Dadda-Momma-Bowen-Leah

BEFORE AND AFTER

2012-01-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

KITCHEN CABINETS: BEFORE AND AFTER

COUCHES: BEFORE AND AFTER

I am so happy with the improvements we've made to our house. My friend Telisa (and her husband Tom) repainted our kitchen cabinets back in July. I think they look awesome! Also I recovered our couches in July. It was a really time-consuming project, but I think they turned our really great!

Christmas!

2012-01-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Temple square was so beautiful, but crowded! I will never go on Thanksgiving weekend again!

I have no pictures of Leah with Santa, because every time she got within 5 feet of Santa she would start balling! Leah hates Santa!

Cousin Trajen got baptized.

We went up in the mountains with my parents and cut down our Christmas trees. If you look carefully below you can see us carrying our tree down the hill. It took me, Seth, my dad and sister Tiff to carry our trees down! Leah's hands got cold, so she wasn't much fun, but Bowen loved it!

This is at Office Depot. I couldn't find my kids and they were inside this cabinet (that was for sale) with the door shut. So funny!!!

Christmas Day, ready for church.

Cousins: Grand America. Life-size ginger bread house! Festival of Trees and at Grandpa's house.
(They all have the chins in their hands)

This is my Christmas amaryllis. I was so glad that it bloomed for Christmas! I think I'll grow one every year. I just watched our family videos from the past year, and have been reflecting on how blessed I feel. First of all, we have two health, cute kids who bring so much joy into our lives. We moved this year to a great neighborhood. We are so grateful to have a house that's not 100 years old and drafty in the winter. We were able to see all of our family members this year, including our kids great-grandparents. Seth's business is doing well, and he really enjoys owning his own online marketing company. Both of us have brothers on missions in Brazil. We have a happy marriage and just celebrated our 6 year anniversary.

I feel like when things are going so great, something bad may happen. There has been sadness this year with the passing of my Grandpa Hobbs. But I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the faith I have that families continue after this life. My family is the most important thing to me, and I'm just so grateful that we are so blessed!

October was great...here comes the cold

2011-11-06T20:13:00.000-08:00

The fire truck came to Bowen's preschool. (Bowen was mad that I came to take pictures! I was the only mom there. Haha.)

St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series!!! That's Seth's favorite team. Even I am sad the games are all over.

Hiking on my dad's birthday. We are standing on a bridge that my brother Jake built for his Eagle Project. Jake is on his mission for the Church in Brazil right now. I'm so proud of Jake and every time I think about him I cry a little bit, haha!

"Trick-or-treating" at Ma's (Seth's grandma). She gave us licorice, rice crispies and potato chips.

Gardener Village: a fun outdoor mall with lots of Halloween decorations. So fun! I will be going back next year.

My sister Tiff and I had a great bike ride together!!! This was really the highlight of my month. The weather was beautiful, I'm going to miss it.

Hogle Zoo: the annual picture at the "liger" statue.

Pumpkin patch

Halloween night! Bowen loved it, he skipped up to every house. All week he was asking if we can go trick-or-treating again.

FYI: Bowen is a firefighter, and Leah is a dalmatian puppy. (I know she was a cow last year, but I didn't plan on her being black and white again! Lots of people called her a boy!)

Favorite Videos

2011-10-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Bowen Laughs so hard when Leah says Hello in the video.

Leah loves to feed her hair!

Brave boy: can jump off the diving board at Grandma's and ride a 2-wheeler!

Bye-bye Jake

2011-10-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Uncle Jake went into the MTC a few weeks ago. It was horrible saying good-bye. He is such a good kid and he is going to help so many people in Curitiba, Brazil.

Just some pictures at the park. We are enjoying this warm fall weather!

Ana and Taylor's wedding:

September so far

2011-09-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Camping with cousins

Being silly around the house

We stayed at a cabin in Island Park for a few days with the Turleys and Schellenbergs

Lydia, Leah and Paige

Autumn, London, me and Bowen four wheeling in the rain!

Big Springs, crystal clear water, huge trout

Boating with Jake (I will post soon on his mission farewell)

First day of preschool. Bowen loves school so much he gets up early and gets himself all ready about an hour before we need to leave. He even makes his bed. It's crazy that he's so big now!

NYC

2011-09-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Seth and I went to NYC for 3 days. He had an online marketing convention, and I was lucky to come along.

Empire State building

Yankee's game

Me and Autumn on the way to the Statue of Liberty

Me, Tyler, Seth, Charlie, Autumn and Derrick

Ellis Island

Here are just some pictures of summer!

Bowen and Lexi at Liberty Park

At Grandma Hobbs's house. My kids love their Grandma.

