The Bushman Blog

Any day now...

2012-01-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

(pulling out all the baby clothes makes me so happy!)

This girl is coming any day now and I could not be more excited! In part to the fact that my body can't take any more pregnancy. I am achy and huge and uncomfortable. Saturday is the big day unless she decides to come earlier. Matt's mom comes in on Wednesday so I am hoping she stays in until then!

Here are a few pictures of her nursery. Complete with too many DIY projects.:) A lot have been refashioned from G's nursery. I have been a crazy pregnant nesting woman, and lucky for me I think Matt caught the bug too. For some reason I think it's necessary to organize and clean every drawer, prepare and freeze meals, take on every project I've ever wanted to do because I may not have time once the baby is here. ;) You get the idea. I have been wearing myself out a bit but It's actually been really fun. I never thought I would be able to say it but I think we are ready. Ready as we can be!

I can't tell you how much I love this mirror. Thrifted for $6 makes it even more beautiful. :)

The chandelier (wax paper + string) was another pinterest tutorial, guess how much it cost me? $3.

Just don't ask how long it took. :)

I've been making a lot of hair accessories. SO fun!

The happy big sister. The word is from my ultra sound tech Dr. Smith that this baby girl is going to be big. Staring at her chubby thighs made it more believable, but everyone assures me that they can be off. Then I saw my OB Dr. Goff on Friday and the first thing he said was that this girl is going to be big! :)

Ha ha, so we will see in a few days! I can't wait to kiss her chubby little face.

big girl

2012-01-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

Soon to be big sister, I am unsure how much she understands but she says often,

"...baby sister coming!"

She is going to love having a little friend,

and is getting in a lot of practice with her dolls.

Here we have Princess Grace. She cracks me up! What a girl.

Now that she is going to be a big sister she needs a big girl room.

Matt and I worked hard on her headboard, I've always wanted to have a tufted headboard but considering the outrageous prices had ruled it out. Then I saw this tutorial on pinterest and decided to model it after this

one that I found on urban outfitters. Yay for smart, crafty people! I already had some of the more expensive materials to make this and found some amazing fabric on clearance so for me it was very inexpensive to make. We also have fabulous friends who helped us with the jigsaw and other tools that we have not been able to invest in yet. Good thing Matt is great with power tools, I couldn't have done this project without him!

Ever since Grace was about 18 months she has been obsessed with looking at pictures and naming people in the family. I thought this was the perfect thing for the wall in her room.

We are so far away from family and I hate the thought of her forgetting who they are so

this keeps everyone fresh in her mind, she LOVES naming everyone!

I sized the pictures to Polaroids and had them printed at Sams.

Such inexpensive and meaningful wall art! I love it.

Her duvet cover was another issue. I can't believe how much these babies cost! Ridiculous. So thanks again to pinterest I found a tutorial to fashion this after a ruffle duvet I've been looking at for quite some time. I made them from $15 queen size sheets and I was so happy with the outcome! Totally worth it. I still need to cover a few pillows that I already have, but this is a beginning.

Now Grace is officially ready to be a big sister. :)

visitors

2012-01-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

Grace trying out her new bike, which is still a little big but
come spring I think it will fit her perfectly.

Is there anything better than having visitors? I think not. Especially when they are as fun as
Ben and Laura are. I was so happy they decided to make a trip of it and sleep over!
We had way too much fun,both Matt and I were super sad when they had to leave.
Here are a few pictures of their visit:

The boys decided to go exploring behind our house, it was pretty awesome. ;) It was such a warm day so we spent most of it outside. Ben and Laura brought their awesome soccer goals. It was really refreshing, we are reminded again how much we love an Oklahoma winter.

We ate a lot of really fun holiday food, and stayed up late talking

(um, yeah somewhere after two in the morning) it was the best. We love them so much!

funny moment...the result of Madeline with an over-sized stick...

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of baby Dalton! Must be pregnancy. :)

Good thing we'll see them in a few days for his blessing day. Hooray!

christmas 2011

2011-12-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Card

Christmas.

It was a splendid one, I think Matt and I were more excited than Grace on Christmas morning.

It was magical for us to watch how happy she was!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve (my very favorite part of Christmas)

with all of the build up for the big morning.

We ate delicious food and sipped eggnog while we

learned more about Christ's birth and shared our feelings of Him.

We opened Christmas pajamas and it was off to bed for the little one while

we excitedly set everything up for the next morning.

Christmas lights, this is definitely a tradition now.

Christmas morning.

The little one slept until around 7:30, we were up earlier getting ready for church (we had 9 a.m.)
in hopes that our morning would feel a little more relaxed.
She played with her gifts from Santa Claus right up until we left for church and loved every minute.
There were a few tears as we left. :)

Church was wonderful, I loved being reminded on the day of the reason of Christmas.

We ate a big breakfast when we got home and enjoyed the rest of the day opening presents and talking with our parents and siblings.

Thanks to all of our friends and family we were WAY spoiled this year
(you know who you are, thank YOU!)
Grace had so many presents but we were happy to see her play with each gift after she opened it,
she really loved all of them!
We didn't finish opening presents until late Christmas day.

It was fun to spread it out and just enjoy it.

That night we went to our friends for a delicious Christmas dinner. We loved it.

Grace was really happy about her princess doll from Luke and Sam.

All of the excitement of baby girl bushman coming so soon

slightly overshadowed the season, but not too much.

We really missed our family, but it ended up being a wonderful Christmas.

Here is a little video that captures a bit of the magic of our Christmas this year.

We hope your Christmas was filled with happiness!

Happy third anniversary to us...

2011-12-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

I can't believe another year has gone by, it seems as though we just celebrated our second year of being married. Crazy. We were just talking the other day about how it feels like we have been married for forever. I scored and Matt was nice enough and agreed to take a few anniversary pictures with me, although he looked a little confused and asked, "anniversary pictures?" ha ha poor guy!

Honestly, being so huge I haven't been in the picture taking mode either, but it was actually a lot of fun and I'm excited to keep it going until we are old and wrinkly.

(our little ring bearer was pretty excited about this picture)

Lucky me, I married such a handsome guy. :)

I remember so well exactly how I felt when I knew that Matt was the perfect one for me to spend eternity with, I remember it well because it is the same feeling of reassurance I still have so often.

It usually comes during random moments of the day,

whether it be watching him play and laugh with Grace or when he makes me laugh until it hurts.

When I was single I remember my aunt Sherri telling me one day that I just needed to find someone that I could laugh with, because life gets challenging. That was precisely the thing that stood out most when I first started dating Matt. I would come to him after a long day of work with 7 year-old children and tell him about some of the hard moments of my day, and by the end we were usually laughing so hard I forgot all about how frustrated I felt. He makes life so fun, and if you have ever heard him

laugh you understand how lucky I am to hear it everyday.

Ironically, this great quality is the very thing that has carried us through: almost the entire three years of law school (woo hoo!), moving more times than I care to think about, almost two babies (yay!), definitely two pregnancies, two miscarriages, work, photography, living as students below poverty level :), and all the adjustments that come with living in a new state.

As I look at past three years I can't help but feel overwhelming gratitude. All of the things I just listed have been such cherished blessings and have brought us much closer than I could have imagined. I am amazed everyday at how hard Matt works. It takes a lot to keep up amazing grades, work to provide financially for us, and take so much time to spend with us as a family. I can't count the number of times he has told me to sit down and relax while he cleans the house until it is spotless. I have always felt encouraged to pursue my interests, he really has brought out the very best in me. I honestly could go on and on, but I'll sum it up by saying three years ago today I received the greatest gift...so perfectly fit for me.
I love you so much Matt, thanks for making my dreams come true.

Christmas-ing

2011-12-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

We are loving this holiday season so far. I thought I would hate being so pregnant at Christmas time, but luckily I have enough energy to keep up with fun activities and little enough slow down and spend more time soaking it all in. I am completely a tradition kind of person,

and this year we will be having our own Christmas so I am thrilled to start.

We are loving the excitement of receiving christmas cards and packages (thanks mom!) in the mail. There is just nothing like this time of year.

I thought President Monson really nailed it when he said

Christ gets lost in Christmas, we are trying to study more about Him and his

characteristics this season as part of a new tradition.

These are some cookies we made and delivered to dear friends, so fun!

Grace has the cooking bug lately, it's cute she has now become my big helper when I try and cook anything. She likes to pretend with a variety of sprinkles. She had me taste "it" about ten times and asked what I thought. Ha ha, she makes me laugh.

Our stockings...

( I know.. msg :) thankfully, I bought another cute letter that we'll add next year)

Our Christmas countdown!

I had so much fun making it, this is where a lot of our fun traditions come into play.

Each day we do a Christmas activity.

It has been so much fun really introducing Grace to Christmas for the first time. We've checked out a lot of fun books from the library to help her understand and she loves them!

I can't wait to see her on Christmas morning. :)

Our singing girl

2011-12-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

This picture makes me happy.

