Krisi & Eddy Adventures

The Giraffe Dress

2012-01-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

It's so fun having a baby girl. I only have 2 of my baby dresses existing, and so I thought it'd be fun to dress up Lydia in one of them. Pictured below is me compared to Lydia. I was a little bit younger than her when I wore this dress, so it's a little small on Lydia.

This is me under 1 month old. Don't you love the 1970s
couch in the background?

This is Lydia 2 months old.

Here are a couple other angles of Lydia in my dress.

Luke & Lydia

So far, Luke has been a wonderful big brother to baby Lydia. Pictured below is a rare moment I had to quickly capture before it was over. Laying side by side Luke reads a book to Lydia.

I hope Luke and Lydia will grow up to be good friends.

Lydia's Birth Announcement Card

2011-12-07T00:43:00.002-07:00

Picture Her Birth Announcement

Graduation invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

She's Here!

2011-11-29T22:52:00.002-07:00

Lydia Annalyn has arrived! She was born a little over 2 weeks early on Saturday, November 19th. We were surprised at her early arrival, but we were so happy she was healthy and well and so cute! Here are a few photos my good friend, Michelle Sallay, took of our family at the hospital.

Lydia was 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 18 inches long. That's a pretty decent size for being early!

Our 2 year old didn't know quite what to think at first...

Luke eventually warmed up to his baby sister, and enjoyed looking at her tiny features and

stroking her soft hair.

Our first family photo together with Lydia!

Eddy's parents visited us. And my parents 'visited' us via Skype since they are serving a church mission in Spain. I'm glad both grandparents were able to see her!

Daddy and Lydia

I couldn't resist but whip out the camcorder and document that special day!

Our Summer 2011--Highlights

2011-11-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

This summer was a lot of fun and very busy. That's why we were bad at making posts on our blog during the summer. So, this will be a whopper of an entry, but we wanted to share the highlights of our summer with everyone.

4th of July

Every year it is a tradition to watch the parade in the small town of Delta, UT. My grandpa still lives there as well as some other family, so it's a great time to get together.

Me, Luke, and Eddy waiting for the parade to begin.

Most all of my nieces and nephews made the trip down to Delta. The parade is not the fanciest, but we all enjoy the small-town feel. The kids always like the salt water taffy and other goodies that are thrown out at the parade.

Luke loved watching the parade with cousins.

Luke awaiting the goodies.

Luke sure got his fill of candy!

After the parade, we enjoyed visiting with my 96-year-old grandpa who still lives alone in his own home.

Luke and my dad had some fun tickle-time after we ate our picnic lunch at the park.

We always have a great time with family in Delta.

Our Main Summer Vacation:

Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons/Yellowstone

Our first stop was Jackson Hole, where we stayed in a nice lodge for one night. We enjoyed walking around the town for an afternoon and evening, and then the next morning we headed off to view the Grand Tetons.

I have never seen the Grand Tetons, so I was pretty excited.

I borrowed my friend's fish-eye lens and had so much fun taking pictures with it!

We didn't get to do much hiking, but we enjoyed driving the sight-seeing route and I loved taking pictures along the way.

We did take a few short walks at pretty stops to help Luke endure the trip.

My favorite thing we did in the Tetons, was take a boat ride across Jenny Lake and climb to this view point.

Eddy was a trooper to hike the steep, 2 mile hike with Luke in his backpack.

Luke was grateful to be out of the backpack and walk around a bit.

I set up a tripod to get a little family picture with the Tetons as our backdrop.

We love the Tetons, and want to come back!

Yellowstone

The rest of our trip was spent in Yellowstone. It was the first time for both of us to be there and we loved it!

We met up with our good friends, the Bennion family, and shared a cabin with them for 3 nights.

Luke loved having a playmate to join us for the rest of the trip.

We were grateful that Yellowstone was very family friendly, and had some boardwalks we could use strollers on when Eddy was tired of backpacking Luke around.

Here we are waiting for Old Faithful to erupt. It took what seemed like forever, especially for a toddler!

Finally it erupted and it was definitely worth the wait!

We mostly drove to each stop, and while Luke slept I jumped out and had fun taking pictures with my photographer friend Amy Bennion. Eddy was fine with waiting in the car with Luke so he could take a little snooze too.

I had a blast taking pictures of such beautiful scenery!

I absolutely loved hiking to these waterfalls (The Lower Falls). But, it wasn't so fun on our knees as we had to climb what seemed like thousands of stairs!

Hiking back up the thousands of stairs to the top. Eddy is a tough guy carrying Luke the whole way!

We enjoyed doing some other small hikes to see some scenic spots.

Luke was pretty exhausted after 2 1/2 days of hiking and sight-seeing.

One of our last stops was seeing "Quake Lake" which was formed by an earthquake that occurred in the 60s. Eddy's dad happened to be in Yellowstone when it happened! So, we had to see it. There are still dead trees standing up in the middle of the lake!

We had an excellent vacation and definitely want to go back!

The Summers Family BBQ

For the 24th of July celebration we got together with the Summers Family and enjoyed playing games, eating, and visiting.

Luke with his Grandma Summers and cousin.

Eddy and I organized a root beer tasting contest. We had 8 different brands and Eddy made homemade root beer. It seemed like everyone voted the homemade root beer as their favorite.

We took a root beer quiz to see if we could recognize which brand was which. Nobody got it 100% correct, but there were a few close ones.

We used the rest of the root-beer to make root-beer floats. Luke was in heaven!

Luke loved swinging, especially when his two cousins kept falling down, pretending as though he had kicked them down. Thank goodness for fun, older cousins!

When it began to be dusk, we pulled out the sparklers for the kids. We had a great time.

