SUMMER IS HEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Last summer, we went to the beach a meesly 1 time...can you believe it?!?!?! Granted I was pregnant and sick and miserable....but still how pathetic is that!!!!
We decided that wasn't gonna fly this summer, and started the summertime beach attendance with a BANG!!!
There is a beach in Greenwich, called Todd's Point, that is open to the public until May 1st (today, sad day). It is absolutely GORGEOUS there, so whenever the weather cooperated this past week, we would go bask in the suns rays.
DAY ONE:
First experience in grass...not her favorite place but enjoyable!The water was still FREEZING! Only one of the brave souls of our group dared the frigid waters on his own free will...Others, not so much on their own free will...
Daddy daughter time....
Mommy daughter time (she was quick to forgive after her feet thawed-but remained leery of the water)

Family photo op...

What a beautiful day!

Beach Day 2

We feasted on grilled chicken, brauts and chips...

The boys bocced some balls...
The ladies explored...

I got Kerrigan to enjoy playing in the water....
Then quickly snatched the joy away....
We came, we saw, we conquered....we went home knowing it was yet another day well spent!

Beach Day 3

aka the day of FROLICKING in the cold colD coLD cOLD COLD ocean!!!!
Let me try to put into words how much I enjoy these pictures....

-they are my ice cold lemonade on a sweltering day
-my foot long hot dog at a baseball game
-my Scentsy candle warmer when my house is smelly
-my loofah and body wash when I am smelly

Get the idea, I love LOVE LOVE these pictures...they make my heart happy!!!!

Oh, so here is the real unaltered picture of our jumping family...no we didn't actually throw our baby in the air- but I had ya going for a second, huh? Just thought I would give the grandmas a little scare!

Out of the 15 jumping shots of our family, this is the only one with both Jared and I in the air...

I just realized Mike appears to be giving Kristen a jock like "good game" pat on the tushy...sneaky Mike, SNEAKY!!!
Ok, lets discuss this picture of the Johnsons. Two things about it: 1. Note Ben's Peter Pan being lifted by thinking happy thoughts/sea otter hurtling out of the water leap and 2. Check out Cynda's amazing vertical accomplishment...this High School Musical-esk jump makes Ashley Tisdale shake in her boots!

And since Matt and Ami weren't there in time for the frolicking festivities, here is Ami's action shot from the day before...

After all of the jumping around, we decided since it was the Sabbath we should probably return to more reverent activities, such as a quiet picnic.... *yes, despite Ben's ROCK ON sign, it was a quiet picnic*

Relaxing, looking up at the amazingly blue sky....

Or gazing at my daughters impossibly adorable face....

And, OF COURSE, the classic Sabbath Day nap...

Goodbye, Todd's Point, until we meet again next April!!!!

Girly Girl

In honor of my second EVER pedicure, we did this...

*not the best job...she is definitely my daughter and HATES her toes being touched!*

A LITTLE YOUNG FOR MAKEUP!!!!

I left my makeup on the couch by K, and when I came back this is what I found...

FIRST PONYTAIL....

Love this view, you can see the hair in the ponytail starts halfway to the back of her head!

Gotta start 'em early!!!

Chapter 2: The Chase

So I left Rexburg with Jared's phone number saved to my phone...which I didn't use for a long time. This is where 2 versions of the same story emerge:

In April of 2005, Jared moved to Virginia to do door to door sales. One day he received a phone call that went like this:

Jared : Hello
Girl: Hey Jacob, what's up?
Jared: No, this is Jared, who is this?
Girl: OH, this is Lindsey, sorry I meant to call Jacob...How have you been, where are you, etc.

So in Jared's version of the story, I called PRETENDING to call someone else...when really I was just too shy to come right out and call him- he LOVES telling that to people, making me look like a desperate girl and him the desirable stud muffin.

In my version (aka the true story) I really did mean to call Jacob, but fate stepped in and I called Jared : )

We began talking on the phone alot- which turned into what we will refer to as "phone dating". I know it sounds silly, but we got to know each other really well through talking on the phone.

One day he played the guitar and sang the song To Be With You for me and I became the smitten kitten! Adriane reminded me just the other day a funny part of the story that I had forgotten (Erin will remember this part of our story). I recorded him singing it one night on my phone, and would play it for people- however, I had forgotten until I was reminded, I also used it as a ringtone AND as my alarm every morning...Can we say STALKER : ) Could I get dorkier????

Anyways, I started the summer semester at BYU-Idaho while he was still in Virginia. Shortly after moving there, I was talking to Jared and my sister called on the other line to let me know my grandpa had passed away. Jared did an amazing job of comforting me that night, and it took our relationship to the next level.

One night I got home from work and realized I had a 3 day weekend from school and work, so on a whim bought a plane ticket to go see Jared. The best part of this chapter was I was TERRIFIED to tell my parents...so I wrote a note to my roommates and hung it over my apartment phone. It read: If ANYONE calls for Lindsey DO NOT tell them where she is!!!! (with a skull and cross bones) One of my roomies saved the note and gave it to me after we were married.

The trip was fun- we went to the beach, caught lightning bugs, and there was lots of wooing via guitar/singing- but short. I think that is when we officially started dating exclusively (although neither of us had dated anyone since we had started talking on the phone).

A couple of weeks after that, I think I got nervous about how serious we were getting for not spending alot of time physically together. At one point I told Jared I was going to go on a date with one of my FHE brothers. Bless his patient heart, he was mad but smart enough to tell me to do what I needed to do. I made it through one date with the other guy, but by the end I knew that Jared was the person I was going to marry. Unfortunately, he took a little more convincing...

*This is our first official date when I flew out to Virginia to see him*

The Dance

Part of Kerrigan's "deswaddling" process has been to get her to take naps without being swaddled. Easier said than done!

I have found the best way to accomplish this is to lay down with her on my bed until she goes to sleep-her favorite position is to be nuzzled under my armpit (try and explain that one to me : ) with my face on top of her head so she can feel me breathing (which I have to do deeply to make her think I am asleep)...talk about a girl who knows EXACTLY what she wants! Then the trick is to be very, very sneaky and remove myself from the bed. Also easier said than done!

She still flails all her limbs when she tries to go to sleep, so sometimes I have to "manually swaddle" her with my hands until she goes to sleep. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating, but today I realized how funny it really is. This is how we "tango" at naptime:

Lindsey: lay Kerrigan down and position body to suit her fancy

Kerrigan: Start waving left arm, hitting self and mommy in face

L: Hold down left arm with left hand

K: Grab binky out of mouth with right hand, then cry for want of binky

L: replace binky in mouth

K: Grab binky out of mouth with right hand, then cry for want of binky

L: Replace binky then hold right arm down with right hand

K: Start kicking legs vigorously...blanket gets kicked off

L: thinking left arm has calmed down retrieve blanket with left hand

K: Simultaneously kick off blanket and take binky out of mouth with left hand

L: Retrieve blanket with left hand, put legs over Kerrigans legs, hold left arm with left hand

K: whip head back and forth and spit out binky

L: replace binky with left hand, contort body so left hand is holding right arm AND holding head still, while right arm holds binky in and blanket up...

...2 seconds after achieving complete manual swaddling....SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, I did it. Slowly, one at a time, remove hand and leg restraints and sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddeeee of the bed....bed creaks.....Kerrigan wakes up.....and again we DANCE!!!!

*hope this doesn't sound too bad, it is done with love and really does help her go to sleep*

Happy Easter