Miss Grace is quite the singer these days, as I have previously documented. Here is a little sampling for you, although I must say for some reason she wasn't as into it as usual. (curse of pulling out the camera) You'll get the idea though. :) Her personality is one of a kind.

(for whatever reason, she is mildly obsessed with this song:)

Yes, a microphone is on the Christmas list for this girl.

47 days...

2011-12-12T12:42:00.000-08:00

...6 weeks + 5 days to be exact and our princess girl will be HERE. It's been awhile since I've taken a picture of my growing tummy, so Matt was kind enough to take some for me.

He is quite the photographer, no? :)

I've been doing pretty well all things considered. I have had a couple rough days lately with my sciatic nerve pain, but other than that I've been feeling good!
My cute friend Tracy is going to take more 3D pictures next week,
can you tell I am just a tiny bit excited to find out what she will look like? :)

I just finished up all my photography sessions so I am hoping I will have oodles of time to nest and get this little girls nursery done. All I can say is thank goodness we are having another girl, I don't know how in the world we would be able to afford another wardrobe...blessings. Another blessing is that I will have the hubster around to help me, as of this Thursday morning he is DONE until January 9th. HOORAY for that!

Here's to a healthy and productive 6 weeks. Crossing my fingers.

celebrating

2011-12-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

I believe in celebrating, especially when it involves the ones you love the very most and food. :)

Today I made a mint grasshopper ice cream pie, mmmm. We are celebrating a huge success on a huge law test for Matt and for Grace, NO MORE DIAPERS!

We bought her a book about going potty and suddenly she is super interested.

The princess underwear came out today, and hopefully are here to stay.

Finally, we are celebrating this beautiful little girl...

Oh boy, I can't wait to meet her! My induction date is January 28th 7:00a.m.

If she decided to come earlier I wouldn't complain, just not too early.:)

a wedding post

2011-12-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

After three and a half hours of enduring a root canal this morning this couple was just what I needed to make my day! They are so fabulous and you can see more of them here!

deck the halls

2011-12-02T17:26:00.000-08:00

We've been having way too much fun getting Christmas up this year.

We watched it's a wonderful life, ate cinnamon rolls,

and laughed at Grace's excitement over the lights as we decorated the tree.

She is loving every minute of this holiday hoopla,

and we are reminded again of how magical children can make holidays.

I love Christmas more than anything.

thanksgiving break

2011-11-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

Grace is pretty much becoming a professional at this flying thing. She did a-mazing. I was super happy about how well she did, and Matt being with us made it even better. She had a good time exploring the windows and talking with people behind us, telling them all about a lion story. :)

Christa and Lexi picked us up and on the way to Payson Grace kept saying,

"Madi, EXCITED!" She loves her little cousin buddy.

As different as their temperaments are they play really well together, Madi is such a fun little thing.

This was a little game they decided to play, all the adults piled in and we turned off the lights. They came and found us and would both scream and run around the room for a minute or two. Pretty silly stuff, but surprisingly very entertaining.

As always, Grace loved her time with Aunt Ashley. She is so nice to always take the time to play.

Here they are talking on their phones to eachother. :)

One of my favorite nights at the Bushmans was when Mckay put together an Amazing Race for everyone. SO much fun! He did an excellent job with the clues, I have never played before but I think we should make it a tradition from now on.

Alpedio came to the house to visit our last night with the Bushmans. He is so awesome! We had such a fun time sitting around the table and chatting with him. He brought some awesome Columbian t-shirts for Matt and Neil. I totally forgot to get a picture of them wearing them, but they were sweet. Boston loved Alpidio, and he was really cute playing with him.

{Roberts time}

It was so fun to be with my family, I always forget how much I miss them until I see them again. We had a delicious Thanksgiving (my mom is amazing I tell you) my favorite part was talking about what we were thankful for. It has been an eventful year for our family, so I loved hearing their feelings. We have so much to be grateful for!

I love this picture of Jesse because it is so typical, I have never a seen young kid have such a way with children. Grace fell in love with him all over again!

My mom's pies are incredible. I feel so lucky to inherit all of her recipes,

many of which also came from my Grandma Hadfield.

We all have a sweet tooth so this is definitely one of the best parts of Thanksgiving for us!

Grace and Owen playing in the leaves

The wheelchair is a big hit for the kids, it was so funny to watch Grace ask for a ride and then yell, "weeeee!" ha ha. Just another way that Grandma is so much fun.

We had so much fun playing games that night! Scott and Brittany were there with Brittany's roommate and my mom was nice enough to do a thanksgiving activity with Owen and Grace so we could all enjoy ourselves.

We had fun going to The Chocolate in South Jordan. It was heavenly.

We decided to do a little photo shoot while we were at it, check it out here.

{Jen's Baby Shower}

My mom and I ventured to Provo one night to go to my friend Jen's shower. This is her first, a little girl and I am soooo excited for her. Girl showers are always so much fun. Her sister Heather is a hoot and did an awesome job entertaining. I miss my Jen so much and can't wait to see how cute her little girl is, she is bound to be incredibly adorable.

(Pregnant with girls, Jen is 37 weeks and I am 31.)

What a fun trip we had! We won't be going out for Christmas,

so I am so happy that we were able to spend time with family and friends.

We'll be missing everyone, so I guess you'll just have to come out to see the new arrival in January. ;)

november wedding

2011-11-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

We had such a fabulous time in Utah visiting our family,

and of course enjoying the main event the wedding of Matt's beautiful sister Lexi

...now Mrs. Johnson! ;)

I couldn't love these two individuals more. Weddings are so SO much fun. We woke up to snow, it was so beautiful! It was a gorgeous day, and was surprisingly warm.

Can you just see the love all over their faces? They were radiating pure happiness.

The sealing was performed by Elder Christofferson. It was beautiful, he and he wife are extraordinary people. The sealing was by far my favorite part of everything that day.

Here we are with the couple of the day, don't mind my huge 31 week pregnant body.

Luckily, I felt fantastic and full of energy until the end of the day.

I was worried how I would hold up. :)

Grace was so funny, she had everyone laughing during our family pictures after. I am not sure what inspired it, but she kept yelling, "touchdown!" at the top of her lungs. I guess that is a good Bushman analogy for what had just taken place. Ha ha, I will have her to thank for our natural smiles.

Regan playing with Grace on the right, she has so much uncle/aunt love. :) Christa told us later she kept pointing to the angel moroni and acting as though she had a trumpet in her hand said, "do do do dooo!" Apparently she performed that quite a bit . I really need to get video of it, it's super cute.

Watch for a full wedding post on the photography blog sometime in the next few weeks...

{Reception}

Christa did such a fantastic job on the reception. I am not posting pictures now of how gorgeous it was, but trust me it looked fantastic. We had fun setting up the day before, the best part was just being with family and seeing so many good friends.

Grace was ALL OVER this wedding thing. I think she thought Lexi was a real princess.Which she basically was. :) She kept saying, "Lexi married!" in her most excited voice. As you will see below she couldn't get enough of her flowers, dress, and jewelry. Everything was, "beeeautiful!" Grace and Madi had a good time running around together.

Isn't little Boston so adorable?!

All of the girls...

After Lexi danced with her dad she danced with all of her brothers, and brother-in-law Bryan.

It was sweet. Grace decided she wanted to cut in at the end.

Alpidio even cut in! He is so awesome, we all love him. A funny memory of the night.

Jill Jensen, Matt's fun cousin with her family on the left. Aren't her boys adorable?! On the right my brother Scott with his girlfriend Brittany. They are so cute.

The only sad thing of the wedding was that Brooke, Troy, Jackson and new baby Clara weren't there. We really missed them, it helped a little seeing her dad and sister.

They are great people and we had a great time chatting with them!

Matt taught Alpidio on his mission, he even brought his entire family. They are the most kind and loving people you can imagine. It was fun to see them and spend some time.

{Wedding Dinner}

Here are a few pictures of the wedding dinner at Molly's the Friday evening before.

It was lovely and the food was SO good!

Landon got it all on video...

It was really fun to finally meet Brad's family.

My uncle Phil is a next door neighbor to Brad's parents, so it was fun to have a connection.

My aunt has known Brad for a long time and assured me he is a keeper. ;) We think so too.

His parent are really fun.

As you can tell, I just kind of love Boston. :) He's my buddy, I love how he is so chill and all smiles!

being a girl

2011-11-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

{since her little dress up time a few days ago, these pearls have not left her body. except for sleep.

they are the first thing she asks for when she wakes up and out of the bathtub.}

I love being a girl. I love all of the superficial parts, dresses, makeup, mani's and accessories.

BUT. I also cherish the qualities and characteristics that define women. I love that the role in my family, among many things is to nurture and support and I wouldn't want it any other way.

It is quiet, strong and beautiful.

I am also thankful that I have so many women to look to who are feminine, happy, and strong.

I am thankful my mom taught me the joy of being a woman and embraced

her role with her whole heart.

Being a girl does have its challenges,

despite my many moments of complaint throughout the years

I wouldn't trade it.

Feeling this little girl inside of me is such an honor and a sacred blessing.