The Church Family BBQ

My family's summertime tradition is to go up in the canyon for a BBQ, games, and s'mores.

Eddy organized a card game for those who wanted to play.

My dad grilled up hot dogs for the kids.

We also cooked some yummy veggies in the fire pit.

We loved eating our dinner while being in the beautiful Millcreek Canyon.

Luke was fascinated with cooking marshmallows. Of course, he needed a little help.

My sister assembling a s'more.

Daddy and Luke.

Leamarado Days

Each Labor Day since 1946, the small town of Leamington, UT has a celebration in honor of WW2 Veterens. Everyone first gathers at the town hall to watch a talent show of the locals, and then enjoy a BBQ lunch, games, and an evening rodeo.

My family and I went down just for the day and enjoyed Leamington's talent program, lunch and games.

Luke was happy to sit on Grandpa's lap for some of the talent show.

But, after awhile, as you can see, he got kind of bored.

The BBQ lunch was great and we were happy that my 96-year-old grandpa met up with us from Delta.

After lunch, Luke's older cousins gave him some fun piggy back rides.

Luke has the best cousins!

Eddy with Luke and our nephew.

Along with some races and fun games for the kids, there was a tractor that carted around kids for a fun ride.

Since we adults were way too big to sit in these, I'm glad my niece volunteered to accompany Luke. He loved it!

We don't go every year to Leamington, but when we do go, we have a great time!

We had an awesome summer and are now excited to welcome our 2nd child as we enter Winter!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:39:00.000-06:00

For Halloween, Luke dressed up as his favorite character: Curious George. He was thrilled!

To keep with the theme, Eddy dressed as the Man with the Yellow Hat, and I dressed as Professor Wiseman, who is also a character in Curious George.

We enjoyed going to our ward's trunk or treat party.

Luke loved seeing his best friend there.

We were also grateful that my brother and his girls could join us as well. Luke just loves his cousins!

Luke reveled in being escorted trunk to trunk to get sweets.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

My Parents' Mission

2011-10-18T07:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, my parents left to serve an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Barcelona, Spain. We are so excited for them but we will miss them tremendously!

My parents had a few days home after going to the Missionary Training Center before flying out to Spain. I was grateful they could spend some quality time with Luke before they left.

My sister-in-law and I are both due to have baby girls in November/December and my parents will unfortunately miss their births. So, we thought we'd get one last picture with the unborn grandchildren right before they left.

Bye, Mom and Dad! We will miss you!

Luke is 2!

2011-09-21T13:25:00.000-06:00

Our baby Luke is no longer a baby!

He's a full-fledged toddler, and he just turned 2 at the end of August!

Luke's main present from us was this little slide/activity center that fits perfectly in our little backyard. Luke loves it and was thrilled!

Luke adores Curious George and so Eddy made a banana cream cake, and I attempted to decorate it with a Curious George theme. The cake tasted better than it looked, but at least Luke liked it.

We had a family party in our little townhouse. Our families are quite large and we didn't expect everyone to come, but most all did! We had over 40 of our family come celebrate with us! Luke reveled in the attention. Luke absolutely loves his cousins!

Luke eagerly anticipates blowing out his candle as we begin singing "Happy Birthday"

Luke needed a little assistance, but he blew it out!

Happy Birthday Dear Luke! We love you!

Antique Sewing Table

2011-06-21T20:41:00.000-06:00

Recently we inherited Krisi's grandmother's sewing table. It is about 80-90 years old, but it had been sitting in a shack/garage for the past 40 years, and had deteriorated into a pretty sorry condition.

After cleaning up all the dirt and cobwebs, this was the condition of the sewing table.

Unfortunately, much of the original wood was missing, so in order to bring this table to a presentable condition, I had to replace the top of the table. I converted my garage into a workshop and started to go to work.

I realize that it destroys all the antiquity value of furniture to place new wood with the original wood, but I wasn't as concerned with the monetary value of the table as much as being able to display a family heirloom.

The original table was made of a light oak, but over the space of time it had darkened considerably. In order to match the new wood with the original, I had to stain the new table top.

I figured that it would look ridiculous to have a brand-new table top with an old, rusted, base, so I scraped off the rust and repainted the steel base.

The final product:

The original table had three small drawers on each side of the table, however, there were no parts of the original drawers still in existence, so I decided to leave them off of the restored table. If I get really ambitious, then I'll someday build drawers for the table.

This is now sitting in our entryway, and I think that it is a nice way to show some remembrance for our ancestors.

For those that don't know...

2011-06-09T14:45:00.000-06:00

Luke is going to be a big brother!

Luke will have some adjusting to do when the baby comes in early December, but hopefully he'll enjoy having a sibling around!

This ultrasound shows our baby at 9 weeks. Right now, I am at 14 weeks. Things are going well besides the normal sickness and tiredness that accompany the 1st trimester.

Luke has a lot to think about...

But, whenever I tell him I have a baby in my tummy he smiles, lifts up his shirt, and points at his tummy too.

A Video Clip of Luke

2011-05-25T20:48:00.000-06:00

The other day I recorded Luke singing and counting along with me on my phone. I find whenever I pull out my nice video camera Luke freezes and doesn't perform, and instead wants to play with the camera. But, apparently my phone was a good enough disguise that I could capture some of the latest things he is doing as a 20 month old. He is saying more words and doing better at communicating with me each day. It's so fun to watch him develop.

Our Race for the Cure

2011-05-18T21:50:00.000-06:00

Along with over 16,000 runners, Eddy's sister and I ran Salt Lake City's annual "Race for the Cure" 5k. The proceeds went completely to breast cancer research. Both our mom's have had breast cancer, and in fact, Eddy and Susan's mom is currently fighting breast cancer for the 2nd time. So, Susan and I ran on their behalf, and wrote their names on our backs. Thinking about our moms helped keep us running.

