Summer Fun!!!

I am FINALLY going to catch ya'll up on our wonderfully eventful- crazy busy- amazingly fun summer!!!! In this post, Joel gets married, we )Collin, Lilly, myself, mom and dad Kraus, Courtney and Tyler) go on vacation to California and Arizona and just prior to our departure to CA. we celebrated my hubby's b-day hence the cake pic. Lilly went in the ocean for the first time, and absolutely LOVED it!!! And I will tell you, it was COLD. Didn't faze her a bit though, she wanted to keep going out deeper and deeper, when the waves would start to come she would kick and get all excited and try to run towards them!!!! She full on tried to face plant in the sand so she could more effectively eat it. I discouraged this behavior. I thought after her first mouthful she would realize that it just wasn't very good- alas she somehow thought that it was utterly delightful and wanted more!!!! We got to go to Venice beach, the San Diego Zoo (Lilly as you will see was alseep for a good chunk of the Zoo) which was so gorgeous, Collin, his dad, and Uncle Barry went to a Dodgers game, we got to walk around the L.A. Temple- we also got to see Uncle Doug and Aunt Jody too!! And much more it was so wonderful!!!! We had a blast in AZ. too with Collin's sister Miranda and her adorable children!!!! They loved Lilly and were so sweet and wonderful to her!!!! We miss them all!!!! Joel and Bittany's wedding was so beautiful!!!! They are so cute together, I'm so happy to have a new sister!!!! I love all my sweet sisters!!!!! They are such a hansome couple-I miss them!!!! They went back to cold Idaho, and far away!!!! Suffice it to say, it has been a great summer. Lots of fun memories were made. I am finally getting myself back on track, I had a hard time re-acclamating to life back at home. But all is well now!!!! Collin is busy, busy and I don't see him as much as I would like, but ah well. I love it when I get to see him!!!! He is my personal superman, and he is such a wonderful husband!!! Love to you all!!!!

Lillian's FIRST Birthday!!!!

Well, on July 6th we celebrated my Lilly's first birthday!!!! I cannot believe she is one. How does time go so fast? We had a party for her at my in-laws home who so generously let us invade!! I wanted to tell everyone who came, thank you so much. I can't tell you what it meant to me to have you all come & celebrate our little girl with us!!! It is so wonderful to have friends like all of you. I (we) feel so very blessed. Love to you all, thank you so much!!! My Lilly was not bashful when it came to digging into the cake, although she wouldn't get both hands in it for a while. Eventually, she decided it was way more effective to use both hands!!!! I made her cake, (shout out to Laurel for her cake tips-thank you) it was quite the undertaking. I need practice, I'll leave it at that!!! The next day (her actual b-day) the Seria's came over and we celebrated again!!! I am also going to include some videos that I neglected to put up earlier that I think are hysterical. Oh, and the first video with Lil's digging into the cake is sideways-but it is so good I posted it anyways!!! We missed having my family there as always. Being far away is hard, but they were there in spirit. Miss and love you all!!! Thank you all again for everything!!!!!

The Wedding

Well, I have lots of catching up to do. I figured I would do seperate posts. Lilly's b-day is next. We were able to go to Utah for Maribeth and Scott's wedding and it was so wonderful!!! Lilly also got to celebrate her first 4th of July!!! We are just trying to keep up with how fast life is going. Love to you all. Lillian's birthday post is forth-coming.

My walking Girl!!!

Okay so I have no excuse other than life is busy!!! Sorry it has yet again been so long since I've posted new stuff!!!! Lilly got her first ear infection. The first antibiotic didn't work so we had to put her on a different one. My poor little baby, she still seems out of sorts and hasn't been sleeping well. I think she is teething too. Babies have to go through so much!!!! We are gearing up for Maribeth's wedding, and visiting with all our family who we miss so much!!! Lillian is taking a couple steps now, and I'm sure it is only a matter of a couple weeks (if that) before she is walking everywhere!!!! I say it every time, but I can't believe how fast time goes. She is almost one!!! She is my pride and joy!!!! New with me is that I will be starting to teach ballet classes at the end of June. I have missed my dancing, and it will be only a few hours a week, which is perfect. Collin is busy as ever, the pic below is when Collin did a internship with an Orthodontist. He is also our new Elder's Quorum President in our ward. President of ODONT; which is an Honor society to which some students are selected. He is also getting ready to take the GRE in preperation for applying to Ortho schools. And on top of all this he is the most amazing husband and father!!! I have to brag on him a little bit, because I am so proud and I (we) feel so blessed for all the many opportunities that we have been given. One of the things that I have learned and I'm sure will continue to learn is that, things don't always happen on our time table but if we are patient and striving to do our best Heavenly Father will bless us, when he sees fit. He knows best, we just have to have faith and ACT!!! Love to you all!!

How is she so big?

Our Lillian is growing like a weed. I can't believe how fast time goes. I know I say that all the time, but its true!!! I'm starting to try and teach her sign language, (thanks to Sis. Peterson) we have some DVD's that we are learning from. It is so fun, she hasn't responded yet with sign but I'm confident she will very soon. We feel so grateful to have the friends and family that we are privileged to know!! I wanted to thank all of you who have helped us with our little one. Whether it be through clothing, toys, money or advice, we are so very blessed. I am trying to soak in the moments and of course document with many pictures, because I know that this time is so short. We were able to spend some time with Joel (my brother) who was here with his fiance Brittany. We got to meet her and her family for the first time and it was so much fun!!!! Joel is a lucky guy, and I know he knows that!!! I am so excited to have two new additions to our family, Scott and Brittany. I love that our family just keeps growing!!! I hope all is going well with all of you. We thank you all for your love and friendship. P.S. I couldn't get the video that I wanted to upload, so I will try again later. It is super cute!!