Being (pregnant) and a mother has definitely made me softer,

just the way a woman should be I think.

Today I am thankful to be a girl and thankful

that very soon I will have two of them to call my own.

(I must add that I am NOT thankful for earthquakes or tornadoes, we have had too many for my liking this past week. So Dear Earth, please calm down.
You might cause me to have a heart attack if you keep this up.)

pastime

2011-11-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

I always tell Matt that I have one request when we take the plunge and buy a home someday,

a stand alone bathtub.

Preferably one with a chandelier, for some reason I want a fancy bathroom.

Taking a bath, for me is one of the most relaxing and wonderful activities in the world. Even with the smaller tub we have now I get really excited about it every time. I can't articulate why exactly it is that I love it so much but it is one of the simple pleasures of life I could not do without. Maybe one reason is that it is a time where I get to be alone (imagine!) and relax.

Now that I am pregnant, I am even more thankful and find myself aching (literally) for my tub time.

photo via

a month of thanks

2011-11-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

I love November for so many reasons, (crisp air, christmas/thanksgiving displays everywhere, fall colors, amazing food, cozy clothing, time with family...)

but for me, a chance to notice the small blessings in my life is the very best among them. It will be a crazy month, but as often as I can I want to document here a few of the things that bring me joy at this particular time in my life.

first up, one-on-one time with this girl.

It won't be long now before we will be joined by

another little princess.

I have been thinking a lot about this,

and how much I have loved these two plus years with our

family of

three.

I have tried to treasure even more the simple moments with my Grace.

It is a unique time that I have to spend with

just her.

I love her more than I ever knew I could.

I am so thankful for all of the moments, tantrums and laughter.

All of it.

I know our new little bundle of joy will only

expand the happiness

found in our family, but for now I will savor the way it is.

Because it is wonderful.

(one of my favorite small moments, playing on our bed)

welcoming dalton

2011-11-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

{Dalton Merrill Roberts}

8 lbs 4 oz

20 1/4 inches

and cute as a button!

I could die he is sooo loveable.

Ben was doing his rotations in Philadelphia during baby Dalton's arrival, he missed it by five days! Poor guy. Laura was fantastic, what a strong lady. She is amazing I tell you.

We haven't seen Ben in so long, it was great to visit and play this weekend. He was so tired as he drove home from Phili (24 hour drive) on three hours of sleep! Crazy. I guess he was pretty excited to see this little boy and his family after two long months. We loved, loved, loved every minute with these people. I sometimes wonder how I am so blessed to have the family (and in-laws) I do.

Lucky us, we live so close we get to see them along with my parents later this week.

What a fun weekend.

happy halloween!

2011-11-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

{my happy little scarecrow}

Grace loved every bit of this Halloween, just as I thought.

She loved saying, "trick-or-treat!" and running around all dressed up

...and of course the sugar. :)

A little girl in our ward dressed up as Ariel and Grace could not leave her alone!

She followed her around the entire night,

I'm pretty sure she was convinced she was the real deal.

We hope yours was just as spooktacular!

fall

2011-10-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree."

-emily bronte

I think Grace loves fall as much as I do.

We took our family pictures this weekend, yet another reason to love autumn.

pumpkins, pumpkins

2011-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, fall. Please stay forever. That is all.

here are a few favorites of our fall so far...

watching grace experience carving pumpkins for the first time = best moments ever.

She kept saying, "HAPPY!" That about sums it up for me too.

What else makes me happy? I am 25 weeks. Third trimester, here we come!

I am ready, i think.:)

grace girl

2011-10-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

(here she is, in awe of a bird:)

We finally just had her two year check up at 25 months. She hates, I mean hates the doctor. I swear she has some sort of phobia but I have no idea where it came from. We both definitely endure those visits! She came out, through all of the screaming and crying weighing 27 something...
(she wouldn't hold still enough) and is 34 inches tall.

Ah, my growing girl.

These pictures will help me demonstrate the other ways she is growing up.

She LOVES airplanes. (Shown left.)

Everytime we see one she lets out a quiet, "wow" followed by a loud "a plane, a plane!"

She is happy. SO happy.

I find it hard to be down when I am around her she is always full of smiles and laughs.

She is funny. Really funny!

The other day we sat down for dinner and she put her arm around Matt and said,

"Nice to see you, buddy!" ha ha. Priceless.

She loves to dance.

If I am busy on a project or something she will often come in and grab my hands and say, "dance!"

It brightens my day.

She loves to sing.

She amazes me how she will remember words to songs that I sing to her.

She loves to sing really loud!

She has the greatest laugh!

If you don't know her well, you've probaby never heard it but let me tell you it is something to behold. I really need to get it on video sometime. This feature is best demonstrated during tickle wars, which she often initiates. Super fun.

She loves to color and does it well.

That's right, I am already oozing over her artwork. :) She has a lot of patience for it.

She is a STINKER.

Her favorite thing for the past few months has been running away from me as fast as she can when we are out doing errands. This has made it rather difficult to get much accomplished. She will yell, " I'm fast!" and she is too. Most of the time I about have a heart attack because in a couple of seconds she is already at the other side of the store. Crazy girl. Luckily, with some discipline she is getting A LOT better. I decided that it definitely will not work with a new baby! Now before we go into every store on her own she will say, "..no no run!" ha ha makes me laugh. Poor girl is already getting lectures.

She loves books.

She loves the library, her picks are usually elmo and anything with a princess.

She still eats well, really well.

A couple of weeks ago we were grocery shopping and I decided to get a few donuts for Matt, just to brighten his day. :) On the drive home I could hear grace in the back saying, "yummy....yummy" I guess I was kind of out of it because it took me a minute before it registered. Confused, I looked in the back seat only to see a chocolate covered girl and about a fourth of a donut left in her chubby little hand. I had no idea how she got it out of the box as it was fairly out of reach and how she ate it so fast. I almost had to pull over I was laughing so hard. She thought it was pretty funny too. :)

She loves princesses and dressing up!

She can name all of the princesses. Her little cousin Madi got her an adorable little doll with different outfits, she loves to change them. She likes to dress up with my jewelry, hats, and whatever hse can find. She also likes to help Matt and I get ready by helping us with our shoes.

My favorite thing about Grace is that she is loving and enthusiastic.

She constantly gives me hugs during the day and says, "la-loo" (love you!) she is so excited about life that it is contagious. Without fail she always greets me with a happy hello.

I just love my sweet girl!

As a side note, I can't BELIEVE we are almost halfway through October. It's kind of freaking me out! I feel like I have so much to do. I finished her Halloween costume which I am so excited about, but I feel like between this little girl coming in three months and with the holidays,

I have endless projects!

I am managing however, to enjoy this beautiful fall weather, I love the fall in Oklahoma.

The pumpkin patch is calling my name this weekend!

utah visit

2011-10-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

This past week I went to visit my family in Utah. My sister was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, (a slow growing benign brain tumor) so I was able to go out and spend some time with her kids during her surgery/recovery. We are so thankful everything went well, she has had some complications since the surgery but we are hopeful she will feel normal soon. The experience was definitely a bitter sweet one. It was so fun to see my brother Jesse and to remember again what great friends we are and what an amazing person he is.

Can you imagine how much I loved seeing this sweet girl again? I can't even believe how much she has changed in just a month! I had to remember who I was looking at. She is adorable.

She was the happiest baby! I soaked up every minute with her,
even the middle of the night feedings.

She is just the sweetest thing you could imagine.

Grace and Owen had plenty of time to play. They are the sweetest buddies. When they saw each other it didn't take long before they were hugging, kissing, and screaming.

Picking grandpa's crab apples.:)

Jesse is the sweetest uncle ever. He is a natural with children, they all love him. Can't you see why? One of my favorite moments was walking into the kitchen

and he was making up a song and singing it to Tenley. Darling.

The first hour at my parents he and Grace just chased each other around and laughed and played. He left on his mission the day she was born. I remember calling him when we were on the way to the hospital. This was the first time they had met. They are good friends already. :)

Watching conference...

Grace actually watched quite a bit! She would laugh at all of the funny parts as if she totally knew what they were joking about. Ha ha, she cracks me up.

Both of these pictures make me smile. So so SO cute.

Oh boy, I am already missing them so much!

I was able to get out and take some bridals for my sister-in-law Lexi Saturday night. We had so much fun! We made it an official girls night and went out to eat after. I'm so thankful I love my in-law family. Grace had a good time Thursday night sleeping over with her cousin Madi at Grandma Bushmans house. They watched Enchanted and danced together, such cute girl cousins! Apparently she also wanted to sleep in the big bed with Madi :)

Grace came along too, and as you can see she had a pretty good time. :)

to see her bridals click HERE

Matt and I have never spent a night apart since the day we were married. Can you believe that?

To say I missed him, and that I was excited to see him is the understatement of the century. :)

21 weeks

2011-09-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

(next time I will make sure Matt takes the pics so I can get better shots:)

....um, well technically I am 21 and a half weeks. You know how huge those half weeks are. :)

I haven't wrote much about this pregnancy so far, I guess because I don't feel like there is much to tell. But, I realize how quickly I forget things and so I thought I would write down a few things. I was only sick until week 13, unfortunately for me it begins hard at about week 4...yikes.

