The Porter Family

4th of July

2011-10-19T11:02:00.002-06:00

Left side top to bottom: Grandpa Pay with Samantha and Lincoln - McKinley and Lincoln - Mom, McKinley and Lincoln at the Kaysville Parade

Right side: Porter cousins before the parade - Alli and McKinley at fireworks - Grandma and Grandpa Porter in the parade - Lincoln thinks the parade is loud

Late Summer

2011-10-19T10:52:00.003-06:00

Labor Day - St. George Temple
Layton Park - Multiple trips during the summer
August - Bear Lake
July - Lagoon
July 25 - Riding Frontrunner/SLC Temple/Tour of the Conference Center

McKinley

2011-10-16T14:25:00.005-06:00

Here are a few pictures of McKinley. She is getting to be such a big girl! This is from 5-8 months. I can't believe she is already 9 1/2 months!

Lincoln is 3!

2011-10-15T20:42:00.005-06:00

Lincoln's presents - Scooter, jeans, church shirt/tie, toy helicopters and airplanes

Lincoln's birthday was on a Friday this year. As luck would have it, Jefferson and I both had the day off! We hung out and did a little shopping in the morning. In the afternoon Lincoln got to play at Grandma Porter's house. He asked all morning to go and play at her house! For dinner we went to Iggy's in Centerville. Lincoln wanted pizza for dinner and they have that on the kids meal and it comes with an ice cream sundae. On Sunday we went to the Pay's house to celebrate with my side of the family. Lincoln had chocolate cake and ice cream - his favorite! He got lots of fun toys - a Buzz Lightyear car, a big "dumpy" truck, playdoh, a Buzz/Woody kickball and a soccer ball. We are heading to the Porter's on Sunday for the October birthdays. So much fun to celebrate!

More pics:

St George Trip

2011-04-28T17:40:00.002-06:00

This year we went to St. George for Easter. We drove down after school on Thursday and came home Sunday afternoon. On Friday we drove through Zion Canyon (it was free entrance at National Parks). We stopped here and got out to walk on the rocks. Lincoln loved climbing the rocks and looking for sticks. He still talks about the "beach" as he calls it.

Lincoln, Mom, McKinley

Ganges

Saturday we went to the outlets to look at the kids clothes and then headed to the Farm for the McArthur family reunion. We missed the treasure hunt, but made it in time for dutch oven and potluck salads. SO GOOD! Lincoln got to look at the bunnies and chickens. He also went on a tractor ride with Jefferson. I heard it was a wild ride! That evening after naps we went to a park by the Porter's house. Lincoln loves the park! We went for a drive around town that evening.

Sunday was church. Before church Suzanne hid eggs around the house for the kids to find. Lincoln picked right up on the game. I left his Easter stuff at home, so he got it when we returned. Church was really nice. Here are the kids dressed up for Easter.

Lincoln doesn't like to look at the camera and smile :) He had a great time and talks about Grandma's House, the Farm and the Beach constantly. McKinley was a great girl and just hung out the whole time. So glad she is such a happy baby.

Lincoln Dancing

2011-02-20T15:54:00.003-07:00

Here is Lincoln dancing with some of his cousins at Grandma Porter's house. It's his favorite song to dance to. Sometimes he will throw a fit if it's the wrong song :)

Catching up: Christmas 2010

2011-02-20T14:42:00.005-07:00

Christmas was a little stressful this year, wondering if McKinley would be coming early. Fortunately, she stayed put and I was able to enjoy Christmas out and about with family.

On Dec. 23 the Catlin clan got together in Bountiful for dinner, games and catching up. It was fun to see all my cousins and their families. We were missing the Washington folks, but everybody else was there - even the Schwabs from Virginia. Here we are trying to get the kids to take a picture. Lincoln was crying and Corbin is hiding. Thanks to Maren for trying!!
On Christmas Eve we went to the Porter's. We had dinner and games, along with the Nativity (words and songs!). Of course there were presents. We usually take a family picture each year (on a timer on someone's camera - nothing fancy) but we didn't this year. We will have to remember for next year.
Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents before heading to the Pays. Lincoln got a "bike" and loved it from the moment he saw it. We had to wake him up so we could leave on time so he was slightly asleep when we started down the stairs. The first thing he said was "Bike!" It was cute.
He got some books, a shirt and a little car as well. I gave Jefferson a remote helicopter and trick car. He gave me cash :) [I have since bought some clothes with that money!]
We got dressed and headed to my parents for presents and breakfast. It was a little more low-key this year since we only had our family and my Grandma/pa Pay. Usually we invite more family, but since we saw them Dec 23, we didn't. It was nice! We didn't take any pictures at the Pays.

The next day was Sunday. I tried to get a nice picture of Lincoln. I think this was the best one. He doesn't like taking pictures. The other ones are pretty hilarious :)

Dog Food

2011-02-18T22:31:00.003-07:00

Today I was feeding McKinley upstairs and Lincoln was running around. He went downstairs and was being very quite. I started getting nervous. When McKinley was done I headed downstairs to see what Lincoln was up to. I met him at the top of the stairs with a guilty look on his face. He had dog food on his face and shirt that he had spit up. The rest of it was on the stairs and the tile. Bear came and ate the big pieces (gross) and I cleaned up the rest. What was that kid thinking? :)

On a completely unrelated note, here is a picture JP took the other day on his phone. It's a fun family picture (minus him).

McKinley Kate

2010-12-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

McKinley Kate arrived Monday, December 27, 2010 at 7:52 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.

McKinley, you were a scheduled c-section because your brother arrived that way. With 3 weeks to go, while the doctor was checking your heartbeat he noticed it was irregular. It would beat fine and then miss a beat. I had to get hooked up to a heart monitor and he did an ultrasound. The heart monitor didn't show anything to get too worked up about and the ultrasound showed you were breech (good thing I was okay with a c-section!). Because the doctor wanted to be extra cautious I went in twice a week to be checked on the monitor. You were always doing okay, even though every once in awhile a beat would drop.

We made it to the scheduled day, 2 days after Christmas. With Lincoln I was induced and labored before having him the next day. With you, your Dad and I got to the hospital at 6 a.m. and got checked in and headed upstairs. The nurse had me change and started hooking me up to machines and prepping me for your delivery. It was all very smooth and quite fast. When I had my IV and had talked to the anesthesiologist I was ready to be wheeled into surgery. They took me into the room and I got my spinal tap. The doctors came in and then they brought in Dad. A few minutes later, just before 8 a.m. you were born! The doctor said, "You have a little princess!" and (even though I knew) I was so excited.

They took you to the nursery to get cleaned and tested. Dad went with you. I had to be sewn back up and taken back to the recovery room. The drugs worked really well on my left side. I could feel things on my right. So the anesthesiologist kept moving me and trying to get the drugs where they needed to go. Finally they were done and I was ready to go back to the room.

We all met up a little while later in my room and got to spend some time together, just the three of us. We took some pictures...

Around 10 or 11 a.m. they were ready to move us into my "permanent" room for the next 4 days. You stayed with me during the day and only went back to the nursery to be checked and so I could sleep at night - although sometimes they couldn't get you until midnight or they would bring you in early to feed and I just kept you instead of sending you back. You were a great eater and sleeper. The nurses knew you were breech because you loved your legs sticking straight out :)

We had a few visitors, but not a lot which was great for my recovery. Dad and Lincoln came every day to hang out with us. Lincoln watched movies and didn't really get that you were his sister until we told him you were his baby. He loved you from that moment! He calls you McKinley-baby and loves to give you kisses and toys.

We went home on Thursday, December 30.

St. George

2010-11-01T16:12:00.006-06:00

For Fall Recess (UEA weekend) I talked Jefferson into going to St. George. We left Thursday afternoon (Oct 14) and came home Sunday afternoon. We didn't get there until late Thursday. On Friday morning we went to the town square and walked around. Lincoln really liked the splash pad area and we spent the most time there after walking around. Since Lincoln was wet and we had no dry clothes we headed back to the house for lunch and naps. That afternoon we went back by the water to check out the International Festival going on. It wasn't too international and we didn't stick around too long. We also did some shopping. That night we watched a movie and went to bed.

