Thursday, July 23, 2009

Congratulations!!

My sister, Kandra, just had her baby boy early this afternoon. Baby Dawson Heath was born at 12:11 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 1 1/2 oz. and was 21" long. I'm told he's healthy and both mommy and Dawson are doing well. We are so excited to see him tomorrow when they get home from the hospital. I'll try to remember my camera so I can take some pics and post them later!! I have to admit that I'm a little jealous that she has her little baby here to hold and cuddle with, but I'm mostly relieved that it's her and not me because I have too many things to finish before Baby Girl comes. :0) We love you, Kandra, and we are so happy that everything went well and that Dawson is here safe and sound!! Congrats again!!

Nebeker reunion

I just realized that I haven't posted about the 1st ever Nebeker reunion. We decided that our family is finally big enough to have our own reunion with Mom and Dad and all the kids and grandkids. It was so much fun! We camped down near Vernal, enjoyed the sun and water the first full day and then tried to stay dry the 2nd day. It was also my mom's birthday so the grandkids put their handprints and names on an apron for her. It was so cute and the kids LOVED the special project for Grandma. Of course, Grandma thought it was the best thing ever! :0)
You have to love this 1st picture. At first glance you just see us all chillin' by the lake, then if you look closer you see my lovely brother behind us just being himself. Thank you, Lance! :0)
This was my favorite activity. Taking the kids on canoe rides. Much cooler on the water! ;0)

You have a little sand on your face, Austin! :0)
Here's the apron. It says, "Best Grandma Hands Down"
All the grandkids as of May 2009
Silly boy. I think he just got done peeing in the bushes and he thought that was the best thing ever!! :0)

Steadman's

My friends have had their pictures up from this family outing for a very long time now, oh well. Better late than never, right?


Anyway, there is a very fun, family-owned place about 10-15 minutes away from us called Steadman's. The family actually built waterslides, a zip line, fire pit, volleyball court and more in their backyard (it's a very big backyard) and opened it up to the public as long as they make reservations. It's a great place for some fun. The weather wasn't the best, but it actually didn't rain (one of the two days the entire month of June that it didn't rain here) so it worked out wonderfully!

Bri on the zip line

Austin and I had to join in on the fun.
Paige went down by herself after the first time and even brought the tube up by herself. She did switch to a smaller tube after this trip up with the big tube, though! :0)










Just some random pics from June

My camera was missing for a couple days. I finally asked Paige if she knew where it was and she said, "Yeah, Austin hid it". When I looked at the pictures, I noticed that there were about 200 pictures that I did not take, but I can guess who did. Can you?!?
Notice the jammies. Yeah, we thought they were asleep! Who knows what time they actually fell asleep. Oh well!







I had some time to play with Paige's hair one day and this is what we did. Definitely a hair-do for when you have some time to sit and do it. It was so cute, though!!
Paige and Austin wanted a little photo shoot. They, of course, had to have one with a silly face. I love how Austin was looking at Paige to see how to make the same face! :0)

Silly boy!
How is that comfortable, Austin?!?

Has it seriously been almost 2 months?!?

Time sure has been flying the closer I get to D-day! This is both good and bad. It's good because I'm definitely getting tired of being pregnant (only 2 more weeks, hopefully), but bad because I have so many things to get done before Baby Girl arrives. At least I have our reunions and the Stake Primary Activity Day done and over with (both were so much fun, by the way). Now I have my SIL's baby shower on Saturday and I think that's pretty much it. Then baby can come any day she'd like! :0)

Anyway, I'll try to post several little posts so you aren't too overwhelmed by all the pictures. Here it goes.

The beginning of June, our fam went to Boise for our nephew, Max's, baby blessing. It was so fun seeing him again and meeting our other nephew, Sam, for the first time! It will be fun adding a little girl to the mix soon! ;0) Here are a few pics from our time there.
Bri taking a nap with "Sumo Sam". Can you believe those cheeks?!?

