The Cox Family

Avery's First Year

2011-09-12T15:48:00.007-06:00

A few hours old

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Happy first birthday, sister girl!

Austin's First Year

2011-09-12T15:10:00.010-06:00

Just a few hours old

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Happy first birthday, little dude!

Where's Austin?

2011-07-24T23:55:00.003-06:00

We have been spending a lot of time outside this summer. Last weekend we went to the duck pond on campus. Austin overcame his fear of grass and went exploring. We wanted to see how far he would go and he just kept going! He crawled as fast as he could until he reached the end of the shade, then he whined until we walked over to him and picked him up. He's such a funny little guy.

The Fourth - A Little Late

2011-07-24T23:13:00.003-06:00

Our Independence Day was a hoot! My mom, dad, and brother came out to good ol' Orem to celebrate with us. We went swimming, ate yummy food and took naps. That was all before the actual festivities started! For the shindig, we headed to my dad's aunt and uncle's home. I guess they would be called my great aunt and uncle. This extended family thing is pretty confusing. We visited with lots of fam we haven't seen in awhile. The kids in the pictures that aren't mine are Maggie (the older one) and Kierra (the lil' one). Maggie is my dad's cousin's daughter and Kierra is my dad's cousin's daughter's little girl. Ha. We'll just call them our cousins because when it all comes down to it that's what they are! And it's so much easier than saying third cousins, or fourth cousins once removed, or something. Whatever the relationship, we love them! Sorry about the tangent...

Anyway, we ate some delicious food at the BBQ, and the babies got to play with the other kids. But Austin wasn't having any of it. He cried the entire time we tried to take a group baby picture. Typical. I was worried the babies would have a meltdown once the fireworks started. But they just sat and watched for about twenty minutes. Finally they broke down and there were lots of tears. I attribute their lack of enjoyment of my favorite holiday to the fact that it was about three hours past their bedtime. Still, it was fun to see my dad and brother light fireworks. And to my delight, aerial fireworks are legal now! This made for quite the display. After our meltdown, we went inside and watched through the front window while Austin and Avery drifted to sleep. We got home that night around midnight and boy were we beat! What a fun Fourth of July!

11

2011-07-24T12:20:00.011-06:00

We have a couple of first birthdays in our house coming up in just one more month! I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe how fast time flies. We've been chasing around two very active 11 month olds and we love every minute of it!

Austin is such a joy and so much fun. He has a cute little personality and a radiant smile. He's such a flirt! If you make eye contact with him, it's almost guaranteed he will grin back at you. He follows his sister around (or gets chased by her). He's started clapping his hands and waving hi and bye. He has the funniest limp-wrist wave. When I tell him NO he shakes his head back and forth, but keeps on doing whatever he was doing. Austin sings now too, which is adorable. During church today he joined in during one of the hymns. He makes all sorts of noises and talks as if we should know what he's saying. He crawls super fast now and pulls himself up on almost everything. He can stand on his own, too. I think he really likes to stand but freaks out when he notices that no one is holding onto him. I predict he'll be walking pretty darn soon, though. This boy loves to play with his daddy. He chases Andrew around on the floor and laughs when he gets caught. He is the epitome of boy. In a sea of toys, he usually picks out his toy truck and ball. He pushes the ball around and follows it around the house. He occasionally likes to kick his toys, or anything near his feet. A soccer player in the making, maybe? Love this boy!

Avery is as cute and sassy as ever. Who knew an eleven month old could have such an attitude? She is blissfully happy when she has what she wants, and you better stay far away when there is something she can't have. We are trying to teach her about, and helping her understand she can't have everything. Since she literally tried to hold everything in her hands at the same time. She is full of fun, I promise. She waves hi and bye, and shakes her head when she hears the word NO (although she has a much better understanding of the word than her brother). She has a speedy crawl, pulls herself up, stands on her own, and has even taken a step! She can repeat sounds back to us like a pro. It is so funny to hear her try to say words. We haven't considered any of them as her real 'first word' yet because so far it is just gibberish. Cute babbling gibberish though. When she hears music, she swings her hips, shakes her head, bounces up and down, and does this weird sprinkler-like movement with her arms. During a musical number at church (we do more than just sing, promise), Come, Come, Ye Saints sang a capella by an older gentlemen, I looked down to see Avery rocking out. As long as it's music, she doesn't mind. Girl can groove.

