los dos amigos...

I swear these two little kids are the cutest! We watched Evan the other day and it was so nice having a little play mate for Eleanor. Those two follow each other all over the house and LOVE getting into everything! Its funny how opposite these two are. Evan is such an easy going kid. He NEVER cries and doesn't get upset at Eleanor when she climbs, hits or kisses on him. I tried getting a photo of Eleanor kissing Evan, but I wasn't able to catch it. Its the funniest thing! She grabs his head and pulls him into her and kisses his forehead. This makes me a little jealous...she rarely gives out kisses! I'm so happy these two are friends!!!!!

labor day weekend...

Labor Day weekend was a little slow for us. John and Eleanor got that horrible stomach bug that's been making its way around. Friday John took off work, and even though he and Eleanor weren't feeling so hot..we took a little drive up the canyon to Cascade Springs. John and I went there about 6 years ago and I remembered it being so pretty. A few years ago a there was a fire and so now its not quite as pretty, but it was still fun. Eleanor enjoyed taking a little dip in the water and watching all the butterflies.

Saturday we headed up to Park City to watch the Women's International Ski Jumping Festival at the Olympic Park. We were a little disappointed that they ended up canceling the competition because of the wind. Before they canceled it we were able to watch a few jumps and listen to Bryon Friedman and his band. We've been to competitions before, but this was the first time we actually got to sit on the landing of the jumps. Of course Eleanor was more interested in crawling on the landing then watching the jumping. Overall, we had a pretty good time even if the competition was canceled. I think just being there made both John and I pretty anxious for the slopes to open this season!

the month of august...

Is August really over? I can't believe how fast it has flown by! I know I am quite behind of my blog. I promised myself I would do a quick catch up post this weekend. So, get ready for a pretty lengthy post...sorry.

August 11th: Salem Days with John's family & Eleanor's trip #2 to the ER

Brooke, Jessica, Jordan, Eleanor and Amanda
John and Eleanor feeding the ducks. Eleanor kept calling the ducks "dugs".

Eleanor's second trip to the ER. During the week she started feeling bad and wouldn't eat or drink much and anything she did, she would throw up. On Saturday night she had thrown up so much and was so out of it that we called the DR. and he had us take her to the ER. They did some blood test and it showed she had a virus and was dehydrated. They had to give her an IV (the hardest thing to watch!!) and pump her full of fluids. Poor little girl was not to thrilled about her IV! (Notice my nice outfit. She had thrown up all over me and luckily John had a change of clothes in the car. )

August 12-20: Surprise trip to Arizona with Tiffany and Addie

Early Sunday morning, and I mean EARLY, Tiffany, Addie, Eleanor and myself heading out for Arizona. Tiffany's brother, Riley, was going home from his mission and I hadn't been to to AZ for a few months. I had only told Amy that was I was coming, and surprisingly she only told Sara and Niki (for which she had good reasons). The trip down was so much fun. I was a little worried about traveling with the girls and about Eleanor being sick, but they did GREAT! Addie didn't make a beep the entire trip and Eleanor cried for about 15 mins just outside of Flag.

I wish I had a photo of my parents when they saw Eleanor. I put Eleanor in her car seat right in front of the door, hid behind the pillar and rang the doorbell. My dad was first to answer and he was so cute when he saw her. Total shock! Next, they told my mom that someone was at the door for her. When she saw Eleanor her words were, "That baby looks like Ella". Ha ha, it was so funny.

Friday night John and Paul drove down and we didn't tell my parents John was coming, so on Saturday morning they got another surprise. My little vacation in AZ was so much fun. I only wish I could have stayed longer!!

Eleanor with Jake, my mom's new dog. ELeanor LOVES dogs so much so that her first word was "dugie"

Dinner with the Beecrofts at Sauces. It was so much fun catching up and reminiscing about the good 'ol Chile days.

Eleanor discovering butter. Its not too clear in this photo, but Eleanor found the little cubes of butter and ate the entire thing. She was not happy when I took it away from her. All the girls in the family went to Stephanie Meyer's Eclipse signing. It was so much fun! I loved hanging out with all the girls! I wish I lived closer so I could get together with them more often!!Eleanor and Ty playing. They both wanted to play with this toy and this seemed the only way to keep both happy. Ty is so cute with Eleanor. He came over one day with a teddy bear and balloons for Eleanor. He is so dang cute!!

August 2oth: Back to School!!

I decided to go back to school to finish up my photography degree. When I first started college 10 years ago I majored in photography. After I finished at Ricks I decided to switch to Marketing. Once I finished my marketing degree I transferred to the U to finish my photography degree. I completed one year and then moved home for the summer. Elise and I got jobs at UOP and I ended up staying and working. I then moved back to Utah, got married and wasn't able to finish my degree. Well, I've decided its about time I finish this degree. I LOVE photography and I am so HAPPY to be back in school. There is just something so great about being on campus and going to school. I'm taking 4 classes this semester, two next and then one in the summer. Thanks to Tiffany and Jay for watching Eleanor while I'm in school. I COULD not do it without them!

