D & W Racing

In September Nathan and I went out to D & W Racing out in Rainier, WA. One of the guys that Nathan works with, Danny, owns the flat track. He invited us to come out and watch the last races of the season so we decided to go. It was fun, but boy was it noisy and super dusty. The crowd was really interesting to be around too. It was a lot of fun to go out and experience something new, but I don't know if I would go again. There are only so many times I could watch motorcycles and quads go around in circles.

I just realized...

I just realized that I did not post about Emily's Birthday this year! Her Birthday was back on June 18th. On her actual Birthday which was a Monday we had the Grandparents for cake and ice cream, and then the following Saturday we had her big Birthday party. We did a Mickey Mouse theme complete with Hot Dogs, and lots of polka dots! The day turned out really nice, but with the first trimester of this pregnancy I ran out of steam. We had the family over for lunch and Emily had a blast with all the attention and presents. Here are a few glimpses of the day:

Memorial Day

This Memorial Day weekend was a nice relaxing weekend. I was able to make soup for my in-laws. Suzanne has not been feeling well. It was nice to be able to do that for her. I used the recipe that I found here. It turned out so yummy! Nathan also made some homemade bread to go with it.

On Monday we went on a picnic with my parents to Wildwood Park. I was afraid that it was going to be packed. We drove past Bradley Lake Park and there was no place to park at all. When we got to Wildwood park we were one of the few cars in the parking lot. We had a nice picnic with pitas from pita pit, and Emily actually ate some of her lunch too! We had to sneak her past the toys or else it would have been a crying fest on our hands to go on the toys. We basically had the entire playground to ourselves, and Emily had a good time on the slides and throwing 'boats' or sticks into the stream and watching them float down. I will have to keep this park in mind for future reference. I like how there wasn't very many kids at the playground.

Pool Time

We spent quiet a bit of time in the pool this past summer. She especially loved to fill up her own pool, and would stand there holding the hose until the job was done. Emily had so much fun, and I have a feeling that she will love going swimming even more next year.

Nathan's Birthday

Nathan's Birthday this year was kind of a weird one. We ended up spending the weekend at my parents' house because one of our neighbors got evicted and he actually blames us for that. We have been a little afraid that he was going to be a little vindictive and take it out on us somehow. He moved out on Saturday August 25th so we just decided to not even be anywhere around him or have anything there (like our cars) for him or one of his friends to do something to them. Which I did find out that they did something to our neighbors car so it wouldn't start up. Because of that I am so glad we made the decision to spend the weekend at my parents.

Because of all the excitement that went on we didn't get to have the big get together party we were hoping to have for Nathan's birthday. I tried to make it as special as I could for him by making him a homemade chocolate chip cheesecake with a chocolate glaze, and a nice steak dinner. It was a little more laid back, but I hope he realizes just how much we care for him, love him, and are so blessed that he is in our lives. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and father to my children.

I have a bike!

Emily loves bikes. Every time she sees one she wants to ride it so bad. Sometimes at the store we even have to let her sit on one, and push her around. Grammys luckily came across a big girl bike at a garage sale for only 5 bucks! When we came  over one afternoon they had it set up on the back porch and boy was she so excited that she has a bike. She hasn't quiet figured out how to peddle yet, but she loves getting pushed around on it. The rest of the night she kept saying "I have a bike!" Can you tell she loves her bike:

Ryan and Ashley

On August 17th my brother-in-law, Ryan, got married to such a sweet, fun loving gal, Ashley! It was such a nice day and happened to be the hottest day of the summer that we had all summer. The morning started out a little stressful with running out of time, and having to go drop Emily off at my parents house and make it back down to the Stake Center. Lets just say that I was flying on the way back, and just barely squeaked in in time for the wedding vows. Which Bishop Johnson did a wonderful job with. I can't wait until next year when they are able to be sealed in the temple.

