Charles and Heather

My boys

2011-11-05T22:59:00.001-07:00

I had a coupon to get some free pictures at Sears. It wasn't easy to get both boys to smile at the same time. Here is my favorite one. Ummmm, when you get this on a Christmas card pretend you haven't seen it yet!

October

2011-10-31T19:16:00.001-07:00

We have had a busy October. Charles brother, Leonard, got married (i'll post those pics later), we've had hikes, parties, work and I'm studying for a national certification exam. When I pass the exam I will be a certified Diabetes educator! So, these pictures are of a hike Charles took Andy on. Charles is in the young mens presidency, so they are working on merit badges. This 10 mile hike was part of the hiking merit badge. There is no better time to go hiking than the fall. Look at those gorgeous leaves!

So, I have to tell you about that spider bag. I bought it at Target a few weeks ago. Andy LOVES it. He carries it around everywhere. He sleeps with it, eats with it and even tries to sneak it into the bathroom when its potty time ( I had to draw the line there!). We went to a Trunk'or Treat the night before this hike. Andy wanted to take the spider bag and candy on the hike. Charles said Andy held the bag the entire 10 miles!

So, the scouts aren't the fastest hikers. It took them about 8 hours to do the 10 mile hike! Bless their hearts! Andy took a little nap. If you look closely, you can see drool going down his face!
On Sunday we went to Bart's house for a family Halloween party. We had a chili cook off and costume contest. It was a super fun night. While we were waiting for everyone to get there, we took the kids outside to play in the leaves. I love this picture of Addison!

Andy loved it. In the picture below you can see his leg sticking out. It was a pretty deep pile to jump into.

3 cute little Bees! Hannah and Addison are Bart's girls and then our cute little Dallin.
My cute sister-in-law, Holly, made this skunk costume for her son Aaron. It seriously looked store bought, she is pretty much a pro! He won the costume contest by a landslide, you can see why. The kids loved his big tail. They all wanted to lay on it and pull it. Obviously Aaron didn't love that, so his costume came off fairly quickly.

Here is our little spider Andy and our little Bee Dallin.

The beloved spider bag. The other funny thing about this whole situation is that Andy doesn't even want to eat the candy. He carried it around all weekend without eating a single piece!
At this point Andy's costume started falling apart. You can kind of see the spider legs we made. It was a fun month and we are looking forward to a fun/crazy/busy fall!

I don't like it!

2011-09-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

So, Andy really likes the cartoon "Super Why" on one episode it talked about bullies and that you need to stand up to them. The kid on the show told the bully "stop tricking me, I don't like it" I hear that phrase all the time now. There have been times that it has been useful, like when the neighbor girl hit Andy he said, "Don't hit me I don't like it." However, there are time this phrase can be annoying (and a little funny) like today. Andy was being noisy in sacrament meeting, so I was taking him out in the hall. The whole way to the door (of course we sat in the front today!) Andy was loudly saying, "Stop mommy, I don't like it" Kind of funny, kind of embarrassing.

We frequently hear that phrase during time out. Little does he know, we don't want him to like time out, thats the point!! On the flip side, he also tells me when he likes things. However, he hasn't caught on to the correct way of saying it, so he always says "My like it". We were driving home from Heber one night. I got in the back seat to calm Dallin down. Once he was asleep, I reached over and put my arm across Andy's lap. He laid his head on my arm for a minute and then looked up at me and said "Mommy, my like it" it was super cute. We snuggled all the way home. I love my little boys. They are so much fun. Every day I hear Andy say new phrases and I see Dallin growing and learning.

Oops!!

2011-06-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Andy just came out of his bedroom soaked with sweat. We recently bought a 20 degree sleeping bag for him. He LOVES it! He always wants to lay in it. Tonight he asked if he could have it on his bed. I thought he would just kick it off in his sleep (just like his blankets) apparently he didn't kick it off. So he pretty much spent 2 hours in an oven. When he came out of his room he wanted some water and downed a ton in seconds. So, note to self, Andy won't kick his sleeping bag off. Well, at least we know it will be warm when we go camping :)

Its Spring!!!

2011-05-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

We finally had some warm weather!! We decided to take advantage of it while it lasted. We took Dallin for his first hike. It was a bit challenging to get his hat strap around his chubby neck/chin, but we did it.
Charles and Andy rockin' our sweet new kid backpack.

The hike was great and both boys enjoyed themselves. I'm not going to lie, Dallin slept most of the time, but when he was awake he was all smiles.
We also went to a track meet a week ago. Charles' little brother, Jacob, ran in a few events. Our friends gave this backpack to Andy a few days before the track meet. Once Andy discovered he could put all of his trucks in it, he was hooked. Andy wanted to wear it all the time and even took naps with it.

Our chubby little Dallin trying to keep cool. Luckily we didn't stay too long, I think Dallin would have spontaneously combusted any second.

WE LOVE YOU SPRING!! PLEASE STAY!!

Our new arrival

2011-02-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sweet baby Dallin came to join our family last week. He was 7 Lb 3 oz and 20 inches long.