I love these kids. I can hardly call them babies anymore. They are so big and independent. They bring so much love and happiness into our home. Sometimes, just sometimes, they fall asleep in my arms and I want to savor those moments forever. I love the feeling of a cuddly baby and that just doesn't happen too often anymore. My almost-one-year-olds are so sweet but I know that our years are numbered with them wanting and letting me hold them and kiss them and love on them, so I'm taking advantage of those moments while I can! My, oh my, this has been the best, most trying, most love-filled eleven months of our lives!

Could it be true?

2011-06-18T16:17:00.006-06:00

Ok, it's not that crazy, but it's a big deal to me.

Looky look! They are holding their own bottles!!! I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time! Does this mean my babies are growing up? They don't even need me to hold their bottles anymore. Now only if I can teach them to change their own diapers...

Summer Fun

2011-06-17T09:55:00.010-06:00

We were finally able to trade our winter coats for summer hats and swimsuits.

And it has been wonderful. There are a couple rosy-cheeked water babies around here that love to splash and shimmy all around the kiddie pool at Seven Peaks, our local water park.

Avery has too much to do to pose for pictures

We've gone almost everyday, and it has been refreshing. Most days we wait until the late afternoon so Andrew can come and watch the little fish with me. Our favorite activity at the water park is to sit in the shallows of the wave pool with babies in our laps. The babies think this is the bee's knees. They sit all slumped and relaxed as the warm sun wraps around them and the waves tickle their toes. They also like to yell at the big kids as they splash in and out of the pool.

Taking walks has also been on the agenda lately. During the day I'll take them out in the stroller for a long walk around the neighborhood across the street. The babies usually drift to sleep and I get some nice quiet time. I like to look at the houses and make mental notes to what I want someday in my future home. It's always fun to wish.

This summer is off to a good start.

Hair

2011-04-30T19:11:00.004-06:00

Austin got his hair did! No, no, no, this is not his first haircut but his THIRD. The first two weren't dramatic enough to document, although I did save the snippings and took a bizillion pictures. Here's the proof from this time around:

Before

After

Austin still has a ton of hair but now his mop is manageable! We think he looks pretty darn cute.

Little Big Babies

2011-03-28T23:43:00.004-06:00

Today we took Austin and Avery to get their seven month photos. I actually meant to take six month pictures but never got around to it (much like all the other things I've been meaning to do lately).

My sweet babies are learning and growing every day. We love watching the new things that they do. Austin is quite the talker. He is still our calm baby most of the time. He smiles and laughs at almost anyone.He's very observant and it seems like he will study things until he has it figured out. He lays on his back and scoots around. He's starting to sit up and he pats anything he can get his little mitts on. When he's on his tummy, he wiggles side to side until he gets to his destination.

Avery is always on the go. She is shy and timid and will let you know when she's not happy. But she will also let you know when she is happy and that's the best. She is sitting up and gets up on her knees but no crawling yet. She gets into everything so we need to be careful what we leave within her reach. She loves crinkly things and will find the tag on any item we give her. She also just started making this really gross noise with her mouth. It sounds like she's grinding teeth together but she only has bottom teeth...

Speaking of teeth, Austin has two and a half and Avery just has two little ones. It makes me laugh whenever they smile. They just seem too small to me to have teeth. It's goofy. Other than that, teething times two is no fun. They are eating so many different foods now. They love just about anything I give them, although Austin is a little more cautious of new foods than Avery. Whenever it is time to eat solids, they get so excited and pound on their highchairs. We're finally making the big transition to formula! I couldn't be more excited about this. Since they were born I've been pumping breastmilk, and all this pumping shenanigans is wearing me out! Once I can wean life will be wonderful! Full formula feedings is an adjustment, but the babies are doing better with it and I just imagine being comfortable and not worrying about pumping every 3-4 hours!

I know I've been posting a lot about babies lately, so here's a little update on the grown-ups in the family, if we can be called grown-ups:

Andrew is one busy guy. He works full time, goes to school full time, and is a full time husband and daddy. He just signed up for his last class that he'll take next semester. So, if all goes as planned he should graduate in December! We are all looking forward to this. Even though school is time consuming, he seems to enjoy his classes. He's majoring in Advertising and minoring in English. I think he rocks.

As for me, I stay home with the babies and am enjoying watching them grow up. I can fold laundry in record time and dishes have nothin' on me (haha...)! I've learned to balance two babies in my arms AND while holding two babies and two bottles at once I can still manage to talk on the phone or text or change the channel! I have other friends with babies (and one with a brand new beautiful baby girl) and we get together often to keep each other sane...not that staying home makes me insane, but it is nice to talk to an adult during the day every now and again!

