Adventures with Tracy...

I love my friends.
My parents often comment about how I have a "best friend" in every port, but I guess there is a bit of truth to that.  I have been blessed with incredible friends throughout my life and each of them have taught me so much and helped me get through several trials I've been faced with.  There's nothing I love more, than when friends I love so dearly come to visit.
 
I met Tracy back in the summer of 2007 through mutual friends from my Devonshire years.  It's weird to think that we really only had one year together before I got married to Dallas.  It feels like I've known her forever.  We definitely packed in our fun that year before I moved to California.  Every week we would do some kind of outing, whether it was shopping, dinner, movie, guitar hero, road trips, and even a cruise to Mexico.  I always had so much fun with her!

Over the past four and a half years of living in the Bay area, we've still been able to keep up our adventures, at least once a year, sometimes more.  She came out to visit the first year Dallas and I were married.  Then we met up in Santa Barbara and Disneyland the following year.  And I've also made a couple trips to Utah over the past few years.  But my favorite was when we met up in Florida for a week full of fun at Harry Potter World, Epcot Center, NASA, and Gatorland.  Great memories!
 I was VERY excited when she told me she was coming to town for a quick visit at the end of January/beginning of February!

The first day she arrived we ended up spending the afternoon at a yummy outside cafe in the sun catching up, playing with Daxton at the park, and doing a bit of shopping.  The second day we drove into San Francisco to the CA Academy of Sciences.   We met up with our friend Lisa and her daughter Maddie.  (Lisa and I lived together in New Zealand and I've blogged about her several times.  She and Tracy knew each other in a previous ward...small world!)   

Both Maddie and Daxton loved the inside Rainforest and Aquariums.

The Rainforest is protected in a three level glass dome and is kept at the exact temperature and humidity level of an actual rainforest.  My camera lens quickly fogged up at the beginning and took awhile to get adjusted to the new surroundings.  Butterflies, birds, frogs, and other animals move freely within the dome, so you have to watch carefully where you are stepping.  Daxton was fascinated by everything.

Each level has a different country of origin it's animals originate from.  As you walk the circles to the top you see several different fish, snakes, spiders, etc on display.  I love the endless light that streams through the solor lighting sytem on it's roof.  Gorgeous!

(Can you find Tracy?  Look for green pants!)

Watching the beautiful butterflies

We found this little cutie among the thick branches on our walk through the rainforest.

When you get to the top of the rainforest, you take an elevator down four stories to enter the aquarium.  It takes up the entire bottom floor of the Academy of Sciences and is Daxton's absolute favorite.

There is a really cool tunnel that is covered on three sides by a freshwater tank.  Daxton loved standing up against the glass and watching the humungous fish swim by.  I wish I could have known what he was thinking.  He was absolutely mesmerized.

(A big thank you to Tracy for snapping these next few pictures of Daxton, so I could make sure he didn't fall backwards off of the bench!  They turned out so adorably cute!)

My favorite picture below

 

After the fresh water tanks, they have several different salt water exhibits, touch pools, and large reefs to explore.  Maddie loved the touch pools, but kept wanting to lick her hands after!  I sure do love that girl!

My new favorite Jelly Fish...

Lagoon Jelly

 After the aquarium, we visited the Albino Alligator and then the African exhibit to see the penguins.  The penguins were so playful and kept swimming right to Maddie and Daxton in their strollers.

 

Maddie, Lisa, Me, Daxton, and Tracy at the entrance.

After the Academy of Sciences, Lisa and Maddie headed home.  Maddie was in need of a nap and Lisa (now pregnant again) needed one as well.  Tracy, Daxton, and I decided to explore Golden Gate Park a little more and ended up at the Japanese Tea Gardens.  Some of the water had been drained for maintenance purposes and the flowers weren't in full bloom yet, but it was still very pretty.  Daxton was in smiley form after having eaten as well.

My favorite bridge

After the Japanese Tea Gardens, we drove to Baker Beach for a beautiful shot of the Golden Gate Bridge and then through the Presidio to show her the National Cemetery for sunset.

We then made our way to Pier 39 for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, where we stopped to get yummy chocolates at Ghiardelli.  After dinner we swumg by daddy's work, gave him the chocolates, and made sure he had some quick kisses from his little boy.  Daddy's schedule has been insane with busy season and he's definitely missing little Daxton!

Such a fun day and it was only the beginning of our weekend!

My Little Brother's Getting Married!

