Camping and a surprise party!

Last weekend, we decided to take a short overnight camping trip up American Fork Canyon. We planned to go to a primitive sight that Tawna and my mom had found while hiking a few weeks back, but changed our minds and decided to find another spot in the canyon. After driving on a really rocky dirt road for about an hour we found a beautiful spot that could fit 3 small tents and it even had a stream not too far away from it. It was the first time that we had gone camping with just my family (my parents, us and Tawna and Keith...Amber couldn't make it because she was working). We had a great time and in the morning, we went exploring around the creek. We would have stayed longer, but we were throwing Tawna a surprise going away party that evening.

Around noon we rushed home and came up with an excuse to get Tawna out of the house. On our way back to Lehi, we hit major traffic and knew that everyone coming to the party would too, so we told Keith to stall in order to give everyone more time to arrive. We had around 50 people or so when all was said and done and Tawna was totally surprised!

We are going to miss you so much, Tawna, while you are away in Ohio! Be safe and know that we love you!

Birthday Week

The week of August 16th- August 23rd is my family's birthday week. My birthday is on the 16th, my mom's on the 19th and my sister Melinda's on the 23rd. This year my family was all over the country so we postponed our party until this past Sunday. We got together and made homemade pizza and then had cake and ice cream.

Chloe has recently discovered how much she loves ice cream and it is one food that she will consistently ask for more. She can almost eat more than I can. She waits for it to melt and then she will pick up her bowl and drink the ice cream. It makes a mess, but it is pretty funny to watch.

18 Month Stats

We took Chloe in for her 18 month check up last week and here are her stats:

Weight: 19.3 lbs. - 1st percentile (don't tell that we have her in a front facing car seat already!).

Length: 30.5 in. - 18th percentile.

Head Circumference: 18.11 in. - 34th percentile (that's why she's so smart).

As you can see she is on the smaller side, but our doctor told us as long as she's growing then we don't need to worry. We are taking her in this weekend to get her 18 month portrait, so keep an eye out for them soon!

Chloe's new favorite thing to do is dump things on people. She will get a pile of toys, blankets, cards, etc. and then say the name of the person she is going to dump them on before she does it. You just have to be careful when she is in the bath or else you might get a cup of water dumped on you!

This picture is from Whiskeytown, so she is in camping clothes...not the cutest outfit, but it was taken when she was 18 months old.

Whiskeytown Lake

Last week, we spent a wonderful week camping in Northern California at Whiskeytown Lake. My family has been going to this lake since the '60's and I have been going since I was just a baby. It is one of the most beautiful lakes that I have ever seen and since the water is so clear, it has made me not want to go in any of the dirty Utah lakes.
This was the first time that we took Chloe because we felt she was too young to go last year, even though babies in my family have come as early as 3 days old, and this year my cousin brought her 2 week old baby. At any rate, we were glad we waited until she could walk and play.The weather was in the 100's the whole week, so we spent most of our days in the water and our swim suits. As soon as Chloe woke up in the mornings, she would first ask for Grandma or Grandpa, and then inevitably ask for "swim suit" or "water." We were worried about how Chloe would do in the water, but she loved it and never wanted to get out.When we first arrived, Chloe didn't quite know what to think about the dirt and every time she would get some on her hands she would say "dirty" (which I thought was pretty dang cute). However, by the end of the week, she had gotten over that and loved getting down and dirty. She also learned how to wave her hands around to make the bugs go away. She would flap her hand and say "bye bug." She still does it at home every time she sees a bug.Chloe loved being able to see her grandparents every day. She loves all of her grandparents so much and since we have come home, she has asked for them everyday.Most days at Whiskeytown go something like this: wake up, eat breakfast, play a game, swim most of the day...with a minor break for lunch, eat dinner, then play games all night. It is so relaxing and just an all around good time with family. My whole extended family always comes, so I guess you could say it is a family reunion, but we get together all the time so it is just a family get together for us.This year my dad got to celebrate his 50th birthday while at Whiskeytown. We decorated the campsite with black balloons and streamers and had a yummy cake. My sisters and I gave him a portable hammock which came in handy the rest of the week for all of us! Thanks for sharing, Dad. :)
The week went by too fast and before we knew it we were packing up and heading for home. It was so nice to get away and just relax and we can't wait until next year to go again. By the way, Chloe was an angel on both of the 12 hour road trips there and back.

Pioneer Day

For those of you who don't live in Utah or have never lived here, you have no idea how big Pioneer Day is here. I am talking about parades, carnivals and fireworks...it's seriously just about as big as the Fourth of July.