(I wanted to post pictures of me and Andrew, but we really don't have any decent ones. These kids are hogging the spotlight! We'll have to work on that...)

Food!

2011-02-25T10:31:00.004-07:00

We tried rice cereal for the first time a few weeks back. We did it mostly for our enjoyment. I don't think the babies really need it or want it quite yet. And after changing the first poopy diaper after eating solids, they aren't getting rice cereal again until they beg for it...But let me tell you, if you need some cheap entertainment on a Friday night, give a baby some solids for the first time. Austin wasn't so sure about it. He mostly made faces and spit it all out. Avery was a ravenous monster. After she first tasted it she couldn't grab the spoon fast enough to shove it in her mouth. Here are some gems from the night:

Unrelated question: Does anyone know of an easier way to create and format your blog posts? I think I'd like to blog more often if it was easier and I could make it more personalized (like a different font than blogger offers, where pictures go, etc), if that makes any sense...

Six Month Craziness!

2011-02-24T21:04:00.005-07:00

First time out without the carseats

What the heck! Weren't my babies newborns like, yesterday? Austin and Avery are officially six months old today and had their well baby check. Here's their stats:

Austin weighs 18 lbs 5 oz, and is 26 inches long. He's in the 75th percentile for his weight and the 25th percentile for his height-what a chunk!

Avery is 15 lbs 11 oz and is 25.4 inches long. She's in the 25th percentile for her weight and height.

It's so fun to watch them learn and grow. They crack us up every day. I love having twins. They are starting to interact with each other and it is hilarious. We have to keep their nails pretty short or they'd gouge each others' eyes out! Their personalities also couldn't be more different. Austin is usually laid back and pretty chill about everything. He is such a happy boy. He smiles at everyone and laughs at everything, including himself. But trust me, he has his moments. Avery is turning out to be quite the drama queen. She is so sensitive and doesn't like when her brother invades her space. When she is tired or annoyed or uncomfortable in any way she pouts and cries until mom or dad pays attention. I think we have our hands full with her, but we think she's cute. We sure love having them in our family.

Here's some fun things that they do:

Sleep through the night (more fun for me than them)
Roll over and over and over
Stick their tongues out and blow bubbles
Reach for toys and shove them in their mouths
Steal each others' binkies (I will occasionally find Austin sucking on a pink binky and Avery playing with a green one)
Steal each others' toys
Try to crawl and get frustrated when they face plant
Austin loves his jumperoo. You should see this boy bounce! Avery thinks it's just ok.
Avery pants with her tongue out like a puppy
Austin loves to fake cough and make his mom think he's choking (it is annoying and so funny at the same time)

I'm sure there's more but this is all that comes to mind at the moment.

cuteness

2010-10-18T19:46:00.002-06:00

enough said.

the birth story

2010-10-16T17:13:00.011-06:00

we've been a family for almost two months now, and i'm just getting around to posting. the babies are getting so big so fast! i can't believe how time flies. now that the little details of their debut into the world are fading, i need to get their birth story recorded somewhere. so, here it goes...

on august 24th, literally just a few minutes after i blogged about how excited i was for my c-section that was to be in two weeks, and how thankful i was that i had no preterm labor, i sprung a leak (i'm sparing you the details here). since my doctor appointment was the next day i didn't think i needed to call or go in. after telling andrew what happened, he told me that i needed to call the doctor's office to speak with a nurse. after several attempts to convince him that i didn't need to he told me he was coming home. so, i called the nurse and she told me to go into labor and delivery just to get checked out and that they'll probably send me home.

we arrived to the hospital around 3:30 pm and the nurse checked me. she laughed a little and said that i was dilated to a 5 and 90% effaced. another nurse checked me for a second opinion and she said i was definitely dilated to a 6. she told us that we were going to have some babies that day, and i was so unprepared. i was supposed to have 2 more weeks to get ready! andrew was quickly trying to call our families and i was getting the IV inserted, which took several attempts. within minutes of finding out we were going to have our twins, the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. note about epidurals: they are the greatest thing ever. i was so scared to get one but i didn't feel a thing when they inserted it. anywho, i asked the anesthesiologist if andrew could get one, too. andrew got into his space suit (i'm so bummed i didn't get pictures of him), and i was wheeled off to the operating room.

