Blessing Boston

Zach blessed Boston on June 22nd in our ward here in Utah. All of Zach's family was able to be there since it was at the end of their mini reunion. Sadly, Krissy & Matt were the only family from my side and I didn't even get a picture with them :(

Zach gave Boston a wonderful blessing and I'm so grateful to be married to a priesthood holder and to have those blessings in my life. 

I am turning into a big sappy sentimental ball of mush by the day now and I love family traditions. Though my oldest sister couldn't be there, she sent me the outfit that both her sons wore on their blessing day. It was kind of drowning him, but I loved it so much, it was so sweet. 

Fast forward a few weeks and lets just pretend these were taken on the same day :) haha:

 (He only lost half his hair and learned how to smile...)

 This is the white Bethlehem blanket that my mom brought me from Jerusalem when Georgia was blessed. 

I love it so much!

 I love this sweet boy :) and it's probably a good thing I didn't get any close up pictures on the actual day because he had a nasty face rash that week! All cleared up now :)

 After sacrament, we headed over to the park right behind our house and set up lunch - deli sandwiches from Walmart's bakery and sides to share. It was actually delicious!! Zach said it was some of the best sandwiches he's ever had. Better than catering Subway and 1/3 of the price! 

 Jaimee, Kristen, and Aunt Toni:

 We loved spending so much time with family and all the nieces and nephews, even on that crazy crazy hot day! Georgie's cheeks were bright red all afternoon.

 I love this picture even though I look pregnant and Georgie's hair is atrocious (WHERE is her bow?!? :) Zach - you're a hunk.

 I didn't even have to watch Georgie all day long, she was SO well taken care of! Fed, watched, played with, carried... I love having babysitting nieces!!

Sheree went around taking these pictures and some of them just crack me up!!!

Especially this one:

It's practically impossible to get her to smile. And that hairrrrrr. So funny. See her pink cheeks?? It was so hot!! I'm surprised she didn't get sunburned.... and that's Natalie holding her. She's the best helper ever. I never even have to ask or say anything to her, she just takes Georgia on as her own baby and plays with her and feeds her and loves her. Every time we see them, she says to me as we are leaving "I want to babysit!! CALL ME!!" I so wish she lived closer! 

It was such a crazy day trying to coordinate food and supplies for everyone and having a hundred people & their littles running through my little house... I don't know how people do that kind of thing all the time! I was so tired by the end of it, I was just grateful to sit in my house with the AC on :) It was a lovely day and I was so lucky to have so much help from family. Couldn't have had this day without them!

Winger Family Staycation

First the first time in 10 years, all of Zach's siblings would be in Utah for a little reunion and we were so excited to see everyone! I hadn't seen Chris & Jaimee and their family for about 3 years and it's been awhile since the CA sibs had visited and they all got to meet baby Boston! 

It started with families trickling in on Sunday (Father's Day) so we headed down to Provo for dinner. Jaimee and her friend had most of a big roast dinner started and Cathy and I helped with whatever else was needed. It was so delicious! Roast, mashed potatoes, big puffy rolls, salad, and corn. It has been a long time since I had such a big meal! I loved it.

We ended up outside at 9pm watching the kids dance and do gymnastics tricks until after the sun went down. It was such a fun perfect night and there really is nothing more that I love than watching Georgia run around with her cousins and fight them off as they all vie for her affection and tried to carry her around like a baby. We love them so so much, all 40(ish) of them! 

The next day, we headed down to Provo again for the traditional dinner at Tucanos! Zach has eaten there too many times to ever get excited but I still love it every single time! I get so excited for that tasty meat and grilled pineapple. 

Here is Frank & Gramps twinning in their awesome Costco shirts :) haha he said later that night "I won't be shopping there for clothes anymore..." too funny!

Dinner was delicious as always and then all the kids ended up outside playing by the creek there. Georgia wanted to walk along the edge of the stone wall the entire time. Until we found the entertainer at the gazebo stage area. Then the grandkids were dancing up on the platform along with the musician and Georgia was teasing everyone, dangling kisses and playing hard to get with her Uncles. Sometimes she would give kisses and sometimes she would fake them out. Silly girl! 

The next day we met up in Pleasant Grove for the Strawberry Days rodeo. 

 Georgie has really come to love Papa over the last few months and he is so sweet with her.

 Love this picture!

 I can't help but laugh at her completely blank stare throughout the entire night:

 Hahaha

And the best one:

She don't even give 2 cents about momma's picture taking!! Cracks me up. You know I'm sitting behind that camera calling her name and smiling at her. NOTHIN.

She was so wiggly, she would hardly sit still for more than 3 minutes.  

 Especially with Aaron trying to eat her and get giggles out of her all night.

