Goodbye Utah

Today we are moving out of Utah. It has been a great experience for us as individuals and a growing family. We had lots of firsts here in Utah. We loved our little apartment in Pleasant Grove. Gabbie learned to crawl, talk, walk and be the sneaker pants she is there. Lots of places around town became favorite, special spots for our family: Thanksgiving Point, Provo Canyon, many parks around town, and tons more.

I graduated and taught second grade for two years, learning a lot about myself as a person and professional. Kyle finally decided on being a teacher after many major changes and graduated in April. We lived in two places in the two and a half years we have been married. Each one was special for the opportunities and experiences we had there.

Gabbie was born and we have spent an amazing year and a half so far watching her grow and develop into a super fun, crazy, and energetic girl. She loves to see animals, especially dogs. Her favorite animal at the moment is Grandma Christensen's dog, Phoebe.

We made many friends that we are going to miss. Each one of them taught us something special and helped us to become better people. Thank you all for the examples you have been and for the light you brought into our lives.

It has been a good opportunity to live near Grandma and Grandpa Christensen. Gabbie has been able to see her grandparents, aunts, and uncles at least once a week since she was born. We love you all and will miss you. It is going to be very fun to come visit and see all the things we remember.

There are many new things coming up for us in Texas and we are very excited. It will be very fun to go exploring and find out what is around us. My family will be closer so hopefully we can manage to see each other more often than the last 5 years.

We love you all!!!

Bridal Veil Falls

Another one of our favorite places in Utah (that we recently rediscovered)
is Bridal Veil Falls... and to be completely honest, Provo Canyon in general.



What we have liked most about it was how they have great trails that go through some beautiful nature.

Who can't love these falls?

Until recently, we didn't realize how much Gabbie likes walking barefoot through water!

What's a trip through nature (walking through water) without a bunch of foot pictures?
(Thanks Wilde cousins for giving us so many of our ideas)

Another thing that is great about this area is how many people bring their family pets, and how friendly everyone seems to be.

This dog was so nice to let Gabs pet him!

We love our Provo Canyon!

Our family Phrases

I was reading our friends', Adam and Kate, blog today, and Kate had written a post that I thought would be really fun to continue here on our blog.

Basically, it was a post about all of the funny "houshold phrases" that we have and what they mean.

Here is our list:

Sweeto Peeto: Nickname for Gabs
Peeto: Nickname for Gabs
Binko Stinko: pacifier
Stinko: pacifier
Doodle Pants: Nickname for Gabs
Pantsie: Nickname for Gabs
Skin the rabbit: Que for Gabs to take her clothes off so that you can get into the shower
Nutso Gutso: nickname for Daddy
Bajugala: weird word that Daddy made up and refers to often to describe things related to Gabbie (i.e. "get your bajugala over here Gabs)
Babies: Gabbie's stuffed animals (she has always preferred stuffed animals to baby dolls)
DOAH: Gabbies word for dog (and every other animal known to man)
UhOh: what Gabbie says after she does something she knows she's not supposed to do, but doesn't want to get in trouble for.
Daaad... Daaad: the sound made frequently in the back of the car when Gabs wants attention or Daddy to stop something.
Ma' (very short and quick): what Gabbie says to get mom's attention
Rea... Rea (holding a book): the noise Gabbie makes when she wants us to read to her.
Oh.... aisdnfde;lkehingdsns... Oh.... a;lknasdfoiansdfgalkng (in a musical tone): the noise that Gabbie makes when she is sitting on the ground with her legs crossed holding a book on her lap turning pages.
I see... I see (in a musical tone): What Gabbie says to us when she wants us to sing the primary song "I love to see the temple."

Anyway, I'm sure there are more, but those are some of the fun ones.

Favorite Family Places: Utah: The Thanksgiving Point Gardens

We've decided, as we're leaving Utah, that we are going to do a series of posts related to our "favorite family places" in Utah. (I imagine we'll continue the tradition when we go other places too)

Now, I've grown up in Utah, so there are many places that I could put on here if this were a blog related to only me (Kyle), but as it is a family blog the posts in this series will be concentrated on those places that are special for "our family" ... basically, the places that have come to be special for us since we got married (especially in the last year)

Fittingly, the place that has become probably the most special for our family is the Thanksgiving Point Gardens:

About 9-10 months ago, at the end of last summer, we were getting really restless. Up to that point in our married life, Christy had always been working during the day, and becoming a full-time stay at home mom had started to weigh on her. Christy and Gabbie were spending all of their time in the house during the day, and whenever I would get home from work or school, they would always beg me to go somewhere.

