Well, life has been moving pretty quickly since Gabriel joined our family! I haven't been the best at keeping my blog updated. We have had so much fun getting to know little Gabriel and watching Holden make the transition from only sibling to a big brother! He is doing well and getting so big! He is a sweet little guy that is mellow and so easy going! Also, can I just say...We love his hair!
To recap in a seriously quick way... :)
Holden loves his little brother and loves to be around him. When he wakes up in the morning, Holden will run into our room and go right to the cradle to give Gabriel a kiss. Whenever he hears him crying in another room, he'll go there to make sure that all is well.
Holden will always lie down right next to Gabriel so he can be as close as possible...sometimes he gets a little too close- if ya know what I mean. However, Gabriel is a VERY patient little guy! :)) hehe
This is Holden getting his "Pacifier Fix"! We have started to "wean" him from this so when he finds them- he goes absolutely crazy! He actually had 3 in his mouth at one time but by the time I took the pic, one dropped out of his mouth! :) Crazy kid!
They had their first bathtime together and to make it sweeter, we got a new shower head. Reasons: 1. For our convenience when we wash him and 2. To let him have a little fun while he bathes...it's a win-win situation!
As you can see...Gabriel is as happy about his bathtime!
But in the end, they were both happy AND clean!
After a few weeks of settling in with a new baby, I decided my play time was over...okay..not really, but I figured I needed to be more in touch with my domestic side! So, I got together with my friend Bethany, and we took on the great task of canning some peaches and pears. With some tips from my mom, after hours on peeling, cutting etc...the peaches turned out to be amazing! 
We also decided to take a family vacation of some sort since we hadn't gone anywhere this whole year! hehe Since we could only be gone a weekend, Labor Day looked great for a little getaway time! We headed up to Park City to go to Swiss Days and then to spend the rest of the weekend there doing some fun activities. WELL- we got the car all packed and as we were driving out of our street, we noticed we had a flat tire. We had to unpack everything, find the spare, drive to Walmart and wait only to find that the tire was too damaged to be repaired. We ended up getting to Park City late, so Swiss Days never became a reality. Then the next day we headed up to the Olympic Park to check it out. Our friends the Smiths came up to joing us. It was actually really cool. I was on my mission when the Olympics were in SLC so it was really neat to see the museum. We also watched as skiers jumped the ramps into a swimming pool. Cool stuff. We hadn't been there too long when a major storm hit. They made us stay inside because of lightning. So, as you can guess, we nixed the outdoor activities that they had there. But it was still a fun weekend! Holden and I did the bobsled while Josh went skiing! Nice face huh!?
As we moved into September, we celebrated Josh's 28th birthday! What a grown-up! Isn't he cute!? Now, funny story! See that pie? It's apple. I got it for him cause I was sure his mom made him one every year for his birthday growing up- so I thought I'd be sentimental and get him an apple pie. Well, his friend Jim Smith had taken him out for sushi that day for lunch and we was still so full that he told me he was "too full" and didn't want any pie right then. I didn't mind, but I then told him I didn't really like apple pie so I bought myself some angel food cake. Well, when he heard that I didn't like apple pie, he thought he'd better come clean. He told me he didn't like apple pie either.... WHAT?????? He then informed me that it was PUMPKIN PIE that his mom made him!!!! BOY--FAILBOAT!!! I am such a dummy. I thought I knew my hubby....guess not! lol Oh well...can you imagine if he'd held that in? He figured he would not tell me and just let me eat the pie over the next week! That I wouldn't notice that I was the only one eating it! hehe He would have gotten apple pies on his birthday for the rest of his life! LESSON-- be honest with your spouse, even if it does embarrass or make them feel dumb for a minute! A minute is better than a lifetime of birthdays spent suffering! hehe 
For his birthday, he bought himself parts to build a computer sice all 3 of ours were going out at the same time! He did a lot of research and got a great deal on the parts and I was so proud of him that he built this thing all by himself! What a smarty pants!
We also went to my parents house for a birthday celebration! He is here with my dad and Gabriel. Notice the dang nice kitchen! My mom and dad have spent almost 1 year remodeling it. Isn't it sooo beatiful? Good job mom and dad!
I thought I'd just add this pic. These are our friends Cameron (Josh and I know him from our dance team at BYU) and his girlfriend Jen. They have been so cool to come and hang out with us. We have had so many fun weekend nights playing new games and eating treats! Settlers is the big one right now! Good times! 
