The Nortons

Fun Day with the Carr Family

2012-01-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Just recently we got to spend the day with the Carr Family. They invited us to go to the railroad museum at Balboa Park. The kids LOVED it! The adults loved it too except for the part when poor Annie got a big bump on the head and Sunday ran away and was lost for a minute. Super scary!!! We ended the day with some amazing sweets at Extraordinary Desserts......sooooo delicious! Such a great day with such a great family.

Dana and Jake's Crazy Fun Wedding...

2012-01-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

My beautiful cousin Dana got married this Sat. Dana's husband has a photo booth business and we all sure had fun with it. I think my Grandpa had the most fun though. His faces are HILARIOUS!!!!

Temple Square Christmas Lights

2012-01-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

I was so happy that I finally got to meet my beautiful nephew Hawk.

Too bad I didn't get any pictures of him. He's so darling.

Sweet little Oliver

The little snow bunnies, Eliza and Ruby

Ruby was so happy that she got to play with her cousin Cole.

Raleigh!!!

All the little cousins so happy to be together.

After waking around Temple Square the Whittaker's invited everyone over to warm up with some delicious hot chocolate and cookie decorating for the kids. Kellie was so cute she had tons of kids stuff set up for them to play with. They were in heaven. We had a wonderful time catching up with friends and ended the night with a wild dance party.

Tubing in Park City with Family

2012-01-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

This year Park City barely had any snow so we didn't go skiing. Instead we decided to try tubing. Ruby and I were scared when we did our first run down the mountain because you go sooooo fast.

But we loved it! We went back again because we loved it so much. And we had a great time playing with both of our families.

Christmas in Park City

2012-01-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

Ruby and Milla playing beauty school

The long drive back home with my two favorite girls after a week of fun with friends and family.

Santa Monica Mini Vacation

2011-12-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

The day after Erik's last final we took a little two day trip up to Santa Monica. We had a blast!

Get ready for picture overload.

Christmas on the Prado at Balboa Park

2011-12-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

We went to the Zoo before Christmas on the Prado. Christmas on the Prado was beautiful. We saw tons of Christmas lights and ate delicious food while listening to live Christmas music.

Ruby gets super excited to see Santa Claus but is always too terrified to sit on his lap.

We all had fun dancing together to the music.

This face is too funny.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

2011-12-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas is so so so much more fun for Erik and I because Ruby is soooooooo into it! Ruby LOVED decorating the tree this year. She was so excited to be able to participate. She practically put on ALL of the ornaments. Anywhere where she could reach (all along the bottom of the tree) was overflowing with a massive amount of ornaments. So cute!!!

I love Christmas time. I think we got our tree just a couple days after Thanksgiving. I just wanted it to feel like Christmas as soon as possible. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love the meaning of Christmas. I love how it reminds us of what life is really all about: Emulating Jesus Christ. I love how Christmas reminds us that Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the person we all should try to be. And what better way to try to emulate him than by giving to others. I love how Christmas brings out the good in everyone. I love the way it makes you want to catch up with loved ones and cuddle up with your family to get warm and cozy. I love how excited little kids get about Santa Claus. I love the way our Christmas tree makes the whole house smell fresh. I love listening to Christmas music all day especially during dinner. We've also been enjoying our dinners by Christmas tree candlelight. The girls love it. I love all of the different layers of warmth that come during this time.

Christmas makes me merry. I love everything about it! Merry Christmas!!!

Ruby's 3rd Birthday continued...

2011-12-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

This girl kills me.....

Ruby doing my make-up with her new make-up kit she got for her birthday. So cute! I love how focused she was in the whole time.

Ruby wanted to put all of the balloons from her birthday into Sunday's crib so they could have a party with just the two of them.

Ruby, My Big 3 year old!

2011-11-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

Ruby opening a gift from Grandma.

She was so animated and excited!!! She opened all of her gifts extremely slow and would say, "Huh?, Huh?, What is it????!!!!" It was so cute how excited she was when she unwrapped all of her presents. I can't wait for Christmas to see and hear her all over again!

Covering your eyes always makes things less scary.

These two are besties and cousins.

I love that this picture has a cute random little girl in it. Funny.

They were so excited that they got to meet Chucky Cheese!

