Rollin' down a river...

Saturday, the 24th of July we went up to Zion's for the day. We planned on going to some old cemeteries like we have in the past, and on account of it being Pioneer Day. However, after our fun tubing experience, we were hit with a crazy wild thunderstorm! It was soooo fun to enjoy the downpour of rain like that. But before this adventure, we had SO much fun tubing down the Virgin River! We did it last year and the water was a bit more shallow, so this year was a lot more fun for me..and I wasn't pregnant this time..ha ha. Ashlee took all the pictures, thank goodness she always remembers. We had our camera but never really got out of the water to take any pictures!!! I didn't collage any of them...so here are all our fun pics!

My beautiful sister above and cute parents below...

Coolest picture of Desi's hair! What a fluke shot!

Tasha swinging from the rope

Isn't my dad handsome?

Figaro even took a turn going down the river with Ben!

Connor hanging out in the shade...such a chunker (finally!)

Desi and Connor...notice the flower on his hat? Stupid Walmart didn't have any boy hats! Poor kid...

Daddy, Connor and Figaro trying to swim....

My ride down the river

Figaro swimming the doggy paddle..so funny!

YUMMY pizza at Zion Pizza and Noodle...our favorite place!

Connor doing his Pat a Cake for aunt Desi!

This is such a fun tradition we've started and I hope I can make it out here to do it again next summer! Thanks mom and dad for the pizza and day of fun!!! I'm so glad we made it out of the water just in time for the storm!

Today...

I begged for this cloud to shadow the sun a little longer...because when the sun was hiding it was actually bearable to be out walking.

I wondered-what will it be like when Connor can walk and talk to me? He's my silent (sort of) friend right now, but I can't wait til he blabbers on with real words.

I remembered my childhood, since the old sidewalks of Cedar City smell the same as they did when I was 3 years old and would come visit my grandparents.

I contemplated how odd it is that my past and present collide in so many ways because I live here. This is my fourth time living in Cedar City, and each time has been so different.

I realized we will probably never live in Cedar again after this year is up-not that we don't love you my Cedar friends and family-it just snows too much and lacks the culture we need to make a good living.

I marveled at the beautiful mountains and the way the sun hit them when the rest of the city was shrouded in a blanket of shadow. I'm really going to miss this place.

I laughed at myself for being so sentimental when I still have 9 months left in this adorable city.

I sang "I Wonder When He Comes Again" in my head as I took in the beautiful world around me...

I planned all of the things I still want to do before we leave. Tried to calculate how much I'd be able to do-one more fall season where we can drive up the canyon and see the changing leaves; one more snow-packed winter full of hot chocolate and snowmen; one more spring in which we won't plant any flowers or veggies because we won't be here when they bloom.

I almost cried thinking about the fact that in exactly a year I know we most definitely won't be here...and how hard it will be to say goodbye to my family.

I chided myself for once again being overly sentimental.

I basked in the sunshine and took a swim with Connor in his little pool. Quite a sight people...

I taunted the dog with the LASER! he loves to chase around the house.

I kissed my adoring husband when he got home.

I reflected today was a day worth blogging about.

I HOPE there are many more days like this...

Just some thoughts...

Lately I have been really missing "regular" things. Like:

- having time to get addicted to a television series and watch all the episodes in 2 days because I just can't bring myself to turn it off.
- getting addicted to a good book (which I'll admit I gave in and did, and I'm halfway through Evermore...which is annoyingly similar to Twilight but my brain is appreciating the easy read compared to the text books).
- sitting around with a big group of friends and remembering the good ole days, and dreaming of future days.
-when I was in high school a few of my friends including Katie, Kara, Mary, Brant and sometimes Bryan Wade used to go into the band room during choir and just goof off! We would talk about the days when we would be married with kids and the funny things we would probably do. Now we ARE all married and I think are crazier than we ever anticipated!
-Right after my big "D" I made a whole new set of amazing friends, including Lyndsey,
Chanelle, and Lauren. We had so much fun hanging out! One memory I will never forget is
a night we spent at Chanelle's after a Fireside. Somehow it seemed everyone from the
fireside ended up at Chanelle's house and we ended up playing this awesome game that I
can't remember the name of- but there were cards that would ask personal questions and
everyone took turns answering these questions...we got really deep and spiritual and
emotional with a ton of people I'd never met before, and later I found out that not everyone
there knew each other that well either. It was such an important moment for me, and really
helped me find the courage to start dating again and let me know things would be ok. It was
history from there! But there was never another night like that, so I will always cherish it.

Aside from things I'm missing, there are things I am LOVING in the present, like:
-Connor sitting up and plunking himself over when he's ready to just chillax and play with his toys.
-The fact that he has started his spitting/strawberry blowing phase again.
-The hilarious shudders and gags he gives me when we feed him ANY fruit. He's quite dramatic!
-Connor can feed himself his bottle now, and as long as the bottle doesn't fall out of his reach he's really good at retrieving it and has a fun time popping it in and out of his mouth-being all powerful.
-Ben and I only have 3 weeks left of summer school-then it's off to Cali to enjoy some time off!!!
-I am currently about a week and a half ahead on my school work (sigh of relief)
-Connor loves Baby Einstein..saves my life sometimes
-Our cat had 5 kittens and they are SO cute. Aside from her trying to move them everywhere, we are loving them!
- I saw Inception last night and it was SOOOO good! If you haven't seen it yet-you really should..

We have some exciting prospects for the FUTURE too....but I can't talk about them yet. Until it's official I'll keep the excitement to myself...but trust me when I say...it's AWESOME. Being married to Ben is such an adventure and with his mad skills and talents in his line of work I KNOW he will do amazing things which means I will too...I'm along for any ride he wants to take us on!!!

Here's some pictures of my little man since no post would be complete without one...

P.S. Happy 4th! (and 5th in our case in Utah)

7 Months!

I realize a month is only about 30 days..but SERIOUSLY? He's already one month older? I can't believe how fast time flies! It seems whenever the day comes that he turns a month older he starts doing some new things-as if to say, "So I'm older now...I think I'll do this. What do you think mom?"

It's always fun that he turns (7) months on the 1st day of each month. Get what I mean? 7/1 he turned 7 months old. Anyway....

This month he weighs:
16 lbs 2 oz!!!

He's now in the 10th percentile which is a LOT better than the .5 he was in a few months ago. He must be eating (and loving) his veggies! Not so much his fruits...but we're working on that.

Connor has started the following:

Pat-a cake (with one fist and one palm ha ha...)
Fake "coughing"...oh boy
Scrunching his nose, like this:
Needing to be snuggled before every nap and bed time (I'm ok with that...)
Sitting up all by himself! (He still falls from time to time but does great!!!)
DANCING!!! He first started doing this in his car seat and looked like a bobble-head doll..we laughed pretty hard...and now he dances while sitting up and when someone is holding him. Love it!!!
We can see his top teeth...they're on approach!!!

Every day brings a new adventure. I have SO much fun playing with Connor! When we wake up in the morning I get so excited thinking I have all day to hang out with him and find ways to have fun! He's my little friend and it's so cool that I'm never alone...he's always with me! LOVE HIM! Happy 7 month birthday Connor Bonnor!