Other than being extremely tired most of the time and occasionally feeling like I can't move because my bones are adjusting (and causing me a lot of pain) I am good. I would take almost anything over nausea so I am counting my lucky stars to be done with that.

The highlight has been feeling her move. Love it so much. I started to feel her at 16 weeks, now her movement is just more frequent and more intense.

My favorite food this time around is Mexican, hands down. I crave it all of the time.

Here is the little cutie a couple of days ago. I think she is beautiful.

Matt tells me only a mother could think that about a sonogram picture. Probably true.:)

The main difference I have felt this pregnancy is I have been really emotional. WAY more than I ever remember being with Grace. I cry over everything...you know the movie Shreck 3? Yep. Every letter I read from my little brother it makes me cry, songs in the car, you name it. Matt laughs at me quite a bit, but it's okay because usually I am laughing with him.

Oh but I guess pregnancy has good things too,

better skin and hair--I will take whatever I can get. :)

Mostly, I just feel calm and happy. Anxious to hold this little girl in my arms.

buddies

2011-09-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

(dancing on sunday afternoon, so cute)

The other day Matt was telling me how much he loves the stage Grace is in right now. He said with a huge grin on his face, "...I love that she is my little buddy." Grace is really sweet with me but it's no question when it comes down to favorites, she is a daddy's girl all the way. It's great.

The above picture is precisely the reason I bought my camera and learned photography. l.o.v.e.
with grace dancing soon leads to singing. A professional photographer could never be there for
the moments that mean the very most to me.

It's so sweet to see Matt do things she enjoys. The things dads will do for their little girls. :) He's never more attractive to me than in moments like this. Grace is quite the singer lately. It's hilarious when she pulls out her vibrato. Ha ha, makes me smile.

she saw Matt reading yesterday and quickly decided she had to do the same.

the perfect dessert if you ask these two. They definitely share a love of donuts. :) Little buddies.

hot chocolate weather

2011-09-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a lovely, perfect rainy morning.

The forcast shows that showers could possibly stay until Wednesday.

I am loving the thought of that.

Grace adores the rain.

The minute she sees it she wants to step into it and dance, play, and clap.

Watching her makes me feel like a little kid all over again.

I never want to forget moments like this.

after her dress was completely soaked, we came in and I introduced her to this movie...

a monumental day in her life.

She giggled as she watched him dance, yet another wonderful moment.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am obsessed with soup.

I could have it every day, even the summer-- but nothing beats it on a rainy day.

Tonight we are trying out this recipe...creamy tortellini soup. YUM.

grace's birthday party

2011-09-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Grace's party fit her perfectly this year. I thought about what she would like the most out of anything, the answer was pretty easy. I know all children love sweets and candy, but I have never seen a child get SO excited over the smallest sweet. Pretty much she takes after me. :) That's why Grace's Sweet Shoppe was perfect to help us celebrate her two year mark.

All the work was worth it seeing her squeal for joy! She loved every minute.

Here are a few details of the big day...

her party invitation.

I've been eyeing down these ruffle cakes on pinterest for awhile, this was my first attempt. It is far from perfect, but I was really excited about it. I love a good ruffle. :)

I will definitely be making one of these again soon. It makes me happy.

We decided to keep the party small this year, I read somewhere a good rule is to keep the number of guests around the child's age so they aren't too overwhelmed. We tried to keep it smalller, but I should have thought about that when I looked at the amount of sweets we had. Ha!

Oh well, the kids were in heaven.

Our friends Hans, Holly, Brian, and Cathy came.
The kiddos are Zack, Kelsie, Samantha, Grace, and Luke in the front.

Oh and we can't forget about this cute little thing. Sweet Kate. She makes me baby hungry.:)

This picture makes me smile.

Hooray for turning two!

Thanks for everyone who came, good friends make a party complete.

grace's second birthday

2011-09-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun day celebrating our little grace. We went to the zoo, ate yummy food, and just relaxed. Matt had a five hour break in his classes, so he was able to come with us! What a nice guy. I was glad too because I knew he had a class that night. Here are a few pictures of our fun.

Grace loves loves loves the petting zoo, by far her favorite part.

Grace and Matt with the flamingos...

Singing Happy Birthday!

She loves the birthday song and sang it most of the day.

I think she just might love blowing candles out more though...:)

Our sweet little girl, we feel so lucky to be your parents Grace. You really teach us so much!

Thank you for being such a good girl, we love you!

Thanks to all the family for calling and making her day special!

grace is two!

2011-09-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

click here to see her birthday photo shoot. :)

happy birthday to my SWEET, BRIGHT-EYED girl.

We are so happy to celebrate you today.

We love you so much!

(we kept the video to three songs, two years in three songs was like pulling teeth but we did it! :)

Grace's Birthday from Suzanne on Vimeo.

our labor day weekend

2011-09-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved our labor day weekend. Life feels extremely busy lately and Matt and I made a pact that this weekend we would slow down. We should really do that more often. :) It turned out to be fabulous for many reasons, but I think one of the main factors was that the weather was perfect. We decided it's amazing the difference that weather makes in your mood. Despite my extreme need to feel warm :) and what I have thought, I am not a summer girl at all. Too many sunny days are dreadful to me and I've been feeling it. Yesterday the weather was crisp, high 70's and I was loving every minute. Seasons make me happy and excited.

Here is a bit of how we spent our weekend...

delicious lettuce wraps with the ketcher's friday night.

bringing in the crisp fall weather and football season with a lot of

yummy blue food on saturday.

queso + chips= perfect football food. matt and grace on the left enjoying the game, ha ha they had no idea i was taking pictures but i wanted to remember this cute moment.

don't you love how intense matt's face is?

grace was loving the game:) afterward we went out and in the car she (completely unprompted) did a 'rah-rah-go-cougars' cheer. all the while, her dad was beaming in the front seat.

labor day we visited friends, ate delicious mexican food at moe's (yUM),

visited a candy shop and played outside. It was heaven.

exploring butterflies.

who needs a little boy? ;)

I hope your labor day was as memorable!

oh, to be two again.

2011-09-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

a peek into a morning in the life of grace...

happy labor day!

going home. libera.

2011-09-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Lately, due to recent events I have been in more of a reflective mood. This song completely resonates with my soul, I can't explain all of the ways that I love it. Most good things are that way. Naturally, it just makes me really emotional. You will love it too I think, promise you won't regret spending five minutes of your day listening to this. If you are ever feeling stressed, this song will definitely give you perspective. Enjoy!

...if you haven't yet heard of Libera they. are. amazing.

(p.s. grace is obsessed with this song, she totally sings along:)

wedding

2011-08-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

{Gali Wedding}

Loved this wedding. Can't wait for the next one in November!

exciting.

2011-08-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

I just had to share on of the most exciting things that has happened in some time. I knew it was coming while we were in Utah and couldn't wait to get home to see it for myself. This summer, FIVE MINUTES from my house an OUTLET mall has opened. Be still my heart. I can't even tell you how much I love this. It has big, tall white tents so Grace calls it the temple, ha ha. I will spare you the details of all of the lovely stores they have but I will tell you that they have JCrew, and the selection is amazing. It is better than Park City. Did I mention this is five minutes from my house? I am in heaven. Matt's favorite is Clarks and he is loving the Nike outlet too, which means I can totally get away with shopping for a date! Woohoo.

The most exciting store for Grace was the disney store. I was shocked at the reasonable prices. I never knew disney could discount. Amazing. Children's Place made me excited when I bought her two really nice shirts and a pair of sunglasses for $8. Coupons at an outlet store are a good combination. :) Hooray for good shopping!

Cute little rides to entertain Grace. :)

Other BIG AND EXCITING news...

Jesse is coming home TODAY! Soooo sad we are not there. My only consolation is hopefully he'll be coming out soon and we will be going out in a few months. He has been such a good missionary and I love him so much! In his last letter he told my parents he only had one request the day he came home and that was to go to the temple.
He hasn't been able to go for a year, what a good boy.

I love you Jesse and can't wait to talk! XOXO

smarty pants.

2011-08-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

As you can see Grace is quite the smarty pants these days. :) My little dimple girl is now speaking in full sentences. It is quite hilarious. The things that she says lately keep us laughing pretty good. She is getting more and more personality if that is possible. The other day she looked at Matt and pointed to herself saying, "CUTE!" ha ha, silly girl. She has been carrying on good conversations with both grandmothers over the phone. It's so fun to watch her learn new things. I feel like she has really grown up, even since we have been back from Utah. I found out yesterday she even knows how to play a dvd...all by herself. Oh boy.

Not sure why she was loving these glasses this morning. :) Look how happy her dad makes her!

She also demonstrates her intellect by using this face to get whatever she wants at the moment.