This year for Pioneer Day, we went out to dinner with my sister Tawna and my parents and then headed over to a local carnival. We took Chloe on her first merry-go-round and she loved it. Then we met up with Tawna and her boyfriend Keith and went to watch the fireworks in Spanish Fork. This was Chloe's first time watching big fireworks and she was memorized.

It always makes me think about how grateful I am for the pioneers and all they went through in order to have a safe place to worship as they pleased. I think about the cold winter nights and hot summer days without all the modern amenities that we have and I wonder how they did it. The pioneers are a great inspiration to me and they teach me how to endure my trials with a smile no matter how hard they may seem.

Nursery

Today was Chloe's first time in nursery and overall, she did pretty darn good! Granted we were in there with her the whole time because we are now nursery workers.

It just seems like yesterday that we were bringing her to church for the first time all covered and bundled up in her car seat to protect her from all the nasty germs the doctor warned us about and now here we are, she's 18 months old, ready for nursery...so what do we do? We stick her in a tiny room with 15 kids with who knows what kinds of germs and let her play with all the same toys they were just sucking on...ahh, the joys of nursery. Thank goodness for hand sanitizer. We had just a few minor tantrums when someone tried to take a toy that she had, but what do you expect from an only child.

Since we were already in the room, we couldn't help but document this monumental event. So, Aaron pulled out his phone and snapped a few shots of Chloe during snack and coloring time. She looks so small compared to the other children, but at least there was one little boy who actually had less hair than she does!

South Fork Park

Another tradition that Aaron's family has when they come out for the 4th of July is to have a picnic up Provo Canyon at a South Fork park. It is a beautiful park nestled in the canyon with a nice stream running through it. One of the main reasons we go to this park is because the kids love playing in the freezing cold water, and this year was no exception. The weather was just perfect, not too hot, but not too cold to not want to go in the water.

When Chloe saw all of her cousins in the water she wanted to go in too. I thought she would be too cold to actually stay in the water for longer than a minute, so I didn't bother to put her swimsuit on...I just stripped her down to her diaper and we went in. Much to my amazement, Chloe loved it! We couldn't get her out. Every time we tried she kept asking for more and she would get mad at us when we would take her out to get warm. She even sat down in the water a few times. That girl is a water baby!

After playing in the water for a while, we took the kids down to a rope swing, but it was broken. However, this didn't discourage them at all and they went in search of things they could stack up to get to the rope. Good old Uncle Aaron came to the rescue and helped them get a pallet out of the water to stand on. Then he boosted each one up so everyone could have a turn.

Overall, it was a wonderful day filled with family and fun. We can't wait to do it again next year!

Searle Family Luau

Every 4th of July, all of Aaron's sisters and their families come into town for a family reunion. If is one of the things we look forward to all year. We all go to the parade (I'll blog on that later), eat yummy food and play fun games. One game we played was called "cracker back." We all had a cracker tied to our bums and chased each other around trying to crack as many crackers as we could using a rolled up newspaper. Needless to say, it was quite the sight to behold!

This year, the theme for our party was a luau so we dressed each family up and took some great pictures! I think, however, my favorite one was of Chloe. Here are the pictures of each family ( I know that they all love me so much for posting these!)

Our Cute Chloe

The Haycocks
Grandma and Grandpa
Us

The McKinlays

The Friedbaums
The CummingsThe Fultons

Fowler Family Portraits

For Fathers Day this year, I thought it would be nice to arrange a photo shoot with my dad and sisters for my dad's gift. We haven't taken family pictures since we were like ten so I figured it was about time. Here are some of my favorites.

The Fam

Daddy and his girls

My sisters

Our little family

Isn't she just too dang cute for words?

I Thought I Loved You Then

Today is our 5th anniversary and thinking back to the day that we got married brings a smile to my face. That was one of the happiest days of my life (the other being when Chloe was born). I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves me and our daughter so much and to know that we will be together for eternity is even a better blessing.

Thinking back to how I felt that day reminds me of a Brad Paisley song titled "I thought I loved you then". The lyrics don't exactly match up with our life story (especially since he is singing to a girl and I am talking about a boy) but you get the picture.

I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you

You had me mesmerized

And 3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss goodnight

I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then



Chorus

Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world

I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl

Like a river meets the sea

Stronger than it’s ever been

We’ve come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then.



I remember taking you back to right where I first met you

You were so surprised

There were people around

But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there

And once again I thought I loved you then



Chorus

Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world

I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl

Like a river meets the sea

Stronger than it’s ever been

We’ve come so far since that day

And I thought I loved you then.



I can just see you with a baby on the way

I can just see you when your hair is turning gray

What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more

But I’ve said that before.



Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world

I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl

Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in

And I'll look at you and say and I thought I loved you then

And I thought I loved you then...

Aaron- I loved you so much when we got married and I love you even more now! Happy Anniversary!