Andy was really excited to meet Dallin. When he first came into the hospital room he was really worried that I was hurt. Once we reassured him that I was fine he headed over to Dallin and gave him a big, slobbery kiss on the head. Andy wanted to sit with whoever was holding Dallin. At one point he was sitting with me and someone wanted to take Dallin, Andy would not have it. He cried until Dallin was back in his arms.

Michelle and Ben came down for the weekend to take care of Andy for us. Andy loved being with them for the weekend. Thanks to their generosity, Charles was able to spend a lot of time at the hospital with Dallin and me. Thanks again Ben and Michelle!!!

Our new family. (Fortunately, those chubby cheeks of mine aren't in our family anymore!)
We are so excited to have this sweet new baby in our home. It will take some adjusting for all of us, but I'm excited for what the future will hold.

January

2011-01-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

I'm willing to admit I am a blog slacker. So, you are getting the whole month in one post. So, this is the typical Andy. He holds as many cars as possible all the time! Its amazing what he can do. He can have two to three cars in each hand and drink out of a cup, climb up on things etc. Sometimes the amount of cars he tries to hold is just ridiculous. One day Charles let Andy play the game boy. Andy loved it. He obviously couldn't really play, but the music and moving characters were fun for him.

Apparently something crazy awesome was happening, look at those lips!!
Andy loves to do whatever daddy is doing. This time he is helping out with snow removal.
Charles has been dying to buy a new tent for our growing family. We finally agreed on one. Charles was so excited he set it up in our living room (multiple times!!). Andy thought it was super cool. It makes me excited for this summer.

Our friends gave this train set to us. Andy can't get enough of it. Now instead of carrying a ton of cars, he carries as many trains as he can. It has actually helped him learn his colors. He knows the color of each train. Our little boy is getting so big. It is so fun to see the new things he does every day.

So, if you think I have changed my ways and will start blogging more, I'm sorry to say that may not be the case. I will be delivering our second baby in 5 days!!! I like to fool myself and think I'll have time to blog, but we'll see. Wish me luck!

Halloween!!

2010-10-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

This year Andy Was a little dinosaur. He loved his costume! Whenever we put it on him it took some serious coaxing to get it off again. He thought the hat was awesome.

Charles loves to carve pumpkins and since I'm such a nice wife (hee heee) I carved some with him. You can defiantly tell which ones are mine. I went for the easy circles and random shapes. Charles on the other hand let his creative juices flow and carved some awesome pumpkins. Can you believe he made that smile say Halloween? I think it was an awesome idea.

This is Andy's attempt at making a Frankenstein. Its probably a craft only a mother could love, but I thought I'd post it anyway!On Saturday we took a fun hike. The leaves were beautiful, the air was fresh and we got some good exercise. Andy loves being outside and had tons of fun seeing all of the hikers with their dogs. (Tons of people were out on the trails taking advantage of the awesome weather).

So, being 6 months pregnant I don't hike as fast as I used to. Charles and Andy went ahead of me. This is what I saw as I came up the trail. What cute boys! Andy could have thrown rocks in that stream all day if we let him. They had quite the system going. Charles would find the rocks and put them in a pile and Andy would throw them.

We went to a Halloween party at our friend's house. He wanted to show us how to blow fire using corn starch. Andy LOVED it. In this video you can hear him laughing really hard and then saying "more, more" This is another thing Andy could have done for hours if we would let him. When we got home we showed him the video and he laughed just as hard. It is so fun to have a little boy! He makes life so exciting. We are excited for boy #2 and hope he and Andy don't cause too much mayhem for us!

Family Pictures

2010-10-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we had our family pictures done. I had no idea how hard it would be. We thought Andy would be good in the early evening- we were wrong. So, after trying to get him to hold still, we decided to try a morning photo shoot. Things were a little better then, but when a little boy sees lots of grass to run on and water to splash in there isn't much you can do to get him to hold still. Luckily we had a really good photographer, so we still came out with some good pictures. If any of you are looking for a photographer, check out rachelcolemanphotography.com.

This one is my favorite. Andy was pretty much running into the camera so Rachel had to move quickly to get a good shot.

This is Andy about every few minutes. He was dying to throw any rock, stick or wood chip in sight. Most of these pictures are the rare moments in between him throwing something.

The pumpkin

2010-10-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today at daycare each child got to pick a pumpkin to take home. Andy, of course, wanted to pick all of them. We finally decided on one and got in the car. Andy insisted on holding it the whole way home (about 20 minutes) He fell asleep in his car seat with one hand holding the pumpkin. When we got home and I put him down for a nap he wanted his pumpkin to come too. At dinner time he insisted on having his pumpkin on his high chair tray. He would periodically stop eating to pat his pumpkin and say his version of "pumpkin". Wouldn't you know it, when we watched a show later that evening he held his pumpkin. I had no idea Andy would form such an attachment! I guess we'll see how long that lasts!

Its a BOY!!

2010-09-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

So, I know a lot of you are under the impression I am having a girl. Our last ultrasound proved otherwise. There is no question, its defiantly a boy! So now we can avoid bankruptcy (there is too much cute girl stuff to buy) and Andy will have a little buddy. I am now 18 weeks- almost half way! I'm still nervous about having #2, when will I nap? But I guess we'll figure that out!

