Jacob's 1st Birthday

This little man is 1 YEARS OLD!!!  It is amazing - and wonderful - and yet I wish time would just stop.  We had a great day celebrating all things Jacob.  We spent the morning at Coors Field taking a tour.  After that we headed home to start the birthday festivities. 

This little man just KNEW today was all about him - what a happy little guy!

One of the sad but also good things about being here in Denver is that we are away from family.  It is sad at times like this that we don't have any family to celebrate with.  But at the same time, it just makes us depend on one another all the more.  I am so grateful for my little family, but we did miss our extended family as well. 

Even though I knew no one would come, I still wanted to make little invitations for Jacob's first birthday.  I sent these out last week to the grandparents. 

And Jacob was able to have his first taste of sugar with a cake all for himself.  I think he liked it :)

Later, after Jacob took his nap we opened presents and were able to facetime with some of our extended family.

I just HAD to add this picture - he was just sleeping way too cute during his nap.  Melts my heart. 

Of course, he had to check out his new books first. 

This is his favorite position to look at his books. 

Facetime-ing with the family. 

It was a great day.  We hope Jacob liked it.  It has been a wonderful first year.  We love our little man!

12 Months

I cannot believe this little man is a year old.  He has brought me so much joy and happiness this last year.  When I think of this last year of my life, it truly brings happy tears to my eyes because I feel so blessed to be this little boy's mom.  He has brought such a light to my life.  I love him so much. 

I was so excited to add this last picture to Jacob's first year.  He is such a cutie.  He has always been such an angel baby.  I love this little guy. 

I feel like this last month Jacob has just changed so much.  First of all, he is totally mobile.  He crawls and rolls every which way.  I love being able to watch him explore and see what things he is curious about. 

Some of his favorite places to explore are behind his rocking chair and under his crib.  He also loves flicking the door stoppers.  And we have a lot and he is constantly flicking them off.  It is a good thing they just screw back on!  He also loves to open everything.  His favorites are definitely the dresser drawers and any and all cupboards.  We are definitely busy.

Jacob does have some toys that seem to keep his attention these days.  Grandpa and Grandma Berning gave him a little dump truck with some blocks and he loves scooting it around and taking out and putting in the blocks.  Aunt Melina also gave him a puzzle for his birthday that has a bunch of farm animals that make sounds when you take the pieces on and off.  He loves it!

Jacob's favorite past time though is still books.  He loves books.  He loves turning the pages and looking at all of the pictures.  I still love to watch him do it.  The books that he seems to get most excited to read are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See," "Peek-A-Boo, I Love You," and "Press Here."

And, of course, Jacob still enjoys any time that we spend outside and loves to watch people.  

We are so happy for our little guy.  We hope that he has had just as great of a first year as we have. 

EVERY time I look at this I crack up at his four month picture - what a chunk!  We have loved watching our little man grow!

Coors Field

For Jacob's birthday we decided in the morning that we would go take a tour of Coors Field.  It is where the Colorado Rockies (baseball) play in downtown Denver.  Mark's been to a game and is actually going to another game on Saturday but Jacob and I had never been down there. 

It was such a nice stadium.  I actually really loved it!  I loved the design and architecture of it.  We were able to walk all around the stadium, see the views from different seats, check out the press box, the suites, the visitor's locker room, go into the dugouts and right onto the field.  And by "right onto the field" I mean that you can walk on the edges as long as you ABSOLUTELY do NOT touch the grass :)

It was fun - something different - and definitely a neat behind-the-scenes look at something we would never get to see otherwise.  Plus, we found out some really cheap, awesome ways to get tickets.  We were excited!  Now, we just need to plan a date and go to a game!  WOOT WOOT!

Crawling

So I know this may seem repetitive but Jacob is officially CRAWLING forward!  Oh my goodness!  I feel like this little man is just changing so quick!  He is now getting everywhere!  It is so fun!  I love seeing him so curious about EVERYTHING!  It is an exciting time. 

I also love watching how he gets from place to place.  He has so many different ways he has learned to get around and he just uses them all so interchangeably.  He'll go from crawling forward, to rolling, to then crawling backward literally within thirty seconds to get exactly where he wants to go.  It just makes me smile.

Jacob loves to play in his room now.  We kind of like to just close the door almost all of the way and just watch him when he thinks he is alone and see what he does.  He gets himself into all sorts of jams (behind the chair, stuck halfway under his crib, etc.) but he is actually pretty good about getting himself out of them.  So fun.

Congrats little buddy.  Now...just stay little...please.



 

Father's Day

I love the men in my life.  I am so blessed.  This Father's Day was so much fun because I could spend it with my Dad AND it was Mark's first year as a dad. 

First, to talk about the "Dads." 

I am so grateful for Mark.  This has been a beautifully, crazy year.  He takes everything in stride and I am so impressed with how he has balanced his life.  He is an amazing father and husband.  I couldn't be more blessed.  Jacob is so lucky to have him for his Daddy.  And I have loved to see Mark and how easily he has become a "Dad."  I love you.  

