Her First Step!

By total accident we ended up catching Libby's very first step on film! Admittedly it's only one, but still! ;)

The Rest of the UT Trip

We left Lake Powell at about 1:00pm on Saturday and drove to Provo. As soon as we got to Amy's house, we cleaned up and headed over to Paul and Jayann's house for dinner. Kristina came, too and brought Lily and Kade. It was our first time to meet Kade and he is soooo cute! Too bad I forgot to bring my camera! ;( It was a fun, quick visit.

The real reason for all the craziness was that our nephew, Tanner was being ordained to the priesthood on Sunday. We went to his ordination at 10:45am, and then he was passing the sacrament in church by 11:00! Talk about instantaneous use of authority! We're so proud of him and so glad we could be there for his big day.
After church, it was time to hit the road...AGAIN!! Libby was less than thrilled over all the time in carseat, so we took a long pit stop in St. George. We lounged on the temple grounds for about an hour or so so that she could get some energy out before being strapped back in!

What a cute picture of my parents!

It was a gorgeous day and the white temple is so beautiful!

Our forever family

Libby loves walking! She has so much fun cruising around all over the place. She hasn't quite figured out how to do it on her own yet, but with fingers to hold on to she's a champ!

After our pit stop we hit the road again and didn't make it home till 1:30am. And then we all had to be at work the next morning - NICE! Totally worth it, though!

Lake Powell in a Day and a Half

Since we've always been famous for our whirlwind trips to Utah, we thought we'd really outdo ourselves this time and hit up Lake Powell on the way! We left home at 9:00pm on Thursday night and arrived at Lake Powell at 5:00am. The boat picked us up at 7:00am and then we tried to cram a week-long trip into one short day! Whew! What an adventure!

Libby has expanded her water-going repertoire to include lakes now, too. She's sure a fan of anything wet!
We got to paddleboard in the morning and I have to say I outdid Brad on this one. He fell in the water on more than one occasion and I managed to stay dry the whole time! ;)

Libby loves water so much she decided to turn the foot-washing station into her own personal hot-tub! Sipping...relaxing...ahhhhh, this is the good life!

We spent plenty of time swimming, sliding, and jumping off the back of the houseboat. Here's Brad with some of the Barber and Openshaw kids enjoying a rock they found in the middle of the lake that they could stand on.

This is on top of the Barbers' amazing houseboat right at our spot. We were so lucky we got to crash their party! Thanks a million, Barbers!

Logan was the fishing pro of the boat. Here he is showing off his latest catch. Unfortunately, Libby does not seem to be swooning over this great feat of strengths! Give her a few years, Logan!

We spent most of the day tubing and battle-bodyboarding (a new experience for us!), and at the very end of the day we managed to get a wakeboarding trip in there! This is Brad mid-flip. He's soooo fun to watch!

We were losing daylight fast, so this is the best one of me. I do go out of the wake, I promise. And, I have perfected the face-plant! I may not be as fun to watch as Brad but what I lack in talent I make up for in crashes! ;)

The next morning was pack-it-up and head-on-in day. Brad and Libby got to drive the houseboat. We had so much fun just taking it all in. Lake Powell is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth!

Too short of a trip, but nonetheless FANTASTIC!

Day Trip to Girls' Camp

I was invited to be a guest speaker at Girls' Camp this year and got to head up for a day with a few other women from the Stake. The theme this year was a really fun one - "Happily Ever After" and it was all about being princesses. There were four of us that were their EFYW speakers (Especially for Young Women) and I got the best topic of all - How to Attract Prince Charming! I took the basis of my lesson from Proverbs 31:10-31 and then ran with it!

I went WAY out of my comfort zone on this one and even made a poster! CRAZY!!! I put pink bows on it and everything - this was huge for me!
I enlisted my super talented and creative sister, Jen to make the handouts for me and they turned out AWESOME! This is one of two versions that I handed out.

