Lake Powell

Julia did so well on the plane's...we had layovers in San Francisco both ways.

Julia checking out the Glen Canyon Dam in AZ....

Mr. and Mrs. Darke...It's official!

The Beautiful Bride and her Brother my Cousin Cory, rockin the Minister shirt. He did a great job!!

32 wks with My Little Sweetie Julia

A small little canyon that we checked out.

Julia and I got to experience Lake Powell for my Cousin Mandi's wedding on a beautiful private beach earlier this month. It was so fun I wish we could have stayed longer but we had to get back to Salt Lake for the rest of our vacation. That was my second time there and I can totally see why people go and spend a week there every year. Our trip there started out flying from here to San Francisco then to Salt Lake and then 1 day later driving down with my Parents to the Lake about 6 hours south. Julia had her "issues" like screaming at the top of her lungs when she didn't get her way. Yeah that was not fun, being trapped in the car for a long ride with a screamer. My Dad came up with a great way to handle that though. He turned up the music louder than I ever thought he would listen to music and after a few minutes of that she figured that she wasn't getting anywhere so as long as we didn't look at her she kept quiet till the next episode. Ahhh a 2 year old tantrum =) For the most part I will say she did pretty good but man, I can't stand that screaming for no obvious reason. On our way back to Salt Lake we stopped at Zion's National Park. It was SO beautiful!!! We spent about 4 hours there, we took the tour bus and got off at two spots to see the river and also weeping rock. I had been to weeping rock before when I was young but didn't know that it was part of Zion's. Next time when I am not 8 months pregnant we will have to go back and do some more hiking and checking things out. I really wanted to see the lakes I guess there are three of them. I know I could have made it to the 1st lake but time and energy didn't allow. Next time for sure =) The rest of the trip was great! I couldn't believe how much it rained. I love watching the rain and smelling the sweet smells of Summer rain storms. I sure wish I could spend more time. It is always hard to leave, and I never get to see and spend time with everyone that I want too.

On our way out of town overlooking the Lake

Yay Zion's Park

Julia and her Mema...

Julia and Papa...


Weeping Rock!




I could have sat here for hours listing to the water...I love that sound so much!

2 more months to go....

Well I am officially sporting a medium to large sized watermelon under my shirt now! These last few weeks have defiantly flown by. I can't believe I have 9 wks or less to go. My Sister Tiffany is in town visiting right now from Salt Lake and we have been having a lot of fun! On Wednesday we went up to my other Sister Kristen's house spent the night then hung out the next day. Julia and I are taking off for Salt Lake on Wednesday and can't wait! We are going for 8 days! YAY!!! We are really looking forward to going to Lake Powell for my Cousin's wedding on Saturday. I have only been to Powell once but it sure was fun! This time there will be no cliff jumping but I am sure I will have no problem floating in the water! =) Yesterday Tif and I took Julia to Target to register and that pretty much turned in to a nightmare! Some random Mom came up to me and with the most calm and sweet voice she said, "we have all been there." That for sure made me feel a bit better but I was still so frustrated and embarrassed. To say the least I ended up carrying her out of the store kicking and crying. This morning we thought we would take Julia for a walk before her nap. We got ready, and got her bike ready, opened the door and realized that it was drizziling, but we went anyways and she loved it!! I can't believe how well she rides that tricycle now. She is really growing up before our eyes. She will be 3 in a few months. What a trip! Where has the time gone?

31 Wks....

Sisters...Kristen Tif and Me

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!

We had our ultrasound this morning! Finally...I am 28 wks! It feels like we have been waiting forever! The baby looked great!! Strong heartbeat, good fluid, all the things you hope to see including the sex. She is a Girl! YAY!!!! Julia is really excited to have a baby Sister. I had her call my Mom on the cell phone after we found out. It was so sweet listening to her tell her Mema the exciting news! I know Julia will be great Big Sister! And I am excited to finally start thinking of names. Luke is excited as well. He had a really cute grin on his face when the Dr. confirmed it. He is going to be surrounded. Well now the fun begins! Shopping and Names??? Luke has already mentioned a few that will not be talked about any further. =) He of course was joking, I hope! So we will see. I am so excited to finally know. I had a feeling all along that it was a girl but it is great to finally know for sure, and being that it is Mother's Day weekend that is even better! Yay!!!


Can you see the baby's eye?



It's a Girl!!

3 more months to go....

Well it hit me this morning like a ton of bricks. I am going to have 2 kids in 3 short months!! I can not believe that it is that close! I woke up this morning in sort of a panic, wondering how Julia is going to take to the "new arrival." Have I taken, and given enough one on one time with just the two of us? Will she be mad at me?