On Saturday we drove to Grafton which is a small ghost town on the way to Zion. It was a long drive and Lincoln wasn't too happy being stuck in his seat the whole time. It was interesting to see Grafton, but I would call it a historically renovated town - not a ghost town. There wasn't much to see and nothing you were supposed to walk into. But we saw it. All those pictures are on Jefferson's camera. I got a picture of the bridge.

We stopped and ate lunch at a park that we passed on the way. Lincoln had a nice long nap when we got home. That night we ordered pizza and drove around the city at night. It was a relaxing vacation and I had a great time! It was also nice and warm (80s). I am glad we went.

Halloween

2010-11-01T15:50:00.007-06:00

This year for Halloween Lincoln was a fireman. Just like last year. Cause it still fit. And he doesn't care! We went trick or treating with some neighbors. At first Lincoln wasn't sure what to do, but Tyson totally helped him figure it out! I didn't get pictures of us out and about (in the rain) but we did get some pictures of the cousins and Lincoln dressed up before the trick or treating.

See Bear in the background in her Happy Halloween shirt

We didn't make it very far. With the rain and the cold Lincoln wasn't up for being out for very long. We went down the street and back up half the other side of the street and headed home. Lincoln would have preferred to just jump in the puddles in the street. My parents came up to hang out with us, so when Lincoln looked miserable and I saw their car in my driveway we went home. His candy was pretty wet, but I don't think he even knew he had candy. He only got a few pieces and I think Jefferson and I have eaten them already.

I am pretty sure next year he will be way more into it and that will be fun!

Porter family pictures:

Mom & Lincoln (with a sucker) @ Porter's

Sanford & Laurie

Ganges

Fireman, Chicken, Cat, Pirate, Witch

Lincoln's 2nd Birthday

2010-11-01T15:24:00.006-06:00

Lincoln turned two this year! I didn't have to work so we hung out during the day. He got some balloons at the grocery store. I wrapped his presents during his nap. Jefferson got home around 6:30 and Grandma & Grandpa Porter came over to take us to dinner. We ended up at Boston's for pizza. Lincoln at 3 pieces! It was a fun day.

Presents from mom & dad: puzzles, book, shirts
Grandma & Grandpa Porter: truck, clothes
Greatgrandma Catlin: card & $10
Greatgrandma/pa Pay: card, $2 & 2 books

We went to the Pay's Sunday evening for cake and ice cream. Lincoln got a toy motorcycle that makes noise, hotwheels, race track, tootsie pops, and a ball. He loved them all! Jefferson helped me make the Boston creme pies. YUMMY!!

The Porter October B-day party was the following Wednesday (Lincoln, Darrin & Suzanne are Oct b-days). He got more hotwheels and a car launcher, more fun balloons, and lots of clothes. I didn't get pictures for some reason, but we had a good time.

#2

2010-11-01T15:21:00.002-06:00

In September we were able to find out the gender of our second child. We are having a little girl!! I will try and find some time to scan the ultrasound pictures. This time we got a DVD of the ultrasound, too. Everything looked good! My original due date was 1-11-11 and it was moved up to 1-4-11.

Summertime 2

2010-11-01T14:51:00.008-06:00

In July we went to Lagoon. We got tickets for $10 thanks to Mitchel working there. Every once in awhile they get family deals and we decided to take Lincoln. The first ride we went on was the Puff the Dragon roller coaster. He loved it! Then we went to another dragon one that went really fast. He didn't like that one. So after that it took some convincing to get on the rides. There weren't many he could go on and the ones he could we couldn't go with him. It will be better when he has someone to ride with. Next time we will have to go with cousins!

favorite ride

walking around

on the ferris wheel

We went swimming at my Aunt Carole Ann's house. Last summer we went a few times, but this summer we only made it once. I liked this picture of Lincoln. I didn't get any while we were in the pool. Alyssa, Natalie, me and kids were there.

On the 24th we went to a BBQ at Natalie's house. It was also to celebrate Maren and Corbin's birthdays. The kids had a great time playing outside. Lincoln finally started liking the trampoline!

In August Lincoln was running around outside and tripped on the pavement. This was the lovely result. He also fell into a chair last week (Oct 24) and bruised his cheek pretty bad. Can we say accident prone?

In August we went to Bear Lake with Jefferson's family. Lincoln and I went up on Thursday and Jefferson made it up Friday night. We left Saturday evening. It was short but fun. We spent the mornings at the beach playing in the sand and water and went back to the condo for lunch and naps. In the afternoon we went back tot he beach and hung out. I only took one picture. Lincoln loved digging in the sand and filling up the trucks. Good thing we had buckets and shovels for all the kids! We all had a lot of fun.

Summertime

2010-11-01T14:23:00.009-06:00

I finally pulled some pictures off my camera. We will start with a summer catch-up.

When I came home from YW one night in early June, I came home to a little boy with a band-aid on his head. Jefferson wasn't exactly sure what happened, but thinks Lincoln fell into the corner of the entertainment cabinet. It was a pretty big cut, but all we did was neosporin and band-aids. And then some scar medicine. He does has a small scar :)

I went with the youth to Logan to do baptisms.

4th of July (on the 3rd). This year the 4th was on a Sunday which meant a weekend full of celebrating. On Saturday Kaysville city had their big celebration so we started the day at the Porters for breakfast and then went to the parade. Mitchel was doing all the sound for the carnival/Kaysville Idol/fireworks for his Eagle Project so his family was there early and had some good spots for the parade. Lincoln had a good time walking around with his sunglasses on! He like the fire trucks and police motorcycles. We got lots of candy and toys. The Kaysville parade is definitely a crazy parade.

That night was fireworks at Eaglewood Golf Course with my family. July 3 is Taryn's birthday and it's become the family tradition to do fireworks that night. Jefferson had to help Mitchel with the sound for the Kaysville fireworks so Lincoln and I went by ourselves. Grandpa was a trooper and ran around the golf course with Lincoln before the fireworks started. Lincoln liked the fireworks and still calls them boom's.

Me, Lincoln & Jordan

Samantha, Josh & Ashton

Taryn *in the middle* and her friends

Grandma & Grandpa

Monday was the Layton city celebration. We went to the parade which wasn't nearly as long or as crazy as Kaysville's. We got decent seats for just showing up and saved spots for the Ganges and Grandma Porter. We had a good time just sitting and watching the parade (instead of running in the streets for candy and prizes).

Lincoln ready to watch with his breakfast of cold cereal in a bag

Motorcycle

2010-06-17T15:08:00.003-06:00

So I will just have to admit I am not a good blogger! I love to read them, not so good at keeping them updated. Oh well. I will still post when I can.

Jefferson had to fix the light on his motorcycle so Lincoln got used to seeing it in the garage. He was so scared of it at first. He wouldn't go near it even when it was turned off. Over time and some help from me, he got on and even when for a ride. Now it seems he is always asking for a ride -- although he says "car". I guess motorcycle is too hard and it was always parked where the car goes and it goes vroom vroom :)

Here is a little 9 second video of them going down the road from my camera.

Camera 2

2010-04-09T16:50:00.006-06:00

Here are a few things off of camera #2.

We have Lincoln on the computer - He loves to climb up on the chair and start moving the mouse and hitting keys on the keyboard. It's pretty cute.

Lincoln reading a book in a small stool Jefferson made back in jr high. It sits at the foot of our bed. Lincoln turns it upside down so he can sit in it. He will watch tv, read or just sit in it. Sometimes we will push him around while he is sitting in it. He loves it!