I did this little photo shoot of Jacob and then framed it and this was Jacob's gift to his Dad for Father's Day :)

I am so grateful for my Dad.  I have always been a daddy's girl.  I cherish the relationship I have with my Dad.  I love that we have always been able to talk about things in an honest and loving way.  He is a great man and I admire him for many things and am grateful for the love that he has shown me throughout my life.  I have also loved being able to see him this last year in his new role as "Grandpa."  He is a great example to both me and Jacob and I feel blessed.  I love you, Dad.

I am also so very grateful for my second-Dad, Gus.  I am grateful for how you raised Mark and taught him how to be the Father that he is.  You have always been so welcoming and supportive of us and I am very grateful.  Thank you for who you are.

There are countless of other men that have blessed and influenced my life and to all of them I am grateful.

Sunday evening, to celebrate Father's Day, we grilled steaks and had a little BBQ in the backyard.  It was a beautiful night. 

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Clegg

After the reunion we ended our trip in Draper visiting my parents.  We had so much fun getting to visit with them more on a one-on-one basis.  I felt like we were just running most of the time but it was a blast.

Unfortunately, my Dad had to go out of town for work for some of the time which was a bummer but we were glad for the time we were able to have with him.  I seriously think him and Jacob became best buds.  Darlene gave Jacob (when we were visiting with them earlier) this dump truck with some blocks in it and Jacob just loves it.  Thank you again!  And my Dad and Jacob would just play and play with that.  They were "Bill and Joe."  Apparently, that's what my Dad and his brother used to call themselves when they would play when they were little.  So My Dad was Bill and Jacob was Joe.  It was adorable.

We were able to spend a lot of time with my Mom which I just loved.  She is such a wonderful woman and I have been so very blessed to be her daughter.  I hope I can be the kind of Mother she has been to me to my children.  And my Mom and I were even able to go to the Draper Temple together which was so great.  It was the first time going with my Mom since I took out my endowments AND went to the Draper Temple for the first time.  It was great to have that time with her. 

We are so grateful that we were able to spend some time with my parents and also some time with Megan and Melina.  We love our families.

Karli's Baby Shower

We were so lucky with our timing because while we were there, one of my best friends, Karli, was having her baby shower for her twin boys she is having!  I am so happy for her and her husband, Zach.  They are going to make great parents.

One of my other best friends, Liz, picked me up at my parent's house and we were able to drive up together to Farmington.  I hadn't seen Liz since I got married so it had definitely been WAY too long!  And I was able to meet Liz's little girl who is absolutely adorable.  

I loved every moment of it.  I was able to get some much needed girl time and it was just way too much fun to see all of the little kiddos interact with one another.

Again, I am so happy for you Karli and can't wait to meet your boys!

Visiting the Great Grandparents

After our reunion we drove down to Soda Springs to visit my other grandparents.  We stopped by and visited with my Grandma Dixie.  I love her.  She just makes me so happy and I am so happy that we were able to see her!

It was great just to sit down and be able to talk with her.  She had Jacob just a smilin' away by the end!  And Jacob wasn't shy at all about showing his new rolling skills and rolling everywhere around her home.  It was wonderful.  We love you Grandma. 

We also stopped and visited my Grandpa and Grandma Clegg.  We love them.  It was also really great to be able to sit down and just visit with them and hear how they are doing.  We wished we could live closer so that these kinds of moments could happen more.  Hopefully someday. 

And I am very bummed because I could NOT find my camera during all of this so didn't get any pictures...sad day. 

Moldenhauer Family Reunion

This June we had a Moldenhauer Family Reunion up in Island Park and it was fabulous!  Oh my goodness, it was so much fun!

This was the first time in 14 YEARS that everyone has been able to be together.  We would always come up to Island Park for reunions when we were younger but as more and more grandkiddos got married and started having families of their own they just kind of stopped happening.  I was so happy when it was decided to do this - and even more happy that everyone could be there.  We ended up having 54 people altogether - 28 adults and 26 kiddos - it was perfect! 

We spent five days together in the perfect setting.  Island Park is beautiful and we had two cabins right next to each other that were able to fit us all! 

Sunday afternoon we all met and got settled in our cabins.  We spent the evening playing card games and just enjoying our time with one another. 

This picture CRACKS me up every time I see it - I don't know what Jacob was doing because I KNOW he wasn't sleeping...what a goof. 

Monday was water day!  It was the warmest day and we took advantage of it!  We were so lucky and had the whole dock area to ourselves and we pretty much just set up camp!  We had brought up two boats and the kids just dived in - despite it being very chilly.  Even Jacob and I enjoyed the water a little and just sat on the edge letting the waves hit our toes. 

