One year older and wiser too...

One year ago this was us. Our little Grant arrived on January 1, 2010 at 12:03 am making him the first baby born in Provo. What a year this has been!!! I know it is so cliche but it really does feel like yesterday. We are so happy to have our little guy in our family. We feel very blessed to be his parents. He has a cheerful countenance and we love him so much. I am so happy I can be with my family forever if I choose the right.

This is us on January 1, 2011. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT!!

Grant ate an entire chocolate cupcake all by himself and loved it. He wasn't shy at all and shoved it right in his mouth.

Looks thrilled doesn't he? =)

Such a content boy when his tummy is full of chocolate

Thanks family for the kind gifts.

When Grant is really excited he waves his arms around and opens his mouth like this.

This has been the hardest yet best year of my life. I think being a mom is an amazing blessing and an overwhelming responsibility. Sometimes I just wish I could express to Grant or show him in some way how much I really love him, but I can't. That's probably how all parents feel at some point. Grant took a few steps last night on his own. He loves walking around with help from willing volunteers. He still won't crawl though. He now gives "high-fives" and sometimes waves. His favorite thing is still clapping. Love ya Grant. We look forward to many, many more birthdays with you. XOXOXOXO

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are on the road to a terrific new year. Christmas was lovely for us because we got to spend time with both sides of the family and we didn't have to travel far at all. We were blessed to receive many nice things.
Grant loves the ornaments as does every toddler and child I think.

Grant had a rough time on Christmas day. He was getting another tooth and I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the people, activities, and chaos. His nose was running, he kept pulling on his right ear, and he probably just wanted to sleep. Next year will be better I'm sure.

Sean's new toy to dress up his work bench

Thanks grandma Oborn for the adorable aprons.

Look at that face--this is pretty much how all of Christmas was for Grant. Poor guy.

We are already in 2011 and I can't believe it. We celebrated Grant's first birthday on January 1st. I will post pics of that next. He was definitely our favorite gift in 2010. =)

First off, thanks for the tips on solutions to a grumpy, teething baby. I stuck to my guns of refusing to nurse at night and now we're back to a 7:30pm bedtime and a 6:30am wake time--nothing in between! All that sadness for this little half-a-tooth. Funny huh? (Yes our guy is a little slow in the tooth growing business, and in the crawling for that matter.) =)

We went and saw the lights at the Mesa Temple. It was such a mild night--probably 60 degrees. Sean is wearing shorts if you can't tell--that's Arizona for ya.

Not that Grant really needs it but I bought him a winter coat at the used kids store for $9.99. It looks almost brand new. I love getting a bargain. Here is proof that Grant can still fall asleep in his stroller on long walks. (I thought he had out-grown this forever but it happened again!) I just realized that lots of what I buy Grant is red, charcoal, and white. I guess I like those colors. Weird.

On another note, I landed what I think will be the perfect job for me! I'm excited about it. I am working in labor and delivery at Banner Baywood Hospital. I'll get through some hectic orientation stuff (36hrs/wk) and then I'll be able to pick my own schedule (no nights, weekends, or holidays)and I'll work only one 12-hour shift per week. Cool huh? It'll probably be tons different from what I'm used to--Provo the baby capital of the world--but I think it'll be good. I start on Monday. Wish me luck.

Family Pictures

Over Thanksgiving weekend we were blessed to have family pictures taken by are dear friends Matt and Sarah. We are so happy with the results. Thanks guys!!
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We sure love Arizona this time of year! The weather has been lovely enough to play outside while still bundling up and feeling "winterish". Thanksgiving was terrific and I'll post about that later, hopefully. =)

The last three weeks

We've certainly enjoyed the last few weeks of setting up our home, getting things organized, and playing together before Sean starts his job. With accounting busy season around the corner, Grant and I know our play dates with daddy will be few and far between. So we decided to live it up now...

We went to Schnep Farms and enjoyed the corn maze, hay ride, mini golf, rides, and fun.

We have been buying some yard tools and sprucing up our space. I swear we make a daily Lowe's run around here. Here is our backyard.

We loved playing with our family who came to visit from Ohio. Here is my sister and me.

More cousin fun at Mother Nature's farm.

Within the first week of being in our home we endured a crazy "microburst" in the middle of the afternoon. Within minutes it went from hot and sunny to cold and dark. It started blowing and raining. Then it turned to hail--big hail. We were pretty sure our windows were going to break it was so loud! Trees all over the neighborhood blew over. Tiles blew off the roof. Power lines and street signs went down. The road was a fast-flowing river. Wow it was wild.

We drove to our family cabin in the white mountains and enjoyed the amazingly cool weather.

We "watched" conference as a group. 8 adults, 5 kids, 1 small tv--not the best combination for "feasting" on the words of the prophets. =)

Saying Goodbye

Well we did it. We moved to Arizona. Our last few days in Utah were filled with goodbyes.

Goodbye to our favorite Provo apartment and the only place we've lived our entire marriage.
Goodbye to our junky swingset in the side yard of our apartment.

Goodbye to the great folks with whom Sean worked at Property Solutions.

Goodbye to grandma and grandpa.

Goodbye to Rachel and Mike

We enjoyed our years in Provo but we have started a new chapter of our lives now. We'll never forget the wonderful jobs, experiences, people, and fun we had up there.