July

2011-09-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

At the Grandpa's farm. Bowen can ride his 2-wheeler bike now!

Liberty Park with cousin Lexi

Grandma Hobbs: We love going to her house, even though we live a little further away now.

Uncle Jake giving the boys mow-hawks

All the cousins got mow-hawks before Lake Powell

Notice the sword down Bowen's pants

Lake Powell! My dad rented a house boat and all of my whole family came.

New house (scroll down to see all 3 new posts)

2011-07-10T20:40:00.001-07:00

Old house:

New House:

We bought a new house in Draper and will be moving at the end of this month. We have loved our Provo home, but are so excited to move. We are doing some painting and other work, so I will be sure to post before and after pictures.

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

This was a mock angel food cake that I made. So delicious! I have to keep the tradition that my mom started of making a flag cake every year.

We spent the fourth of July at Seth's parent's house. Almost all of Seth's family was there. There pool was great, but we had a scary experience that day:

Bowen had been swimming with his life jacket on all afternoon, and he was jumping off the diving board and going down the slide. Just having a great time. We took his life vest off to feed him some pizza. I went inside to be with Leah, and Seth stayed out with Bowen. About 5 minutes later Seth came in, and after a few minutes I asked him to go outside and check on Bowen. I am so glad I asked him to do that, because he found Bowen in the pool by the steps bobbing up and down, because he couldn't touch the bottom. He yanked him out and Bowen threw up, but seemed to be breathing fine. He was probably under the water less than 20 seconds. It was the worst experience. I am so thankful that he is just fine, but we will be a lot more cautious around the pool from now on.

Tribute to Grandpa Frayne

2011-07-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

My sweet grandpa Frayne Hobbs passed away a few weeks ago. I would say that out of all my grandparents I am the closest to my Grandpa Frayne. I took the kids to visit him and my grandma every week for the past few years. His face would light up when we walked through the door. He made us feel like we were the most important part of his life (he made everybody feel this way). He always wanted to know what was going on my life. He liked to tell me stories about his life. I got to see him a few days before he passed away. Although he was sick and tired, he was totally with it mentally, and just held and loved my kids.

I miss my grandpa, but I know that his spirit still lives. I know that he is with his family and loved ones in the presence of Heavenly Father. I know that his is doing so much good on the other side. And I know that I will see him again.

Bowen and "Grandpa Frayne" love each other. Almost everyday Bowen asks me about him: "Is Grandpa dead? Is he in a box (casket)? Is he sleeping?" I am grateful to be able to explain over and over again about where we go after we die. I know for a fact that this life is no the end, and that we will be with our families for eternity.

Bowen also keeps asking me to sing the elephant song that my grandpa used to sing:
"I went to the animal fair
the birds and the beasts were there
the big baboon, by the light of the moon
was combing his auburn hair
the monkey went ker-plunk
right on the elephant's trunk
the elephant sneezed (a-choooo like an elephant)
fell down on his knees (a silly sound affect that only Fraync can do)
And that was the end of the monk, the monk, the monk!"

Grandma Shirley and Bowen at her 80th birthday

The funeral (I will post some better pictures soon)

Utah Valley Half

2011-06-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

I ran my half marathon yesterday (sorry no pictures). It was so much fun. I did with with my sister Tiffany. We had to wake up at 3:45 to get there! It was crazy, but so much fun. The race started up Provo Canyon just above Sundance and finished at Provo Center street by the Tabernacle (which still has scaffolding all around it since the fire in January). Tiff and I ran the first 7 miles together then her knee started hurting so she had to stop and stretch and slow down. We finished 10 minutes apart. It took me 01:43:21 which is a 7:53 minute mile! I was really surprised that I placed 15th out of 282 people in my age group!!

Thanksgiving point with my mom on her birthday

Grandma Iorg

Grandma and Grandpa Z

Provo Temple

Audrey(10 months) and Leah(12 months)

Gemma

See how they grow!

2011-05-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Our kids had their annual check ups... Leah(1) is tall (90th percentile) and thin (31st). And Bowen(3) is also tall (85th) and not quite so thin (79th). It's so fun watching my kids grow. I still
call Leah a baby...she doesn't walk yet, but she can talk up a storm. She says hi, dada, mama, bye-bye, boo, baba (bottle), wow, owe, uh-oh. I know a lot of these are just sounds, but she is really good at repeating sounds. She can also scream!! Especially when Bowen get's in her way.

Bowen said some funny things lately...The other morning out of the blue he said, "Leah has a boy head" because she has hardly any hair. Also I took him to one of Abby's choir competitions
and after her team finished he said, "Abby's on the black team!" He's been to a lot of sports games between Jake, Abby and our nephews on Seth's side. It was pretty funny.