And Lincoln's first big haircut. Jefferson cut it awhile ago, but nothing as major as this. We stuck him in the tub and used the shaver. He was a little nervous, but did really well. This was on March 13. I wish I had a right before picture. His hair was pretty long - in his eyes, over his ears a little, and would sit over the collar of his shirt! This first picture will have to do.

Before:

After:

Only 2 more cameras to go!

Cleaning off the camera

2010-04-09T16:36:00.003-06:00

Here are a few other pictures on this camera that are fun. I still need to look at the other cameras and download those pictures. You think with it being Spring Break I could get something done. But I am liking the "break" part :)

This first one is Lincoln eating his chicken nuggets with sauce. He loves to dip them in BBQ sauce. I think there might be some yogurt remains as well.

This was our snow storm at the beginning of this week. Hail one night (this picture is the next morning) and at least 6 inches of snow the following night. Happy Spring Break to us!

Shoes

2010-04-09T16:32:00.003-06:00

Lincoln's new thing is trying to wear our shoes. He is pretty funny walking around the house in big shoes!

Museum of Ancient Life AKA the Dinosaur Museum

2010-04-09T16:19:00.002-06:00

Today my sister called and invited me and Lincoln to go with her to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. They live just down the street and have a season pass. So I got in for half price :) Lincoln fell asleep on the way to Lehi so he had a short nap. He loved running around and tried climbing over a few rails. I took quite a few pictures, but they are all blurry! By the end of the museum he was getting cranky and it was definitely time to go. He didn't sleep in the car on the way home. I think the sun was bugging him. He threw his binky and then screamed from Bountiful home (20 min) because he wanted it. Oh well. We had a great time for most of the day!

Christmas

2009-12-30T11:13:00.004-07:00

I forgot to take pictures at our house opening presents. But Jefferson got some as we went to other houses. Christmas morning we got up and opened some presents. We got a new TV and it's been mounted on the wall in our bedroom for awhile, so we didn't have much to open. Lincoln started opening a present, but was having too much fun with the toothpaste I gave Jefferson in his stocking. So he opened one of his three presents before we left for my parents house. It was a small dump truck from Santa.

We got to my parents at 9 a.m. so my family could do our gift exchange before the extended family showed up for breakfast. The little kids all opened their gifts. Then we played a game with gift cards. Instead of presents to each other we brought a $20 gift card to exchange (it was the Porter family's idea). Anyway I read a story with right/left in it and we passed the cards around the circle. Whichever one you ended up with at the end of the story you kept. We did have to do 2 trades so people didn't end up with their own card. Jefferson and I ended up with Kohl's and Training Table.

After presents we took a family picture and started cooking breakfast. I didn't get any pictures of that, but Grandma & Grandpa Pay, Jerrold's family and my Aunt CA and cousin Allyssa all came over for scones, french toast, ham and scrambled eggs. YUM!

After breakfast we headed over to Grandma Pay's house. She didn't bring her gifts over so we stopped by. Lincoln got a super cute Sunday outfit and Jefferson and I got knives. Then we headed to Grandma Catlin's house. All the Allphin cousins were over there and we thought we would stop in to say hi. She had sent her gifts up to our house (Lincoln got a book about a mouse with the accompanying stuffed mouse and we got Lehi Roller Mills mixes and towels.) We were able to watch Grandma open her gifts and say hi to our cousins. We didn't stay long - it was almost 1:00 and Lincoln hadn't napped yet.

Lincoln slept on the way home and didn't want to go back down when we got home. He managed to open another present - a new shirt. So about a 1/2 hour later we loaded up the Porter's presents and headed to Jefferson's parents house. Everyone got there at 2 and we had food (sandwiches, meatballs, smokies, Christmas jello, pumpkin roll, and lots of other goodies). After eating we exchanged gifts and played our gift card exchange game. At the Porter's we went by age to pick a card. It could get stolen twice. Ramona kept getting all the good gift cards and was stolen from quite a few times. I took Target from her and Jefferson took Home Depot. Earlier Heather had taken Papa Murphys. It was fun and I am happy with what we ended up with. (FYI - to the Pays we took Kohls & Smiths and to the Porters we took Papa Murphys & Smiths).

Here is the Porter family photo.

Lincoln actually went down for a nap upstairs at the Porters while we opened presents downstairs. He slept for a nice long while. We went home around 6 and I was exhausted! Heather had given Ella a play tent with a tunnel. I had the exact one wrapped up at home waiting for Lincoln to open. I was thinking of saving it for another occasion, but decided to go ahead and let Lincoln open it. He did and we only took out the tunnel. He's had a lot of fun crawling through that tunnel!

Disney's Prep and Landing

2009-12-30T11:07:00.004-07:00

On December 8 I recorded a show on ABC called Disney's Prep and Landing. It is Lincoln's favorite show. He will sit down and watch it - usually the whole thing (it's a 1/2 hour). He likes other shows but won't sit still while they are on. It's pretty funny. His new favorite thing to do is climb the ramp at the end of our bed and sit. (The ramp is for the dog.) He had some books this time and was watching the show. Too funny. He does enjoy flipping through books and looking at the pictures.

ps. That is our new TV we got ourselves for Christmas!! We've had it almost a month. I love it!

End of the Year - Part 2

2009-12-23T11:50:00.009-07:00

Continuing on with the pictures in the camera....

We had a pretty good storm the first part of December. On Saturday, December 5, Jefferson went out to shovel the snow. Lincoln really wanted to go out, too. Here are some pictures of him and snow.

He walked over to the front of the house and fell in the snow. He didn't like it after that. Plus he took off his gloves and his hands were freezing cold. Not to mention how wet the rest of him was after falling in the snow.... So after all the bundling up he was outside for maybe 10 minutes and came in the house crying.

Lincoln falling down.

December 16 Ramona got all the grandkids together to did gingerbread houses/trains. Jefferson was helping a neighbor so that left me to do the train by myself. Luckily Megan stepped in to help. Lincoln just wanted to eat it. We had a good time decorating. I will have to get pictures of the completed projects from Abby. It's been about a week and the train has just been sitting on our counter. We let Lincoln get a hold of it and this is what happened.

Can you tell how colorful Lincoln's face is? He did push the train around for a tiny bit. He mainly wanted to eat it. He did manage to get a few little pieces of candy off the train, but he didn't get to eat them. The train is now resting in peace in the trash.

ps. Isn't it a nice looking train?

End of the Year - Part 1

2009-12-23T11:41:00.006-07:00

I was trying to get my pictures off the camera and organized so they could be printed. I came across a few from the last 2 months that I would like to share.

First the Festival of Trees in Davis County. For the Porter birthdays this year we decided that instead of gifts we would do a tree for the festival of trees. We made a lot of the ornaments during the birthday parties. The rest were bought by various family members. In November it was time to put it up and on display. Michelle, Suzanne and Ramona did a fantastic job decorating. Jefferson, Lincoln and I went over when they were pretty much done to check it out. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. Next year the plan is to save for a trip to Disneyland. We'll see how that goes... :)

Our theme was Patriotic (in case you didn't get it). 4th of July is a favorite family holiday and seemed to be a perfect theme for our tree.

Also in November the YW held a baby shower for two of our leaders. The 1st counselor - Stacie - had her baby in December. The 2nd counselor - Allison - is due in January. We invited all the ward member to come. We made quilts for them during the shower, guessed baby pictures, had yummy brownie sundaes and opened presents! They are both having/had girls!!

I'll continue more in the next post! :)

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-22T17:25:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas! I hope this year finds you doing well. Here is a little recap of our family this past year.

Jefferson has been working at Pine Canyon Electric. They stayed pretty busy during the slow season, which was a blessing! It has been a little slow lately. Luckily he has been able to do some manufacturing work for his brother which is awesome! Jefferson was released from teaching primary in the summer and got to have some time off. He was just recently called as a Webelos leader in the Scouts. It should be an adventure! In his spare time he has been doing projects in the garage and helping neighbors with their projects (cutting down trees, installing new ranges, fixing light problems, etc.) He has also been busy playing with Lincoln. Jefferson is an awesome dad and Lincoln loves being thrown in the air or pulled around in makeshift sleds.

