Graduation

The day that felt like it would never come.  When Zack finally decided on a major and enrolled in the Construction Management  program at Weber State University he had already completed his generals and then some.  Talking to one of the professors over the department, Zack and I speculated that he would be done in 2 years based on what he had already completed.  The man laughed out loud.  He said that even though it's considered a "4 year degree" nobody finishes in 4 years.

It took Zack 3 years of full time school, including summer semesters.  Most of that time he was working 50 hours a week and going to school in the evenings.  His weekends were spent doing homework, and somehow he managed to squeeze in a little family time and church service.  Many days he left before kids woke up and came home after they were in bed.  That was tough on us both, and Berkley.

After what seemed like ages, the day finally came!  Zack graduated (with honors) from Weber State with a bachelor's degree in Construction Management on December 14th, 2012 and we couldn't be happier about it.

The week before the big graduation, the Construction Management department had a nice dinner and presented everyone with special hardhats to wear to the ceremony instead of the normal graduation cap.
Zack's graduating class.


Showing off his honor cords.

I think I deserve a hard hat too.

There he is.



He caught his dad creeping with the zoom lens.

Jumbotron.

It's a good thing these girls had grandparents there to help entertain.



The ceremony got too long for the girls to handle so we snuck out early, posed for a couple quick pictures in the drizzling rain, and took off to a celebratory dinner.

Berkley's first haircut

Berkley's hair was getting really long.  Most moms would love their daughters to have long hair.  The problem is, Berkley's hair was curly on the bottom, straight on the top, and always looked wild and scraggly.  By December I just couldn't handle it anymore so I took her in to my friend Shay and she got her hair cut for the fist time (besides bangs) at nearly 3 years old. 
Before:



 During:
 
I have to admit it broke my heart a little to see her baby curls being chopped off.
 
After:


Berkley did so great and held so still.  She loves her short hair.  It took a little longer for Zack and me to adjust but we love it now and it's so much easier!

2012: The Fall/Winter of Sickness

Am I a bad Mom if this picture makes me laugh?  It's so sad but hilarious at the same time. 

Berkley has had a rough go this season when it comes to her health.  It all started the first week of October when she picked up hand-foot-and-mouth disease.  (Then passed it onto me and Peyton.)  It starts with a fever and ends with sores possibly in your mouth (like canker sores) and/or on your hands, feet, bum, etc. (like blisters.)  Apparently it's pretty common in the Spring and Fall but we've never had it before. 

Just before Halloween she started throwing up at night.  This turned into about 3 weeks straight of vomiting and diarrhea.  We tried all sorts of diet restrictions thinking it was some sort of intolerance.  I brought in urine and stool samples to the hospital (that was fun) but the results were inconclusive.  She looked so skinny to me.  I was so tired of washing sheets.  And then, magically, it stopped.  Just in time for our Thanksgiving road trip. 

At a family Christmas party Zack caught the flu and the girls ended up with it too.  Luckily there was minimal vomiting, mostly fevers and coughs.  By New Year's Day it had turned into croup. 

Here's hoping our immunity is stronger now and we'll have a healthier 2013!

Fall

Here is a conglomeration of pictures from last fall that didn't fit into the other posts.  (Mostly from my phone.)

Let the matching outfits begin.  When they wear these shirts Berkley says that she is the hot chocolate and Peyton is the marshmallow.

Berkley always has to jump in on Peyton's photo sessions.

Then she wanted a picture with their animals.


We had our first small snow storm in October.  This called for hot chocolate and reading.

Our first real snow came the beginning of November.  Berkley couldn't have been more excited to do snow angels.

We made kale chips.  And liked them.

Parker made Berkley a life-sized Plex.  (In one night with no pattern.)
 
Turkey girl.

When Berkley proudly showed me this artwork on her hands I said, "We only draw on paper, remember?"  She responded by saying, "But my hands are paper, remember?"

I guess eating crackers is too boring so Berkley created her own cracker pizzas.

I went out with my book club ladies to see the last Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn part 2.  This picture turned out perfect because we have vampire eyes.

I got my hair done for the first time in years!  I went with an ombre because it's low maintenance.

Watching The Jungle Book.  Berkley just wanted to wear panties like Mowgli.

Love her brown eyes.

We got a purple carrot in our bountiful basket.

Zack participated in no-shave November, or "Novembeard."
 

Lots of picnics in our jammies.

8 Months

Peyton turned 8 months old on November 27th.

Her first tooth finally popped through the day before she turned 8 months old.  The bottom right. 

I'm definitely her favorite person.  She always wants me.  I pretend to be annoyed when she starts whining after I leave the room but I secretly love it.

She never cuddles.

One of her favorite past-times is scooting around the kitchen floor and eating crumbs.  I really try to keep the floor clean but, let's be honest, it's nearly impossible with two small children.  If there is anything on the ground, she'll find it.

She not only scoots now but gets up on her hands and knees and sometimes hands and toes.

 She decided right before our Arizona trip that she'll no longer let me use a nursing cover to feed her. 

Her hair keeps getting blonder and it's really long on top.
 
Everyone always comments about what a happy baby she is.  Always smiling

Most importantly, she started saying this:

I'm pretty sure she thinks it means food but at least she says it!

Thanksgiving

We went down to Arizona with the Morbys this year for Thanksgiving.  We love escaping the Utah cold for a few days and basking in the sun.

Drew and Lisa rented a mini van for us so we could drive down in comfort.  It was so nice.  The auto-open doors, stow n' go storage, and dvd player made me almost want one of my own.  Almost.  Berkley got a new backpack full of activities for the trip.  She was so ready to go.  She'd been talking about it for what seemed like weeks.  The morning we were leaving she ran into our room and yelled, "We ah-forgot to go to Arizona!!"

We broke up the drive into two days each way.  We stayed in St. George on the way their and Kanab on the way home.  There is no way the kids would have been able to do the entire trip in one day but since we broke it up they did awesome.  The downside is that we were driving 4 out of the 6 vacation days.  It seems like it might be worth it to fly next time.

Peyton also decided that she would no longer nurse with a cover on so that was fun.


The weather in Arizona was so perfect.  On Thanksgiving morning the men went golfing while the women cooked.  We spent the day at Zack's Aunt Lori's house.  Here's our gracious host with Peyton and Mara.  I don't think Mara was too excited to share her grandma.

Both my girls loved the dog!  They shouldn't get their hopes up.

All the kids made these cute turkeys to go on the table.  Berkley couldn't resist her turkey's head.

Everything looked absolutley beautiful.  A lot of us opted to eat outside by the pool though because the weather was just too gorgeous.

All of the food was delicious.  Lori made fresh limeade from her lime tree and Lisa even attempted my grandma's roll recipe.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and visiting.  The kids couldn't even wait for the spa to warm up before getting into the water.

This is the best pie-eating picture.

The next day we did lots of shopping, some relaxing, and a lot more eating.  Berkley showed Peyton how to play with grandma's tablet.

Berkley was really excited to play tennis with Lisa.  She kept saying, "I brought my antenna shoes so we can play tenna!"  They did get to play and Berkley may have hit the ball once with her racket.

Making footprints.

We stopped to see some sheep.  The little lambs running around were adorable.


And all too soon it was time to head home.

Parker and Rylee were amazing to help out with the girls on the long drive.

We were pretty close to completing our license plate map.

I put our little point-and-shoot camera in Berkley's backpack so she could take pictures while we drove.  We ended up with almost a hundred pictures like this.

Some decent road trip pictures.





And a bunch of self-portraits.