Progress!

Our lot...

(sorry this first one is so blurry)

Getting close!! It should be done by the end of November!

I can't wait

I CANNOT wait to have a house!! I'm soooo over apartment living right now. Here are some of the things I am looking forward to most:

1. Not hearing my upstairs neighbor's every move. (Walking, talking, yelling, vacuuming, flushing, and teenage boys jumping and pounding-- like they are right now.)

2. Having a GARAGE!! And the best thing about that garage will be that I don't have to carry all my groceries clear across the parking lot, around the corner and down the stairs, all while carrying Graham. It will be so amazing! Not to mention never having to scrape our cars or have extreme hot or cold cars. YAY.

3. Having a yard. Playing on the lawn at an apartment complex stinks. Enough said.

4. Having CLOSET SPACE! nough said.

5. Counter space! Hallelujah!

6. Not having them come mow the lawns right at nap time. Pretty much every time they come.(Again, like RIGHT NOW.)

7. Living in a quiet neighborhood! I might actually be able to open my windows without being bombarded with traffic noise.

8. Having new everything. As a germ freak, this will greatly ease my anxieties during those little moments like when my baby decides to lick the carpet, scrape the gunk out of the window sills, or climb behind the toilet.

9. Getting new furniture. Grown up life size furniture- not this play, mini size stuff :)

10. Being able to have more than 2 people over at one time. Party at the Hintze house!!!!

One year AND an announcement...

I know, I know, I am a little late with this birthday post. Graham turned one on July 16th. I can't believe it!! He is a big, smart, sweet little boy! At his one year appointment he was 25 pounds (the 83rd percentile) and 33 1/2 inches tall (the 100th percentile!). I had to work on his birthday (shhh... he'll never know...) so we just had a small party at home and then the week before we had a big joint birthday bash with Graham's cousin Raiden who is 5 days older.

Graham FREAKED out every time we tried to put a birthday hat on him, I mean he was terrified! Too bad...

These two were so funny, they mostly just ate each other's cake.

This boy got SPOILED!!

Graham is getting smarter by the day! (speaking of smart, is smarter a word?) He can point to his ears, teeth, nose and belly. I am surprised everyday at how much he understands what I am saying to him or telling him to do. He isn't walking yet but is VERY close and he can now climb up onto the couch and then onto the back of the couch and from there onto the window sill by himself! (impressive, but I sure wish he wouldn't do it!) I LOVE this boy so much!

Look how much he has changed in a year!!

And now.... our announcement....

WE ARE BUILDING A HOUSE!!!

Most of you who read this I'm sure already know but I wanted to make an official announcement. We are building in Herriman and it should be done in November. We can't even explain how excited we are and how blessed and lucky we feel to be able to have such an awesome house! It still doesn't seem real to us. We are in the phase of picking everything out and then they'll start digging in a couple weeks!

We will keep you updated on the progress :)

Family Pictures

Prepare yourself for a lot of pictures. We got family pictures taken a few weeks ago and she literally took over a hundred shots and I love almost all of them. It was hard narrowing them down even this much!
Also, today is Graham's 1st birthday!! I can't believe it has been a year already. It by far has been the best year of our lives! A birthday post will be coming soon :)

Campin'

A few weeks ago we met my whole family for a camping trip in Rifle Gap park in Colorado. When we were younger we used to go camping all the time. We didn't even have a tent. My parents would lay down tarps and we would sleep under the stars. I loved it. And we haven't been camping as a family for YEARS. It was so much fun and I am so glad we have started it up again. Rifle Gap was HOT. But it was right by a reservoir that had a nice swimming beach so we could cool off in the water.

Graham is kind of a wimp when it comes to water temperature and this water was so. so. cold. So I didn't think we would even want to touch it but he loved playing in it! (And eating the sand of course. It's like a magnet, the kid can't keep anything out of his mouth.)

Graham and Sophie.
They were too fascinated by the water we couldn't get them to look up.

AND THEN... We took a 5 minute drive up the canyon to Rifle Falls. Took a 2 minute hike and arrived at this...

It was BEAUTIFUL. We took a hike up to the top of the mountain where the waterfalls started and saw some cool caves on the way. It was a perfect family hike. Cool and refreshing from the mist of the falls and hello, gorgeous!

The fantastic five :)

Graham with Uncle Rob

We forgot Graham's hat and unfortunately he takes after his mother with a huge head and his father with the baldness so head coverage is a must.

We had fun just hanging out together as a family and eating lots of good food. Especially all the dutch oven meals made by my mom. YUM.
We also had a birthday party for Melinda. The baby of the family turned 18!! Can you believe it??? I can't.

I can't wait for next year!

Pearly Whites

Graham is up to SEVEN teeth now. Until a few weeks ago we had just been cleaning his teeth and gums with a washcloth but now we are on to the real deal. I just had to post these pictures, I mean, look at that face! Melts my heart :)

For my birthday...

I don't often set New Year's resolutions and when I do, I don't usually follow through. But this year I made a goal to run a half marathon. Now this is pretty amazing for me because my whole life I have HATED running and have avoided it at all costs. ( I don't know what came over me.)

I started training in January and after a while decided what better day to run a half marathon than my birthday? So that's what I did! I ran the Utah Valley half marathon. It started at 5:30 in the morning so I had to wake up around 3:30. It was freezing and raining at first but I was glad it was cool outside and the sun was hidden.
My whole goal was to run the whole thing without stopping or walking at all and I did it! My time was pretty terrible but I have to keep reminding myself I wasn't worried about time.
It was hard. Oh so hard.
I had done a few 10 mile runs that went well so I thought there would be no problem. But let me tell you, there is a BIG difference between 10 miles and 13.1 miles. The last few miles were so so hard. While I was running I was thinking to myself, "What was I thinking? This is not fun. I will never do this again. This is NOT fun." But now looking back on it I am so glad I did it and I think I will definitely do another one. (I really want to redeem myself and make better time!)

I look really silly in this picture. It looks like I am just strolling across, but I really was running!

Zach, Graham, my parents, Robert and Melinda all woke up super early and drove out to be at the finish line. Thanks for coming! And I'm sorry you had to wait so long for me in the cold!

After the race we met Zach's family for breakfast at Magleby's. Then my family took Graham home and Zach and I got a great uninterrupted nap for the first time in a LONG time! I went and got my haircut (which I always love doing) and then Zach and I went and saw Iron Man 2. Then we finished off the day with a BBQ and my family's house. My mom made the best hamburgers I have ever had. LITERALLY!! All the food was amazing! Thanks mom.
It was an awesome birthday!!