She LOVED everything that she got for her birthday!

She was so happy!!!

Pink is her favorite color if you haven't noticed from all of the presents.

Ruby really wanted to go to Chucky Cheese's for her Birthday this yeaer. So we had a small little party for her with just family. She had a blast! And then we had cupcakes at my sister Heather's house while the girls played dress up. Finn was so cute, he ran up stairs to grab his keyboard so he could play the music to Happy Birthday while we sang to her. It was a really great day!

I can't believe my baby girl turned three! She is so much fun! I've never met any child like her, she's such a unique and hilarious little girl. It's so fun to see her mind at work. She acts so much older all of the sudden. I'm so grateful to have her in my life and I adore everything about her. She loves to help me and loves being a big sister. She loves to sing and make up songs and actually sings right on tune. She's afraid of the dark so of course we had to purchase a Tinkerbell night light. She LOVES books. She'll make up her own stories while she reads them or she'll recite the books word for word from memorizing what we've read to her. She such a little sponge. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. They are kindred spirits. They are both so passionate about life and have such cute quirky personalities. She loves to make up silly little jokes. She still has to sleep with her poka-dot pink blanket every night. She still sucks her thumb. She is really into Princesses and Princes right now and loves to talk about who she is going to marry. She was convinced it was going to be her dad and then it changed to her cousin Raleigh. So cute! She wants to be a doctor like her uncle Ben when she grows up. Her favorite movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And she's a little chocolate lover like her mommy. I feel so lucky that I get to hang out with her everyday. I'm so excited that I get to watch her grow up. Life is so rewarding and fulfilling with Ruby in our lives.

We love you Ruby, so so much!

Camel Dairy Farm

2011-11-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

We had a fun, wet, rainy adventure a week ago. We went to the Camel Dairy Farm with some friends from Church. Ruby had the time of her life playing in the muddy rain with the animals. After playing at the farm we all had dinner in Julian. It was the perfect fall activity.

Look Who Turned 1!!!!

2011-11-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday turned one on November 7th. We celebrated her special day with just our little family. Sunday is a lot like her daddy. She LOVES meat! So we took her to a BBQ place for her birthday. We also took her and Ruby to Sea World where we had tons of fun and got to meet Elmo and Zoe! I tried giving her ice-cream on her special day and she was not interested! Didn't even want to touch it. Funny girl.

Sunday makes our little family so much more complete. She is the most content baby. She always wants to hug and kiss her family. Ruby and Sunday love to play together. Ruby loves to play mommy to Sunday by pushing Sunday around in the stroller and Sunday thinks it's the greatest idea. She still isn't walking yet but takes a few steps on her own. She loves to walk around the house while pushing her baby doll in a stroller. Her favorite thing to do is take everything out of my purse in search for bubble gum. She just got her 1st tooth on her birthday. And now has two. Sunday is extremely sweet! She is so cuddly and perfect. I adore her and love everything about her.

Happy Birthday sweet little Sunday! Your family loves you so so much! We're so lucky to have you in our lives.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Kim and Mike's Wedding

2011-10-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends from junior high got married last month. It was such a beautiful and special day. Kim and Mike make the perfect match for each other. It was one of those feel good days. I loved seeing my good friends from high school. I hadn't seen Marya in four years and it felt so good to hear her laugh. And Meredith and Bryce as an engaged couple. Funny how we're all grown up now.

Thanks for letting us be apart of your special day. Congratulations Kim and Mike.

Love you guys!

Milla's Disneyland Birthday

2011-10-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

We were so happy to be able to celebrate Milla's Birthday at Disneyland. It was Ruby's first visit to Disneyland and she LOVED it! I was surprised by how much Sunday loved it too. Sunday loved the ride, It's a Small World. She kept pointing at everything with her little finger and kept saying Da, Da, Da with this silly, deep, excited voice. Ruby was SOOOOOO scared of the Haunted Mansion, she cried and said take me out of here it's too scary. Poor little thing. Ruby loved everything else though. It was so cute seeing how excited the girls were to be there.

Happy Birthday Milla. You're 4! Thanks for inviting us to come celebrate your special day with you. Ruby loved being a real princess with you at Disneyland. We love you so much! Ruby is obsessed with you and talks about you EVERY day.

