last vacation

I figured before we leave on our next vacation coming up this week, I better blog about my last vacation (which I know is terribly overdue).

We started off our trip in Gilbert, AZ. We met up with my family and stayed at a lovely home my parents rented for us. Memorial Day Cameron had arranged for us to meet at my grandparents' grave to pay our respects.

Later that night many Arnett's descended on my Uncle Jeff's for his world famous tacos and frozen hot chocolate.

We spent the rest of our trip enjoying ourselves at a water park, getting massages and facials, and eating delicious food.

We packed up and headed back to Utah via Las Vegas.

We pit stopped at the Hoover Dam and took a walk over the ginormous bridge. I thought I would be terrified to be on that thing, but was really fine. I was actually surprised at who was afraid, I won't name names but the name does rhyme with Manny.

We made it to Vegas and since we had built up the whole volcano thing to Asher, we had to see it. I don't have any pictures of it, but he was completely captivated by the show. He had a smile on his face the entire time. Totally worth it.

Once we arrived back to Utah we were busy with the Shepherd family sealing festivities. I was able to attend the temple with Danny and Stacey and had such a great experience with them.

 Then we spent the next days prepping food for 75 people.  Oh and Beckham, Grandpa and I took a trip to the emergency room to stitch up his busted lip. He was such a trooper but I hated seeing him sedated like that. Very freaky! The next day his lip was a bit swollen but he was the same happy baby that he always is!

Then the big day arrived.

 Such a beautiful family and isn't Stacey's dress to die for? I love etsy!

I was so happy to be able to share this day with the Shepherd family!

Quinn flew in toward the end of the week after an exhausting week at E3 in Los Angeles. I was beyond excited to see him and so were the kids. We spent the next few days having fun with family! We made another quick trip back to the ER to have the stitches removed and then said our goodbyes and flew back to Raleigh.

Since we have been home the boys and I have been spending our days at the pool and prepping for a week at the beach. It's a tough life :)

beach

On Saturday we took a day trip to the beach with our friends. We had a blast. I did not take a camera with me so I'll link you to Lindsay's blog for a few pics of my adorable kids and her adorable kids.

Enjoy!

Also, it has made me so excited for our DelHoyo Beach Extravaganza coming up in just a few short weeks. And just so I won't be too anxious I also have a fun trip to Arizona and Utah coming up!

best week ever

Well, it's my best week ever. It's the one week of the year that Quinn dreads. I always feel sorry for him having to deal with so many special days so close together.

On May 6th, Quinn and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. We had a super busy weekend so we counted the two of us getting to go to see the Avengers that weekend as our anniversary celebration. Saturday, I had a Primary service activity and then we went straight to Quinn's company picnic. But always thoughtful, Quinn had beautiful flowers delivered for me.

One week later, he had a double whammy with my birthday and Mother's Day on the same day. I thought it would be super lame to have them both on the same day but turned out it was awesome! I had such a fantastic weekend. Saturday morning I got to go to a birthday party with Asher. I loved watching him have so much fun and play with all his friends. That afternoon Quinn and I decided to be totally irresponsible and go on a shopping spree to spend all of our birthday cash. It was so much fun! We went shopping for 5 hours with the kids and came away with tons of fun stuff. Quinn once again had a beautiful bouquet of lilies delivered. Sunday morning I woke up to a breakfast of waffles, strawberries, whip cream, bacon, orange juice and fruit. It was delicious. One of the highlights of the morning was Asher spontaneously (without any encouragement whatsoever) singing Happy Birthday to me. It was so adorable that I cried. We went to church. When I picked Asher up from nursery he was so excited to show me the bracelet he had made for me. His nursery leader told me that he was so excited to make it and made the whole thing practically by himself. After church I took a nap. Heaven! We finished off the birthday celebration with a yummy ice cream cake.

