the past six months

wow. six months since my last post, really? i think that is my longest stretch ever! you would think i'd have a REALLY good excuse as to why i haven't posted, but i'm afraid it is just laziness! honestly though, i'm sure a lot has happened in the past six months, but in retrospect, i'm having a hard time remembering all of it! this might be the shortest six month summary ever!

okay- let's start with july. as is tradition, we went up to the san juan island of decatur for the 4th of july holiday weekend, off the coast of seattle. my uncle has a vacation home up there and it is always a relaxing trip up there since there is not even ferry access to the island (small/personal boat or plane only), or even really a store. we had a really good time, though it was very different than previous trips since this time i had a 17 month-old to entertain in a non-baby-proofed house! we took a bunch of pictures, but they are saved to the external drive- not this laptop, and i'll need joel's help to post them. (maybe i'll do a photo-only post of the past six months later)

august- september- october: nothing too exciting happened (that i can think of), no trips or vacations, just work and the usual stuff.

november: i became an aunt! my brother dave & his wife deborah had a baby the week of thanksgiving and named him matteo spencer pecoraro. he is super cute and truman loves his little baby cousin! thanksgiving was CRAZY! we hosted my family (bev, mom, stepdad, dad, stepmom, dave's inlaws), and joel's (mom, dad, sister, brother, sister-in-law, niece). it was super fun, but chaotic and exhausting! it was so wonderful to finally meet joel's brother that i haven't met and spend time with both of our families. this year was such a great one for us and we had so much to be thankful for!

december: christmas was amazing, a wonderful time to reflect upon the year and our abundant blessings. truman was really into christmas this year and enjoyed snowmen and our christmas tree the most. it was so fun to share his excitement and teach him about our savior's life. like i mentioned, we were so blessed this year and we have had so much to be thankful for! christmas was pretty low key, which after thanksgiving- was just what we needed! we had christmas eve dinner at dave & deborah's house, then spent christmas morning at home with just the three of us and aunt buff (my sister bev). then we headed over to joel's family's house, ate lunch and then went up to spruces for our christmas day tradition of xc skiing, and had the best weather/snow to date! it was a perfect christmas!

i'll have to post a picture of my big christmas present later...a new car! it's a land rover lr3 and is a super champ in the snow! it has all the options and is gorgeous...though i feel like i'm driving a beast- it's so much bigger than my x3. i'm sure i'll get used to the size though, and it will be a great family car for us.

happy 2010: joel and i made some resolutions for the year- a few personal ones each, and a few family goals. one of my personal goals is journaling/blogging. i really want to get better at documenting our family's life and experiences. truman is learning and growing every day and i would love to share the cute and fun new things he is doing, and tell about how much joy he brings to our family. for example: yesterday joel went to einsteins and got us lunch. he came home and set my 32 oz soda on the counter in front of me. truman saw the cup and said "diet coke?" it was hilarious that he knows me so well (and/or that i drink a lot of diet coke and he knows it!). another one: today i was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and truman was playing behind the baby gate in the hallway with the bedrooms. it seemed a little too quiet, so i went and checked on him. he was in our bedroom and had pulled down my purse from my dresser and had strewn the contents about. he jumped back when i came in the room and yelled "truman, no no!" like he knew exactly what i was going to say! it was super funny and cute- especially since i caught him before he could smear my lip gloss around!

well, that is my summary. i'm sure i forgot some major details & events, but it's a start, right? i will also try and get some pics loaded soon to account for the lost time, and the family pictures we had taken this fall. here's to hoping i stick to my resolution and become a better blogger. wish me luck!

Family Vacation - August 2008

After much discussion we finally decided on a spot for our very first vacation with Truman. We had considered destinations from Calgary to Mexico and San Diego to Denver. We finally chose a location in Colorado near Vail called Avon. The drive was about 7 hours and we were hoping and praying that Truman would make the trip with out incident. Luckily when Dad got tired, Truman took over at the wheel...We loved the location we picked and the family had a blast. On our second day we headed into the Beaver Creek resort for a day of hiking (and shopping for mom). On the Five Senses Hike, Truman loved the creek, trees, animals, and just hanging out with Mom and Dad...

Luckily, as always, Mom was prepared for every contingency...


After our hike, we returned to find our car with a boot... and also reconstructed in Legos...
The trip was a great success and a much need break for the family. Truman enjoyed his first summer vacation and was so well behaved we may even bring him with us to Hawaii next year. We had one adventure on the way home vacation that we never expected. As we were traveling home, a mudslide wiped out Highway 6 between Price and Spanish Fork, we were stuck. We turned around and headed back where we found an alternate route through Duchesne, as we traveled along the road it began to rain, and then it began to pour. By the time the rain was so thick we couldn't see the road, traffic had come to complete stop. As we waited behind a semi truck, I glanced up at the hillside on the side of the road and noticed an impromptu waterfall beginning to form, as soon as I pointed out the slide to Em, the side of the road exploded in mud and water and raged so high it was slamming into the trailer immediately in front of us. We didn't wait to see what happened next, we were out of there! Unfornantly we had nowhere else to go. We pulled off the side of the road in a safe location and prayed that we would be able to make it home safely. We finally saw the traffic moving and stopped a truck coming the opposite direction to see if he though our SUV would make it over the mud caked road. He thought we had a good chance if we had a running start and so we careened throught the mud at full throttle. Truman and Em were brave throughout the ordeal and we felt so grateful that we were watched over and blessed in our journey.

Our Treacherous Roads...