If you read the blog last year, I reported that I was able to go to work part-time last year and still have insurance. Well, in April I found out that numbers were going to be low and as a part-time teacher I was being involuntarily transferred. It was a very stressful time for me as I wondered where I would end up and how it would affect Lincoln and the daycare situation. I would say it was a trial for sure - I loved where I was teaching and what I was teaching. But I must say that Heavenly Father is aware of me and was waiting to bless me. I ended up at the junior high right by my house. Fairfield Junior has been a GREAT place to work. They went to the block schedule this year so I just teach on B-days. Right now I teach all 4 periods that day so I am making some extra money with productivity. I teach 3 CTE Intro classes and 1 Word Processing Bascis. The CTE Intro class is for Technology and Engineering (which is usually taught by the shop teacher). A little crazy I know, but I am having a great time. CTE is all 7th graders and WP Basics is 9th. The teachers I work with (and administrators) are amazing. I was called as the Beehive Advisor right around the same time. I love teaching/seeing my Beehives at school. It's been the best thing for me! On my "off"days I am at home with Lincoln and loving being able to be home most of the time with him. I also had some back issues which made heavy lifting (i.e. Lincoln) almost impossible. I just got a steroid epidural shot in my back on Thursday and must say it's amazing. I'll try and post the x-ray with the needle in my back. :)

Lincoln is 14 months. I can't believe what a little person he is. I was carrying him up the stairs the other day and thought - this definitely isn't a baby anymore! He spends most of his time running around the house, climbing on things, and getting into things I am trying to keep him out of. He spends B-days at the Davis High Daycare. I love that he still gets to go there. Lincoln keeps us on our toes! He is so fun to have around and is a really happy kid. Check out how cute he is in the Photo Shoot post.

This year has had it's ups and downs for sure, but I am always grateful for the blessings after the trials. They do come! I am thankful for this time of year to focus on the Savior and hope that everyone can feel the true meaning of the season this year. Merry Christmas!

Photo Shoot

2009-12-22T17:21:00.002-07:00

Isn't this kid adorable? My neighbors are photographers and sponsoring an "Adorable Baby Contest" for kids 6 months-2 years. So I thought I would get some pictures of Lincoln.

Here are some of my favorites. I'll let you know when voting on the contest begins so you can go and vote for the cutest one - I mean Lincoln!

Temple Square Lights

2009-12-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went to temple square to see the lights and watch Maren perform. She is in a singing group in Lehi and performed a few songs with them. We watched the first performance at 6:30 in the Assembly Hall. Her second performance was at 8 in the South Visitor's Center. After the performance we walked around for awhile with my mom and dad, Josh-Liz-Samantha, and Natalie's family. We didn't walk for too long because it was getting late and Lincoln was ready to be out of the stroller! It was fun to see the lights. I think Lincoln will really love it next year.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T14:39:00.003-07:00

Since Halloween took so long to blog about, let's get Thanksgiving done now! This has been a week of thanksgiving for sure. On Tuesday night, Jefferson and I got to go to the temple with his sister Suzanne. Other than my brief coughing fit, it was a lovely evening in the temple! Then on Wednesday we got to witness Suzanne, Joe, Capree and Oakley be sealed together. What more could I be thankful for than temple blessing and the knowledge of the gospel. Thanks, Ganges, for letting us be a part of your special day!

On Thursday we had breakfast with the Porter family. Yummy quiches, sweet rolls, ham and pumpkin roll. Perfect way to start the day. It was Gary's birthday so we opened presents and played a quick game about how well we knew him. Jefferson then went to Sports Authority with the boys and I took Lincoln home for a nap (and I needed a shower).

We headed to my parent's house around 4:30. All my brothers and sisters (and their families) were there for dinner. Dinner was delicious. I love a good turkey and mashed potatoes! Before dessert we all went to the family room to discuss Christmas. After much laughter (and some hurt feelings) we figured out what we wanted to do. So we ate dessert! Jefferson made pumpkin cheesecake bars and I thought they turned out very good. There was also 3 kinds of pie and a German dessert Johanna made with nuts and pastry and raspberry preserves. YUM!

Needless to say it was a good day of food and family. I am so grateful for my family (brothers (in-law), sisters (in-law), parents (in-law), aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc...). Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Now....let Christmas decorating and songs on the radio begin!

Halloween

2009-11-27T14:35:00.002-07:00

Yes, Halloween. I was going to at least get this up before Thanksgiving, but alas, it did not happen. Oh well. Here are some cute Halloween pictures of Fireman Lincoln. He got to dress up Thursday and go trick-or-treating with the daycare around to the classrooms at Davis High. Then we went around the block on Halloween night with some neighbors. Found out he loves suckers :)

After going around the block Jefferson took Lincoln over to the Porters to see all the cousins. I think everyone looks pretty cute in their costumes!

Sick Baby

2009-10-15T13:25:00.002-06:00

Lincoln hasn't been feeling too well lately. Yesterday he just wanted to be held. At night he started getting a fever. I took him to Grandma Porter's today. As we were walking out the door, Lincoln threw up all over the kitchen floor and himself (luckily it was on the tile and not on me). So I had to change clothes and quickly clean up so I wasn't too late for school. Since he wasn't feeling well, and Grandma had other kids to watch, I went to school and started hunting for a sub. Luckily I found someone and was able to go home to take care of him. I ended up taking him to the doctor because his fever wasn't going down. Ear infection! Second one in 2 months and the same ear. The doctor said it was a pretty good infection so he gave him a stronger medicine. Hopefully it helps Lincoln feel better soon! I could tell he just didn't feel good. Poor kid! Luckily we got in today before the weekend. After all the running around today, he is finally down for a nap (the doctor's office called and said to come just after he fell asleep for his nap). Let's hope this medicine works quickly!

St. George & Hoover Dam

2009-10-15T11:13:00.007-06:00

For the UEA Break (or Fall Recess), we went down to St. George. We left early Thursday morning. The weather wasn't so great up in Layton and we were excited to go where it was a little warmer. On the way down we stopped at Cove Fort. It was in the 40s outside, but we bundled up and went to see it while Bear was locked in the car. We started with a movie in a warm cabin. Lincoln got bored after 5 minutes and wanted to walk/crawl around. It was hard keeping him from getting where he shouldn't. There was one other couple with us and they didn't mind him running around, although I felt bad! Then we went to the Fort and walked through all the rooms. It's pretty interesting. The man that showed us around is a Gubler from La Verkin, where my old college roommate Kasey Gubler is from. He knew her family (what a small world). After the Fort we were free to look at the barn and blacksmith shop, but Lincoln and the cold weather told us to get back in the car and continue on to St. George.

Jefferson's parents have a house in St. George and let us stay there. It is a 3-bedroom house, and it was VERY nice to stay in. It allowed us to bring the dog and was super cheap! :) They are in the process of furnishing it, so some of the time in St. George was spent at the DI, etc. looking for some good deals.

On Friday we decided to head down to Hoover Dam in NV. We drove the scenic way down and the I-15 way back. We thought about stopping in Vegas, but Lincoln was finally asleep so we drove. The Dam was really interesting to see. You can pay to go on a tour, but with Lincoln we just walked across. They are working on building a road/bridge across the river so you don't have to drive over the Dam. Check out the progress in the pictures. It's amazing how low Lake Mead is right now. We enjoyed going down and seeing the Dam. Jefferson had gone a few years ago and said it had changed a lot. We are planning to go back when Lincoln is older so we can go on a tour :)

On Saturday we did more shopping (we did some Thursday afternoon). Lincoln got his first pair of real shoes! We also went to the St. George Temple (since we were missing General Conference...). It was nice to be out and about in the pleasant weather. Here is Lincoln on the temple steps and then eating Jefferson's hat (it's what he did the minute we took the Binky out). Also a nice shot of the temple by Jefferson.