as i laid on the operating table, i was so nervous. i was worried that something might go wrong. the babies were going to be premature. a million things were going through my head. i was going to be a mom. i was going to meet these two little people who i shared a body with for the last eight months. in just a matter of minutes. i was shivering, sedated, and emotional - a very interesting combination of sensations! andrew was sitting up by my head, holding my hand. i think we were both just so nervous. there were four doctors and a bunch of nurses in the room. they let me know when they made the incision, just to be sure i didn't feel anything, which i didn't. all i felt was tugging and pulling. at 4:55 pm, after a few minutes into the surgery, i heard the sweetest little cry i have ever heard. just one little peep. austin. one minute later i heard avery. she cried so loud i could hear her when they brought her to the next room. i looked up at andrew, and his eyes were filled with tears and he had the biggest grin on his face. it was the face of a proud new daddy, and it warmed my heart. he followed them to the nursery while i got cleaned up. they brought the babies by so i could meet them. they were beautiful. i kissed each one on the cheek, and then away they went. andrew stayed behind for a minute to make sure i was ok. when i asked him if they each had ten fingers and ten toes, he said, "i don't know, i didn't count." either way, they were perfect (note: they do have the right amount of fingers and toes).

it was another few hours before i got to see them again. i was just so tired. i remember laying in my room waiting for andrew and the babies. i was excited to hold them, to love on them, and to tell them that i was their mama. when they finally got to the room, i got to hold avery. i held her for most of the night with austin right at my bedside. we had the nurses take them back to the nursery so i could get some rest. it was a beautiful day.

the next morning the nurse came in to tell us that the babies had to be taken to the NICU. i had prepared myself for this, knowing that they were born a month early. the babies had blood sugar problems, as well as problems with eating. i was in the hospital from tuesday-saturday, and every morning the pediatrician would come in and give us an update. i would always ask how long they had to be in the NICU, and they'd always tell me that it could be there until their due date, which was september 22nd. luckily, they were discharged the monday after i was discharged, so they spent only 6 days there. while in the NICU, they gained alot of weight and got better at eating and keeping their sugar levels stable. we were so excited to get the call sunday night telling us we could bring them home! however, they had to be on oxygen and apnea monitors. but the nurses and doctors throughout the whole experience were wonderful. i'm so so happy that i have two healthy babies :)

two happy healthy babies! austin on the left and avery on the right

austin james: 6 lbs 4 oz, 18 inches

avery claire: 5 lbs 14 oz, 18 inches

first time to hold avery

in the NICU

proud daddy

andrew's first diaper change!

grandma and auntie lauren with babies

i love him

austin learning how to eat

my boys

rooming in with the babies on their last day in the NICU

finally at home :)

spoiler alert

2010-08-25T11:46:00.002-06:00

just minutes after posting our last post, my water broke, i went to the hospital, and had our beautiful twins.

Austin James--6 lbs 4 oz, and Avery Claire--5 lbs 14 oz

full post and pictures of the big event to come!

It's about time, Cindy.

2010-08-24T13:10:00.005-06:00

remember in my last several posts, when i said i will try to update more often? well, that was a lie. i haven't even been trying. one post every few months is sufficient, right? now that it is almost been four months since my last post, i figured it is about time for a new one.

the babies are still a'growin away in my belly. which means i'm still growing, and not just in my belly. my mom sent me some maternity clothes when i announced i was pregnant at around 12 weeks. i tried them on, and they were huge baggy shirts that i thought i would never ever in a million years fit into. now they are too small. pregnancy is fun and all, but i'm ready to sleep on my back and breath at the same time again. i'm also excited to sleep again (which probably won't be happening for the next several years), and to see my toes when i stand up. i love watching the babies poke around and kick my stomach, but i'm very anxious to see them in real life. i can't wait to hold them and love on them.

the good news, no, the greatest news is that they are making their grand entrance on september 7th! that is when my doctor scheduled my c section. we'll be just about 38 weeks along. the babies are in funky positions, so a c section it is. and i'm totally ok with that. whatever is best for my babes is best for me. i'm actually pretty impressed with myself. i've made it 36 weeks, and have had no major signs of preterm labor. i haven't been put on bedrest, i can still go out and do some things, and i haven't gone crazy yet (you may want andrew's opinion on the last one)!!! so, despite my complaining, things have been going pretty good so far. the longer the babies can stay in the healthier they'll be when they come out. and about these little babies-they kick and wiggle and karate chop the heck out of me. but i love it. sometimes it is uncomfortable when they start their own little dance party at the same time, but i'll take it! did i ever mention they have names? they do. austin and avery. cute, huh?