My little brother, Stuart, is getting married in April.
We are all so excited for him, especially after meeting his fiancee, Angelica.  She's such a sweetheart and is so patient with all of his funny quirks.  It's been so much fun to see them together and get to see our Stuart actually show affection!  We can't wait for their big day and are excited to join them in Salt Lake for the festivities soon.

My older brother, Erik, is designing their wedding announcements, so Stuart and Angelica flew out to the Bay area for a fun weekend of photo shoots in January.  It was a quick weekend with needing to be back for their classes, but we loved being able to hang out with them and get to know Angelica a little better.

Angelica's on the BYU women's soccer team, which pretty much makes her "The Cat's Meow" to our nephew Lincoln.  When Links found out that they would be in town for one of his soccer games, he couldn't wait to show off some of his soccer skills.  Since his game was a couple hours away, Dallas and I came over to watch the rest of the kids, while Stuart and Angelica traveled with Erik, Heather, and Lincoln to his game.  Before they left, we thought it'd be funny to get a picture of them with little Olive and Daxton...just a little preview into their upcoming life events.  What cute parents they'll be in a few years!

Will had Daxton's name for Christmas and this shirt was one of the gifts he chose.  You can pretty much tell it's PRICELESS!  Nothing like a baby with chest hair to make you smile.  We figured it would be the perfect shirt to have Daxton wear as we babysat everyone.

"Really mom, more pictures!?"

I love how his little chompers are showing in the picture below!

My two little guys.

Daxton loves his cousin Will and I'm sure will learn a lot of priceless things from him in the future!

While babysitting, we took Rulon, Ellis, Will, and Daxton on an "adventure" around their neighborhood.  They showed us a fun rope swing over a cute little stream, their bamboo forest, a 'troll' bridge, and we ended at their local park.  We had a blast goofing off with them.

We climbed under the 'troll' bridge to throw rocks and look for bugs.

Daxton just watched curiously from his stroller and chewed on his toys.

Clayton is such a cute little town and has several beautiful walking paths.  We had so much fun exploring all the different trails on our way to the park.

The local park is downtown Clayton and has a fun children's statue at the beginning of it.  Rulon and Ellis had a blast showing me how to climb across the tops of the statue without falling.  They also showed me that one of the statues had a CTR ring on it's finger.  Pretty cool!

I absolutely LOVE Will's facial expressions!

Daxton wasn't so sure about the swings.  This was his first time and was still trying to figure out the balance.  He was also very interested in watching all the other children play around him.  After a while he warmed up to it though and didn't want to leave.

The next day Erik and I took Stuart and Angelica to the Tilden Park Botanical Gardens for their engagement pictures.  I'm so glad Erik let me tag along.  He's so talented and I love being able to watch him in his element.  Stuart was a great sport about the whole thing as well, which was HUGE.  Stuart pretty much hates getting his picture taken, but allowed us to spend over three hours getting different shots.  Good practice for their wedding day!

As we were leaving Tilden Park, Angelica mentioned that she had never seen San Francisco, so we took a quick drive to show her some highlights.

Golden Gate Bridge

Palace of Fine Arts

Fort Point

San Francisco National Cemetery

It was such a fun weekend with Stuart and Angelica.  It went by too quickly, but we loved getting to know Angelica better and see how truly happy her and Stuart are together.  We love them both so much and are so excited for this next step in their lives.  
We can't wait to see you both in April!
Love ya

Sweet Little Liam

Let me start this post by saying how grateful I am to have a knowledge of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I know that He loves us and knows us each individually.  I also know that He feels, in depth, our pain and sorrow, along with our joys and triumphs.  When tackling the trials in front of us, it is He who can lift us up and carry us when in need.

January was not an easy month.
A couple days after we had returned from Christmas break with my family in Washington, we received devastating news from my younger brother.  He and his wife were due with their third child, first little boy, the second week of January.  When Leisha went in for her 38 week appointment the doctors couldn't find a heart beat.  They immediately rushed her to the hospital to see what was wrong.  The very next day, little Liam Dee Adams was delivered, his sweet spirit having already returned to our Heavenly Father.

I have no words to express the sadness I feel for Richard and Leisha.  I can't imagine having to say hello and goodbye to a child, only holding him for a few moments.  Even with the knowledge we have of eternal families and knowing that they will be reunited with Liam again, I'm not sure how one "recovers" from something so tragic.

It also breaks my heart that losing a child/grandchild is not 'new' for our family.  We lost sweet Mara in September 2008.  I look at the bond that now connects Bryan, Heather, Richard, and Leisha.  What a comfort they find in each other.  And how sad that they are connected in this way.