Happy 4 year Anniversary

2011-09-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

We had our 4 year anniversary this month. To celebrate we rented a boat in Mission Bay with our girls. We had a great time. Ruby LOVED driving the boat. We saw lots of dolphins and seals. It was a special day. The next day Erik and I went to a chic Thai restaurant for dinner and then to a play. We saw the play Little Shop of Horrors. We really liked it and thought it was super entertaining and funny. Thanks for all the fun babe. We're so lucky to have you in our lives. Love you!

The Ballerina Who Dances in Boots

2011-09-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sweet Sunday 10 Months Old

2011-09-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

My Little Munchkins

2011-09-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Skydiving For My Mom's Birthday

2011-09-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my mom actually did this. Way to go mom! I had such a great time with you. Love you!

Sisters

2011-09-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

Playing drums on Sunday's head.

Erik and his two favorite girls

2011-08-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

The old Del Mar Fair

2011-08-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Grandma's visit

2011-08-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much Shelly for taking these fun family pictures. We love you and LOVED having you visit us this summer.

June 2011 Hawaii

2011-08-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Wiamea Falls Hike

2011-07-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Raleigh's Baptism

2011-07-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

This cute little boy turned 8, so we got to go to Hawaii for his baptism. We love you Raleigh!

Sunset Beach

2011-07-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

Mission Beach with the York's

2011-06-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

The York's got to stay at a beach house in Mission Beach last week and they invited us to join them. We were right on the beach! We played at the beach all day. We played paddle ball. Ruby and daddy caught tons of GIANT sand-crabs. We also went on the rides at Belmont Park. And the next day we rented bikes and took the girls for a long bike ride. Kind of embarrassing that we don't have any pictures with the York's. Thanks Andrew and Emily! We had such a great time with you guys and your sweet little Carter!!!

Sunday Six Months Old

2011-06-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

Kassey King comes to town!

2011-06-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Ruby skinned her little knee at Sea World hence the pouty lips

One of my best friends from High school, Kassey, and her family, visited San Diego to camp at the beach. We met up with them at Sea World, played at the beach, and had a great time!!!!

San Diego Children's Museum with Nanny and Sister Time

2011-06-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Ruby asks me everyday to put Sunday and all of her stuffed animals in her crib with her and then tells me to go away so they can play alone. She loves her little sister! It's the sweetest thing.

Easter Morning

2011-06-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Grandma made these ADORABLE bunnies for the girls. So cute!!!!

Easter was so fun this year because Ruby was so excited for the Easter bunny to come. She started shaking with excitement when we told her who came to our house and left hidden treasures. She LOVED the egg hunt! This was Ruby's first experience being exposed to an endless supply of candy. I told her dad it was time to stop giving her candy and he said, "But it's Easter." That night she threw up for the first time in her little life from candy overload. Poor thing.

Bowling with Daddy

2011-06-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

Fancy Biking in Coronado

2011-05-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

She's such a ham

2011-04-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Watching General Conference Together

2011-04-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

The girls cuddled on the couch together while watching General Conference. They were so sweet!!!

Our little sweaty thumb sucker

Little Sunday Sophia isn't so little anymore (4 month's old in these pictures)

2011-04-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Baby Knox and other cute little Balliet's

2011-03-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

Meeting baby Knox for the first time in the hospital. He was perfect!

Finn made himself his own tool belt.

Milia and Ruby wearing their hats that Great Grandma made for them.

Balboa Park + Ice Cream man = tons of Fun!!!

These two were holding hands all day. So cute!

Of course Ruby had to jump/fall into the water fountain

Valentine's Day with the girls!

2011-03-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

We had a Happy Valentine's Day this year. Ruby and I had tons of fun making Erik a GIANT heart shaped chocolate-chip cookie as well as yummy chocolate covered strawberries.

And Erik surprised us with beautiful flowers

and the tallest sunflower I've ever seen for Ruby.

She LOVED it!!!

She was beaming and dancing all around the house.

Erik also got her two books, A Sick Day for Amos McGee
and The Cat and the Hat.

We hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day too :)

Sunday's Baby Blessing

2011-02-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

My friend Fiona and her baby Lua

Ramona Boys and their lovely wives of course were there :)

Grandma Shelly

Nanny

Pretty Chelsea

Erik gave a beautiful blessing and we had so many wonderful family and friends that came to support us on this special day. Thanks so much! We love you!

Ocean Beach with Aunt Chelsea and Grandma

2011-02-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing is better than getting kissed by Ruby

Ruby LOVES her Aunt Chelsea

Twinzies!!!!

Ocean Beach Pier with Grandma and Aunt Chelsea

Beautiful Sunset Cliffs

Ruby being one with nature

Chelsea and Erik's engagement photo

Sunday Sophia at 3 months

2011-02-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

I'm just a little bit overly obsessed with this sweet face. She melts my heart!

My sweet little girls

Sunday Sophia

Aunt Chels and Sunday cuddling

Thanks so much Shelly for always taking such beautiful pictures.

This girl cracks me up!

2011-02-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

This little one has so many different faces. She's so animated!

Ruby, you are such a funny girl.

Family road trip

2011-02-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

Sweet, Sweet Grandma Shelly meeting Sunday for the first time

Thanks Shelly again for taking such darling photos of our little girls.

Daddy and Sunday cuddling

Ruby fast asleep in the car on the way to Grandma's. Look at that little puffer fish. Ha ha! So cute! The girls were surprisingly SOOO good on the long drive!

Ruby excited to go outside in the freezing cold to play with fireworks

Happy New Year 2011!!! Fireworks with Daddy and Grandma

Ruby loved waking up to Grandma and climbing in bed with her to read stories and cuddle

Sunday as cozy and cute as can be thanks to Annie :)

I stole this picture from Chelsea's Blog. Thanks Chels :)

We had such a wonderful time visiting Shelly and Rick in New Mexico. We also got to stay with Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Ben and visit with Grandpa Dick and Grandma Patty in Arizona. Thanks for letting us stay with you guys and for showing us such a great time. We love all of you guys so much! Sorry this post took so long!

Sunday- 1 Month Old

2011-02-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Catching up on the last little while... Christmas photos

2011-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Our computer hard drive crashed so I got really frustrated with computers and gave up on blogging for a a couple months. I was pretty bitter that SO many of our photos were lost. Luckily because of blogging and facebook some of our photos were saved. I've decided it's time to catch up on all the fun things we've been doing over the past couple months.

This was my most favorite Christmas yet. Ruby made it so fun because she was so excited for Santa to come. She really enjoyed picking out our Christmas tree and decorating it as well. She also LOVED wrapping presents. This year it felt a lot more special to me because of Ruby and Sunday.

We love our little girls.

Picking out our tree

Ruby decorating the tree with sunglasses and a lai on. ha ha ha

Santa Clause came!!!!

Best Friends

2011-02-10T16:34:00.000-08:00

Ruby's First MONSTER JAM

2011-02-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ruby turned 2!

2010-12-13T21:29:00.001-08:00

My sweet little baby girl is no longer a tiny baby, even though she'll always be a little baby in my mind. She turned 2 on the 27th of November. She has become quite the little adult lately. She talks really well as if she thinks she 20 or something. I find myself laughing all the time at all the hilarious phrases she picks up. She also has such a funny sense of humor. She loves teasing us and has started to call me mama Norton because she knows it's funny.

Ruby has brought so much life into our lives. She is such a little entertainer. I am so grateful to have such a wild little lady in my life. I just keep falling more and more in love with my little girl.

So I never forget....

She loves being a big sister and always informs me if Sunday is crying even though I'm already well aware. She loves to help me with whatever task I'm busy doing. She always says, "Mama, I want to help you. I want to help you." She loves any food that you can dip. She's still OBSESSED with ELMO, hence the Elmo pinata.

I don't know why but Ruby's favorite song is a song by Jason Maraz which she calls the "No more song" and she has to listen to it repeatedly every time we're in the car. Her favorite song to dance to is the Will I Am song on Sesame Street that she calls "daddy's favorite song," because they always dance to it together.

For her birthday all she wanted was gum and lollipops. That's why in pretty much every picture you can see a lollipop in her mouth. Erik was in charge of her party this year because I just had baby Sunday. It was so cute to see how excited he was to set everything up and organize the whole thing. He LOVES making his little girl happy. He adores her. He is always asking her to marry him. Ha! So cute!

