Utah Trip

We were excited to fly to Utah and also spend some time in Rexburg, Idaho for a Rogers family reunion in July. We spent a couple of weeks there visiting with family and a few friends. Halfway through I came down with strep and that kind of messed up several of our plans for a few days. As a result, we weren't able to see as many people as I had hoped. But I'm grateful that it happened and we traveled safely especially considering we were gratefully using my parents 20-year-old car and it gave up the ghost two weeks later.

In Rexburg we stayed in a hotel near my sister Katrina. My whole family was able to be there. We enjoyed gathering at her house as well as enjoying some local activities such as Bear World, Rexburg Rapids, and the local 4th of July parade. We enjoyed participating in some family Olympics games, roasting marshmallows in their back yard, and seeing our personal fireworks show from the driveway.

In Utah, we stayed with my parents and Lydia and Ethan loved getting lots of grandparent time. Grandma and Grandpa were so good to all of us. Jason and I were able to attend the Provo City Center Temple which was very nostalgic since I lived in Provo for many years and attended the historic Provo Tabernacle for many events before it burned down.

We also got to see Big River at Hale Center Theatre on a date and visited Temple Square with Ethan and Lydia. One Sunday we made a surprise visit to the ward where we lived in Orem. We really enjoyed seeing many of our friends from Orem and wished we could have stayed and visited longer.

Thanks to Katie Ashcroft for the great family pictures!

We've gotten a little older :)

Everyone!

Lydia met Chelsey and Mik for the first time. Lydia and Mik are birthday buddies.

Playing bubbles outside with Grandpa

Lydia 4 1/2 months

Mom and Dad/ Grandma and Grandpa

Ethan participating in a push-up contest

Girls night out for Gelatto

Nursery with the cousins

Three baby girls born within about 2 months

Most of the grandkids at the Rexburg Temple

Family dinner at Katrina's house

Three legged race at the Family Olympics

Ethan at Grandma's House, playing around the shed

Playing ball with Daddy in Grandma's backyard

Grandpa and Lydia

Ethan and John

A bear we saw from our car at Bear World

A fun train ride at Bear World

Bear World

Friendly deer at the petting zoo at Bear World. Ethan was afraid the deer was biting Daddy, but he was just licking him. :)

Grandma and Lydia

Daddy and Ethan at Rexburg Rapids

Family pic at the Rexburg Temple

Rexburg Parade, Ethan loved collecting candy with Daniel

Spectators at the Family Olympics, did you notice the frisbee?

Yummy, gooey s'mores!

Independence Day Sparklers

Jumping on the neighbors trampoline

Kira teaches Ethan how to do hopscotch

Big Cottonwood Canyon

We had a BBQ with Mike and Chelsey up Big Cottonwood Canyon

A visit with Great Grandpa and Grandma Richards

Ethan and Cruize. I bet you wouldn't guess Cruize is a few months older.

We played pioneer games outside the Church History Museum. We enjoyed seeing the new renovation.

8th Anniversary family pic in front of the Salt Lake Temple where we were married

Grandma and Grandpa with Lydia and Ethan

We really enjoyed our visit and look forward to the next time!

Happy 8th Anniversary and Lydia's 5 Month Mark

Today was a fun day to celebrate in our family. Lydia reached the 5 month mark and Jason and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary. Since our marriage 8 years ago, we've been through a lot: we both graduated from college--Jason with his Bachelors and Julie with a Master's degree, Jason has worked at 7 different jobs, Julie worked at 3 jobs before Ethan and Lydia, we've lived in 5 places between Utah and Kentucky, and had many times of both heartache and joy. We're very grateful to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Keeping the covenants we have made with God brings us both the needed peace, hope, and joy to live in this crazy world. Our story isn't exactly as I'd planned but I'm grateful to be part of it and look forward to the next chapters as they come.

July 2008

July 2016

Lydia (5 mo.) and Ethan (almost 3)

Lydia at 5 months

These two beautiful children are our greatest treasure! With much faith, sacrifice, and patience in the Lord's timing, we have been so incredibly blessed to have them in our family. They bring us true joy!

June Moments

June flew by really fast, but here are some captured moments.

Ethan still likes to play with Lydia's things. He buried himself will all of our stuffed animals.

We went to the zoo with Emily M. and her boys. We all had a great time and it was nice to have another adult to help manage my two little ones.

Lydia likes being outside and enjoyed our visit to the zoo.

I made some cute burp cloths for a friend having a baby soon. I also helped host another baby shower for another friend. Both showers went well and it was fun to get together with friends and celebrate new babies.

We took a walk at South Fork park. One of our favorites. It's hard to believe that I first walked this path when Ethan was only as old as Lydia is now.

Happy Father's Day!

Having fun building really tall Lego cars

We enjoyed a visit from Alyssa and Corbin Jacobs as they were passing through to North Carolina. It was so fun to catch up with them.

We enjoyed meeting each others' children and they had a blast playing together.

Ethan likes taking pictures. Here's one that he took of us together.

Happy 4 month mark

Lydia is such a happy baby. She is growing well. At her 4 month appointment she weighed 14 lbs 7 oz (64%tile) and was 24 1/2 inches long(53%tile). She is quick to smile and giggle and loves watching what's going on around her. She has good eyesight and will smile at me from across the room. Ethan is good at making Lydia smile. He is such a good big brother. She is making good progress in sitting up, reaching for things, and getting her fingers in her mouth.

May Update

Highlights of May were Mother's Day and Memorial Day. Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

Mother's Day 2016

We went to a Mad Cap play of Aseop's Fables at the library that was really engaging. This was the Lion and the Mouse.

Ethan has loved playing with play dough lately. He really loves to help with anything we'll let him help with in the kitchen and has helped Jason make pancakes or waffles for me more than once. :)

This is my first attempt with planting tomatoes. Hopefully I'll have some tomatoes to show off in a few months.

Lydia at 3 months

For Memorial Day weekend we drove to visit Andy and Kimra in South Beloit. We had such a fun, relaxing time with them.

Saturday we drove to Chicago and went to the Navy Pier. Unfortunately, so did the rest of Chicago. The traffic and parking everywhere was really bad. I saw a lot of driving stunts pulled that I didn't even know were possible. I'm glad we were never in an accident, but we did spend several hours looking at the back of Andy's van. :)

At Navy Pier with the Chicago skyline in the background

Mack and Ethan were good buds during this whole trip and played a lot. Ethan cried when we drove away from his cousins.

Saturday night we also got to go to a Chicago Fire soccer game. It was the most fun part of our Chicago adventure!

Watching Chicago Fire

Driving home from church :)

Maisy and Lydia are 2 days apart. You can see how happy they were to meet each other for the first time.

When we facetimed with Mom and Dad Burningham, Jason got a taste of what twins might be like. Although Lydia was born over 2 lbs lighter, at 3 1/2 months they weighed almost exactly the same.

Monday we went to two different parks in Wisconsin to enjoy the big toys and a splash pad. Ethan loved digging in the dirt and spent most of his time there. We also enjoyed a yummy Memorial Day BBQ back at the house.

Love this cute smile from Lydia. :)

Ethan could literally fit right into this family and probably wishes he were there permanently, but we're glad we can claim him as ours!

Four handsome boys! So much fun!

Thanks Andy and Kimra! Can't wait for the next get together!