Thursday, August 8, 2013

Daddy's in France!

Quick catch-up from the last 6 weeks or so! We've had a great summer and have gotten to visit with family in town from all over! Cate is learning to TALK which is hilarious every day. Her favorite word is probably "Cheese!" 

Chris is in FRANCE! He even CONDUCTED his men's choir at the Choralies festival today!! He's been gone almost a week, and Cate and I leave in 10 days to meet him in London!! We'll also get a few days in Paris with my siblings and their spouses...and without kids! Yikes! We are thrilled to go and especially excited for the second half of our trip...my sister Lauren is getting married in Preston, England! I'm sure I will have several posts with tons of pictures of all the wedding festivities and European touring. :)

Here's our Park City life lately:

Cate was so sweet watching the singer/entertainer at the PC Library's 125th "Birthday" party. She was one of the littlest kids there.
Cate thought the children's harps at Summerhays were the best! So did I!
Cate looked like an angel at my high school friend Becca's wedding. <3
Me and my Let's Play Music puppet, Echo Ed!
Cate thought every float in the PC 4th of July Parade was amazing! Parades are way more fun with a baby. 
Later on July 4th, we visited the Hinrichs family, and Cate experienced a trampoline for the first time. She loved it!! And CONGRATULATIONS to Lane Hinrichs who recently got engaged! Woohoo!
Cate and I had a fun outing to the aquarium with our friends Stephanie and Baby Niko.
Auntie Jill getting some good snuggles.
Cate at the Kamas pool with her cousin Londyn, who was visiting from Minnesota! Londyn, who is almost 7, and her brother Jackson, who is almost 4 were SO great with Cate...which was wonderful practice because they have a new little brother or sister coming in February!! Hooray!! 
After about 30 minutes in the pool, Cate just wanted to snuggle with Papa.
Cutie girls!
I went to a Salon concert of the Deer Valley Music Festival at a home in Deer Valley, where I found this treasure under the piano.
My cousin Ben just moved here! 
My Uncle Shannon is visiting too! This is one of Cate's few blue-eyed relatives :)
I finally opened a time-capsule-esque box I made almost 10 years ago. It was so embarrassing! I saved the strangest things. But it was also interesting to see how much I've changed and matured!
Cate and her friend Aiden at Aiden's new house in Deer Valley. 
I sent this pic to my sisters to show them I'd successfully done the trendy topknot with my hair. ;)
Every week my piano student asks IS BABY CATE HERE?? And 9 times out of 10 she's with a babysitter. Well last week she was there, so I let them play for a bit, and then I took this picture. Adorable!
Somehow the stars aligned, and I got Cate to snuggle with me AND smile at the same time. 
Cate gained a pound! Still too skinny for most of her clothes, but we're making progress!
Cate and I took a stroll around Wal-Mart to get Chris some travel items, and Cate fell in love with the children's neck pillows haha!
Cate was laughing hysterically and jumping and running all over my bed, so I FaceTimed my sister Lauren to show her.
Cate trying tee ball at her friend Riley's 4th birthday party. 
Another fun toy at Riley's.
Sunday dinner at Nana and Papa's. We may need to print this one.
Cate and Nana. <3
Chris's Aunt Colleen visited from New York. We loved seeing her!!! This pic is from a new restaurant called Billy Blanco's just around the corner from us. The motorcycle and graffiti decor is way cool in there. 
I know I've posted a pic like this before, but she does this all the time! Can't go to sleep without the whole gang. 
This is how we've been keeping up with Chris for the past week! We are so grateful for FaceTime! Every time we leave and every time we come home, Cate asks for Dada, so being able to video chat has made being without him a little easier on us both.
There's Chris on the cover of La Provence newspaper in southern France!! It's extra cool because there are thousands of people at this festival...and there's my hub!! 
Cate had a fever and wasn't feeling well most of yesterday, but I got a quick smile from her. 
Last night's sunset. It is so beautiful here. 

I've been practicing French for our trip. Wouldn't want to get there and not be able to ask for the essentials.

Happy August!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Summertime 🎶

^^Birthday lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Jill. 

^^Cate's 16 month checkup (normally kids have a 15 month but we've been a month off since we moved). This is Cate signing "help" (or her version of the sign). She was 32" tall and 20.7 lbs. 75th percentile for height and 10th for weight. She must take after her dad....

^^Facetime with Slam AKA Buddo AKA Sawyer AKA World's Greatest Baby

^^Cate playing in her room with her buddy Aiden

^^I drove over a giant pothole that took a bite out of my tire. :(

^^Cate just chilled out in the stroller while our poor car ("Cho Chang") got towed. 

^^This girl LOVES her Daddy. He is pretty fun. :):)

^^Snuggling on the floor when we didn't have a sofa. 

^^Cate brought me her shoes, so I helped her put them on. Then she walked to the door like, Ok I'm ready to go! And yes I know that her 10th percentile is showing in this pic...we're trying to eat more meat and cheese around here....

^^And goldfish. 

^^Sad pic. We got our custom sofa this far before we realized they'd made it facing opposite of what we'd ordered. Glad we didn't haul it up the stairs!

^^We taunted our baby when she was playing in the sprinklers..."Cate, get your hair wet!" She did. :P

^^Cate learned a new skill this week. 

^^Cate's mug shot- I mean passport photo. We booked our trip!!  Chris will spend 2 weeks in southern France for a choir festival, then 4 days in Geneva. Then Cate and I will meet him in London for 5-6 days of vacation. Then we'll meet my family in Manchester and fly to Paris wit my siblings and their spouses (and no kids! scary!) for 3 days. Then back to Manchester for my sister Lauren's wedding!! Then a couple days in Scotland! Then home. It's going to be incredible!!!

^^After they goofed, they made us a new sectional in just 2 days! Hoorah. 

^^Cate learned how to take selfies. Love her. 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Celebration Week

This week I celebrated my 25th birthday, and Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We also enjoyed some happy day-to-day moments in between. It was a really, really great week. 

^^Our first 5 years in a nutshell.

^^Anniversary date on the deck with Ghidotti's takeout and my favorite people. 

^^Sunset. 

^^Chris's project on Saturday was to hang our hammock on the deck. He haggled for it on our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, and we can finally actually use it! 

^^I don't know which if them is more content. 

^^I just thought Cate's cloth diaper bum was extra cute this day.



Chris sang with the Salt Lake Choral Artists Men's Choir at a concert on Saturday night. 
^^Cate LOVED the music but was squealing with delight a little too much, so we enjoyed most of the concert in the foyer. 

^^Shadows on our way into church. 
^^Our new favorite treat. 

^^My family completely surprised me with a birthday party! 

^^Cate is teething again and just LOVED that freeze pop. 

We spent Monday morning (my birthday) with Nana and Papa. 

^^This is 63 pages of handwritten recipes from my Grammy. I couldn't believe it. I can't wait to try every single one!!! 

^^The night of my birthday we ate outdoors at Loco Lizard, and Cate loved taking the pennies out of the fountain and throwing them back in. 

I am so grateful for my family.