We took these photos with my phone and most of them are while we are running, so they aren't the best,

but it gives a glimpse of what the race was like!

The starting line

Me in action.

A few of the 16,000 runners

The entire street was filled with runners/walkers (you can see at the horizon it is packed with people!)

Susan running a good race.

The finish line is in sight!

Almost there!....

Yay! We did it!

What an adventure! We love our moms!

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T10:55:00.000-06:00

We bought our 20-month-old a cute suit for Easter and took a few photos. We love Easter time--not only because we have fun family gatherings and yummy food, but because we love to remember and celebrate the wondrous Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Luke finally was old enough to enjoy a little Easter egg hunt as well as an Easter basket. If it were up to him, he would've eaten all the goodies in one sitting!

Sweaters & Ties

2011-04-12T22:41:00.001-06:00

The other day, Luke kept pulling sweaters out of his closet and INSISTING that I put them on him. Although he was already wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt I relented, and awkwardly layered on the 3 sweaters he chose. It wasn't a cold day, so I knew Luke would be uncomfortable. He only lasted about 5 minutes--just long enough for me to laugh, videotape, and snap some photos. There is never a dull moment with Luke!

Ties

One Sunday, while Luke observed Eddy putting on his tie, he pointed and grunted insistently at one of Eddy's ties. Eddy proceeded to give Luke his first lesson in how to tie a tie. Luke was fascinated and felt proud to have a tie just like his daddy.

I guess it's time we get a tie his size!

Ugly Glasses

2011-03-26T13:23:00.001-06:00

I was rummaging through my parents' basement the other day and found my dad's old glasses from the 70s/80s. My younger brother suggested that Eddy and I should pose for a lovely 'engagement' photo, modeling my dad's lovely glasses. Even though our eyes hurt afterwards...it was worth the good laugh!

Snowshoeing Video

2011-02-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Eddy and I have taken Luke snowshoeing several times, and he seems to love being outdoors. Here is a little video I filmed on my iphone. I was testing out a new 8mm film app I downloaded. It looked so cool, I made a little video out of it. Enjoy!

Kitchen Sink

2011-02-06T21:45:00.008-07:00

It's been fun to watch Luke grow and to see him get interested in the smallest things. Lately, he has loved the running water in the kitchen sink. After dinner every night, Luke wants to stand on a stool and play in the sink while we clean up.

Someday when Luke is a teenager, we'll show him these photos as evidence that he was born to do the dishes!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T11:37:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was the first Christmas where Luke could enjoy it.

On Christmas Eve we had our traditional program with the Church family. Each year we gather at Grandpa and Grandma Church's House to go caroling, have dinner, and a Christmas program. This is a fun time to visit with lots of family.

On Christmas morning we awoke to find that Santa had come to our house and given Luke his very own keyboard and microphone. Luke is interested in anything musical, so this has been a great present for him.

Grandma and Grandpa Church stopped by and brought Luke his own telephone, which he loves.

That evening we went to my parents home to have a Christmas dinner and program. We enjoyed a little talent show and just being together.

The highlight of the evening was when my brother Steven gave my dad a refinished antique sled, which was owned by his grandparents. It was damaged years ago, and for the past twenty years has been rotting and rusting in my parents attic. Steven fixed the sled and refinished it for my dad.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and hope all of you enjoyed yours!

Bobby Pins, Headphones, & a Microphone

2010-12-22T14:31:00.005-07:00

Bobby Pins

Luke watches me get ready for the day every day, and likes to get into my stuff. He loves when I put my barrettes and bobby pins in his hair. These photos will someday be embarrassing to him, but I find them adorable!

Headphones & a Microphone

So far, Luke has shown quite an interest in music. He loves finding our headphones and putting them on his head. To top it off, he enjoys making loud sounds into the microphone (hooked to our new keyboard) and look like he is a recording artist. Maybe someday he will be? At least I have these photos for posterity just in case.

In case you are wondering, Luke is almost 16 months old. I can't believe how quickly he has grown!

Gingerbread Extravaganza

2010-12-19T22:48:00.002-07:00

This year we put together a couple of great gingerbread houses. Every year we build a gingerbread house with my side of the family, but this year Krisi saw a contest to build a gingerbread home of an Ivory home and decided that she wanted to enter it. Krisi's sister lives in an Ivory home, so I designed the gingerbread and we spent a Saturday building it with her family.

Luke and Alex loved eating all the candy!

The final product

I think the house turned out very nice, and was fun to put together.

The official entry into the contest:

When we entered this contest we thought it would be a lot of amateur gingerbread homes, but we were wrong. All the homes looked professionally done, and were immaculate. It made us feel pretty discouraged that our home looked so sloppy in comparison. I think that this will be the last gingerbread contest that I enter into.

Gingerbread Houses Part 2:

The following week we built gingerbread houses with my family. This year I decided to make the Salt Lake Tabernacle. After all the hard work that we did the week before, I didn't have the energy to try to make the dome out of gingerbread; so I cheated and made it out of a disposable turkey pan.

Some of the kids helped with the decorating of the gingerbread (but most just ate the candy.)

Luke preferred to play with his cousins in the music room.

I was very pleased at how nice the tabernacle turned out. I especially liked how easy it was to build.

We had a lot of family building houses this year, and they turned out great.

Merry Christmas to All!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-16T18:58:00.002-07:00

We had a fun Halloween this year. Luke is now old enough to actually enjoy the holiday.

For a young women's fund raiser this past summer, people in the ward put services or other items up for auction. We ended up winning a homemade Halloween costume (of our choice), and we decided to dress Luke up as a turtle.

