We Are Now the Stephens Texans

Hello Everyone. Have you missed me? And Where has the time gone? Who is with me and thinks that summer went by way too quickly? Why does that have to happen, why can't the winter months go fast instead of the glorious summer days and nights? So where did I leave off, I don't even remember it's been so long.
To start off we had such a fun summer being close to both our families.  We were able to see and do a lot of fun activities together.  Daniel finished up teaching his Accounting course at BYU and had a great impact on his students and vice a versa. I was happy when he was finished because that meant more time spending with him.  Daniel also got in a lot of golf time this summer. The boys in his FAMILY played in a golf tournament and took 2ND!!! While they played golf, mom, Kelsi, dad and I helped our neighbors across the street put in their grass.

Calvin celebrated his 9 month BIRTHDAY this summer and is now 10 1/2 months old. With the amounts of photos seen below you probably can tell we just can't get enough of our cute boy. These smiles and giggles make each day brighter and more enjoyable.

I threw a friend party and everyone showed up with their lovely spouses. The only person missing was my dear friend Jessica who was serving in the Chile Santiago Mission at the time. I'm so happy for always having good friends I continue to have a good relationship with.  We have all been friends since middle school.

A trip to Logan. I think yes. We stayed with Nate (dan's older brother) and Kristie.  The kids adore Calvin which kept him very entertained. He would stare at them with such anticipation and then get so frustrated because he couldn't move to go play with them.  They were really great babysitters and would beg and plea for us to not move to Texas. While we visited, we went up to Henry Fork Lake. It is absolutely beautiful up there. It's a smaller lake but it's in the middle of gorgeous mountains. We canoed and swam. Calvin had a riot in the water like always. Dan and Nate took the kids out to teach them how to flip a canoe and then turned into Jack Sparrow and William Turner and walked under water.

 Boating Trip with the Hansen Family.
What a splendid time that was. I even finally got up on the wake board my first time ever!! Calvin even went tubbing, but apparently dad was going to slow because he fell asleep. we jumped in to swim around for awhile and Calvin loves water so much he was giggling the entire time and would scream if we wouldn't get him out there fast enough.

We got to see Wicked with Dan's family and it was AMAZING. I highly recommend Seeing it. Dan and Nate wore matching shirts to it.. they really are twins only not.

 Mom and I helped with the international folk dance team and took the India group to the Copper Mine. Mom had never been there and I hadn't been there since Elementary school.

 The new hair Do/slash my attempt to take a model shot and drive at the same time.

Went down to the Farm with Makana. My sister in law's husband has a cow farm and he gave us a tour. It was fascinating and we even got to pet the baby cows.

 I love the mountains. Everything about them I love. So for one last Hoorah before we left to Texas we went hiking to a very memorable spot... Cecret Lake. I have many fond memories up there and I was happy to spend it with the Fam. Dan even found a huge heart rock in the water.

Last but not Least we journeyed to Good Ole Houston Texas where Daniel got a job at an Accounting Firm called Deloitte. We are living in Mckay and Makana's old place and love it. We have felt so welcomed here by new neighbors and ward members.  We are so excited to be starting our new adventure here.  The drive wasn't too bad, we just to had to watch lots of movies, read, sewing projects and chit chat.

The other day we were painting and I asked Daniel a question and all of sudden it was really quiet and  I felt something cool and wet slip between my toes. I look down to behold Calvin dumping the paint bucket , luckily we grabbed him before he shoved the pain in his mouth. Both Daniel and I were laughing so hard which cause us to reflect how grateful we are. We could have gotten so upset and frustrated but instead laughed about it and life went on, we saved most of the paint and cleaned up just great. Plus we had a happy baby in the bath tub.

For Labor Day we went to the Beach with some new friends we made down here. Calvin got knocked down by a wave but instantly got up and started laughing.. he truly is a water baby. Later that night we got invited by ward member to there golf course to have a BBQ. Daniel was in heaven except for the fact he wished he knew he could have brought his golf clubs.. We are Truly Texans now.. got our license plates, drivers licenses and we've already gotten lost driving.

It's year 26

Last Friday was Daniel's 26th Birthday. I was thrilled it was on a Friday because he doesn't have work that day.... meaning all dayer with the hubby.  I had a great idea of giving him little presents that would represent the actual gift so for instance I got a golf ball, toy fish, and the batman toy BUT on thursday night dan said we have a date on the golf course tomorrow morning so he ruined the surprise I was wanting to give him and basically it was a lost cause after that. So if you need a cute fun way to give your gifts to someone find little objects that correlate with the actual gift and wrap them up with a cute poem attached.

