Overdue Blog About Family Vacation

Wow it has been such a long time since I last blogged! My laptop stopped working a month and a half ago, so we only have Jeff's work laptop and that is with him all day at his lab. Thus the only time I have a computer is at night when he gets home; and to be honest I feel more like cuddling than blogging when he does. :) But I am FINALLY taking the time to update ya'all on our trip to Utah! (Back in June. Haha)

We got to go back to our home state, Utah, and visit our families this past June and had such a great time! We spent the first week with Jeff's family and the next with mine. It is hard to live so far away from family, especially now that we have a kid, but we are truly blessed in that we have the means to visit them a couple times a year. Not only did we have a great time mountain biking, celebrating birthdays, BBQing and swimming with family/friends, but Lincoln had is first camping experience and we were able to attend my brother Walker's Farewell. We love and miss you and all of our loved ones there. It was so much fun to see everyone and we cannot wait til our next visit!
Here are a few fun photos from the trip.

Crawdad fishing at Strawberry Lake. It was COLD, but we still had a lot of fun! :) 

Jeff hunting for some crawdads at Strawberry Lake. 

 Grandma and Lincoln enjoying the view at Strawberry Lake. 

 Lincoln is definitely his father's son! Only 5 months old and already loves creepy crawly things. 

 Had to post this. Just look at that smile! Is my son too cute or what? :) 

Lincoln with his great Grandma and Grandpa Bean. Love that we got this photo! 

Lincoln LOVES his reflection. 

Going for a walk with Grandma Bean. (She spoils him just a little. :) )

Grandpa was always tickling Lincoln with his noise. :) 

AF High boys reunion. It was so great to meet up with all of these guys! 

Jeff and the Uncles teaching Lincoln how to mountain bike. :) 

Nana and Nicolas hiking Delicate Arc. (Love his little gut poking out!)

Lincoln just hanging out while Dad carries him up the trail. 

Delicate Arc! 

Our family. :) 

The brothers playing around at the cool water hole Abbie showed us. 

Sisters! 

Me and my two goofy "little" brothers!

Now THAT is a real mountain man breakfast. Hashbrowns, sausage, egg, cheese, and salsa all piled on a huge fried scone. :) 

Tuckered out after a long day of hiking and playing in the sun. 

Goblin Valley! One of my favorite places in Southern Utah. 

Last family photo before Walker left on his mission to Brazil. I am going to miss him so much but am SO proud of him and the choices he has made in his life! 

Jeff and I have been so blessed with families that are so supportive and loving! We love visiting them and miss living close to them. However, we are very grateful for our time here in Austin, the wonderful people we are meeting and the memories we are making! I know the Lord wants us here in Texas and is guiding us down the path he wishes for us to take. I can't believe it has already been a year since we moved to Texas! One year of Grad. School down and only 3-4 more and then it's off on another adventure to who knows where! 

 

Fun in the Sun

Since Jeff has taken on two more jobs (kickball reffing and tutoring) to keep us financially afloat, we don't get to see as much of each other during the week as we used to. Jeff's days are devoted to his research work in his lab and his nights are now usually busy with one job or another and/or his church calling. So we have decided to make the most of our weekends and this was definitely a fun one!

We spent Friday night eating burgers and playing games with our good friends Jamie and Reb and Lincoln had his first encounter with a cat. (I was a little nervous about this because I didn't want him to get scratched or bit, but Mila is a very mellow feline and only sniffed at and licked his fingers.) Sadly I was unable to get a picture of this because my phone can be very temper mental.

Now I LOVE the food network channel; and one of the shows I love to watch on it is called Cupcake Wars. I watch this show every Monday (it plays on Sundays but we don't have TV so I wait for it to show up on Hulu) and several weeks ago the winner on Cupcake Wars was from Austin TX. I was so excited about this and begged Jeff to take me to Sugar Mama's bakery so we could try a Cupcake War winning cupcake. Jeff agreed and we went this past Saturday. (Have I mentioned I love him and that he spoils me? :) ) The cupcake was AMAZING and Jeff and I both agreed it is the best one either of us has ever had! It was their Blueberry Lemonade cupcake and was vegan. Crazy I know, but it was SO good!

No it is not as good as it looks, it is MUCH better! 

Thanks Sugar Mama for the amazing cupcake! 

I have always had a big sweet tooth and dream of owning my own little bakery. Jeff is very supportive of this, but I know it is a long way down the road and may not happen as I want to be a stay at home mom above all else. But maybe I can get one going when our kids are in school or do an online business. We shall see. :) 

After we got our cupcakes we went to the Zilker Park botanical garden. It was such a beautiful place and we had such a great time. Walking up and down the hills in my boot was a pain but it was so nice to get outside and look at so many of God's beautiful creations! Lincoln loved all of the birds and waterfalls. He stayed awake for almost the enter time, but got tuckered out near the end and slept in Jeff's arms until we got back to the car. 

Please enjoy the lovely pictures below. 

Lincoln loves getting outside and having new adventures. :)

 Checking out the cool dinosaur statue. 

 Our family. :)

Love my two men!

Every kind of rose you can think of. It smelled heavenly!

Some cool giant Japanese goldfish. 

Fun little secret hideaway.

After the park we went to a Electronic Inventory Sale, which was a total bust and scam. However, we went to Costco after and cheered ourselves up with some ice cream and groceries. We then went home and I cut Jeff's very long hair, while watching the edited version of Argo. (Thanks again James and Monica for letting us borrow the movie and hair cutting kit!) After all of this we had a large group of friends come over and play games until almost midnight. We had such a fun time together and with friends. It really was a perfect day. :) 

We finished this fun packed weekend with a trip to the park after church. We meet our two friends, Sarena and Sean, there and practiced tight rope walking. We all had some great laughs as everyone repeatedly fell off and struggled to even take a step on the rope. Jeff was especially determined to learn how to do it right, but even he could only shuffle a step or two before tumbling off. Unfortunately I was unable to try walking the rope because of my broken foot. I wanted to talk off the boot and give it a try or two, but Jeff was having none of that. . . 

