Midway Conference

One of the perks of Danny's job is that he gets to go to a bunch of conferences at some pretty cool places.  This most recent conference on prosecuting child abusers took place in Midway, UT at the Zermatt Resort.  It is probably the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at ... and we stayed at the Hilton last month.

Here are some pics we took of the room:

The bedroom - King-size four-poster bed!

Bathroom-

Oversized jetted-tub,

separate shower 

In fact, the tub was so big, it was like an Olympic swimming pool for Sophia:

Two bathroom sinks 

Kitchen-

Table and chairs 

Fully-furnished kitchen,

including a full-size refrigerator 

Living room-

Complete with gas fireplace

and sofa sleeper 

and oversized sitting chairs: 

In all, just an amazing place to stay.  Another great thing about the Zermatt is that they have conference centers at the resort, so Danny was able to meet us during his breaks.

We took walks around the resort ... and here are some pics from the walks:

Outdoor swimming pool

(they have an indoor one too that connects to

the outdoor pool by means of an underwater passage)

The building in the background is where our room was located.

There were some pretty cool water features on the property: 

And they have goats that you can feed!

One goat somehow escaped the fence and tried to eat Sophia: 

I was a little panicked that Danny was bending down to let the fugitive goat feed on our baby...

but it turned out just fine...

and Sophia seemed to like to watch the goats.

They also have a Carousel at the Zermatt -

this is a really fun place!

Danny and Sophia went on the carousel-

Sophia's first time ever on a ride! 

Holding on - the ride is almost beginning! 

Daddy chose the fox for Sophia to ride: 

In this video (no sound), the ride is just starting:

Once the ride was going, I would call Sophia's  name to get her attention,

but because of the movement of the carousel,

she was unable to pinpoint where my voice was coming from,

and ended up just looking back and forth, back and forth.

After all that adventure, we went out for pizza.

Sophia had pureed squash while we fixed her a bottle.

But she grew tired of waiting for the bottle and voiced her displeasure

very loudly

to the chagrin of her parents.

However, she is still the cutest madpot we know!

(Danny loves to have Sophia wear his hats)

I still can't believe she's big enough for a high-chair!

Spring in Midway is beautiful:

The conference seemed to end all to soon,

but we were happy that we were able to take advantage of

the amenities there before it snowed.

We were also happy that my mom was able to bring two of my nephews out to visit.

Sophia with Grandma Saxton and two of her three cousins on my side - Hunter and Perrin:

Hunter showed us his headstanding skills

And Sophia tried to hold Perrin's hand: 

Living in Vernal

Since our move to Vernal, people often ask us how we like Vernal and how Danny likes his job.  For a few months, I've been meaning to compose this post, but I just haven't gotten around to it until now.

For starters, we LOVE living in Vernal.  I absolutely love our house - it's perfect for us - perfect size, perfect mortgage payment, and great neighbors.  Now that Sophia and I can get out, we are meeting more and more people in our neighborhood, especially other stay-at-home moms.  It's SO fun for me to be making friends with women in my same stage of life.  And I love that Sophia is able to socialize with other children - especially after spending the first seven months of her life with mainly just her mommy and daddy.

Secondly, Danny loves his job and is great at it.  We live a few blocks from his office, so his commute is about 90 seconds long.  He is in court often and is getting wonderful courtroom experience.  Sophia and I saw him in court last week - he's such a professional!  Here's a pic of Sophia and Danny outside the courthouse:

And yes, spring has finally come to Vernal!

We are loving the green grass and the blossoms on the trees.



We have also joined a few social groups in Vernal.  Firstly, Sophia and I go to "Wiggles-n-Giggles" on Monday mornings.  It's a playgroup/storytime group where kids can sing, dance, interact, and listen to stories.  Sophia has a friend named Haley who is three years old.  They are mutually fascinated with one another as they are both only children.

The second group we have joined is the Uintah Basin Writers' Group.  Danny was the impetus for us to join this one, but I'm glad that I'm a part of it.  Mostly, it's older women, so Danny and I bring a little variety to the group.  Also, in the past they haven't been very organized or visible on the web, so Danny and I jumped in and created a blog for the group.  Here's a link to the blog for anyone interested:

http://uintahbasinwritersgroup.blogspot.com/

Overall, we are having a great time in Vernal and we would love to have people come out to visit us!

In other news, we think Sophia is just getting cuter and cuter!!

On a walk:

(One other thing I love about Vernal is how close everything is ...

we walk almost everywhere!)