enough baby talk (yeah, right. now i understand why people talk about their kids so much), but i GRADUATED from BYU!!! i never thought this day would come. it took me five years to get my degree, but hey, i did it nonetheless! and i took a year off, so technically i graduated on time, sort of. it feels good to be done, but now that my cute husband is getting ready to start back up next week, i kind of wish i was going back, too. i'm sure i'll get over this feeling quickly, hopefully by september 7th! i'm sure i'll have my hands full then. i also no longer work, since i worked at BYU and graduated i couldn't keep my student position. oh yeah, i'm also enormously pregnant-i acted much more like a paper weight in the office than a productive employee. but i also kind of miss going to work, or maybe i just miss having something to do during the days. again, i'm sure i'll have plenty to do very soon.

andrew. my dear husband who is so wonderful. how he puts up with me i'll never know, but he is great. he starts school back up next week, and i think he's pretty excited about it. he's taking a full load of classes, and is still planning on working full time at petersen medical where he does medical billing, i think...on top of that he is also going to be a daddy to newborn twins and a husband to yours truly (and that takes alot of work!). this guy is AMAZING! i love him so much and i think our kids are pretty lucky to have a dad like him. i am very blessed.

and that pretty much sums up our summer. babies. we also did other things besides being pregnant like going camping, taking a trip home to california to see family and friends, and having my family come out to visit. i'll post pictures when i finally upload them from my camera. if you've read this far congratulations! i really really want to be a better blogger, but let's face it folks, i'm terrible. maybe when the babies come i'll be better. i'll definitely have more pics to post!

we're seeing double!

2010-05-04T20:05:00.004-06:00

today was my 20 week ultrasound. well, really 19 weeks and 6 days. i was so nervous all day until my appointment, but all went well. very well. better than expected, actually.

because we saw this:

twins!

and this:

a boy!

and this:

and a girl!

we are so so excited. we are going to go from a family of 2 to a family of 4. i'm still in shock, and probably will be for a long long time. i mean, i knew twins were a possibility, but i think i convinced myself we were having just one girl. andrew is really excited too. i think he's cute. it is fun to see him get into the groove as far as getting ready to be parents goes. we weren't able to have a full appointment today because of the whole surprise twins thing, so we had to reschedule for a longer appointment next week. we'll have an hour long ultrasound and an hour long twin consultation, whatever that means. the ultrasound tech nurse lady did some quick measurements, and both babies measured exactly 19 weeks 6 days. the pictures we got today aren't that great because there wasn't enough time to look at each one in detail, but i like the ones we got. the little boy is affectionately called twin A, while our little girl is twin B. they probably won't appreciate my posting of their man and lady parts on the internet, but aren't their little bum cheeks cute?

Just to Let You Know...

2010-04-11T18:30:00.003-06:00

If you have never tried Popcornopolis Popcorn, you are missing out on the finer things in life.

Trust me. Try some.

Love, Cindy

Our Bun in the Oven

2010-04-07T21:49:00.002-06:00

I made it 16 weeks! I know that it is not even half way, but I am very proud of myself, mainly because for the first few weeks I felt like I was going to die. Andrew just said he feels like he is going to die, but only because he is sick. But this post is about me. So, today was my regular prenatal visit. I'm a little worried because my doc said that I was measuring big, and thought maybe he picked up two heart beats. My ultrasound is in May so I guess we'll find out then. One baby would be nice for now though! My mom measured big with her pregnancies and had just one each time, so maybe its genetic. But we'll be happy with any miracle Heavenly Father blesses us with.

We are excited/nervous/scared out of our minds about being pregnant and having our first baby. I am a wreck usually. I don't think I've ever been so emotional, and hungry. My tummy is starting to stick out, and my clothes are getting tighter. I'll take all these things with open arms if it means a healthy baby! I've also put school on the back burner. I'm sorry BYU, but this is more important.

We're mostly concerned with how to take care of a baby, since we both don't have a lot of experience in the field. I don't think Andrew has ever changed a diaper, nor does he know the first thing to do in order to perform that task. A lot of people I've talked to say the whole parenting thing will just come to us. I hope they're right. We have until September to learn everything about parenting, right?

I just thought I'd give an update because I am a horrible blogger. I promise I'll get better, maybe. I'm going to try to post a picture or two, once I take some. If you're lucky, I might even post a pic before the month is over!

Sunny California...haha

2009-12-08T00:12:00.004-07:00

I just wanted to show some of you that it really does snow in California. My mom sent me these today. It snowed ten inches in about five hours in Grass Valley! That's more than we have here in Utah. Crazy. It usually doesn't snow like this in Grass Valley, but its neat to see what everything looks like when it does! The first pic is the front yard, and the second is the backyard.

