The Woody's

17-20 Months... Uh oh

2012-01-31T19:16:00.000-08:00

"Uh Oh" can explain a lot of things these days! My little girl is growing up fast. Her favorite word right now is "uh oh" and her favorite things to do are "uh oh" things. I absolutely love this stage. As soon as we came home from Utah (well probably while we were in Utah) is when I really noticed Izzy is seriously busy Izzy ;). She is my little busy baby and is seriously the light of my life right now. This stage is so much fun. I mean my back hurts a lot from chasing her and bending down cleaning up her mess... but it's still so great! We have stayed busy everyday this winter by going to playgroups, swim classes, music classes and the park when we have a crazy 65 degree day (that we love!).

Here are some things that Izzy is doing right now:

She loves:

makeup. elastics. lip stuff. dolls. blankets. jewelry. and dressing up

This is our Sunday. As you can see that she is all ready but there in the background are things that she just keeps taking out of the closet. And she continues to the shelves, cupboards and bathrooms. It's like a tornado hit our home Sunday morning :).

Loves getting things out of her dresser drawers. Her favorite thing to get out is clothes. She tries to put them all on her head. That could seriously keep her busy forever.

She loves her "briefcase" (on the left). Carries it around and takes her books out.

She is a great eater (I'm very lucky). She loves: strawberries, frozen blueberries, HER BOTTLE, any type of snack especially if there is a container to open... she gets so excited, peanut butter sandwiches, turkey, dried fruit, grapes, chips, anything that someone else makes (I think she gets sick of my food :)), grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, frozen peas and bananas.

So let's talk about this. About 3 times a day this happens... morning, before nap and then while I'm making dinner. It's the cutest thing ever. She gets out every single DVD and hands it to either me or Jeff. Lately she is now drawing on all of the faces on the DVDS with her crayons. She loves it! And then she gives me this look "what mom?"

Absolutely loves chairs, especially her own little chair (not this one above).

And then we have the toilet paper :). I love it. The best part about this day was she wanted to "dress up" in her dress that she wore to Eric and Sallees wedding. She insisted she wore my jewelry with it. When I take her to my jewelry box to pick out a piece to wear, she shakes and squeals because she is so excited!

That is my little Izzy....

-says "uh oh" all the time, rolls her tongue to make sounds, colors on everything, she places a diaper on the ground, lays it out and then sits on it (hilarious)

- loves: balls, dolls, skyping grandparents, playing with the sink,CUPS with water, ice, toothpaste, and seagulls :)

There is so much! I could go on forever.

Love it!

Fall 2011

2011-12-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

Where in the world did Fall go? hmm... it went by way too fast! I absolutely love the Fall in Virginia. Don't get me wrong... I probably miss Miami EVERYDAY especially in the winter but when I was in Miami, I missed Fall so much. And I LOVED enjoying it again! Virginia is beautiful in the Fall and we were able to take advantage of every minute of it.

Look who started walking on October 15... this little one

who loves her walker, airplanes, bouncy balls, glasses of water, balloons, her baby doll, bath time, blankets, Christmas lights, and her daddy... this little one

We celebrated Jeff's birthday with a date night to Les Miserables, yummy dinner and lots of trips in October! Izzy was a little more excited in this picture

And then she got her dad excited

And then it started to get a little cold...

In October we enjoyed a lovely weekend up at Deep Creek Lake with some great couples. It was absolutely beautiful and the best thing to do in the Fall Season.

Our cabin was just walking distance from this Lake.

All jeff could do was stare at the Air Natique

We went on a beautiful hike to these waterfalls, enjoyed making dinners, and had a blast on their alpine slide

And then the day we left, we hung out on the beach

Izzy loves bath time and reading time with her dad

Have I mentioned that she loves her dad?

Then my mom came and we had a blast. My poor mom got really sick, but we still had fun watching our favorite shows, going out to eat, Georgetown, parks and DC.

And Izzy loved every minute of it

Then Liz came out! We had the chance to visit Richmond, Charlottesville and Williamsburg. We loved it! These towns are seriously my favorite.

Our favorite was Monticello in Charlottesville. We visited Thomas Jeffersons home, took a tour and had a yummy lunch.

here is his back garden

Izzy had so much fun with Grandma and Uncle Eric

Then we went to Maymont park and saw more things there than we did at Yellowstone park! Bears, eagles, monkeys, farm animals, deer and elk

Izzy loved feeding the goat

She's growing up way too fast... and we are loving every minute of her

She helps me with laundry, puts all the clothes on her head, wraps her baby up in 7 blankets every day, throws tantrums here and there:), love love loves playing with friends, gets the DVD's out and hands every single one to me and just loves being busy little Izzy.

Here's to Fall 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We were finally able to cook our yummy food again! Last year we didn't even get a Turkey Dinner because we were at Disneyworld, so this year we thought we'd go all out. I absolutely love hosting Thanksgiving dinner. We had the Olsens down from New York and our great friends from here, the Meaghers over. It started out with Mel and I going to the store early on in the week and starting everything Tuesday night. We decided we wanted to do everything from scratch. Mel made the rolls from Lion House recipe, creamed corn, yumsville yams, and a banana cream pie. Jeff and I made the turkey (well Jeff pretty much did, from a recipe that Mel found), the mashed potatoes, spinach dip appetizer, stuffing (this was actually made from the box because we ran out of time), sugar cookies and apple butter as a little favor for everyone and a yummy cranberry tart. The Meaghers brought a great fruity drink, martinellis, and a delicious apple green salad. And as everyone knows, it's 12 hours to prepare and 1 hour to enjoy! And it was worth it!