It got to be hard to go anywhere, because everywhere that we thought of either cost money, or just didn't have enough to keep our interest going there very much (parks with playgrounds are only so fun when you have an 8 month old)

We started looking into memberships and found that for a family of three (with a child under 2) a Thanksgiving Point membership wasn't too expensive. It gave us unlimited access to the Dinosaur Museum, the Animal Farm, and the TP Gardens. We didn't know much at the time, but we figured that even if we only went there once a month in the year that we had the pass it would pay for it.

Little did we know that we would love the place as much as we did... especially the garden.

Before it closed for winter last year, we found ourselves going to the Garden two times a week just to give us a place to get out of the house and get some exercise.

It was so peaceful.

When it opened up this year we looked forward to it so much... we were one of the few who went on the first day (before the flowers were even in bloom)

We've gotten to where we call it "our garden" and when tulip festival came around we got kinda upset... like I imagine frequent gym goers do around New Year's Resolution time.

Last week, we went to the gardens again. It was nice because the crowds had died down a bit from the tulip festival.

I think this was one of the best times that we've had at the garden.

One thing new that we did this time, was to just sit down on the amphitheater and have some fun family time.

... that was until Gabs got restless...

...All that green grass, and she didn't know what to do with herself...
... I can't blame her... in fact... I kinda egged her on!

We had so much fun. I gave her a piggy back ride. We danced on the stage together. She pushed me down the hill. She ran as fast as she could just to fall. I taught her how to roll down...

It was a blast!

After that, we went to the horseshoe place and Momma taught Gabs how to smell flowers. They were so beautiful playing together.

These (the following) were my favorite pictures... they really show Gabs' personality. Christy is really tender when it comes to teaching our children. Especially when it comes to teaching them about God's creation. It really is one of her greatest talents (teaching children)

These pictures are ones that I think are some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. The prettiest flowers are the

One of the reasons why I think this trip to Thanksgiving Point was so fun, was because we decided to let Gabs lead the way for a lot of the time.

She thought it was so fun to have so much freedom and to be the one to lead the way!

That is... until she realized that we were going slower than she was and that it was kinda scary running by yourself...

I think this time was the first time that she noticed that there were horseys on the Carousel.

After Momma taught her about the right way to smell and look at flowers she was an old pro.

Everywhere she went she found a new flower to smell.
(I think she actually was more interested in looking into the middle of the flower to see if it looked the same or different than the last ones)

What's a trip to the gardens without a seat on "Gabbie's bench"

(if you notice in this picture, Gabs is concentrating pretty hard on something. With all the freedom that we gave her, she found a rock and decided she wanted to figure out what it tastes like. She was pretty upset when I wouldn't let her keep sucking on it.)

This was also the first time that they had the fountains going in the secret garden this year. Gabs thought it was soo cool.

When I took her over to the actual fountain and showed her what fun it was to put her hands in it, she couldn't keep her hands out... sometimes parents would save themselves so much hassle if they just wouldn't ever teach their kids stuff (hehe).

Look at Gabbie's face and hand in these pictures in progression:

We sure love "our gardens"

Stay tuned for our next "Favorite Family Places: Utah" posts about Animal Farm and Bridal Veil Falls.

Four Generations

A few weekends ago, Kyle's sister Megan had a baby blessing for her daughter Sophyia. We drove up to Farmington to attend and were able to spend some time with family. Kyle was very surprised to see his Grandpa Hamilton there. I believe that until this Sunday he had not seen him in 8 or so years. With everyone there, we had to get a four generation picture for our family.

Here they are from L to R: Marv, Grandma Robbins, Kyle, Mom, Gabbie, Grandpa Hamilton, and Bonnie. (Marv and Bonnie are the step-grandparents)

Here is Megan's beautiful famliy on this happy day. While we were waiting for all the kids to come over, Marv quietly offered his seat to Mom and walked away. Sneaker!

What a fun time to spend together and see all the family. It was great to finally meet Kyle's grandpa and wife.

Yay! We Are Finally Done!!!

I know many of you who have gone through the whole spouse graduating from college thing have probably felt the same way I did when Kyle graduated on April 24. It was such a wonderful feeling to know that we were done, at least for a little while before he starts again for his masters. There was such a feeling of accomplishment and success. Looking at Kyle in his cap and gown made me think about all those hard times when he would be 'gone to the world' because he had 2 or 3 papers due. Those were some of the hardest times for our family but we have really grown and developed a wonderful relationship because of them.