It usually works. :)

Funny story: This is a random side note of the day, but I think it is worth sharing. Matt spoke with our realtor SUSAN (probably our mom's age) today, and she informed him that he had sent her a text. He was confused. She said, "yes, you told me I was a smokin' hot babe!" hahaha. Apparently he made a slight sending error.Whoops! He was pretty embarrassed. :)
She laughed and laughed and told him she was quite flattered.

I could not stop laughing about it, we sure are glad she had a sense of humor.

something to smile about.

2011-08-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

It feels like there are so many things to smile about these days. First of all, this glorious time of year when school begins again. I can't begin to express how much I love the fall season.

It is absolute perfection.

I miss all of the excitement of getting my classroom ready,
new school supplies, name tags, such a lovely part of life.

Wishing everyone well who starts school again,

and congratulating all of the mothers who will now have
a lot more free time on their hands. :)

Inspired for all of the upcoming holiday crafting. I can't wait to start!

This weekend made me smile seeing these friends playing again.

It was so fun catching up with this adorable family over dinner.

Grace is smiling about her new pool!

How can these two girls not make you smile? :)

Seeing this little girl smile for the first time this weekend just about did me in. :)
Just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!
I love her.

back in the saddle again

2011-08-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

It feels SO great to be back in Oklahoma! We had forgotten how much we like it here. :) It has been so fun to catch up with friends. On our drive home we were talking about how nice it will feel to get back into our house, not soon after a friend called and a complete miracle landed into our lap. We were moving again. It's amazing how the Lord watches out for us. We feel very grateful. We moved last Saturday and a couple of days later we are completely settled. Matt was AMAZING and did pretty much everything. I have never seen anyone work so hard in my life! He had a couple of friends help him with the big things, but he did most of it himself. We have so much furniture it was a miracle he did it, next time we may decide to let people know we are moving;) but it worked out just great. He even went down to hanging pictures and decorating however I asked. Husband of the year I tell you! So, we are settled yet again and LOVING our new house.

Entry way and Dining area

I LOVE all of the windows in the living room,

makes a huge difference when I am inside in the day.

It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The perfect size.

The backyard is our FAVORITE. It is huge and Grace is loving her life.
The swing set I found on craigslist and is in awesome condition.
I think swinging is her most favorite thing in the world.
Best $45 dollars I have ever spent.
The grass is Matt's favorite part. :) He actually said it was comparable to Utah. (gasp!)

We love the patio and barbecue.

Mmmm....when you are pregnant everything revolves around food.:)

A private trail behind our house, beautiful.

Check out their sweet little garden, I am totally going to do it.

I am preparing for a crash and burn but with my

dad's help maybe something will grow. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

There you have it! I have a lot of decorating and fun things to do,
but that is a little bit of the house.
We are so thankful for thoughtful and inspired friends!

Other big news....this HANDSOME guy below is smiling
because it is his first day of his LAST year of school. Hallelujah!
Now is the patent bar and applying all over this nation.

SO exciting.
Matt loves school and could probably keep going
but it will be nice to have a pay check.:)
HOORAY for one more year! We can do it.

love at first sight ♥

2011-08-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend offered to do an ultrasound, what an amazing experience.
As soon as I saw her little heart beating and her little thumb in her mouth
I couldn't fight back the tears.
What a miracle.

We couldn't be more thrilled and already feel so blessed to have her in our home.

last moments of utah and grace's birthday party

2011-08-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

We spent our last week and a half in Utah with family. It was such great quality time. My dad flew out to Tulsa to pick up Laura and the kids, and lucky us they happened to be in town while we were here. They are here for a three week visit while my brother Ben is doing his rotations in Michigan. She is awesome handling three kids and one on the way for three whole months. Simply amazing! I love it when the Roberts cousins can get together, but we were missing Connor, Ashley, and E. They had a great time with Shell playing

ring around the rosie...

we all fall down!:)

I think they must have played it twenty times. What a super aunt!

I was glad to get these way too cute pictures of them. We were missing Jefferson, he was a little too old for ring around the rosie;) and miss Tenley was not quite old enough.

Grace, Madeline, Owen, and Talmage.

love. love. love.

{Owen Boy!}

I thought Owen deserved his own highlight. Over the summer Grace and Owen made the sweetest little connection I have ever seen in two little human beings. :) They would scream in excitement (yes, both of them) every time they saw each other. For Grace, it only took me mentioning Owens name and she would gasp and put her hand over her mouth. He is such a fun little boy and SO sweet with Grace. He is so affectionate with her (which of course she loves!) and they could race each other and play for hours. My favorite is their way of communicating, they would often babble and then laugh as though they totally had this secret language. The other night we were praying with Grace and we were naming people to bless in the family, and she interrupted us by saying Owen, owen, owen, owen...over and over.

It was the sweetest thing. Makes me cry that we don't live closer,

but I am so glad they had this summer to build such a cute little relationship.

{Bushman Visit}

We made so many fun memories over the summer with the Bushmans. It was fun to live so close to Regan and having him drop by, sometimes just to show us his sweet new shoes! We loved getting to know Brad, seeing Landon and Steph nearly every day we were there, and seeing Mckay in his new sheriff car.:) Ha ha, awesome. I loved spending hours talking with Christa, especially about redesigning her basement. Neil and Christa are experts at heading up the handcart trek, so Christa had some props that she wanted to try out on Grace. Ha ha, she is a cute little pioneer! :)

Of course, none of us (especially Grace) can get enough of Bryan and Ashley. They are so good with Grace. Here she is watching Elmo on Ashley's phone. The true way to Grace's heart. I told Steph there is no way that I can be the favorite Aunt for Madi with Ashley around. So true, she is awesome.

{Grace's Birthday Party}

Her birthday is not until September 8th but our sweet family insisted that we throw her a party before we left. Not only that but they planned the whole thing and it was so much fun. Matt told Grace that was the best party he had ever been to. :) Cute. I love getting both families together, it is the best.

This picture of Talmage on the left kills me. He is the cutest. The two Madi's had so much fun in the jeep. Madi was so nice bring it and share with everyone, it was a hit!

Below is Landon and my dad, and Scott and his cute girlfriend Brittany. We love her!

Regan and Tanner

Tenley. I miss her so much already. She is the sweetest thing ever.

Grace LOVES babies and couldn't stop touching her, sorry shell. :)

We are missing some people but it's the best group shot I got the entire night.

The kids loved the pool. Jefferson loved getting everyone wet.:) He had me running pretty good.

I was wondering why I never got a good picture of him.

Grace loved all of the attention and blowing out her candles! My mom made her the cutest cake, it was the one we always do for birthdays at my house and I am convinced it is the best in the land. Thanks mom!

Grandma Bushman made all of the kids cute little cupcakes with suckers. At one point Grace had two in her hand at once. I don't want to even think about how much sugar she had that day!

Mckay bought Grace this amazing elmo balloon bouquet. I thought she had died and gone to heaven.

Opening gifts, everyone was so generous. Thank you so much!

A funny and super sad moment of the party was when the balloons flew away. I don't think I will ever lose the visual of all of the kids crying and Grace just sitting there waving goodbye. Hilarious.

Lastly we played a mean game of pin the bow on Grace. I loved that all of the adults got into it too!

Have I mentioned that I love our families? :)

Me and my fester. Cried and cried saying goodbye to family. It was such an amazing summer!

Before the party started and Grace was actually dressed we took some pictures. She is adorable I must say. Michelle made her this tutu and brought it to the party. Perfect! Grace LOVED it.

She is lucky to have such a talented and thoughtful aunt.

Owen wanted to get in on the pictures too. They look so cute showing how old they are.

Neither one of them could do it on one hand, ha ha so adorable.

Oh family! We love and miss you. Thank you for all of the memories, it was a fabulous summer.

We are excited to see you again in just a few months!

grandma wignall funeral

2011-08-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

We were grateful that we could be in Utah to say goodbye to Grandma Wignall and to attend her funeral. I didn't know her very well but one thing I will always remember is that she was an amazing seamstress and made the most beautiful quilts. We received four from her just the first year we were married. She was very generous with her talent. Matt's favorite memories of her are when he was young she would take him out for his birthday and let him eat anywhere he wanted. Then she gave him twenty dollars (every kids dream, right?) and took him to buy a gift. That was always the highlight of his birthdays growing up.

The service was wonderful, and afterward we went to the graveside. Matt and his brothers were the pall bearers along with his cousins Craig and Brent.

Grandpa Wignall

The studly Bushman boys and one very studly Mecham. :)

Grace Slater is Matt's fourth great grandmother who crossed the plains in the Martin Handcart Company. She lost all of her hair on the trek. Matt has always felt a special bond with her, and she is who we named Grace after. Her husband was William Wignall. We were glad to be able to see their graveside after the funeral.

I was lucky enough to be able to make the video for Grandma Wignall's Funeral.

