Independence Day 2013

I LOVE the Fourth of July!  I'm not sure why but it is definitely one of my favorite holidays and my favorite way to celebrate it is in Kaysville doing all their wonderful festivities!
Here's a few pictures of our fun day!

Mimi brought bubbles for Baylie and she loved them!

"The Blowfish"

Gotta have some taffy with Pops!

And a popsicle with Mimi!

Who sleeps through a parade??

She learned how to spit and loves to show it off...

Sleepin through fireworks too!

We went to the Oakley rodeo with my Dad's fam the day after!  SO fun!

Lava Hot Springs!

 Well after almost three years of marriage we finally were able to go on a Griffin Family Vacation!!  We went to Lava Hot Springs back in June and it was so great! Nate's brother Brandon finished dental school up in Canadia and he wanted to go camping with everyone before he started a residency at the U so off we went!  It was SUCH a blast!  We sat around a fire and chatted and laughed, there's just nothing like seeing Nate with all his brothers... they are ridiculous to say the least.  You would think they were all 12 instead of grown adults with children of their own.  But I love to see Nate having so much fun, and if we're lucky he laughs so hard he may drool :)

We went to the hot springs one day and rode down the river. It was really cold so I didn't think I would really want to do it more than once but it was so much fun that we all ignored the cold and just kept going!  I was having too much fun to take pictures.. oops!

The last day we went to the pool with all the water slides and diving boards!  We had a blast!

Wyatt is so chill!  So fun!

Baylie loved chillin in the pool with Grandma!

This girl LOVES the water!

 It was a really fun few days and I'm so glad everyone was able to go! Thanks Brandon for planning such a fun trip!!

Memorial Day 2013

We had a really fun weekend for Memorial Day!  We went camping at East Canyon for Friday-Saturday with my family which was great!  It was Baylie's first time camping and she did pretty good!  We had a "dutch oven contest" that Nate and I totally dominated!  We made burritos for dinner, I was hesitant to try something new but we loved them!  My parents were in charge of dessert.. which didn't work out so well!  It had great potential but something went horribly wrong.. Brandon and Lindsay were in charge of breakfast, which was really good but the official judge (Dad) had to admit we won!  Woot!  Maybe next year folks! :)
We had fun roasting marshmallows and just sitting around the fire chatting!

Baylie was so happy to be outside!

Just chillin while Mom and Dad set up a tent!

Nate eating "Celestial Fruit"..his favorite!

This is what I woke up to.. it was quite chilly!

Mom had to do something creative with a T-Shirt for work to win a contest, I think wakeboarding counts, right?  She totally won!

It was also Baylie's first time on Pop's boat!  I was so nervous that she would hate her life jacket and cry the whole time.. but the opposite was true!  She LOVED it!  And then fell asleep... typical!
The water was still really cold so everyone wore the dry suit with their sweats underneath!  Mom's work was doing a contest for a trip to a spa, the goal was to do the most creative thing with your T-Shirt!  She wakeboarded in it!  Until we hit a rock.. shoot!  But all was well and we provided a fisherman with quite a laugh and Mom won!  (Lezbehonest, probably because her boss felt bad for us... but hey! Whatever works!)

On Memorial Day we did the typical Hyde family pool party! This year it was at my Uncle John's house. It was so fun to get together with everyone. It seems like we just don't get to see them as much as we used to!

Just a few of our favorite people!

This girl LOVES the water!

And she loves her Pops!

Mmmm!  Free slurpee day!  My cousin Syd gave her a taste and she just wanted more and more!

It was such a great weekend!  We love doing things like this, even if it's nothing big and fancy it's just nice to be with family!

Happy EaStEr!

I feel like Easter is a really great holiday.  I love the opportunity to learn more about the Savior and His sacrifice for us and I also love the changing of seasons that comes with it!  Springtime is so beautiful!

Love her!  

Baylie got her first Easter dress!  Nate was confused about the whole "Easter dress" thing, I quickly assured him that our kids will always get new dresses or church clothes on Easter.  He informed me that I can be in charge of that and he'll be in charge of getting the toys.  Deal!

Mimi got Baylie an adorable little book!  Baylie was so intrigued by it.  

This is how Nate helps me figure out the self timer.. thanks love!

And that's as good as it gets with the self timer...

Girls Trip 2013~

Every year Nate and the boys go to Jackson Hole for the snowmobile hill climbs.  My dad has always gone too and my mom and I used to just stay home.. what were we thinking?  Last year we decided that was not happening anymore so we went to Park City and City Creek, nothin like spending the weekend shopping!

This year we decided to make a trip down to St. George to visit my Grandma Great!  We invited all the girls of my mom's family and rented a condo so as not to overwhelm poor Grandma!  We had a blast!  We spent a lot of time just hangin out with the girls!