I was working the morning of graduation so Kyle woke Gabbie up and brought her with him to the Marriot Center. When I got off at 7 Kyle's sister Natalie picked me up and we went to get Gabbie. She loved sitting with her daddy and then sitting in the bleacher chairs (that only lasted for a little bit, but Grandma Christensen was so nice and took her outside to walk around while we were waiting for Kyle to walk across the stage. Thank You Again for that!)

This is where all the graduates sat and our position in the stands. Kyle was about the 5th or 6th row from the front.

He's in there somewhere. This was about the only picture I got before the camera battery died. Luckily my smart husband brought the charger and we were able to charge it some. Unfortunately, the graduates got out of order and they did not announce the English Teaching majors so I ended up missing Kyle walk across the stage but Nan took a picture.

It was such a beautiful day for graduation. Here are the pictures after the ceremony:

Kyle and his mom

Kyle, Mom, and Dad. They were so proud of him.

Gabbie and Daddy...she would not let go of that binky for anything.

I am so proud of him! He worked so hard and at times doubted himself and his abilities but he did it!

This is the girl that student taught with Kyle at AF Junior.

Jared was one of the only other male English Teaching majors. These two had some good times together over the last year or so. Jared and his little family will be moving off to Evanston, Wyoming over the summer for their new job teaching in a high school. We will miss them.

I wish I had taken a picture of Kyle all by himself. Darn. We are so proud of our newest graduate. He worked so hard to get to this point. Thanks for all the support we received from everyone that helped us get through the changes in majors and other school related decisions. You guys were a great strength to us.

On Our Way Home

We had an eventful plane ride home from Texas. Gabbie had a really hard time being confined in such a small space. Our plane was tiny and completely booked so she had to sit on our laps (mostly Kyle because he is such a wonderful husband). She had a hard time sleeping and when she did finally fall asleep, I woke her up because I had to stand up and get something from the overhead bin. It was just way to crowded in the plane to take any pictures but we did take some at the airport as we waited to board.

Gabs was such a good girl when she had all the open space to walk around in and explore. Here she is munching on some lunchables.

checking out all the cool things out this huge window...

Overall, it was a good first time experience. We have definitely learned some things about flying with children that we didn't know before. If we fly instead of drive from now on we will definitely know what to do and not do.

The Houston Temple... Our New Temple!

One of the favorite parts of our trip to Texas was our visit to the Houston temple.

Among all of the temples that we've ever seen, Houston is really among the prettiest.
(I'd say that it is the prettiest, but I know I'm biased)

Honestly, the pictures just don't do this temple justice.

One of Gabs' favorite parts of the temple was the great fountain that they have out front. She loved walking around the edge of it and trying to put her fingers in. We had to be careful to make sure she didn't fall in.

I think what Christy and I loved about it was how pretty the grounds around it are. there is a little walking path that takes you behind the temple to this beautiful little green area.

Gabs also loved pushing the stroller through the paths. As you can see from the pictures, She had a bit of a hard time driving the stroller straight.

We really love our new temple... We hope to be able to go inside in a few weeks!

Is This Really a Public Park?

We checked out of our hotel early on the day we were leaving Houston so we had tons of extra time to waste until we needed to be up at the airport. Kyle made the suggestion that we check out the park close to our new church building. We had seen the park as we were driving to and from the church and thought it would be interesting to check out. In the entrance, all you can see is a ton of soccer fields so it is kind of deceiving. I was not too thrilled at the beginning because I thought it was just going to be fields and no where to play. Boy was I wrong.

We drove all the way down to the back of the huge area and parked the car. There was this beautiful little pathway with a stream and ducks. We kept walking to see what else there was in the area.

To our great surprise and delight, there were live animals in the park. Most of them are sheltered there because they were injured and cannot return to the wild. We got to see a lot of birds that were very pretty. Our favorite was the big white cockatoo. He was a total show-off and kept doing tricks for us when we asked him.

another pretty bird...

oooh, what else is there to see?

Then to our surprise, we came to the Bison. There were three of them just lounging in the sun until this one in the pictures decided to get up and show off for the people standing at the fence taking pictures.

the other two lazy bison were more interested in resting...

As we were walking, this tiny little bird came flying out of no where and landed in the water fountain. Gabbie and I were trying to be super quiet so we could watch the bird without scaring it away. Gabbie thought it was so cool that she could get so close to all the animals.

'Look guys'...

taking a break from the animals to do some swinging...

We found a bunch of caterpillars on the sidewalk on our walk back to the car. Kyle picked one up and tried to introduce it to Gabbie. She was not so sure that she wanted to meet it.

We are so excited to live close to this park. It is most definitely going to become one of those places that we go to all the time. We can't wait to do more exploring after we are all settled in.