Happy Birthday PAUL!!!!

Yes, on top of being Christmas Eve, today is Paul's Birthday here are a few things that we love about him....Happy Birthday!

Melia said she loves....

"When we go get slurpies"

" When he throws me up high"

" Hugs"

" When we go to Disneyland"

Cooper loves( trust me I just know he does)....

When daddy makes him giggle with crazy sounds

When he says I'm the cutest little boy

When he plays with me

Lauren loves

When I get to fall asleep in his arms

When he makes me laugh because of some crazy story(and he always has them)]

How he loves sports so much(it's just a part of him)

That half of his clothes are "go utes"

How hard he works always( even on his Birthday to get people there furniture before Christmas)

I love how I feel like I'm one of the only people who get to see his really sweet side.

When he plays with Melia and Cooper and I know that he is the best dad to them

That he gave me a gift when we were celebrating his Birthday last night( p.s. It was a T-shirt that says, "I love Paul."

When he drives me crazy and I just know that I will always love him

SOooo.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL....WE LOVE YOU!!

Chirstmas Tree

Yesterday we went out and got a real fresh tree! I haven't had one since I was little and I love it! It smells so good. Although our tree is pretty cute I have to say Melia made an adorable little Christmas tree. She put on all the "colory lights," and wanted to be a tree. Now it feels like Christmas at our house.

Festival of the Trees

This week we went to Festival of Trees with Michelle and Grandma Sheila. It's fun to look at some of the trees, but there was just so many, there is no way we could see them all. This one was Melia's favorite and she kept saying, " The grinch is going to get us!" She also got to see santa, she wouldn't sit on his lap but stood and talked with him for a while. She told him what she wanted for Christmas and he was the cutest! After meeting him, I surely believe! They also had a kid corner full of fun things to do and Melia picked out a face paint and manicure( she is such a girl!)

Thanksgiving, Birthdays and Toothaches!!!

Well this was an eventfull Thanksgiving weekend. We did have a great time with everyone on my Mom's side at dinner and a very full house. The kids had crafts thanks to Aunt Julie and they all made great turkey hats and much more! I ate as much as possible it was so yummy my favorite!

Paul had horrible tooth pain all weekend and finally went to the dentist on friday, but they gave him antibiotics and hoped that it would get better. Turns out he had an infection in his tooth and went today to get that taken care of. Hopefully in a day the pain will be gone. Having him down and out these past few days has made me realize how grateful I am for his help. I just want to thank everyone who helped this weekend. On a happier note....

Happy Birthday to My Dad and Holland Utley! ( my sweet little neice)
We celebrated both their Birthday's on Saturday, but they are actually both today! Holland is such a cutie and has the best little laugh and smile! We love you, she just learned how to say cooper's name I love her interpretation: "baby pooper!" Makes me laugh every time~!
I want my dad to know I love him and he is such a great example to me of strength in every aspect of his life! I'm glad we got to have him here this weekend and can't wait to see you again for Christmas!

GOOO UTES!!

Well today is finally here and as you can see Paul couldn't be any more excited! Our family is all in Utah gear today to cheer on the Utah Utes! So..... GOOO UTES ! 12-0!!!

RSL

Saturday night, Paul and I got to go to the Real Salt Lake soccer game with some friends( thanks for the great seats!) . I must say that I was never really a huge fan of soccer but it was fun to see the player's tricks and cheer on our team in the western conference finals. Sadly, they missed many opportunities to win, but we had great seats on the third row and got to enjoy the soccer game. It was funny because both Paul and I had never been to a soccer game and there was a little kid in the seat in front of us explaining all the rules and stuff. I must say that no matter what sport it is Paul will enjoy himself so it was fun to see him in his element, I was just happy to have a night out with my hubby! (Thanks to Mark and Michelle for watching the kiddios!)