We cleaned up Sunday morning and then headed home. I had a great time and look forward to heading down to St. George again sometime soon! We found a few more side trips we would like to take...Kanab, Zion, Shakespeare Festival....If you know any place around we should put on our must-do list, let me know in the comments!

Lincoln's 1st Birthday

2009-10-12T14:57:00.007-06:00

So school started and the blogging seemed to stop. We've done a few fun things the last 2 weeks so I will try hard to get it all blogged. But first (and most importantly) Lincoln turned 1 on Oct. 7! I can't believe it's been one year. We went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Porter on his birthday since they would be out of town for his party. I had parent teacher conferences until 5:30 so going out seemed easiest for me! We went to Fazoli's (Lincoln and I shared chicken, noodles and breadsticks).

Here are some pictures after dinner opening presents from the Porters.

You can tell by the end he didn't want more pictures!

On Saturday we invited all the family for a party. Not everyone could make it, but we were happy that a lot of family was there. We had cake and ice cream, took a quiz about Lincoln, and opened presents. It was fun to have both sides of the family together to celebrate.

I love having Lincoln in our family. He is so much fun. He is super cute and super fun. He loves to play with blocks (well, knock down towers of them), books, plastic spoons, and any other toy he can find. He crawls through his "tunnel" and on empty boxes. He is walking! (He started about 11 months) He gives the best kisses (open mouth, of course). He does like to get into everything he shouldn't, but he is just a curious little boy. He is getting to be an expert at Patty Cake and he's loved Peekaboo for as long as I can remember. I love how excited he gets when Jefferson comes home, or when I show up to get him at the daycare. He loves both of us, and we love him! Happy 1st Birthday, Lincoln!!

Coming up next: UEA trip to St.George and Hoover Dam.

The End is Near

2009-08-12T20:39:00.005-06:00

The end of summer that is. Can you believe it? I've already been back to school a few times this week. Yuck :) I am on the laptop and don't have pictures, but wanted to take a minute to remember what we've done since the last post. Let's see....

I guess the first big thing was Girls Camp. This year was ward camp and we went to Camp Atoka just past Huntsville. The camp was Tues-Fri. It was my first time leaving Lincoln so I only went Wed-Fri. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I went. Some of the highlights included watching the girls tube down the river, skit night, hiking by Causey, and testimony meeting. The leaders definitely had "mini vacations" away from the kids and I think the girls had a great time as well.

Saturday, August 1 my cousin's daughter Ellie was baptized. They live in Virginia so we hardly get to see them. It was neat because I went to Ellie's blessing when I lived in VA, and now she is baptized! Afterwards we went to my aunt's pool for a bbq and swimming. Lincoln was tired so I just ate and then left. But we did go back to the pool Monday for swimming!!

Sunday, August 2 Samantha was blessed. Lincoln was super fussy so I listened to the prayer in the hall, but Josh did a great job! We visited after the blessing at Liz's parents house for awhile before heading to Jefferson's parents for a small party for Laurie's birthday. It was a busy weekend!

This past weekend was fun. Friday night (after a day of training for the new class I am teaching next year) Jefferson, Lincoln and I headed up to Deer Valley to hear the Utah Symphony. (Can you believe twice in one year??) We got free tickets from Darrin (THANKS!!) and heard The William Tell Overture, Variations on "America", and Peter and the Wolf. During Peter, Treat Williams (Everwood dad) narrated and students from the Ballet West Academy danced. It was really cute and only lasted an hour (so Lincoln did well - plus it was one of those really cold days).

Saturday night we headed down to Bountiful to watch part of the International Summer Festival. It was pretty cool to see the performers from different countries. We saw performances from Spain, China, Hungary and Poland.

This weekend I am trying to get Jefferson to take me camping. It might only be for one night, but I would really like to "get away" before the summer is over. We'll see. Until then I am moving in to my new classroom (I am teaching at Fairfield Jr. next year) and trying to figure out what I am teaching (2 new classes - CTEI Tech & Engineering and Word Processing Basics). Wish me luck :)

Teeth, 9 Months, Blessing/Party and More Lagoon

2009-07-25T20:51:00.009-06:00

First - Lincoln has teeth! It's kind of hard to see them in this picture, but he has the bottom two teeth.
I also took some pictures when he was 9 months old on July 7. Here are some of the better ones.

On July 19 Jefferson, Lincoln and I headed to Lehi to see Kiana be blessed and have a birthday party for Maren (10) and Corbin (3). It was a fun day. The blessing was really nice and afterward we headed back to Natalie's for the party. There was lunch, presents and cake! We got the Pay grandkids together for a picture. The little ones weren't too happy (it was definitely past naptime for Lincoln).
After that fiasco we had cake. Here are the birthday kids!
For the 24th of July we celebrated by having scones at the Porters and then heading to Lagoon with Mitchel. It was bounce back time so we took advantage. Mitchel was a sport and went on the rides with me or Jefferson while one of us stayed with Lincoln. Lincoln got to kick it in the stroller with his Mohawk hair (thanks again to the sunscreen).
We went on all the rides we wanted to and saw Abbey's show (she does the sound for one of the musical performances). Mitchel was dying to go on the Sky Coaster so I went with him.
Lincoln rode the Ferris Wheel (again) and the Carousel (first time)!
Then it was time to go home!! We were there from around 11:30 until 5ish. Plenty of time to be at Lagoon in the hot sun. :) That night Jefferson and I had Fazoli's (only ones there on a Friday night...could it be because everyone else was at a family bbq?) and I was in bed by 8:30.

Lagoon

2009-07-16T13:15:00.004-06:00

After a morning of swimming it was off to Lagoon. We got a great deal on tickets (Thanks, Abbey!) and thought it might be fun. We invited Josh, Liz and Samantha to come and ended up with them plus my parents, Natalie and her 4 kids, and Taryn. It was nice to have lots of adults to take turns watching the little kids (including a 9 month old and two 2 month olds).

The first thing we did was watch the Monkey Show with live monkeys. It was really cute. I got to go on Wicked for the first time (last year I was pregnant) and loved it, although I lost my sunglasses :( We actually went on quite a few rides. Jefferson, Josh and I took Natalie's kids on Rattlesnake Rapids. Then they hopped back in line with Natalie and Taryn to go on it again.

Lincoln got to ride the Ferris Wheel and the Train. Too bad they are missing quite a few animals at the beginning of the ride.

All in all I had a great time. Next year will hopefully be a little more fun for Lincoln. He was a great trooper, though. I think he was mostly stuck in his stroller!

(Can you see the mohawk? It was thanks to generous amounts of sunblock!)

Swimming!

2009-07-16T13:09:00.005-06:00

Lincoln has always loved to splash around in the tub, so I was excited to take him swimming. My aunt's condo has a pool, so my cousin Allyssa (with daughter Breann) let us come over and swim on Monday, July 13. We had quite a few people over to swim - Me & Lincoln; Josh, Liz & Samantha; Natalie, Maren, Ashton, Corbin & Kiana; and cousin Ashley.

Just as I predicted Lincoln LOVED it. He swam around in that floating thing for awhile and I held him for awhile. He would kick and splash no matter what or who was holding him. He really had a great time. After about 45 minutes I was ready to get out. He wasn't, but it was nap time and we had to go home to get ready to go to Lagoon :) I can't wait to take him again!

Music in the Mountains

2009-07-16T13:02:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago in the mail we got a voucher from Bank of America to go to a concert at Wolf Mountain for free. It was a thank you for doing business with them (although I am not aware that we do any business with them!). So we decided to go and see the Utah Symphony on July 11. We ate dinner at Eats of Eden and headed up to the concert.

Lincoln was pretty good...He wanted to crawl around, but luckily the "grass" was not too inviting. We had a great time and heard some great music! They have a few more concerts scheduled for this year. It's always fun to sit on a mountain and hear live music. I highly recommend it to everyone!

