10.22.09 Olivea's Photo Shoot

Well I was planning on getting newborn pictures done when Olivea was about 2 or 3 weeks old but I never got around to it. I ran into my friend Ann the other day and asked if she would take O’s pictures soon and she agreed. We ended up taking her newborn pictures when she was about 6 weeks. Oh well… At least they got done before her first birthday!

Help!!!

Does anyone know why my pictures always load in backwards order when I load them for a post? Does that make sense? I go to upload my pictures and I do a few in a row, in the order I want, and they always go on my post in reverse order. Help!!!!

Family Pictures 10.21.09

Recently we had Olivea’s first photo shoot. We once again recruited our good family friend Ann Beal to help take the photos. Ann took our Engagement Photos, took pictures at our wedding (in addition to our photographer), Maternity Pictures, Olivea’s Newborn pictures and now our Family Pictures. She is not trained but has an amazing talent and her son Chase also helps. We decided to jump in on the action during Olivea’s pictures and get some family pictures taken… I don’t think she minds. They turned out better than I imagined and I am so happy with the results. Thank you so much Ann!!!

O's First Bath... 9.27.09

In my prenatal class, the instructor told us that we only needed to give the baby a bath once a week. I was a little taken back by that but once we got home from the hospital, bath time was the last thing on my mind. But finally we decided she should probably have a bath but I was a little nervous to do it by myself for the first time. So my mom offered to help. So now Olivea has to live with the fact that her first bath was from Grandma because mom was too chicken. Don’t worry… we are starting a savings account for Olivea’s therapy when she turns 17 and we are taking donations. Haha…..

10.26.09 First Snow

Well it snowed today, October 26th. Livy and I stayed home all day and didn't really notice the snow until I walked past by back window and saw it all. There was so much that my neighbor even built a snowman. Luckily it melted before Halloween. But seriously, snow BEFORE Halloween???? Where do I live?

Olivea's Blessing 11.15.0

Olivea's Blessing day was wonderful. We had friends and family over before church for lunch and it was great to see everyone. Garron did a beautiful job with the Blessing and the circle was huge. I kept thinking that we would only have a few people there but I was wrong. Those in the circle were:

Garron
Bryan
Craig
Brett
Bryce (held the mic)
Grandpa Combs
Gordon
Jim
Jared
Josh Harker
The entire Bishopric
Justin Pitcher

We are so greatful for great family and wonderful friends. Thank you to all who came to support us. We love you all.

The boys... 3 generations

Mom and Garron helping to set up lunch

Garron's Family with Olivea

Mommy and Baby

Me and My mom getting Olivea dressedAuntie Liz and Uncle David

Mom's Race...8.12.09

My mom is pretty awesome! After going through Chemo and Radiation for Breast Cancer, my mom was ready to get healthy. She has since joined Weight Watchers to learn to eat healthy and also started running again. A few years ago my mom actually ran a marathon. She runs now almost everyday and usually 3-8 miles a day!! I’m not sure I could even run one mile! But August 8^th of this year she entered into her first race since cancer…. a Half Marathon. Some of the family and her besties came to see her cross the finish line. She ran with some of the girls that worked at the Waterpark this year. Keep in mind they are all 20 years younger than her but that didn’t stop her. She crossed the finish line with all of them. Good Job Mom

Shannon, Michelle's Boyfriend, Michelle, Mom

Kallie, Mom, Me

The Whole Gang

Mom and Dad

Shelby Moves Out

Shelby, my little sister, had decided to go to Utah State University in Logan, Utah. She worked really hard to score high enough on her ACT test to get accepted and it paid off. It’s a tradition that Mom and Grandma help to move the girls out, get the apartment set up, and of course go grocery shopping for the first time. When I moved out it was just me, mom and grandma. When Kallie moved out, it was the whole gang. And again when Shelby moved out we all were there. Even Olivea came along… still in the belly though.

We went up on Monday afternoon had dinner and got her apartment set up and groceries purchased. The next morning Mom dropped Shelby off at her first day of work and then we all had to get back so we could work. We had so much fun helping Shelby. It’s always hard to leave but we knew that she would be ok and she is only 2 hours away. Good Luck Shelby.

Shelby and Kallie making the drive to Logan

Grandma and Mom
The girls after grocery shopping

The girls before we left Shelby on her own.

