Family Time

The last few weeks have been full of family time. Because of Mathew's baby blessing, both my parents and Mark's parents were in town. On top of that, all of my siblings came out for the baby blessings, and to see Benjamin again. Part of me wishes that we could have flown out to Kentucky last weekend to get together with all his siblings, but the sensible part of me is glad we didn't have to fly with the baby.

Matthew loves his Grandmas.

And his Grandmas love him.

I like how they are both staring at her.

Matthew loves Grandpa Pingel, too.

Aunt Jaclyn with her nephews.

Jaclyn loves the baby. Benjamin seems indifferent.

With Uncle Jacob

Two peas in a grumpy pod.

Mommy with a naked baby right before he spit up all over my face.

I think he looks like Mark.

What a nice old man

One thing I like about my ward is all the nice older couples. We live in a ward where everyone is newly wed or nearly dead, as the saying goes. We have one young women in our ward and maybe 10 primary children. Near the end of sacrament meeting, Matthew was in a good mood. He was standing up and looking around, and the older couple behind us commented on how cute he is and asked his name and age. It always makes me happy when people comment about how cute my baby is, because he definitely is (see the pictures below). Well, I come to find out that this nice old genteleman was Orrin Hatch, the U.S. Senator for Utah! First Elder Perry, now Senator Hatch. Mark and I are speculating on who we will meet next week. My fingers are crossed for David Archuleta. Mark is pulling for Steve Young.

Oh Blessed Day

Sunday was a day full of blessings, literally. In the morning, we attended my nephew's baby blessing at his ward, and then had just enough time to run home, feed Matthew, and rush off to our own sacrament meeting to bless Matthew. The blessing went really well; Mark did an amazing job. I like seeing him exercise his priesthood authority. Random enough, Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was presiding at the meeting. He's actually a member of my ward - one of the perks of living in downtown Salt Lake. My family was in awe because he came up and chatted with them before the meeting. He even came up and said hello to Matthew. All in all, it was a great day.

Tour of Utah

On Saturday, Mark's parents came over. It was the first time Diane got to see Matthew. Now, Matthew has met all his grandparents. Just by chance, the Tour of Utah bicycle race was going on at the same time, and the route went right outside our house. I just love living downtown. The cyclists completed a 7.4 mile circuit eleven times, with the finish line being just a little further uphill from our house. We would walk out and watch the cyclist go by and then come back in and track their progress on tv. We also walked down to South Temple to see the how fast the cyclist were going on the straightaway, and boy were they flying. It was surprisingly entertaining.

Diane, a.k.a Grandma Robison

Elwin, a.k.a Grandpa Robison

Later that night, Mark and I hosted a murder mystery dinner which was loads of fun. I had my siblings over and we had a blast. My siblings went all out with costumes from DI. The star performers would have to be my brother Jacob, with his German accent, and my brother-in-law Steve, with his Italian accent. "As they say in the old country ..."  It was fun to try to figure out whodunit.

From left to right: Mark, the FBI agent; Me, the golddigger; Steve, the old Italian guy; Jaclyn, the movie star; Andrea, the competitor; Jacob, the German wine merchant; Benjamin, the ex-con.

Families are forever

Yay for temples! My brother and his wife and son got sealed together on Friday. It was wonderful to be able to attend such a happy event. Baby Ayden cried during the whole sealing, which I thought was adorable. Though, I'm sure my sister-in-law didn't find it so cute. And my favorite sister in the whole wide world was there. I hadn't seen in since Christmas. Maybe someday I'll live closer.

Aaron, Melissa and Ayden

Almost the perfect family shot.

My handsome men

With Jaclyn

Jaclyn and Steve

With Benjamin

I'm actually the tallest girl. Jaclyn just has the tallest heels.

Jacob

My Grandpa Pingel

Home on the Range

Home, Home on the range where the deer and the antelope play - or in this case the bison and the antelope. On Friday, Matthew went on his first ever hike at Antelope Island. I never appreciated how big the Great Salt Lake is until I went to Antelope Island, since the Island blocks most of the view of the far side of the lake from the populated areas along I-15. Matthew loved being carried in the front carrier. I actually didn't try it on, so I'm not sure how good it was, but my parents didn't complain. Maybe Mark and I should get one. Does any one have any suggestions?

Hiking with Grandma and Grandpa Pingel

Looking cool

He must taste the rattle before he can shake it.

Smiling for Makenna

Exhausted from the hike.

3 months

Matthew is 3 months old today, and I must admit, he is a rather large baby. But adorable at the same time. We don't go to the pediatrician until next month, but by my measurements Matthew weighs 14 pounds and is 24 inches long. I've actually started to build some muscle in my arms from carrying him around. My other exciting news is that my family is in town. Benjamin is back from his mission to Singapore. It's so nice to see him again, though, honestly, I think he looks just the same as he did when he left. And my dad got to see Matthew for the first time. So life is good.

Grandpa and Grandma Pingel

The dimples get the ladies every time.

Playing with Grandma

Benjamin and Ayden