We love you Ruby K. We love waking up to your sweet little face every morning.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Our Girls

2010-11-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

Recycling with Ruby K

2010-11-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night at about 1:00 a.m. I heard /felt some sweet-techno-bass-lines rumbling through the floors of our apartment building. I was about to get dressed to head down stairs to get my groove on, but then I felt tired, grumpy, and old -- so, I called the San Diego Police Department instead.

About 30 minutes later the cops came and the music and the screams abruptly ended. As the party-kids dispersed, walking and mincing as they went, two young sorority sisters tossed a couple of their tinkling ornaments on the hood of my 2002 mazda millenia.

The next morning I found the the gifts and brought them upstairs to show Ruby. We soaked them for 12 hours in a mixture of bleach and soap to burn off some Phi Gamma Delta Gonorrhea. Ruby told me to turn on our favorite song. And then we danced.

Because Kindsay is spends so much of her time being Sunday's Milk Machine, Ruby and I have been having some good friendship time. Here's some photos of us on our balcony hammock:

-Cob

Sunday's First Week at Home

2010-11-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday Sophia Norton is Here!

2010-11-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

Born Sunday- November 7 - 2010

at 11:34pm

8 lbs 1 ounce

We love our new little beautiful girl!

On November 27, 2008 we learned that child-birthing is a LENGTHY process. The day Ruby was born, the contractions started squeezing my lady at about midnight. We called the hospital who told us to hold off for a few hours before making the the 45 minute journey down to the hospital. Five hours later we strolled into the hospital and plugged my sweet little bride into the pain-killing machine. Ten hours later we turned on some Beatles and Bob Dylan while Kindsay, slowly but surely (for about an hour and a half), pushed out our first born as the Hawaiian sun set behind the Koolau Mountains.

Praising science and modern medicine, Mama-Norton swore that in future gestations she would never go cave-woman-style and abandon the warm companionship of uncle-epidural.

Learning from experience, when the contractions started on Sunday night after a moonlight family stroll, we took our precious time. Kindsay was feeling the pain of motherhood, but we figured "hey, we got 12-18 hours to go."

As the contractions intensified, Kindsay called her Mom, told her of her condition, and asked if it might be a good idea to come down to baby sit the sleeping Ruby so we could head over to the hospital. Mrs. Mathis said we needed to get the heck to the hospital. Mother knows best.

Kindsay's parents rushed down to take over Ruby-duty and Kindsay and I headed to the hospital.

But things were different this time.

By the time we got there a little after 11pm, my she-bear was feeling some major feelings.

As the nurses and staff calmly and casually checked her in and asked her routine form questions, my wife informed them of the seriousness of her situation and begged and pleaded for that sweet loving needle that had saved her soul in the autumn of '08.

But after checking her lowers, the nurse broke the news that it was too late for the epidural, predicting "this baby is coming in less than an hour!"

Then my blonde roared a wicked roar. Oh, she ROARED a WICKED ROAR!

And, three minutes later A CHILD WAS BORN.

And, we called her Sunday.

I love you so much Kindsay! You did such a GREAT job!

We are now 4!

Love,

Papa

happy halloween to you

2010-11-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Ruby Singing

2010-11-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Erik shooting scare-crows with a corn on the cob gun.

Ruby clinging to her daddy for dear life because she was soooo scared of this "scary guy" and the "scary witch." We did this last weekend and she still asks, "Where'd that scary witch go?" and still says, "I scared of the witch daddy." Always repeated twice.

This is her looking at the scary witch. Poor little thing.

We had so much fun last weekend with our friends. Ruby loved petting all of the animals and running through the corn maze. We had fun picking out pumpkins in Ramona and going out to dinner in Julian. It was the perfect way to start our Autumn.

WATCHING ELMO WITH MR. POTATO-HEAD'S GLASSES

2010-09-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Happy 3 Year Anniversary!!!!

2010-09-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

Becoming Mrs. Norton was one of the happiest days of my life! I love you Erik! You make life exciting and meaningful every single day. I'm so lucky that I get to be with you forever. Thanks for making me so incredibly happy!!!

Erik's 28th Birthday

2010-08-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is Tracy and I deciding that our balloon was the prettiest by far.