Vote

I wasn't even going to try to vote yesterday, for the last couple weeks I had decided in my mind that it wasn't worth the struggle of trying to hassle both kids and vote. Something changed my mind at the last minute yesterday and I felt like it was important enough to deal with the hassle of it. Thanks always to aunt Michelle who continues to help me do little things that I think may be hard to do. She sat in the car while I ran in to vote. No lines at all! Later last night when my mom came over Melia told her that "Mommy voted today." I think that is one very small reason why it was important for me to vote, so she could see that it was important. No matter the outcome, I pray that our new leader will guide us in a good direction.

Halloween, Halloween Trick or Treat...

Our costumes can't be beat!( This saying is for those with kids I'm sure it sounds familiar from the Boo Dora). We had so much fun on Halloween! I went to Gateway with the kids and all the Baker grandkids etc. We went to the Discovery Gateway and did all the kid stuff. Paul got home and we got ready for trick or treating, Melia liked that okay but wouldn't even say "trick or treat" so we went home after about 5 houses. She loved giving out the candy more than getting it I guess. I think every time trick or treaters came she thought they were there to play with her. We had friends over later that night for the traditional annual game of Mafia, always a classic. It was fun! If you can't tell, Melia was little Mermaid, Cooper was flounder, Paul was king Triton and I was Ursala.

Fall time activities

There are so many things I love to do in the Fall. I think that it is such a beautiful time of year and love just driving around looking at the colors. Some of the fun things we have done this past week are painting with leaves, Melia loved to collect fall things then paint with them, we used the leaves as stamps. We also raked the leaves and jumped in them (an old time favorite.) Sadly this picture is not even 1/4th of the leaves that will fall of our 2 huge trees, so I'm sure that it will become more of a chore and not so much fun. Then we went to Gardner Village to see the witches, this is the closest Melia would get to them she mainly just wanted to sit on all the pumpkins since thats what she did at the pumpkin patch, but she giggled when she saw them, and we had to end the day with some yummy fudge. Even though Cooper was a passive participant in most of these activities he did show me that he has found his hands and loves them!

Cooper was blessed yesterday. It was a neat weekend with all the three cousins close to him being blessed also. We had it in the evening at the church and it was so nice to have so many people there to support Cooper. I know he will have a lot of good examples to look up to. I am so grateful for my little guy and love the quiet spirit he brings.

Grandma's Treat

Last saturday Grandma Chris had a little halloween fun with the kids. We had pizza and then went to Barn's and Nobles for all the kids to pick out their favorite halloween book, of course most of the girls wanted princess, melia had to have Dora so I got it for her and let Grandma buy Fancy Nancy which is adorable, thanks! Then we headed back to the house to decorate halloween cookies. I think they loved the sprinkles best. The pinwheel of diaper changes was a great moment to capture as well. My favorite thing to do is to just be with family. Thanks Grandma! (p.s. thanks Candice and Chris for the pictures!)

Fall Fun

Paul Takes one day off each week. This week he took off Thursday, we went up big cottonwood canyon on a little hike, then over to Silver lake to walk around. We had a blast and got a ton of great pictures. Melia found a caterpillar and thought it was so funny when he would crawl up her arm. We then ate at a local cafe. Here is a link to the photo album of the day. Fall Hike Photos

Melia's First Football Game

Melia has been asking when she could go to a football game with dad. Since Utah was playing Weber State, Paul thought this was the best chance to try it out. Melia loved it! She was jumping up and down cheering, and trying to follow the cheerleaders. They were handing out bandanas, and dad put his on, so Melia wanted to wear hers. They left after the third quarter. And she has been asking when she gets to go to another football game with dad.

Softball

Paul and his family started a softball team last month. Melia loved to go (even though I only went to two with her.) Thanks to Grandma Sheila and Michelle for watching her at the park! But the cutest thing that came out of this was one time Melia gave Paul a kiss and told him to hit a home run...and he did! She was so excited (or so I'm told.) Now it's over but I'm sure we will have other sporting events to watch.

Fun Dad

During the last few weeks I guess I'm not very exciting for Melia, most our activities involve reading, coloring etc. So when dad gets home from work he always has something interesting to do. The other day it was covering the entire family in grass. I tried not to get involved but with cute little Melia asking me so nicely I couldn't help but say yes.