I am so grateful for a wonderful husband and two beautiful children who spoiled me and made me feel so loved on my birthday/Mother's Day! It was probably my best birthday ever!

bedtime

Bedtime with Asher since we moved him to the bed has not been my favorite thing. To get him to stay in the bed, I would lay by him to help him fall asleep. I also did this at nap time. When Beckham was little, it was the easiest thing to do and saved my sanity. It has been a hard habit to break. But I found my self loathing bedtime. I would rush through story and songs (if I even did them) because I knew I still had 30 to 45 minutes in front of me of laying by him while he fell asleep.

Well, I think we have finally turned a corner and I'm loving it. About 2 to 3 weeks ago, I put my foot down. There may have been some threatening involved. OK, for about a week I had to tell him that if he got out of bed he would loose his precious James train for the following day. It did the trick. He was terrified of loosing James. In fact, I would hear him first thing in the morning rustling around in the toys to make sure James was still there. After a few days of that, I was able to stop the threats and just finally, give him a kiss, tell him I love him and good night and walk out the door. It has made all the difference. I can enjoy bedtime again. I can savor the stories and the singing and the sweet moments that come with bedtime. I'm just loving it.

Speaking of bedtime, two nights ago, while saying bedtimes prayers, I was helping Asher give thanks for the different members of the family when all of the sudden he sneaked in "Thank you for the big spider outside." I'm glad someone in our family is grateful for the spiders outside.

photo shoot with grandpa

Grandpa had a photo shoot with Asher while we were visiting. He just sent me the pics and I had to share.

Asher with the azaleas (take note of the pose, you will see it alot).

By the stream.

Posing in front of the house with Grandma peaking through the window.

Down with all the bamboo. This one is my fav!

Down by the creek.

Checking out his stepping stone in the garden.

Playing a mean game of crochet with Grandma.

And yes, in case you haven't noticed, my in-laws have a fantastically beautiful yard.

the party

We drove up to Virginia on Friday night for a family birthday party for Beckham.

 

Here is the birthday boy in his adorable birthday shirt. With the help of my fab sister Mallory, we went with an owl theme this year. Here is the adorable invitation she designed.

And here is the birthday boy in front of the banner she designed.

And then there was the cake. I was so happy with the way it turned out. Only my second fondant cake ever and already such an improvement over the first one!

 Birthday boy with Daddy

Cara, Chloe, birthday boy and me

Thanks to Grandma we had a delicious dinner of grilled flank steak, roasted asparagus, roasted potatoes and mushrooms, bread, and green salad. Everyone ate and enjoyed themselves.

Beckham started to get super cranky so we had to hurry up for the festivities.

Asher was super pleased to be helping out.

 Everyone sang happy birthday.

Beckham made a huge mess of the cake (for some reason none of these photos are in focus...sorry!)

Of course Asher helped him open all his gifts. He got a fancy sight and sound table from Grandma and Grandpa, some little people super heroes from the Boxers and a zhu zhu pet from the DelHoyos. Mom and Dad gave him a little people garage set with cars.

Immediately after we finished Quinn whisked Beckham upstairs and put him to bed as he was done for the night. He had a great party. He woke up the next day with a fever and a runny nose and is still under the weather today.

While we were in Virginia we also made Beckham's stepping stone from Grandpa and Grandma's garden. I think it turned out really well.

We woke up on Sunday and leisurely had breakfast and got ready to leave. We started the drive back south. We had just pulled into Cary to get Quinn's car when Asher started to cough and coughed so hard he started throwing up. A LOT. Thank goodness we had just stopped. But he seemed immediately better afterwards. We cleaned up, got him something to drink and eat and headed home. With Beckham still sick, we are taking it easy at home today.

one

Can you believe this little guy turned 1 year old yesterday? I know I can't. 

 We just love him so much. I mean, let's be serious...aren't his blue eyes to die for?

Beckham is the cuddliest little guy. He loves to snuggle and both Quinn and I eat it up. He is mildly obsessed with Quinn. If Quinn ever walks in the room he immediately walks over to him and begs to be picked up. Beckham loves to play with Asher and most of the time they get along great. He loves to go to the stairs, go up about 3 stairs, turn around to see if I'm watching him and then race up the stairs before I can catch him. He can say "mama" and "gaga" (his version of dada). He can clap, play peek-a-boo, and give you a high five. He is a walking pro and a fantastic sleeper. He sleeps from 7pm to 7 or 8 am everyday. He is fighting the morning nap a bit so we may have to reevaluate that soon.