Getting ready to take off...

Fire!!!!

Floating above the clouds

Sparkling Cider.

The Birthday boy.

And a safe landing.

Erik's birthday was on the 14th this month. We had such a fun day together. We started the morning off at Broken Yoke Cafe with Ruby. Then we BBQ'd and played in the pool at my parents' house. We even had a pinata for the little ones. After our fun afternoon we went for a Hot Air Balloon ride at sunset with Micah and Tracy and had such a wonderful time!!!! And sweet Shelly and Rick came over to celebrate Erik's birthday by making delicious enchiladas and bringing a yummy ice cream cake.

Erik,

I hope you had a happy birthday. I love you so much!!!! Ruby and I are the luckiest girls to have you in our lives. Thanks for being so fun and easy to love!

Love,

Your Wife, Ruby and the little girl in my belly

Summer Family Fun!

2010-07-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

We've been having tons of fun so far this summer. We went to the Del Mar Fair with my family and had a great time. Ruby had her first ferris wheel and carousel experience. She loved every second at the fair. We ate lots of delicious food. And for some reason Erik and Troy had to try the chocolate covered bacon???

Then almost all of Erik's family came to visit, (except for Richie, Nat and the kiddos). We really missed you guys!

I wish I would have taken more photos of all the fun activities we did together. Ruby had the time of her life with her cousin Cole!!! We all went to a Padres game, went to the beach and ate yummy mexican food, saw fireworks together for the 4th on a beautiful golf course hill, and we even went to Mexico with Ben and Chels.

While in Mexico Ruby got to ride her first horse with her daddy. She LOVED it!!!

We also bought some fun things in Mexico. My favorite thing we purchased were these adorable handmade finger puppets for Ruby.

Caribbean- St. Martin and New York Vacation Pics

2010-06-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

We just got back from the best vacation ever! We met up with Andrew and Emily York in St. Martin and shared a hotel room with them that they got through their time share. It was so much fun!!! We never stopped playing and having fun. We rented scooters and went all around the whole island and stopped at all of the beautiful beaches to go swimming. We went snorkeling and saw tons of beautiful fish and sea creatures. We jumped off the dock into the ocean, collected sea glass, we ate creole food and tons of delicious food (especially ice-cream), went shopping, went to the movies, played super fun games all night long, snuck onto a big boat that was a kids playground on water that had water slides, swings, and ropes that we could play on, and we spent a day on Maho beach where it felt like you could almost touch the airplanes as they came to land at the airport right on the beach.

Maho beach. In the whole world this is the closest you can get to airplanes taking off and landing near the beach. Crazy! Andrew and Erik purposely got jet blasted by the jet stream. They were standing on the beach with their snorkel masks on while the burning hot jet stream and sand pelted and blew them all over. It was hilarious!!! Too bad we didn't capture it on video.

4 Months Pregnant

We spent five days in the Caribbean with the York's and then just the two of us went to New York for two nights and one full day. We packed a ton of activities into the one day we had there. We stayed at the Dream hotel right in Time Square. We rode bikes in Central Park which was BEAUTIFUL and by far my favorite thing I did in New York. We went to Serendipidy for lunch and frozen hot chocolate, Dylan's Candy Bar, shopping of course, my first subway ride ever, visited Ground Zero, went on a ferry and saw The Statue of Liberty and all the famous bridges, China town, and Little Italy for Dinner. I couldn't walk another step after the day was over. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Erik and I were so happy that we got to go on a vacation before our new little baby arrives this November. Thanks Shelly and Mom and Heath for watching Ruby for us so we could have the best time ever. We love you guys!

What the heck????

2010-05-22T10:44:00.001-07:00

I just noticed that on our blog heading it says,

"Bionical Billy and Gus don't cuss."

I asked Erik about it and he said he put it up there a month ago. He said that he changes it every once and a while to say strange things to see if anyone will ever notice but no one ever has or they were too confused to right anything about it.

That boy??????

I asked him what it meant and he said, "No comment."

What do you think it means ???