I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about it but I recieved my diploma in the mail and took the opportunity to take a picture of all the things that happened in the last month.

Cooper smiles

I know that all the experts say that most babies don't have a social smile until 6 weeks old, but I can promise you this is the real deal. Cooper smiles when you touch around his lips making any little noise. It is extremely cute! This is the best picture we could get of him doing it.

Sunday Rainstorm

When it started raining Paul asked Melia if she want to go play in the rain. She did, they spent the next 30-45 min running through the neighborhood, jumping in puddles & getting soaked in the massive downpour. Melia had a blast and when she woke up this morning and saw the rain she asked her dad if he would take her dancing in the rain again.

Cooper & Zoe

Zoe is Chris & Candice's daughter Born 12 days before Cooper. They had not met, until yesterday. They both weigh 7lbs 9 ounces, & and are both 21 inches long at the moment. The link to the Cooper Zoe photo shoot!

Game Day!

College football starts today, and Paul could not be more excited. He got up early and got both kids ready to go. We took plenty of pictures. Here is a link to the whole album. Go UTES!! The whole Utah Album

He is Here!

Sunday at 1:12 pm Cooper Clyde VanOrden was born. He is 7lbs. 10ounces and 21 inches long. Labor was fine and we are both doing great, Cooper is healthy as can be and Melia loves him and can't wait to take him home! We will have pictures for you when we get home!

Baby June

Bret and Julie had their baby girl June yesterday and all is well with them. She is a doll and I think that it is official that we have darling little girls in our family! With two babies down that means that there is only one left...ours! We can't wait to see our little guy and bring some boyness into the family. I'm so glad that he will have close cousins and I'm sure he will put up with playing Barbie's at Grandma Chris's house! Congrats to the new member of the Baker family...we love you!!

Candice Wins!

Candice and Chris had their beautiful baby girl last night and we went and saw her today! She is so pretty and is a great mixture of both her mom and dad. Zoe Brunstetter we love you so much! I didn't want to leave the hospital and can't wait to see her again soon. When we told Melia last night she put on a surprised face and said, "I'm so excited!" She also insisted Candice tell her how the baby came out of her tummy, we didn't go into much detail. We are so happy for Candice and Chris and they have a wonderful family! Love you guys!

Pictures

Yesterday we went to Wheeler Farm and took some pictures of Melia. I must say that I think I did a pretty good job considering I'm not a professional. I think they turned out cute. Melia wasn't so happy on the way there so I'm glad we got a few smiles! I guess ice cream at the end helps too. It was so hot but thanks to aunt Michelle we made it happen, so here are just a few of my favorites, hope you like them too.

Jeff and Bree's Baby

Last night we were able to go see Jeff and Bree's Baby Boy Boston and he is so cute! You almost forget how small they come. It was fun to get to see him and hold him and got me very excited to have a little fellow of my own. Melia was overly sweet with kisses and hugs, I'm sure she will love her little brother, maybe even too much! We are so happy for them, congrats again!

WAHOO!!

So i just have to stop and tell you all again that I am officially done with school! I almost can't believe it( and then I can):) Leaving the U today I thought about the hopes that I will never have to go there again! Well at least until I go crazy and decide to get my masters or something! Someone remind me how hard it was when that happens! I am so happy though and just need to thank everyone who helped, especially my mom and dad who know without them I would not have gotten it done! My Mom and Candice watched Melia all day while I finished up today and when I was on my way home from getting her I ran out of gas! Guess that tells you how overloaded my mind was! Luckily I wasn't far and Candice and Natalie brought me some gas! THanks! I love family!

Doctor

So I had my doctor appointment today and looks like I still have a while which is fine by me. I think Julie and Candice will have their babies first so I can enjoy them! Tomorrow is my last day of college and I am looking forward to taking some naps and resting before the baby comes.

New Blog!

Hey everyone, our old blog doesn't work great so I thought I would start a new one! We have been so busy with preparing for new baby brother and Paul with work and me finishing up school! I really want to blog more and I think that we will now that school is pretty much done! Please delete our old blog and use this one! Thanks!