Dunch...or is it Linner?

It's that meal that comes between lunch and dinner. I had planned to go out for a quiet 'welcome home' lunch with Lane at Los Hermanos. Then the noon hour turned into 3:00 (Rebecca had a late nap). And a quiet lunch turned into a family party! Well, the more the merrier, right? It was really fun. Rebecca looks so tiny in that chair and Natalie is staring at Papa's money clip:
Uncle Laner and Rebecca are good friends. They point at stuff together:

Here are my hottie brothers texting their girlfriends:
Mimi and Papa love their grandaughters! Rebecca is giving cute Nataile "huggies". This is right before she stuck her finger in Natalie's ear and made her cry (sorry Natalie):

"Ooooh, look at that bird!"
Bye, bye!

The End of an Era

For the past 11 months, I have been a working mom! During the school year, I taught Computers (which was a surprise...I thought I would be a reading specialist) and I'm now teaching reading in Summer School. It's my very last week! And I won't be back to teaching next year. I get to stay home with our girlie :)

Here I was at school today with my new haircut (in curly mode). I got 8 inches chopped off and I love it! But this post isn't about me...is it? Hmmmm....ANYways, it was a hard decision on whether I would go back after having Rebecca. But we decided I would go back for one last year. I'm so glad I did. I really enjoyed it. I LOVE teaching and I LOVE kids. I've been doing it for over 9 years now. Some days were hard, like times when Rebecca had a rough night and I had to pull her out of bed in the morning. It was especially hard when we still lived in our condo and I had to take her out in the freezing world to a cold car. But most days, things were just fine. I had the opportunity to work with amazing people and super kids. And since I just worked part-time, I KNOW it helped me in this transition from a working woman to a mommy.

So, who watched Rebecca, you ask?? Well, a few times Taunte Kristin, Aunt Emily, and good friends Sherry and Kristi Garrett took care of her. Omi Birgit and Grandpa Jim came down from Brigham City whey they could. But mostly...Mimi Rosemary and Papa John were the ones to watch the cutie! They happen to live minutes away from Hillcrest. It was SO nice for me to have the best of both worlds. A job I enjoyed, and knowing that our girl was being loved and cared for.
I went to my parent's house during my lunch. My angel mother would have a sandwich and my little girl waiting for me :) I was so spoiled. And so was Rebecca! She has so many toys all around their house. My poor dad, who dislikes clutter, sure has lived with his fair share from Rebecca these past months! Thanks mom, for pretty much dropping your "life" for our girl. Thanks for reading to her, playing with her, meeting all of her basic needs, and for loving her. We have one happy girl and that is partly thanks to you. Jorg and I are SO grateful to you. You never once complained and were always HAPPY to see us. Thank you, thank you...we love you! And We Like It!

P.S. I know you miss her already, so you rest assured that you will have other opportunities to tend her in the future :) xoxoxoxo

The Humble Ditch Diggers

The sprinklers are in! Jim and Birgit have been staying with us, on and off, for the past few weeks to work on this project. They were amazing. They worked SO hard and often in the heat. Jorg and I helped VERY LITTLE and we were still sore and tired. These two worked tirelessly. I am sooo in awe with them. Here is the result!

Taking a break with Omi and Grandpa:

Rebecca and I are watching the work in progress:

Jorg got to handle the heavy machinery:

Muchos Gracias you two!
Next step: G R A S S !

"The Sillier, the better!" or Silly Part IV

That's what Jorg always says when referring to the amusements of our Rebecca. Speaking of the little stinker, this morning I was standing in the playroom giving Jorg a good morning hug. Rebecca started really whining. She was jealous! So we picked her up for a group hug. Well, that was not what she had in mind. She PUSHED me away! With the palm of her little hand pressing on my face. I couldn't believe it. We tried it again with the same result. Oh MY...she loves her daddy. It was so funny. And too cute for me to get upset. Even though...she stole my man!

It's a Girl!!

Congratulations to us! In September we will be called Tante Emily and Onkel Jorg! ;) Thanks for this honor, Kristin and Michael! We are soooo excited! And so is cousine Rebecca...

Photo Soot with Aunt Emily

Playing on Mimi and Papa's slide...
Rebecca loves to smell flowers. It's adorable when she sniffs them.
How big is Rebecca? SOOooooo big!!

Me and my sunshine...
Here she is with cousin Natalie. She is SUCH a cute baby. I love her! Here is Rebecca "petting" her...

Check out more photos on Emily's Photo Blog! I can't stop looking at my whole CD of pictures. I'm trying to choose which ones to frame. Almost impossible. She was so good at catching those shots of our VERY busy Rebecca. If all ya'll even knew half of the shenanigans Emily had to go through to get these shots, you would be even more impressed than you already are. She is amazing. We has so much fun :)

Happy 97th Grandma!!

Just look how cute she is! I love her so much, and even though she doesn't have the greatest short-term memory at this time in her life (asking many times, "Who are you again? and then, "Oh yah!") I still feel so good just being around her. She is one of the most self-less and sweet people I have ever known. I have such good memories of living close to her as a child and visiting for Sunday dinner or going over to swim at her neighborhood pool in the summer time. She loved, and still loves, to have her grandkids around. She made THE BEST sweetrolls. Yum! And always collected her change to give to us so we could buy a pop at the swimming pool. I love you, grandma! Happy Birthday!Four Generations (taken last summer):

Child Labor

When I was little, my parents gave me chores and responsibilities. On occasion, I worked with a bad attitude ;) On those days, I was convinced that my parents only had kids so they wouldn't have to do the all work. I couldn't wait to have kids of my own so they could do the work! Well, now we have little Rebecca. Here she is doing the yard work. Luckily, she has a great attitude. See how happy she is:She's very good with the equipment:

She also enjoys doing the laundry. She takes out the wash:
And don't you just love it when the clothes come out of the dryer and they're all warm? Rebecca does too:
Now it's time for sorting and folding! I told her that if she makes the folds neat, we will go for ice cream later.
What a great kid we've got! Now Jorg and I have plenty of time for those hobbies we had previously set aside. Like, playing Mario 3 on the Nintendo Wii. Thanks, Rebecca!