Izzy had so much fun with her friends! I wish I got a picture of Lexi in her beautiful dress.. but here is Izzy and Rowan running around!

yummy food

I'm ready to eat!

cranberry tart

preparing the turkey

The day after Thanksgiving we went to check out the train display at the botanical gardens in DC. It was a beautiful day. It was 65-70 degrees all weekend!

Everything was made of sticks and clay. It was so neat and the kids loved it.

This is the face that Izzy always makes lately. Its the cutest thing.

cute little girls playing

Then on Saturday we went to Gettysburg. It was so neat to see. We went and saw the visitors center and then did the auto tour.

Great weekend!

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-15T19:25:00.001-08:00

ok so we had to use the same costume as last year because it's awesome. It was so fun to take Izzy trick or treating finally! We went to Old Town Alexandria and it was so neat to see the darling little neighborhood all decorated and all the little kiddies. Best place to go for all Hallows Eve. Grandma Lizzie was in town and we had a blast doing Fall fun things, handing out candy, and taking Izzy around. I loved it!

unfortunately I only had my phone but it will do!

cutest car freshener ever.

Utah vs Pitt game!

2011-10-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

So I have so many photos on my camera that are just sitting there... but I can't upload them because my computer disk is completely full. Yes I have backed it up but everyone at the Apple store suggests to buy another external hard drive before I completely delete my photos.. so until I buy one- I will be just taking pictures with my phone! And I figured I might as well stay up to date on things rather then just post 3 months down the road...

This past weekend was a ball. We went to the Utah vs. Pitt game! Finally a U of U football game! It felt so good to be back with the Utes. There were actually a lot of us which was so fun. It's amazing how many U fans are on the East coast. We went with a bunch of couples and it was so fun.

Izzy's first football game and she loved it!

As everyone knows it was kind of a weird game but at least we won!

Pittsburgh was so fun to see in the Fall. We explored market square, duguesne incline (beautiful view), yummy food, and the heart of downtown. Jeff and Bobby even got to stay for a Steelers game.

Great weekend!

She is a daddy's girl

2011-10-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

Izzy is definitely a Daddy's girl! Wow I thought my hard work would maybe swing her but no her daddy has her hooked. Anytime he leaves the room, leaves for work, sits her down... she is not happy. She loves him and it is so darling.

Here is our last swimming day... ;( so sad

shopping with cute little Alexis

This is the new Martin Luther Monument

Then we went and checked out the FDR Monument and I'd have to say- that one is probably my favorite!

Like I said... Daddy's girl

Summer 2011

2011-10-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Wow where did the summer go?? I have no idea. It went by way too fast. And way too fast for me to blog. I don't even know if anyone looks at blogs (or even my blog) anymore. I kept debating if I should continue but it's just so nice to have as a journal right?? I love that I can just upload pictures, type a little description and print it as a picture book. Well for those who still look at our blog... I hope you enjoy!

Here is what we did this summer:

- visited some lakes in Marlyand (pictures below)

- went swimming, biking and running here and there

- visited NYC and Richmond

- visited Utah a couple of times

- and enjoyed the hot and humid weather!

Here we are at a fun lake for the day. We enjoyed the beach an hour away!

my mom and I went up to Hotel Park City one day. So relaxing

We swam at my grandmas pool lots with my mom. Izzy loved it! She literally jumps in the pool by herself she loves it that much. She sits on the side and I say "1,2,...3!" and she arches her back to scoot herself in the pool. so cute

Izzy and Aunt Jennifer

Our Utah trips were so fun. They always go by way too fast. But we were lucky enough to squeeze in a trip to Newport beach and Heben! Our 2 favorite places.

We ate at one of my most favorite restaurants in Newport. The Crab Cooker... so yummy

The last night in Newport, there was a beautiful sunset in Laguna

Uncle Brady and Izzy. So priceless!

She wouldn't let the bucket out of her sight

We just missed Jeff and Elder Trey... not the same without them

We were able to attend Justin and Ashley's beautiful wedding in Newport.

All of us at the Crab Cooker

Such a fun trip!!

These pictures are kind of out of order but my little Izzy became a toddler by riding on the back of the bike!!

Cute Colby and Izzy. Izzy loved Aunt Brookie, Uncle Colby and Uncle Brady!

and especially Grandpa Jim and Mema

It was so good to be back in Newport. Our family has a tradition to go every summer. But we hadn't been all together there in so long! So it was so fun. From dinners at Fashion Island, to movies, to walks on the beach, to donuts on the pier to swimming and lounging all day. It was heaven.

Hebgen 2011

This trip was so fun because we were all finally in Hebgen together. All the kids hadn't been there in years. Izzy was finally able to play with her cousins, Aunts and Uncles!

cute little Luke

Cute Jane and Elle were so darling to "busy Izzy" as they would call her

And Elle loved Uncle Jeff!

How adorable is that picture. The kids were exhausted by the end of the day!

This picture was our typical day... wake up in the morning... go to the beach and hang with kiddos... eat lunch... hang at the beach more... make a yummy dinner... watch movies and play games.