The 4th of July

2009-07-05T20:09:00.010-06:00

Caution: Long Post Ahead (Lots of Pictures)

Since we did the big family party on my side July 3, we spend July 4 with Jefferson's family. It is his mom's favorite holiday (I must admit, it's one of my favorites!). We started the day with a nice big breakfast (thanks Dad and Uncle Darrin!) consisting of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, juice and chocolate milk. YUMMY! Then we took a few family photos.

Our Family

Michelle's family (where is Joel? oh yeah - water skiing)

Grandkids (Megan's on her way back from San Francisco. Lucky!)

Grandma and Lincoln

While the pictures where being taken, some of the big kids were playing games in the road so the babies all got lined up. I thought it was kinda cute so I took a picture.

Then we were off to the parade in Kaysville. We sat in a new spot which I thought was a great spot. We were across the street from some of our neighbors (small world). The weather was perfect for a parade. We sat on the curb and clapped for candy and small toys. Lincoln made quite a haul for just sitting there. He got the huge dog from Bukoos. The guy just walked right up to us and handed him the dog, along with small stuffed toys for Ella, Grant and Capree. Nice! Lincoln, still tired from the crazy day before, was pretty tired at the end of the parade. The walk back to Grandma's house put him all the way to sleep.

We went back to the Porters, fed the kids and ourselves and then went home for a little while. I tried to get Lincoln to sleep, but he only slept about 45 minutes after we were home for a few hours and he got a bath. We went back to the Porters for the shooting of the air cannon (courtesy of Jefferson) and dinner (courtesy of Darrin). Jefferson shot tennis balls out of the cannon for us to catch. He would shoot up to 4 at a time so everyone could try. While he was doing this Lincoln splashed in the little pool and got soaked. He spent a few hours in just his diaper. We did dinner around 7:30. Darrin and Heather got yummy steaks from the butcher and Darrin cooked them to perfection. There were lots of salads and homemade ice cream! I had a very good food weekend :)

Around 9 we decided to head to the church to watch the Kaysville fireworks. Darrin and Heather had set out blankets to reserve a spot. We all loaded in the minivan and parked at the church. I passed out glow bracelets while we waited. Lincoln stayed awake for about half of the fireworks. He seemed really like them. He would smile and clap and get excited. Then it hit him and he crashed. It was pretty funny. There were lots of loud booms and he didn't even move. After the fireworks Mitchel and Joe set off some more at the house. We stayed for a little while and then headed home. The mosquitos were just too much for us.

All in all it was a fabulous 4th of July Weekend!! I feel so lucky to live in such a great land.

July 3 - Taryn's Birthday!

2009-07-05T19:59:00.007-06:00

July 3 is my sister Taryn's birthday. It is also the day of the Eaglewood Golf Course Fireworks. It has become a family tradition to get together for dinner at my parents house and then head up to fireworks. This year we had most of my Dad's family in town so they came over (Jerrold's family, Grandma and Grandpa, Greg and Val) plus my family and some of Taryn's friends. We had such good food - pulled pork sandwiches and homemade ice cream were among my favorites. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the birthday girl. She is 23! (That means I am getting old.)

Great-Grandpa Pay and Lincoln

After dinner we walked up to Eaglewood.

Greg and Val and some family from my mom's side were at the fireworks. Justin and Jenny, Ashlee and Uncle Dave, plus Allyssa's family. It's always a great time. We brought glow bracelets and had a blast. Lincoln fell asleep about 10 minutes before the fireworks started and slept the rest of the night. I loved the fireworks. I am always impressed with their show!

My mom, Corbin, Breann and Lincoln

Farmington Canyon

2009-07-05T19:54:00.003-06:00

June 27 was the first nice Saturday of the summer. Jefferson was cleaning out the garage. Since the Jeep was out we decided to go for a drive. It was Lincoln's first off road experience. I think he liked it! We took the road to Bountiful to see how much snow was still on the trail. We were stopped, not by snow, but by a truck that was about to roll down the hill. It must have been stranded there awhile. With the truck and the snow we had to turn around. Otherwise we could have gotten a little farther. There were two guys on 4 wheelers shooting guns just past our road block. They said they were tempted to push it off the cliff. Crazy people out there. We stopped on our way down to put Lincoln's toes in the water. It was a great day!

Two New Additions

2009-06-18T10:49:00.009-06:00

I was bad and didn't have my camera around the new little ones (or anywhere else for that matter). So I've been waiting for pictures before I post. And while looking up birth facts on my phone I found a couple more pictures.

Natalie was started on Mother's Day and had Kiana Rachelle at 1:27 p.m. She weighted 8 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Liz wasn't due until May 28 but went in to labor the Tuesday after Mother's Day. Wednesday afternoon she had a c-section (sound familiar?) and Samantha Elizabeth was born. I can't remember the details and Josh never texted them to me! I think she was in the 6 lbs. range. Update: Samantha was 7 lb.s 2 oz and 20 inches long. She was born around 3:30 in the afternoon.

At the end of May we held a baby shower for Natalie and Liz. It was fun to see family and new babies!

So now Lincoln has two more girl cousins! Within one year each side of the family had 2 baby girls (Ella, Oakley, Kiana, and Samantha) for Lincoln to play with. It should be fun to have cousins the same age.

Here is Kiana (phone picture)

Samantha (phone picture)

Lincoln, Samantha, Kiana at the baby shower

Natalie and Kiana at the baby shower

Getting Together

2009-06-02T11:49:00.003-06:00

In May we got together with our good friends. Nate and Alicia were in town from Oregon and invited us to their rental for dinner. We got to hang out with their daughters Rowan and Emerson. Rowan entertained us with her reciting of the first 2 articles of faith. I think Alicia needs to film it and post it on her blog for all to see. Emerson we got to meet for the first time. She is the newest addition! Also at the party were Rick, Liz and Zander, Monica, Allison, KC, Brooklyn and Brison. It was fun catching up with them. We can't wait to get back up to Oregon to visit!!

Here is the roommate picture and then all of our kids.

Easter

2009-06-02T11:31:00.006-06:00

Yes, Easter. I had the best intentions of getting this posted and then chaos at school and in life. So here it is. Thursday before Easter (during Spring Break) Lincoln had his 6 month check up. He was 90% on height and head and 50% on weight. He got his shots (not his favorite) and we headed home to pack up the car. Jefferson loaded the car when we got home and we headed to St. George! Lincoln pretty much slept the whole way (thanks to the shots). We camped in the tent trailer with Jefferson's parents in Snow Canyon. It was a lot of fun! Friday we went on a short hike up the Hidden Pinyon Trail.

Suzanne, Joe, Capree, Oakley and Megan came down Friday night and stayed at a hotel. It was interesting getting Lincoln to sleep in the trailer. He slept between the end and Jefferson, and I slept right below them. Friday night Lincoln started being really fussy around 5 a.m. Jefferson usually got him back to sleep no problem, but this night was different. Lincoln started crying and got louder and louder. I felt bad because the Porter's were trying to sleep! Finally I had Jefferson hand Lincoln to me. I laid him by me and it only made things worse. So I sat up with him and lost the binki. Jefferson was helping me find it when I found the problem with Lincoln. He had somehow got both legs stuck down one side of his pajamas! He was totally stuck and hated it! So I unzipped him and got his legs in the correct openings and zipped him back up. We laid down and he was instantly asleep! It was pretty funny the next morning...

The big party was Saturday. Every year Ramona's extended family gets together for an Easter picnic at this cool farm that has been in their family for a long time. There was dutch oven lunch, easter egg hunts for the children, and even a Jeopardy style game about the ancestors. It was a lot of fun, even though the weather was on the cold side. Joel, Michelle, Grant and Ella made it for the party on their way to a week in San Diego.

We left St. George Saturday after the party. Sunday was Easter and my first day in Young Women's. I am the Beehive Advisor in my ward. I am loving it! The girls are super fun and YW is just a great place to be. We took some cute Easter pictures of Lincoln. Here is my favorite.