I made cupcakes for Shelby the Sunday before she left. They are in the shape of USU!!

Temple Open House

Garron and I were able to go to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple Open House earlier this summer. We brought Trissa (Garron’s little sister staying with us for the summer) with us as well. She had gone a few weeks earlier with some of the youth of her ward when they came up from Vegas for a Temple trip, but she said she still enjoyed it.

I love when I drive into Salt Lake and I can see all the Temples in the Valley. The Church just recently announced another new Temple site in Utah, Brigham City, which would make a total of 14 temples in Utah.

We had a wonderful time visiting the temple and to see all of the hard work that went into the building of the Temple. Soon, I hope to go again with Garron to do a session.

Dinner in the Mountains... July 2009

Every year my family usually goes camping. It’s always a difficult task as we own a summer business that requires most of the family to be at work 5-7 days a week. So we always try and plan to go around my dad’s day off and spend that evening and the next morning/afternoon up the canyon. However, this year we did not find the time for the annual camping trip. We tried several times and got pretty close, but somehow things still got in the way.

So instead of actually going camping this year, my family invited me to have dinner up the canyon. It was so nice to spend a few hours with my family in the beautiful mountains and enjoy a wonderful dinner. Garron was working that week so he missed out but my dad did a great job with dinner!!! (Notice I was still prego… seems like forever ago.)

Dad and Bryce cooking dinner.

Me and Shelby

Momma

Kallie

Shelby’s Graduation

My little sister Shelby graduated high school earlier this year. It was awhile ago and she is now in college but I thought I would document it anyway.

Shelby wasn’t like the other siblings. We were all SO ready to get out of high school and move out, but Shelby loved high school. She had a ton of friends and really loved school, and it probably helped that Mom and Dad was a lot easier on her then any of us other kids.

The night of graduation the whole family had dinner at Macaroni Grill and watched as she opened her graduation gift… a brand new laptop computer. She was so excited. We headed off to the graduation ceremony and sat through it just to watch the 2 second walk Shelby made to get her diploma. Oh well, she did it! Congratulations Shelby!!!

Shelby with the parentals

The whole gang (minus Garron) after the ceremony

The sisters!

The whole family at dinner

She is here....

Olivea Janelle Combs came into the world September 12th, 2009 at 10:40pm. I will post labor info and pictures later but Ill just say for now that it was a long rough day.

Olivea is currently in the NICU for bleeding on her head from the vacuum and her white blood cell count is high. They are keeping a good eye on her and she is getting better and better.

Now it's Kallie's Turn...

I guess everyone in my family has gotten a surprise party except for Kallie. So this year she turned 20 on the 20th of July and all she wanted (at the time) was a surprise party. So my mom, being the party queen that she is, planned a surprise party for Kallie and her friends at The Old Spaghetti Factory a week before her actual birthday.

We had told her that Grandma and Grandpa had invited the family to dinner that night at 7:30 after her class. But really all of the invitees would show up around 7. I went into work that day to help with a large group and hurried to make it there right as Kallie was pulling up. Once we got into the restaurant we found the party room and everyone had their faces covered with their menus. Once Kallie walked in everyone yelled SURPRISE. She was so happy and definetly surprised.

Happy Birthday Kallie!!

The siblings with mama (minus bryce)

Kallie making her birthday wish.

Kallie and some of her bestest friends

Kallie and mom, right as she walked in.

A Day at the Waterpark

Some of you may know that my parents own Raging Waters Water Park in Salt Lake. Well every so often we decide to spend the day there and bring along some friends. The first day we went this year was after my dad's surprise party with some of my family and some friends from my ward. I didnt get too many pictures but there are some to document the day.

We had a great time cooling off in the water and spending time with friends. Ever since I got EXTREMELY burned on my honeymoon I have tried to be better with putting sunscreen on. I reminded Garron and Trissa (garron's sister) to put sunscreen on, however no one listened. So Garron got FRIED on his back and Trissa got FRIED on her sholders and chest. Lesson learned?? You bet it was.. Always listen to Abby!!!! (Too bad I didnt get any pictures of the sunburn!)

Trissa and Aubrey (my cousin)

Garron and MaKayla (friend from ward)

Garron and MaKayla coming down the slide.