Jamie's Birthday!

Jamie turned 4 years old on August 2nd. She had TWO parties! We did one party at our neighborhood pool/splash pad with all of the people from my Mom meetup group and church playgroup. It was way fun! I got all the kids Popsicles to celebrate her birthday.

 Jamie loved this girl who happened to be at the pool the same time as us. She liked her glittery and sparkly swimsuit. She called her "Shiny". Haha!

Our awesome splash pad!

Then we had a "Tinkerbell" themed birthday party for her at home. We kept the guest list small and only invited a few of Jamie's friends because our house can't hold that many people. Cynthia came to town that weekend to visit and my parents were there as well.

Cynthia with the girls

 The Birthday girl!

 The amazing fairy cake that my mom made for Jamie.

 My mom, dad, and April

 Jamie with a few of her friends.

 April chowing down.

 Opening presents

 Taking the fairies off the fairy cake.

Getting ready to dig in!

 Grami and Grampi with the Birthday Girl.

Baby Ryan is Here!

Our beautiful baby boy decided to come 11 days early! We are all so happy that he didn't make us wait until his due date. Ryan was born on July 2nd at 9:50 pm. I barely made it to the hospital in time! We are all smitten with him and can't believe how much dark hair he has.

 Auntie Alli, Grami and Grampi all came to visit us in the hospital. They took care of Jamie and April for us during our two day stay in the hospital. The girls were spoiled and loved at Grami's house!

 Mom, "Grami" holding baby Ryan.

 Ben and I were very excited to come home from the hospital. There's no place like home! Jamie loves to hold Ryan and likes how he grips her finger. She is so sweet to him.

 This glider/rocker has been good to us. I can't believe it's still standing after 3 kids! It's getting pretty beat up from all the use, but still going strong.

 After Ryan's first bath. All cozy in his sleeper.

 Auntie Alli came by one night to bring us treats and held Ryan for us while we got the girls ready for bed. She is such a great Auntie!

 Ben trying to catch a nap. What could he possibly be tired from? Haha

 Ryan taking a bottle! We gave him his first bottle when he was a week old, and he drank it down super fast. Didn't even blink. We are so grateful he likes drinking a bottle, because April always refused it.

 Opening those pretty blue eyes.

April giving baby brother lots of kisses. She has been so sweet with him and not acted jealous so far. She is so good natured and loving. We feel so blessed and happy that Ryan has joined our family.

Utah Family Vacation

We had a wonderful time on our family reunion/vacation! Here's the gorgeous family pic that we took in Provo, Utah. Everyone is super happy with how it turned out. Mom picked out the girls' matching dresses and everyone else kind of coordinated around that. My sister Natalie's friend Heidi took the group shots for us. 

 We spent a lot of time hanging out at the condo/town home that my parents rented in Provo. It was super close to the BYU campus and had a huge toy room full of fun stuff for the kids to play with. April loved playing with the Barbies and the princess dolls.

 One day my sisters and I went shopping while the men took care of the kids. Then the next day we took the kids for a little more shopping while the guys played tennis. Jamie and Maddie picked out matching hats, purses, and wallets and carried them around Charming Charlie's. It was super cute to see them interact with each other. April got in on the action too with her cute little white hat.

 Swimming at Natalie and Trevor's hotel pool. Jamie and Ben had a blast, but April didn't want to get in for too long, so she and I watched from the side most of the time.

 Maddie and Jamie in their matching, "My Little Pony" swimsuits. These two loved each other!

 Playing with glow in the dark balloons and bubbles at the condo.

 Ben and I took the girls to Bridal Veil Falls, and Jamie and Ben hiked all the way to the top! April and I waded in the freezing cold water at the bottom, but we still had fun. Can't do much hiking at 36 weeks pregnant.

At one point Jamie started climbing up the rocks all by herself and gave us a little bit of a scare. That girl had no fear!

 Mom, Dad, Grant, Alli, and our family walked around the Provo temple on Sunday. We were hoping to get a closer glimpse of the new Provo City Center Temple, but unfortunately the grounds were closed. Next time!

 Grant is now taking classes at BYU so this was the last time we got to all be together. Not sure when he will come home to Texas. Possibly after summer classes are over.

 On one of our last days in Utah, we went to visit Ben's old roommate and good friend Jake and his family. They are currently living/house sitting for Jake's parents in Mapleton. They own some land and have a horse and chickens. Ben's other friend Jacob was there to hang out with us too. We all had a wonderful time visiting and getting up close to the animals.

 Ben caught a chicken!

 We were so blessed to stay with Ben's cousin Chris and his beautiful wife Esther while we were in Utah. They have a beautiful home. They have three kids, and Jamie was so happy to get so much cousin play time. Lilly and Matthew were so sweet to hang out with her.

 Our due dates are only a few weeks apart! Can't wait to see pictures of the new Gordon baby girl.

 Jamie and cousin Elise hanging out together.

 Dropping Grant off at his dorm. The new Heritage Halls buildings are ten times better than what I had as a freshman. I think my basement apartment in Snow Hall flooded 3 times??!

 April and my sister Adrienne.

I got to see my friend and old roommate Brittany Lesser while we were in Utah. She is so sweet and fun. We had lunch at the City Creek mall, which was so cool! I had never been there before. 

We loved our Utah trip and are now counting down the days until baby boy gets here! Only 2 1/2 weeks left.