The shell comes off, and Luke enjoyed carrying it around with him and using it as a pillow.

For some reason, Luke loves to run into the street. As soon as the front door is open, he makes a dash for the street.

On Friday, my office had trick-or-treating for the kids. Krisi and Luke came to visit me at work, which was a lot of fun.

On Saturday we went to a Trunk-or-Treat activity at the church. Krisi, and I dressed up for this activity.

What do a cowboy, a nun, and a turtle have in common? Absolutely nothing.

We had a great Halloween!

Krisi's First Marathon Relay Race

2010-09-27T20:33:00.008-06:00

I ran my first Marathon Relay on September 11th. I wouldn't have even considered it if it weren't for my sister-in-law organizing a family team--(Eddy's brother, sister, their spouses and me). We each ran apx. 5.2 miles. This was the longest I have ever run! I honestly don't care for running, but I felt great that I accomplished something I am not inclined to do.

This is my wonderful "Summertime Fun Team"! We placed 42 out of about 124 Teams.

This is me running by with the baton. I look like a nerd, but that's okay.

My baby Luke and his cousins patiently waited for us.

I reached the finish line! I didn't care about my time at all--I was just proud of myself that I didn't stop running! I ran it in 52:28 mins. Making about 10 minute miles. Not bad...for me, at least.

Thanks to my loving husband and son for supporting me! xoxoxo

New Kitchen Tile

2010-09-19T21:01:00.004-06:00

For those that have been to our home or that have followed our blog may recall that our dining room is connected to the living room and used to be carpeted. This worked great for us until now. We discovered that an "independent" one-year-old and a carpeted dining room don't go together very well. There was so much food mashed into the carpet under Luke's seat that we finally decided to get rid of the carpet and tile the dining room.

The biggest problem with doing this was that we couldn't find an exact match for the existing tile in the kitchen. We thought it would look a little weird to have the dining room a different color than the kitchen, so we had to rip out all the existing tile and redo the entire floor. Ripping out the old tile proved to be the hardest part of the entire job.

I hired my brother Steve to help me, and we spent the entire Labor Day Weekend working together.

This was my first experience with tile, so it was kind of fun to learn how to do it…However, I have no interest in doing it again anytime soon.

For about a week, we didn't have access to our stove, and our fridge was located in the living room, which was quite a hassle. After a few days of eating out, we were ready for some good home cooking!

The finished product.

I think that the floor turned out pretty good. At least it is a lot easier to clean up after each meal!

Luke is One!

2010-09-12T16:54:00.013-06:00

We can't believe our baby is already one!

We threw a big party (Aug. 28th) at a park and invited all our family.

Although it was a very blustery day, we still had a great time!

I made a birthday game for everyone to play. The top scores that put Luke's monthly photos in order got a prize. Eddy played the game and didn't even get 1st place!

I found great satisfaction in stumping him. :)

Eddy did a great job making the cupcakes!

We provided hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone.

Eddy slaved away at the grill most of the evening.

Besides the wind, the pavilion at the park was a perfect venue.

THE CAKE

My Relief Society president made this cake for us.

I requested a blue turtle cake because Luke is in love with his blue turtle bath toy.

At first we just gave him a piece of the cake...

...but that didn't satisfy him!

We discovered he was more interested in the candle!

Sampling the candle...

"Ewww...this doesn't taste so great."

The digging begins...

Luke had more fun destroying the cake than eating it!

He did sample the cake a little bit...

...but, most of it ended up on the ground, along with his dinner.

The end result.

His face wasn't as messy as we expected, but everything else was!

Presents!

Luke and Daddy opening presents.

"Yay! More bath toys!"

A big kiss always comes with a present from Grandma!

We were thrilled that Luke applauded his first birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday Luke!

The Washing Machine

2010-08-15T10:35:00.011-06:00

Luke is obsessed with our washing machine. He INSISTS on being on top of the washer whenever I am loading or unloading the washer or dryer. Nevertheless, it keeps him occupied and happy, so I am fine with it...I just have to stand as guard to prevent any falls (he did slip into the open washer once...that wasn't pleasant...but it hasn't stopped him from wanting to be on top.)

It's fun to watch Luke find delight and joy in the simplest things of life.

Grandma Loves Luke

2010-07-13T21:49:00.004-06:00

Luke gets lots of kisses from Grandma!

4th of July

2010-07-06T10:31:00.006-06:00

We had a fun annual trip to Delta, UT to watch it's small-town parade. Luke enjoyed watching his cousins running around, picking up candy more than the floats going by.

Luke enjoyed being held by Grandpa.

Luke watching cousins.

Luke raises his hands in anticipation for candy...actually, I think he was just copying his cousins.

Mommy and Luke

After the parade, we enjoyed visiting with Luke's Great-Grandpa who is 95 years old!

Luke likes practicing standing against just about anything, including Great-Grandpa's computer desk.

Bonding with Great-Grandpa.

Luke contemplating the sacrifices made for our country.

We enjoyed taking a little hike with Luke over the 4th weekend. We love this time of year!

Luke's First Big Trip: California

2010-06-08T10:43:00.003-06:00

We went to California initially for a family reunion in Fresno, but decided to extend our stay. So, we started our trip by flying to Oakland and staying in San Francisco.

This was Luke's first plane ride. Overall, he did well for a 9 month old. He did have some fussy outbursts here and there, but besides that, he did okay. He loved opening and shutting the window shade.

Fisherman's Wharf

We loved walking around Pier 39 and enjoyed eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp.

Krisi, Eddy, and Luke standing in front of Alcatraz.

The famous seals at Pier 39.

Ghirardelli Square

We couldn't miss the yummy Ghirardelli ice-cream and chocolate of San Francsico.

