May 2007: Mother's Day

Today on Mother's Day our family was able to speak with my brother Jesse on the phone who is on a mission for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaching Christ's gospel in Spanish in San Antonio, Texas. I miss my "little" Bub. He sounds so very happy in the service of our Heavenly Father. He will return home in September. My mom & dad returned from their trip to Hawaii celebrating their 30th Anniversary. Yeah Mom & Dad!!! Mom presented us girls with sweet smelling leis. Jesse wanted me to post a photo, so here you go Bub. He gets to check my blog once a month. It is definitely true sibling love when you are willing to post a horrible photo of yourself for practically anyone to see, just for your brother. So, just for fun, I am posting pre-mission photos of my brother. See how cute he is, don't we look so much alike :-) Surprise Bub!

May 2007: Tate's 1st Beach Trip

My first outing as a mother of 3 was to the beach of course. I drove down to my brother Luke & wife Kelli's darling new beach home in Cardiff. We walked down to the beach with all our stuff and the boys had a great time with their cousin Davis. I had a couple of points of near breakdown, but with Luke & Kelli's help, catastrophe was avoided. The soothing sounds of the waves, sweet smell and gentle breeze of the ocean was great therapy for a tattered new mom of 3. Tate slept most of the time, but sand still managed to dot him and his carseat. If you ask Eyan about the beach he will tell you "ocean cold", yes the water was a little chilly but it felt great. Outing #1 a success overall.

May 2007: Awake time

Tate has been settling in to a little better of a schedule, sleeping some longer stretches at night and more happy awake time during the day. I love this shot of Owen and Tate. Tate is about 3 1/2 weeks old here.

April 2007: Move back to CA

Auntie Liz gave Tate a little photo shoot in the car on the move back to CA. Yes, you read that right everyone, we have moved back to CA. If you are surprised, we were too. We wanted things to work out in Utah and kept trying to make them do so until it became apparent a move was necessary. We had a 2 week notice to pack up our entire home and move with a 2 week old baby. The only reason I am living to tell about it is my amazing friends in Herriman (see photos on soon to come post - Girls I Love!!!) who came everyday to pack, hold the baby, bring food, help clean, take the boys to play, help me remain positive and sane, etc. Mike's family also brought us dinners and helped with Eyan. Eyan loved going to "Gammy's house". The boys were so good on the drive down. Mike had Owen & Eyan and I had the baby & my sister Liz who was a life-saver. Tate stayed awake happily for awhile, just enough for Liz-my budding photographer sister- to snap some pictures. This is my favorite one.

April 2007: Lots of love for Tate

Tate has been surrounded by lots of people who love him. It was love at first sight for Grammy and Grandpa Johnson. Here he is with his Aunt Jenny and cousins Jessica, Jane, and Jaylen. The girls and Jayson sit with Owen, Eyan, and Mike on their visit to meet Tate.