the Evergreen State

We have been so blessed to have had so many reasons to see family this year. We were able to see my Dad in February, then Preston and I were able to go later that month to help out, then Margaret and Dean came to visit us In March, we had Natalie and Ben's wedding in April, with Emily and Allen's Wedding in June. This last trip was just as fun as all the rest have been. It has been fun to see Preston learn and see everyone. One of Preston's favorite things on this trip was to go up the stairs, and even one tumble wouldn't stop him from constantly going up the stairs. 

Here are a few random shots I took:

Go Giants!

Every once in a while I get a phone call from Neil in the middle of the day telling me that we have tickets to a game that he won at work. We got tickets to the San Francisco Warrior games two times and then he called to tell me he got tickets to a Giants game for that night (May 30th, 2012). We hurried and got things together so that we could go. I love the Giants! We went to a Giants game on our honeymoon and had so much fun. I have gone to Giants games with my family as well. It was Preston's first time though. The same pitcher that pitched the game we went to on our honeymoon was pitching this game. Sadly, they lost, but it was fun to be there with all the excitement. 

In order to get there Preston and I met Neil up there by taking the BART. Neil was in the city for work, like he usually is, and we met him with some dinner in a backpack and Preston in the front carrier. I'm sure I looked a little bit crazy, but it seemed like the easiest way to travel with everything. 

I absolutely love being spontaneous, and this was definitely one of those times!

Happily Ever After

This should have been posted a long time ago, since she was married in April! However, as per my usual timeline...this is the scheduled time to blog about this beautiful event! We were able to fly in late Wednesday night and take bridal photos of Natalie before the wedding. Then, Saturday was the big day! We got all ready and everyone drove up to the temple. The ceremony was beautiful. It reminded me of how much I loved my wedding day. Sealing are so special and it is hard to describe exactly why other than the spirit is so strong in the temple and you can feel a little piece of eternity. Each sealing is different and has a special meaning to those getting married. I am so blessed to have been married to Neil in the temple and I love it there. After the temple ceremony we took pictures until we had to leave for the luncheon. We had a little rest during the luncheon and after. We then were able to go home and eat dinner before we went to the  Best Western where the reception was being held and helped Natalie get ready and do a few final touches at the reception hall. The reception was so fun! The music was great and the food was fabulous. Instead of traditional cake, Natalie and Ben decided on cupcakes, which were super cute! It was fun to be a part of this important event.Congratulations Natalie and Benjamin Wood!

Party Party Party!

It was fun to celebrate Preston's birthday for the first time. He had almost no clue what was going on. I kept singing "Happy Birthday" to him throughout the day and he would look at me like I was a little crazy, but smiled and started clapping. Mid-morning we skyped with my Mom and had her watch Preston open their gift to him. He opened a took bench and it was so fun to watch him play with it all day long. So, Thursday was fun, but the party started on Saturday when we had a few friends and family over to swim and then have dinner and cake. It was fun! Then, after we flew to Washington we had another party there for him. We had cake and opened presents. It was fun to keep celebrating his birthday!

Since he is 1 he now:

walks everywhere

loves to chat to himself and make all sorts of sounds

eats all real food except for nuts

loves eating fish and chocolate

enjoys swimming and playing outside

observes everyone and is certainly curious

Weight: 21 lbs 3 oz.

Height: 29.5 inches

Here are a few pictures of all the events!

 

 

 

Happy First Birthday!

It's true, this post is almost a month late, however...life has been super crazy lately. I have lots of things to blog about for sure! Those will be coming soon! Hopefully really soon!

On June 7th Preston turned 1! I can't believe how the time has really flown by. I was looking at a baby that a friend had last week. He is so small and I can just picture Preston being that small, with the chubby cheeks of course. I have absolutely loved watching him progress and learn. He is such a curious little man that loves to move everywhere and see everything. He has also become really photogenic. He loves to turn and smile. It makes me laugh so hard and I love it!

He now walks everywhere and eats real food. He loves the pool and has started to have his own little attitude. He doesn't like to be told where to go or sometimes what to do. I have found him to be a very determined little boy in certain circumstances. He sleeps amazingly well. He sleeps 12 hours a night and then still takes two naps a day. I love this little boy so much!