The pictures are SO fun I was dying. I love, love really old vintage pictures.
(I accidentally uploaded the draft, so it isn't very clean and some of the pictures are out of order but you will get the general idea!:)

Untitled from Suzanne on Vimeo.

baby tenley

2011-07-13T14:42:00.001-07:00

We have had a blast having Owen over the past couple of days. Grace and Owen are hilarious together, they completely feed off of one another. The first night we had to move Owen into a different room because they were just chatting with each other for a half hour. I am convinced they would have continued it all night. Owen is so good with Grace. Surely the only boy who could put up with Grace's constant affection.:)

little monkeys jumping on the bed.

matt is the best at reading stories...:)

Ashley came over and helped me entertain the crazies. She is so fun!

Tenley Joyce Ensign

the most beautiful little girl!!! What an angel baby, she is sooo good.

Congrats Michelle and Tanner, we are so excited for you guys! You are such wonderful parents.

Speaking of beautiful, how amazing does my sister look?! You are gorgeous shell!

The happy new family.

I love her.

s'more fun

2011-07-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite activities of the summer has been going to seven peaks with friends and family. We bought the pass of all passes, and it has been awesome. Another love of summer is making s'mores. Shell and Tanner invited us to go up the canyon and make them. That plan failed as the canyon was crazy busy so we settled for the park and then making the s'mores over the stove. :) We still had a fantastic time!

How adorable are these two? :) Grace was in heaven with such a ginormous marshmallow.

{grandma wignall visit}

Visiting grandma Wignall was a bittersweet experience. Her health has been very poor. We were glad that we could have a chance to see her. She didn't respond to much, but every time Grace came next to her she would brighten up and smile, it was really sweet. Saying goodbye was very hard, especially for Matt.

What a wonderful heritage we have because of her progenitors. We love you Grandma Wignall.

joel boy

2011-07-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

We felt so lucky to be at Joel's farewell. What a solid kid. He is so prepared, and it was great to hear how he gained his testimony and what is most important to him. We saw so much family, it is awesome for him to have so much love and support. Matt's parents, and his brother Mckay even came! It was a wonderful day. I love that I can really respect and look up to my younger siblings. It was so hard to say goodbye after he was set apart, but we know he will do amazing things in Sweden. Love Joel boy!

(right before one of the last times playing tennis!)

a glittering fourth of july

2011-07-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Nothing says summer like somersaults.:)

I kicked off the weekend by taking pictures of this gorgeous bride.

It was too much fun, she is such a sweetheart.

{rooftop concert}

Friday night we met up with friends Joe, Heather, and their sweet boy Dallin for the rooftop concert in Provo. Soooo much fun! Nothing says summer like a free outdoor concert. We had fun dancing, Grace and Dallin were really getting into it, ha ha. So cute!

{Stadium of Fire Fireworks}

Saturday we had a nice, relaxing day. That night we met the Bushmans for a fun night of fireworks!

Matt and I both L.O.V.E. the fourth of July and fireworks, so needless to say it was awesome to have a whole weekend of celebrating.

We weren't sure how Grace would like the fireworks because the ones after the rooftop concert really scared her, ha! By the end of the night I think she really liked them, Madi helped her to be very brave. :)

throwing around the football and chatting before fireworks. Delightful!

Lexi and boyfriend Brad, aren't they cute?! ;)

Ashely brought her guitar, it was awesome. She is really good!

Such a wonderful night!

{Provo Fourth of July Parade}

It was really fun to go to a parade, we would love to make it a tradition. The weather on the fourth was just PERFECT. We are thankful to escape the blistering heat in Oklahoma. We were lucky enough to have Regan join us! He is a stud. We have spent some good time with him lately, the other night we played for hours. He is so fun to be around! Anyway, the parade was sweet. Here are a few highlights...

Yes, Grace true to character squealed and cheered for everything. I was surprised how much she liked it!

Below are the Payson bagpipes...ha ha!

Of course, the missionaries. People in the crowd sang, called to serve. It was awesome!

and COSMO!

Grace was seriously loving this dog.

{Roberts Celebrations}

We had an AMAZING bbq during the day, made cupcakes (with the best cream cheese frosting ever, of course!) and just played and talked at the house. Below Grace and Grandpa sharing popcorn, they do it nearly every time we visit. It is the sweetest. ever.

Little Buddies. Never a dull moment.:)

{Fireworks with the Ensign Family}

Tanner's family invited us to do fireworks with them. We love the Ensigns! I was completely AMAZED at the show they put on. They seriously could have charged admission. :) The big fireworks are legal this year because of all of the rain...woo hoo! It was awesome.

So awesome, right?!

Hooray for fourth of July celebrations! This year was fantastic.

Bushman Birthdays

2011-07-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's time to play a little bit of catch up! I feel like we have been having so much fun I haven't had time to sit down and write about it. It has been a heavenly summer and have had such fulfilling experiences with family. We have had a lot of fun celebrating the Bushman Birthdays. I only took pictures of one of the fun parties, Grandpa Bushman. We love to have so many excuses to get together.

Grace goes crazy every time we see miss Madi, ha ha they play cute together.

Madi was so cute, she wouldn't let go of this little Book of Mormon the entire time!

They were loving time with Grandpa.

Of course, the boys had to play basketball. It is pretty entertaining,

especially when your husband is playing in his church socks! My personal favorite is always

chatting with the girls. We feel so blessed to celebrate all of the people we love!

bridals

2011-07-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

suzbushmanphotography

salem triathlon

2011-06-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

It was such a great experience watching Bryan, Ashley, and Lexi complete this triathlon. Simply amazing. For some reason I get really emotional while watching marathon/triathlon events, and this was certainly no exception. It was awesome to see them push so hard and work as a team, one of my favorite parts was watching Ashley's face while Bryan was swimming--so much pride, emotion and love! Makes me teary just thinking about it. Watching them and this video, I am ready for another marathon. Thanks for being so inspiring guys! You rocked it.

Salem Triathlon from Suzanne on Vimeo.

haven

2011-06-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

dreaming....

2011-06-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Today I am dreaming of going here...

and winning this incredible giveaway.

bicycle

2011-06-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Matt is working for his friend Joe Hansen this summer. We love the Hansens! His wife Heather is super fun, (love it when that works out) I hope for a lot of play dates with Dallin.

I was joking that I had to capture Dallin and Grace on their first date. Although, I hope it is not a joke. He is extremely cute and so sweet with Grace.

He even gave her a kiss, yep right on the lips. It was the greatest. :)

bonding over some snacks. :)

Near the end of our visit Heather said she had a surprise for me, then she told me I was getting this...

(don't mind how crazy I look, ha ha)

I jumped up, screamed and nearly teared up for a second...how BEAUTIFUL is it? I have been wanting one of these for FOREVER. She knew that too, what an amazing friend! I am telling you this just made my entire summer. I can't even explain how happy this bike makes me. We had a horrible experience with our first apartment (who has mice on the THIRD floor?!) thank goodness we got out of our contract and we are now in a fun location
where I feel totally comfortable riding it.

Thank you, thank you Heather for your thoughtfulness!
You made my wildest dreams come true. ;)

bushman time

2011-06-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time surprising Matt's parents, they had no idea we were coming! :) It's rare to be involved in a surprise like this, it was way fun seeing their faces. We were so excited to meet Boston for the first time. He is such a handsome boy! We love him already. I was bad at taking pictures of everything with the Bushmans but here are a few of our time below.

Ashley brought by her bus and even let Grace sit in the driver's seat! She had a fabulous time!:)

{Memorial Day}

Madi and Grace had a great time playing together.

They are such cute girl cousins, it's so fun to have a girl so close in age for her to play with.

It was a fun memorial day, we ate lunch at the olive garden, did some shopping, and the boys played basketball. Thanks Bushman's for such a fantastic day!

LOVE this one...

Grandma Bushman with her Grandgirls

{Boston's Blessing}

What a special day! It was so fun to celebrate this little boy. We had a little get together after church at Steph's parents house. Her family is the greatest. We had a blast visiting with everyone.

Matt with his Grandpa Bushman

How adorable is Madi?!

Regan and Grace were having fun together. :)

I seriously need to hang this one...

I don't think it gets any cuter. Grace and Madi did this more than once, it was so cute they would sit and talk to eachother and laugh. I'm so glad I caught it!

This was quite the entertainment for the adults. Everyone was fighting to get down the slide and so we had to get some order, fast! Besides the pushing and occasional hit they did pretty well.

It was so funny to watch the social skills of children at work.

Hunter was cracking me up with his poses. :)

Stedson says it all. :)

I also photographed my first athletic event ever. These three wonders participated in a triathalon.

More pictures to come!

going to utah and time with the roberts

2011-06-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

We feel as though we have been in heaven these past three weeks. Seriously. We have loved every minute of being in Utah so far...all except one horrific night, but I will get to that later. The drive home was so nice, we chose to go the Colorado way this time and loved it. It was much prettier! We took the trip in two days, the first night we stayed at the Red Lion hotel in Denver. It was so nice. ( hotwire is the best, we got a steal of a deal.)

I was really worried how Grace would handle the trip, but she seriously did amazing!

I was quite shocked. Blessings.

Driving through Spanish Fork Canyon was pretty much the most beautiful thing we had ever seen.

It was SO green, I had never seen it that way before.

