Arkansas

I rarely get a chance to have all the family in the same place at the same time I wanted to post an updated family pictures That I took during Thanksgiving vacation with the Bushes in Arkansas.

Eric and Jen's Birthday

Eric and I celebrated our birthdays this month. I had been wanting a dressy necklace since my jewelry box got stolen last year and Eric surprised me with a really nice pearl necklace, bracelet and earring set. He also got a new watch battery put into my watch for me... one of those things I never got around to doing. We also went out for lunch and to a movie with the family. For my birthday I am also doing something I have wanted to do for the last 10 years... take guitar lessons! I had my first lesson a week ago.

For his birthday I signed us up to do a mud run/obstacle course. The thing was, it cost $75 per person to run unless you volunteered to help at the race for half the time... Not wanting to spend $150 to run, we volunteered from 7-12 and then ran the race after.

Eric ran the 10K and Elia and I ran the 5K. We had a lot of fun. I had an especially good time running with Elia. She is so athletic... I know I am going to have a hard time keeping up with her as she gets older. It makes me want to stay in shape because I know she enjoys spending the time together too and I know running makes her feel good because it is something she is good at. Poor Eric ended with big holes in is feet after he took the advice of another guy (who has apparently done a lot of races)who told him not to wear socks because of all the mud and water.

Ethan was in mud heaven... throwing mud balls into water and climbing on the muddy mountains. I brought a spare change of clothes for everyone. The only kid who survived a change of clothes was Kara who got special treatment:

 Eric's race:

 Zip line at the end:

 Mechanical Bull:

 

We finished off the day with some nice Texas BBQ at Spring Creek BBQ. What an awesome and exhausting day.

Jen's birthday

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday in style. It started off with the waffles with ice cream for breakfast... A birthday tradition. Next, we went out to our neighborhood garage sale. I got to look at as many garage sales as I wanted without Eric saying he was done. We had a blast and came home with 32 u.s. mint proof coin sets, a compound bow for Eric, a jewelry box for Elia, a "secret stash" box for Ethan to stow his treasures in, a family game and a puzzle, two books for kara, and a new bike helmet for Ethan.
Eric surprised me by replacing the battery in my watch all by himself. He had purchased a watch repair kit a few months ago and put it to use. He also bought me a very nice string of pearls with a matching bracelet and earrings. Since my jewelry box got stolen I don't really have much jewelry anymore. In the afternoon, we did a few things around the house before heading to Jason's deli for dinner and then to the movie theater to see the movie Brave. It was a happy day. I felt very loved especially with the cards from the kids and Eric's thoughtful surprises. Elia even gave me $2.00 from her allowance! How thoughtful! That's a lot of money to her and she wanted to give it to me! I love my family!!!
I feel like I got so much for my birthday today!
Next up is Eric's birthday in 13 days how am I going to measure up?!

Elia's baptism

Elia was baptized and Sophie was blessed on Saturday. We were lucky to have lots of family and friends come... Including Eric's best childhood friend. Their kids had never been to the beach so of course we had to go there. On Saturday we went to a hummingbird festival at a local park. They had lots of fun activities for kids. Kara even got to release a hummingbird! At four we blessed Sophie and then Eric baptized Elia. She is growing up so quickly. She is an amazing girl with so much potential. I was reading in a talk from our lds church conference about trying to gain a vision of ourselves as the Savior sees us. I was thinking about what life might have in store for Elia. It is just amazing to think about. She can do and be almost anything she wants! Thanks for all the support from our friends and family. We love you all!

Sophie's first pony tail

Sophie has an amazing amount of hair and constantly gets comments on it. I was playing around and decided to try a pony tail...

A Newborn and a three year old

Well I found a few minutes to take a couple of newborn pictures of Sophie... Thank goodness I did because she is already six weeks old! How time flies!



In August Kara celebrated three years of life with a few cute friends at a small tea party.



Well, we are ashamed it has been so long since we've done a blog post... nearly a year and a half! Kara, who was last featured at 18 months will be three in two weeks and Elia will be 8 shortly after that! And two weeks ago, we welcomed Numero 4: Sophie Anne Petty. It is crazy how time flies.

 Sophie was born Friday, July 13th at 5:39 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds and was 19 1/4" long.

Eric has decided that we should start blogging more frequently as a way to keep a family journal... I'm in favor too, I just have a hard time doing it... If this is the last post for 18 months again, just know that I haven't had any help keeping it up :) I plan to post more pictures of Sophie next time, but I feel that I should do a little back tracking just so we remember a LITTLE about the past 18 months.

Fortunately, pictures are a good reminder, so here is the past in pictures:

June 2012: Eric goes on scouting high adventure to Yellowstone... good thing he took pictures because I, being 8 months pregnant took zero pictures all month!

 May 2012: Ethan graduates from Jersey Village preschool... he was given the "most independent" award... oh and when asked what he wants to do when he grows up, he said "gymnast".

 April 2012: Wow! an updated family picture!

Ethan loves legos, so we gave him a lego party for his fourth birthday:

Eric had a business trip to France and Italy and Jen got to tag along: Eric does pull-ups on the Eiffel Tower:

The kids animals: Loon, Lamby and Bird visit Rome

 March 2012: Jen's mom made the girls these great St. Patricks Day skirts. Kara wanted to wear hers every day it was clean for about 5 months.

Kara about 2.5 years old:

 February 2012: Elia goes strong with her girl scout troop... Jen is one of the troop leaders and the girls are great friends (L to R) Laura, Monica, Elia, Kayden, Emily, Ella, Savannah.

 January 2012: At the end of our Christmas trip to Utah, we get to see cousin Nathaniel.

December 2011: We drove the 24 hours to Utah... the kids loved being with extended family and seeing snow!

 On the way to and from Utah we camped over in Colorado Springs with our cousins the Ratliffs.

 November 2011: Grampy comes for Thanksgiving, rocket launching is a family favorite:

October 2011: Jen starts working as a realtor... we could put pictures of houses, but that would be pretty boring. :)
September 2011: Elia turns 7... for her party we did a "princess in training" party based on the movie Princess Diaries. The girls had a great time and we've never seen Elia have such good manners!

 August 2011: Kara turns two with a "pink piggy" cake to celebrate.

 July 2011: Jen and Eric celebrate 10 years of marriage with a great 2-week trip to Peru with friends Caleb and Lisette.

Colca Canyon

Inca Trail

Machu Picchu

June 2011: Family goes to New Hampshire: Squam Lakes Science Center is always a favorite stop:

May 2011: Elia participates in spring season ballet... broken arm No. 2 occurred while playing on a salvaged slide that collapsed. Also, Elia finishes Kindergarten and gets a trophy for the fastest kindergarten girl runner.

 April 2011: Ethan turns 4... cake request... batman cheesecake... Also, plays YMCA soccer...

Thaaaat's Allll Folks!