one year older and wiser too :)

My Birthday in September was very nice.  In the middle of Nathaniel's crazy busy schedule he found time to take me out to Tucanos (yummy) and we had angle food cake and ice cream which we had a fun time sharing with the little one.  I am now twenty six years old... how did that ever happen? Looking back, it seems that all my goals for the future, as good as they might have been, have paled to my reality.  I have been allowed to do so many things that I had never even planned or dreamed of.  If you would have asked me ten or even twenty years ago what I wanted to be when I grew up I would have told you that I wanted to be a Mom.  It is all I have really ever wanted and I never thought I was selling myself short by having that as my goal, and honestly I wasn't.  Being a mom and a wife is all that I dreamed it would be and much much more. Yes more difficult and painful but also more wondrous and fascinating. But I wouldn't be where I am today if my goals for marriage and motherhood were not fulfilled much later than I had planned.
Let me explain ... no that takes too much time, let me sum up.  Finishing four years of college and going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were never, ever part of the plan.  And yet, without those experiences I feel that I would be missing a vital and essential part of who I am as a wife and a mother.  Because of the trials and joys I have experienced while waiting for my hero, I have learned much more about the kind of wife and mom that I have dreamed to be.  Moral of the tangent?  I guess it would have to be something like this.  Having and working towards righteous goals should never blind us to the refinement our Father in Heaven plans for us while leading us, in his own way and time, to that destination.  Just something to think about.
Back to the birthday.  I know I don't post many pictures of myself, but in case you are wondering what I look like now ( hasn't changed too much) here is one, followed by my favorite photo subject... Adam :) this time having fun with the whipped cream from my cake!

wand wielder

Way back in June we went to Harry Potter world and I was given a wand.  Adam has since made good use of it and had been in a few duels with his Dad.

Ready 

Set

Go!

And that is how it's done.

are we still alive, you ask?

I lost my camera battery charger.  It happened a couple months ago, but it is still lost. So other than not wanting to post without any new pictures and not feeling my life is interesting enough to post about, I don't have any more excuses ;)  hmm what to write... updates you say? okay! After Adams birthday he started not only walking every where, but also running and climbing onto EVERYTHING. He goes off all the big slides alone and has shown his desire to be independent by "running away". after about 50 or so feet he will turn around until he is sure I know what he is trying to get away with and then he takes off again.  He got his first black eye a few weeks ago by running around with one shoe on and falling into the playground... silly monkey.  He has increased his vocabulary by adding "da" (dance) "doh" (down) "uh" (look) "mo" more and he claps when we say happy (if your happy and you know it...), shakes his fists when we say shake, and depending on the music he will bounce (he loves techno for this) or spin in circles (usually softer music). He is learning new things everyday. turning on and off light switches and scooting his car to where ever he want to climb up.

Nathaniel is in France right now and though I do fine during the day, in the evening I miss him tons. He has been working for the past several months on his research and now he has the opportunity to present it in a large conference in Nantes.  I am super excited for him and proud of all his hard work.  He will be graduating in Apil so he is finishing up his classes and taking the GRE hoping to get into a great Grad program.
As for myself, I am learning to enjoy being a mother of a very busy toddler. Adam makes sure we get outside at least once daily, if only to check the mail. We have also been more involved in a mom craft day that the sisters in my ward put together.  while our kids play I have made paper flowers, Autumn magnets and even a necklace made out of an old tie.  I am loving learning to be more creative.

Happy Birthday #1 Monkey!

July 16th started bright and early, anticipation was in the air, there was a lot to get done. Adam and Dad got hair cuts and took baths (Adam put his towel over his head like a ghost and started walking between Mom and Dad blind, he thought it was hilarious!)then Mom started working on the treats for the day.

 Adam helped by testing the frosting

And he said it was good enough.

 He even watched to make sure everything was baked all the way through.

As Mom was decorating, Dad and Adam helped get the house clean and tidy. Before the festivities started we at dinner and Mom wrapped the presents.

 The theme was monkeys... because honestly Adam has lived up to his nic name very well.  Mom made a personal cake for Adam and cupcakes for everyone else, as well as a white cake for those who didn't like chocolate.

so much work but so much fun.

when 6:00 rolled around we brought everything up to the park and got things ready for all the guests! There was Mom and Dad, Jonas and Sophie and their parents, Grandma and Grandpa Gleason, Great Grandma and Grandpa Basset and Great Grandma and Grandpa Cook!  Before we knew it, it was time for presents!

 what could it be?