{Roberts Time}

It was perfect timing to make it to my house because Todd, Heidi, and their kiddos were there! We thought it would be years before we would see them again, naturally I completely cried when I saw them. I am so thankful it worked out so well.

This was the cutest thing ever, Grace kept trying to push Grandma around, ha ha. Adorable.

{Bean Museum}

All I can say is thank goodness for Owen. Who would have thought a less than two year old could keep Grace under control better than I could? He sure did. Grace was a mess, I think just really tired so as you will see Owen just took her by the hand and showed her around. It was so so so cute. They are seriously the best of friends. I have never seen such a SWEET little boy!

{snowglobe}

This was a first for Grace. She was completely fascinated with it for the longest time.

Thanks for the idea mom she loved it. :)

"Reading" Sleeping Beauty....

We spent LOTS of time with Joel boy! I love this kid. His talents never cease to amaze me. Tennis star, writer (writing a novel!), singer, AMAZING at the guitar, and almost proficient in Swedish ;). I amazed at his dedication to the language already. Oh, and did I mention he is wonderful with children? He is a huge help with Grace. Love you Joel boy...

We will be soaking up all of our time with you!

(I adore this picture. She is wearing Joel's shoes:)

{painting nails and making crowns}

One of my favorite days spent almost entirely with these adorable kids. Ashley and I had a great time creating the perfect crown and painting fingers and toes, she is such a darling little girl!

Ashley insisted that she needed a prince and that we should make a crown for connor.

When we gave it to him she said (with great enthusiasm as only ashley can:),

"My prince charming!"

Sweet Ethan boy is so chill, I LOVE him! Connor was a great sport about wearing the crown. :)

{Hadfield get together}

I love this family so much. My grandparents and ALL of the aunts and uncles came down. We were thrilled to see everyone. What a great visit, we have missed them all so much!

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of all of the family.

Todd, Tanner, and Matt

How cute are these cousin friends?

Aunt Jenny and Grandma Hadfield. Cute Connor

Joey! Just baptized, he is growing up so fast. Cute cousin girls Emily, Hallie, and Abigail.

It was so awesome to catch up with everyone!

{time with shell, tanner, and o}

Lucky us, we are living just 5 minutes away from these guys. Last night we just dropped by for a dinner and fhe, it was seriously heavenly. Grace had her first experience with sparklers and pop rocks. :) I have missed them so much.

These are a few pictures from our way too much fun photoshoot...

Can you believe how high tanner throws Owen?! I swear we waited five minutes for him to come down. Ha ha, so funny. Owen loves it! We ate at Zupas after...yummmm. Looking forward to more fun times with these guys!

{Zupas and Pedicures}

How darling are these pregnant women?! Jill is due very soon (the 19th!) and shell still has a month. I think we had the funnest ladies ever doing our toes. I dont' think we stopped laughing the entire time. One of them had a personality exactly like Ellen Degenerous, it was awesome.

I love this picture, ha!

michelle

2011-05-23T20:57:00.001-07:00

check out her session here: suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

what has matt been up to?

2011-05-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

The boy has been up to more than just studying.
I am convinced he is the cutest dad on the face of the planet.
Grace absolutely adores him, she is such a daddy's girl as you can see below and I love it.

This was the scene on a rainy day yesterday as he left to study for his last final...

she yells a frantic, "...bye, bye!" cutest thing i have ever heard.

(Cue lot's of waving and blowing kisses.)

He also has been working for a publishing company writing articles for this magazine.

He loves his job and we are so thankful that he works so hard for us! He is also always busy being thoughtful of me and taking me on great dates.

He also has been busy being a fashion icon at OCU. You may remember this shirt of mine (from teaching a couple of years ago) I pulled out last semester as a joke. I double dared him to wear it today for his last final but never thought he ACTUALLY would! I could not stop laughing this morning. Oh boy. His classmates will be green with envy. I sure am glad that he doesn't take himself too seriously.:)

Just another reason why I love him.

We take finals pretty seriously around here...

TODAY marks the end of 2 YEARS of law school, hip hip hooray! There is going to be a lot of celebrating going on in the Bushman home tonight. I can't believe he only has one year left, wahoo! I am probably more thrilled than he is, he is seriously crazy, he loves school. We are so proud of you Matt!

(we are so so SO excited for this summer, I have a feeling it's going to be excellent!)

lexi visit

2011-05-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

We felt so blessed to have Matt's sister Lexi for a nice long visit. We can't get enough of this girl, Grace loved every minute with her (as did we) and soaked in all of the attention. It was fun to relax, play, and have someone to watch chick flicks late at night with! Here is a complete picture overload of our fun...

{watching elmo}

{playing basketball and swinging at the park}

{feeding the ducks}

{playing catch}

I know Matt was thrilled to have someone to play with who can actually catch and throw well.

grace loved wearing lex's sunglasses :)

{playzone}

Grace had a blast. This place is our new favorite and just a few minutes from our house. SO much fun!

{the zoo}

Grace likes goats. A lot. Who knew? :)

How cute is that gorilla?

{celebrating cinco de mayo}

Okay, we just had mexican...but it was really yummy!

{afternoon walks}

{downtown and water taxi}

{National Softball Museum}

Perfect for our softball star!

I left out some of my favorite activities, like Lexi and I combining forces to beat Matt in Parcheesi and laughing until our faces hurt. We miss you so much already, Lexi! Thank you, thank you for such a wonderful visit. We can't see you again soon enough. We love you!

mothers

2011-05-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

When I think about mothers, my thoughts still and always will turn to my mother. In certain moments it is still difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I am one and that my precious baby turns 20 months old today. Being a mom is more of a sacrifice than I ever could have imagined, but the thing that makes it all worthwhile for me is little Grace. I know that she was sent specifically to our family for a reason, and the more I think/pray to know who she is the more rewarding my role becomes.

Today did not begin well. You know those mornings before church where everything goes wrong? Well, this morning seemed doomed to fail from the get-go. Our church is early, 9:00 (which I love) but today we couldn't get out the door on time. One of my peeves is being late to church, (and there is nothing I love more than being early) we've been doing so well but today was a disaster. Walking in to the meeting late, I was mad as a hornet. After the sacrament Grace wanted me to hold her, she turned to look at me and held my face. While tightly squeezing my cheeks she moved in and gave me the looongest wet kiss right on the lips. It was so intense that I couldn't help but laugh, she has never done anything like this before! When she was finished she grabbed my face again and before I knew it she planted another long one on my nose and then another on my lips. It was like she knew it was mothers day. :) She was all smiles and just oozing with love. Matt was laughing, just as in shock as I was. My heart melted, I know she knew that was just exactly what I needed. She has such a gift for doing things at just the right moment. Suddenly all of the things I was frustrated about didn't seem so important.

Grace has a way of putting the small things into perspective for me. In that moment, I came to the realization (yet again) that my job is to learn from her, and help her to keep all of the goodness she already has and fight to not let the world take it from her. My job is to help show her all the gifts and beauty that she has come to this world to share. When I think of it that is just what my mother did for me. She helped me to understand and trust myself. She helped foster my desires, thoughts, and talents. Thank you mom, for showing me what a true women should be. There was a time when I wondered if you would live to see me be married, and prayed and wished more than anything that you would. I thought at that time that I had come to appreciate you because I realized how much I missed you. Now, seven years later and being a mother myself I feel like I have a new respect and appreciation for all you have done for me. You are my hero in so many ways and I feel completely blessed to be your daughter.

I know you are a blessing and light to so many, I love you so much!

(my mom, sweet and wonderful grandma hadfield, me and grace at 10 months)

Happy Mother's Day!

our weekend

2011-05-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

playing with this lovely lady has been so, so, SO much fun. We love miss lexi!

playing with "lightsabers"...good times.

Lexi came bearing a load of gifts, so sweet. We now have skype, HOORAY!

Grace loves her new bubble machine, we decided to try it out on the front porch.

Thank you to Grandma Bushman for the ADORABLE little outfit!

What a weekend full of blessings, we even received some MUCH needed rain! Awesome.

Lexi, life is more fun when you are around. We are glad you are sticking around for awhile.:)

lacy

2011-04-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this lovely lady and her little nugget? suzbushmanphotography

You know those friends you have in life that you feel like you really don't deserve? The kind that somehow leave you better than they found you? Lacy is one of those friends for me. I will give you just one example. Lacy was one of the first to jump for joy when she found out we were pregnant (you know those people that are so fun to tell happy news to) and when we found out we had a miscarriage it wasn't an hour later she was on my porch with a meal, crying as if the very thing had happened to her. Still makes me teary thinking about it. She hadn't ever experienced one herself, but it didn't matter because she has an amazing gift of empathy. It was really healing for me during that time to feel like someone cared so much. Matt and I were so touched by it. She and her amazing Anthony nearly single handedly provided meals for us for an entire week because she knew I probably wouldn't feel up for cooking. Enough said.

Not only is she an incredible friend, but a super mom (check out her party for max HERE) and fashionista. She has the funnest blog electricelmonewsfeed that will leave you laughing out loud and inspired. Today, I hopped on the blog to find the sweetest little surprise post to help promote my business. Not all that surprising, she is constantly thinking of others. Lacy, every girl deserves a friend like you and they sure don't come along everyday.

