Utah Trip Part 1

Michael and I had a great time in Utah. I went out a week before Michael and spent time with my family. It was a ton of fun but all my pictures are on the camera and I get figure out how to get them from my camera to the computer. So I'll post about the first week later.

Michael arrived on July 1...just in time to celebrate Independence day! The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I love the parade, fireworks etc. Anyways, Michael decided to run the 5k this year. It was his first time ever racing a 5k. He did awesome. Lily participated in the fun run. She came in 3rd for her age group and my sister Mary ran the 10k, she won her age group. (I will post pictures of this joyous event later). After the races we went and watched the parade. I have to admit I was a little disappointed. They didn't have as many horses this year.:-( Oh well it was still fun. We ended the day by going to the fair and then watching a few fireworks at my sisters house. Lily was terrified of the fireworks.

On July 9th we went up to Herriman to spend time with Michael's family and to celebrate Jon's birthday. It was a lot of fun. We took family pictures and then went swimming at the rec center. The pool there was so cool. Michael and I had a blast jumping off the high dive and going down the water slide. Lily enjoyed playing in the kiddy pool with her cousins.

Here are some pictures from our trip. I will post more about the first week and my birthday when I get the camera thing figured out.:-)

Here are some pictures from out trip

Our Family Vacation

Hey Everyone,

So this past weekend Michael and I went on a vacation down to Corpus Christi with our friends Ashley and Spencer Rex, and Ashley's sister Christi and her family. It was so much fun! First of all the 3 men went wind surfing. Michael really enjoyed it and wants to go again. While the men were wind surfing Ashley, Christi and I worked on our tans and watched all the kiddos. Lily loved the water. I couldn't keep her out of it. Which was somewhat scary because there were a lot of jellyfish in the water. Luckily Lily did not get stung by any jellyfish. Lily also loved playing with Christi's 3 children. She followed Caylie, who is about 9, around almost the entire trip. It was really funny.

Anyways after wind surfing we went to the beach condo that we had rented for the weekend. We got settled in and then went for a swim in the pool. It was nice to cool off from the hot sun.

The next day we went and played on the beach. We had a sand building competition...I think everyone won first place. Michael and I decided to base our sand castle off the Salt Lake temple. However, once finished I don't think our sand castle looked anything like the Salt Lake temple. After we finished our sand castle we let Lily destroy it, something she had been trying to do the entire we were building it. Lily also enjoyed chasing the seagulls around. She loves birds. She also calls them bees instead of birds. So hopefully someday soon she will learn to call them by the correct name.

We tried playing in the ocean with Lily while we were at the beach but it was a no go. Lily was terrified of the waves and would run away every time we put her down. She did enjoy playing in the seaweed.

After playing at the beach everyone went swimming again except for Lily and me. We stayed at the condo so that Lily could take a nap.

After we ate dinner and put the kids to sleep Ashley's friend Cramer and her husband came over and we all played a game called bang. It was really fun and a nice way to end our vacation.

On Sunday we all headed home. Michael and I had a great time and really want to go back again next year.

Our life in Texas

Hello Family and Friends,

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! We are doing great and loving Austin! Here are some highlights from the past few months...

Black's BBQ...about a week or two ago Michael and I went down to Lockhart with our friends to try some delicious Texas BBQ. Lockhart is the BBQ capitol of Texas, at least that's what I have been told, anyways we decided to eat at Black's BBQ. It was so DELICIOUS! The meat was so tender and full of flavor. They also had a ton of sides to choose from. It was awesome. We are definitely going to go back soon.

Michael won a competition at work this past week. He had to email in an idea for a project using an arduino, and he won. So he is going to be working on that project now. We will post pictures when he finishes it.

I have been working on different crafts lately. I have sewn a skirt, blanket and burp clothe so far. I have also crocheted a few hats and an afghan. It's been a lot of fun. I am also learning how French braid my hair. I know this is something that I should learned long ago but I never got around to it.

Lily is doing great. Her vocabulary is increasing all the time. My favorite is when she says "eye" and then points to her ear. I keep trying to teach her that her ear is her ear and her eye is her eye. However, she insists on calling her ear her eye. Oh well. Hopefully she will figure it out someday. She has also learned how to climb up and down stairs! Yay.

Lily and I have also loved going to the park lately. The weather here is so awesome. Anyways, Lily loves playing at the park. She loves sliding down the slides. She still hasn't figured out that she needs to sit before she goes down the slide but we're working on that. I think she'll get it soon.

Well that's all for now. I will post pictures later.

Bye.

Christmas Day

This was our first Christmas alone as a family. It was a lot of fun. We missed our families but had fun celebrating the holidays as a little family. On Christmas Eve we had dinner with some friends in the ward. It was a lot of fun. We then read the Christmas story from the bible and "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." On Christmas day we opened presents, ate candy and other yummy food. We got to talk to my parents on skype. We also talked to Michael's parents and family on google. It was neat being able to talk with our families. Hope you enjoy the pictures from Christmas morning.

Christmas Vacation

Lily playing with the Christmas Tree
Collecting rocksLily enjoying the hike with the rocks she collected
The beautiful view
Santa, Darcy and Lily

This Christmas was a ton of fun! Lily met Santa for the first time. She's not a big fan yet. Lily also loves the Christmas tree. Her favorite thing to do has been to climb up on the presents so that she can reach the tree better.

We also went for a hike as a family. Well actually we went up some stairs so see the view from the highest point in Austin, Mount Bonnell. It reaches an amazing 775 feet! Pretty amazing I know. Anyways you go up these stairs and look out at the lake. It was a beautiful view. After that we walked around on the trails at the top. Lily enjoyed herself by collecting as many rocks as possible. She loves rocks! However, we ended up taking all the rocks away from her because she started trying to eat them. Crazy girl. It was nice getting out and spending time together as a family.

Lily's pictures again

Here is the last Picture