I love this picture of Robbie... so cute

We ended the summer with a Labor day trip with Uncle Eric and the Olsens. We went to Annapolis beach for the day and it was a great to end the summer.

Unpredictable- My Mom's store

2011-09-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my mom owns a designer clothing store right in Holladay, Utah! And for those of you who live close... you should go check out the trunk show.

From fabulous jewelry, to clothing, to coats, to exercise outfits to shoes... they've got great stuff that just came in!

I just saw all the stuff my mom just came back from LA with and it is so darling!

Go check it out and enter the trunk show this Saturday.

Print this coupon below and you will receive 40% off one item this Saturday

Upredictable Presents…

AFashion & Jewelry Trunk Show
Saturday,September 24, 2011
Noonto 4 pm
Fabulous Jewelry by Carrie Call
Ongoing Fashion Show…3-$100 Drawings at …3 pm
Fabulous Lunch Will Be Served!
(Asmall purchase required before event to be eligible for Drawing)
40% Off One Item on 9/24/11

RSVPby September 22
4848Highland Drive (801)733-5300

Busy little Izzy

2011-09-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

My little girl turned one! I'm obviously way late with these pictures but she had a great birthday on July 16th. We were in Utah and had a fabulous celebration.

Here she is on the morning on her birthday... of course at this age they are more interested in the bag and tissue paper than the actual present!

Busy little Izzy party!

Thanks to SO many people we were able to pull off an amazing party for Busy little Izzy. Thanks to my mom, Liz, Brookie, Chelsea, Jeff and many others it was so darling.

I knew that I wanted the color YELLOW at her party but I didn't think I would do a "theme". But as I was putting together a little poem for the invitations (thanks to MIranda for doing the invitations!) "busy little Izzy" kept coming to mind. So I HAD to do a little bumble bee theme in there. I need to take a picture of the invitations... I'll probably post it later.

Brookie did the darling banners and tissue balls, my mom made the awesome styrofoam bees, and other decorations, Liz brought the yummiest cookies you'd ever taste and Chelsea made an amazing beehive cake. And mr jeffrey made a mini fondant cake for the Iz.

I had Marshmallow pops, bee cookies, chocolate bars, juice for the little bees, IZZE drinks (awesome huh), pasta salad, green salad, veggies, fruit and rolls.

I had a little table for the kiddos that came

and a pinata for the kiddos as well

love her...

So I send Jeff to go get a FEW balloons... and my cute husband comes back with 10 balloons, 2 large ones, and 1 extra large one which was awesome. He comes in the front door and was like "look how awesome these are!!" That is what I love about him. He just loves to take it to the next level and is the cutest dad in the world.

It was a job well done... we had a blast, Izzy LOVED her cake and had plenty of it, so fun to see great friends and family again, and one of the most exciting to see my little girl turn one. I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to all who helped and celebrated this special day with us.

My little Girl Turns 1

2011-08-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Izzy has turned one! It's amazing how it all happens at the blink of an eye. One year ago today (in August) We were loving life with walking along the beach in the hot summer sun. I remember I just needed to get out so I didn't care how hot it was. It was still beautiful. And Izzy would just sweat in her car seat in the stroller :). She is the light of my life and I don't know what I would do without her. Here are some of the things as of late...

She loves:

- Willie our dog. Pets him any chance she gets

- standing up holding on to things

- getting in to things such as cupboards, strollers, laundry baskets, etc

- laughing

-when Dad comes home

- seeing kids playing on the street (she gets so lonely with just me!)

- THE WATER!! wow does she love the ocean or the pool. She just gets giddy!

- beach balls

- keys, jewelry, and shiny things

She just started:

- tantrums! Aren't those fun...

- screaming when she wants something, drops something or when I say "no izzy"

- animals and animal sounds

here is the best one... she just started hugging me. It is my most favorite thing in the world. If I just say "oh izzy" She puts her arms around my neck and rests her little head on my shoulder. Melts my heart:)

These are some pictures we took when she was 9 months in April in Florida before we left. My cute friend Brittany is an amazing photographer! We were lucky enough to be in Fl with her!

So I should have saved this for the bottom of the post, but this was at the end of the session... she was so tired!

The one on the right is such an izzy smile. I love it

So let me just say that we got there and took Izzy's pictures first while we could get her to still cooperate... and she did such a great job! Well 90 degrees + humidity + Jeff and I running around didn't go great with my looks. So the ones of Jeff and Izzy are seriously my favorite. But we got a few of Izzy and I resting (like the one above) and I love it because that's just a still shot of a mom and her daughter. What we do best!

I love Izzy in this... so darling. Don't you love the background in some of these? We have some others that I didn't post but it was such a beautiful day on Miami Beach (where they were taken). We were so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

Thank you Brittany for such amazing pictures of my little girl!

July 4th, My birthday and the Big Apple

2011-08-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

4th of July... One of my favorite holidays. We decided to spend it in our favorite place... NYC. We had a great time with Mel and Trav and Mar and Scott!

I love the weekend too because it's my birthday :) Jeff always makes it special. This year he made up an itinerary (scrapbooking stickers and all) of what the weekend was going to be. From breakfasts to Central Park to the beach to yummy dinners at night...