Cinco De Mayo

2010-05-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

AKA Mustache De Mayo is probably Charles favorite time of year. It means he can grow crazy, ugly facial hair and go in public. This year Charles went for the gold. As you can see he had a fine lip blanket with some added flare! It was hard to talk to him without laughing. However, it did pay off, Charles won "Best in show" at his work party. You have to promise me that you will still be our friends after looking at these pictures! I'm not sure if he is a lumberjack, a molester or Joe Dirt. Look how nasty that neck beard is!!
This is also the only time of the year that Charles busts out his sweet belt buckle from El Paso Texas. You know they say everything is bigger in Texas, they weren't lying!

New Income

2010-04-03T18:52:00.001-07:00

So, I just became a Mary Kay consultant. I am super excited for the opportunity to meet new people, get sweet deals on products and make some extra money. I've always been a Clinique girl, so I was a little nervous to switch to a new product. I was pleasantly surprised when I switched. I think Mary Kay has products that are comparable and some are even better than Clinique plus the price tag is more friendly.So, I don't want to be the crazy Mary Kay lady that stalks all of her friends. But, if you want a free facial or to try any of the products for free, give me a call. Also, if you are interested in getting free products- I've got some tricks up my sleeve! You can also shop on my website for products. www.marykay.com/heatherfrancis.

The dilemma

2010-03-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

So, recently I have been starting to want a dog. Andy loves seeing and playing with dogs. Tonight we were at Scott & Megan's house. Andy loved playing with their dog Bella. He just sat under the table with her and pet her head. Bella gave him tons of kisses, but Andy seemed to love it. We looked under the table at one point and Andy was trying to put a dog toy in Bella's mouth. I was surprised how fearless Andy was. He pretty much had his hand in Bella's mouth. It was so fun to watch them play together.

Now, my dilemma is.... I don't want to be stuck with finding a babysitter for a dog anytime we want to leave town. It seems like we are gone a ton during the summer, so this would be a pain. I also don't want to deal with poo and pee on our lawn. I know you can train them to go in a certain area, but still, I don't want to deal with that stuff. Another problem is we would have to fence off our backyard. Fortunately the dog I want (a Labradoodle or a goldendoodle) doesn't shed, so that gives the pro side of getting a dog one point. What should I do? I know everything I just said would point to not getting a dog, but I also think it would be fun to have a good family dog to take camping, on river trips, running etc. Plus, how could I pass up having a cute dog like these?

Books

2010-03-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

On my way home from work yesterday I realized why I don't read anymore. I don't pick fun, captivating books. Heres a little back ground on why. I think I have a phobia of wasting time. It drives Charles crazy. I can't sit and talk to him, I have to be folding laundry, doing dishes or some other task while we talk. I don't watch TV or do anything relaxing during the day. I am always thinking of things that need to be done. So, when I read I want that time to be productive too. So, I choose books that will improve an area of my life or give me some applicable knowledge for my career, church etc. For instance, the last book I read was Money Mastery. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good book and gave me ideas on how to manage our money better. But, it wasn't one of those books I was just dying to read if I had a spare second. I kind of read it out of duty. Charles is always telling me to take time to relax, so I think I want to get back into reading. Do any of you have some suggestions? I'm not a fantasy fan and I don't want anything depressing or scary. Hold off on the crazy long books too, sorry ladies, no Gone With the Wind for me!

Oh no, its already begun!

2010-02-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

We had been home from the store for about 2 minutes, I walked into the livingroom and this is what I found. Andy loves to just hold a controller and watch Charles play games. I thought I would have a little more time to persuade Andy to think video games weren't that cool, but it looks like he is hooked.

Death of a family member

2010-01-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Please join us as we mourn the loss of a very special family member. Suba was 24 years old when she kicked the bucket. She has been a member of the Francis family since 2003, Zeke bought her for $400. She had 312,000 miles on her odometer. Only a select few people were tricky enough to open her doors. In the time that we have known her, her defrost hasn't worked, therefore in the winter, Charles had to bend cardboard under the heater vents to deflect the warm air toward the windshield. Suba has filled us with laughter throughout our marriage. One summer she decided to randomly turn the windshield wipers on periodically. There was no pattern to help us figure out when it would happen next. Usually it would be at an awkward time like at a stop light, so everyone around us would stare trying to figure out why the wipers were going. She got sick of that joke and just stopped doing it one day. She has been a faithful friend on some adventures. Her last big adventure was to take us to the San Juan River for a rafting trip. She looked a little ridiculous with the frame on top, but we loved her for making it back home. We will miss our old friend and family member.

Moab Turkey Trot

2009-11-24T13:12:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we headed to Moab to see the musical Maralee was putting on and to participate in the Annual Turkey Trot. The musical was great. It was so funny and well done. Sarah had a part, in which she did a great job. As always, Maralee directed a great performance.

The 5k "trot" was Saturday morning. Maralee, Geneava and I walked with Andy in the stroller. I had a great time hearing all of the mushy details of Geneava's love life. The 3 of us weren't there to win any prizes, so we just had a good time chatting and walking. Charles, Sarah and Jacob ran. This run is so much fun because it is just locals. There was about 150 people. (compared with 3000 for the half marathon). Some people come dressed up, as you can see Pooh bear was ready to run, beard and all. There were also some women wearing tutu's and one lady had an awesome turkey hat. I love it because it is all just for fun, super laid back.