Monday night we had a family home evening that my grandparents organized.  It was so sweet being able to see them do this together.  They talked about how blessed they felt to be surrounded by their descendants and how they never imaged 64 years ago (when they got married) that this was in their future.  And I must say, that I feel so blessed to come from such amazing people.  They have been great examples to their children, all of us grandchildren, and now their many great-grandchildren.

Tuesday was kind of a rainy and stormy day.  We just made it work though!  My Mom is amazing.  Really.  She has made Jacob this giant tipi for him to play in with a fake little fire and everything.  Seriously...amazing.  She also has made Jacob an assortment of capes for all of the different superheros.  And if that weren't enough, she has made a huge pink cottage for all of her future granddaughters to play in.  And it is loaded with an assortment of Disney Princess dress-ups.  I love them.  They are adorable.  She brought all of these up to share with all of the other grandkiddos and they had a blast. 

Tuesday afternoon we also had a birthday party for my Aunt Lucy.  She is such a wonderful woman and has always been so kind and supportive to me throughout my life.  She is definitely not one that is in the spotlight much - and she would say that that is exactly how she likes it - but we were all happy to be able to spend the afternoon spotlighting her.  It was a great girls afternoon.

Wednesday we took family pictures.  We were able to take some big group pictures and then all sorts of other arrangements.  I am so glad that we were able to do this!  Can't wait to see how they all turned out!  Later in the day, the kids had fun playing in the forest and making their own teepees with enormous logs!  Let me tell you, these kids have no fear!  They were ready to do anything!

And all of us adults had fun every night playing card games, reverse charades, and telephone charades. 

We were able to make so many wonderful memories.  I am, again, grateful for family and the time that we have to be with one another.  It was a great week!

P.S. I was so naughty and didn't take a single picture this whole time.  Lucky for me - lots of other people did!  However, I only have the few that my Mom took right now, so I will have to add more later!

Visiting Grandpa & Grandma Berning

We were so happy that we were able to spend some time with Mark's parents.  They just recently returned home from their mission and it was wonderful to see them! 

The first week of our adventures we were able to spend some time with Mark's brother, Brian.  It was great to spend time with him because it definitely doesn't happen often enough! 

The next week is when Mark's parents came home.  We had so much fun visiting them!  We loved playing games and just being able to chat with them.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family that loves and supports us. 

Please notice that Jacob is sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth...what a turkey!

A Rolling Machine

The first week we were in Utah, Jacob definitely became a rolling machine.  He was rolling everywhere.  It was so much fun to watch.  He was so creative with the different ways he would pivot his body to get where he wanted to go.  And we are definitely learning how quickly life changes with a little guy on the move.  It is so much fun though and I wouldn't change a bit of it!

Party in the Hamper

So this post in very late but I sat down to catch up from all of our adventures from the last month and realized that I forgot to do a post about our party in the hamper.

It was a warm day and we were itching to get out of the house and go do something water-y - but it was Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and we definitely didn't want to go venture out to our community pool.  So we came up with the genius (okay, not really genius) plan to make our own little swimming pool.  Plus, we had just gotten Jacob a new swimsuit and I just had to let him enjoy it!

Now, we don't have a lot to work with here - so I got out Jacob's hamper.  It's pretty much a deep plastic tub.  We took it out to our little balcony and just let Jacob go to town!  Jacob loved it!  And we had fun watching him in it.  Life is good. 

Jacob checking things out...

At first I felt really bad because he was so cramped - lucky for us - he didn't seem to mind!

Love him.

Grandpa's Birthday

Yesterday Jacob and I drove down to Draper to celebrate my Dad's 54th Birthday!  I'll tell you what - I love that man.  We got there around 11:30 and us girls decided to go out to lunch together - with Jacob, of course.  It was so much fun to be able to spend some time with my Mom and Melina  Afterwards, Melina had to go to work for a couple of hours and my Mom and I went home to get ready for the festivities.  Jacob went down for a nap and it was so nice to just be able to sit down and chat with her.  It's definitely not something that happens often enough!  I miss her.

Once everyone got home we had a yummy barbecue outside on a perfect evening!  It was great to be there all together (though we, of course, missed Megan and Mark!) and just chat.  I am grateful for time spent with family.

And I just wanted to make special mention of my great Dad -  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  

You are a great father and grandfather and we are so grateful for your example, love and support.  We hope you had a great day!  Love you!

Visiting Family

I am a little late in getting this post out - but better late than never!  Last Monday (Memorial Day) we trekked over to Utah to visit family.  It has been so wonderful to spend time with our family!  It has been a really low key week, but again, so great just to spend time with family.  We are continuously reminded with how blessed we are to have the family that we do.  Their love and support for all that we do is such a comfort in our lives.  We hope that we can be the same to all of them. 

P.S. Jacob is totally mobile now.  He isn't crawling in the traditional sense but I am calling it - he is MOBILE!  He rolls and pivots and pretty much can get anywhere that he wants now.  It is crazy!