It is winter. I'm not even kidding.

2009-12-07T23:41:00.003-07:00

I usually dread winter, but I am actually excited for it to come this year. Why? I couldn't tell ya, but I just am. I still hate driving in snow, and walking to class in it is even scarier. But it is so pretty and it really feels like the holidays when there's white cold stuff covering everything.

Today I was on campus (like everyday) and I thought I'd take some pictures with my phone of our first big snow of the season. At least I thinks its our first, I could be wrong. In my mind it's the first...

I love when they light the trees on campus. I also love the Joseph Fielding Smith Building when it gets dark outside and can see the lights and spiral staircase all lit up. Yes, I spend way too much time on campus.

The JFSB and people trying not to slip and die on the ice. Do you see that snow plow on the left? One literally almost backed into me and some other people while walking to class. Snow is pretty, pretty dangerous...

Look at that huge pile of snow!

Unlock the Magic...

2009-10-25T18:48:00.005-06:00

Here is Andrew's application video. He made it in flash and after effects. Cute, huh?

Go Andrew!

2009-10-15T13:32:00.007-06:00

For the past few months (actually all last semester and all last summer) Andrew has been working hard to apply to the advertising program here at BYU. He had to take several classes, take a big ol' test, do some essays, create a 60 second application video, and submit an application. It has definitley been a process. He submitted the application about a month ago, and we've been full of anxiety waiting for the news...but finally last night he got an email saying he can pick up the decision letter in the morning. We woke up super early this morning to get to the communications department to pick up the letter...and...drum roll please....Andrew is accepted to the BYU advertising program!!! We are so excited (and not to mention relieved) about the news. All his hard work has paid off, and now he gets to start doing something he really enjoys doing. Way to go, Andrew!

P.S. I will post his application video as soon as I figure out how to do so. Also, does anyone know how to post a video from youtube?

Summer Fun

2009-08-18T20:48:00.010-06:00

This summer...

Little Lauren came to BYU...

Michael and Lauren had TONS of fun with us (just look at em).

Lauren experienced 'dorm' life.

We enjoyed the beautiful summer weather. No snow! Yipee!

And the fam came to chill with us.

I carried Lauren.

We went to the Stadium of Fire on July 4th! This was so much fun. We already can't wait until next year!

Andrew and I took a spontaneous getaway to Las Vegas. On the way we saw the beautiful scenery at Zion's National Park.
We visited the St. George Temple grounds for the first time.
We went to the Hoover Dam for the first time.
We exhausted all the 'dam' jokes that we could.
Look! A dam tower! Haha...
We took in all the sights and sounds (and smells) Las Vegas has to offer.
We enjoyed the bright lights and crazy people.

Andrew's parents even came to visit! This is at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.

We went to Disneyland. I don't know why, but Disneyland never gets old.

It's just so fun!
The whole family got to hang out together.

And we did a whole lot of this.

So there you have it. Our summer has been awesome! Busy, but awesome. We don't want it to be over quite yet, but I guess summertime has to come to a close at some point. If I had it my way, it would be summer four seasons straight. I have a serious dislike for that fluffy white cold stuff that falls from the sky. But I guess that just has to happen to get to next summer. Ugh. We have a lot to look forward to this fall. Andrew will be applying for his major soon, this will be my second to last semester (hopefully), and we will have plenty of opportunities to make more memories. So bring it on, winter! We'll show you who's boss (but please don't be too harsh).

Graduation

2009-06-06T23:48:00.005-06:00

This year Lauren and Joey graduated from Bear River High School. We are so proud of our little siblings! They made it through high school, and now they're out to conquer the world!!! We got to go to California for a week to celebrate their graduation. Going to the ceremony made me think of how quickly time goes by. It seems like just yesterday that Lauren was a freshman in high school. Now she's in college! Where does the time go? And it will probably go by quicker now that I'm older. Sheesh.

Lauren accepting her diploma

Andrew and his goofy brothers

Me and Megan

It was fun going to the graduation ceremony and running into old friends and teachers. Megan and I graduated together four years ago from the same high school. I had a good time catching up with her. It is always nice to keep in touch with good friends :)

Congrats Class of 2009!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2009-05-31T23:08:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that one year ago Andrew and I tied the knot. It has been a blast and I cannot wait for the many adventures we get to share together. I could not have picked a better person to make these memories with. I love you Andrew! Happy anniversary!