Sarena walking the rope. No she is not a hippy, yes she looks like one today. 

Sean walking the rope. He couldn't get up or stand or walk without assistance; much to his displeasure. ;) His falls sure gave us all a good laugh though!

Jeff walking the rope. He was the best of all of us. (No surprise there;) ) 

While I miss not having as much time with Jeff as I used to, I am so grateful and touched by how hard he works for our family. He wants me to be a stay at home mom and knows how much it means to me to be with Lincoln. He is such a wonderful husband/father and I am so blessed to have him as my eternal companion! Thanks to my in-laws for raising such an incredible man! :) 

Hope you are all enjoying the Spring and those of you who are taking finals right now, good luck! 

Lincoln Meets the Family

We have had such a fun and exciting couple of weeks! Not only did Lincoln receive a name and a blessing on Easter Sunday, but Jeff's parents were able to come to Texas and be here for it. Annette (Jeff's mom) was able to spend a week here and Kevin (Jeff's dad) was able to come down for the weekend. We LOVED having them come and stay with us! It was such a joy to watch them with Lincoln! Jeff and I are finding it extra hard not being close to family now that we have a son. We want him and his grandparents, aunts, uncles and so on, to know each other well. However, we know that we're in  the right place. We have a greater appreciation of and value our time (and Lincoln's) with our families more than ever.
Below are some pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Bean's visit. Get ready for a picture overboard! :)

 Lincoln and I went on a walk around Lady Bird Lake with Grandma Bean. It wasn't the prettiest day, but we still really enjoyed it.

 Lincoln didn't touch the floor too much while Grandma and Grandpa were here. He loved sleeping on their laps and going on "tours" around the apartment with Grandma. :)

 Some cute photos of Jeff changing Lincoln's diaper. I couldn't not post these! Jeff was asking Lincoln if he had a "surprise" waiting for him when he changed his diaper. Lincoln thought that was pretty funny. :)

Grandma and Lincoln loved sitting on the balcony watching the birds, squirrels and lizards running and flying around.

Lincoln taking a nap with Grandma. She didn't think she would fall asleep, but once you get Lincoln on your chest, he will put the strongest willed person to bed. :)

Grandma loved reading to Lincoln and he sure enjoyed it as well!

Cute photo of Lincoln smiling at his Grandpa. :)

Jeff and his dad fixed our suitcase and Lincoln wanted to help. I think he might need to grow a little more before he can use that drill properly. ;)

On a walk around Barton Springs with the grandparents! I think this was their favorite place we showed them. It is a beautiful walk with lots of people and dogs running around.

Lincoln in his adorable blessing outfit. (Same one his daddy and uncles wore.) Thanks Grandma for bringing it down and letting him wear it!

Some family photos after Lincoln's blessing.

Kevin wanted to see Jeff's research lab, so we went on a little field trip there. I think Kevin REALLY liked it and would have enjoyed playing with the equipment a lot more. :)

The very day after Grandma and Grandpa Bean left, Lincoln and I flew to Utah to see my side of the family. Lincoln not only got to see his Nana again, but he meet his Pops (what the grand kids call my dad) and his Auntie Liz, Aunt Abbie and Uncles Walker, Isaac, TC and Brandon. I LOVED being back home with the family and watching them with Lincoln. Auntie Liz and Lincoln seemed to form a deep attachment (sadly I didn't get any pictures of them together, I was having camera and phone issues on this trip) and it was hard to say goodbye to them all after only a week together.

Below are some pictures of that trip. I am sad to say that there aren't as many photos, again because I was having technology problems. :(

Nana and Lincoln out on the balcony enjoying the beautiful weather.

Lincoln and his Nana. He sure loved telling her stories and all the kisses she'd give him!

Pops showing Lincoln how to fly. Lincoln LOVED this and would squeal and smile like crazy!

I am trying to "detox" Lincoln right now after two weeks of being spoiled by his grandparents and aunts and uncles. He will not take a nap longer than 15 minutes if he is not in my arms or lying on/next to me.If he is being held, he will sleep for a couple hours. The little stinker! ;)

Lincoln and his cousin Nick! They were born 9 months apart and I have found it especially hard that they haven't been able to spend more time together. However, Nick seemed to find Lincoln very fascinating and was always trying to sit/lay on him, steal his binky, share his own binky and even tried a couple of times to get Lincoln to play with him with his toys. This picture pretty much sums up their relationship. Nick laughing and wanting to get real close (lay on top of close) and Lincoln not sure what is going on or what to think of it. Haha :)

Flying alone was an adventure all on it's own. I was traveling alone with a 3 month old, a heavy backpack, car seat, 50lb bag and broken foot. However, I received a lot of help from some very friendly people who made the trip much less stressful! :)

I am sad that these are the only pictures I have from this trip, even some of the ones I did take, won't open in my e-mail. Lincoln and I had such a great time though and I am so grateful we were able to go and visit!

We miss our families SO much and are very grateful that we have the means to visit them and they us. Jeff and I grew up in very close families and I hope and pray that ours will be one as well. I loved visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Swensen every Sunday and loved seeing my Gramzie and Grampz almost as often. To this day I love visiting with them and hope my little boy (and any other children we may have) will have this close relationship with their grandparents.

Only a little over a month and we get to see our families again! This time Lincoln will meet his uncles Steven, David and Alex. Woo hoo!

I hope you are all having a beautiful and fun spring! We love and miss you all and hope to see many of you this summer when we come to visit!