For all His hard work

Congratulations, Pete! Pete recently went back over to the Philippines to receive an award from their government for the humanitarian work he has done over there. I am so happy for him-he has put his heart and soul into his non-profit organization and the hundreds of hours he has spent have been recognized. Not that he has ever had that in mind-he does it because he loves those wonderful people. I am so proud of him!



P.S. A cool little side note-if you go to lds.org and click on Newsroom (on the right-hand side of the home page) Pete is featured in the top story!

Intervention

I am a book cheater. I will admit it. I compulsively read the end of books long before I am actually finished. I always go back and read the middle, but for some reason I can't handle not knowing what happens. My problem is that I am an end-reader with a conscience-I regret it every time that I do it. So when Harry Potter #6 came out I told everyone that I wouldn't read the end. I got within like a 100 pages and then skipped to the end. When I found out what happened I was so upset I stomped upstairs crying and had to get into the shower to calm myself down. At that point pete decided to hold an intervention for me. He said when the 7th book came out he was going to cut the book up and give it to me chapter by chapter. I realized he would be back in the philippines when the book was released so I thought I was home free. But instead he recruited my mom and little sister (who can't stand my little habit) to take care of the dirty work for him. So here is a picture of my anti-cheating version of HP#7


p.s. I finished the book without cheating, but I did try to get information out of my little sister since she finished before me-but she wouldn't tell me anything.

Florida Fun

We just got back from a week in Florida with Pete's family. It was so much fun! It was really hot and extremely humid, but we loved it and had such a great time. Ryan was amazing and held up so well without being able to take good naps and being in the heat all the time. I had been really worried about the plane ride with Ryan, but with a little help from our friend benedryl the worst of our worries was the turbulence that was making me sick. We went to Magic Kingdom, MGM studios, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Typhoon Lagoon (my personal favorite), ate in lots of great restaurants and saw a Cirque de Soleil show. I was glad to get back to dry heat, but we loved every minute while we were there.

After getting completely soaked on a ride in Animal Kingdom

Ryan getting to meet cars

Ryan's first kiss

Disney family photo (yes, we are dorks!)

Ryan's favorite food for most of the trip was his finger

Ryan Kimball

Ryan is in such a fun stage right now-I am totally addicted to being around him and miss him when he is asleep-kind of. His personality is so much fun and I could watch his facial expressions all day and be entertained. He will be nine months old on Thursday and it kind of scares me how fast time is going. I just wanted to post a few of my favorite pictures that we have taken recently. As you will see we are a little camera happy.

Climbing into the TV Cabinet

White-trash Ryan

We are leaving for Florida this week and because of how hot it will be we decided to break our rule and allow ryan to wear tank tops-I kind of feel like they are a little white trash for boys.

Ryan's first and last biter biscuit (we never knew how messy they were, he was completely covered in slime)

Ryan showing off his obsession of playing with rugs

Bath time

Books

Over the last few months I have fallen back in love with reading-I can't seem to get enough. It is so nice to be able to read whatever I want and not be forced to read textbooks. The last five books I have read include: A tale of two cities, the emperors of chocolate (I lost interest and didn't finish this one unfortunately), Twilight, New Moon (the two most addicting books I have ever read), and Harry Potter #6 for the second time to prepare myself for the release of the seventh book. I am always looking for good books to read and so if you have any suggestions please let me know-I would really appreciate it!

Independence Day

The fourth of july is one of my favorite holidays and I love that Provo makes such a big deal about it. Holidays can get a little crazy having both families in town, but it was still so much fun! We spend the morning at the parade, went to a barbeque, went swimming with cousins, went to another barbeque, and then did fireworks. We were all a little exhausted since the three of us had been in the ER till two in the morning the night before. Ryan somehow opened a bottle of adult tylenol-so much for child-proof caps-and had six in his mouth when I found him. We had no clue how many were in the bottle, but after a call to poison control, a trip to the ER, a blood test, and a lot of worrying we found out that we had caught him in time and that he had not swallowed any. It was such a relief!
Splashing in the pool

Swimming on the fourth was ryan's second time in the pool and he absolutely loved it-as you can see by the crazy splashing! The first time we went he was really hesitant, but that day he was a little fish and could not get enough.

Hanging out with mom

At the Parade