 Awesome!

Books and toys and clothes, and a box of tissues of his very own!

The crowning moment was the cake, while everyone else were enjoying their own, Adam was quite busy!

We finished the evening with a bath to play with his new bath toys and a video chat with Grandma and Grandpa Cook and Family! What a wonderful birthday!

First hair cut!

I was totally nervous.. and I had no clue what I was doing, so I started with Nathaniel's hair. This I have done plenty of times. then we plopped Adam down on Dads lap and had at it.  not to shabby I say! turned out better than I dreaded :)

Adam and his first hair cut on his first birthday!

before shot

Puddle jumping

Adam loves the water, what ever form it may come in!

Walking...a lot!

yep that's right we have a little walker on our hands and right before his first birthday too! Actually he took his first steps clear back in March as seen here.

But the real walking has been going on for a couple weeks.

Even though he gets into everything now, and can be a little stinker, I sure love this little kid!

Ooops, fourth of July come first!

My parent live in Pleasant Grove, not too far away from us, and this year the surprised all the grand kids (and adults) with a huge blow up water slide, the movies speak for themselves. aside from great food, fireworks, freedom and the best company, we had a blast!

Don't worry it doesn't hurt

nor did that

Ok, now that may have... silly boys

water baby

World Chocolate Day

July 7th, a great day. To celebrate we had chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate milk for dinner. Adam enjoyed it :)

Stadium of Fire!

Have I ever mentioned that my husband has one of the coolest employers ever?  Qualtrics wanted to surprise there employees with Stadium of Fire tickets this year and ended up being the number 1 sponsor.  Each employee of Qualtrics was given four tickets, ON THE FIELD, as well as dinner and ice cream at the base ball stadium.

 Flew in right over our heads... though he had a little trouble on the landing.

Everyone was given these blue Qualtrics shirts and we were happy to have my little sister Ashley and her husband Klark attend with us.  it was a fantastic evening. Brad Paisly and David Archuletta preformed but the fire works were my favorite part.

Gleason Family Reunion

Pictures pending the finding of my camera.  We went camping up by Squaw Peak and had a whole lot of fun, though we missed the Carlsons, Joe and Darren.

Universal Studios

When we planned on coming here we mostly had planned on visiting Harry Potter World.  I had heard good things about it and mom and dad made it possible.  Because there wasn't free transportation from our campground to Universal, like Church, we had to go in shifts. Nathaniel, Emma, Adam and I had a fun time exploring Dr. Suesse land while we were waiting for the rest of the family to come. A lot of fun

 Sooo big! sitting on an egg.

 Emma

 Fun carousel !  

 tickle the toes... and...

 he pops out!

 Exploring the tunnel that had voices and eyes

a cow like creature with a ton of legs!

When the rest of the family came we hurried of to The Wizarding world of Harry Potter! Items of business included a tour through Hogwarts,ride included, (A little girl went into some kind of anxiety attack in line and help was very slow at coming, I will never forget watching Dad jump over fences and scale six foot walls to get help, our hero!)  dragon challenge and one must not forget Butter beer! Ollivanders and honeydukes were also must visits. we ate at the Three Broomsticks where we got even more Butterbeer! so delicious! Mom and Dad got me a wonderful memento... my very own wand!

 View of Hogsmead

Hogwarts!

 My wand

Very Happy!

 Pushing his own stroller... Adam got very good at this!

Universal Studios had a lot more to offer, like cartoon world and Sinbad land, super fun day! And Super fun Trip, thanks  Mom and Dad for including us in this part of the trip! It was wonderful spending more time with all of you!

 Posing on their favorite ride

Pushing around a chair in the kid swap room

Epcot

We were able to spend two wonderful days exploring Epcot center.  While there were a few rides at this park I think the favorite part of our days was exploring all the different lands.  We didn't get pictures of all the countries but in addition to what you see here we tried chocolate in England, bought chopsticks in Japan, watched O Canada  and saw a belly dance in Morocco... by accident :)

 Italy 

 Mexico

 China

Germany

In Germany I got to talk with some of the workers there and introduced the family to German Chocolates... yum. Nathaniel spoke with some Spanish and ordered for us in Mexico, and Dad had fun remembering his mission in England.  If I could go back to only one park we visited, it would be the epcot center.