At 7 am we (the trio) headed to the golf course. I pushed Calvin in his stroller while daddy played golf. I did get to hit a couple of times and I got a hole in one my first try... Bah i wish. 

Later I gave him the rest of his gifts.. New jeans (since all his got holes or ruined) and new Garments. wooohoo I've never seen someone so excited about Garments. I was going to take him Fishing or go swimming at the Lake with a lovely picnic but we decided we should wait on a day we could spend more time there and so Calvin could sleep some. So if you're around and want to come a long hit us up. Later for Dinner we ate at Sweet Home Chicago Pizzaeria. It was real Chicago style stuffed pizza = Delicious! 

It was huge too. We ordered a small and could only eat 1 slice and pretty inexpensive. 

We put Calvin to bed at Grandma and Grandpa's while we went to see the New Batman Movie. 

We both loved it and we finally could use our megaplex gift cards we've had since forever. 

Calvin has been having constipation problems so his Grandma gave him black licorice to help give him the runs... this is was the result.

I love this little boy so much. I love when he stares at me and then we both start giggling.. I love it when I say my prayers with him in the morning and I say it in his ear and he starts giggling because it tickles.  When I nurse him I try to read.. try yes try he somehow always knows I have a book and will reach his hand back to grab it. I tend to only get in a few sentences maybe a paragraph if I'm lucky. ha I love his facial expressions, his cute cheeks, and his fun personality that keeps me on my toes. I'm a lucky momma. 

A fun outing on the 24th with the Hansen Family.. We went hiking to our usual spot and had our picnic by the river. I love the mountains I sure will miss them while we are away in Texas. 

I collect heart rocks on every hike I go on. I have quite the collection now from all over. I don't think it is coincidence that there are heart rocks. I think God placed them here on the Earth to give me much joy and satisfaction and to remind me how much he Loves me.  To always love my neighbor. Think about this

"Love is the most powerful force in the world."  -- Elder Dallin H. Oaks 

May we all strive to love one another a little more, because as we do I know that love will spread far beyond any thing we can imagine. To all you who are reading this... I love You.  

I read two great talks about love this week one by Elder Bednar you can find here and the other Pres. Uchtdorf found here. 

Summer Bliss

I can't tell you how much I love the summer time.  I love the heat and love being outside.  I can't wait till Calvin gets older so we can play outside together.. To think i can be a kid again and play.. ha ha. 

This past week was fun as part of the fam went down to City Creek to check it out.

It really is a pretty mall with the creek and natureistic (made up word) atmosphere. 

Got to love Disney.. 

The next adventure of the week was going Camping in the Uintahs with Daniel's Family.

The rain rain rain came down down down but we still had lots of fun... (name that song)

We still got to go fishing and play by the river, play games (rook, horse shoes, uno) Another favorite thing of mine to do is camp, I love being up in the mountains, it's so peaceful and calm up there.  I can't help but reflect on how blessed we are to have so many beautiful surroundings. We didn't get to have a fire which was a disappointment but we did enjoy a gas fire... Its still not the same as a regular fire but at least we had something we could all sit around and stare at. And of course we didn't smell like smoke. Calvin slept better up there then he does here at home.. hmm. He loved the river and loved all the attention he got from his cousins, aunts and uncles and of course grandma and grandpa. We had a few cousins ask if they could take him home with them and bring them back in 3 years. I told them I wold miss him way too much and I would cry everyday. So instead they asked well how about we babysit him for a day.  

Before the trip I wanted to get Calvin some shoes that would cover his feet so bugs wouldn't get his toes.. Daniel and I wanted to find cowboy boots so badly for him and so we checked out the D.I. we found some cute sneakers for $3. Then my sisterinlaw Asher told me about Kid to Kid and well we made a trip over there and I was thrilled!! there were cowboy boots and in his exact Size. I was so happy and they were only $4. Now he's ready to go camping and he'll fit right in at Texas. 

My cute little cowboy

 Calvin catching his first fish with Dad

My sister-in-law makes adorable bows for her cute 3 girls and Daniel was teasing her and asking why you making bow ties.. and we both looked at each other with pure excitement in our eyes as we both were thinking the exact same thing. A bow Tie for CALVIN!! 

Now my goal is to learn to make these and even make some ties for him.