Fitt Family Reunion 2018

Every three years, Jon's grandpa's siblings on down get together in Utah for a family reunion, and 2018 was one of those time. Jon took off work and we made the trek down to Utah to join on in the fun.

The first day we drove straight to a mini reunion on Grandma Fitt's side of the family. They had food and a huge blow-up water jump house which Phoebe thought was the coolest, especially because it was so hot!

For the main Fitt reunion we spent time in Heber Valley at a chalet. Phoebe ate her first oreo, got aquainted with Grandma and Grandpa Fitt, and hung out with the cousins. Jon spent some time hitting around a baseball with his sibling and Uncle David (who was sure to show off his baseball moves).

Not all our time was spent at the Fitt reunion, though. Jon's immediate family decided to rent a house to stay at while there so that we could spend more time together. We played games, ate junk food, and slept at night and then ran off and adventured during the day when it wasn't Fitt reunion time. We walked to church just around the corner on Sunday and on Tuesday enjoyed lunch at Tucanos (Jon was in heaven), looking at animals at the Bean Museum at BYU, and got ice cream at the BYU creamery.

The reunion happened to fall on Phoebe's birthday, so we got to celebrate it with them! On her actual birthday she was so worn out from traveling that she fell asleep in her high chair in a room full of noisy people. So we waited until the next day when things calmed down to do the celebration. She had lots of cousins to excitedly watch her open presents and when it came time to eat cake, she wasn't quite sure what to do--"It's so big!" she seemed to say--and so she just flopped her face right down into it.

On our last day we said goodbye to Jon's family and spent the day adventuring around. We met with my old boss, Fred, from my days doing early morning custodial at the Tanner Building during college. Then, we dropped by and walked around the grounds at the Provo City Center temple, which was completed right after we left Utah. After a visit with my Uncle Steven, we were able to say hi to one of Jon's old roommates, Jacob. That night we slept at my Uncle David's place and while I visited with my cousin Stephanie and her new baby there, Jon ran off to say hi to another old roommate, Eric.

On our drive home, we stopped for lunch to say hi to my Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen and Aunt Janet. How grateful I am that we did, for my Grandpa passed away just a week after that.

And that was it! Like I said, the Lord has blessed us with more amazing people in our lives than I can count, and it was a blessing to spend time with them.

4th of July and Birthday Celebrations

For the Fourth of July my family drove up to spend the day with us and to celebrate Emily and Phoebe's birthdays. Having all my sisters home for the summer has been a tremendous blessing. I'm trying to soak in get togethers like this as much as I can because I realize that as my sisters go off to school, get jobs, and start families of their own, it's going to be a lot harder to get everyone together.

Phoebe didn't really get what all the hoopla was about, but we enjoyed celebrating her. I had cute decorations my good friend, Lui, gave us to use, which made for some fun. Phoebe thought it was weird we buried toys in bags and paper, but boy--tissue paper is cool! And Abby brought her a cupcake which she enjoyed munching down. Overall, a success!

Before we sent my family on their way, we set off a few fireworks. We thought they would scare Phoebe, but they didn't--she even helped Grandma Rogers set off one! After the family left Jon and I waited for a little more dark before lighting the rest of the fireworks, some of which were generously gifted to us by a good friend. It was the perfect way to end the day.

July 2018

July was the best month I've had all year. It's been so full of time with family and fun that my house is a disaster, but my heart is full. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such amazing family. 

And little Phoebe? She's not so little anymore! She's in the 98% for height, is walking/running like crazy, eating, clapping, sippy-cup-ing, babbling, laughing, and being the joy of our lives. One year old looks good on you, Phoebees! 

Because we did so much, I'm going to split July's photos into separate posts. In the meantime, here's a little squish to brighten up your day!

June 2018

First Row:

• We had s'mores at our place and Phoebe LOVED the attention!
• We said goodbye to some of our favorite missionaries--Sis. Lee, Sis. Olmstead, and Elder Brown!

Second Row:

• Phoebe and I went to my sister-in-law's place to spend the night.
• Phoebe started walking and loves the independence! 
• We went to the zoo for the first time. Phoebe didn't quite get it and found it more entaining to watch the zookeepers talking about the animals than the animals themselves, but it was still nice to be outside with family and friends.

Third Row:

• We started cutting out some grass in the front of our yard to put in this flower patch. 
• Kate graduated! What?!!!
• To celebrate Kate's graduation, the sisters went and goofed off at Walmart. It's surprising how fun that store can be after 9pm.

May 2018

First Row:

• We went to the Northwest Wildlife Park. Phoebe liked to see the animals, but by the end it was nap time.
• We met with Phoebe's doctor at Seattle Children's and he says her lip is doing great. Whoo-hoo!Jessica came and spent a weekend with us. We watched a movie and had treats and went to the park and went shopping and were sad when she had to go.

Second Row:

• Phoebe and I traveled down to Vancouver with our friend, Carlene, to do some hiking down in Southern Washington. We hiked to Falls Creek Falls, stopped to look at Panther Creek Falls, and hiked through Forest Park in Portland.
• Phoebe is leaning to get into things she shouldn't....
• We met up with Mom in Chehalis and went for a bike ride

Third Row:

• My cousin, Alex, and her daughter Hazel were in town. It was great catching up!
• Aunt Emily came for a weekend of fun! She was a good sport hanging out with us at a family BBQ, going on a walk, and helping us with some yard work.
• We got a grill! I set it on fire and almost burned our house down about a week into having it, but besides that, it's been fantastic to have around!

April 2018

First Row:

• Phoebe takes after her dad...she loves watermelon!
• Phoebe FINALLY learned to take a bottle (and mom is very happy!)
• Phoebe loves to stand at and play with the learning table.
• Aunt Jessica came home from her mission in California and met Phoebe for the first time.