After a long day, we tried to settle Luke down for the night, hoping he would sleep okay in a new place.

Golden Gate Bridge

Unfortunately, Luke got car sick from the up and down roads of San Francisco, and threw up when we arrived at the bridge. It took awhile to settle him down, but when he started feeling better, we were able to enjoy walking along the bridge.

Muir Woods

This was a beautiful National Monument. The trees were amazing! Luke loved looking around and touching the texture of the trees.

Fresno

We drove to Fresno for the family reunion and enjoyed staying with Eddy's uncle and aunt. They had a fun pool there and let Luke have his very first swim.

Yosemite National Park

After our family reunion we drove to Merced, and stayed a few nights so that we could go to Yosemite.

We were awed at the amazing waterfalls at Yosemite!

Our little explorer.

We let Luke take a little dip on the shore of one of Yosemite's lakes.

After a long day of hiking around. Luke was pooped.

Last Day

The next morning, Eddy and Luke took a quick swim in the hotel pool, and then we headed back to Oakland.

Oakland

Before we headed to the airport, we stopped by Krisi's past BYU roommate's house, and took a walk with her and her baby to a beautiful Oakland Cemetery.

Krisi and Sarah

Luke slept most of our walk with Sarah. We wished he was like this in the airplane ride home. Oh well. But, we had a wonderful trip!

Bike Trailer

2010-05-24T15:49:00.005-06:00

We love taking Luke out on bike rides in our new bike trailer. He's nearly 9 months old now, and he loves being outdoors. It's a win-win situation! We're grateful the weather is finally warm so we can get out and enjoy exercising while being together as a family.

Snow Shoeing with Luke

2010-05-05T20:01:00.004-06:00

This post is a bit delayed, but, back in March we took Luke on his first snow shoe excursion. He did excellent! We can tell already that he loves the outdoors. I had fun dressing him up in this cute bear suit.

Now that summer is on it's way, we plan on taking Luke on lots of hikes.

Easter 2010

2010-04-15T22:23:00.003-06:00

We had a great Easter and were able to spend a lot of time with family. Grandma and Grandpa Church have an Easter egg hunt in their backyard every year for all the grandkids. Here are a few cute shots of Luke's first Easter egg hunt.

Golden Spike & Spiral Jetty

2010-04-12T21:40:00.005-06:00

We recently made the goal to visit every state and national park and monument within the state of Utah. Although we have visited a lot of the state there is still a lot that we would still like to see.

I had Good Friday off from work and we decided to take advantage by going to Golden Spike National Monument. In case you're not familiar, Golden Spike is north of the Great Salt Lake and was the location where the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Railway to form the first transcontinental railroad. It's in the middle of nowhere, but it was fun to see a historical site and learn a little about the history of our country.

The drive is about 2 hours from our home, and Luke did very well to be in his seat for the entire time.

Outside the visitor's center

A replica of the Golden Spike

This is the location where they placed the final tie and nailed down the golden spike.

After going to the visitor's center we went on a little walk along some of the existing grade that is now called the Big Fill Trail.

I ended up carrying Luke for the walk, while Krisi took all the photos. I think that turned out best for all of us.

After going on the walk, we decided to take a 16 mile drive along dirt roads to get to the coast of the Great Salt Lake to see the Spiral Jetty.

We began walking out on the jetty, but it was really windy and getting cold…by this time Luke was done with our adventure, so I took him back to the car while Krisi took some cool photos around the Jetty.

This is not snow, it is salt and foam.

The Beard Experiment

2010-04-05T17:57:00.004-06:00

During the month of February, I decided to grow a beard. I enjoyed how it looked, but hated how it felt, thus it only lasted for a month.

Before, shaving the beard I decided to have a little fun with it.

The Full Beard.

The "Goat"

The "Cowboy" look

Just plain creepy.

Ahhh…clean shaven.

Thanks Krisi for taking all the photos!

Six Months Old

2010-03-04T20:15:00.002-07:00

This past Sunday was Luke's 6 month birthday. He is growing so quick, here are the stats from his doctor's visit this past week:

Height: 26in 50%

Weight: 17.5 lbs 50%

Head: 45cm 75%

Luke has loved playing in the exersaucer (thanks Rich & Tanya). We have discovered that this is a real lifesaver for us.

Cousins Aidan and Alex love to take turns holding Luke...if he lets them.

Grandma recently babysat Luke, and had fun stylizing his hair. We thought that it was really cute to see our baby with spiky hair.

Luke and I faithfully watch as many BYU games as we can.

Luke is ecstatic for March Madness!

Rice Cereal

2010-02-27T08:52:00.002-07:00

We have just started giving Luke a little bit of rice cereal each day. The first time that he tried it, he was a little confused and had a disgusted look on his face after each spoonful. He has gotten a little bit better, and I think that he even enjoys it a little now.

Luke is really more interested in the spoon than in the cereal, but we know that will change.

Here is a little smile showing how proud he is of himself.

Luke Laughing

2010-01-02T23:06:00.005-07:00

Don't you hate it when your baby does something really cute, and by the time you pull out a camera the cuteness is starting to fade...well, this is the case with this clip. We got Luke laughing SO hard by simply shaking a toy in his face. Well, by the time we pulled out the camera, his laughter wasn't nearly as hearty, but it still is cute. Hope you enjoy.

Luke’s First Christmas

2009-12-27T22:18:00.010-07:00

Although Luke is too young to enjoy Christmas, we enjoyed it for him! It was so fun to share Christmastime with our little one.

Santa Luke (4 months old)

Luke was like a deer in the headlights. He didn't know what was coming…

Presents!

"What do I do with this?"

