1st Visit!

We took the little man for his first visit to Disneyland in December.  I can already tell he is going to be a big fan.  We started with a long drive where he bonded with cousin Jake.  Jake would wave toys in his face to make him smile and hold his hand.  It was so cute.

We spent two days at Disneyland/California Adventure.  We got to see the new World of Color show and we loved it!  We also spent lots of time on one of our favorite rides, Toy Story!

We loved spending time with the family and introducing Brigham to the Happiest Place on Earth. He got his "1st Visit" button and first pair of Mickey Mouse ears.

We love going to Disneyland in December because it is completely decked out for the holidays.

We celebrated Jacob's and Mom's birthdays as well as an early Hicks Christmas.  My mom gave us our Mickey Mouse Christmas pajamas because it was the only time we were all going to be together during the holiday season.

We did our sibling gift exchange, ate cheesecake, got pedicures, went to the Lazy Dog and Yogurtland, and had a fabulous time together.  Brigham was a great little traveler on his first trip.  We loved taking him to one of our favorite places with some of our favorite people.

Another Month Already

Already another month has gone by.  I thought I was going to get better at this blogging thing, but apparently not.  Time just goes by too fast.  Brigham is growing so fast.  He had outgrown most of his 0-3 month clothes when he was only two months old.  I can't believe how fast he is changing.

He was blessed October 24 at my parents house.  Aaron's parents came all the way from California so he had all four of his grandparents there, a great-grandpa, two great aunts, two aunts and uncles, and some cousins there.  I think somehow he knew that he was going to be the center of attention, because even though he had a really rough night before  dealing with his first cold, he was so good and happy all day.  Thanks to everyone that came (and to those that couldn't, you were missed).




I love this picture of my boys.


One of the many things we love about the fall is BYU football.  We wear our BYU gear every Saturday to cheer on the cougs.


Aaron loves having someone to watch Saturday college football with him all day until they are too exhausted to watch anymore.


In addition to watching football with his dad, one of Brigham's new favorite activities is watching the mobile on his swing.  He is fascinated with it.







Aaron continues to enjoy his job.  I am enjoying being a mostly stay at home mom (I work about 6 hours a week at Provo Canyon).  We are enjoying the holiday season with our sweet little boy and are so incredibly grateful for him and the joy he brings to our life.

Happy Halloween!

What a Difference a Month Makes

I can't believe my baby is already a month old.  He arrived September 17 after 20 hours of labor.  We were so happy to finally have him here.  He spent 3 days of the first week of his life in this bed.  He made such a cute little glowworm, but he absolutely hated it by the end.  

By the end of his first week he was less yellow and we got rid of his tanning bed in time for him to enjoy his first football game with his dad.

We had lots of visitors starting with Julia and Jake for a week.  We absolutely loved having them here to play with us.  Jake wasn't quite sure what to think of Brigham but we were able to get a few pics of them together with some bribing.

From Barth Blog

There are so many reasons why I love it when my sister comes to town.  One of the many is that we share a love of photography so we love to take lots of photos and spend time editing them together.  Of course Brigham was the subject of most of our shots for the week, and we managed to get some great ones.  These are a just a few of my favorites out of the many we took (and a few are being saved for the baby announcement that I'm going to get out any day now).

From Barth Blog

From Barth Blog

From Barth Blog

We were lucky to have more visitors in the next few weeks and Brigham got to meet both of his great grandpas.

We've started to go on a few outings and went to the pumpkin patch over fall break to pick our own pumpkins (for our pumpkin carving contest) and try the donuts and ice cream.  Brigham slept through most of it, but we did get a picture when he was awake and imitating the kinds of faces his dad loves to make in pictures.

After a few weeks we managed to get some shots of our new little family, thanks to my sister-in-law Becca.

We can't believe how fast he is already growing and changing in just a short month.  We love him so much and are so grateful that he is finally here.

Summer Staycation

So I don't usually worry too much about catching up on past events, but I actually wrote this blog a few days before Brigham was born, but never actually posted it.  I figure since I went to the trouble, I might as well post it a few months late.