We were unable to do most of that but it was hard because poor little Izzy was so sick :(

and then I caught it from her... but we made the best of it

Here we are in Central Park the day of the 4th. As you can see Izzy had been crying all day and could barely even move. She had a fever the night before of 105. But of course was a trooper! But look at darling Alexis... isn't she the cutest

Izzy and I stayed a few days after the 4th to hang with Mel and Alexis and luckily we both started feeling better! Izzy and Alexis loved the swings

We met up with Breanne and Kenna at the park. It was so fun to see them again!

Izzy is now starting to crawl into things... such as cupboards, laundry baskets and even her stroller

When we got there, one of the things on Jeff's itinerary was the beach! So we met Mel, Trav, Marylynn, Alexis and Zoe at Long Beach. It was a perfect day!

the thing with Izzy is that she just keeps crawling towards the ocean... she never stops! So I just have to pick her up and bring her back to the dry part and then she is at it again :)

Each night Jeff and I would take advantage of cuddling Izzy because this is so not like her. She was so sick, all she wanted to do was lay on our chest. We loved it... but felt so bad for her

I had a great birthday! I woke up and Jeff and Trav went and got me a cupcake with a candle and some flowers. I wasn't feeling great so all I wanted to do was to just lay in Central Park on a blanket and have a yummy lunch. So Mel and I talked forever, played with the babies while Jeff and Trav took the bikes to go grab us lunch. Great day!

That night we went and met Mar and Scott for a yummy italian dinner

The next day we went and did a little shopping in SOHO. Izzy of course was exhausted

I love these 2 pictures!

cute little Alexis trying to sit up!

On the night of July 4th we didn't feel great that we watched fireworks on TV. Who knew there were fireworks on TV?! Mel and Trav were troopers to stay home with us.

Fun trip!

Lately

2011-07-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

So we've been doing a lot of random things lately and I guess I can just sum it up in one post...

We had a great Fathers Day

I decorated the table with fun presents, pictures and treats. I did a little "bucket list" for Jeff and Izzy to check off. Things like "do something fun just the 2 of us", "go to a lake I've never been to before", etc.

Jeff deserved every little compliment because he is truly the best Dad. A dad who wakes up and hears her talking in her crib and says "I get to get her!", "I want to change her diaper", I want to have her in church this time" is seriously the best.dad.ever. I love it...

This was one of our Sunday walks around the capital... our tradition use to be around the little island in Miami, but this is even better to go into the district with our little family :)

For our anniversary back in May, Jeff surprised me with a day of fun. We started out going to Great Falls and seeing the waterfalls, then to get a yummy frozen custard at the famous Nielsens and then off to the DC Zoo. We loved it! And izzy loved it!

Here we are at Great Falls

My little girl is almost 1.. I can't stand it...she is just growing up way too fast. Even though she is still really tiny :). She is still crawling like crazy, standing up on things, babbling words, and when I shake my head and say "no" she shakes her head back at me. Its the funniest thing. I love it.

this is what she does when Jeff comes home from work. And then when she sees him, she screams and is so excited

she turns 1 in one week!! so exciting!!!

Visitors in the District

2011-06-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Visitors, visitors, visitors! The great thing about DC is everyone either comes here for business, to see family or they are so nice and come see us! We were able to see some fun friends these past few months.

Our great friends The Vandenakkers came when we first got here and we had a blast. We hung out at the house, explored fun restaurants and took them to fun places.

Here we are at National Harbor

We took them in to Georgetown one afternoon which was so fun. Izzy was laughing so hard because she just saw a balloon so we had to get a picture.

cute Jax playing with Willie in our backyard

This was our Mother's Day dinner! So fun! We had a blast Vanenakkers- please come again soon!

Then we were lucky to grab dinner in DC with our good friends the Blancks. They came in town for business and we were happy to see them!

Then my great friend Amanda and her kids Zoe and Adelaide (from FL) came in town. We had so much fun with the little kiddoes. Here are Zoe and Izzy playing in her crib. Each morning, Zoe would come in to Izzy's room quietly and just jump in to play with her. I loved it because I got a few extra minutes of sleep! Thanks Zoe :)

This is Adelaide :) darling little one

We went to the Natural History Museum which was awesome. This was Zoe's face after she saw the huge spider

Amanda is so great because she teaches me so much! She was able to teach me some fun new recipes and also how to cook healthier! I tried to contribute a little and help her sew a few things :)

They came with their Florida tan and left with a little more knowledge on our country :) Miss you guys already.

And then the Olsens came and surprised us! Best surprise ever. We had a great Memorial Day weekend. The best part was their baby... Miss Alexis. Isn't she just the most darling thing ever :)

We were able to tag team it with the stroller

This was on our way to Cafe Rio... that's right... Cafe Rio. Kids were loving life in the back.

We went and watched the parade, walked through Rock Creek Park, hung out at home, made dinners, yummy cookies... it was a blast.

We went to Air and Space Museum and izzy was getting excited every step of the way. She would just shake and scream with excitement! Anything flying in the air she can't take her eye off. I love this stage because she gets excited about so many fun things!

It's always good time with the Olsens... now even better with their new addition :)

11th time's a charm

2011-06-02T18:27:00.001-07:00

11 times...

wow we are almost caught up to my parents!

another change has come and gone. I guess paradise can't last forever right?!

Miami was one of the best years of our lives... along with many others of course. Jeff started a great job, I was pregnant with no job enjoying the sun, ocean and our beautiful island, and then we had our beautiful baby girl. We would take daily walks around the island, go to the beach every Saturday, sit on our porch and watched the kids play in the water fountain 12 months of the year, take an elevator down to our hot tub and pool at any time of the day or night we wanted to, have sunshine in our room at 6:00 a.m. EVERY day... even in January, and enjoy 75 degree weather without a cloud in the sky.