All in all it was a great spring break and Easter!!

6 Months

2009-04-08T11:15:00.003-06:00

Two posts in one day! (Even though they are short...) Lincoln was officially 6 months yesterday. I can't believe how the time has flown. He is so much fun. He loves to play in the Exersaucer (thanks, Aunt Natalie!), eat all his toys, blow raspberries, put everything in his mouth, drool, eat his toes, laugh when I blow on his tummy, kick his legs, stand in our lap, and sleep through the night. He is rolling around. Not back and forth so much, but he sure gets around. I put him down in one place on the floor and he doesn't stay there long. He can sit with assistance, but is getting stronger every day. He has such a sweet spirit and I am so grateful to have him!

Feeding Time

2009-04-08T11:11:00.003-06:00

I couldn't resist posting these pictures. He is too cute! This was one of the first times sitting by himself and eating. He is much messier now... Yesterday food was on his forehead, arms, hands, clothes, etc. But he really enjoys it, so it's fun.

Where does the time go?

2009-03-23T13:32:00.005-06:00

So it's been 2 1/2 months since the last post. So much has happened! Here are the highlights in pictures and brief captions.

Here is a picture from Christmas morning.

Bath time is his favorite time!

Playing in the Jeep with Bear watching closely.

At a Jazz game in February.

Ashton's Birthday Party (Wendy's - real classy!)

Maren and Lincoln at the Birthday Party.

Playing with "the fishes"

Oakley's Blessing Day - Lincoln is no longer the baby on the Porter side!

New favorite thing to do - sucking his toes!

In 2 weeks Lincoln will be 6 months old. Time sure goes fast. He is getting so big! He is still going to the daycare at school and has lots of friends. It's fun to take him down and have the little kids excited to see him. They say he is a good baby.... He is a pretty good baby at home, too! I will try and be a better blogger. I make no promises! But I will work on it!

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T14:14:00.002-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted. Christmas was very nice. It seemed more low stress this year than ever before. Thanks to family and friends for wanting to spend time with each other rather than spend lots of money on presents! I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I did use my video camera for the first time. Hopefully I will download the footage soon :)

We had a nice New Year's Eve dinner at Boston's. I've been craving the Chicken Parmesan Pizza and the Ice Cream Sundae. I got both! Jefferson had the pizza and apple crisp. Yummy. We went home and played Wii (cause it's been like a year since we've played) and then counted down to 2009.

Lincoln is now 13 weeks old. Today he is exactly 3 months (Oct 7 - Jan 7). He is such a good boy. Yesterday I went back to work and it was his first day at day care. Luckily he is at the day care at school so it is super convenient. He did well the first day. I, on the other hand, was exhausted. I always forget how hard it is to go back to work. Plus I had activity days at 4 at my house. Wow. My good friend down the street brought us dinner. It's nice to have such thoughtful neighbors. I am grateful that I am just working every other day!

I will try and post some more pictures soon.

Christmas Letter

2008-12-10T12:59:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas! It's that time of year to reflect over everything that has happened the previous year and share with family and friends. You can see some of our exciting news on the blog. But it's still fun to recap.

Jefferson is working for Pine Canyon Electric. He has been pretty busy with work, so we are grateful for that. In the ward he has been teaching the CTR 7 class (6 boys and 1 girl). They are pretty fun kids (I taught with him until Lincoln was born). He also fills the font for the stake primary baptisms. Throughout the year he has been the go-to guy for family and friends fixing cars, wiring basements, and other little fixes. It's nice to have such a handyman around the house. Especially because he enjoys all the little projects (well, most of them anyway).

Lindsay is teaching at Davis High. Last school year I taught Computer Technology, Fashion Merchandising, and Travel and Tourism. At the end of the year when I was 5 months pregnant I found out I could go part-time and still keep insurance (although I pay a ton more for it). So this year I am only teaching on B-days and only teaching Computer Technology. It is a great schedule that helped me return to school 8 months pregnant! I found a student teacher to take over for me while on maternity leave and everything has been working out great. I return to school in January with Lincoln at the school's daycare. In the ward I was teaching primary with Jefferson and doing Activity Days with the 8 year old girls. Since Lincoln was born I am only doing Activity Days which is pretty fun. It is definitely and age group I am not used to!

Lincoln is now 2 months old and growing so fast. His 0-3 month clothes are too tight! He is smiling and loves to talk. I am excited to see him continue to grow! He is a favorite with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I am glad he is so loved!

We are grateful for such a happy year. With our new addition to the family we also added 2 sisters-in-law on my side and Jefferson's side added a new niece with another on the way in January. Plus the 2 new cousins for Lincoln on my side coming in May.

We wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Healthy & Happy New Year! Please catch us up with what you are doing via email or the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Love: Jefferson, Lindsay & Lincoln Porter

Lincoln's Blessing

2008-12-08T15:04:00.003-07:00

What a great day we had yesterday! Lincoln had a lot of family and some friends come to see his Daddy bless him. We had Grandma and Grandpa Pay and Porter and almost all the aunt and uncle Porters and Pays. Plus Great-grandma Catlin, Great-uncle Ross and family, and Great-aunt Carole Ann (and Alyssa and Breann) came! It was so fun to see everyone. For some of the family it was their first time to see Lincoln. He is getting so big! Jefferson did a great job with the blessing. Lincoln wore the same blessing outfit that my brother Josh was blessed in! We visited with family briefly after sacrament meeting and I made it to Relief Society with Grandma Porter and Lincoln. That afternoon we went to the Porters for dinner. It was for my birthday, which is today! I am 32. Wow!! I got some nice cards and gifts. It was fun to visit with the family.

Today I am taking it easy with Lincoln. He has been a little stuffy and fussy. It's snowing outside so I am happy to be inside where it is warm with my Christmas lights on and Christmas music in the CD player. What a great day. :)

2 Months

2008-12-05T16:06:00.005-07:00

Lincoln is now 8 weeks! On Wednesday we went to the doctor for the 2 month check-up and shots. He is now 12 lbs 4 oz and 23 inches long. He isn't fitting into his 0-3 month clothes very well. Crazy! He did have to get some of his shots. There were 3 shots. 2 nurses gave 2 of the shots at the same time and the 3rd shot came shortly after. I had to hold down his arms. He only cried while he was being stuck. Then he was fine. I took pictures of the band-aids on his legs when we got home. He has been such a good boy. He has even started sleeping through the night (10:30 p.m. - 4:30 or 5:30 a.m.). I am keeping my fingers crossed that it continues!!

For those interested we are blessing him this Sunday at 11 a.m. in the church by our house. We are planning on staying for all of our meetings, so no food after... Sorry! We would still love to see you, though :)

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T14:58:00.006-07:00

This Thanksgiving I am very thankful for my family. I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful son. This time last year I couldn't have imagined how great life would be in a year. We both have families that love and support us. We are surrounded by good neighbors and friends. I truly am grateful this year for all that I have - including jobs for both me and my husband! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Here are some more pictures of my favorite little boy.

Week 5

Week 6
Week 7

Thanksgiving - Porter Grandkids

Lincoln

2008-11-06T15:46:00.013-07:00

So a lot has happened in the last two months. Most exciting was the birth of our son, Lincoln. He was born Tues. Oct 7 at 4:25 a.m. I was induced Oct 6 at 8 a.m. and ended up with a c-section. Lincoln did great the whole time, just didn't want to come out! He was 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. A good healthy baby. We left the hospital that Friday. Here are some pictures of the cute baby.

Day 1

1 Week2 Weeks
3 Weeks
4 Weeks

I can't believe he is over 4 weeks old! He is growing so fast. Some other milestones for Lincoln are his attendance at the first ever playoff game for Real Salt Lake and Halloween. He also saw his cousin Ella be blessed last Sunday. The last picture is of all the Porter cousins the day of Ella's blessing.