April celebrations

2011-05-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

We made a trip to CA and saw the Cardinals (Seth's favorite team) play the Giants.

This is Albert Pujols!

We celebrated 3 birthdays in April. Leah's 1st birthday was April 12th. We were in northern California for the week so she had her birthday at my Grandma Zwahlen's house in Modesto.

Then we were back in Utah for Seth's grandma Lorraine's 80th birthday party. (Lorraine is Leah's middle name). Ironically Leah always cried around Grandma Lorraine.

Then it was Bowen's third birthday with a John Deere tractor cake! Bowen loves anything to do with John Deere. I even made him a John Deere quilt (pictures to come).

(I made this skirt for Leah. I was so excited it matched this shirt so well!)

Easter Surprise! I left Leah in the room with the Easter baskets, and later I found her with all the heads eaten off the "peeps" and most of the other candy all eaten. Who knows how much sugar she ate!

New pics of the kids (1 and 3 years old)

2011-04-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Check out our kids photos here

Just keep clicking Next to see all of them!

St. George and St. Patricks

2011-03-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

St. George trip: we went to watch our nephew Keyen and Seth's brother Court play. They are both Seniors in high school. Keyen has a scholarship to play football at SUU, and Court is getting recruited for baseball, but hasn't signed yet. Just a couple of cute pics:

Grandma Gay and Grandpa Dane

Aunt Claudette, cousins Zoriaha and Gemma

St. Patrick's Day: Green eggs, green grapes, green milk!

February re-cap

2011-03-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Grandma Lorie broke her ankle (she slipped on some ice). She had surgery and everything, but still babysat my kids for me while I taught piano lessons. What a trooper!

Reading with grandpa Barry.

I'm trying to be more festive this year, so for valentines we had pink somewhat heart-shaped pancakes with berry syrup. (I made it in my vitamix: berries, sugar and pectin)

decorating sugar cookies...

New hair bows for Leah

Bowen often makes this silly face, even if I'm mad at him, I have to laugh.

Happy Birthday to me! I am 26 now. Seth got us a condo to stay in down in Mesquite, NV. We took the kids and had a lot of fun getting away. We don't gamble, so there wasn't a whole lot to do...

We visited a state park in NV

Leah can do many things

2011-02-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

I know this video is long, but Leah waves a lot at the end, so keep watching!

I thought I would share some updates on Leah. She is now 9 1/2 months. She crawls everywhere and can walk along the furniture. I'm afraid I may have an early walker. She has two little bottom teeth and just today I noticed one of her top teeth poking through. She says dada, mama, hi (well sort of), and loves to smack her lips, suck her thumb and give big open mouth kisses. She is learning to throw a ball (lucky for Bowen), and is good at eating paper! She can also drink from a straw, and is very good at eating icecream.

She only cries when she is being constrained such as when she is getting in her car seat or high chair, and especially when I have to change her clothes. I wonder if this has something to do with her future personality. Maybe she will always hate being pushed (I am scared about one day having a teenage daughter). She also doesn't like being left in a room by herself. She cries and cries until someone comes back into the room.

Bowen (2 1/2) is an active boy. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday I do aerobics at the church and he loves running around. Basketball is his thing right now. The hoop that occupies our front room right now is the best investment we ever made. Even though it's cold he still asks to go outside and dig with his trucks. He can stay out for over an hour in the freezing cold.

I discovered a super fun indoor activity for little boys. All you need is this:
And this:

And one of these:

He spent hours digging the cotton stuffing and it was super easy to clean up. (I would have taken a picture, but I have misplaced my camera again! I guess it's time to clean again).

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

Audrey and Leah

Bowen and Cyus

Leah and Trajen

Bowen watching cars (in heaven)

My decorating (so I can remember for next year)

This video show what Bowen sounds like and I wanted to try out my new camera!

We had a wonderful Christmas! I hope all of you did to! On Christmas Eve we ate dinner (shrimp and crab) at Seth's parent's house! We should make that a yearly tradition! (I seem to be putting ! after every sentence. I'll try to calm down). We also read the Christmas story in the Bible, and Bowen actually sat still. Then we went home, and Bowen had a "long winter's nap". He slept until 9:15 Christmas morning. Leah was very patient to wait for him to wake up, haha. So we finally woke up Bowen to see what Santa had brought him. Seth keeps saying, "Bowen, I'm Santa." I don't think Bowen really gets it yet, but he was sure excited to see his choo-choo-train Christmas morning. He loved everything (most of is presents had wheels).