My older brother, Erik, and I flew back up to Washington for the graveside service for precious Liam.  I decided not to take Daxton (for several different reasons) and was so grateful for the amazing friends who stepped up and watched him last minute while I was away and Dallas was working.  I missed him terribly, but was so grateful to be able to give my complete attention to Richard, Leisha, and their two perfect girls, Emma and Nora.  

When I arrived, Heather was already hard at work.  She had prepared a Spa day for all the little girls, complete with lotion, massages, and nail painting.  It was such a sweet way to allow Emma and Nora to have some fun in the midst of sadness.  The girls LOVED being pampered and had a blast with their cousins, Natalie, Katrina, and Sadie.

Heather massaging Emma and Nora's feet and hands.

Sadie and Emma showing off their nails.  As you can see...Sadie may have rubbed her face before her nails were dry!

Heather is a saint and even let Nora paint her nails...or should I say knuckles, with fluorescent pink nail polish.  Nora loved it!

Showing off their nails.

The graveside service for little Liam was kept to family only.  There was a light drizzle the entire time; Heavenly Father crying with us as well.  I tried to take as many pictures as possible for Richard and Leisha, hoping in some way I could help.  The flowers turned out beautiful (the white is tinted in the pictures due to the green covering set up to protect us from the rain.)  Bishop Adams (Uncle Jay) led the service and Bryan was asked to dedicate the grave.  It was a beautifully perfect dedication.

Milo and Tom (Leisha's brothers) and Erik and Bradley (two of my brothers) were asked to be the pallbearers.  It was heart breaking to see such a small casket being carried.

After the service there was a small luncheon at the church for immediate family members.  Leisha's sister, Shaila, had taken the most beautiful pictures at the hospital of Richard and Leisha's few moments with Liam.  The images turned out so perfect, but I'll only share his little foot print.  What an amazing gift to them.

After the luncheon, we all wrote little messages to Liam, put them inside balloons, and released them outside.  One last little goodbye.

I can't even begin to say how grateful I am to be sealed for eternity to my family.  I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing examples of Christlike love.

Today marks the two month anniversary of little Liam's delivery.  My heart is with Richard and Leisha at this time.  I know their angel Liam is watching over them and excited for everyone to be reunited again.  I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us.  I know that if we turn to Him, He will heal us of our heartache.  I am so grateful for this hope and understanding.

Next Generation of Whitts

A couple weeks ago we had the chance to hang out with our cousins on Dallas' side of the family, the Whitts.  It has been so much fun getting to know all of them and hearing stories from Dallas' youth.  Sam and Erin are Dallas' cousins from Virginia (Uncle Steve's children.)  We had a blast hanging out with Erin and her husband, Nate, when they came out to visit during the summer.  Daxton loved getting to know their son, Scott, as well.  In the Fall, Sam and his wife Erin (yes, his sister and wife have the same name...a little confusing) moved to the bay area.  Sam has been traveling a large amount of time between London and Palo Alto for work, so we were VERY excited when they invited us over for dinner.  Erin was also in town attending different medical appointments, so it was great to see her and catch up.

One of the highlights of the evening was introducing Daxton and Ken.  It's been so much fun to see the next generation of Whitt cousins interact.  At their age it was more staring at each other curiously, but it was pretty cute to see them together. 

  Ken is a couple months older than Daxton, but weighs about five pounds less.  He's super mobile, which was so weird for me to see.  Ken was super fast and would army crawl all over the living room.  Daxton, on the other hand, was totally content sitting and chewing on all his toys.  At one point he fell over and was even more content to let Ken crawl all over him.  I'm thinking we have a bit of a lazy baby on our hands!

Since we got together on a Thursday night, both Dallas and Sam had come straight from work.  They are both such cute daddy's and immediately were wrestling and giggling with their boys.

We had so much fun hanging out with everyone.
I feel truly blessed to have married into such an incredible family.
Thank you, Erin, Sam, and Erin, for having us over.  It was so great to see you all!

Like Father; Like Son

This picture melts my heart.

I am truly so blessed to have these two in my life!

Photo of the Week 61

I'm super far behind on blogging, I have all of January to catch up on.  Hopefully I'll get to most of it this week, but I highly doubt it!  

This weeks photo of the week was taken over the weekend while my good friend, Tracy, was in town visiting (I'll post more on our adventures together later.)  We had such a great time together, especially on our photo shoot.  She was the perfect model and patiently put up with me posing and fixing her hair every few minutes.  I sure do love her and count myself so grateful to call her my friend.

You're gorgeous, girl!