Dan's wife, Rachael, had to try this little spinner out. Looks like fun, but I wasn't about to try it!! :0)
Paige has really gotten good at the monkey bars this summer. In this picture she still needed someone to help her the entire time. Now someone just has to be nearby to help "if needed".
Our sweet boy, playing peek-a-boo. That smile gets me every time!
While the moms and kids were at the playground, the "big boys" played home run derby. Later the little kids had to have a turn. Austin LOVED it and kept telling us that he was a "baseball guy". (Of course, when he had a football, he was a "football guy".) :0)
The Adair clan at Max's blessing
It's always so fun being with cousins!!
Paige and Ashley really hit it off this trip. (I didn't realize how bad Paige's bangs were until I looked at these pics again. We did cut them as soon as we got home!) :0)


Our little family. This is the only picture that all of us were smiling and Austin wasn't picking his nose. Lovely, isn't it?!?

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Some much needed R&R

Brian and I decided that we would like to take a little trip before Baby is born. We were originally going to go to Washington, D.C. but flights just didn't work out. We decided we'd try for the West coast instead. The Atlanta Braves made the final decision on where exactly we were going. "How is that?" you ask... The Braves were playing in San Francisco on Memorial Day, thus our decision was an easy one! ;0) (You should have seen Brian's smile when their schedule and our schedule matched up so perfectly!!!)




We flew out Sunday, the 24th, and spent the next two days sightseeing San Fransisco, attending the Braves/Giants game (of course), and going to the cemetery where a couple of Brian's extended family members are either buried or honored. (More on that later on.) It was so neat seeing where Brian's Grandma grew up and seeing such a great city.


Alcatraz in the background. Wish we could have worked out a cruise tour to see it, but the timing wasn't right.


We went to Coit Tower. The inside of the tower was completely covered with these murals based on the years of the Depression. So many talented artists were involved and their work was amazing.



Coit Tower with the statue of Christopher Columbus in the foreground.







Here's the "Crookedest" street. There was a HUGE line of cars waiting to drive down it, so we settled with just a picture! :0)


On Memorial Day, we visited Golden Gate National Cemetery where Bri's uncle is buried and his great-uncle's marker is (he was a pilot during the Korean War and was MIA). This cemetery was amazing. It was beautiful and the uniformity of it all was very breathtaking. This picture doesn't do it justice, it was HUGE!

Brian by his Great-uncle, Keith's, marker.

Bri by his Uncle Timmy's grave.


Later that day, Bri and I went to the Braves/Giants game. The AT&T Park is so neat and the location is amazing. We had seats in the upper deck so we could look out onto the bay. It was a beautiful day!



Can you spot me?!?

We went up to Pier 39. Besides finding the best fudge shoppe EVER, we spotted this store. Bri had to have his picture taken in front of it. :0) This store had knives, scissors, pens, etc. made just for left-handed people. It was pretty crazy.


One of the amazing churches in downtown San Fran.




Here are a couple pics from the drive from San Fran to Monterey. We took the scenic route and we weren't disappointed!!



We also made a little stop at one of the Redwood National parks in the area. Bri insisted that I be the one in this pic. He said, "You look small compared to the tree!" Thanks, honey!! :0)

Here are the stats of the largest tree in this forest.


I think if we come out here again, we'll have to make it a camping trip. These trees are absolutely beautiful and the camp sites were great. There were many trails and even a swimming hole there. The kids would LOVE it!!

We took this one for Paige and Austin to see. They thought it was so funny that Daddy was inside the tree!


We made another stop at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. It would definitely be a great place to take the kids! Brian remembers going there when he was a little boy and loved it. The beach was crowded but nice. They had some awesome beach volleyball courts all along the beach and oh, how I wish I could have played!!!


