Family in Town

Nothing beats spending time with family, especially family who visit out-of-state. My parents, sisters, and brother-in-law all flew in from California to spend time with me and the rest of the North family. I was thrilled to have them here. Susie flew in first on June 23rd and stayed for two weeks. The rest of my family came for the 4th of July weekend. Here's a few pictures of the fun times we had:

University of Utah
Susie has been considering the possibility of attending medical school at the University of Utah in the near future, so went up to the U of U on June 23rd to take a self guided tour. We all went, including two-week-old Lizzy, who looked absolutely adorable and tiny.







Temple Square
The following Saturday, Brad and I took Susie up to Temple Square to spend time with her former missionary companion. While we were there we went to a Vietnamese restaurant and to the Church History Museum. Afterward, we drove to the Salt Lake City Cemetery. We briefly glanced at the graves of several church leaders before we stopped at President Hinckley's grave. It was a little strange changing a baby's diaper right next to the grave a former prophet, but Lizzy insisted it was necessary.

Jordan River Parkway
Sunday the 28th we went to the Jordan River Parkway. The parkway was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time being together. Susie especially liked it and decided to return again several times to ride my bike along the river. She is used to cycling along the San Gabriel River in Southern California, which looks nothing like Utah's Jordan River. The San Gabriel is basically a huge concrete canal with a small trickle of water-- not nearly as pretty as this.





Wheeler Farm
We went to Wheeler Farm in Murray the Friday before the 4th of July. Rachel, Craig, and my parents were all here at this time. It was nice being together, walking along the trails, climbing trees, and looking at all the farm animals. We took lots and lots of photos.
















Independance Day Breakfast Celebration
The 4th of July was a fun-packed day. We went to a 4th of July breakfast at the Stake's recreational property in the morning. The food was continental style and very yummy. Rachel, Craig, and Brad played volleyball after breakfast, and Scott and Emma had fun playing carnival games at the different booths set up. The favorite activity was a three-legged race that Scott, Emma, Rachel, Susie, and even my dad participated in.







Fireworks
Fireworks were a fun activity for our family on the 4th of July. It's illegal in Long Beach to shoot off fireworks, so my sisters and I did not have many opportunities to do that growing up. We all enjoyed setting them off this year.




Overall, the last two weeks were wonderful to me! I love spending time with my family. I miss them now that they are gone, but we'll be together again soon.

Swimming Lessons

Scott and Emma took swimming lessons again this year. This has been the third year in a row since we started this summertime activity. Both Scott and Emma love going to their lessons and having fun with the other children. Neither of them are very confident swimmers yet, but hopefully they'll get better as time goes by. They struggled with jumping off the diving board in the deep-end during the last three lessons, but Scott finally pushed his fear aside and went in on the very last day. We were very happy for him. Emma will try again next year.

The Highlight of My Day: June 2009

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in June:

June 1, 2009: Only 13 days until my due date! Today I got some last minute baby things at Target (boppy pillow, bassinet sheets, and a hook for a mobile), and Brad and I ordered a stroller and diaper bag from Walmart.

June 2, 2009: Scott and Emma are so excited about it being the last week of school. They'll be doing fun things all week. Today was Scott's "bubble day" at school and tomorrow is their AR party. Both of them surpassed their AR goals in reading. I am so proud of them!

June 3, 2009: Today is Brad's 34th birthday! I made brownies for him and gave him a new U2 shirt. He hung up my baby mobile and then we watched "Pride and Prejudice" while drinking slurpees.

June 4, 2009: The four of us went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House tonight. It was gorgeous!

June 5, 2009: Today was the last day of school for Scott and Emma! They are looking forward to the summer.

June 6, 2009: Brad and I had lots of alone time today. We went shopping, had Chick-Fil-A for lunch, went to Kaylie's baptism, and picked up some Bajio Mexican food for dinner.

June 7, 2009: I was having mild contractions all day, but I was still able to give my lesson on "Integrity" to the Young Women.

June 8, 2009: Hard contractions every 5 to 7 minutes all day today. Felt quite miserable. The only good part was knowing that my baby will be here shortly.

June 9, 2009: Little Lizzy was born today at 11:30 p.m.! The epidural was LOVELY! Those horrible contraction pains went away, and the actual delivery went very well. I now have a gorgeous baby girl!

June 10, 2009: Lizzy and I both learned how to breastfeed today. It is challenging, and neither of us are masters at it yet, but I hope we will get there eventually.

June 11, 2009: We came home from the hospital today! At first I was afraid we would have to leave Lizzy, because she developed some jaundice and they had her on special treatment. All turned out well, though.

June 12, 2009: I finally got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep last night! Yea! We took Lizzy back to the doctor today for them to check her jaundice. Lizzy is doing better, but we still have to keep her on blue lights until tomorrow afternoon.

June 13, 2009: Scott and Emma came home today and got to see their new little sister for the first time!

June 14, 2009: Brad and I took little Lizzy on her first walk around the block today. We wanted her out in the sunshine to help with the jaundice.

June 15, 2009: We went on our first family outing to the library with baby Lizzy tonight. She looks so cute and tiny in her car seat. :)

June 16, 2009: I have my energy back. It's nice not feeling so tired anymore from the pregnancy. It's also nice being able to eat more normally again and not gagging when I brush my teeth. *Sigh* Lovely!

June 17, 2009: Celebrating 3 years of marriage today! Brad and I went to Jamba Juice with little Lizzy. Brad got me a very nice card and I got him the book "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. It was a simple and sweet anniversary.

June 18, 2009: June must be my "I Love Brad" month. I greatly appreciate all that he does to keep me feeling happy and loved. Today he complimented me on how good I looked and wonderful I was. He's a sweet talking guy and I love him!

June 19, 2009: Lizzy got her pictures taken today! She behaved very well for Jeana, so I'm sure many good shots were taken. I love my sweet little baby.

June 20, 2009: Brad and I slept in this morning! Hooray! Lizzy is doing much better at night, although she's still getting up quite regularly.

June 21, 2009: The kids and I made Daddy breakfast this morning. Later we took Lizzy to church today for Father's Day. She slept through all of Sacrament meeting. In the evening we had a Father's Day celebration with Bruce and Loralee's family.

June 22, 2009: Scott and Emma started swimming lessons today. I enjoyed taking them to the Taylorsville pool with Lizzy and watching them swim. They love it!

June 23, 2009: Susie has arrived! She'll be here for the next two weeks. Today we took her to the U of U to go on a tour.

June 24, 2009: Brad, Susie, Lizzy, and I went to the Harman's tonight for dinner and swimming. It was nice being with family and visiting Brad's Aunt Ann again.

June 25, 2009: Lizzy passed her hearing test! Yippee!

June 26, 2009: Brad, Susie, and I took Lizzy to Walmart to get a baby swing. While we were there a big rainstorm came and we all got wet, except Lizzy. The storm was beautiful! I loved all the rain.

June 27, 2009: Today Brad and I took Susie downtown to Temple Square. We had lunch with her old missionary companion, we went to the church history museum, and we went to the SLC Cemetery.

June 28, 2009: Tonight we went to the Jordan River Parkway and went walking. The evening was beautiful, and it was fun taking Susie and Lizzy for the first time.

June 29, 2009: I took Lizzy to her doctor's appointment today. She gained one pound since she was born. The doctor commented on how pretty she looked.

June 30, 2009: Lizzy slept almost all night last night. It was lovely! I felt like I got more sleep than usual.