We discovered all Luke really cared about getting for Christmas was his beloved bottle.

Snowshoe Adventure

2009-12-27T16:36:00.010-07:00

The day after Christmas, we went snowshoeing with my brother and sister and their spouses. This is our first time snowshoeing this season. We went up the White Pine trail head in Little Cottonwood canyon, and had a great time.

Me & Krisi

Susan & Landry

Steven & Becca

By the time we were done we were pooped (and we only went two miles).

Gingerbread House

2009-12-10T18:00:00.004-07:00

This past Saturday we all went to my parents house for the second annual "Summers Family Gingerbread House Marathon". My mom had prepared a breakfast for everybody and then we went to work.

I decided to design and build my parents house this year. I started by building a model of it in AutoCad based on a picture of their home and then I went to town baking the bread and building the house. Thanks to Krisi, Susan, and Tanya it actually turned out to look pretty good.

My parents house (1983)

Front of House

Back of House (including vegetable garden)

We had a lot of fun doing gingerbread houses. Thanks Mom, for all your help in hosting this.

Luke's First Hike

2009-12-07T19:09:00.008-07:00

It was a bright, clear day in St. George--perfect for hiking. We were so excited to take this road-trip--we needed to get out of the cold and go somewhere warmer!

Believe it or not, Luke actually was giggling as we began our hike. I think the movement tickled his tummy.

Not long into the hike, Luke zonked out. However, when we stopped to take pictures Luke would cry every time. So, perhaps he wasn't asleep after all.

There were many lava tubes like this along the "Lava Overflow Trail" in Snow Canyon.

We also saw some cool petrified dunes.

After we hiked, we took Luke on a walk in another part of Snow Canyon.

Luke did amazingly well for his first hike as a 3 month old! We look forward to taking him on more adventures...

Big 3 Month Old

2009-12-04T12:10:00.005-07:00

Luke just turned 3 months old! He is growing out of his clothes so fast! But, then it's fun to dress him in bigger clothes too. Here are a variety of Luke's cute face.

Luke isn't so sure about his bumpo seat. Hopefully he'll enjoy it soon.

We are having so much fun with him!

Our First Family Photos

2009-11-17T12:27:00.008-07:00

We took these photos in some orchards in Provo. My good friend Michelle Evans Sallay took our family photos, and in exchange I took her family photos in the same place. I thought they turned out nicely.

My sister crochetted these hats for me and Luke. They are so cute!

Pumpkin Baby

2009-11-02T11:56:00.006-07:00

First off, I need to post Luke's 2 month old portrait. He's growing so fast at 12 lbs. 2 oz. and 23 inches long! He's in the 50th percentile for height and weight. We feel so grateful to have such a healthy growing boy!

Our Pumpkin Baby

This is our prize winner pumpkin!

Thanks to my friend Andrea for gifting us the pumpkin outfit!

It was perfect!

Luke was so excited to go trunk or treating with our ward so he could show off his costume.

Fortunately, he's not ready to eat candy yet!

Luke can hold up his head pretty good already!

Daddy's favorite pumpkin!

We had so much fun dressing up Luke. We can't wait till next year!

Luke's Baby Blessing

2009-10-28T17:40:00.008-06:00

Last Sunday Eddy gave Luke a beautiful blessing at church.

Here are some cute pictures of Luke in his blessing outfit.

Luke was so excited for his blessing! :)

"Quit taking pictures of me Mom!"

This is Eddy and his dad on his blessing day. Can you see any resemblance with Luke?

Eddy and Luke

Krisi and Luke

Luke's outfit came with this cute beanie.

Luke tolerated the photo session.

Our happy, little family

Mommy absolutely loves and adores her little Luke.

Luke's First Bonfire

2009-10-20T21:48:00.005-06:00

Krisi has been doing a lot of family history lately and had some names to take to the temple, and I was going to babysit Luke so she could do it. It so happened that my friends planned to have a bonfire in the canyon the same night, so I ended up taking Luke to his first bonfire.

Luckily everyone was willing to hold our baby.

I was able to do a little dutch oven cooking.

I'm glad that we have a boy and I'm excited to be able to take him camping when he gets a little older! We missed you Krisi!

(Thanks John for organizing this, and thanks Sam and Clint for taking the pictures.)

6 Weeks Old!

2009-10-10T21:31:00.009-06:00

Time moves swiftly by! Luke is already 6 weeks old! We are enjoying our little guy and we're so grateful he is a healthy baby. So far he is growing fast and gaining 1 pound a week!

Our precious 6 week old.

Luke and Daddy

Grumpy baby...but oh, so cute.

Picnic in the canyon

We took Luke up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a nice picnic before the weather got too cold.

Luke's aunt and uncle joined us.

"Property of Mommy and Daddy"

Eddy wore this outfit when he was a baby. It was fun to put it on Luke and get a few pictures.

We love our growing boy!

Sleepy Baby

2009-09-20T13:16:00.010-06:00

What Luke does best right now besides being fussy, is sleeping. I know they say moms should sleep when their baby sleeps--but as you can see, I can't help but take pictures of Luke!

It was fun to catch Luke smiling in his sleep. I wish it meant he was having a nice dream, but we all know it means something completely different!

Nap-time with Daddy

Nap-time in the crib

Nap-time in the car seat

Nap-time in the company of cousins

Samantha and Abbie are proud of their new cousin.

Cousin Sarah--future babysitter--(I hope!)

I know it won't be long that these eyes will be open for most of the day...but for now, I will enjoy my sleepy baby.

Welcome Home Luke!

2009-09-04T17:31:00.013-06:00

Luke is home! The first thing we did was give Luke a tour of our townhome and show him his room, the nursery.