Climb On

2009-05-26T22:40:00.002-06:00

We have seriously been enjoying our summer. Recently, we've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and started to get into rock climbing. I am usually scared out of my mind, but it is a ton of fun. Andrew is getting pretty obsessed with the sport. I think he might even dream about it at night. Our friends Alma and Joy introduced us to it a few weeks ago and we've gone almost everyday since then!

Andrew and Alma getting ready to climb

Almost there!

Success.

2009-04-04T21:19:00.001-06:00

The bed was made for the first time today in about 3 weeks. Yes.....

It's already March?!?

2009-03-05T23:01:00.005-07:00

it would look alot cooler if my camera lens wasn't scratched

(those aren't my hips, Lauren. its the pockets)

Walking on Utah Lake

Yes, we are still alive. With school and work and everything, we have been SO busy! I don't have a life, so there hasn't been much to blog about. I pretty much live on campus, but Andrew and I do cross paths every now and then. This semester I'm taking family finance, parenting and child guidance, child development, the family and the law, religion in the home, and LDS marriage and family. I really enjoy going to school, but I can't wait for this semester to be over! I'll only have ten more classes left until I can graduate!!! Andrew is loving his classes. He's taking advertising, communications, news writing, book of mormon, and a video editing class. I can't believe the semester is almost over! No complaints though.

But aren't these pictures kind of cool? We decided to go for a drive after church a few weeks ago and we stumbled upon a very frozen Utah Lake. Since we had a camera, we decided to run around and take pictures. I was a little scared to walk off the dock, but luckily the ice supported my weight.

Disney Land Pictures

2009-01-04T15:31:00.005-07:00

Here are some pictures from Disney Land that I didn't post in October. I can't wait to go back!

Skipping away in California Adventure

3...2...1...BLAST OFF!

Parentals

Guitar Hero at Disney Land?

Narrowly avoiding a huge wreck in Autopia

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T00:39:00.012-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe its already 2009. So much has happened since our last post. I know I haven't been very good about keeping a current blog, but with my friend Stacy's constant encouragement I think I'll be blogging more often :)

Well, we made it to Utah unscathed, found an apartment, found jobs, registered for classes, bought books, and survived our first few snow storms. We are actually finding that we love it here. We have good friends, Lance and Stacy, that we see pretty much every day. We are also meeting new people and catching up with old friends. The holidays were a little different for us this year. Andrew and I stayed home. We didn't feel completely safe driving in the weather, so we opted to have our first married Christmas alone. Our friends Joy and Alma came over for Christmas eve dinner. I even cooked, which is a huge accomplishment for me! I didn't even burn anything, and our apartment is still standing! We had fun eating, playing games, and watching almost a full season of Arrested Development. Christmas morning we woke up and got on our webcam with my family while opening presents. We figured that seeing them through the computer was the next best thing than actually being there. We had a good time lounging around the rest of the day doing nothing in particular.

We were feeling festive

Alexa came over to make little snowmen!

Visiting with the Nielsens on Christmas

Our first little tree

For New Year's Eve, we went to Lance's dad's house in Park City. Steve and Gail were so nice for letting us come over. The four of us went downtown for the evening and were amused by the drunkards and scantily clad women prancing around in sub zero temperatures. We had so much fun! The next day Stacy and I woke up early and went shopping while the boys went sledding with Steve. It was such a relaxing winter break! I'm so thankful that I have such great friends and family to spend these times with.

Park City!

Buddies

Updaters

2008-10-26T17:13:00.000-06:00

Wow time flies by! So much has been going on lately I haven't realized how long its been since our last post. Alot has been going on in our lives. I quit my job at the orthodontics office I was working at, and am currently working a temporary position in a restorative/cosmetic dentistry office. Andrew is still at the pharmacy, but is letting his boss know tomorrow that he is leaving. Yikes! He really likes working there and is sad to go, but we're both looking forward to the future. We are leaving at the end of November for Provo, Utah. We will both be attending BYU!!! I already have two years down and Andrew has his AA degree in marketing and liberal arts so hopefully we'll be done in no time at all. I am excited to move closer to my best friends and Andrew is suprisingly excited to go to school again after taking this semester off.
So right now our main goal is to find a place to live in Provo. We've been looking alot on craigslist for contracts but we are coming out in two weeks to find a place. Hopefully there will be alot of places available! We're really excited about this move and feel fortunate to have this opportunity.