But when an opportunity comes along, I guess you've got to take it. We absolutely loved Miami, and Jeff loved his job. However, Jeff received an opportunity to come back to Virginia and work for the company he use to intern at. And in the long run, it was just better for our family. Better schools for Izzy and better hours for Jeff. I actually get to see him at 6:30 at night! It's awesome.

So... we packed up and said goodbye. This time was hard. Why does moving have to be so hard? I think it's because you realize that you probably won't be back (to live there I should say). We probably won't ever live in New York again, and we probably won't ever live in Miami again. But then I never thought we would be back to Virginia again! ;)

I think also when you make so many precious memories in a place... it makes it even harder. We had our first little one in Miami! We saw her grow up so fast in that Brickell Key apartment. She said her first words there, sat up there, started crawling there, and played in her first nursery there. I loved it.

But... I have to keep telling myself that we can make NEW memories.

Here's to a new adventure...

Here are some pics of our last few weeks in the sunshine state...

My friends and I enjoyed the Sony Erickson open. It was so fun!

This was our last girls night at Cheesecake. Not everyone could make it, but it was still so much fun

I will miss you girls!

We had our last BBQ at our pool with all of our friends

miss you all!!

And so then we enjoyed our last walk around the island

and we had to get some last shots of izzy on the beach

the thing is, is that this beach was literally walking distance from us! They would give you cold towels on the beach, serve you ice cold water or lemonade and put up an umbrella if you needed. what?!!

and then it was time to go...

the nice thing about this move is that we didn't have to do the packing... so we sat and relaxed :)

they packed our stuff, we enjoyed our last week in Cancun while our stuff was in transit, and then we came back for one last night at the brickell key apt

and then it was time to say goodbye

but on to a great new place!

here we are in VA unpacking

can you tell who is tired and frustrated in this picture?

Izzy's first crawling steps in our new house. Here's to new memories

it's so good to be back! We LOVE DC!

10 months

2011-05-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost 1 year. time flies by so fast!

little miss iz is the cutest thing ever. of course I am bias but jeff and I just laugh at her everyday because she has this one of a kind personality.

she is intrigued with EVERYTHING. alert to EVERYTHING. and if she wants something, she'll do everything she can to get it. she is the happiest little girl ever. and of course there are times when she is frustrated and puts her face to the ground and cries. if we are out and about at night, on the plane, or holding her somewhere late at night... she doesn't go down without a fight. She just goes goes goes and then she is out.

she is loving:

crawling

standing up on things

playing in her crib for an hour before nap time (sometimes frustrating:))

little cups

cell phones

First Mother's Day

2011-05-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

how cute is she? She even wrote me a card. So thoughtful of her :)

We had a great mother's day. We celebrated with the Vandenakkers in town (pictures coming soon). Breakfast in the morning thanks to Cole and Jeff, flowers and then dinner that night.

I love mother's day! I even have it last the whole week :)

And even better... I love being a mom

BEST JOB IN THE WORLD

thanks izzy for the best mothers day ever

Easter 2011

2011-05-15T19:59:00.001-07:00

We only had a few minutes to put Izzy in her beautiful yellow dress, a little bow, and place a basket next to her. We were in the middle of our move, but hey at least we got some pictures :)

happy easter 2011

Oh Mexico, it sounds so simple I just got to go

2011-05-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

CANCUN, MEXICO

Jeff and I had some time to take a trip with our little family. In between our move, we thought we would take advantage of the southern border one last time...

Cancun is fabulous! We had never been and it was dreamy. We absolutely loved it.

We stayed at an all inclusive resort in Cancun about 10 minutes from Playa Del Carmen.

It was actually really inexpensive and the resort was beautiful!

Lovely buffets (ha ha well I guess as good as they could be), dinner by the water, beach time, pool time, nap time and some burn on the skin. I figured that I've already ruined my skin... why not ruin it even more ;)

this was the view from our room

this was the part of the pool we would go lounge at each day because it was pretty much the only place that we could find a chair! There were so many pools! And the beach was crowded too but so fun.

The coolest thing about this hotel was that some of the rooms walked out into their own pool

Here is the lobby

The first day was a little cloudy so we took a taxi into PLAY DEL CARMEN. It was so cool to see this part of town. Everyone says that if you're going to go to Mexico, go to Playa Del Carmen. It's full of shops, restaurants, and just the "mexico" feel. Actually it's very americanized... but you know what I mean :)

Playa Del Carmen's beach

Playa Del Carmen

We took some pictures from the car of the streets

This was our beach at our hotel

they had these great night shows at our hotel each night that we so fun to see. Izzy absolutely loved the fountains!

by the last day... Izzy was beat

such a fun family filled trip! :)

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go

2011-04-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

we got there fast and then we took it slow :)...

We had my parents in town in April and it was great! We took a little road trip down to Key Largo. Which is only like 1 1/2 hours away. Pretty nice if you ask me.

The keys are beautiful. They are definitely not like your "resort" towns if you say... more like the "islandy" feel if you know what I mean. So we just went for a couple of days which was perfect. We drove down on a Saturday morning, spent the day with fun in the sun, beach, pina coladas, naps, lunch on the beach and then we got ready for a fun seafood dinner along the water. And it was the best fish I've ever had!