I heard on the news the other day that the word staycation was added to the dictionary this year.  The definition on dictionary.com is:  a holiday in which leisure activities are pursued while staying at one's own home.  Perfect description of two weeks of our summer.  We wanted to take one last trip before Johnny went on his mission, but with everyone's crazy summer schedules it just didn't work out.  So we took a Disney trip in April and then planned a week and a half of activities that we could do close to home in August before he left.

Our first weekend of fun included Brick Oven, bowling, sleepover, Mariokart, J-Dawgs, miniature golf, Inception, shopping, frozen yogurt, and mom's meatloaf.

From Staycation

Monday we celebrated Johnny's birthday with a trip to Texas Roadhouse, some more wii, and dunford donuts.

From Staycation

Wednesday my mom and sister threw me the cutest Winnie-the-Pooh themed baby shower for some old ward and high school friends. Everything was fabulous from the food to the decorations. They even made tigger tails (chocolate covered marshmallow skewers) like they sell at Disneyland (and we always want to buy, but refuse to pay the money).

From Staycation

Friday was Aaron's graduation!  He finished class in June and started his new job as assistant principal at Vista Heights Junior High in Saratoga Springs on July 1.  We are so proud of him! 

From Grad

Sunday was the big missionary farewell for baby brother John.  He did such a great job on his talk and has worked really hard to be prepared to serve a mission.  He is super excited (if you can't tell from the picture). 

From John D

 
We managed to squeeze in another fabulous baby shower with family, lots of good food, some photo shoots, and quality family time at my parents house before Julia and Jake had to go home and Johnny went into the mtc.  We miss them already.

Brigham James

Brigham James Barth decided to come into the world on September 17 at 3:15.  He weighed 8 pounds and is 20 1/2 inches long.

We couldn't be happier!

Like Comin' Home

From Ranch

One of the highlights of our summer was going back to the ranch, one of my most favorite places in the world.  I love this place for so many reasons and it was a great feeling to be able to come back and remember all the good times we had there as well as create new memories.

My mom, Julia, and I were the reunion committee which was a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well.  Our first big responsibility once we got to the reunion included putting on our old wrangler uniforms and hosting our "Bodell Bash."

From Ranch

It ended up being a combination of the newlywed game, name that tune, finish the lyrics, minute to win it, and the amazing race.  We had a blast watching our cousins do crazy things.

From Drop Box

In addition to the Bodell Bash, we added some new activities that we hope become reunion tradition including Brandy's waxing station, a digital scrapbooking class, and a Mario Kart tournament that Aaron and Tiffany hosted...

From Ranch

...and Aaron won.

From Ranch

We also kept a lot of the traditional family favorites including  basketball, volleyball, swimming in the lake, a talent show with a bit of a surprise from the aunts & uncles, night games, and campfire time with stories and smores.

From Ranch

And of course we couldn't end the reunion without a "barn dance."

From Ranch

I spent most of time in my regular old spot at the DJ table with my little friend.

From Ranch

Aaron returned to his role as king of the hamster dance.

From Ranch

And we had a fabulous time.

From Ranch

Thank you to grandma and grandpa for making it possible for us to come back!  Thank you to everyone that helped with activities and put so much preparation into making them great.  Thanks to Stephen and Caleb for designing the great t-shirts.  And thanks to everyone for making it such a great reunion.

We also managed to squeeze in some fabulous photo shoots of the McCorveys, Bodells, Camden, Lauren, and Libby.  To see a few of the highlights you can check out our photography blog here.

Favorites

Some of my favorites from the past 6 months during my blogging break...

1. Visits from the sister

and playing with this little guy.

2.  Giving a Day

to get a day...(and a few more)

so we can enjoy this

and this.

3.  Cruisin' in Mexico,

taking over tables to play hand and foot,

enjoying the local artwork in Puerta Vallarta,

and the food,

and the company (in our new sweatshirts we won for being trivia champions).

4.  And last but not least...Aaron finishing school!  He passed his comprehensive exams and all his classes with flying colors and got a job as an assistant principal at the new junior high in Saratoga Springs.  So proud of him!  Official graduation will be in August.