Mesa Grande

2010-05-21T16:33:00.001-07:00

Megan and Evan Faulkner were so nice to invite us to their friends Ranch in Mesa Grande last weekend. We had such a great time together. I think Ruby had the time of her life! It was BEAUTIFUL there. I dream of having a place like this someday. The horses ran right up to us and surrounded us. We loved it! Ruby got to see caterpillars for the first time. She was so into the caterpillars because she loves reading the book, The Hungry Caterpillar and they were everywhere. Evan brought his gun and we had a great time shooting out in the wild. What a fun trip with such fun people.

Girly Girl

2010-05-21T16:22:00.001-07:00

We went to the beach a couple weeks ago and Ruby insisted on wearing her hat and carrying her pink purse. When I showed Ruby her reflection in the mirror she said "cute." Ha Ha. I can't get enough of this girl.

My little Parrot

2010-05-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

So Ruby has been coming up to me and gently giving me a couple slaps on the bum while saying, "Hey babe." She kept doing this through out the day and I thought it was hilarious. I told Erik about it. He started laughing and said that while I was at mutual he got a couple pats on the bum himself and some hey babes too. FUNNY!!!! I am constantly becoming aware of what I say now that I have a little parrot in the house.

Ruby on the Potty

2010-04-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

Ruby saw this Elmo potty seat at Target and LOVED it, so I decided to get it for down the road. But she was acting all interested in it so I had to give it a try. She totally went to the bathroom on the potty! She's also obsessed with reading Everyone Poops while she sits on the potty. Ha ha ha. She definitely is NOT potty trained but I am really excited that she's showing an interest in it. I think it will be a while before she's potty trained but we're loving how excited she is about it!

Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose

2010-04-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Shelly, this is for you. Sorry the video is too big so some of it got cut off. Double click on the image and you can view better. Anyone know how to make it so blogger doesn't automatically crop the picture?

Ruby Blows a Kiss

2010-03-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

This video is a couple months old but I thought it was too cute. I'm obsessed with her sweet little smile, she got that from her daddy.

Cirque Du Soleil

2010-03-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to

Cirque Du Soleil and LOVED it!!!

I think that everyone needs to experience this.

I couldn't believe the AMAZING things these people could do.

It was MAGICAL!

I sound like a little kid but it really was magical.

To Ruby

2010-03-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

My sweet little girl,

You are getting so big!!!! I love you dearly and am so full of joy to have you in my life. You make the sun shine brighter everyday.

Love, Mama

Ruby the Musician

2010-02-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

CrEEEEpy Mustache Man

2010-02-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

Lock your doors and run and hide!!!

Ruby meets Shamu

2010-02-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

Ruby mesmerized by trained whales

Daddy Style

2010-02-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend I helped my mom with flowers for a wedding and when I got back home this is how I found Ruby's little feet. Erik had dressed her and couldn't find her other shoe. He had taken her out and about like this while I was gone. I thought this was super funny and such a dad thing to do.

I feel ten pounds lighter

2010-02-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

I decided it was time to get rid of my rats nest. A few days ago my good friend Melinda did my hair. I love it! And I love her!

Crewel- A new discovery

2010-02-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

I found these AMAZING pieces of art in my parents cabin in Utah a little while ago. They were way up in the attic hiding in a lonely brown box. I pulled them out and asked my mom about them and she said that she used to really be into crewel sewing when she was younger and that she made these when she was in her twenties like me. Surprise... another creative thing my mom is good at doing. She was excited that I loved them and told me I could have them.

I think there is something SO special about handmade art that's made by loved ones. I think it will be really fun to pass these down. I LOVE them!!! My sisters and I asked my mom to teach us some of the stitches. We started having craft night at my mom's house. It's been so fun learning how to do something new and spending time together. I can learn a lot from my mom. She's so talented!!!!

I had a great birthday!!!

2010-02-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

One of the Presents Erik got me for my birthday was a Pinata. And I LOVE Pinatas!!!! Ruby and I had a great time! And, just in case your wondering......I told Erik I didn't want him to take any pictures of me because I'm super camera shy in the morning. So he said, "Then put a bag over your head." Ruby wanted to do it too, Ha!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

2010-02-14T15:16:00.000-08:00

I feel extremely lucky to have such a wonderful Valentine all year round. I love you so much Erik. Thanks for being so easy to love! Happy Valentine's Day babe!!!!

SHE'S 26!!!