What do you know...... I won a prize! I got a turkey for the mom and tot stroller division. Charles took first in his age group so he got a candy bar. Jacob also took first in his age group, he got a turkey. ( I don't understand why Charles only got a candy bar, but thats ok, we couldn't take 2 turkeys home anyway). Now that you are thinking I am awesome, I have to let you in on a secret....... I was the only one there with a stroller, so by default I won the Turkey. But hey, winning is winning right???

Andy loves his aunt Geneava.

Nap Time

2009-11-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

So, I walked in to check on Andy today and found him like this. I can't imagine being flexible enough to sit like that, let alone comfortable enough to fall asleep! Don't worry, I'm not a mean mom, after some pictures I laid him back down.

A few weeks ago we took Andy on a fall hike. It was surprisingly cold, so we bundled him up in his winter bunting and cute hat. Andy loved it! Charles handed some big yellow leaves to him to play with while we hiked-he loved it. This picture is at the end of the hike, you can tell Andy is ready for nap time.

Let the training begin! Andy isn't walking, but that doesn't stop his daddy from holding his hands and chasing the soccer ball around the living room. Andy thinks its pretty fun. He gets a big smile on his face every time he kicks the ball.

ARRRRR, Shiver me timbers

2009-11-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

This year Charles and I dressed up as pirates and we all know every good pirate has a parrot! Charles ended up being the creative genius behind our costumes. He even sewed Andy's costume, which consisted of a couple boa's on some red pajamas, a lightning McQueen hat and mesh from a trucker hat. Charles never ceases to amaze me with his creative talents. What a stud!

Here is what Andy looked like from the back. I think his little tail is so cute! He actually did very well being dressed up. I thought he would try to pull the feathers off or eat them, but he didn't seem to mind them.

Our ward had a stomp on Friday night. Charles made the poster for it. Yet again, he busted out some sweet skills. He came up with the design and then used a lazer to cut it out of cardboard. The pumpkin eyes, nose and mouth are cut out along with the information on the poster. It was hard to get a good picture of it, but belive me, it looked really cool.

I am proud to say, I helped Charles with brainstorming for this poster and the way stomp is written was my idea! Of course it came after I threw out about a thousand ridiculous ones, but hey, it turned out awesome.

Here are a bunch of our friends who were at the dance. I was amazed with their creativity. It was such a fun night. Mugatu and katinka won the costume contest.
If you cant tell, this girl is a germ and her husband is wearing scrubs and has a huge syringe.

Storm and wolverine

Pregnant girl with some huge utters.

Kiss even came to the stomp

These guys are our good buddies. Scott was a helicopter with lights and all and Megan was the color black.

Whats a party without smurfs?

These guys were so funny. They played their part the whole night. They would even dance like an old couple. It was so funny to watch them get down on the dance floor with their walkers and old people dance moves.

Cousins!

2009-10-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago we got to hang out with my brother, his wife and their cute kids. Jon had meetings in Salt Lake, so Camie and the kids hung out with us for a few days. One night Charles and I watched all of the kids so that Jon and Camie could have a night on the town. Of course, Charles created all sorts of fun for everyone. They had car races on these sweet "ramps", they played soccer and then we ended the evening with a movie and popcorn. We all had a pretty good time. Andy loved having his cousins around. He couldn't take his eyes off of them. He was always so interested to see what they were doing.

I love this picture. Andy is just one of the big kids watching Cadin play a little Mario Kart.
Ryann and Morgann loved to "help" me with Andy. They were very attentive to his needs and were so good at sharing with him. Morgann is still learning how to react to babies, so Andy came out of the weekend with a few battle wounds, but overall she was a sweetheart to him. What I fun time!

We love Leonard

2009-10-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Charles brother Leonard just left for two years to serve an LDS mission in Argentina. We will miss having his fun personality at family gatherings. He is quite the kid magnet, so I'm not sure what all of the little kids are going to do with him gone! Andy sure loves Leonard. These two cute boys share the same vibrant blue eyes (defiantly babe magnets!) We love you Leonard!

Oregon

2009-10-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

In the first part of September, Charles, Andy and I drove up to Oregon for Paul & Bev Louthan's wedding. I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of driving, but we had a good time anyway. I think between Thursday morning and Sunday night we drove about 32 hours total! Andy did surprisingly well. He was good in the car, only crying when he was hungry. Putting him back in the car was the problem. As soon as we sat him in his car seat he would start to cry because he knew he would be in it for a long time AGAIN. After a minute or two, he would calm down and just hang out until we stopped again. This is him at a rest stop about 10 hours into our trip, he is such a happy little boy. (I promise, he usually doesn't look this homeless. We had just changed his diaper and hadn't put his pants back on).

Paul and Bev were married in the Portland temple. It was so beautiful. It was hard to get a picture of the whole temple because there are so many trees around it. The trees made it feel really cozy and peaceful.

The happy couple. Bev looked gorgeous. They are such a fun couple, I'm so excited for them!

