Together Again

This post is well over due, but I guess I have been pretty busy getting ready for baby. Anyway, a few weeks ago, my grandma Lovell passed away. I was going through an old picture album tonight and came across these special pictures. My grandpa passed away over 4 years ago and my grandma has missed him like crazy. I love my grandparents very much and miss them.
This particular day, I had been mountain biking with a friend (no, I am not hardcore, only did it like twice and thought I might die) and on my way back home stopped by my aunts house where they lived to say hello. My grandma ALWAYS had such a sweet smile on her face and my grandpa ALWAYS had a joke ready to be said. Of course it did not matter if we had heard it over and over, it was always funny.
Some fun memories of my grandparents:
Grandpa:
1. Grandpa taught me how to water ski. It did not happen the first summer that I tried, but once he got the new boat, I was able to pop right up. We always went to Deer Creek and I loved every minute of it.
2. He still had a great sense of humor after having been really sick with cancer. I remember one time in particular my sister and I visiting him. Now mind you, we had JUST dyed our hair jet black. He put his arms around our waists and said, "Oh, my two little black heads...I better not squeeze you too hard!" Juls and I cracked up laughing (If you don't get the joke, let me know and I will explain).
3. You can never forget Grandpa's strong hands. No matter how sick he was feeling or tired, he ALWAYS would grab the ticklish part of your leg, right above the knee and squeeze. It took a lot of coaxing to get him to release his grip.
4. His voice was so strong and always filled with excitement (although from what I hear, he was a little on the feisty side as a younger man and had a minor temper. Dad, correct me if I am wrong). When we would come and visit he would get so excited!

Grandma:
1. Grandma was an artist. I used to just stare at her beautiful paintings in awe. She was so modest about her talent. She always said that she was only copying pictures or scenery. It did not matter to me. It always looked perfect.
2. My Grandma made us each a Book of Remembrance (Family History Book). She included a life history of herself and my grandpa and included pictures. I thought that my grandma was BEAUTIFUL. I used to search through my Book of Remembrance just to find her picture. I wanted to look just like her. I at least was blessed with her height.
3. Grandma was a health nut. I remember one morning for breakfast trying tomato juice and still to this day do not love it. We would ask for a treat and Grandma would send us down to the basement for dried fruit. Too bad I don't have that love of healthy food that she did. It would definitely do me a lot of good!
4. She never raised her voice. I have never heard my grandma yell. Even if she would be upset, I would never know it because she was so soft spoken and sweet.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with such wonderful grandparents. I will have to do another post just talking about my grandpa Benson, another amazing man that I was so blessed to have as a grandpa.

Vote For J Fo

my gorgeous sister-in-law jess is in a mommy models contest. voting ends tomorrow, so hurry on over and vote for her TODAY! she's #3, so over on the right-hand side click #3 and then VOTE VOTE VOTE people.

do it.

do it now.

oh. here's the link: http://mommymodels.blogspot.com/2009/07/jessica.html

good luck j fo!

I Really do Love the Temple!

It really is a treat for me to go to the temple. I know that the two hour drive will prove to be a little more difficult once baby arrives. Anyway, I am so grateful for temples. I find so much peace and happiness inside. I had the opportunity in Utah to go once a week to be an ordinance worker and learned so much, I miss that sometimes.
Anyway, the night was so pretty afterward and I really wanted to walk the grounds. You see, Florida usually does not cool down at nights during the summer, but it was so pleasant. I begged and pleaded with Scott for us to take a few photos. He gave in to my pleadings! :)He would not stop to pose but told me to take the picture as he was walking. Too bad my camera takes forever to take a picture.

The grounds looked so pretty and there were some cool fountains that I was trying to capture in the picture!

I love this guy..cheesy grin and all!!

Yeah...I had a lot of energy floating around!

Family Pictures

I hope my cousin-in-law does not mind that I "borrowed" these awesome pictures from her blog! I am so excited to see all of the pictures and get some hung up on our bare walls. I already mentioned that we had a reunion in Vernal and it was a very significant one because it had been over 10 years since all of the family had been together at the same time. What an awesome time we had. I really like this one of Scott and I.All of the brothers (I know I already posted one of these, but this one looks way better!)

All of the Sisters-in-law (SILS) were told to kiss Gary on the cheek. All of us, Gary included, were all okay to only pretend kiss! It looks like Jessica (directly to the right of Gary) got really close! Heheh

The whole gang! What an awesome family to be apart of! The kids all did awesome and the adults (brothers) survived the photo shoot quite nicely.