It was a pretty chilly night actually and I'm glad I brought warm clothes for me and the babes!

 The rodeo was fun and the strawberries and cream were delicious but I was glad to take Georgia home finally about 9:30, she's such a handful these days and didn't want to stay put on those bleachers.
We had a BBQ & swim party at Jared's house in Highland one afternoon. It was so nice to have so much family around to cuddle Boston, I actually got to go swimming with Georgia and she loved it despite the pool being crazy packed with a million cousins!

 Her face cracks me up hahaha:

 Sometimes I wonder if she's a happy child....

hahaha. 

Here's a better one:

After swimming, Zach got to play a game of baseball with some of his brothers at a nearby park - something he loves to do! He loves sports and hardly ever gets to play them anymore. After watching the game keeping Georgia off the field and trying to pacify her with the iPad (a no-go) we headed over to a nearby snow cone stand. It was actually really good! They had the sweet and condensed milk and ice cream and all that. 

Hangin with my boy (because he hates his carseat).

Another night spent at the Provo house ended up in the creek across the street after some hilarious dance & lip sync performances from the kids. My nieces and nephews have some serious dance moves... one of them was invited to be on the set of Yo Gabba Gabba for some dance scenes and they had to cut most of her out because she was "too provocative." She was 5!!! So funny. 

I gave Zach one specific task as they headed out the door - don't let her get wet. If she goes in, take her clothes off. Her clothes came off. After they got wet. -_______-

Playing peekaboo:

 She always put her hands over her eyes (or somewhere close to that area) whenever we say "Where's Georgia???"
There she is!!!

My little water baby loves the water! No matter what the temperature!

Friday was family picture day. I had an outfit in mind that I was going to squeeze into but then decided I wanted something that actually fit and was comfortable for these pictures, especially since it would be so hot. I ended up going to the mall last minute that morning and finding an outfit. I had one hour to find something and I found it in the last 15 minutes. Phew! We also had to go to the mall that day for Zach too because he's not capable of picking out a red & navy blue shirt by himself. Turd. Seriously, I asked him like 5 times to send me a picture before he purchased a shirt and he wouldn't - sure enough, he brings home a magenta and cobalt blue shirt. BOYS!

Chandice and baby Cruz:

The twins are so so big! Such chunks! They look like little sumo wrestlers haha. I loved their outfits SO much but man they must have been sweating, so glad I wasn't dressed in sweats that day :)

The kids love Georgia Bean. They wanted to hold her and play with her and make her sit in their laps the whole time. Poor thing, she's just so independent right now. I'm pretty sure she is being strapped down in one of the cousins lap as she's screaming to be let loose in every single shot. Oh well! At least Soren (about 2 years old and the closest in age right now) wasn't a happy camper either haha! He had a death grip on a handful of sticks and was having a meltdown over letting them go. Kids! Who needs em! They just ruin pictures! Haha ;) good thing we love them so.

The ever elusive family photo... 5,000 photos and not one where everyone is happy.

It always amazes me when I see family pictures and little toddlers are smiling... I realize just how hard it is to get smile out of them! 

These pictures are just too funny... not our day!!

Such a happy family of 2! The rest are miserable! Haha

And this little gem is for you Kelly.

Hahaha Georgia's face is just PRICELESS. Such a funny picture. I'm sure we'll be sharing that one for years to come.

After family pictures we all headed to a park nearby and ate dinner and hung out. 

A cute picture of all the babies.

Beverly, Cash & Cruz, and Boston:

So many babies and no doubt more to come!! 

The afternoon was beautiful. So warm and the sun stayed up past 9:30 and everyone stayed till it was dark! The kids were having so much fun. I love summer days like that especially when you get to share it with family and your kids get to play with their cousins!

Another swim day at the Provo house:

Georgie got brave and loves to walk as far as she can into the deep end before drowning. Then screams no over and over when you drag her back. It's fun.

Sweet hair. 

 Love these two. I was dying to get out of the heat and into that water but I forgot my suit.

I really wish I had more pictures of all the cousins, there are just so many of them, it's kind of a mad house, but they are so darn cute. Sadly, the only picture I snapped if of my love affair for these amazing salted caramel corn puffs. To. Die. For. My mother in law always finds the best treats! I literally picked myself up 3 massive bags at Costco. THREE. Zach was like, did we really need 3????? The answer is YES.

 Everyone stayed until Sunday and then headed home after Boston's baby blessing except for Chris and Jaimee and their family. It was fun to spend more time with them since they are the only family we don't get to see for years at a time (they live in Pittsburgh). Side note... their kids are so rambunctious! The most active of the cousins for sure. What do you expect when their dad is a former NFL player?? Their oldest is 13 going on 18. He's soooo tall and strong for his age and dominates in sports. He's such a sweet and handsome kid too. They all are so good looking and talented and sweet. Aubrey, the youngest (3) was obsessed with Georgia but the kind where I had to make her she didn't squeeze her to death on accident. So funny!
This was a cute picture right before Aubrey wanted to lock them in the toy closet without the lights on.

