NC State Arboretum

I took the girls to the Arboretum in Raleigh.  Arboretum was not a word in my vocabulary- I knew it had to do with plants, but I thought it was a big green house.  Since Vienna is a little stuffy, I thought- GREAT!  A giant humidifier.  Well the jokes on me, it was several different outdoor gardens- mostly dead in January.  The desert plants were looking pretty fantastic though and thankfully it wasn't too cold.  Sidenote:  Cambry is actually letting me put her hair up, and leaving it in for an hour or two at a time!  This is a big milestone for us. Her little pony tail warms my heart.

Cambry had a great time petting all the plants and this is her kind of amusement park with all the little trails and secret paths to explore.

This Japanese Apricot Tree was already blossoming!  So pretty! It made me so excited for spring.

The Terrace showed potential of awesomeness with all the manicured gardens that were still dormant. We'll definitely have to come back in a few months.

Vienna 4 Months

Vienna turned 4 months old last week!  I can't believe she has been a part of our family for that long.  She is a big precious baby and I'm constantly thanking God for letting me be her mom.  She is so quick with a smile and so calm, she creates much appreciated peace in our home.  She's staying in the 90th percentile in height and weight.  She is getting so strong and can hold her big head up on her own for long periods of time. She is very curious of her surroundings, and is putting everything in her mouth.  She can roll on to her side, but can't make it all the way over.

We somehow bypassed the passifier again.  She soothes herself by sucking on her fist.  She has a stuffy nose these days and it's so cute/sad to hear her breathing through her nose like Darth Vator so she can suck her fist. Then she'll stop every 10 seconds and gasp for air out of her mouth.

We love you Vienna.  Thank you for coming to our family.  We are a better family with you part of it.

Marbles Children Museum

Since this was Devin's outing, this is posted by him;

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I had the day off. So, I had the opportunity to take Cambry out to the Kids' museum. Our friends, Mike and his daughter Caroline, joined us. There were so many things to do there. I think Cambry was overwhelmed by it because she just wandered around for awhile. Eventually, she found these trains and got excited about them.

Cambry and Caroline directing traffic in the train yard. Yikes! 

Cambry started moving these chairs around and Caroline keep trying to sit in the chair that Cambry was sliding around.

Cambry was so excited about this contraption. She running round-and-round playing with the different beads.

Surprisingly, Cambry was really reserved around the water. Caroline 'dived' right in. She would place a ducky up on the ramp. Then launch it into the pool splashing all the kids around the pool. She would laugh so hard and look up at her Dad so proud of herself.

Cambry eventually warmed up to the water. She was real concerned about the uneven distribution of water. So, she went to work scooping water out of the tub and dumping it on to the ramp....and the floor and herself along the way.

They had this room full of balls and contraptions that moved, launched and dropped balls 

Cambers really excited about the contraption pictured above.

 Moving some quarters around... until some kids playing cops and robbers snatched them up.

Cambry was surprisingly good at stacking these blocks....

...and knocking them down.

Cambry and Caroline bustin' some moves.

Taking a short break from dancing.

One of the last thing we did was some drawing. At this point, Cambry was so exhausted. She didn't draw much. So, Caroline decided she would help. Cambry didn't seem to mind.

I had to add this picture of Caroline. It was too cute to leave out. Look at that concentration!

They had these "baskets" that over looked the first floor. It took a little coaxing to get Cambry out on one. Even then, she would only crawl out on to it and sit.

It was a good day at the museum - a good way to spend my day off.

The Rest of Utah

New Year's Day:

Cory and Noelle had Will's baby blessing, and the after party they also celebrated Derek's 16th Birthday.  Devin went to represent the fam and I stayed with the sicklings.

Sara and Noelle

Will, man of the hour

Rowe Family: Noelle, Cory, Lily, Ava, Will

Derek, with Lily and Trevor's help blowing out his candles

Grandparent Fun:

Grandma Beck makes the tower, 

Cambry loses her pants and knocks the tower over... Seriously, where are her pants?

Playing blocks with Grandma Rappleye

Had to throw this teenage dirt bag in here.  haha. love this kid

Grandpa Charlie teaching Cambry how to be a pyro

One more pic of the cute cousins

This was so funny watching these kids with and without Wii remotes playing just dance

Naturally Grandpa had to get in on the fun

FINALLY Jordan and Margaret made it to Utah.  They've been working in the Grand Caymans since July.  Thankfully we were able to see them for a minute before our trip was over.

Cambry putting a diaper on her bear.  She's quite the imitator these days. 

We were at Devin's high school friends' house Zac and Jana's house with Cat and Jonathan (bummer I never got a pic with them!) and Cambry pulled a chair on top of her down the stairs (that was fun).  After that, Zac made a little gate with the ladder.

Our last night in SLC at the temple with the Airharts.  It was so nice.  

We had such a great time in Utah. It was long enough that we were ready to come back home at the end.  For my own sake, I'm writing a list of things we did without a camera: Bikram hot sweaty yoga (loved it!), Visit the Trapnell Family, Dinner with high school friends Addie and Neighb (lize), lunch with Lynny, Devin lunch with Sam Westfall, Devin lunch with Keith, Game night with Jamey & Michelle, Jess & Mert, Paul & Charlotte, Steph & Braden, Lynny & Brian, and The Beck naturally, Abby Spencer baby shower, hair cut from Princess Kennedy with Jess and the Beck, and multiple hang outs with Jess, the Beck and Steph.

New Years Eve

We had the Frampton family party on New Years Eve, and of course we played some really fun games that no one has ever heard of. You were supposed to have one big person and one little person paired up, but there weren't enough little people, so Grandma and I decided we'd go ahead and win it together.

You were supposed to pick up your partner at some point like Jamey and Michelle....

Uh... that's as far as Grandma and I got

We got eliminated pretty quick since we couldn't do anything right... I'm supposed to be a diving board, and Grandma is supposed to be kneeling on the edge of the board, ready to spring into the water.

There was a big dispute to who won, so the leaders of the two teams (uncle Jason and aunt Coz) had to hold arms and sing "Love at Home" which was a rule in their house when siblings fought they were kids.

Devin stayed home from the party to take care of this sick little pup.  No wonder she's a daddy's girl.

In the evening, my favorite friends in the world -Steph and Braden Andersen came over to the Beck's house and we had a little party... mostly a laugh fest.  Love those times.  At our own New Year's time (about 10:30), we sent this giant Chinese lantern that the Andersens brought over up into the sky. Here are the two engineers at work.

Ready to lauch

Just craning our necks to watch it float away

Love this little one

We laughed so hard at this picture for about 5 minutes.  No one looks human in it. It was a successful night and we were in bed by 11pm.