Leah took a nap while we let Bowen watch "Cars" and then we headed over for more food and fun with Seth's family. Bowen got to play with Zoriaha, Cyus and Trajen. And Leah and baby Audrey spent some time together too. It was so fun to be with family and enjoy this special (my favorite) holiday. (I am already sad that it's over, I think the week after Christmas is the most depressing week of the year).

Christmas Card

2010-12-11T12:51:00.001-08:00

Every year I try to pick a Christmas card that totally captures my family. I spend hours and hours searching for the right one...just kidding.

Usually, I just choose the one that looks decent and that is somewhat cheap. I've never looked at the shutterfly Christmas cards and Holiday cards, because I thought they were way too expensive. Come to find out that they are really a lot better looking than the Walmart or Sam's club ones that I have done in the past. And they're not too expensive if you can get a promo code (which I am earning through this blog post).

I used shutterfly to create Leah's birth announcement earlier this year:

I just love their selection, and their quality is unbeatable. One day I hope to make a 12 month photo calendars so I can enjoy my families pictures all year long. The only problem I have is that I think of this idea at the beginning of December. I should really start this project in January. Maybe that will be one of my new years resolutions.

Here is a preview of my family Christmas card:

I would love to send you all a Christmas card so if you think I don't have your address please email it to me!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Leah was a cow and Bowen was a farmer. He loved his John Deer tractor. Trick-or-treating was a little bit rainy, but I took the kids out around the block while Seth stayed home (he actually had the better job. I guess I'm a grown-up now because I think staying home on Halloween is more fun than going out trick or treating).

Family pics (minus Seth)

2010-10-24T17:54:00.001-07:00

So we took family pictures last weekend, but the lighting turned out really bad. My neighbor was the one who took the pictures, so to make up for the bad pictures, we took some of the kids in her back yard last week. I may be biased, but I think I have the cutest kids in the world!

To see more pictures go to her photo blog

Also, Leah had her 6 month check up . She was 16lbs. 3 oz. So not quite as chubby as Bowen was. She is tall like Bowen has always been, measuring in the 97 percentile.

2 kids and an antelope

2010-10-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Bowen and Leah are great little friends now. Bowen loves to make her laugh. The other day Leah was sucking on something and I found a sunflower seed that Bowen had put in her mouth! He also likes to give her his toys. We'll see how long the sharing lasts! Leah is getting so big. She eats a little baby food and can roll onto her stomach!

Here is Seth's antelope he shot on his hunt in Wyoming. He went with his cousins and uncle and had a really great time.

Leah is our princess (sorrry Bowen, no pictures of you)

2010-09-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Leah with my mom at my sister Abby's soccer game.

She started rolling to her stomach a few weeks ago. Whenever she rolls she gets mad that she's on her stomach!

Leah likes to spit food out, but she's starting to get the hang of it. Her bumbo chair is perfect, although she hates being constrained, so she will arch her back and try to get out.

Summer fun

2010-08-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to have more photos, because we have really done a lot of fun things this summer. I was with all my sisters for a week and a half, and everyone else had their cameras, so I'm waiting for them to send me photos. Then I lost my camera for a couple weeks...

Our kids are starting to really interact. Bowen just loves his baby sister Leah. She is now 4 months old and 14.3 lbs (61st percentile), and 95th percentile in height. She's really tall just like Bowen. She still has very little hair, but keeps her cute head bands on. I love being a mother of two!

Wasatch County fair with all of my sister and their kids

Me and Leah (3 months), Hil and Brad (12 months), Tiff and Tyson (10 months)

Cousin Chloe got a pink tu-tu, but Bowen wanted to dance in it. He danced all over my parents back yard for at least a half hour. Will he be dancer when he grows up? Seth hopes not!

Zwahlen family reunion in Oregon. We had a great time. Leah below with my grandparents, Ken and Betty Zwahlen.

Thanksgiving Point children's garden. Bowen and Tagg below!

Happy 4th & Blessing Day

2010-07-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Leah received her baby blessing on the 4th of July. It was a really sweet day, especially since my mom and I got the dress done in time. Leah, you should know that we lost a lot of sleep and you discovered your thumb during the hours we spent making your dress.

Leah at 2 months

2010-06-16T20:59:00.001-07:00

Leah just turned 2 months old. She now weighs 11 lbs. 8 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches. We are so happy to have her in our home! She is a very happy girl, AND not to brag but she slept for 10 hours straight last night. What a sweetheart!

These things make me smile!

2010-05-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

So I've never made a post without pictures, but I wanted to share some of the funny things that Bowen has done lately:

We had his little friend Jackson over for dinner the other night. When it was time to pray, both the boys started praying simultaneously. All Bowen knows how to say is, " Heavenly Father...Bless the food...Christ...Amen!"