We stayed in a town called Seaside, right on the coast. After the wedding we decided to take a different route there via the coastal highway. You can't drive through Tillamook and not stop at the cheese factory, so we stopped to check it out. There wasn't much going on inside the factory, but they had some really good ice cream and we bought some awesome cheeses that they don't sell in stores. It was a fun little detour.

The drive up the coast was so beautiful. It was a cold, misty day but it made some really great pictures.

Poor little Andy. We got to see all of this beautiful scenery. I took a picture of what he saw for 32 hours of driving. What a little trooper!

Here is a picture I took off the balcony of our room. The mornings were always misty and cold, but it was kind of fun and different. We didn't have much time to enjoy a nice beach walk, next time we will try to take a longer trip.

kids are funny

2009-09-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick funny story. So Charles and his friend Cally were texting back and forth to decide what we are doing tonight. Charles text back and then got a phone call from Cally. The call was lost, so Charles called him back. Regan, Cally's 4 year old daughter, answered. Charles asked if Cally had called, Regan said she was calling Charles. She said " I got your message but I can't read." I thought it was so funny. For all of you who know Regan, it is so her.

Cirque de la Symphonie

2009-09-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Last night Charles and I went to an AMAZING performance at Abravanel Hall. The Utah Symphony played while Russian Cirque performers amazed us with their talents. There was a contortionist who did things I thought you body could never do. She moved so smoothly and gracefully in and out of amazing body positions while perched on two stools (they looked similar to bar stools). Another woman did amazing tricks on an aerial hoop. This wasn't just hanging by her knees. She hung by one foot and other crazy holds. There was also a woman who was in the air with a verticle rope. At one point she was completely perpendicular to the rope and some one was swinging her really fast, it was amazing! A guy also did aeiral artistry on silk fabrics. I'm sure you guys have seen this on TV or adds. It was crazy how strong and graceful he was. Its hard to explain how amazing they were. Each performance was so interesting I didn't want to blink because I was afraid I would miss somthing. The last performance was the best, it was called strong men. It was mind boggling to watch these two guys. One of the things they did was; one guy sat on the floor, the other guy got on to a one handed hand stand on the sitting guys head. They balanced there for a minute and then the guy that was sitting slowly stood up! Can you imagine the strength and balance both of those men needed to do that? AMAZING!

The pictures above are not from the performance, but they are the same type of thing we saw. What an awesome date, thanks Charles!

Lava Hot springs

2009-07-15T19:48:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to Lava hot springs Idaho for our ward campout. We had tons of fun. On Friday we hung out and had a fireside/lip sync followed by glow in the dark ultimate frisbee. On Saturday morning we packed up and headed to the pool. This was Andy's first campout, and he did great. He doesn't sleep with us in our bed at home, so sleeping with us in the tent was a fun treat. Charles laid on one side of Andy and I laid on the other. Andy kept looking over at Charles and then at me and back to charles. He kept this up for about 5 minutes. I think he was wondering what we were doing laying with him and kept checking to see if we were still there. Andy is in the stage where everything must go in his mouth. I was unpacking in the tent and looked over to find him chewing on his bag. Once I moved that he moved on to the sleeping bags.

Andy loved my friend Megan during this trip. He loved sitting on her lap during the fireside. At the pool Megan and Scott played with Andy while we waited in line for one of the slides. He had so much fun with them.

When Andy first got in the pool he cried a little, but once he got used to it he had fun. He loved to dip his hand in the water and then suck on it. I was kind of grossed out- probably not very sanitary-but he hasn't died yet, so I guess it was ok.

These two waterslides went over the road. We got going pretty fast on one of them, it was tons of fun!
The pool had 3 diving platforms. The top one was 32 feet high. I am a chicken and didn't jump, but Charles did. It seemed pretty dangerous though. While we were there one guy dislocated his shoulder and another guy was knocked unconscious. We had our towels set up under a tree near the diving boards. It was the perfect spot. I could watch everyone do cool tricks and enjoy some shade with Andy. It was a great trip!

Catching up

2009-07-09T10:18:00.001-07:00

I want to warn you now, this is going to be a very long post. I have slacked off for the last two months, so here you go! Below is the mountian man who came home from the Grand Canyon. I always thought he could only grow an invisibeard, but, low and behold, he can grow a real beard!

A fun evening hike near our house. Andy has gotten pretty good at sleeping in the backpack. (He has been on quite a few hikes this summer).

Andy's new favorite thing is to sit in the rocker and play with toys. We can lock the rocker so it is tilted back, and that is just enough to keep him upright to play. He is still working on sitting alone, so this is perfect for now.

Daddy and Andy enjoying the hammock.

Check out those cheeks!

We went to my parent's house for the 4th of July. The first night there we had a Hawaiian themed dinner. Here is cute little Morgann.
My sister Liz, also very cute!

While in Blanding, we hiked butler wash. Here is a lizard Charles found.

Andy is really starting to love this backpack. We took him out to feed him and he got fussy. We put him back in the backpack and he was perfectly content.

Andy and Daddy at the parade. It was pretty hot, and there was very little shade, so Charles and Andy hung out in the small patch of shade the stop sign created.

Charles downloaded this program called baby smash. It makes it so Andy can hit the keyboard and not mess anything up. He LOVES it! When he hits the keys, letters, numbers and shapes come up accompanied by differnet giggles and laughs. It keeps his attention for 5-10 minutes, which is pretty good for a 5 month old.

