learning to kick when I hold her like this. She even puts her face in the water every now and then and thinks it's funny, so that's a good start.

Having fun with Uncle Gordon.

Dancing.

Going for walks was a little different in VA. It was like a sauna! I was very glad to feel the nice dryness when I got back to Utah :)

Anne loved hanging out with Grandma and they got to be pals by the end of the trip. She got sad when Grandma wasn't with us while we were shopping and would give her kisses. She even hung out with her for a bit while I packed, which for Anne is saying a lot.