Bowen is very particular and loves to clean up messes. The other day I was thinking I should ask Bowen to pick up some toys, and I turned around and he had already cleaned it all up! I hope he stays like this.

Bowen climbed up the base of his basketball hoop and proclaimed, "Bowen so TALL!" When he stepped down he said "Bowen so DOWN!"

He's still working on his opposites...at nap/bed time he says, " Bowen no go nigh-night, Bowen WAKE UP!"

Bowen loves his baby sister Leah. Everytime he wakes up he asks, "Where-saa-baby?" He loves to kiss her a get right in her face and say, "HEY BABY!" He even held her for a half hour the other day and didn't want to let her go. So sweet!

Easter, Birthday, Graduation, Baby

2010-05-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that Leah came 4 days early. She was due on the 16th, but was born on the 12th. It was perfect, because Bowen's 2nd birthday was the 20th and my mom's BYU Law School graduation was on the 23rd. I know it's pretty selfish of me, but I wanted her to come early so that I could enjoys all the parties.

Bowen jammin' on the piano. I just found these headphones. It's great, he loves them, and I don't have to listen to him play the same note 50 times in a row, or make the annoying machine gun sound.

I made this Fire Truck Cake. It was super easy, but the red food coloring (which I bought from Roberts in the cake decorating section) stained everyone's teeth pink. Thanks to everyone who came to Bowen's party and all of the nice gifts!

My grandma Zwahlen came to Utah for my mom's graduation. It was so nice to see her and my grandpa. They even brought Leah a cute baby blanket that they make for all their great grandchildren, which is quite a lot now!

Bowen found his old Halloween costume which I made for him when he was 6 months old. I was afraid of making it too small, so it still fits him. I'm really proud of my handywork, especially the toes on the feet!

Welcome Baby Leah!!

2010-04-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

Introducing: Leah Lorraine Iorg

Born: April 12th, 2:44am
Weight: 6 lb. 14 oz.
Length: 19 in.

Leah came 4 days early which was a surprise to us since Bowen was 9 days late. She is a precious little girl, and we are so happy to have her here! It seems like she's always been in our family.

Bowen in Action

2010-04-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Late Birthday to me!

2010-03-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

I turned 25 on February 25th. So it was my golden birthday. It was a really fun day, and entire weekend. My brother Jake played in the state basketball tournament. Their first game was on my birthday and they won. They won the next 2 days and became STATE CHAMPIONS!!! I'm so proud of my brother Jake. I actually cried as he cut part of the net down. Anyway, my sister Hilary and her baby Brad came in town for the weekend, and we had a ton of fun together: we got pedicures, went to lunch and went shopping. Seth even watched Bowen for me while we had some girl time together.

My mom made me this amazing chocolate cake with real whipped cream and homemade frosting!

Also, lately Bowen is our little drummer boy. He carries his drums all around the house. I'll post a video soon!

Valentine's Cookies!

2010-02-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

We had a few friends over last week to make Valentine's sugar cookies. It was Bowen's first time making sugar cookies and he loved it! We talked about cookies all morning, then when his friends came over instead of playing with them, he helped with the cookies the whole time. He really liked cutting them out and putting them on the pan. He wasn't very interested in decorating, he just liked to eat the plain cookies.

These are his friends Sawyer and Jackson

Christmas top 10

2010-01-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

I'm copying my sister Heidi with this top ten idea...We really had a wonderful Christmas! It was so fun being with family.

10. Matching pajamas with cousins, Bowen was not happy about this.

9. Bowen got a lap-top so now he can work with his dad.

8. Hanging out with cousin Tagg, best friends!

7. Snowmobiling as a family

6. Christmas pajamas

5. Playing in the snow with cousins, and eating real snow cones

4. Being together as a little family.

3. Decorating our awesome Christmas tree

2. Happy smiles

1. Seth's Christmas beard, which came off on Dec. 26th.

It's a girl!

2009-12-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

I got my ultrasound this week, and it looks like Bowen is going to have a sister! We are so excited. I was expecting a boy all along, but I'm really glad it's girl so that I can dress her cute, and hopefully she will be my friend when she's older. Here I come Baby Gap!

Bowen loves his Grandparents!

2009-11-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

Great Grandpa Hobbs (Bowen loves his Grandpas)

Great Grandma Hobbs was kind enough to share here birthday cake. Bowen just loved the frosting.

Bowen and Grandpa Hobbs ready to go feed the horse Rincon, but Bowen calls him "Moo". Bowen just loves his Grandpa Hobbs and is always riding the tractor with him and helping him do the farm chores.

This is Bowen the cow with his cute Grandma Hobbs. He participated in the BYU Law School costume fashion show. He was great at saying "moo".

Half-Way There!