Yes, another hike. This time we hiked up Waterfall canyon with our friends Cally and Ashley.

The perfect handle when on daddy's shoulders.

We went to the Drum Corp performance with some of our friends. Andy was a happy little boy the whole time. For those of you who don't know what a drum corp is, its kind of like a marching band with the color gaurd dancers, except there are only brass instruments (no flutes, clarinets etc) and there is an awesome drum line. One of our friends used to play on the drum line of one of the drum corp teams, so it was fun to go with him and get the inside scoop on all of the groups performing.
The music is very loud, so we brought these safety earmuffs for Andy. When we put them on him I couldn't stop laughing. He looked so cute/ridiculous! The loud sounds didn't seem to bother him, I think the earmuffs were for me ( I didn't want to be the reason he lost his hearing) Andy seemed to be fine wearing them. He never tried to take them off. He just sat quietly on Charles lap and watched the show. What a cutie!

The Blue Devil's performance. It was awesome, my favorite by far.

Gallup

2009-05-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

So, Charles is rafting the Grand Canyon for 17 days-the lucky dog! I contemplated going, but in the end decided it would be too hard to leave Andy that long. So Charles took my raft and headed for the Grand. I didn't want to sit at home alone, so I decided to visit family. This week I have been in Gallup New Mexico at Jon and Camie's house. I have had such a fun time, their kids are way too cute! This was the perfect week to visit. There has been a lot going on. Corbin had a little award ceremony at school. Cadin graduated from preschool and there was a ward talent show. Morgann and Ryann at Cadin's graduation.

Cute little Cadin at his graduation.

Corbin got an award for reading 103 books this year. (He is in the 1st grade).

The story of these two cuties lives. It seemed like we were always going somewhere, so these two got pretty good at being happy in their car seats.

Morgann hanging out while her brothers rode motorcycles.

Cute Cadin on his 110 (he is 5 years old- what a stud!)

Corbin tearin' up the track. He is such a good rider. There have been multiple times he has gone riding with adults and kicked their trash. Today he was racing some of his dad's friends, it took them one lap to even catch him and another 6 laps to lap him once. It must have been hard for those guys to get their world rocked by a 7 year old!

One night Cadin decided he wanted to be the "pillow king" so he got all of the pillows in the living room, including my boppy, and piled them on himself. Cadin is seriously a funny kid!

First hair cut

2009-05-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

The mullet must go! I decided it was unfair for such a cute boy to have such ugly hair, so I asked my sister-in-law Camie to cut it. Andy was such a good boy during the hair cut. He pretty much sat there while Camie cut it. Of course, he is still learning how to control his head, so there were a few spastic head bobs, but overall he did very well.

Mustache De Mayo

2009-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Today we attended the 2nd annual Mustache De Mayo party. This is the one time of the year that having a nasty mustache is cool. You are not invited unless you have a mustache, so Andy and I also sported our own "lip blanket." This year, Charles went for the lumberjack look. Not so cute, but he got plenty of laughs. Andy's stache was way cooler before he rubbed it, and slobbered on it. We had a great time and can't wait for next years event.

The guys at charles office also had their own Mustache De Mayo on Friday. These guys got down right ridiculous! You have to go to www.rkbindustrial.com/moustachedemayo to check out their photos!

Saturday hike

2009-05-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Charles and I had a little cabin fever, so we decided to take Andy for a hike. It was cold and rainy outside, so we bundled him up in his winter bunting. This was our first time to put him in it. When I first saw him I couldn't quit laughing. I thought he looked so funny and cute. It reminded me of the little brother on the christmas story who couldn't put his arms down after his mom bundled him up. The bunting was awesome though, Andy was nice and warm the whole hike. I know, I've turned into a crazy mom that thinks every picture I take is cute and I must post. Sorry you must endure a million pictures with each post!

We also tried out our baby backpack for the first time. It worked really well. Andy seemed pretty comfortable, as you can see he slept most of the hike.

Andy woke up after the hike to give us a few smiles.

Once again, I caught Andy staring at his dad.

Andy's Blessing

2009-04-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Charles blessed Andy this past weekend in Moab. It was so great to have most of our family there. I didn't realize how many people were in our family until I looked at this picture. We are so blessed to have such great family!

Andy had the cuttest little tux complete with bowtie and cummerbund. We had to take a picture of the back to show the tails on the jacket.

My nephews Corbin and Caiden. I thought they looked so cute in their ties.

My nieces Ryann and Morgann. Also very cute in their matching dresses.

Dan & Tiffany's Wedding

2009-04-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

This last weekend by brother Dan married Tiffany. It was great to get together with the whole family for the day. Andy did very well, as you can see in the picture, he had no trouble falling asleep during the ceremony.

My cute niece Ryann.

Andy with all of his cousins on my side. This picture was nearly impossible to take. There were way too many little kids to bribe into sitting still.

After the wedding we headed to the discovery park in American Fork. The kids were happy to put play cloths on and get rid of some energy. Andy just hung out in his cute little hat. The uncles had just as much fun as the kids at the park.