But of course while my parents were there we enjoyed Miami as well:)

We went to dinner on a fun street in Coconut Grove and ate outside on some soft couches. We also continued our tradish of having a BBQ down by our pool. Yummy steaks, corn, rolls, baked potatoes, and maybe a little hot tub, hot and bubbly after. They had a great time with Izzy- it's always fun when grandparents come in town!

Miami Beach

dinner on the lovely sofas at Coco Grove

so I had to post this pic because this will show you (in the background) what we get to witness every day at the Beach in Miami. Isn't it lovely :) And the girls just don't wear their swimsuits... but hey whatever makes you comfortable

Then off to Key Largo! Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful weekend get away. We loved the hotel, food, night life and of course the company.

Here are the 2 boys enjoying the Masters

So each hotel as it's own private beach. It's beautiful! So there was only about 10 of us on the beach. So we just pulled our chairs out in the water and loved it.

Here is the picture of our beach

Iz would just chill in the water with Mema- she loved it

don't you love these pictures? They are always my favorite

ya they are twins :) we still don't know who her mom is...

don't you love it when they eat sand?

Here is where we would eat lunch

lovely weekend!

Grandma Lizzie

2011-04-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Grandma Lizzie came again and we had a great time. She came for her birthday and we had so much fun watching NCAA games, going to dinner, going to the beach, and hangin in our apartment.

So the night that Liz got there it was so funny... I put Iz Biz to bed and didn't hear anything for 45 minutes.. just quiet. So I was like- that's nice, she went to bed pretty fast! (usually she talks or cries a little bit). Well then after an hour, I thought that I would just go check on her. When I go in there she had her head poked up over her crib. I was laughing so hard. That was the first time she figured out how to stand up in her crib and now she loves it! And she just started laughing so hard the minute I walked in. so funny...

Here we are at our little set up on the beach... it was Spring Break and busy but it was fun! It was so nice to have Lizzie there just to play with the Iz Biz. I could just relax in my chair and lounge back. I loved it! Thanks Liz!!!

They went and took her into the ocean and Izzy loved it. She laughs so hard when she walks toward the ocean or towards seagulls, or towards the pool... its the funniest thing.

Our favorite thing to down when Gma Lizzie comes is go to Merrick Park. It's a beautiful outdoor mall with upscale stores. It's where I always go with Izzy and just walk around and window shop... I absolutely love it.

We went to Janie and Jack to buy Izzy a fun Fall Outfit. We grabbed lunch at the fabulous cafe at Nordstroms. so yummy.

We watched movies, talked and talked and talked. I love when Grandmas come to town! Thanks Lizzie for a fabulous time! We miss you already :)

Naples 2011

2011-04-21T20:41:00.001-07:00

We had a great time this year going to Naples again. Naples is a great escape from Miami. It's newer, nicer, cleaner... you name it. It reminds me a lot of Palm Springs. It's pretty much a retired community. There are a lot of old peeps... but hey still fun :).

Thanks to Marylynn and Scott we stayed at a beautiful hotel! It had a great and amazing pool, yummy food and again thanks to Marylynn and Scott we stayed in a great bungalow.

Marylynn and I got to spend like 2 weeks together I love it!! Zoe could not have been cuter with Izzy. They were best buds.

After Naples, Scott and Marylynn came back to Miami and stayed with us for the weekend.

Great times!

This is our little water fountain outside of our apartment. It is my favorite thing around 5:00 p.m. All of the kids are always playing on it and it's perfect temp

Thanks to Marylynn. Izzy loved the starfish!!

Marylynn and I would get up each morning, feed the little ones, clean up a little bit and get in our suits. Then we would head to the pool!! It was beautiful everyday.

Here we are in our hotel room watching the little ones talk to each other ;)

This was our view right outside the bungalow

We took them to the ritz pool on Key Biscayne in Miami... our favorite place to sneak in and take visitors!

Thanks Marylynn and Scott for an incredible 5 star vacation!! We loved it and miss you already!

Favorite pics

2011-03-22T19:45:00.001-07:00

she LOVES to swim! she gets so excited when she gets in the pool, or when I walk towards the pool or the ocean... she starts laughing so hard

Our day to day and 8 months

2011-03-22T19:06:00.001-07:00

I love being a mom...

with capri sun in hand

take it away... not happy

give it back... happy

Some days we will go down to the pool after nap time, take a little swim and soak our toes in the hot tub

play in the room before bed

sit on the porch and do a little people watchin

sometimes I let her sit in the front seat while driving... no I'm just kidding. I'm not brittany spears.. but we were waiting for Jeff so we just had a little bonding time in the car

go on a walk every morning and sit on the lawn and look at the water

Sunday evening walks... my fav

8 months....

just said "dada", sitting up, throws head back when she cries a lot:), and just started crawling :)

Bermuda Bahama come on pretty Mama

2011-02-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

One of the other perks of living on the southern border is you are close to the beautiful beaches of the Bahamas :). It was such a last minute trip- I had no idea the Bahamas were that close! For President's day weekend we thought that we had to do something. So we researched a bunch of things and finally found something.

You can take a ghetto 70's cruise to the Bahamas! it was awesome. but yes very ghetto. so ghetto I think the eggs for our "buffet breakfast" were fake. no just kiddin, but who knows?!