2009-11-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

I know I have not been keeping my blog updated. I guess the main reason is that I'm pregnant!!! So every time I have a break from Bowen I usually am usually taking a nap. I am actually halfway there and I will find out on Dec. 8th if I'm having a boy or girl! This pregnancy has gone by so fast, especially since I have my little Buddy Bowen to play with.
Seth has been working for a company in St. George for the past month or so. We have loved going to visit Dad in St. George. We spent a lot of time outside visiting duck ponds and parks. We also went to Snow Canyon and went on some short hikes. Bowen especially loved jumping around on the petrified dunes.

August in California

2009-10-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Me and Bowen went to California in August to see Annie and Brady get married and visit our new nefew and cousin Brad! Bowen especially liked the dog Clancy. Annie looked beautiful. It was a much needed trip.

Is it too late for summer?

2009-10-05T21:07:00.001-07:00

We really had a fun summer with cousins, boating, swimming and riding on the tractor with grandpa. Bowen is a little man now. It seems unreal that he runs around and bosses me around all day long.

Echo Triathlon

2009-07-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

I completed my 3rd Olympic size triathlon last Saturday. I swam a mile, biked 25 miles and ran 6 miles! It was so much fun and perfect day to do the race. The race started at 7am, so I woke up at 4:45. I got there around 6:15 which I thought gave me plenty of time, until I realized I hadn't brought my photo ID. (it was way back at the car, because I had to bike into the start line). Anyway I finally convinced them to let me race by showing them a picture of myself in my phone. After that, I barely made it to the start on time.

The swim was probably the hardest part, because it was in open water, and everyone is running into each other, and you don't really know where you're going. I was surprised when I finished in 37 min.

Next was the bike, which was really fun, because I borrowed my sister Tiff's bike. (Thanks Tiff!) I finished the bike in about an hour and half.

Last but not least was the run. It's really hard to start running after you've biked for so long. My hamstrings were totally cramping, and I didn't know if I could go on. But, my legs finally relaxed and I was running at a good pace, until about the last 2 miles when my knee started hurting. It was was painful, but I kept on running til the finish.

I finished the whole thing in 3 hours and 5 minutes. It felt so good, and I even got a complementary massage at the end!

I am Grateful for Freedom!!!

2009-07-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

Please view this "Mormon Messages" video about freedom...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkTKQsYWBxc

After viewing this video, I felt inspired to think about the freedoms I am grateful for. I am grateful to be able to learn and study freely. I am thankful that I can teach my children truths, including gospel truths and all other truths that the world has to offer. I am grateful that I can serve equally with my husband in our home, but I am also grateful to know my roles as a mother and wife. I know know if I faithfully fulfill those roles Heavenly Father will continue to bless me and my family. Finally I am grateful to be able to chose each day what my attitude will be, and that I can, with the help of my Heavenly Father, make the most of my life.

first steps

2009-05-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

Bowen is walking!! Well...sort of. He will only walk if we stand him up and have him walk to us. Otherwise, he's still crawling everywhere. He is so proud of himself, and so are we. Seth and I spent a half hour just having him walk back and forth between us. What a fun time!

Vampire teeth

2009-04-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Bowen's teeth look like vampire teeth because he only has his side teeth up top. He also has his two middle teeth on the bottom, but no middle teeth on the top. It's hilarious.

Look below for Birthday pictures!

Birthday Boy!

2009-04-23T10:54:00.001-07:00

Bowen is officially spoiled! I have been able to keep his toys in a small basket under our TV up until now. I'm afraid our front room has turned into a toy room. We had a family party, which ended up being huge! It was a nice evening so everyone was outside the whole evening. Bowen loves people and attention, and he was smiling all night long. Thanks to everyone who brought gifts.

His birthday cake was balloons!

I never thought the first year would go by so fast! It's hard for me to imagine how small and dependent Bowen used to be. Now he can do so many things: color pictures, say "ball", "mom", "dad", wave, clap, push his firetruck everywhere, beg for food, drink from a straw, play peek-a-boo, go up and down stairs, open and close doors, and be funny as ever! Happy Birthday Bowen, we love you!

Dirt Mustache

2009-04-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Bowen played outside today while I worked in the garden. I lost track of him for a while and next thing I knew he was eating a rock that he found in the mud. He loved playing outside. I look forward to many more sunny days in the garden.

First Haircut

2009-03-06T12:19:00.001-08:00

BEFORE (this is my cute brother Jake)

AFTER

I know it's supposed to be bad luck to cut your child's hair before their first birthday, but I had several people tell me that my son had a mullet. So my dad cut his hair with a number 8. I think he looks like Seth now!

Beach Baby!!