When we went to Washington for Emily's wedding I was able to go to my Aunt's Studio in Kent and take some pictures of Preston. We were able to get him dressed in several different outfits and shoot with her props. It was so fun! I hope to have my own studio someday!

Here are a few blog boards with the pictures:

 

For his first birthday we had a party with a few friends and went swimming. It was so fun...and I will have a whole blog post just about that with some good videos to come!

So, what do you think? Isn't he super cute? I have so much fun taking pictures of him. I think he will probably hit an age when he thinks it is the most annoying thing ever, but until then I am going to dress him up and click away!

A Thank You to Parents

This is Neil writing. Today, I heard a story at church and I felt that I should share with my friends and family.

An older man was talking with a young adult at church. As the conversation was coming to a close, the older man ask if there was anything the young adult wanted to talk about before the conversation ended. The young adult went quiet and began to tear up. In a sad and serious tone, he mustered, “My Dad never built me a tree house.” The older man was taken back, wondering if this was a joke of some sort. The young adult explained that when he was young, he asked his dad to build him a tree house. The dad said they could do it that weekend. On Saturday, the boy woke up early and excitedly ran to his dad’s room. This was going to be the day, but the dad said he had some things to do and wouldn’t be able to build the tree house until next week. When the next Saturday came around, the young boy heard the same story from his dad:  “We’ll do it next week”. Weeks turned into months, months turned into years, and the boy never got his tree house. Even as a young adult, he knew he missed out on doing something with his dad.

As I heard this story, I instantly thought, my dad built me a tree house. And that wasn’t all. He took me to work with him, taught me how to fish, took me to baseball games, he told me he was proud of me, and he even let me ride in the back if his truck to take our dog to get bred (that’s a funny story!). The most important part is that my dad showed me that I was important to him.

My mom is the same. She came to all my sports games and concerts. She was home when I came home from school. She helped me prepare for church meetings and do my school work. I owe much of the person I am today, because of what she has done for me in my life.

My wife feels the same about her parents. Amber worked so hard to make Preston’s first birthday special. I asked why she went through so much trouble to put on a birthday for Preston. She responded, “My parents always did this for me. They always made me feel special.” She tells me about how they would go on memorable family trips, and spend holidays together. They would encourage her to try new things and support her in the new activities. When Amber wanted to learn water polo, her dad took her to get a water polo ball and researched the rules to know all he could about what she was doing.

I have met so many parents just like this in my life. Parents that sacrifice and make their kids feel important. Many times, the sacrifices are not recognized, but they do make a difference. The world is a better place because of parents like mine and my wife’s. Thank you to all the parents that make their children feel important.

Going to Gualala

Every Memorial Day in our ward, most of the ward goes up to Gualala, Ca and spends the weekend and most of the week camping. We had other plans and couldn't take off work, so we just went for Friday night and spent Friday there, along with Saturday. It was a beautiful 3 hour drive with almost an hour of it driving up Highway 1 along the beautiful and winding coast. It was definitely a fun few days. We spent time with friends, lots of time at the river, got in the ice cold water, sat by the camp-fire, played games, and stayed up all night with Preston sleeping in my sleeping bag or crying all night long.

Luckily we were talked into going! We ate most of our meals with the Bodily group. The Bodily's were the family that started this camping tradition with the ward. I guess they have been going since they were little themselves. They had an amazing kitchen area set up with a fridge, sink, and toaster oven. It was amazing how they set everything up. Each camp-site had an electrical outlet for people to plug into. There were many families that had brought their campers and were doing it all in style. They also had an amazing middle park area where there were swings, slides, volleyball courts, horseshoe area, and ping pong tables. All the kids loved spending time there. Preston ate lots of dirt and liked touching everything that he could get his hands on. It was fun watching him discover everything in nature he possibly could. There were big redwood all around this area, which made it super beautiful! There was a little place where there was what they call Cathedral Redwood trees, where they were all in a circle together. It was a fun and beautiful weekend.

We were also able to go to the Williamson's on Monday for a BBQ! It was fun to get to spend some time with them this weekend as well. Camping makes it really feel like summer is here!