 Just chillin' in denim and a lace tutu:

Funny faces and new places

It seems like each month of Sophia's life brings greater entertainment for us,

and this month it's been Sophia's new facial expressions like the ones below:

(She was just waking up when I took this one.)

The month of May has also taken us to two different story time groups

(one monthly, the other semi-monthly),

as well as a weekly playgroup through the ward.

Sophia adores watching (and touching and gumming) the other kids,

especially toddlers.

The other exciting thing we've done this month is go as a family to all three hours of church.

It was so great!!

Sophia isn't used to going out before noon,

so she was very docile and sleepy during church.

Here she is ready for church:

After napping through most of church,

she was wide awake when we got home: 

What a precious girl!! 

Sophia's Blessing - with pics

We finally blessed our 7 month old baby on Sunday May 1st!

Thanks to all our family and friends that came out for the event!!

The obligatory family photo:

Fortunately, Sophia stayed asleep during her blessing ...

and only woke up during Sacrament meeting.

Sophia was dressed in a dress that both my mother and I wore at our own baby blessings,

as well as a dress and slippers that my Great-Grandmother Smith crocheted for my baby blessing,

was wrapped in a blanket crocheted by my Grandma Duersch,

and wore a headband made by my sister Jessica.

I hope that Sophia will be able to pass on all these items to her own daughter someday.

I sneakily took this shot of some of the guests at our open house after the blessing: 

(Kristin and Matt, and Rachel and Steve)

Sophia's cousin Perrin (who was born on Sophia's 6-month birthday)

was also blessed on the same day. 

So cute together! 

Perrin refused to look at the camera,

but that didn't stop So-So from showing off: 

What a great, happy day!

I can't help it ...

... I just love taking pictures of this little girl!

Do not be deceived - she is not wearing a hat...

it's a pair of bloomers for a different outfit!

I love these jammies - $5.00 at Wal-mart - 

with the oh-so-convenient zipper! 

But they were 0-3 month size and she's now grown out of them!

I don't know what she was so interested in when I took this picture: 

Pink cheetah baby! 

I adore this outfit that the Allred's bought for Sophia: 

So sweet with the matching hat!

Have you ever seen such amazing eyelashes?? 

Trying New Foods

Sophia is exploring the world of pureed baby foods:

Squash

And Peas: 

But she still prefers her bottles!

San Diego Trip!

We spent the first two weeks of April in San Diego.

Here's a recap of the trip...

Packing 

Can't forget the most important item!

We stopped at my parents' house for a night,

and then woke up early to get on the road.

(We had planned on flying, but drove instead to avoid RSV exposure on the plane.)

Sophia isn't used to early mornings.

 When we stopped in St.George for Nielsen's Frozen Custard,

Sophia was thrilled to get out of her car seat.

Back in the carseat again... 

And then when we finally arrived at Danny's Grandma's house,

Sophia was delighted to meet her GG for the first time:

We stayed a night at GG's and a night at Danny's parents' house.

(no pictures of Sophia meeting her Grampy for the first time!?)

Then it was time to go to the Bayfront Hilton Hotel for Danny's work conference.

Sophia and I got to play, explore the hotel, and go on walks on the bayfront

while Danny was in the conference all day.

We were on the 27th floor, so we spent a lot of time waiting for the elevator:

Here's a picture I took of our hotel: 

It was next to a Dole warehouse/loading-dock:

We walked to the Embarcadero Park and enjoyed views of the bay.

This is a picture of the park from outside the hotel:

 

We had a view of Coronado from the park: 

Sophia was obviously riveted.

She also really enjoyed walking around the San Diego Padres'

Petco Stadium:

Actually, what she really enjoyed was romping around the King-size bed we had at the hotel: 

Sweet smile! 

All dressed up!

(Thanks to Sophia's Aunt Jessica for the flower headband!!) 

I love this glamour shot of Sophia reclined across the pillows: 

Daddy and Sophia :

The view from our hotel window: 

Last chance to play on the bed while Mama and Dada pack up! 

After the week-long conference, we were able to go back to Grammy and Grampy's house for a real vacation.

Grampy was able to put Sophia to sleep! 

We went to Sacrament Meeting...

(RSV season was over in California)

it was Sophia's first time at church

and she was amazed that so many people existed.

Sophia and Grammy right after church: 

We spent a couple of days with family members who were excited to finally meet Sophia ...

but I forgot to get pictures of that.

And then our trip began to come to a close.

We spent one last night at GG's where Sophia met this teddy bear: 

"You look differnt from most people I know..."

No sound on this video but still entertaining:

Sitting up on her own so well!