Can I please be like you when I grow up? :)

easter weekend

2011-04-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

We had such a fabulous easter this year,

mostly because of the enthusiasm of Grace which you will see below.

Every egg she picked up she would shake, if it didn't make a noise she wouldn't put it in the basket.

Silly girl, those were the best ones with the peanut butter eggs!;)

Here are a few images of Easter at our house...

Matt the Easter Bunny (sporting Grace's nursery craft, super cute!)

hop on over to see the rest of our photoshoot! suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

one reason why i love my sister

2011-04-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

So. I have this itch every time spring comes around, I reeeally want new clothes. Particularly dresses, I am not sure why but I love a dress. This year I could not afford to buy a dress or any other clothing for that matter. Poor me, right? :) Like a 27 year-old needs an Easter Dress? Ridiculous. Well being the selfish person that I am, I pouted about it to my sister Michelle. She had the perfect solution, make it. MAKE IT, (keeping in mind this is the girl who made her own wedding dress) yeah right I said--by the time I buy fabric and a pattern it will cost just as much anyway. She told me to find a dress that I liked in my closet and use that as my pattern. I would just need a couple of yards of fabric which I could find coupons for....hmmmm. Good idea, I thought. Then I remembered the time in High School I tried to alter a shirt, just like I had seen my sister Michelle do. I remember crying on the floor clutching my uneven shirt and feeling like the ultimate failure. I did not feel up for that. Michelle kept encouraging and talking (she is very convincing) and then you know what?! I found a dress in my closet that I love and I tried it, just adding some pleats on the sleeve.

It only took me about 3 hours and I LOVE IT!!!!

It's all because of your encouragement Shelly! Thank you for being my inspiration! :)

The finished product...

My mister matt did an entire photo shoot for his girls in their easter dresses. More to come soon!

the cutest girl. ever.

2011-04-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

Her sweetness makes my heart melt! suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

exploring light

2011-04-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

Best game ever. I love the inquisitive mind of a child. My favorite moments of the day!

hurry over...

2011-04-20T09:40:00.001-07:00

and be sure to have a tissue! Baby Valentin has arrived: suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com!

easter egg hunt!

2011-04-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

We thought we would try out the annual easter egg hunt this year and we are so glad we did, Grace loooved it! She caught on pretty quickly and off she went smiling and laughing all the way.

Checking out her eggs.

These three pictures are my favorite because they capture perfectly this little girl at the moment, she is such a tiny dancer. She heard some music, so of course she had to stop everything.

I can't wait to get this little mover in a dance class.

This guy was pretty fun.

She was pretty frightened of the Easter Bunny, can't say I blame her. She ran away pretty fast.:)

She won the easter basket drawing, hooray!

It was a really fun day, thank goodness for fun and relaxing weekends.

books

2011-04-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

What, you may ask is Grace's favorite thing to do these days? READ. Read and read and read. Toys or books? Books, please! Naturally, this makes her parents very proud

I've been trying to blog and take pictures more about everyday things more than "events" trying to keep these ever fading memories (especially for my brain) strong. Elmo is still a favorite but she loves her little people books along with Sandra Boynton, oh and we can't forget It's a Bear. She likes to growl. We read a lot, which makes us both pretty happy.

A side note, I have been testing out the fabulous Warby Parker frames (thanks to cute friend lacy for the recommendation) I am in the process of ordering. I love this place, no cost for shipping to try five frames then you send them back and order with prescription. $95 and they give a pair to someone in need for every frame you buy. Can't beat that! Their vintage frames are so cute.
Fun, fun, fun.

Time to get reading (These is my Words) myself for bookclub. Has anyone read it?

friends and petunias

2011-04-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

My friend chelsea deserves best friend of the year award. Yesterday we were out and I completely had flower envy, I muttered something about wishing I had money to have a beautiful flower garden. It wasn't but a few hours later she was at my door with these beauties and the most uplifting little note. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in my life! Love her.

Speaking of girlfriends, how adorable are these two?

They were wiped out from our busy day today at the zoo.

It makes me happy that Grace is starting to really love baby dolls.

Friends and petunias really make life great.

good morning!

2011-04-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

this is basically what it looks like each morning, cheesy grin, squeals, zipper pulled down,
crazy hair, followed by the usual dance routine (seriously).

Can't think of a better way to start my day.

cathy

2011-04-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

check out the baby bump! suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

alex and addi

2011-04-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

Addi and Alex blogged! Here: suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

2011-04-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest”

Robert Montgomery

We have lived in our new little home for a couple of months now. Most of what is up is old news, I have a lot of plans that are coming along. What you see here is a start, but I wish I had a before picture. After we moved in and were somewhat settled matt and I looked at each other and laughed. Our walls, carpet, and couches all matched perfectly. Beige. Yick. I'm sure Matt's next thought was, "oh please, just keep suz's wheels from turning..."

but alas, turn they did. We couldn't afford new couches, so we lucked out that we bought them from home reserve. They sell the upholstery separately, so you just order whatever style of couch you have with the color you want. Great, right? We traded the upholstery for our fridge (which they already have here). We love it here and it has been so great to finally have a place to make our own.

"Your home should rise up to greet you." Nate Berkus

I tell this to Matt and he laughs, but I really love this quote. I think as mother's we are home more often and it is important that we surround ourselves with things that are beautiful and uplifting. We don't have money, so as it is I can't do all of the things my eager heart desires. This is probably a good thing, who knows when we will be in a permanent dwelling place.

Until that time, I am still determined to have our home feel like home. I've being sewing pillows like crazy, and getting things somewhat settled. I found my dream plant that I will add to our living room soon. I love house plants. I also am up for suggestions on an area rug...it's desperately needed here..I'm really picky and our budget isn't helping me out much so I am still on a hunt. I also have been more mindful of filling our space with things that are meaningful to us, gifts from friends, memories, books that we love (i love decorating with books). I think you can do a lot with a little money. We've got a way to go, but it's coming...

This wall is actually in our kitchen and is my favorite in the house. When we were first married I knew I wanted a place in our house for our beloved ancestors who are so dear to our hearts. It also has our parents and grandparents (some still living). I love looking at these pictures every time. I know they are aware of us and so many of the blessings we enjoy are because of their choices and goodness. Many days just by looking at it I gather the courage and inspiration I need, just how a home should make you feel.

I love walking past this painting, another peaceful and thought provoking image.

It was our first and only Christmas gift to each other, love it so much.

More coming soon of the kitchen, bedroom, and fun spring crafts!

What really makes a home is when these two are in it.

(this is grace's new favorite thing to do when her daddy pulls up from the driveway...so cute)

lacy and max

2011-03-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

look at them here: suzbushmanphotography.blogspot.com

can you guess

2011-03-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

where mister joel is going....?

Stockholm, SWEDEN!

The room erupted in cheers (and tears at our house...sorry matt:) although we would have had the same reaction for Idaho, it seems such a perfect fit for him. We are so excited for our Joel boy! My dad is traveling in Panama and still doesn't know, but I am sure he will gloat when he finds he guessed it. He guessed a scandinavian country and my final guess was denmark. I was reeeally close. Yay for Joel, he didn't want to go somewhere hot so I guess he'll get his wish. I think he will fit in perfectly,

WE LOVE YOU JOEL and know you will be an amazing missionary!

(why we have missionaries and what do they do? go here.)

today

2011-03-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

{Joel Spencer Roberts}

good looking brothers...

(jesse and joel--john mayer concert! 2008)

cavestock

best uncle--joel made this trip awesome!

(philadelphia, fourth of july 2010)

today we will find out where in the whole wide world this boy (sorry joel, you can't be a man yet;) will be serving his mission. the youngest of seven and of the five boys to serve a mission in our family--

it's a surreal thing.

baby joel...the boy I remember fighting tooth and nail at family home evening to be named blake (yep, we voted, i lost)....the little white haired boy who ran to get the small encyclopedia's (blue and gold a.k.a. book of mormon) passing them out to each member of the family reminding us of what is most important...the boy michelle and I so lovingly dressed up like a little girl because we wanted a sister so bad...the one who always had a way of making me laugh (even if it was a practical jokes most of the time, or uh, books falling on my head;)....the boy with the musical skills and our track star (turkey trot winning) with the lllama speed...

that little boy is not so little anymore, and he will be leaving us for two years to do one of the most important things he'll do in this life. makes me teary thinking i probably won't see him before he leaves, and that for me it may possibly be 2.5 years. i will be brave and try to not think about that. i will think about the lives he will change and the happiness he will bring to so many....yep...and that he would tease me knowing that I am fighting back tears to write this. we are holding our breath, waiting anxiously for the phone call today, wishing we could be there to share in one of the most wonderful moments of your life.

we love you so much joel and would give anything to hug you on this special day! XOXO

grace loves you too and is also waiting with anticipation in her new elmo chair :)

(thanks cathy and brian!)