Trip to Vegas and Mother's Day

May 9, Eloise and I went to Vegas to stay with my family.  Adam had to go to Ohio for a business training.  So of course I didn't want to stay by myself for over a week, so we went to hang with my family.  We had a lot of fun.  Eloise is at an age where she could be a lot more interactive, so it was fun seeing my brothers play with her.  We did a lot of shopping, spoiling little Eloise of course.  Well grandma did a lot of spoiling.  Even her Uncle Casey bought her a new outfit.  

We happened to be there during my first Mother's Day.  It was super sad to not have Adam there for my first real Mother's Day, but it was so nice to be able to spend it with my own mother.  Casey and I got her some beautiful bouquets of flowers from Costco, and Adam had sent one to me a few days before.  We had a delicious dinner, and for dessert Nathan made us warm melting chocolate cake and chocolate covered strawberries.  My two FAVORITES!!

We also went up to St. George to visit my grandparents for the day.  It was nice to see them, and to let Eloise be around them.  We enjoyed the beautiful weather and talking about the old days.  I love St. George.  Some day when  we are old and looking for a place to settle down, that is where I hope we will be.  I have so many wonderful memories there from all of the trips we took there as a child.  And I love love love the red rock.  It makes the city seem even more beautiful with all of the colors.  

Eloise and I headed back to California on May 21, and what an adventure that night turned out to be.  I am just going to copy and paste my Facebook post from it, cause it is a lot to write down. "What a night last night. I get to the airport to head back to Cali, and my brother helps me bring my suitcases in to get them checked.  I load up my first suitcase, it gets checked than I take Eloise out of her carseat so I can check the carseat and she has pooped everywhere.  All of her clothes were on the suitcase that just got checked, so of course I am freaking out. I head to the bathroom to clean her up and spend 10 min scrubbing out her pants and trying to decide which would make me seem to be a worse mother, having my daughter wear no pants or pants that are soaking wet.  So I went with the soaking wet.  I had forgotten my baby carrier so I am trying to hold a baby, a diaper bag, and pull a carry-on through security.  I finally get through security after they check every single bag of expressed milk I had (usually they only check the ones in the bottle) and I am heading down the escalator and my carry-on falls all the way down the escalator.  Now I am racing to my gate cause I am super late by this time.  Luckily the plane arrived a little late so I got onto my flight fine.  Then the night starts to get better.  Elle was an angel on the flight just like she usually is.  We get to San Fran and see my wonderful husband after being apart for two weeks.  We get to the car and load everything in and he gives me a bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of ice cold water, and he says I figured you would have a headache after the stressful airport trip, and I could have cried. That man knows me so well. So glad I am back with him."

What a crazy night that turned out to be, but it ended well. 

Adam got to spend two weekends with our best friends the Drowns while I was in Vegas, so I am going to post some pics of the stuff he did while he was there.

Letters to Eloise - 4 Months to 5 (May)

Eloise, after your crazy third month of life, things kind of settled down a little bit during your fourth.  We still had some fun adventures though.  We had a Cinco De Mayo party with some friends from the ward.  You got to hang out with a bunch of your friends! There were so many girls born around the same time as you.  It was so fun seeing you around all of those babies.  

May 9, you and I headed back to Vegas to stay with Grandma and Papa Gorham, while daddy went to Ohio for a business training.  We had lots of fun hanging out with your uncles and grandparents.  We were there for 2 weeks! We sure missed your dad though.  He got to see the Drown's while he was in Ohio.  So I was super jealous of that.  We also got to celebrate Mother's Day while we were in Vegas.  It was super sad to not have your dad there for my first Mother's Day, but it was still super special, and I am so glad you were there with me.  Also while we were in Vegas, we took a day trip up to St. George to go see Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Truman.  You got to have lots of cuddle time with them, and you got your first real experience in grass!  It was so fun watching you rub your hands through it.  Our 2 weeks there flew by, and we eventually had to head back to California.  What an experience that was.  You had pooped and leaked all over your clothes and carseat, and all of your clothes were in the suitcase I had just sent through to be checked.  So I had to go to the bathroom and scrub down your pants, put the wet pants back on you, and carry you through security and to the gate without a baby carrier.  We luckily made it onto our flight and were able to see daddy after being apart for so long.  It was a great reunion and you were so happy to see him, and vice-versa.  