2010-02-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Kindsay!

Ruby and I are so lucky to have you as our best friend.

We love you so much. You make our lives so fun and happy.

Thanks for being you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Momma, I got ya a balloon 'cause you're so darn nice and pretty.

Love, Ruby

Belated Christmas Card

2010-02-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

We're Slackers!

This should have been our Christmas card this year! I love how cold and wintery it feels. Heather Mildenstein took this photo of our little family when we were in Utah for Christmas. We had such a wonderful time with both of our families!!!

Christmas with Gavin

2010-02-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

We were SO happy and grateful that we got to meet beautiful, sweet baby Gavin. We truly cherish that short but precious time we had with him. We love you baby Gavin!!!! Like Raleigh said, WE will try to live OUR lives in the best possible way so that we can see you again in Heaven.

Ruby's 1st Birthday!!!

2009-12-05T22:30:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the over load of pictures. I'm just trying to get caught up and write down all of these things about Ruby before they pass by and I forget. I always want to remember my baby girl's sweet personality.

Things that Ruby can say now that she is 1...

Duck (one of her first words)

Money (yells it out in church and then laughs really loud)

Daddy (all of the time)

Mama

Doggie

ball

bye-bye

birdie

kitty

NO (while she shakes her pointed finger-she learned this from, No More Monkeys Jumping on the bed)

hair

eye

What she can do and likes to do now that she is 1, she....

loves to read books

loves to open my phone and pretend to call people

climbs on anything and everything

claps her hands

thinks it's really amazing that she knows how to take off her bib

loves to take all my shoes off the shoe rack

has no fear of strangers

is obsessed with string cheese

waves hi and bye-bye

barks like a doggie

can walk across the room but still crawls a lot

dances a little

pretends to read to her baby doll and kiss and hug it

blows a kiss

makes a kiss sound

loves music

is attached to her blankey.... especially the corner that has the knot on it

does some of the hand motions for the Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Popcorn Popping

Ruby is just starting to get her 1st teeth. I was wondering if she was going to get her them. She just turned 1 and now she is walking across the room and getting two teeth!!! I can't believe how fast the time is going by.......my baby is growing up.

What does a doggie say????

2009-12-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

Here's another video I've been wanting to put up for a while.

Waking Ruby up to say Happy Birthday!

2009-12-05T22:12:00.001-08:00

Erik goes all out in his awesome Birthday Man outfit for Ruby's 1st birthday! Sorry the video is so dark.

My Baby Bumble Bee

2009-11-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here we are in the process of putting together her costume the night of Halloween. And yes, those socks are her Grandpa's church socks...ha ha ha! I love how short her little legs look in this picture.

My little bumble bee

Ruby got to go trick-or-treating with her cousins- Finn the brave knight and Milla the pretty ballerina.

Halloween was so much fun with a little munchkin around this year. It made it so cute and exciting to see her take everything in while we were out trick-or-treating. Ruby enjoyed her 1st Halloween. Erik really wanted her to taste tons of candy so I caved in and Ruby got to eat her first lollypop. She LOVED it!!!

Fall Fun

2009-11-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

Point Loma tide pools

Ruby meets a crab for the first time

My 2 favorite people

Pumpkin Patch

OOOoooooooooo!!!!!!

Ruby's 1st pumpkin.

Point Loma lighthouse lookout, Cabrillo Monument

Another BEAUTIFUL DAY in San Diego!

Ruby talks!

2009-10-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm just so excited about my little "talker." She's so much fun! This video is almost a month old, when she had just turned 10 months old. I love her little voice!

Ruby's 10 Month Old Pics

2009-10-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ruby LOVES her soft blanket. She has this one blankey that has a knot on one of the corners. Every time she goes to bed she has to hold that corner up to her face with her tiny little hand while sucking her thumb to lull herself to sleep. Ruby I love you and all the cute little things you do!

Ruby turned 10 months old on September 27th. I can't believe how fast it's going by. Thank you Shelly so so much for taking these pictures of my sweet little girl. I love all of them!!!

Our little Ruby is getting so big!

2009-09-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

2 Year Anniversary

2009-09-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Erik and I just recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary.

I'm so glad I married you babe.

I love you so much!

I'm so happy to be your wife!!!