Luke with Mommy

Vinyl art above the crib

The proud daddy

Visitors
My sister and a few of her kids came to see their brand new cousin.

We hope when Luke gets older he can play with his cousin Alex

Playing with Luke in our backyard

It's so fun to watch the different kinds of faces babies will make!

Grandma Time

My mom has been so wonderful to help me these first days of adjusting to being home with the baby.

My mom and I gave Luke his first sponge bath at home. He cried quite a bit. The only thing he liked was when we washed his hair. I couldn't get pictures of the event since I was the one bathing him, but these pictures are after the fact.

Clean baby Luke.

I had to get this funny shot of the pacifier engulfing Luke's face.

Mommy baby time

It's so fun having our sweet Luke home with us.

Welcome home Luke, we love you!

Our Sweet Little Luke

2009-09-01T20:23:00.008-06:00

My dear friend Michelle Sallay was so kind to come visit us in the hospital and take these beautiful pictures of our sweet little Luke. Isn't he adorable? Of course, we think so!

Grandma loves holding her new little grandson!

Tired but happy Mommy with her sweet Luke.

Thank you Michelle! I love these pictures!
(michellesallayphotography.com)

Our first Baby!

2009-08-28T23:12:00.006-06:00

Last night (Thursday) Krisi's water broke and we rushed her to the hospital to find that she was already dilated to an 8. We got to the hospital around 9:30 pm and our baby boy was born at 12:34 this morning. The labor and delivery went well, and the result is a healthy baby boy.

He was born 7 lb. 10 oz and was 19 in. long. He had a good cry and he was nice and pink. He was born 11 days early, but was as healthy as could be.

We had been having some problems picking the name because we thought that he was going to be either Wesley or Cael, but neither seemed to fit. About an hour after birth, Krisi found herself thinking of our new baby as "Luke", and we decided that the name fit.

It has been a crazy, but very good day. We are so excited to finally have our baby with us.

Summer Highlights

2009-08-12T12:37:00.010-06:00

The Church Family Reunion at Snow Basin

Eddy and I enjoyed the day with my family up at Snow Basin. We took the gondola up to the top and hiked around. After a couple hikes, family pictures and a yummy lunch, Eddy and my brother-in-law Dave mountain biked down and met us at the bottom. They had a great time.

Me and Eddy with our adorable nephew Alex.

The Gondola

What a view! We had a great family reunion!

Zions National Park
Eddy and I took a weekend trip down to Cedar City to stay with my uncle and aunt while we went to the Shakespearean Festival and took a visit to Zions National Park. It was my first time in Zions and it was beautiful!

It's tough being in 111 degree weather while pregnant! During our hikes, I had to take a break and dip my swollen feet in the cool river!

Being 7 months pregnant in the summer heat is miserable!

One of the places we hiked to was Weeping Rock, this was a great place to cool off. The rock literally 'wept' drops of water on us. Ahhh....It was so refreshing to get out of the heat and get wet!

I definitely want to go back to Zions when I'm not pregnant and when it's a little cooler!

My uncle and aunt were so gracious and kind to let us stay with them. We had a great trip!

Our Colorado Roadtrip

2009-05-27T20:33:00.017-06:00

We took our last big trip before our baby is born--we drove to Colorado and had a great time! The primary reason was to give Eddy a tour of where I was raised from birth to the age of 15. We also were able to see some friends and family and enjoy some sight seeing. Here's a quick summary of our 5 day trip.

Hanging Lake

Because I'm pregnant, I couldn't make the 1.5 mile steep hike up to Hanging Lake (near Glennwood Springs, CO), so instead we had a picnic at the base of the trail and walked along the river.

Red Rocks Park

This is a beautiful place! We took a nice little hike around the park. There is also an amphitheater here where many famous bands have played, including The Beatles. I got to see Sting here when I was 14. It's an awesome place for a concert! And a great place just to walk around.

Pike's Peak

We met up with my dear friend MariLouise (who I was roommates with at BYU), and her husband Brian to take a cog-rail train up to Pike's Peak.

We enjoyed the journey even though it got pretty white-washed as we approached the summit.

It was the wrong day to go to the summit, because we couldn't see anything! But, we had fun regardless.

This is the highest peak we've ever been on.
We're glad to say we were there.

We got back on the train 20 mins. later to warm up and enjoy good company with our friends.

Garden of the Gods

Right after Pike's Peak, we got some lunch and then drove around the beautiful Garden of the Gods.

Estes Park

We drove up to the beautiful Estes Park in Northern Colorado.

We were happy that my Aunt Florence and my cousin Ann-Marie
could join us.

We enjoyed walking around beautiful lakes and taking short hikes.

It was a little chilly, but not bad.

We saw lots of elk and other wildlife.

We had a picnic and Mr. Scavenger Duck was our uninvited guest, but we didn't mind him hanging around.

It was so nice to catch up with my cousin. We had a great visit.

What a wonderful trip! We loved staying at the "Estes Park Bed and Breakfast." We'd recommend it to anyone!

Pregnant Krisi

2009-05-12T21:54:00.005-06:00

I'm 5 months along! It's somewhat of a relief to start showing enough to wear maternity clothes. In the beginning months I just felt chubbier and chubbier as my normal clothes became increasingly tight--however, it was too early to wear maternity clothes--but now, I can and I feel liberated!

Spring is my absolute favorite season. I asked my friend Michelle to join me in taking pictures of tulips and blossoms. After we took a million pictures of flowers she took some pictures of me in my pregnant glory. :)

It's a.....

2009-04-27T10:30:00.012-06:00

Boy!

I predicted it right! I had a feeling it was a boy!
We are so excited for our baby boy to come in September!
Everything is looking normal and healthy so far!
Hallelujah!