August 24th: American Fork Canyon with the Hackings

We all wanted to get one last camp trip in this summer, but we decided it would be much easier if we just went up the canyon for the evening. We made tinfoil dinners and our all time favorite peach cobbler. We always have a good time with the Hackings and its nice because Evan and Eleanor are quite the buddies.

1812 overture at deer valley

Every year John and I love going to the Utah Symphony concerts at Deer Valley. This year we invited Ryan and Lori Hacking, two great friends of ours. This was our first time going to the 1812 overture. This concert was by far the best!! The music was so powerful and made even more powerful with the live cannons. During the first half hour the rain starting coming down. We were all a little worried that they were going to cancel, but after about 20 mins or so it let up and turned into a beautiful night! We had such a good time and can't wait for next year....

cabin and bee's game

This past week as been pretty busy for us. Last Friday we went to the Bee's game with our friends, Matt and Lyndsay. Lyndsay's work gave out tickets for the game and dinner. We'd never been to a Bee's game and were surprised at how much fun we had. The weather was perfect, Eleanor was really good and we had GREAT seats. We've decided to hit at least one more game during the season.

On Sunday we headed up to the cabin for the day. We had a nice BBQ, played a few games of ticket to ride and enjoyed a good rainstorm. Nothing beets a rainstorm, especially in the mountains.

I'm starting to get a little sad that summer is coming to an end so fast! I feel like there are so many more things I want to do before school starts. Ahh..summer time goes by way too fast!

ryan adams & the cardinals

Last night John got tickets for Ryan Adams and the Cardinals. The concert was outside at the Red Butte Gardens. The music was GREAT and the venue was beautiful! Since we got the tickets through Goldman Sachs, we had VIP tickets and let me tell you...I think I can get used to the VIP treatment! We got to park in the "Express" parking (maybe 10 yards away), reserved VIP seats front and center and drinks.

The band showed up about 45 mins late, and since we had Eleanor with us, we had to bail a little early. We didn't want to go because we were having such a good time, but Eleanor was starting to get a tired and we didn't want to be the annoying couple with the annoying crying baby. It was also staring to get pretty windy and looking like it might start to rain. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we got to hear a few best songs and all together we had a really fun evening. Nothing beats an outdoor concert!

one more bath photo

as you can see...eleanor has been spending A LOT of time in the bath. She's getting into everything and is constantly in the need of a bath...

surgarhouse park

Wednesday while John was at work, the power went out and they sent everyone home....well at least we thought. Right when John pulls into our drive way he got a call telling him that the power was up and running and they wanted everyone back to work. When he told me this I seriously thought he was just trying to get me. But nope, he had to go back to work. I was totally bummed because I had made plans for a fun afternoon with John. So instead of just staying home I went up to SLC with him. Eleanor and I dropped him off at work and had an hour and a half to burn. We headed to trolley square to hit my favorite stores, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. We are in the process of finishing our basement so I'm looking for some decorating ideas. I did find the couch I want....but its $7,999. I could furnish my entire basement for that amount!

After shopping, it was time to pick John up. We thought it would be fun to take Eleanor to the Surgarhouse Park. I LOVE this park! They have a huge pond with TONS of ducks, a lot of hills, a little stream and plenty of playgrounds. It was fun watching Eleanor feed the ducks. She kept trying to reach out and touch the ducks. I had to keep pulling her hands back to keep her from getting bit. Of course we had to take her on the swings. This little girl is a dare devil! She loves the swing....but only if you push her pretty high. She laughs the entire time. We could have spent a few more hours just swinging.

After the park we headed over to the soup kitchen for a quick dinner. I of course got the chicken and rice and John the clam chouder. I will admit just going to the soup kitchen got me anxious for the fall. Nothing beats the fall in Utah. I can't wait.

So, after the soup kitchen we headed to Nordstroms Rack to get me a new pair of running shoes. I was shocked to find that the first pair of shoes I tried on fit really well...so I bought them. NEVER has it taken me that short of time to pick out shoes, yet alone running shoes.

After Nordstroms Rack we show Blades of Glory at the $1 show. I know, I know. I hate going to the $1 show. But after having a kid you get so behind in movies, and you don't really want to spend full price on a show when all you are doing is trying to keep your kid entertained. And, now that Eleanor can crawl she wants down. The thought of her crawling around on the $1 show floor about makes me puke, but you can only fight them so long. I let her crawl around for about 15 mins and then she was out cold for the rest of the show. Dumb show, but had some pretty funny parts.

So, even though John had to go back to work, we still had a fun evening. I just wish we could play every evening and not worry about household responsibilities. Like right now, John is outside weeding the flower garden and I just got done cleaning up the house.

clean baby

my nudist

This past week Eleanor has decided she does not like her diaper. The weather has been abnormally hot this summer, so I've been letting Eleanor run around the house in just her diaper. The last few days I have gone to check on her while she's playing and have caught her in the nude! She loves being naked!! This morning I went in again, and her diaper was off and she was having a great time. She's so funny!

cousins

Last night we had David and Mindy over along with their two daughters. Eleanor was born just one month before Katelyn. It's been a few months since we've seen them and this was the first time to two little girls actually interacted with each other. It was really cute to watch them play together. They had a little hard time sharing toys, but I think they really enjoyed having someone their own size to play with. Hopefully we can get them together more often.