Lil' H is one year old

I cannot believe how fast time can go...Hailey is one year old. This past year has been the best we have ever experienced...of course it hasn't passed too easily. We have learned what it means to love a child, what (involuntary) sleepless nights feel like, the panic of a sick girl in the ER, how a smile can change the world, what two little hands feel and sound like...the list goes on and on, but my favorite thing that I have learned is how one tiny soul can have my whole heart.

As I ponder the experiences we have had with our sweet Hailey there are things I hope to never forget. I never want to forget what it feels like to hold my baby in my arms, to have her lay her head on my shoulder and fall asleep, to feel her soft breath on my neck and hold her body against mine. I never want to forget the sound of her voice as she "talks" in the morning trying to get mommy and daddy out of bed to come and get her. I never want to forget the smile we are rewarded with when she sees  us open her door and we rescue her from her crib or how she pats our backs for hugs. I never want to forget how her hair hangs in her eyes. I never want to forget how independent she already wants to be. I never want to forget her facial expressions; Hailey has a beautiful smile but she can pout her lips and wrinkle her nose. I never want to forget the feeling of Hailey blowing raspberries on my bare skin and the giggle that follows or how she "gets" mommy and daddy. I never want to forget the sound of her laugh as she giggles with delight to be tickled or playing with her favorite toy. I never want to forget the sounds she makes when she eats; when she takes a bite of food she gets a growl in her throat and says MMM or when she wants a toy and finally gets it she say ha, ha. I never want to forget how happy she is and how she waves to everyone. I never want to forget how it sounds to hear her say mama, mama and knock on my door while I work.

7 months old

Christmas Tree 2011

On December 1, 2011, Davis County was hit by a big wind storm. We had wind gusts from 92 -100 MPH. Ben and I drove around to see the damage. There were downed power lines, fences, blown down Christmas decorations, lights, picnic tables and of course uprooted trees and concrete.

The first two years we were together, we cut pine trees out of the yard for Christmas trees; unfortunatley, last year, our Christmas tree came from the Home Depot. This year, we knew, we needed another great Christmas tree and a story to go along with it.

Setting the damage aside, we decided to capatilize on the poor pine trees. As we drove around Bountiful and Centerville, we ended up at Ben's work.

We found this beautiful pine tree. We were lucky enough to be able to have the property management team cut off the top few feet so Ben could bring it home for our Christmas tree. Lucky us!!

Welcome to our OWN Grizwald Family Christmas!!

We cut about a foot off the bottom. When we had it outside, it looked so small. But while we were getting it in the house and set-up...we realized, that Clark isn't joking when he is in bed and everything sticks to his hands.

Fallen Tree

January 2009: One Sunday night, Ben and I were sitting in the front room and we heard a crash. Ben thought someone had hit the light post in the front yard and I thought it sounded like someone was walking on the roof.

The snow was falling fast and heavy. The tree was old and should have come down a long time ago...luckily for us the snow knocked it down for us. As it crashed it it pulled the roots out of the ground, a branch hit the roof and scrapped down the side of the house. We were lucky that it didn't hit the front window.

The tree hit an old phone line and pulled it out of the house...luckily, it wasn't a line we were using.

Ben and I decided that we wouldn't cut down the tree until Spring. We had many people offer to help cut it down...we even had a complete stranger stop by our house and leave a note with his phone number stating we could pay him to cut it down. In the end, AWESOME Tim came over and used his new chainsaw and chopped it down for us.

Too many shoes...

Well, Ben has finally decided that I can move into the house; I finally get to move in from the garage. Actually, we have been so busy doing everything else, that I never moved all my stuff in from the garage. I think that Ben was really surprised when he saw everything that I had to fit into his little house.

The thing that surprised him the most...the amount of shoes that one girl could have. I tried to tell him that this is normal; he didn't believe me. It was a very sad day, I had to end up giving about half of them away.

Maui 2009

January 2009: Maui, Hawaii



January 9 -16, 2009 Ben and I had a chance to go to Hawaii with Dad, Mom, Dave, Connie, Kyler, Kaylee, Jake, Kohl, Kenzie, Sue, Steve, Big Ben, Tanner and Amy.





We had nothing planned and really looked forward to spending time with our family, hanging out on the beach, and enjoying the sun (it was still snowing in Utah).

We stayed at a condo about 5 minutes from mom and dad's hotel. We were so close to the beach, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and so was the food, activities and sun!!

One day, we played on the beach with the family and Kenzie buried me (with Ben's help). It was fun, but Kenzie didn't realize that every time she moved she flipped sand up...she is doll and we had fun.


Ben liked that I was stuck in the sand...

Surfing

Another fun thing to do in Hawaii...surfing!!

I have been a couple of times but this was Ben's first experience. We both LOVED it.



Surfing is such a fun experience and an easy hobby to pick-up. It takes some practice learning how to push off the surf board into a standing position and not end up face first sucking sea water.

Surfing was a family event...Dave, Connie, Kyler, Kaylee, Jake, Kohl, Amy, Ben and me. Kenzie sat with Grandma Craig on the beach watching us all catch waves.