Our Two Big Adventures...

2009-03-31T21:25:00.018-06:00

#1 Adventure:
We are having a baby!

This is the biggest adventure of all!
The due date is September 8th. We are so excited!

We announced the big news to our family by presenting a baby decorated cake. Everyone was very excited for us.

So far, things are going well. I'm healthy and there are no problems. My morning sickness wasn't very bad at all, and I've been able to go to work everyday without any health issues. I feel very lucky!

#2 Adventure
Babysitting 5 kids for 9 days during
our 1st Wedding Anniversary

Our 1st Anniversary was very different than we imagined. We spent it babysitting my sister's 5 kids for 9 days in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My sister and her husband went on a once-in-a-lifetime tour to Israel.
They flew us done to NM to take care of their kids while they were gone.
We made sure the kids had a good time.

My oldest nephew (13) volunteered to babysit so Eddy and I could go out on our anniversary (March 28).

First, we did sealings in the New Mexico Temple--A great place to remember our own sealing.

Then we went on the longest tramway in the world up to Sandia Peak

When we got to the top, it was in the teens and 30 mph winds! We didn't stay up there too long.

We got to see beautiful views of the mountains surrounding Albuquerque.
After the tram, we went to a delicious Mexican restaurant called
San Diagos. I had the best beef burrito ever!

Road trip to Bandelier National Monument

One of our favorite things we did with the kids was take them on a 2 hour road trip to Bandelier National Monument. It had caves and ruins of the ancient pueblo people.
It was the highlight of our time together.

I spent a lot of time video taping the kids. At the end of the week I edited a fun little movie for them so they would always remember the fun they had with their Aunt Krisi and Uncle Eddy.

Even though it was challenging to babysit 5 kids during their spring break, we also felt rewarded to bond with them and learn from them. We sure love them. And we're glad my sister and her husband could take a vacation!

Winter Fun

2009-01-23T19:13:00.015-07:00

Since I'm not really a fan of winter, I make sure that we go and do fun things in the snow to help me make it through. So far, it's been working and we're having a great time!

Snowshoeing Bell Canyon

This is a very convenient trail to get to; right off Wasatch.
However, it is quite steep--which makes it a great workout!

My good friend Brooke came in town from New York. She never had been snowshoeing, so we thought we'd give her a new adventure. I'm glad she liked it!

Eddy and I have hiked and snowshoed on this trail many times.
We recommend it!
There are beautiful views of the valley along the way!

This is one of many pretty views along the trail.

I'm glad Brooke could join us.

Pretty steep!

Snowshoeing White Pine Trail

Me--taking a rest after a vigorous climb.

Beautiful scenery! We love this trail too!

There were still berries on trees! Of course, they were all frozen...but they were pretty against the white snow.

Cross-Country Skiing (Soldier Hollow)
Eddy's first time, Krisi's second time

Eddy had some pretty hilarious falls; it's a shame I never had my camera ready!

My sister Stephanie accompanied us. I'm glad she was with us.
We had a great time!

Freezing in the Grand Canyon

2009-01-03T21:41:00.014-07:00

Right before Christmas we drove to the Grand Canyon for a little excursion on the way to visit relatives in Mesa, AZ. We had never been to the Grand Canyon before so we were excited! We were surprised to find it snowed-in and the temperature in the teens (which was not indicated on the weather report the previous day)! Although it was freezing, we still got some great views of the canyon.

We had a downer when we were 20 miles from arriving at our hotel near the canyon, the rangers told us the road ahead was closed due to the storm. The "quickest" way was to take a 150 mile detour to approach it at the other side. We were pretty upset to drive an extra 3 hours in the dark, stormy weather. But we made it okay, thank goodness!

It was so beautiful to see the Grand Canyon blanketed with snow!

I was so freezing, it was difficult to stand in one place during my time-lapse photography.

Eddy withstood the cold a lot better than I did!

After looking at the breath-taking vistas, we enjoyed warming up by the fire and drinking hot cocoa at the lodge.

Krisi's Time-lapse photography of the Grand Canyon

The Big 3-0

2008-11-29T12:23:00.014-07:00

I can't believe I am 30 years old! Instead of getting depressed about getting older, I wanted to celebrate. So, I asked Eddy to take me on a weekend excursion to Moab! We stayed in a hotel and had a lot of fun biking and hiking around Arches National Park.

Typical poses at Balancing Rock

Eddy & Krisi at Balancing Rock

Hiking around "Park Avenue"

We biked on slick rock. It was a lot of hard work.

It rained on us while we were riding, but we didn't mind.

Eddy taking a breather.

I was totally exhausted from the tough bike ride and
I felt like my age finally caught up with me.

We hiked Delicate Arch at sunset. It was beautiful!

Krisi pondering the significance of being 30.

We had a great trip. It poured rain the last day we were there, so we didn't get to see Dead Horse Point. We drove home a little earlier than planned, but that's okay. We'll for sure go again!

My Birthday Dinner with Friends
Some of my high school friends celebrated my birthday by going to dinner to one of my favorite Italian pizza places: Sette Bellos. I'm the first to start the domino effect of turning 30 among my friends.

Whitney, Krisi, Stacy, Jessica, Michelle, Jenni

My friends all went in on a Camelbak backpack for me! I was so excited!

I enjoyed holding Michelle & Brent's cute daughter Stella.

We had a delicious meal. I was perfectly satisfied.

I love these girls, they are such great friends.

The Husbands: Brent, Mike, Eddy

Thanks to my wonderful husband Eddy and my good friends and family, I had a wonderful 3-0.

BYU Homecoming Game
A few days later, we enjoyed going to the Homecoming game of our
Alma Mater.

We were happy we won! Go BYU!