Then they built a "boat" and only girls were allowed in!

This pretty much sums up Aubrey: 

Just a big blurr of energy that girl!

And even Lincoln (6) loved her & Boston and kept wanting to hold Boston. I am always surprised when I see boys wanting to love on little babies, I would expect them not to care at all, but they totally do. They are so sweet! 

Kade playing with Georgie:

It was so fun getting to see them again and kind of sad not knowing when would be the next time.. a year, two, three? We are always praying they will make the move to Utah someday and be closer to us. We will slowly convince people to move here and suffer with us through the winter and the summer heat!! I'm really starting to like it here... :)

Georgia Lately Continued

More on Georgie... 

Lately she has her daily morning ritual of going into our closet and picking out hats and then running over to Zach's side of the bed and picking out one his books and flipping through the pages on the bed with us. Just plain old boring no-picture books, she loves em. 

Love her little profile:

 And always asking lots of very specific alien questions:

See all daddy's hats on the floor in the backround and blanket. She pulls that blanket off the bench every single day so she can climb up and play around on it. 

Yes, I know it's the same picture, but I love her face! I just want to eat it.

And her little cheeser face has been spoiled rotten lately:

 Haha these pictures crack me up, such weird faces... bring on the beginning of documenting your children's crazy faces for personal entertainment (thanks Kelly).

We have been pacing ourselves at the start of this summer and going slow, not too much fun, so I splurged a little at Target (of ALL places ;) and bought Georgia bean some new fun toys. I had never really looked their toy section before and oh MAN I just wanted to buy her everything!!! Major Abu eyes, I had to really reign it in. She loved the little car and all the sounds it made and danced to the music when it played, so cute. I just cannot stop myself from buying her all things princess!! I have always hated the princessy toys and crap for little girls, but against my will, it has seeped into my heart and now it looks like a disney movie has barfed all over my house. 

She loves phones and loves picking up any random object and pretending it's a phone, so of course I had to pick up this Little Mermaid cell phone:

 I was a die-hard Ariel princess growing up so anything Ariel, I just a just :) haha

She also loves taking our keys and pressing the lock button over and over and over to hear the horn honk so why not just pick up her own princess set?! She loves it.

$3 toys at Target just have her name written all over them. I also grabbed her the matching princess mirror that talks and has images appear. It reminded me so much of my own princess beauty and beast mirror I was obsessed with growing up. My siblings and I still repeat the quotes from memory and laugh about it. 

We have been switching up the rooms lately and slowly moving items from Georgie's room over to Boston's room. I was really sad to have to take the rocker out of her room but I did need it for Boston at night and it was time to cut the bottle off. I didn't even realize she was almost 18 months and I probably should have transitioned sooner. Another thing that went right over my head in this crazy time. I was, however, excited to bring up her cute play table that I had refinished awhile ago from the basement and stack it high with books for a new bed time routine. 

Looking like such a big girl! 

She LOVES the table in her room and looking through the books.

And parking her bum on the Little Mermaid floaty swim board (thanks again Target).

And then quickly learning that books are more fun when flinging them off the table. 

 Weeeeee

 Silly girl!

 Momma making her laugh hard for once. She's hard to impress! Sad I didn't get the inevitable hiccups to follow.

This boy:

Passed out face-down on momma is the best! They only do that for so long...

He is still not even filling out his newborn clothes yet.

Baby friend, Char Char & Georgie at it again! 

I love these two! My friend is such a sweetheart and always offers to take Georgia off my hands for a bit since they play so well together. I swear she is the funnest mom ever. Definitely shows me up. She sent me this cute video of Char feeding Georgie. I just love them!

 Char Char is a couple months younger, about 10 teeth fewer, and head of hair fuller, and still a multiple-naps-a-day sleeper, so off she went to snooze and G had some alone time with her second mom (she loves Bailey SO much and always cuddles up to her). Bai sent me this picture and asked if G has a dolly because she's obsessed with this one and would sit forever giving it kisses and playing with the fluttering eyes!

So funny! No dolly, just baby brother. But I've had my eyes out for a little dolly with fluttering eyes ever since. She clearly needs one! :)

Every time she comes home from Bailey's, she tells me just how much of a lady she is, how she's so "mature" and asks questions so seriously, and flutters her eyes at you. She really is our little lady! 

I tried catching the latest of her alien jibber jabber on video. This is what I got. Some time soon, I can't wait to find out what she's been asking me all this time... :)