I know that all siblings need some time to adjust but I want to make it as smooth as possible. With all of this weighing on my shoulders I decided we needed to go to the park and just have a great morning together! She has been wanting to go for a few days now but I pulled my back out on Monday, while washing and vacuuming my car. Can you believe that? I was feeling a lot better yesterday but we still never made it to the park. We did however make it over to Aunt Nancy's for a visit and as always had a great time! So today we made it! We went to "Panda Park" and had a great time! On the way home I surprised her by going and getting some frozen yogurt. It was at a place where you put it all together yourself and than they weigh it. Julia was so excited about getting to pick out all the toppings, all by herself! It was quite the concoction with M&M's, Jelly beans, Cookies and Sprinkles on top of Vanilla and Chocolate yogurt. I was just wanting to freeze time while I was watching her eat. She was so happy! She looked up at me and said "I love you Mama" with this big grin on her face. It was all I could do not to loose it right there. What a great memory! She is just so sweet!! Being her Mommy is truly a blessing! How lucky am I!!!!

Just an FYI... We are going to find out the sex of baby #2 on Thursday!!!! I am SO excited! I will post again then if not before. Have a great weekend everyone!!



27 wks...3 more months till the due date!

Earth Day at Balboa Park and Our Anniversary

Ok so funny story!! I have been planning to go to Earth Day in Balboa Park which is this HUGE festival with live music and tons of booths. I was planning this for a couple of weeks and for some reason I had it in my head that it was on Saturday. So we get in the car and we drive to Balboa Park which really is just about a mile away from the house but I wanted to park as close to the park as possible. So we are getting close and I see a parking space on the side of the road and I tell Luke we better just park here it is close enough. I mean I thought we were "lucky" to be parking where we did. So we start our journey down to the park and see so many open spaces along the way. Luke kept saying "see we could have parked closer." I thought wow that is pretty amazing that there is all these spaces open on what usually is a REALLY busy day! We get all the way in to the park after stopping to ride the train with Julia and our friend Dave and see all the booths but not many people around. Still not getting clued in we finally get to a kettle corn booth guy and ask him. He says "oh that's tomorrow" WHAT!! Are you kidding me? How could I have been mistaken on the day completely and still not get it until we were halfway through the park? Everyone had a good laugh with that one. I don't think I will ever live that one down.

Our Family enjoying the Botanical Garden

Riding the miniature train

Needless to say we went back the following day and there were TONS of people and NO parking. We ended up parking down from our house then hiking the canyon and walking to the park. It was a great day....but HOT...89 degrees! Poor Julia was just as red and sweaty as anything. I thought I was prepared with all the cold water and snacks that I brought but it was just too hot. We took a cab the rest of the way to the car. Which is another funny story. This is the only cabbie we saw and the guy had the heater on full blast and when our friend Lance asked him to turn it off he said "it would overheat" wouldn't you know the only cab and we have to sit in a boiling car on a boiling day. After we got home we had a nice BBQ. It was so good! It really was a great day with out little family and some really good friends!! Julia was down and out at 7:30 and me a 8. Luke couldn't believe I was going down that early but I was worn out! It was fun though!!


Julia lovin on our Friend's new baby girl...


Pretty Girl loves her bubbles....


Julia enjoying the live music...

Monday was our 6 year Anniversary! We had a babysitter and got to go out all by ourselves for an awesome Sushi dinner at our favorite restaurant in PB. It was SO nice to be out together just the two of us! I had no hands to wash but my own and no one to keep out of trouble. After dinner we went for a walk along the water then stopped and got some frozen yogurt on the way back to the car. We really need to get out together more and that just confirmed it! =) Julia had a great time with the babysitter, she gave us the biggest hugs when we got home. It was so cute! It is amazing what a couple of hours will do. Though I had a feeling that she was going to still be awake when we got back. She always seems to work that angle. Oh well, it was only 9. What a great night!!



Our YUMMY Sushi...

LOVE...

24 wks... I love this picture!!

Easter at the dome

We had a great time with Luke's Family up in the Desert for Easter. Julia had a great time spending time with her Cousins. Coloring the eggs took on a whole other meaning when we decided to let the kids dip there hands in to the rest of the dye. Needless to say they looked like they had Shrek hands.


I tried everything to get the color off! Thankfully the bubble bath that night took care of it!

Easter day was beautiful!! The day before it was really cold. Were talking Winter jacket cold, with the wind and all. So it was so nice to be able to hunt and not freeze. Dinner was SO tasty, being preggo, you know that is important! =)


After dinner we got to go up in the new plane. It was our first time in that plane and Julia LOVED it. She has been talking about "Papa's Mooney" for the last week! She loved it!

Julia during takeoff

The other plane in the picture is Luke's Brother and Mom

Looking out the window

This is a video of us taking off...

What we have been up to....

It has been a while since I posted anything so I just wanted to write a bit. Last weekend we went to the San Diego Indie Fest that was happening just up the street from our house. It was fun! Julia loved hearing the live music! She is for sure Daddy's girl. =)

One of the bands playing....

Julia loves to blow her bubbles...

I was dared to go up to this booth and take advantage of the free condom giveaway! My comment to the people behind the desk was "we don't want this happening again, anytime soon anyways" They got a good laugh and so did we! =)


Luke's Mom also came in to town for the day so we took her to Mission Beach to get some sea shells.


Having fun with Nana and Uncle Adam...

Showing Julia the shells....

Having fun in the sand...

Julia and Nana riding on the merry go round...

Me at 22 wks....