Living life to the fullest!

I have mentioned this to many of you before, but Brie seemed to hit the ground running when she was born. Metaphorically speaking of course. But she really amazes us each day with the progress that she makes and the milestones that she reaches. Today while we were strolling to church Bryan mentioned how inspiring it is to see her determination...it's true! Way to live life up to the fullest Brie :0)

This week she started "officially" crawling. I of course had to grab a camera to record her cuteness crawling around the room. Here's a little peek:

Aside from that, this morning we woke up to Brie making some noise. We look over and she is holding onto her crib standing up! Needless to say that tonight Bry lowered her crib so that she won't get overzealous and topple right on out. That Brie!

Preside, Provide & Protect.

To the two men in my life who have meant so much to me over the years...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

I have been blessed with a wonderful father...I sure have learned a lot from him over the years. Among many other things, here are a few: perseverence, determination, diligence, hard work, confidence, assertiveness, the ability to change and progress, how to be a friend to everyone, and the importance of using talents and skills to help others in need.

For years my dad has been excited about being grandpa. It has been so fun to watch him assume his role as "Bompa"...he is such a wonderful grandpa who Brie adores! (She always lights up with a huge smile when she sees him :0))

A few years before I met Bryan I made a very detailed list of the qualities and characteristics I hoped to have in a husband. A few weeks after meeting Bryan I felt prompted to pull out the list...I read through the whole thing and was amazed...I could have written at the top, "Bryan Scott Graden is:" In any case I feel SO blessed to have Bryan by my side as my husband, friend and companion in this eternal journey.

My love for Bry has deepened even more as I have watched him become a father and so lovingly and attentively care for Brie. What an amazing father he is!

Goodness, I keep typing and erasing then retyping and erasing...basically I just want to add a "Happy Father's Day!" to everyone regardless if you have children or not. There's no need to be related genetically to impact someone and influence their life for good. So, thank you to all the grandpas, uncles, brothers, teachers, bishops, leaders, counselors, bosses, co-workers and friends who have helped to make me a better person.

Day out with Aunt Rachie.

At the end of May (28-29) we spent a few days and nights at my sister Rach's new place (she and three other girls are renting a beautiful home in Holladay). We decided to visit since Bry had an early morning tee time in Bountiful with KPMG--we thought it'd make a shorter commute for him and fun times for the girls :0)

1) Stopping to fill up gas tank before heading to Holladay.

What SHE saw

What HE saw

2) We took a stroll around the neighborhood

3) Good ol' Mac & Cheese for lunch

4) Out the door and all ready for shopping :0)

5) At Kid 2 Kid, in search of a PeaPod

6) Browsing a kitchen appliance store

7) Changing Miss Poopy Pants in the trunk

8) Off to Babies 'R Us to buy some "Big Girl" bottles.

9) A bit of refreshment, Macey's style... chocolate dipped swirled cones.

(Brie sure wanted to try some, but didn't of course. )

10) And a few groceries for dinner (Sloppy Joes and corn on the cob)

*By this point I think we'd been on the go for 3 hours... 1 cat nap and 2 bottles later.

What a trooper, Brie!

11) Brie watching while Rach and I made dinner

12) Picking some roses for a center piece

13) Bry, home from a day of golf and work!

Rach, thanks for letting us come stay! We had such a good time...time spent with Rach is always time WELL spent. We sure love you Pook! :0)

Pushup-tiptoe-bellyflop crawl :0)

Well here is the crawl as promised! It always seems like Brie decides to grow up when we're on vacation. While in Hawaii, she started sitting up on her own and getting more and more mobile with her crawl. Our little baby is growing up!

Hana.

So this is what happens when you have a soon-to-be 6 month old, fun aunts, and a 6+ hour plane ride to Hawaii :0)....

For my family's vacation this year we decided to go visit some family (My Aunt Nilda, my cousin Don and Christine and her daughters) in Hawaii. More specifically, Hana...a little but BEAUTIFUL place on the island of Maui.

My sweeties. Bry giving Brie a bottle after church.

Brie with my cousin Christine's daugthers...Justine, Janeil and Jazmine. Looks like Brie needs some serious sun ;0)

Bry with Brie by a little pool sheltered in a beautiful alcove.

Me and Brie at Himoa Beach.

I think one of the highlights of the trip for Bry was boogie boarding with the family. He got some good waves...it was fun to watch him having such a good time!

Brie getting up from a nap on the beach (in her Peapod--thanks to Alan, Liz and Lilli for letting us use it!). Falling asleep to the sound of waves, does it get much better than that? :0)

On a little morning stroll. Poor Brie's sleeping schedule was SO off due to the 4 hour time change. The first night she went to bed MUCH later than normal, was up 3 times in the middle of the night and was bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 5:30 the next morning! Needless to say that the three of us decided to take some morning walks while we were there. But hey...it was so beautiful that early in the morning and we wouldn't have been up to enjoy it otherwise.

Me and Brie on the beach.

We really had an awesome, fun and relaxing time together! I think some of my highlights from the trip were spending time at the different beaches, seeing Brie reach new milestones (my next post will be about her pushup-tiptoe-bellyflop crawl :0)) having authentic filipino food made by my Aunt Nilda, playing games, watching some fun movies that my mom brought along ("The Legend of Johnny Lingo" and "The Other Side of Heaven"), attending a Hawaiian Luau/graduation dinner celebration, doing a photoshoot of Christine and her girls, enjoying all of the beautiful landscape and just spending time with my family!!!