2009-02-12T13:17:00.001-08:00

We went to Florida last weekend for Seth's cousin Cale's wedding. It was a much needed trip to the sun! Surprisingly it was only 40 degrees when we got there, but it warmed up to 70 by the end of our trip. We were sad to come home to a big snow storm, but at least now we feel like we can make it through the rest of the snowing Utah winter.

We let Bowen explore the sand a little bit. His first move was to pick up the closest shell and put it in his mouth. They he moved to rocks, too big to fit in his mouth. Then he proceeded to throw the rocks at his little second cousin Rex (pictures to come soon). Bowen's a really social kid, always trying to catch everyone's attention by smiling at them. Oh! and he learned to wave "hi" and "bye" this month. His Grandma Hobbs taught him, so she's pretty proud.

Crawling Machine

2009-01-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a great Holiday Season. We had the best time with our family. Bowen got to see all of his cousins, and everyone adored him! Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas:

Bowen Hears a Who!

2008-11-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

I made Bowen's Halloween costume! He's an elephant if you cant' tell, and I'm really proud of this costume because I did it all by myself and it took at least 40 hours. I know I'm crazy. I don't think I'll make as elaborate costumes for my next children.

At BYU Law School (where my mom attends) they do trick-or-treating every year. She was one of the few people to have grandchildren there. I am so proud of my mom for going back to law school.

Almost 20 pounds!!!

2008-11-06T17:51:00.000-08:00

Bowen had his six month check up and he was 19lbs. 3 oz. He is a healthy, happy boy!

Seth thinks Bowen's arms and chest resemble his fathers in this picture (Bowen is already developing muscles)

We visited cousins Luke and Chloe in KC, it was a really fun time. (Thanks Heidi!)

Happy Fall!

2008-10-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Bowen's favorite toy

The corn stocks are from our garden

Good-bye old house

Bowen with Tagg his cousin (only 2 weeks younger). This was at Dane and Gays for Charlie and Haley's wedding open house. We love our new sister in law Haley

It's officially fall so I got out my decorations yesterday, although we will be moving in a month. We bought a house in Provo, and it's super cute. It has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, and is twice as big as where we're living now. We are so excited to be home owners. We are scheduled to move at the end of October. We will really miss our friends we've met in our neighborhood. We love you all!!

Bowen is Huge!!

2008-09-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

He's so strong!

First Food (we didn't have a baby spoon)

Notice his leg, just hangin' out

Everyone says that babies grow fast, but Bowen has grown especially fast. At his four month chech up he was 18lbs. 3 oz., and 27 inches long. Needless to say I can't snap his 3-6 month clothes on him anymore. He better start walking soon, or I'm going to have back problems!!!

The newest update in our family is that we are looking to buy a house. We actually had a home under contract, but got out of the deal fast when we had it inspected (it had mold and bad electric and plumbing and roof). So we are looking for another house. We will be staying in Provo, since it's the only place in our price range. I can't wait to move and be able to paint some walls and really decorate.

Hope everyone is doing great and we love and miss you (well, the ones that don't live in Utah).

Summer is ending

2008-08-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

(Our first family picture)

We had an exciting last few days...

Seth turned 26 on Friday and we celebrated by going to Tucano's (all the meat you can eat)

Saturday I ran a half marathon with my mom and my sister Tiff. It was one of the hardest things I've done but I had to laugh because along the trail someone had written in chalk "this is nothing compared to child-birth". Although it's been 4 months, I don't really remember the pain, but I'm not ready to do it again, yet.

This summer I have been busy gardening. Here is the biggest zucchini I've ever seen!

I am including pictures from Bowen's baby blessing in June:

Seth blessed on Father's Day at our church. (In the LDS church father's give infants priesthood blessings. Several men put one hand on each other's shoulders to form a circle around the baby and they hold the baby in the middle with the other hand. The father, or another priesthood holder, says a special prayer to give the child both spiritual and physical blessings).

We had a picnic after the blessing, it was a nice day.

Our little cutie

2008-08-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

Bowen is getting so big, and we are really enjoying being parents. At his last check-up, about 3 weeks ago, he was 15lb. 2 oz. (92nd percentile) 24 inches (76th percentile) and had a head circumfrence of 16 inches (44th percentile). So he has a small head on a big body, just like his parents.

Bowen's new cousin

2008-08-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

Chloe McClintock was born yesterday! She lives in Kansas City so we won't see her for a little while. She is just the cutest little girl. We are so happy for Heidi and Kyle and big brother Luke. It's so fun to have our family growing.

Finally...more pictures

2008-07-01T12:11:00.001-07:00

Spencer

Bowen sucked his thumb for the first time at the Strawberry Days Rodeo.