Andy and Daddy

2009-04-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Andy loves his daddy. When Charles gets home from work he usually carries Andy around the house while he helps me. Most of the time Andy is looking up at Charles. You would think he would want to watch what Charles is doing, but no, he just stares at his daddy. Andy is so enthralled with Charles that I can't feed him if Charles is sitting next to me because Andy will stop eating and just look at Charles. I guess I'm just chopped liver! Just kidding, Andy and I spend lots of quality time together during the day.

A few weeks ago Andy learned how to roll over. The only problem is that he will only roll when Charles is home. I have tried multiple times throughout the day to get him to roll over and he will just lay on his tummy and cry. Last night Charls put him on his tummy and he rolled over in probably 10 seconds. Whats the deal? I love that Andy adores his daddy so much, its fun to watch them play together.

I know those gloves look ridiculous. Andy's hands were cold and those gloves are suppose to be newborn size. I guess they will fit next year.

Moab Trip

2009-04-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to Moab for Sam and Holly's reception. It was Andy's first long trip and he did very well. Saturday was really busy. Charles and some of his siblings ran in the Moab half marathon. After the race everybody rested and then we were off the the reception. My parents came to help and hang out with us. It was so good to see them. Andy was the main attraction at the reception. I can't tell you how many people held him, I don't think I touched him all night. My parents (Nana and Papa)

Andy's great grandma loved having him in town. She held him most of the weekend. I think she would have stayed up all night to hold him if we would let her. She is such a cute grandma!
Andy and I waiting for Charles to cross the finish line. I know it looks like his head is totally hanging down, but its just the hat. I am a slacker and didn't get any pictures of Charles finishing the race, so go to Bart and Becca's blog to see them.

Sam & Holly's wedding

2009-03-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Sam and Holly were married in Salt Lake this weekend. We had a great day with the family. I don't think I held Andy all day, there were too many excited relatives around! Sam and Holly were so happy all day, they couldn't stop smiling and kissing- so cute! Speaking of cute...... did you see Andy's shirt and tie? He looked like such a big boy in that outfit.

2009-03-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures of Andy, he was about 3 weeks old when the pictures were taken.

First Bath in Tub

2009-02-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Now that his umbilical cord is off we were able to give his first bath in a tub. I had heard that the first couple baths were hard because the baby crys, but Andy actually loved it. He just hung out enjoying the warm water.

Two weeks old!

2009-02-25T17:50:00.000-08:00

Andy had his two week check up today. He has gained amost a pound and grown a half inch. The doctor was really impressed with how active Andy is. There were multiple times the doctor commented on how well Andy was doing. Those comments make the hour and a half feeding sessions a little more worth it. This picture was taken on Saturday. I had to get out of the house, so Charles and Andy spent the day together. Andy loved the cuddle time and Charles loved the gaming time. Andy, like every other newborn, sleeps a ton. We have a bunch of pictures of him sleeping, so here are a few.

Our little glow bug

2009-02-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

When we left the hospital Andy had a little jaundice. The doctor wanted him to wear this bili-blanket over the weekend to make sure the bilirubin didn't get any higher. It was kind of a pain, but it worked well, Andy no longer has jaundice.

New Arrival

2009-02-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

Andrew Zeke Francis was born February 12, 2009 at 7:58 pm. He was 6 lb 14 oz and 20.5 inches. Charles and I were so happy to finally meet him. These pictures were taken in the newborn nursery-where Charles was able to help give Andy his first bath. Charles is such a cute daddy, he is so proud of his little boy. I know they will have so much fun together as Andy grows up. My mom came to stay with us after getting out of the hopsital. It is amazing how much work a newborn can be. There are times that Charles, my mom and I are all working to get Andy taken care of. So, hopefully I can gain some serious skills soon so that next week, when I'm alone, I can keep the boy alive. It is so amazing how much you can love one little boy and I know that love will only grow as we get to know him more. I know our lives will be a lot different now, but I am so excited for the years to come.

This is the day we left the hospital. All of Andy's cloths drown him because he is so little. I don't expect this to last for long since Charles and I were both chubby babies.

36 weeks and counting!

2009-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I had my 36 week OB appointment today. I know this picture requires some imagination, but baby boy was not very cooperative today. As you can see he has pretty chubby cheeks, as we expected. The things by his lips are his hands. His hands are squishing his face, I don't think he will look so weird when he comes out (I hope!).He is very active and growing right on track. He is head down and deciding when he wants to come. I am dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced. I am still working 3 days a week and I feel great!

Christmas in Moab

2008-12-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas in Moab this year. Everybody in the family was able to come. We had about 15 people there! It was crazy but tons of fun. You can see from the stockings that this isn't a small family. It was fun to spend the week with everybody.

The family hung a little stocking for baby boy. Bart and Rebecca are also expecting (in May) so they had a little stocking too. Soon we won't be able to fit everybody's stockings on the same beam! It is so fun to watch the family grow! Another additon to the family will happen in March when Sam and Holly get married, we are so excited!

It is amazing how fun a box can be! Our two nieces, Addison and Mckenna played in this box for at least an hour. Charles was the "lucky one" who got to pull them around the house (a good way to burn off Christmas candy though!)