We took him to the Dr. this morning for his check-up. It was my most stressful check-up yet. He cried hysterically over everything. He is fully entrenched in the stranger danger phase. But once we were able to calm him down enough to get his measurements he checked out healthy and strong.

He weighs in at 21 lbs and 11 oz (33%)

He is just shy of 31 inches long (80%)

Long and lean.

Last night we gave him a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday. He devoured the cupcake.

We are heading up to VA this weekend for a proper birthday party with family. So stay tuned for details on that.

Happy Birthday Beckham!

Easter

We had a fabulous low-key Easter. We started off the festivities on Saturday afternoon. Quinn hid eggs in our back yard and then let the kids go crazy.

 Nothing like retrieving a hidden egg from the top of the septic tank!

 Quinn helped Beckham find the goods.

 Easter morning the boys were thrilled that the Easter Bunny had found them. Asher was especially thrilled that James (from Thomas & Friends) was in the basket. He has been longing for him for quite a while. And I should note, that the Easter Bunny had to visit several stores to find him.

 We even managed to get some pictures of the boys in their Easter outfits before church.

 If you can't put your boys in pink shirts on Easter, when can you?

  And finally, a picture of Asher after he had devoured his chocolate bunny in about 3 minutes with the encouragement of his father. I was sure he was going to be sick.

Charleston

While my parents visited we took a weekend trip down to Charleston. When I visited a few years back with my bestie Kim, I fell instantly in love and have always wanted an excuse to go back.

We headed out Friday morning. I have to say it was so nice to go on a road trip in our new car and have all kinds of room and still have 6 people in the car.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonald's and had to deal with Asher throwing a minor fit over not getting french fries. I have to say, I really wish McDonald's would sell french fries 24/7. It would make my life much easier.

We pretty much drove straight down with a pit stop at South of the Border of course. Then we stopped maybe 30 minutes outside of Charleston at a Chick-Fil-A to let Asher play and the adults eat a late lunch.

We stayed at a resort called Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms. Amazing! We had a very nice two bedroom condo that we shared with my parents.  We rested for a bit then headed to the beach. We had beautiful 80 degree weather the whole weekend.

The boys were on the lookout for alligators.

Beckham surprisingly really loved the water

 

 Grandma and Grandpa loved the beach as well

Beckham loved playing in the sand and only ate the tiniest bit.

Asher got soaked and loved running in and out of the waves.

 After the beach we headed out to find a place to eat. We ended up at a place called Gilligan's. They had great hush puppies and really good crab cakes so I was happy.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the resort and then drove into Charleston. It was St. Patrick's Day and there was lots of craziness around. We took a carriage ride around town. I didn't take any pictures this time since I had already been but it was a lovely afternoon. Asher loved riding in a carriage and spent a lot of time before and after petting the mules and horses. After our carriage ride, we spent some time in the central market looking at all of the souvenir and local artisan stuff to be purchased. Then we headed out in search of food. We headed to a restaurant that was recommended to us by a friend but as luck would have it, it is closed for lunch on Saturday's. We found a restaurant across the street called High Cotton and ate there instead. After our late lunch we headed back to the resort for relaxation and more beach.

The next morning we headed out to breakfast at another local restaurant recommended to us by my friend. Again, as luck would have it, they only accept cash and none of us had any. So we went down the street a bit and ended up with another delicious breakfast. Then we drove out to Magnolia Plantation.

Apparently it was mating season for the peacocks so they put on quite the show for us.

My parents took the house tour but since we have two little kids and I had already done the tour, we took the kids to the petting zoo instead. 

After the house tour finished we toured the gardens. This is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. Once again, I didn't take many pictures since I did last time I went, but I loved it just as much the second time. On our walks around the ponds, we saw alligators. Lots and lots of alligators.

Really big alligators.

Asher was beyond thrilled with our discoveries.

After our tour of the plantation we got back in the car and headed out for home. It was a short but fun trip.