Isn't Jen amazing?!?
Here's the poster once all the letters of PRINCESS were removed with the words that go along with the acronym. I had fun sharing little vignettes of my own life and some important scriptures. I told of how Brad gave up his boat to marry me and that I keep a picture of him with it in the front cover of my scriptures to remind me how much he loves me. Then I suggested that the girls keep the handout in the same place until they can replace it with a picture of their own Prince Charming someday.

While I was gone all day, two of my friends watched Libby for me. I guess you could say Libby played pretty hard because she managed to crash on the family room floor! (She's NEVER done that before!)

This is exactly how I felt when I got home! Thanks to Kim and Sarah for watching my little angel for me. What a day!

A Few More Grandma Moments

The last few great moments with Grandma before she headed off to see another batch of her beloved grandkids.

We took her on a little hike to our favorite park - Badlands Park where the views are just amazing!
One of the greatest parts of her visit was the victory over the stairs! Diann worked with Libby all week and by the time she left Libby was a stair-climbing-and-sliding master. Thanks, Grandma!

On Saturday night we got to go to one of Brad's cousins' wedding receptions in Yorba Linda. Diann got to see 4 of her brothers and sisters and it was a wild Parson party! Gotta love when siblings get together! So fun!

Diann and Libby finished off the night by dancing the night away. They were so cute together - totally melted your heart!

What a perfect ending to a GREAT visit!

OK, I know this is so blurry that it's probably not even worth posting, but Libby's face was just too cute to pass up! She and her daddy had a blast on the giant swing they had in the backyard at the reception.

As Loved As a Girl Can Be!

What could be better than spending a day with BOTH of your grandmas?!?....Nothing!

On Friday, Libby got to spend a lady's day with both grandmas and her mom. First, we hit up the Great Park at the old El Toro Airforce Base.
Unfortunately, it was too windy to go up in the big orange, but we had fun anyway.

Libby loved the carousel and went on several consecutive trips - thank goodness it's FREE!

Then we headed to the Spectrum and played in the different fountains they have there for awhile.

Libby really loved this one, and Diann was a great sport, splashing and all!

What a great girls' day! Libby is one lucky lady!

Roger's Gardens and a Big Surprise

Last time that Paul and Diann were here, I took them to Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach and they loved it. They had up all of their Christmas displays, so Diann was in heaven. This time all the Christmas stuff was replaced with gorgeous summer flowers and the colors were amazing!

Beautiful blue hydrangeas
Loads of color everywhere you turn

If only the flowers came with a gardener to keep them that gorgeous! ;)

That night was our big suprise for Diann. Ever since Brad's first time going to the Pageant of the Masters, he knew he would have to bring his mom here sometime. It only runs during July and August, so this was the first opportunity we've had. Yeah, I think we nailed it on this one - she LOVED it!

My parents joined us for the adult-only event. Here are the girls enjoying picnic style dining before the main attraction.

Diann and my dad

Brad was up close and personal with the band, as he ate his dinner leaning against the stage (it was pretty packed and seating was minimal, to say the least!).

Prior to the Pageant we got to walk around and enjoy the amazing artwork on display there. This was one of our favorites - a portrait made of nails that was 3-dimensional. VERY cool!

Even though you can't see it, we're in front of the Pageant of the Masters sign. Stupid lighting!

The whole gang at the end of the night. Such an amazing and unique experience. If you've never heard of it, you have to look it up - soooo cool!

OC Fair - Take 2

In case it were in question before, Libby definitely LOVES animals! We had a great time at the Fair on the second go-around, too. She really enjoyed showing Grandma all her favorite things.

She couldn't wait to touch and feel everything in sight!
The little chicks were so soft!

Brad finally got to join us around 7:30 that night and Libby was in heaven getting to show both her grandma and her daddy just how much she loves the petting zoo.

This is in honor of her favorite book - Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Pops wants to get a pig just like this for their house! Yeah, Grammy's not so sold on the idea...I wonder why?

Three generations of Macbeths

Libby fell asleep around 9:00 and we stayed to watch the Peking Acrobats. It was just as great the fourth time around (for me)!

All tuckered out after another long, fun-filled day at the Fair!