Chocolat

If you love chocolate as much as I do...this is a must!! I randomly found this article in believe it or not, consumer reports! I thought it was weird that there would be an article on ice cream! Anyway it rated the best ice cream flavors...of course one of them being chocolate. I was amazed to see that this Archer Farms (target brand) Belgian Chocolate competed with the much more expensive brands like, Haagen Daz & Ben and Jerry! I figured I would give it a try and it didn't disappoint! Yummy...creamy...chocolate...goodness! Go buy some :)

PS. Tony tested and approved (he even asked for seconds)

15 month check up

Being a typical boy!

Well I can't believe my little baby is turning into a little boy so quickly! River went in this morning for his 15 month check up and these were his stats:

Length: 32 1/4 in. (75%)
Weight: 21 lbs. 14 oz. (25%)
Head Cir: 48 1/4 cm. (75%)

So River has stayed pretty consistent of being tall, skinny and with a big head. :)

There were a few concerns I had about River's eating habits lately. He has gotten to be such a picky eater and sometimes will go a whole day with barely eating anything at all. I was getting a little worried, but the Ped. told me this can be very normal and that River is probably more of a grazer when it comes to food. Eating a few bites here and there throughout the day rather then at meal times. That just makes it a little hard to prepare something and then just have him take a few bites and be done...but I guess we will figure it out.
The Dr. asked if River was saying any words yet and seemed slightly concerned to hear he wasn't talking at all yet. He said he should at least be saying one word. He was very impressed with how personable River was and said he was socially functioning very high for his age. He said he isn't to concerned especially with how high functioning he is socially, but that at his 18 month app. he would probably run some preliminary autistic test on him. He quickly said, I can tell you right now River is not autistic because he is interacting so well with children and adults, but it would just be for the language issue. So, I hope River starts to talk soon so we don't have to do any of the testing. I feel confident that River is not "slow" just taking language at his own pace.
So that is what is up with us as of late...we are going to Farm country tomorrow so I will post the pics from that soon. :)

I know!

With no apologize I would like to share somethings I know to be true...

I know Christ lives and truly loves everyone of us.
I know that the atonement is real, and meant for all of us to benefit from.
I know there are living prophets today that are lead by our Heavenly Father.
I also know that there are strong opposing forces at work to make us forget what we know.
I know I am imperfect and fall short most of the time.
I know I am the dust of the earth and the only thing that makes me special is that Christ loves me.
I know that I don't want to forget what I know!

I believe that now more then ever we have to know and act on what we believe and what we stand for. I pray that I will be able to stand for what I know to be true, even when it means I may feel alone. Knowing my judge is God not man. I have many shortcomings and want to be better then I am. I felt a perfect way to get started is to state what I believe and know to be true.

What do you know?

DC

Washington Mon.

Lincoln Mon.

Mount Vernon

Temple! Felt like home here :)

WWII Mon.

Vietnam Mon.
We got caught in a crazy rain/wind storm!! We were SOAKED!!
We found out later this storm uprooted huge old trees and our hotel lot power for the whole night!!

Yummy Pizza from "We the pizza"
Sorry for the picture overload, but I use my blog as a memory keeper for our family :)

My Dad, River and I were able to go to DC for a jewelry show being held at the Gaylord @ National Harbor. It was such a fun place to stay right next to a shopping area and of course the beautiful harbor. We did have some work to be done, so we tried to get that out of the way first so we would have some time to go see the amazing sites DC has to offer. We were a little nervous about going in August with the humidity, but we really lucked out and had amazing weather with just a day or two of humidity. My Dad and I had been to a show at DC years back, but really didn't have a chance to see much because it was Winter and FREEZING!! We went to the National Mall of course where most of the sites are. We visited the Lincoln, Washington, Korean War, Vietnam War, WWII monuments all there in the Mall. We were lucky enough to have a coworker who is interning on Capitol Hill for the Summer and he took us through a tour of the Capitol, which was really fun. We visited Mount Vernon (Washington's home) and got lost several times in DC :) On one of our lost detours we ended up in Georgetown and saw Georgetown Cupcakes (TLC reality show) the line was around the block so we didn't stop. It was so much fun just getting to see everything and realize how much this country was built on God and the belief in his power. It was a little sad to feel that now of days you can barely talk about God in public without being criticized. It makes me that much more thankful for what are founding Fathers did for us though.

My Saving Grace!

Watching one of his favs Ratatouille

Just chillin in his cute pj's

Our DVD player is currently not functioning, so luckily we DVR all the Disney movies we can :) We have a good little collection now that River loves to watch. Sometimes I feel like he shouldn't be just sitting in front of the TV, but man does it help me get things done. Is that really bad? I can take a shower without him screaming at the curtain, do a little laundry, vacuum, etc. It's not like that's all he does or anything, but what do you use as a guideline for how many movies/tv time is appropriate for your little one?

South Carolina with the Foscarini's

Tony and I were lucky enough to be invited to South Carolina by the Foscarini's. We stayed in a condo right on the Marina in Hilton Head, it was so Beautiful, hot & humid :) We were lucky enough to stay for a full week too. It was so incredibly relaxing, especially needed for Tony who has been working hard at 3 jobs. It was so good to get to spend some quality time with Tony's parents (who unfortunately had to leave early due to not feeling well.) and siblings, Doug, Nick and his wife Nikki. We love all of them and had such a good time especially because we don't get to see them very much. We lounged at the beach, went to the pool, kayaked next to dolphins, rented bikes and cruised around, ate good food, and had a blast doing it all with family! We are so sorry you had to leave early George and Judi and hope you are feeling at least a little better George. You were both missed! Thanks for all the fun and wonderful memories. We even went to Savannah on our way to the airport with Nick and Nikki who were kind enough to give us a ride to the airport, thanks! Only great things to say about both Hilton head and Savannah, hope to return :)

I posted a lot of videos because there were to many cute ones:

4th of July!!

We went up the lift at Sundance in the afternoon. Beautiful!

Carrie Underwood

Stadium of Fire

Freedom Gala

This post is long over due! Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I love what it means and that we can be a Free people! It really is such an amazing blessing we have! We have our tradition of going to the Freedom Award Gala and of course Stadium of Fire. This year Carrie Underwood was the entrainment, I didn't know to much about her, but I love her now! It was a really good show :) And of course a great Firework show after! River went to Stadium of Fire last year so he has already attended 2. He did pretty good, but got a little antsy at times. Overall, it was a wonderful 4th!