30 Weeks

You know what was a really crazy realization? I can now count the number of weeks left with this pregnancy on two hands! TWO HANDS...that means, we will be parents ever so soon. Feeling overwhelmed?? Just slightly. Feeling excited? Very. Feeling anxious? You betcha. But, I am not the first to have these feelings nor will I be the last. So, things I have been noticing as of late:

1. Baby found my ribs. Yes, it is true, she likes to slide her little foot or hand, maybe bum, right up in there and play. It gets a tad bit uncomfortable, but I can manage the pain.
2. Baby does not sit still for very long and likes to really focus her energy on my right side, usually sliding her foot up and down with good force.
3. Baby does not like it when I sleep on my left side. She really starts moving around when I do that so I usually end up on my back or the right.
4. Baby is strong. Sometimes she moves my whole stomach when she feels so inclined to do so.

What I have enjoyed the most so far:
1. Seeing the progression of this pregnancy and seeing how much the baby has grown.
2. Getting good reports that our baby is healthy and growing at a normal pace
3. Preparing for her arrival and planning for the exciting future ahead of us.
4. Seeing Scott get excited (or slightly freaked out) when baby girl Foley moves just for him.

Special Visitors

We were so lucky to have one of my best friend's Kathy and her husband come stay with us for a full week. We had a great time catching up, laughing, hearing Kathy's random stories (I swear, anything weird or awkward, this girl has been through), and just hanging out. Kathy and I were roommies for a couple of years before we each got married and were each others shoulders to cry on when we were having boy problems (or any problems at that matter). It was a blessing for both of us to be roommates when we were. She married the perfect guy for her and they are expecting a little girl, just about a month after us. We had fun "Freaking" each other out about being a ticking time bomb (only one way for baby to come out) or how many fast Sunday's we had before baby came (I have two). Thanks for a great week guys!We went to a random Cuban restaurant in Tampa followed by some pretty tasty shakes at a hole-in-the-wall treat shack owned by some awesome old Cuban people. This place was not in the best area AND it smelled like cleaner mixed with Old folks homes, but the Cuban owner was entertaining and served us some great ice cream!

I don't know why, I just really enjoy taking pictures of the different foods that I try and eat. I did not think that Scott's beans looked all too great, but he enjoyed them.

Let me explain...Actually, there really is no explaining to do. We were just being crazy prego ladies and thought it would be funny to get nice and cozy for the picture. We went to the Ray's game and got a little better deal to sit in the "party deck" but decided paying the extra two bucks would have been worth it to sit somewhere else. I especially enjoyed getting beer spilled on my foot! MMMmmmmm...

I had never been to an indoor baseball game and wanted to get a picture of the field. Scott was not overly amused that I grabbed him for the picture! :)

Saturday, we got up early and Kathy's uncle, who lives in Tampa, took us boating. DON'T worry everyone. I did NOT go tubing or skiing, although I was really debating if I should try. I LOVE skiing and tubing and all of the above and it was a struggle not to do it. But, being 30 weeks prego, we all decided that it was probably not the best idea. So, I sat and watched as Scott got mildly tossed around on the tube and James get up on the skis for his first time ever!!
Sunday we spent the afternoon into late evening playing a really fun card game...pinochle (pee-knuckle). We seriously played for like three hours and realized we forgot to eat dinner so we filled up on Kathy's chocolate chip cookies instead. Any of our friends out here that wanna learn a fun game...give us a call!!
Thanks Kathy and James for a great week.

Family Reunions, Family Pictures, Family Time, Baby Showers and 4th of July

Warning, long post with many pictures....
Scott and I had the awesome opportunity to head out to Vernal Utah to his family reunion. This was a pretty significant Foley Family event because it was the first time in over ten years that the whole family has been together!

I had to take a picture of the mountains: Oh how I miss you dear mountains! And oh how I miss the cool, crisp mountain air!!

My adorable niece, Maggie. I have this little trick. I only SEEM like I am good with small children, but what I do is take them from their parents when they are on the verge of sleeping, and by that time they have no care to who holds them.

The Sister's in Law (AKA..SILS) We had a great time hanging out and laughing. Thanks for the awesome baby gifts, girls! Love emI swear Scott is a happy person. I just don't think he was overly thrilled about all of the horse hair found on the seat of the carriage ride we got to go on while in VernalScott with his mom and Grandma. We visited the graveside of Scott's grandpa. What an awesome legacy he left behind. I wish I had the opportunity of meeting him!

All the grand kids. Can you tell which one's were not that excited about being in the grass?

What a good lookin bunch of brothers. Can you guess which one is Scott's twin?? Obviously the one's who DO know..Don't ruin it :)

We just love these kids! Maxim and Kate are so much fun!