Five Generations! So lucky to have these wonderful women in my life!

Baylie got her first taste of chocolate ice cream, needless to say, she loved it!  Nothin like a girls trip to spoil a babe!

We also spent some time out by the pool!  It was a bit too chilly to actually swim, but that wouldn't stop us from gettin all dressed up!  

Happy as can be!

We did dip her feet in but she wasn't too sure about that!

It was a great trip!   I was worried about how Baylie would do but she did pretty darn good!  But then, how could she not love a girls trip??

Baylie's Blessing

Well I am super behind so it's time to play catch up!  Once again there is going to have to be a few posts for the update on all things Griffin family!

Baylie was blessed on February 3rd, 2013 by her wonderful Daddy!  It was a beautiful day.  My heart was so full and I couldn't stop smiling.  Baylie and I are so blessed to have a worthy priesthood holder in our home to bless us anytime we need!  Nate did a fantastic job and we had a lot of support from our awesome families as always!

Baylie wore the same dress that I wore for my blessing day!

And she wore  shoes that were her Great Great Grandma's

It was rough wearin' all that frilly crap all day!

Nate gave a beautiful blessing.  It always amazes me that dads know just what to say, even when it's their first time.  Just goes to show that blessings are truly inspired and it is not up to any man what should be said! I love this gospel that we get to be a part of and I am so happy to be able to raise my daughter in it.

The "Busy" Syndrome

At the first of the year a member of our bishopric challenged us to become an "expert" at something new in the gospel. I loved this counsel!  I decided that I wanted to become an expert on General Conference by seriously studying the words of our living prophets.  We are so incredibly blessed to have modern day revelation from true prophets.
I have come to really love President Uchtdorf.  Ever since I was a little girl Henry B. Eyring was my "favorite" apostle (Be honest, you all have one!), but I feel like President Uchtdorf is crowding the "favorite" stand.  He's getting right on up there!  I feel like he just has such wise counsel for our every day lives.  I loved his talk last year counseling us to just "stop it" and to not judge others for "sinning differently" than us.  I know I still have a LONG ways to go, but I have really tried to apply that to my life.  And then last night, he hit me all over again with something so important.  Nate and I had reviewed this talk in our institute class last semester but I really loved reading it last night, it is titled "Of Regrets and Resolutions" and everyone should go read it right now. Seriously.  He talks about a nurse who cares for terminally ill patients and how she asks them what their regrets are in life.  There is much to learn from all of them, but one in particular stood out to me.
One of the most common regrets was "I wish I had spent more time with the people I love".  But the part I love is this, he goes on to say "Isn't it true that we often get so busy?  And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of superior life. Is it?"  Wow!  Seriously, is it??  NO!  That brings to mind another talk from that same conference, "First Observe, Then Serve" by Sister Linda K. Burton.  She talks about a day when there were "too many to-dos on her list" and she felt too busy to attend the temple.  At the moment she had that thought she stopped everything and went to the temple and was blessed with a wonderful experience to serve (read the talk to find out what that was!).  She was 100% right to stop everything.  It is fine to be busy, but what are we busy with? Is it the things of the world, or eternal matters?
Are we too busy surfing the internet to spend time with our family?  Are we too busy watching TV to call up a friend?  After I read this talk last night, Nate and I got talking about the busyness of the world we live in.   We had tried to plan a game night with several friends and only Nate's brother was able to come.  Now I'm not saying they didn't have legitimate things to attend to, because I'm sure they did!  But what we were discussing is how times have changed.  When I was a little girl my parents had a group of friends that they had regular "Dinner Parties" with.  Then it just slowly fizzled away as everyone got "too busy".  In one of my classes we discussed a study that showed this exact thing.  Over the years, the amount of people engaging in dinner parties has declined dramatically.  Have things changed?  Nate and I decided that other things simply took their place. We now have a ton of electronic devices that can be entertaining so who needs people and games, right?  Wrong!  At least in my opinion.  I am a truly social being. I love being with people.  Especially my people (remember how we all have our own people?)
And then President Uchtdorf drives his point home even more.  He says this, "I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.  I can't see it."  Well said, I completely agree.  Do you think the Savior ever rushed anything? No.  He took His time with everyone and let them know of their importance and His love for them.  In my quest to be better, I resolve to strive for that!  To not be "busy", but rather take the time every. single. day. to do those things of eternal importance.
I love this gospel and the wonderful things we learn from it!!  I am amazed that I still learn so much.
So, if anyone wants to get together for dinner, or games, or just to catch up, give us a call!!  I'm sure we would love to :)
And seriously, go read this talk!  Both of them for that matter, I love President Uchtdorf's so much, but Sister Burton offers an inspiring message as well!  And then tell me what you think, I'd love to hear your opinions!
Have a great day, and don't let it be "too busy"!