Second Row:

• Jon and I ran away for a weekend and went clamming for the first time with our friends, the Grays and Ballejos'.
• Phoebe and I went on several bike rides...one with Carlene Gray and one with my mom.
• Phoebe likes swinging in the swings.
• Jon attempts to dress Phoebe and puts her clothes on backwards.

Third Row:

• Phoebe and I met up at the park with a bunch of wonderful girls from church. The kids played on the playground while we played cornhole.
• Jon had us dress up and take redneck photos for one of our FHE activities....Phoebe wasn't sure she liked it...
• The weather started getting nicer and we played outside (yay for having a backyard!)
• I BEAT JON AT BOWLING! I was very humble about my triumph. 

Fourth Row:

• Phoebe has decided that shopping carts were made backwards because she can't see where she's going.
• Phoebe was intrigued by my family's dog, Hickley, one stay there. "Da! Da, da, da!" (translation: Dog! Bark, bark, bark!) is her first "word."
• Phoebe has her first sucker (and a lot of other "first" in the junk food category)...she thinks sugar is pretty tasty.
• We went to my sister-in-law, Laura's, place for Easter to watch the last session of General Conference and have Easter dinner.

March 2018

Our biggest adventure was obviously Phoebe's surgery, but we had fun doing many other things too!

First Row

• We hiked Pinnacle Peak in Enunclaw as a family.
• Phoebe and I snuk along with Jon to an Elder's Quorum activity and Phoebe went bowling for the first time (she has room for improvement).
• We met up with some friends and Phoebe "played" at the park for the first time.
• Jon had a birthday, which we got to celebrate the following week with Laura and Austin's family, along with Chase, who happened to be in town.

Second Row

• We went out lots of times with the sister missionaries serving in our ward, Sis. Lee and Sis. Darling. They are awesome!
• We went to the temple and walked around as a family the day before Phoebe's surgery.
• Phoebe started riding in the shopping cart and loves it.
• We had green cinnamon rolls for St. Patrick's Day.

Third Row

• My family came into town St. Patrick's Day weekend to have fun and help around the house. Kate grew Easter bunny ears while we were at Target.
• Phoebe has decided that she's too cool for the changing table. In fact, she's too cool for changing in general and often tries to run away mid-change.
• We started painting the inside of our house. It took me seven samples of paint (only one of which we ended up using) and a lot of prayers to pick the colors, but I'm really happy with what we've done so far! We've only done the bedroom, so there's more fun to come...
• Jon's family sent an Easter package to us, full of yummy treats and this cute duck for Phoebe!

Fourth Row

• Phoebe and I went to watch our friend, Raquel, coach a lacrosse game. Our friends, Cassy, McKenley, Lindsi, and Lukas came along!
• We went with our friend, Loree, and got burgers and fries at Pick Quick. Phoebe liked the french fries.
• Phoebe practiced wearing headbands. If it stays on her head, this photo is usually as good as it gets.
• Phoebe took her first ride in the bike trailer I got from my mom for my birthday. It was fun!

February 2018

Here's a bit of what we were up to in February...

First Row:

• We got together twice with our friend, Cassy, for lunch.
• We hiked Tiger Mountain with my friend, Erika. Phoebe did great the first 5 miles, but protested the last two...
• Jon and I went mountain biking at Swan Creek. It was the first time I've gone in a year and a half and I LOVED it! Plus, the bike Jon got me for my birthday is awesome!

Second Row:

• The family went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the BYU v. Gonzaga basketball game. BYU lost unfortunately, but the food was good and Phoebe loved it (all those TVs and noise, you know?)
• Jon took a day off work and my family came to watch Phoebe so that he and I could go skiing. I learned that I appreciate skiing more than snowboarding, though I still pretty much fell down the mountain the whole way.
• While my parents and Kate were in town to watch Phoebe, Kate got creative and invented the "Swami." #mysisteriscoolerthanyours

Third Row:

• While in town, my dad helped us do a lot around the house. For example, he hung this beautiful shelf he made me for Christmas. He also helped us fix our kitchen light (it needed more than a new light bulb), hang a shelf in Phoebe's room, and hang a plate in our kitchen. Yay for handy/awesome dads!
• Phoebe and I met up our friends--Lui and her daughter, Suri--at a yummy Asian bakery. I love Lui and Suri...we happened to meet each other at a library baby storytime, and since then have become really good friends. Yay for yummy treats and awesome friends!
• It snowed in Tacoma! For a whole week! We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves.

And then because I can't help but make a collage of Phoebe pictures...

January 2018

Here's our January in pictures...

First Row:
1. Phoebe getting all warm for a run.
2. We went out to Red Robin for my birthday.
3. Phoebe is adorable...
4. ...And spits out her food when she decides she doesn't like how it tastes (cleft lips are very handy for this!)

Second Row:
1. Once again, Phoebe is adorable
2. Phoebe loves to play with toys (as long as you are there with her!)
3. She continues to chew on just about everything you hand her
4. She loves to bounce around in the jumperoo that my sister-in-law, Laura, is letting us borrow.

Third Row:
1. Phoebe makes a MESS when eating. Especially if she's tired and she rubs her food-covered hand all over her face.
2. Yup--still adorable!
3. Phoebe and I went down to Vancouver to see my sister, Kate, in a short skit she helped put on
4. Phoebe is officially sitting in the stroller forward facing (instead of sitting in the car seat with the stroller adapter)

Fourth Row:
1. We start off most morning by doing a bit of reading, including reading Winnie the Pooh!
2. Phoebe all ready for church
3. My birthday present from Jon...a new mountain bike!
4. And of course, still adorable.