But I'll tell you what- the view, the water, the beaches and the weather made up for it! it was beautiful! And once we got to the resort we couldn't believe it. worth every penny.

This was the view from where we were sitting on the boat (as you can see the wonderful 2 foot swimming pool below). We left really early in the morning and it was about a 4 hour boat ride of beautiful blue water.

So the trip itself was absolutely wonderful and just what Jeff and I needed. However, we kind of had some bad luck when we got there. Let's discuss:

- after arriving at the hotel, we realized that we left our big and really nice camera (yes a lot of you have the same one, so you know how precious those cameras are) IN THE TAXI. never got it back. (they bahamians are still looking into it for us :))

- got a call from our tenants from our house in utah- our furnace broke and we have an infestation of mice... yes mice

- Jeff and I are on phone calls, internet and text messages trying to find our old furnace guy to fix the problem

- get a text from Verizon. our bill is up to $400.00 because we are out of the country.

- worst news of all... find out my cute sis in law in the hospital. she had an "acute lung injury". the most amazing story ever... she is a strong one and made it through. Thanks to an amazing blessing and prayers it was a miracle. Doctors were so amazed, they are going to write a case study on it. she is now home from the hospital recovering. What a trooper she is. we love you brookie! the hardest part was being away from that. we just wanted to get on a plane to go be with her.

this was our hotel room (so with our camera being gone, thank goodness we could use our phones as cameras)

we loved this little restaurant for some good burgers and "conch" ...the view was amazing. I asked the waitresses if they love their job and yes they do :0)

this was our pool... it had one of those infinity edges. let me just say this was like the cheapest hotels! but it was so beautiful we couldn't believe it!

eating her wonderful sweet peas for lunch

So the hotel was so cheap b/c their tourism is down but this was one of the amazing pools with a slide (unfortunately closed though...)

this was the coolest market right by us with a fun night life! it had great restaurants, shops, ice cream parlors,... it was so great!

we went and had a great breakfast the day we left.

this is the harbor right by the market- it was beautiful

Our little family in front of all the little shops

our last day by the pool... we loved it!

and then back on the awesome 70's boat! you definitely get tired of the boat by the end b/c it takes forever to get off. But it was a wonderful relaxing trip. Jeff and I hadn't taken a trip in forever! it was amazing. just our little family. we would get up, grab some breakfast, go to the pool, take a nap, grab some lunch, go to the market, go back and shower, grab some dinner and enjoy the night life, come back and watch a movie in the room with our little family and crash for the night feeling that wonderful feeling of a sunburn. wow we loved it. and it's only 4 hours away! so anyone who wants to come visit- it's not that hard to get to the bahamas :).

now let's just hope our luck turns around and we get a call from a nice Bahamian saying they found our camera.

but the greatest news of all was from my brother saying that Brookie is all safe and well. Hard weekend to be away from family when something like that happens. especially when we are out of the country and can't use our phones! we love you B & B... get well soon xoxo

Uncle Colb

2011-02-16T18:53:00.001-08:00

Uncle Colby came! wow we had a great time and it was so good to have family :)

He was nice to fly out for a fun weekend visit..I think he was a little sick of the bitter cold in Utah

He was so cute with izzy- its so fun to have uncles around :)

Thanks Colb for being so helpful all of the time!

We went to the beach both days- beautiful weather. Then we enjoyed a nice night out at a yummy italian restaurant

izzy just sacked out next to me

ok i'm a bad mommy... I promise I put sunscreen on! I guess I just needed more under the eyes...

but she was happy as a clam

oh and she loves playing with teaspoons (everyone always asks me what those are!)

best day ever...

took her swimming at the Mandarin pool (yes it is beautiful and no they don't ask if you are staying there)

she loved it! we dunked her under and she didn't even cry. She loved every minute of it

loved it so much, she took a 3 hour nap after

miss you already colb... we think you should plan another trip in may :)

You're the best Uncle!

Feb to the Ruary

2011-02-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

My great friend January came!! She was so nice to have a little stop here in the Miami area on her business trip in NYC. She had a little break so came down for the weekend. It was great!

We had kind of a cloudy day on the Saturday she was here?? what?! bummer... it hadn't been like that in weeks. But it was still fun. We went shopping, grabbed a bite to eat on Lincoln, and went and walked the beach. I was happy to have her finally meet the Iz a biz. cute little Auntie Jani bug :)

miss ya already sis come back soon xoxo

Ok so I'm a little late on this... but a while back Jeff hooked us up with some ticks to the Dolphins game. We were cravin' football (more like a Utah football game but this will do:)). We had great seats and the best part was the box where we could have any type of food and lounge on their comfortable couches.

Plus.. when it got really loud and Izzy wasn't liking it- I just came inside and lounged on a couch while she slept :) I was loving it too

We had our monthly Girls Night- a little Valentines cookie swap

thank you blogs for giving me ideas to decorate :)

thank you to this one, and this one

I wish I would have gotten a pic of all the cookies because we had a great turnout and the cookies were scrumtroolescent :)

Perks of living on the Southern Border

2011-02-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone will hate me for this post...

but one of the great perks of living close to the equator is that it's beautiful this time of year

like I have said... we do have brutal summers so bare with me!

but I LOVE this time of year.... 75 everyday...not a cloud in the sky and the water is bright blue

you can wear shorts, jeans, tshirts, sweaters, sandals, swimsuit.... it's not too hot and it's not too cold! Izzy isn't sweating... she is just loving life

we can go out any time of the day and it's great

These were taken at the park I mentioned in the previous post

One afternoon...