Lexie

Luke

Luke, Ashley, Will, Kelly, Bowen and Kenzie

Bowen scraped his head with his nails. The first of many band-aids.
I figured I'd get a picture with these shoes since they won't fit much longer. This guy had huge feet and toes!

Ashley

Grandpa

We have been having a lot of fun lately. All of Bowen's cousins came in town, and everyone wanted to hold him. Ashley and Spencer especially loved holding him. We played at grandpa's farm and at the Kamas pool. Bowen feel asleep in my arms inside the pool for about 45 minutes.

Bowen was blessed on June 15th for Father's Day. I forgot my camera so Tiff took some pictures. (Hopefully she will remember to send them to me when she reads this). It was so sweet to listen to Seth bless him. Bowen is such a joy to have in our family and we are so lucky to be his parents!

Cousin Tagg Came to Visit

2008-05-29T11:46:00.001-07:00

Bowen's cousin Tagg came to visit from Colorado. This kid is two weeks younger than Bowen and is about the same size! He was 10lb. 12oz. when he was born. Tagg has a lot more hair and he's way more tan. These guys are destined to be best friends.

Bowen is almost six weeks old now, and he is getting so big. We think he's about 12 pounds. He has lost almost all his hair, except a mo-hawk on the top. He smiles all the time now and likes to try to talk. His newest trick is sleeping though the night!!! He goes from about 11pm to 6:30 am. He slept like that the last two nights and we hope it continues.

Pole Vault 2007

2008-05-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Seth wanted to show that I really could pole vault 13 feet before Bowen came along

Bowen is Growin'

2008-05-09T17:24:00.001-07:00

This boy is all smiles

It looks like he's sleep walking

2 1/2 weeks old

About 2 weeks old

This is at about 1 week old

He likes to look left!

Good Morning

Cousin Cyus

Bowen's friends James and Carly

Cross-eyed!!!

I never thought being a mom would be so fun! He takes up most of my time, but I love it. Seth likes to make Bowen sit, stand and crawl. He is determined to have Bowen walking at an early age. Bowen doesn't mind tummy time, but he hates his bath. He just hates being naked I think. But he loves to snuggle and he is a very good sleeper. He wakes up to eat in the night and goes right back to sleep. What a blessing!

Welcome Baby Bowen

2008-04-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Bowen Seth Iorg was born April 20th at 9:21 pm. He was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. We are so happy he is a part of our family!!!

Bowen was born by emergency cesarean section which was a surprise to us since both he and Makenzie had been so healthy during the pregnancy. Makenzie went into labor around 7am Sunday morning, then received her epidural at 4pm. A couple hours later the nurses noticed that Bowen's heart rate was dropping really low. They gave Makenzie an oxygen mask and moved her around and the heart rate slowly crept up. This happened two more times, so the doctor decided to do the surgery. Once the decision was made, Bowen was out within 15 minutes. He was completely healthy at birth. It turned out that the cord was wrapped around his ankle twice, which decreased blood flow. The doctor said that he probably would have had a really hard time getting through the birth canal because of the tangled cord and they would have had to do a C-section at 2am when Makenzie was pushing. We are grateful that he is a healthy boy and that Makenzie is recovering so well.

First Bath!

Look at those long toes

Sleeping...Sleeping...Sleeping

Aunt Ana

Grandpa Frayne and Grandpa Dane

Grandma Hobbs loves Bowen

Flowers from Grandma Hobbs

Cousin Spencer just wanted to keep hugging Bowen

Big Yawn

Baby's almost here!!

2008-04-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are curious... Yes I am very pregnant!!!
Laugh while you can :)

Baby shower with the Track team: Tiff, Kari, Katie, Kelly, Me and the two Ashleys!

Amy Menlove, Tiff Arhenius, Makenzie and Katie Mongomerey. What a reunion!

This is at about 8 months along, with my track friends Heidi and Tiff.

2008-02-10T19:30:00.001-08:00

2008-02-10T18:07:00.001-08:00

2007-10-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

I am 17 weeks along in this picture.
I can't believe my stomach is getting so big!!!!!!!!

2007-10-28T17:40:00.001-07:00

I'm sucking in on this picture

2007-10-28T17:36:00.001-07:00

17 weeks pregnant

2007-10-28T17:34:00.001-07:00

Gondola's in Venice, They were like $150 to ride so we just watched from the bridges.

2007-10-28T17:33:00.001-07:00

This is the Duomo Cathedral in Milan

More Europe Pix

2007-10-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Colesseum in Rome

Seth and Makenize

2007-08-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

This is at the Coleseum in Rome. These are the tunnels that

would have gone under the floors where the gladiators fought.

Our first day in Italy. We were so tired, but Lake Como was beautiful!