One more cousin coming on the Porter side in January!!

We are excited that on the Pay side Lincoln will have 2 new cousins in May. Natalie is having her 4th and Josh and Liz are having their 1st!! That is a lot of new cousins for Lincoln to play with!

Creating the Baby Registry

2008-08-30T17:06:00.002-06:00

Today Jefferson and I headed to Babys R Us to register for baby stuff. I've been pressured by a few people to do it, even though my first shower isn't until Sept. 18. So we went. Oh my gosh. Not a fun experience. Especially for Jefferson. Not that it isn't fun shopping for stuff. There are just too many options!! I have no idea what bottles or pacifiers or diaper pail or bouncer or swing or diaper bag, etc. to buy! We went ahead and and picked some stuff, but after 2 hours we only had 21 things on the list. So if anyone has any recommendations of what we need to "For Sure" register for, please leave ideas in the comments!!

After Babys R Us we headed (to lunch and then) to Target. We get things started, get our scanner and start looking at the baby stuff. And what happens?? The server goes down. So we can't scan anything at the store. Target.com has a thing called Jumpstart My Registry. So that is basically what is on the Target registry :)

I've learned a few things today. First - baby stuff is expensive. Second - I have no idea what I need. Third - I have a very patient husband.

Please leave ideas of what I should try in the comments!! Send your friends here to leave ideas as well. I appreciate all comments and suggestions!!

Ella Jolie

2008-08-25T10:06:00.005-06:00

Jefferson's sister, Michelle, had a baby! We've all been expecting it...the big question was - is it a boy or a girl? The answer came Wednesday, August 20 just before 9 p.m. A girl! And what a cute girl she is. Welcome Ella Jolie!

Jefferson and I made it to the hospital Thursday evening to see her and take pictures. We stopped by the house on Saturday and she was looking a little happier. Ella's big brother Grant seems pretty excited. We are all happy that things went so well and that she is here!

Jordan and Johanna Pay

2008-08-25T09:57:00.002-06:00

My brother Jordan was married to Johanna Gulla on Aug. 16, 2008. They were married in Orem at a place called Sun Gardens. It was beautiful! The wedding was nice with lots of family and friends. The reception was a lot of fun. They had EXCELLENT food :) We had a great time and they both looked so happy! Right now they are on their honeymoon in Thailand. I'm pretty jealous.

This is Jordan before the ceremony.

First Part of August

2008-08-14T20:00:00.007-06:00

It's been about a month since the last post. In that time we've accomplished a few things. First of note - the nursery is painted, thanks to Jefferson. I helped prime half the room, and he did the rest. It looks great. Here is a picture while in the process of painting. We did 3 walls cream and one chocolate brown.

Now to add furniture!!

We got together with my old roommates and friends for a BBQ last week. Alicia was in town with Rowan from Oregon, so we thought it was a great excuse to get together. I was amazed with all the kids there are now. We were the only ones there without one. But we are getting close! KC wanted a picture of all the kids. It involved some crying.

About 8 o'clock some of the parents were getting antsy because it was bedtime. We used to stay up late laughing into the night, but this time the party was over before the sun set. We might need to do an adult night if everyone can get sitters :) It was fun, though.

My brother, Jordan, is getting married on Saturday. (See Johanna's Wedding Shower blog.) To get ready for the big occasion, and because my feet hurt, I suggested pedicures to my sister, Taryn. She was up for it so I headed to Bountiful. We invited Liz, since she has to go to the wedding, too. It was lots of fun. The foot rub was the BEST! I highly recommend them to everyone. Here is a picture of the cute toes. They talked me in the french look, cause that's what they were doing.

School starts Monday for the teachers, so I've been working on a lot of school stuff. I was at the school today for 5 hours. I think there might have been 5 other teachers in the building. Are we dedicated or what??

Johanna's Bridal Shower

2008-07-17T11:21:00.009-06:00

Last night was Johanna's bridal shower. She is going to marry Jordan on August 16. We are so excited for them! There were a lot of people invited to the shower that was held at Johanna's aunt's house in Salt Lake. It was a beautiful location with lots of good food and visiting. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Johanna

Taryn, Natalie, Liz (Josh's wife) and Maren (Natalie's oldest)

Grandma Pay, Mom, Me

The Location

Johanna and her sister (and presents!)

The Summer... So Far

2008-07-15T15:54:00.003-06:00

I think I am failing in my attempt to be a blogger. So I guess I better post something! This summer has been nice and not too crazy. I am doing my best to stay out of the heat so I don't swell up. My hands tend to swell the worst and when that happens, well, let's just say it's no fun. Jefferson is used to me always having to use the bathroom. At first I think he didn't believe that someone should have to go so much. But now he is resigned to the fact that a bathroom should always be near, as I will probably need it!

The most fun thing I've done this summer centers around the 3rd and 4th of July. On the 3rd my family gets together to celebrate Taryn's birthday (my youngest sister who is now 22! - man I am old). We BBQ and then head up to Eaglewood Golf Course to watch the fireworks. I think they have the very best fireworks show every year. This year we went up a little early and the kids and the "big boys" (Josh, Kevin, & Jefferson) played on the greens throwing the aerobie around. The fireworks started at 10 and were amazing! It was lots of fun.

The next day we headed over to Jefferson's parents house for the annual 4th of July breakfast. This year was quiche, cinnamon rolls, and other yummy things. After breakfast we cleaned up and headed to Main St. for the Kaysville Parade. We already had our spots staked out, so we walked to our spots and got settled. This year Ramona and Gary were in the parade because Ramona was the Kaysville Unsung Hero! She got to ride on the convertible right near the beginning of the parade. Here is a picture of her!

After the parade we headed back to the Porter's house for a rootbeer float social in honor of Ramona. Lot's of neighbors came to congratulate her and there were floats and cookies for everyone! After the social it was nap time at home until we headed back for a BBQ. After the BBQ we went to the local church to sit on the lawn and watch the Kaysville fireworks. They were quite nice and we could even hear the music! We ended the night with Megan and Mitchell lighting fireworks under the close supervision of their dad (Darrin) and Suzanne. Jefferson was encouraging Mitchell, which was a little scary. I had to keep saying to Mitchell, "Don't listen to Jefferson." Luckily no one was harmed during the lighting of the fireworks. In fact, we had fun.

Tomorrow is a bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law. That should be fun! I'll have to take my camera and get pictures of all the Pay family! Then I will have to remember to blog about it.

Baby Porter

2008-05-29T21:38:00.000-06:00

Today we went for the "big" ultrasound. I was excited to see that the baby was healthy and growing and doing great. We also found out that we are having a boy! I am so excited. Below is baby's first picture.
It was quite amazing to see him. When the technician first started, the baby was upside down doing a headstand. She said that was good to see the gender. She could tell right away it was a boy. Then he was kind of shy hiding his face behind his arms. It was so amazing to see his little legs and arms. You can see his fingers in the picture above. She checked his bones, in his brain, the cord, his heart rate and took lots of measurements. She even pointed out the kidneys and bladder. His little heart was just pounding away. She said everything looked great. I was so happy to hear that!! She also said he was quite an active little boy and wished me luck with him :) He did move a lot and made some of the measurements hard to get, but ended up cooperating in the end. I am really grateful that my little boy is growing and doing well! I am excited to see him in October. Now let the shopping begin!!

The First Entry

2008-05-13T17:45:00.000-06:00

Well, we are finally on the web! I enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so much I had to get one going myself. And I figure now is a good time since I actually have something to blog about.

Hopefully most of you know that we are expecting! Our first child is due in October this year. We are very excited. So are my students :) Most of my classes started clapping when I told them the news. It was fun. They keep asking me if it is a boy or a girl. I find out the end of this month - the day after the last day I see students. Some of them want me to email them. I think I will just post it on my webpage! I can't wait to find out. Then we can start discussing names and figure out what to do with the baby's room. I am not sure which is going to be harder!