A Few of June's Favorite Things

Zion

This year we were able to take our annual trip to Zion National Park on Presidents day weekend! My mom came with us this time and we had so much fun. This is the first time that June has been with us and she did so well! I was nervous about how she would do with the sleeping arrangements but she did great! We brought her pack n play and monitor and waited in the lobby until she fell asleep. She slept all night as usual! We had so much fun hiking and just getting away. The weather was great the first day but it snowed on Sunday. We still had a great time!

Piggies

June FINALLY has enough hair for pig tales (depending on who you ask). The first time that I tried them it took me a while because she can not sit still. But I am getting better and she looks so ADORABLE with her little piggies! We are entering the mullet hair stage so she may need to wear them a lot!

Valentines Day

This year for Valentines day we went to a restaurant called Terra Mia (I think that is how it's spelled). We had some of the young women in our ward offer to watch June, but we decided to take her with us instead! This is mostly because we knew it would be too crowded to go to our favorite places, so we though we would save the date night for another time. After the restaurant, we put June to bed and watched a chick flick which Tony usually does not agree too, but he was a good sport for Valentines day!

Delicious Pizza (and authentic according to Tony)

Having a great time!

June got a card and a balloon which she loved. She also got a cute heart shirt from grandma Elaine!


Flowers from Tony:)

Crazy June

June gets more crazy and more fun every day! She NEVER stops moving and she is generally very happy. She does not really cry but she does love to yell. She is usually not mad when she does this but I think it is her way of expressing herself:) Church is a challenge. We will leave it at that. She is not afraid of anyone and will crawl up to complete strangers and pull herself up on their legs. She loves kids especially. It is near impossible to change her diaper so sometimes I give up and just watch her and her naked bum crawl away. She pulls herself up onto anything that she can and loves to explore. She wants to eat anything and everything we are eating and makes a mess while doing so. She still LOVES Sesame Street. Especially Murray and Elmo. It is fun to see her personality grow:)

Me giving up on the diaper.

She loves books

Waiting for me to get her after a nap (I love this).

Making a mess.

Date night with friends, Matt Costa concert etc...

A few weeks ago we had a date night at Stacy's house with Stacy, Scott, Michelle and Wes. I LOVE these girls and we had such a good time. It was fun to get together to play games and talk. June was doing her usual loud yelling and it was making little Korey cry but other than that it went well with two little ones.

These are just some pics of when Stacy came down to visit us one day. June loved Korey and was crawling all over him.
Tony and I were able to go to the Matt Costa concert at BYU for only six dollars a piece! Tony really likes Matt Costa so we couldn't pass it up. We got a babysitter and had such a great time. It was nice to get out with just the two of us! The pictures are not very good but we were actually really close to him.

Avery Arleen Stowell Swensen

Avery Arleen Stowell Swensen
January 23, 1921 - January 10, 2012


My sweet grandma passed away on Tuesday and I can hardly believe she not with us anymore. I have been trying to prepare myself for this emotionally for a long time. This woman was not just my grandma, she was one of my best friends. I am so grateful that I was able to have her in my life for so long. When I was younger, I used to pray that she would just make it until I got married. I did not think that would happen, but it did. She was also able to be there with me during my pregnancy and watch June grow to be 9 months old. We lived with her when we first brought her home and had family prayer with her every night. I think she loved June as much as we did! She was able to be there during my single college years and I would always rush over to tell her about my dates (good or bad) and she always acted so excited to hear it. She would tell me all sorts of stories about when she met my grandpa and when they were first married. I couldn't wait to tell her about my first date with Tony and she was just as thrilled as I was!

This woman had a solid testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. She was such a great example to me, and still is. She just KNEW without a doubt that it was true, and truly tried to live like the Savior. She was perfect in my eyes growing up and I know that our Heavenly Father is so excited to see her. What a joyous reunion she is having with him and grandpa. I also know that she was excited to see her mother again. I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the knowledge that she is with them again. I am so sad that she is gone but so happy for her. She was so positive but would often say that she was ready to go home.

I have had some moments in the last few days where June does something funny, or I have a question and I just want to talk to her. I almost cant breathe for a second when I realize that I cant talk to her anymore, or see her reaction to June's smile. I am glad that I got to spend time with her and I know that she is still watching us. I am glad that she is walking upright without any pain. I love you so much grandma! Thank you for everything that you have done for me and for all of us.