On another note, we went to Disneyland last week! We needed a vacation and Bear River had the week off from school so we met up with my family. We had a blast! It seriously is the happiest place on earth. We drove down Wednesday morning, went to the park Thursday-Saturday, and just got back to Rocklin this afternoon. Three days was a little much but it was so fun! I felt like a little kid again :) Luckily, we saw a family that we knew from our ward and they won dream fastpasses. They oh so kindly added us to their group and we all got dream fastpasses! Thank you Morris'!!! This allowed us to get on all the popular rides in Disneyland and California Adventure without waiting in line. I'll post pictures when I load them onto my computer. I had so much fun hanging out with my family and my hubby. We realized that this was probably our last big trip for a while. I love my fam and I'm going to miss them when we move. Come visit me all the time you guys!

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-04T21:36:00.000-06:00

I know I have been a slacker at this whole blog thing. But we're finally starting to settle down and we're starting to get in the groove of things. Our little apartment was nice and clean the other day so I decided to take some pictures so you can take a glimpse into our humble abode.

The front door

The Family Room
The Boob Tube

We have no table. This is where Andrew plays soccer

The kitchen

What a view!

The Room

You even get to see our closet. Lucky!

Where the magic happens

Congrats if you made it all the way through. There is every picture of a one bedroom one bathroom apartment you could ever want, right? We love living here and we're going to miss Rocklin so much when we move at the end of the year, although we are excited and anxious to pack up and go!

Fourth of July Weekend

2008-07-06T16:20:00.000-06:00

Friday afternoon, we headed up to Grass Valley to start our fourth of july weekend fun. We met the Kropfs and the Clines at the Nevada County Fairgrounds around 6pm on Friday for fireworks. Thankfully there still were fireworks! There are so many fires around here that the fireworks were cancelled once (it gave us a scare) and then were back on again. The fairgrounds is also the campout for the California Department of Fire. It's still so so smokey around here. But Friday the 4th was beautiful weather. We got lucky! The fireworks were my favorite part, as usual. I love the fourth of July!
That night we stayed at my (Cindy's) parent's house. They are in Utah for the weekend. They said that we can come up and eat whatever we could find, so we took them up on the offer. I like to think we earned all the free food--we took the trash out and watered my mom's dead tree, twice :)
Saturday we went to Andrew's parent's house for a barbeque and crouquet. Crouquet is a fun game, although I came in last place everytime we played. We had a fun time at the Cox home. I am so lucky that I married into such a great family.
That night my sister came home from EFY in Santa Barbara. We got to look at all her pictures and it made me miss all the years that I was able to go. She said it was the best year ever, although it was just as or more smokey than it is up here.
Now we're back home in Rocklin, just getting our place together (still). Once everything is in order, I'll post pictures of our apartment. I'm going to attempt cooking again tonight. I've had a long streak of unsuccesful meals :( I figure the more I try the better I'll get. The husband is the test rat, and he lets me know how my cooking is! I'll try to update this blog more often. It seems that real life doesn't leave that much spare time!

Honeymoon

2008-06-15T00:57:00.000-06:00

After the wedding, we were exhausted but excited for our honeymoon trip. On the Monday after the wedding, we woke up early and went to the airport to fly to Long Beach. From there we went to the Carnival cruise terminal to board the Carnival Paradise for our four day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada.

Us at the Long Beach Airport

The first day on the ship was alot of fun. We found our room and then went straight for the buffet. Yum! I'm pretty sure the food was the best thing ever, mainly because it was unlimited. After eating anything we could get our hands on, we walked around and checked out the ship. That night at dinner we met our dining group. Everyone at our table was under 25 years old. There was even another honeymoon couple who were married the same day as us!

Catalina was the next day and was so fun! We rented mountain bikes for the day and drove around Avalon. In Ensenada we took a trip to La Bufadora (the blow hole) and also shopped in the open air market. It was pretty dirty. But it was definately a cultural experience!

"Better safe than sorry" says Andrew on making me wear a helmet

Descanso Beach on Catalina Island

Captain's night on the cruise. We got to get all dressed up for the evening!

The open air market in Ensenada. The policia were actually wheeling out a dead guy!

Two burgers for $49? Now that's a deal!

Us in front of the Blow Hole....

Wedding Day!

2008-06-15T00:19:00.000-06:00

Our wedding was everything we wanted and more. We were married in the Sacramento temple at 10:00 am. Many of our friends and family were there to support us. The weather was beautiful, so after the temple ceremony we took hours of pictures. We even went to our high school where we met and took some pics there! We had a ring ceremony that started at 5 pm. My dad and sister even sang a song! The reception started at 6 pm. We ate delicious food, danced, and took a lot of pictures. Around 10 pm, we finally got to leave. It was a long day, but the best day of our lives! We love being married!