Izzy Isms at 7 months

2011-02-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

7 months and growing fast

Lately we've been enjoying the lovely weather here in FL...

taking walks

going to parks and beaches every day

naps in the afternoon... maybe a few crafts

taking more walks at night

sometimes... rarely (I need to do it more) making dinner because Jeff has been getting home earlier!

and putting her to bed by 7:30 so Jeff and can enjoy and great evening talking and watching our fav shows

I love this stage! she laughs like crazy still and is just so happy all of the time

doesn't love the peas...

but loves the prunes, peaches, sweet potatoes

some of these were taken with my phone but I still love them!

this is our late afternoon tradish- playing with her toys on the floor and reading her books

this is after church one day in her sunday outfit- it's always fun to get her during her naps :)

i finally was able to get a pic of her bottom 2 teeth! (well sort of) I was giving her a bath one night and all of the sudden I noticed! wow that was fast!

So this is at the park right by the end of south beach (the most southern part) It's a beautiful walkway that we love to do in the mornings!

this is a pic I took from my phone on a Sunday evening walk- that's a pic of our island

this is her getting her 6 month check up- her pediatrician is awesome :) don't worry- everything is covered

ok so this was the best- it was a rainy day (and when it rains in FL IT RAINS). So for a little cozy day inside I thought that I would try a little cartoon for her to see if she liked it because in Utah, my parents and I took her to Tangled and she loved it! couldn't keep her eyes off the screen.

Well this day I put on The Incredibles. Oh my gosh it was so funny... she kept turning her head back towards me and wouldn't look front. After about 10 min, I turned it off because she wasn't really interested... so I turned on Ellen :)

this is one of my favorite pics and outfit... I loved this day- we just sat on the grass outside of our place and took a bunch of pics by the water. She's got her nice floridian outfit on and lovin life

Half a Cake... 6 months and Happy

2011-01-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

6 months and growing way too fast...

Let's compare

ONE Week old

1 month 6 months

1 month. 6 months.

6 months

13 lbs

13 oz

25 1/4 inches

grabbing things. putting everything in mouth. sitting up (still a little wobbly:)). laughing. smiling. just slept through the night FINALLY again 3 nights ago. rolling from back to stomach. eating solids. watching everything I eat. grabbing mommy's mouth. lighting up when Daddy walks in the room. stretching her arms for us to hold her. scooting...

oh and says "Ron Burgundy"... just kidding

laughs at Willie every time he licks her or looks at her

love

everything

about

her.

xoxo

Christmas 2010

2011-01-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas... 2010! It was so fun to go back to Utah again and see friends and fam. I left on December 21st and Jeff joined us on the 23rd. I was able to stay and have fun for about 3 weeks and Jeff stayed for a week. It was so nice to celebrate Christmas with the lights, snow, cold, hot chocolate, fireplace, mountains and cafe rio :). ha ha well you know what i mean.

This year we were able to mix the families again on Christmas Eve and it was great! We did the traditional fondue dinner.. yummy. We had Jeff's fam- (but we sure missed Rob and Chels and fam!) and my family (and we also missed B&B!). Then we slept at my mom's and celebrated Christmas morning there and then back over the Woods.

Izzy's First Christmas! Wow it was so fun to have her with us this Christmas.

here she is in her beautiful christmas dress :)

Here we all are at Liz's! Ready to open our poppers before the wonderful fondue eats

christmas morning!!!

You think that we would have her in a xmas cute little pj outfit... but the truth is we couldn't really find it and we just loved this puma one so we put her in that. :)

We had a great time staying at Liz's and my mom's while in town. Always nice to get help from the wonderful Grandmas!

This was the annual Johnson/Hale/Larson/Kimball party at the Kimball home

Here is me and my great friend Kristina and her new little one Beckham! he is darling. Him and Iz will be married one day.

So I really just took pics of Iz while in town ;) poor little girl got sick while in town. Everyone gets sick in Utah.. bummer. Her little cold turned into an ear infection... but she is all better now. I was going to pull my hair out though b/c she was up literally every hour for about 2 weeks. my mom and I were trying everything! Humidifiers, vaporizers, heaters, tipping her up at night, swinging her in her carseat, you name it. when I found out she had an ear infection... I felt so bad! then I told her she could get up as much as she wanted :). i look up to all you other moms with sick kids- an ear infection is nothing compared to other things! cheer to you.

wow doesn't she look like Jeff? darling little one.

Having fun with Nana, Grandma Liz and Mema Laurie

These were her sick days but she still is so cute! Grandmas were so helpful!! izzy loved being around everyone.

cute Aunt Judy made her this darling beanie

Aunt Jen, Grandmpa Patti and Aunt Judy

We had a great time watching movies every night, going to movies, dinners, lunches with friends, xmas parties, and family get togethers. Thank you family for such an amazing Christmas!

I had a great time staying the last couple of weeks. My mom just had knee surgery and we would be able to just lounge in the day and rent movies at night. I was able to get take out from all of my favorite Utah restaurants! I got together with my high school friends so many times and their cute kids and I loved it! I wish I could do playgroups with you guys all of the time. It just makes me miss you more :). can't wait for all of your new babies to come...

miss everyone already!

xoxo