One

Today Stella turned one. I marked the hours today (and the last couple of days) recounting the events of last year's June 24th as the hours passed. 3:00 am (up today with teething Stella), snatching sleep in three minute increments between contractions. I only know that I slept because Calder told later me that I was snoring. 10:00 am, sitting in a tub in Nana's basement, trying to relax between steady contractions. 11:00 am, water finally broke. finally. and we headed to the hospital. 1:00pm, started pushing. The noises I made didn't really seem like they came from me. 2:02pm Stella made her appearance to our lighted world. "oh my goodness" was all I could manage as they placed her on my belly. What a miracle that this living breathing being was now alive in the world. I loved her then, but at the time didn't have a glimpse of what it would become.
Stella was cute as a tiny baby but is more fun the older she gets. Her independent personality, her endless outfits, her curiosity and coordination, her lack of hair...she's a keeper.

Requisite first birthday cake. We love you Stella. Happy Birthday!

Blah.

Dealing with Seattle-like rain and clouds without the benefit of good recycling, a liberal majority, and excellent pan-Asian cuisine is just not fair. Please bring back my blue skies and 80 degree temperatures.

Utah Temps, June 11th, 2010.

friends

We were lucky to have our friends blow in from the South for memorial day weekend. Anna and Lander were visiting family in Manti and we met up at the farm in Spring City catch up and get the kiddos together. Anna and I have had so many good times together over the years it was exciting to find out we would have kids just a few weeks apart. It was fun to talk about the woes and thrills of pregnancy together, and now its talk about the ups and downs of raising our cute little ones. If only Bluff were a little closer!

memorial

in memory of our little house and all of the work that we did to get it livable and all of the good times we have enjoyed while living there, we had a party over memorial day weekend. our little log cabin that seems to keep getting smaller and smaller. we have loved living here, but with the addition of Stella, quarters have grown a little tight and we have decided to expand. we are pouring a concrete floor in the cabin when we pour a slab for the addition. though we will miss the warmly colored wood and familiarly worn floor, we will not miss the wintry air flowing under the floorboards, the crawl space that to get through more closely resembles sliding through the birth canal than "crawling" though anything, and the pleasant harbor for small creatures that it was. because of this, we had to take out all of our cabinets and rip out the floors (a heart wrenching endeavor that I luckily did not have to take part in) and had to move out of our cabin as we know it, while it doubles in size over the summer and fall. so back to the bbq. we wanted to have a big bash to make up for all of the smaller bashes we will forgo while the yard is a construction site. so we invited the neighbors over for a little gathering, and those that were brave enough to weather the storm and chilly temperatures enjoyed some good food and company. i was just happy that we actually got a chance to enjoy our yard (newly completed project last summer) before it regresses to project phase again. thanks to everyone for coming over and helping us enjoy the house one last time!

the provost crew

evelyn's twins kevin and david, i still don't know who is who

the heavenly chocolate cupcakes that i was not quick enough to sample

cousin jill

mmm ice cream...

beautiful sage

making friends

the grillmaster, john

Thank you everyone! We will welcome you to another gathering to celebrate the completion of the addition project!