May 24 we did a day trip up to Tilden Regional Park up in Berkeley.  It was so much fun.  It was so nice being outdoors and letting you experience some of this beautiful world we have.  We went through the Rose Garden there, had a picnic, and went to the little petting zoo they had.  Than we ended the evening with some pizza from Cheeseboard, and ate it overlooking the entire bay.  It's kind of sad to think that you won't remember any of these things, which is why I am so glad I am writing this all down for you, so you could know all of the stuff we did and experienced with you.  

This month you started sleeping on your stomach.  I almost had a heart attack when I woke up one morning to look at the monitor and you were on your stomach.  Your dad and I ran in there so fast to make sure you were ok, and you were perfectly fine.  You also started rolling EVERYWHERE!! That was how you got around was by rolling.  Your hand never left your mouth.  You ate your hand any chance you could get, and pretty much whatever else you could pick up and put in there.  Every month you got so much more personality, and it was so awesome seeing you discover the world around you.  You are seriously perfect little girl, and your dad and I love you so much.   

Ashleigh's Graduation and Aubrey's Wedding

April 24, we drove to Utah so we could be there for Adam's sister Ashleigh's graduation.  It was a LONG drive.  We left on a Wednesday night, stayed the night in Reno and left the next morning to drive the rest of the way. This was also our 4 year anniversary, and we got to spend it in a car.  Hopefully our 5 year is a little better, but it was so worth being with family that weekend. We met up with Adam's family at Slab pizza, than headed up to West Jordan to stay with Adam's Aunt and Uncle.  I got a terrible migraine that night and threw up, and didn't know if I would be able to get up the next morning for Ash's graduation, but I woke up feeling much better so I was able to go.  We headed to Provo, and got to see her get her diploma.  We walked around BYU afterwards and it was so nice to be back there.  We really do miss that place.  It is beautiful and it was an even more beautiful day.  We went to Salt Lake to eat at Tucano's to celebrate Ash's graduation and Adam and mine's anniversary.  We left straight from there to go to St. George.  The next morning was Aubrey's wedding.  We left Eloise with Casey, Nathan, and Chris while Adam and I joined all of my family for her sealing.  It was a beautiful ceremony, and I am so grateful we were able to be there for it.  I got to take pictures of the reception and the decorations were AMAZING!! It was so fun to take pictures of.  It was also great to be around all of my family.  This was the first time Eloise got to meet her great-grandparents on my mom's side, and a lot of my cousins, aunts, and uncles.  Here are the pictures from the events.  

Eloise's Blessing Day

Eloise's blessing day was April 14, and it was a good one.  She looked absolutely beautiful in her white dress.  I got her dress from Zara, and made her headband and barefoot sandals.  She seriously looked like an angel.  We did her blessing in Vegas in my parents' ward, because it was much easier to get all the family together there.  Adam's family came up from Arizona, and my Uncle Kenny, Aunt June, and some of their kids and their families came, and our great friend Tiffany Winder and her girls Lucy and Ruby came.  Adam gave her a beautiful blessing.  I recorded the audio so I could have it written down for Eloise. Those who stood in the circle were Adam, Larry, Tom, Matt, Marcus, Kenny, Jonathan, and Jared.  Afterwards we all came back to my parents to eat.  We had BBQ Pork sandwiches, salads, desserts, and other yummy food.  It was nice to be surrounded by family celebrating my beautiful little girls special day.  Here are the pictures from that day, and pictures of Eloise in her dress.