This is what you see when you first go down Cannery Row in Monterey. I loved this place. The buildings were so neat and I loved finding more about the history of the place. Throughout the whole vacation I was reading "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck and it was fun trying to imagine this place in the 1930s.



Down by the Hopkins Marine Station there were so many harbor seals just lounging on the beach. They were so stinky that I thought I was going to puke, but they were fun to walk by every day we were there. :0)

Brian was down at this beach quite a bit when he was studying here for a quarter while we were engaged. It was fun seeing the places he went and some of the things he did while we were away from each other for 7 very long weeks during our engagement! :0)



We went to the Point Sur light station just south of Monterey. You can only visit this light station by guided tour. It was a very interesting tour and I'm very glad that we went. We had to walk up to it and I was a little worried being quite pregnant, but it wasn't bad at all. I wasn't even the only prego there. There was another lady there who was due only 6 days before me. We stopped many times on the way up to discuss some of the history, vegetation, etc. I would recommend this tour to anyone who's visiting the area.



At the top of the lighthouse. The only picture we had taken of the two of us without one of us holding the camera! Can you tell? :0)
We were able to time the tides right and visit the tide pools. Brian had to teach me to look beyond the obvious and then I'd be able to see all the amazing creatures in the tide pools. He was right. I couldn't believe all of the crabs there. They are very smart and fast buggers!! ;0)


Do you see the seal?

I was so proud of myself for spotting these sea stars, which are actually bat stars. Who knew! It took us forever to find some, but I found the first one! ;0) Can you tell I was pretty proud of myself!?!?



We went to the Aquarium and this is when we were really wishing that the kids were with us!! We just kept saying to each other, "Paige and Austin would LOVE this!" These sea otters were so cute! I couldn't believe how playful they were during their feeding session. (This was before the feeding session and they just wanted to lounge around and relax!) :0)

A few of the jellies on exhibit. Much better in person, I must say.




Just a few sardines! These fish are what made Cannery Row what it was in the 1930s!

This little creature is called a weedy seadragon

The seahorse exhibit was so neat. You have to love any species that has the males carry and birth their offspring!! Here's the cousin to the weedy seadragon...the leafy seadragon.


This freshwater otter was so funny. It was trying so hard to find a comfortable sleeping position. This is when it looked like he was yawning. Trust me, otter, I know how you feel!!

The bay at Monterey. Here's a shot of my 30 week belly! It was pretty funny hearing some of the comments that were made to Bri and me when people found out that this was our 3rd baby. It was a whole different world out there when it came to opinions of family size and such.

It was finally warm enough to put on our swimsuits and go to the beach. Too bad it was only warm enough to last about 30 minutes! ;0)


We stayed at the cutest "bungalow-style" inn. The rooms were small, but oh so cute! When we come back, we'll definitely look into staying here again.

Here's another lighthouse, Pt. Pinos. We didn't take to time to go to this one, but it sure was beautiful by this golf course.


On our last day in Monterey, we decided to do the "17-mile drive" and see Pebble Beach golf course and the famous "Lone Cypress" tree. It was a beautiful drive and we couldn't believe the golf courses and houses, actually mansions, along the whole drive.


It took us a few tries to get Bri, myself, AND the Lone Cypress in the same picture! ;0)



This is the best we could do! :0)



This vacation was so much fun and so unbelievably relaxing for Bri and I! It was fun to just spend time together before Baby girl joins our family. By the end of the week we were missing our kids A LOT, though. It was good to come home and see how happy Paige and Austin were to have us back. I have to give a HUGE thank you to my sis, Kandra, for watching the kids for most of the week and also to my parents and brother and SIL for watching them in between our reunion and when Kandra and Brandon watched them. We owe you BIG TIME, especially when we found out about how many pooping accidents Austin had while we were gone! Good news with that, though. We think he finally made a breakthrough and is now officially potty trained. He's had #1 down for quite a while, but he now has #2 down. Thank goodness. It sure was a long 3 months!! :0)