Scott's old Mission Companion lives in Vernal and owns his own Taxidermy company. We were in his "office" and I was blown away by all of the deer head and "moosen" he had on display. He had a ton of dead animals on the walls of his home and I just wonder what the girls think when he brings em home! Nice guy though.

My sweet grandma Lovell! I really wanted to be able to say "goodbye" before heading back to Florida. She has been ready to go and be with my grandpa for years and we think that her time is coming soon! Such a wonderful woman and example I have had to follow! She has a very sweet, quiet voice and I apparently used to have a sweet, quiet voice as well. She used to have to ask me to speak up. Grandma wondered where I got my quiet voice from and my mom told her that I got it from Grandma!

Okay...I am not gonna lie, but I think this is an awesome picture of Scott. He looks so cute! Scott had to leave pretty early Monday morning to get back to Florida so we took the little boys for a "ride" while I drove him to the airport! They love their uncle Scott. I stayed in Utah for a couple more days then headed to Cali to see other family and friends!

Remember how much fun slip n slides were? There were about ten neighbor kids just loving life, having races, eating otter pops. Man, I wish being a kid. Zach kept beggin for otter pops. I think he had three! Hard to say "no" to such a cute face!

Little Jaxon. Kim, Chelsy and I went to dinner for our "birthday's." We had a great time catching up and just hanging out. Of course I ate the most, even after telling the girls I can't eat as much in one sitting anymore! Guess I have not changed all that much.

Lisa and I took the boys to Thanksgiving Point. It was so much fun watching the boys get so excited about all of the animals. I myself, thought this albino peacock was pretty sweet! Okay...I don't know if it was albino or just white.

I have craved Kneaders since getting prego! I could not have been happier at this moment, going to Kneaders, getting my Turkey bacon avocado, and spending the time with my good friends! The sandwich did not disappoint!

Lisa, my sister in law is due the day after me. She is having her third, but first girl. They couldn't be more excited! I look like a giant!!

I already miss these guys!

Let me tell you a little story. When I was 12 years old and at my first girls camp, my mom was a "cookie (AKA cook)". She was asked to do a musical performance and sing a song one night. Well, not being a singer, she had to think of something to distract everyone from her singing voice (MOM....you know I love you, but let's be honest) and somehow this apron that she got for her 40th snuck into her suit case...She was a hit! My friend Jenny and her mom stopped by while I was home and Lynn asked my mom if she still had that sexy piece!. So she busted it out.Jenny Hill Peterson happened to be in town and brought her mom and three girls to go swimming. Lydia is her middle child (far left) and decided to swim without a suit. Landon and Anna joined her!Stasia and Jenny have three kids, Juls has two. I have some pretty amazing sister and friends to get good parental advice from! Love these girls!

Tate=ball full of energy! He is my brother Jeff's youngest. He is so cute and loving. I would tell him to give me a kiss and he would stop what he was doing and run over to me. I just think it's cause I am hot!! hehe..I kid I kidThe contraption apparently is supposed to help your back. It is more just entertaining to give the kids a little ride. Jeff and Tate

My sister and Stasia threw me a baby shower and it was amazing. I got to see some of my closest of friends! Thanks girls!

Katie Walker and I played intramurals for years starting back around ten years ago. Good times! She came early and we spent a few hours just catching up and swimming!

Thanks Vivian and Jenny (Mother in law and Sister in law) for driving up to the shower. It took them over two hours to get to my parents house cause they got stuck in holiday traffic. They must really love me! :)

The girls from High School. We spent many fun weekends going to dances, hanging out with crushes, talking about our crushes, etc. Not pictured is another really good friend Tiffany. Her picture is on my sis camera but I was so excited to see her!
Thanks Juls and Stasia and everyone that came! It was so neat for me to see everyone!

The poor kids were tuckered out after the shower. I thought this was the most precious picture!

Little Luke! I love this guy! Check out those blue eyes and awesome brown locks.

Can't say no to the hot tub after a good swim, but no worries, I did not stay in long. I know it is not safe for baby!

4th of July! We had some firework fun in the street out front. I love my sister!

Some of the fireworks were too loud for little Anna!

The nieces. Dana, the oldest, was so brave earlier that day. I taught her how to do a back dive into the pool. She got a little beat up, but was a trooper! Anna and Audrey are so much fun too!

Dana and Anna

I had such a nice break/vaca. It was so reujivating seeing family and friends, getting out of the humidty and intense heat, and not working!! Thank you everyone for the awesome week! I had a great time and miss everyone already!