Oh baby, look at that tummy! Only 8 weeks to go! Its funny how a big tummy is like a magnent to all hands around you. I can't tell you how many people rubbed my tummy during the Christmas break.

This is a common scene around the Francis household during Christmas. Everybody gets some sort of video game for Christmas. As you can see the TV in the back ground has a game going, Charles and Leonard are trying their new games and the TV in Maralee's room is also being used for gaming purposes. To keep myself sane, I brought a bunch of crafts to do and I also started a good book.
The whole family headed to the La Sals to sled. It was quite the production getting everybody bundled up, but it was well worth it. We couldn't go very high due to one of the cars not having 4-wheel drive, but we still had tons of fun.

Sam and Charles testing their luck on the first hill we found. As you can see, we didn't have a ton of snow to work with, but the bushes poking out just made extra jumps for people to crash on.

Charles and Sarah trying to dodge all of the bushes. Two people in the sled proved to not work very well. I tried going down with Charles a few times. We never made it to the bottom and I just got tons of snow down my pants. Oh well, it was worth a try.

Leonard and cute little McKenna. She is such a sweetheart! She braved the cold pretty well, but eventually got fussy. She and Addison were little troopers!

Addison and McKenna. McKenna was still trying to figure out if she likes being pulled in a sled. I think the final decision was that she would rather be held.

Leonard got his Eagle Scout while we were there. We had a little ceremony and then a big party with a bunch of poeple from Moab. It was tons of fun to see everybody.

Leave it to Jacob to wear a funny outfit. He definantly got the reaction he was looking for.

All of the Francis boys with Eagle Scouts.

Charles' uncle is the head ranger at Dead Horse Point. We went there on Saturday to visit and enjoy the view. It was pretty cold, so we didn't linger too long, but we did get some nice pictures.

McKenna was so funny the last few days of our trip. For some reason, she decided that she loved me more than anybody else. She refused to go to anybody else, even her parents. Chris and Becca wanted some family pictures, so they took her from me, you would have thought that she was being held by strangers by the way she was crying. She kept reaching for me and saying momma. She is so cute I didn't mind, but I felt bad that she wouldn't go to her parents. I don't know what triggered it, but it was fun while it lasted.

Utah Symphony

2008-12-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

Last night Charles and I went to the Utah Symphony Christmas Spiritual with Sam and Holly.

The music was so beautiful and their guest singer was amazing! The concert was a great way to get into the holiday spirit. During the concert I realized that in 8 weeks our lives will never be the same. To do anything we will have to get a baby sitter or pack a massive baby bag. We are excited for our little guy, but things will be way different!

Temple Square

2008-12-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun night! Our ward chartered a bus from Weber State to take us down to Temple Square. When we got there, we all went to the Joseph Smith movie and then walked around to look at the lights. It was so beautiful! It was snowing so everything had a nice soft glow.

Graduation

2008-12-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

This is Heather's graduation announcement. She was nice enough to let me design it.

front

back

Friday, December 12, Heather graduated with her Bachelors of Nursing. She was able to finish the program in 3 semesters. I think we are both glad she is done. I found out once again that my wife is an overachiever. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors and she had at least 4 cords from different honor societies. She plans on going back to school to get her masters, but not for a while. In the mean time, she will continue to work as an RN in Salt Lake.

Ben and Michelle came along. It was good to have their company because the commencement speaker was one of the most boring.

30 weeks

2008-12-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

I had my 30 week OB visit today. Baby boy is now head down and very active. He is approximately 4 lbs and in the 70th percentile. If he keeps growing at this rate he might come out walking. This is the best picture we could get, he loves to cover his face with his hands. I feel great and excited I only have 10 weeks left. This week I have been getting clothes and things organized and trying to talk Charles into buying more baby gear.

Thanksgiving Hike

2008-12-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

This year we hiked in Natural Bridges National Monument. The whole crew came on the hike. We had 6 nieces and nephews to chase around, it was tons of fun. When we made it to Kachina bridge we had lunch and the kids played on a muddy hill (the parents loved that!) The hike back out was interesting. It was all up hill, we had some tired kids, but I was impressed with how well they did. It was perfect to have kids on the hike because with this big pregnant tummy, I hike about the same speed as them.

Ryann, Charles, Preston and Parker

Cute, 5 month old Morgann

Looking over Comb ridge

24 week checkup

2008-10-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some images we got from our 24 week ultrasound. Baby Boy is 1 lb 4 oz. He is breech presentation, so he has 16 weeks to turn around or else I will be mad at him. Everything looks normal and he is in the 50th percentile - right on track. It was hard to get a good picture of him because he was covering his face with his hands. I know that these pictures are a little alienish but they are still pretty fun.

Early Halloween Party

2008-10-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night Heather and I were able to test out our Halloween costumes at a soup party. As you can see below Heather went dressed up as a bumble bee(aided by her pregnant tummy) and I showed off my best colors as a purple flower. We met up at Leavitt's Mortuary, ate food and played games with at least 10 other couples. A few of the couples that hosted the party live/work there so I(Heather wouldn't go near the place) was able to go on a spooky tour of the mausoleum. Later on I helped scare a group that went on the same tour and because of my dark green spandex I was able to exercise stealth-like abilities.. It is so fun to scare people.