Done.............Finally!!!

Well, I realize I'm a bit behind the rest of the world, but those of you who know me best know that I'm not a big reader. It may take me a little longer than most, but I'm officially done with the entire Harry Potter series. Wow! Can I just say that ended perfectly. This last book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I'd anxiously await any nap Tanner was willing to take so that I could read. Part of me didn't want to finish it because then it would be over and there's not another one to look forward too. But, the end had to come eventually, and I was not disappointed. So thank you J.K. Rowling for entertaining us all. Now I just look forward to the last two movies.

Tanner Update

Last weekend we got a walker from a yard sale that we cleaned up and Tanner LOVES it. It took him a couple minutes to figure it out but once he did he just took off running. I can only imagine what it will be like when he can really walk.


We also went to the "Greek Festival" and got some true greek made Gyros. We felt a little like we had entered "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", so we took our food to the park to eat it instead. But the park was so fun and Tanner got to feed the ducks for the first time. Plus they had baby swings so he got to swing all by himself and he LOVED that. Sadly we didn't have the camera, so we'll have to go back later. He is officially the proud new owner of a top right tooth with the top left one well on it's way. Recently he has become much more vocal as well. Especially at the dinner table. He has a very high pitched squeal that starts when we sit down to eat and doesn't stop till we leave the table except for when food is in his mouth. I keep telling him that it's rather rude and not very good table manners but he doesn't listen to me. And hey it gets him what he wants! That's about it in Tanner updates for now.
Oh and we are not abusive we just wanted a picture of his teeth! (I guess you can't really tell from the picture, but he was NOT happy to supply us with a picture of his teeth)

Russ and Michaela

Russ and I go way back...since we were zero in fact. He was the first cousin Scott and Dan and I had on either side of the family. We've been through a lot together, and being the same age of course our mothers think they should take pictures of us together at pretty much every family event. Well, Russ and Michaela had their big day, so in honor of Russel getting married I thought I'd post a few pictures of us over the years. Congrats Russel! You got a good one Michaela!

Stuck in the play-pen on a family camping trip (at least we had each other)

Russel and I at Spence and Jannie's Wedding

Me and Russ at Guy and Kristin's Openhouse

And at Guy and Kristin's Reception

And then at Russ' Wedding for old times sake

Just out of the temple...Don't they look so good together!?

They are definitely in love

Most of the boys outside the temple

I'm so glad I was able to witness their sealing and be there for the wedding festivities. Congrats again you guys. I know Russel is an amazing man and will be an incredible husband and father. And from what I've seen of Michaela, Russel is one lucky guy and we're excited to have her in the family. Good luck starting your lives together!

New Calling

When the counselor in the Bishopric took me aside and asked me if I'd teach Sunday School my insides started churning thinking he was talking about the adult class, but knowing I couldn't say no I said "of course." He quickly followed by saying it would be the 12 and 13 year old class. I breathed a big sigh of relief and felt a whole lot more comfortable with that than the adults. This last Sunday was my first time teaching and it went great. I had six kids in my class. Three boys and three girls. They seemed excited to have me as their teacher. I'm sure just because I look young which to them equals "cool", but they don't know me yet! ;) Just kidding. Hopefully I can be "cool" but also teach them a lot too. This move have been a bit of a challenge for me so far. There are a lot of great things about Pennsylvania and our situation here, but there are also a lot of things that are very different and not what I'm used to. I miss home and family and friends, and I've struggled adjusting, which I know will just take time, but it's also helped me to see that the Lord really knows me and knows what I need. This calling will be SO good for me and I'm so excited to serve. For those who haven't heard, Dean was called as the first counselor in the Young Men's Presidency the first week I was here, which puts him over the Teachers. So far he seems to enjoy it and I know he'll do a great job.

I LOVE these two!

I was so lucky to be able to stay an extra ten days in Utah to make it to Melissa and Brandon's Wedding. I've been rooting for these two for a while now and it was so great to see them seal the deal. Me and Melissa go back to elementary school and we've been through everything together. Brandon couldn't have found a better woman to be his wife. Brandon was in our freshman ward at BYU so we go back several years now too, and Melissa's one lucky girl to snag him. I'm so excited to watch them begin their lives together and start their little family. Together they'll be unstoppable. Thanks for letting me share the day with you two!

Their reception was GORGEOUS and Tanner was infatuated by Brandon! ;)

Hilton Family Photo

Well, after some serious effort to get all sixteen of us to look at the camera, which I don't think ever actually happened, we ended up with some pretty good ones. We did the old, set the timer and run routine, which always adds a little excitement to a photo shoot, but it's also much cheaper than paying a photographer too! We've been in Pennsylvania for three whole weeks now, and as I look through these pictures I sure miss these people!! I love you guys! Here a several of my favorites...

Hilton Reunion

So the Hilton Family Reunion was a while ago now, but I realized with all the craziness of moving across the country we never posted anything about it. We were so glad we were able to make it this year, knowing that it will be more difficult in the future. It was so fun to see everyone and spend time together, especially before taking off for Pennsylvania. We did the usual Hilton activities, which are always fun and always looked forward too. Thursday night we had a BBQ in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

Then lots of cousins and even a few adults put on some very entertaining skits for our viewing pleasure. They even talked Dean into participating! Friday we got up early and headed up to Pineview with Monte's family and the boat. We spent the whole day on the beach and cruisin' in the boat. It was Tanner's first opportunity to go swimming. He actually liked it pretty well considering the water was pretty cold. Connor was nice enough to share his car floaty, sadly Tanner didn't love love it. I tried to ski, but was pretty unsuccessful. Dean got to do some skiing too.

After a long day at the beach we headed to the cabin for the night. We pitched our tent out on the lawn and had our first "campout" as a family with Tanner. He slept really well! We enjoyed sitting around and talking with everyone and playing games and eating some delicious meals. We wrapped things up after lunch on Saturday and headed home. We'd like to thank Eileen and everyone who helped out for making the reunion such a smashing success! We sure love you all!

7 Months Old

Well, I promised a lot of people that I'd keep up on our blog once we moved so they wouldn't miss out on Tanner growing up and so they could keep up on what we're up to. But, I've fallen a bit behind, so while Tanner's napping I'm going to try and play a little catch up. Yesterday was Tanner's 7 month mark. He's growing up so fast. It's hard to believe he's 7 months already. This past week he's started moving around a lot more. He isn't quite crawling but he scoots or army crawls pretty well. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth a lot, but he hasn't quite master the moving forward part. I'm sure it won't be long though! Of course we're excited for him to learn new things, but this will be a big change that I'm not sure I'm ready for. He's always been so wiggly/bouncy/energetic I'm sure once he starts crawling ALL my time will be occupied by chasing him and keeping him out of trouble! He also LOVES to eat. He'll eat pretty much anything we give him, any time of the day. Our biggest problem is deciding when he should stop because he would just eat and eat and eat. Oh and making sure his grandma's don't sneak him things he shouldn't be eating ;)! We sure love him and he constantly keeps us smiling and laughing. Here are a couple pictures of our big boy...