happy birthday!!

last week my big man turned 4 years old. i can't believe that he is so old! these 4 years have blown by, and i wouldn't trade them for the world. i love you with all my heart, peter jon. happy birthday!

me right before giving birth to peter jon.

peter jon and daddy right after he was born

just a couple hours old and so adorable.

2 months old and super inquisitive

6 months old and playing with autie candice

first birthday fun!!

first birthday naked fun!!

18 months and cuddling mommy.

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

cousins camp

my sister julie's kids came to our house for 7 days last week for the first annual "COUSINS CAMP" it was truely awesome! everyday we had a craft (tye dye, lanyards, paper mache, etc.) and an activity (bike riding, going to the water park, nature walks, playing in the creek). the kids loved having "firesides" where we did skits and roasted marshmallows and told scary stories. the kids slept in a tent in the backyard. i can't wait till next year!

salvador, bahia, brasil

it was wonderful to be in the city where peter served his mission. the city of salvador is an interesting mix of south american, european and african. we saw an amazing dance troop that preformed many native african dances, and some brazilian dances. one weird thing is that all around the statue of Christ there were people making out. apparently that is the make-out spot, which i don't understand. i mean, Jesus is watching!!

pousada rio mutum

here we had a wonderful time bird watching (we saw over 75 different species), going on nature hikes, and just hanging out.

manaus, amazonas, brasil

manaus was an adventure. we took a bus all around the city looking for a laundry-mat. we also walked, and walked, and walked, dragging our luggage. as we were searching a mall (where we were told a laundrymat was) a nice man asked if he could help us. we told him what we were looking for and he said "i know of a perfect place, but it is far away downtown. i'll give you a ride if you want." we gratefully accepted and he drove us to the laundry-mat, giving us a tour of the city of the way, then he told us where to get the bus to get back to our hotel. we tried to give him some money as a thankyou, but he wouldn't accept it. he said to give the money to the laundress as a tip! Thank You Again!!

ariau amazon towers

being in the rainforest is amazing!! it was beautiful, and exotic, WET. a squirel monkey jumped on my head and combed through my hair. i threw him off of me when he bit my ear. and FYI, never pet a tapir. they have flees.

monterey

my handsome hubby and me!
what is budda doing on the beach?
fish, it's what's for dinner.
dude jellies. awesome!


last weekend we had a mini vacay to monterey. it was fun to be there with peter's family, i loved playing on the beach!! the aquarium was phenominal, especially the new jelly fish exhibit. peter jon loved playing with his cousin emma, and baby gracie loved being sung to and kissed by her favorite auntie, ME!