After the wedding we took pictures down in the meadows, and I ran to the store to pick up a few things for the luncheon. Suzanne did such a wonderful job with the luncheon. It looked so nice, and all the food was so tasty.

Later that night we had the reception up at the 176th Building. They decorated it in such a fun Hawaiian theme, had a photo booth with props, and lots of yummy food complete with a pineapple palm tree! and sparklers to send them off with.

It was such a nice day, and we couldn't be more excited for the two of them.

Point Defiance

During the summer while Matt and Tiffany were here in August we took an afternoon trip out to Point Defiance for a picnic and for a walk around the gardens, and to play on the beach. It was a hot day, but we had so much fun!

It's a....

That's right we are having a baby and we found out on August 14th that we are having a BOY! So now we have one of each. Nathan couldn't have been any more excited. I thought his face was going to split in two from smiling and beaming so much.

We decided to tell our families with a box full of blue balloons. Emily was so excited to show everyone the blue balloons. She has been the sweetest little thing. She says hi to the baby and gives him a big kiss all the time.

Junior is scheduled to come to our family on Christmas Day.

August

August has been such a busy month! The first weekend started out with helping my parents clean their carpets and Nathan helping Scott out with the music for a wedding. That Saturday we picked up a big girl bed from my cousin Robin and then rushed up to the temple to do a session with the Gray Family in preparation for Ryan and Ashley's wedding later this month. It was nice to get back to the temple.

The following weekend Nathan went on a boys bachelor party camping trip up to Green Water. Sounded like they had a really fun time shooting, eating and enjoying each others company. While the boys were gone us Gray girls got together to go out to lunch at Red Lobster and shopping until we dropped at TJ Maxx and my new favorite store Home Goods. That night we went out to dinner with Ashley and some of her friends for her Bachelorette party over at Red Robin. What a fun filled packed day.

Monday the 13th we went to the eye doctor for a quick check up on Emily's eyes- things are looking really good. No drifting and no preferences starting. It is kind of annoying though because you go sit in their office for an hour just to be seen by the doctor for like 2 minutes. Later this night we went over to see Matt and Tiffany who came for the week. It is Matt's birthday so it was nice to help him celebrate.

Family Reunion

The end of July we had the opportunity to make a quick trip to Utah for a Gray family reunion. We left early Friday morning (right around 4) and got to Utah around 6 that evening. We spent the night at Nathan's cousin's house- Corey and Lindsay up in Brigham. They are such a cute couple, and so much fun. I wish that we lived closer to them. Lindsay is so cute, and she has the same taste in things as I do! They have a trampoline, and Emily just loved jumping on it. That was all she wanted to do.

The next morning we got up bright and early to beat the rush into the shower (we got to be the first ones in!). After everyone was ready we made the trip down to Alpine. We had to make a few stops on the way to pick up some food for the BBQ. Luckily Emily took a little nap on the way down. The reunion was really fun. I got to meet the rest of the Gray side, and it was nice to just sit and chat. They had some fun water activities for the kiddos. A giant blow up slide with pool and a giant slip and slide made out of banners. Emily had such a fun time running and playing with all the big kids, and a big thanks to Auntie Kirsten for taking her down the slip 'n slide! They also had a craft station with materials to make masks. Emily and daddy had a fun time crafting away!

Later in the evening after food they played some games. They did and egg toss, and a gunny sack race. Kirsten won the race, and Scott landed in the mud from the slide.

Instead of making the drive back to Brigham that night we decided to spend the night with my brother and his wife Tiffany in Provo. We then went over to see Bill and Nancy and Grandpa Leale, and then made the trek back to Brigham City to have dinner with all the Bowen's. I felt bad because Emily wanted to jump on the trampoline quiet a bit, and he didn't get to spend as much time with his cousins. We had to get to bed as early as we could. I think it ended up being around 1 in the morning and we had to get up early to make the long trip back to Washington. Emily did so well in the car. The portable dvd player was such a life saver.

We had such a fun time being with family this weekend, and hope to be able to spend a little more time next time.