Bacon Burger BBQ and more

Every Memorial Day since Chris and I were dating, we have made bacon cheese burgers on the grill. It is a yummy tradition!
We decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather while Lincoln was napping and played an epic game of Monopoly outside. "Please let me go to jail" 

We have decided it is much more enjoyable playing games for fun rather than being super competitive...many games have ended in the silent treatment because of our  my competitive nature...not good.  

"Please let me go to jail" 

 "Don't worry, it's mortgaged!" 

Then it was time to fire up the grill!!! We had our friends, Aaron and Crystal, join us. They actually live in the basement where we live. The food is always so good and I do believe Chris has got his BBQ skills down to a science! mmmmmmm! 

 Then we had Taneya come over and make s'mores with us! It felt so much like camping and got us really excited for all our fun camping trips this year!

These are the s'mores...special ingredient...PEANUT BUTTER! So good! 

 Multi-tasking!

 Chris was making fun of my choice of footwear...in  my defense...yeah there isn't a defense...sandals and socks just don't go. 

She pretty much fit the whole thing in her mouth.

Moving

I hesitate to write this little entry because I am scared to death it jinx us. After pounding tons of pavement we finally found a home that we fell in love with.
Previous homes we looked at and considered were just a way out of our current living circumstances. We are really blessed with the home we have lived in for the past 3 years. Yes, there is much to be desired and there were many days I wished for a solid kitchen floor instead of carpet. But we have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and many more blessings.
This home is yet another blessing and we feel so fortunate to be blessed so much! It's a far cry from our dream home, but it is so much more than we expected for our starter home. There are things that will be sacrificed to live here but we are willing to spend a little extra time in the car to go grocery shopping or visit family members.
So here is a little tour of our new home...(these are just the listing pictures and I hope to get more)










Now comes the fun part....making it our home. :)

Wipes anyone?

This is what Chris came back to after walking away just to throw the diaper away...this little boy has fast fingers! And he enjoyed every second of it!

10 Months Already?!

Pardon the bottle but he wouldn't give it up at first. 

This lil' guy is now 10 months old...how time flies! I was a little hesitant taking pictures with his bottle but it perfectly portrays this time of his life. Lincoln got thrush and I got scared he would give it to me. He also started biting...LOTS!!!! That little combination resulted in a fast and furious weaning. One day he was nursing and the next he is not. Luckily, he takes a bottle very well and we didn't have any problems. It is a little sad for me though...who would have ever thought that something as simple, yet tedious at times, would be missed so much. I just keep telling myself there are other ways to bond. 

But, life goes on and Lincoln keeps getting bigger, smarter, and more adventurous. 

*He loves buttons of any kind, especially if pushing them results in any kind of noise. 

*He walks all around the house as long as he has something to hold on to...the fact that he is so close to walking is exciting and frightening. 

*He has been sleeping through the night for about a week now. We dearly hope it will last! 

*When he laughs (which happens TONS!) he throws his head back. He is such a happy boy! 

*He has made his first phone call  by himself, has sent multiple texts to random  numbers, and has figured out how to turn on the stereo and change CD's. A little too smart if you ask me. But that's how they come now...

He is as cute as can be still. Watching him discover new things and explore  new places never gets old.

A day in the life

I was thinking the other day of how I could remember these days better. What better than a little picture show and tell. I want to be able to remember what it was like with just one little guy roaming around and see how life progresses. So...

Wednesday, may 22

Normally we wake up early and have breakfast, read scriptures, get Lincoln up so he can say goodbye to dad and then Chris goes to work. But today was a special day...we got to sleep in!!! Til 7:00 in the morning...sad that 7 is considered sleeping in. It was wonderful. Chris went and worked out and I started working. 

Then we had breakfast- frech toast and banans...I try to have a hot breakfast everyday. My mom did that for us growing up and I want to be able to do that for my family. 

After breakfast we clean up and got Chris off to work. Now comes the rest of the day... more work. 

Boring for Lincoln and sometimes stressful for me. Well, to be honest, I think Lincoln has gotten quite used to playing by himself for long periods of time. I think he enjoys the freedom-as long as he stays out of the bathroom. He normally is content playing with his toys, or blocks, or even flipping through pages of his books. 

After taking a look at my day it made me think a lot about my priorities. I want so badly to help provide for my family and to be able to build our savings account, but at what cost am I willing to do that? Is work as important as I make it out to be? The house doesn't get as clean, the laundry stays on my bed and then gets tossed in a basket for a few more days, 

Chris ends up making dinner (which sometimes is very nice), 

the couch gets overrun with ties. 

So I reevaluated. Today I took time to sit down and eat some yummy lunch with Lincoln. 

We ate outside, 

played outside and visited with our friends. 

Stockon almost got a finger in his eye. 

So instead of tying off ties while watching a movie...

we actually spent some good quality time together. It was so fun! 

But it's not all quality time and fun, unfortunately. I do still have a job that I have to work at sometimes. So it's back to the machine and toys for a little bit longer.

 Someday I will be able to spend leisure weekdays with my kids and only have them to worry about (which is still quite the chore) but I won't have a nagging little voice in my head telling me to get back to work because I am working...I am raising my kids...the most important and best job ever!!!

Graduation BBQ

 Chris is a college graduate!!!!! Hooray!!!! He didn't walk at graduation so we decided to have a BBQ to celebrate instead. It was a lot of fun.

Lincoln loved the balloons.

 But he was a little unsure about the swings...

yep...he didn't like them. Sad! Hopefully he will get over that :)

YAY!!! Dad is done with school!