My Ward Baby Shower

Saturday, July 24th was the day, Sarah's house was the place, 10:00am was the time, and ABSOLUTELY AMAZING was the event! My friends threw me the best Baby Shower ever! I am so grateful for everyone who planned, helped, and came to celebrate this exciting day with me - thanks for making it one for the record books!

My incredible friends that spoiled me rotten! I am the luckiest girl alive to have such great friends - thanks for making my shower the BEST ever! I love you, girls! ;)
It's not a party without food! Not only did it all look great, it tasted great, too! Sarah made the diaper-cake. Officially the cutest diaper-cake known to man - it was a hit and will be on display in my house for awhile if you want to stop by and see it (until we need to break it apart and actually use it, of course!).

Shalon was in charge of decorations and she went all out - it looked fantastic! She made this adorable mobile and the cute "It's a Girl" thing in the background. There were cute little tissue puff-balls hanging throughout the house, too. Wow! Great job, Shalon!

Some of my awesome friends.

Jaime and Callie were both there to share the fun - how cool to have two of my best friends from High School in town for the big event, too.

Some of the guests awaiting the cutest Baby Shower Game ever! Cindy videotaped Brad doing various baby chores (changing clothes, strapping into a car seat, etc.) on her newborn baby. She timed him and we had to guess how long it would take. She then quizzed him on baby terms (like episiotomy and colostrum) and gave us multiple choice options for what he said. It was the best game ever! And, no, I didn't win...I wasn't even close! How sad! Brad was a great sport, as always. He'll be the best dad in the whole world!

Gotta love the gift-opening faces. A sample of one of the many adorable outfits our little girl is going to look darling in! ;)

The pre- and post-labor belly comparison. Cindy is looking great already!

USS Midway and the Mormon Battalion

On the final day of Grammy and Pops Camp, we all drove down to the harbor in San Diego to tour the USS Midway - a fully operational aircraft carrier. It was a great experience for all of us and made me appreciate even more all that our servicemen do for us.

Some of the gang out in front of the ship - hard to believe that ships are that big, huh?

My dad served on the Ticonderoga (a smaller version of the USS Midway) during Vietnam, so he was our own personal tour guide through the ship. It was so neat to get to hear his stories and to be able to envision what life must have been like for him - what a great hero for all of us kids!

The kids got to climb in the pilot's chair for a photo-op. Here's Syd hamming it up, as always! ;)

Zane looking fearsome behind the stick. I'd say he must take after his dad, what do you think?

After a great tour of the ship, we headed to the completely renovated Mormon Battalion. It was AWESOME! If you haven't been since they've redone it, I highly recommend it. After the tour they had a little area where the kids get to pan for gold and play with an old water pump. It was a big hit.

While the kids panned for gold Amy and I tried to soak up the only few rays of sun we saw all day. Who knew June Gloom would last through July?!?

On the last night of Camp, all 16 of us ended up under one roof. Yeah, that was one crowded house! But it sure was fun.

The Fourth of July and Grammy Camp

The fourth of July was a hit this year! It just so happened to fall on the week of Grammy Camp (where my parents take all the grandkids for a full week and let the parents go do whatever they want). The theme this year was the Hunger Games and the kids loved it! They did a lot of the things mentioned in the book, but with a twist (i.e. they didn't all try to actually kill each other!). What an amazing week it was - too bad work got in the way for us boring adults!

Part of the book talks about a Tribute Parade where the contestants get to dress up in crazy costumes and be introduced to the crowd, so the kids all raided the costume box and came up with some doozies. Zane won with his vest-turned-loincloth, complete with a poopshoot in the back!

After a good, old-fashioned, all-American BBQ we were put to work as judges before heading over the lake for fireworks.

While we waited for the fireworks to start, the kids all played with poppers - the only legal "fireworks" allowed.

Taking Max for a walk while we waited for the fireworks to start. It was so fun spending time with him - I can't wait to have my own.

Brad having way too much fun with the glowsticks. You can bet that no one was fighting over getting to play with his after he was done with them!

All the kids had fun feeling their new cousin move. The baby was going crazy throughout the whole fireworks show. Ellie sat on my lap and was getting kicked and punched the whole time...and loving it!

We Love Company!

After a fake out last year, we were so excited that the Itos (Bryce, Kristina and Lily) were able to come visit us this year! We hit up the beach, the pool, and the San Diego Zoo while they were here. It was so fun to have them and we can't wait for them to come back again!

We went to the San Diego Zoo on Saturday and had a blast - it really is the best zoo ever! We got a late start and hit some traffic, so we had to do a sprint through the zoo. We started out on the bus tour so we could see as much as possible, and then had to pick and choose from there. But, I'd say we did a pretty darn good job of hitting the highlights.

Bryce said he had never seen a live panda before, so they were a must-see for all of us!

We usually don't take the time to see the pandas since there's always a line, but we were so glad we did this time - they were adorable!

Bryce, Kristina, and Lily checking out the crocodiles.

The baby flamingos were so cute and got us so excited for our baby to come soon.

Since our day at the Zoo was cut short (they closed early at 5:00 for a private event - BOOOO!), we had time to head to La Jolla Cove before the sun set. We love it there, even if the clouds had already rolled in.

We met up with the Changs at the end of the day at the Zoo and they joined us for La Jolla Cove and dinner.

Lily and Brad had a blast running around the park in La Jolla Cove. She's too cute! :)