Lake Tahoe!

The whole Burton/McConnell Family packed their bags and met in Lake Tahoe for an awesome family fun trip!  My wonderful parents and all of my siblings (sans the 3 boys on missions) were able to go, 22 people total!!

Let me just say this. . .Lake Tahoe is BE-U-TIFUL!  We had never been there before and this is defiantly a place we will be going back to in the future.  We loved it.  The weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and there was so many fun things to do and see. Here is just a few things we did:

Relaxing by the Pool

Who doesn't love doing this?  Eli and I hung out on the comfy chairs and watched all the cousins party in the pool. . . pure entertainment.

Boat Ride to Emerald Cove

We all boarded the MS Dixie II boat for an awesome ride on the lake.  We got to see Emerald Cove, (apparently the 2nd most photographed place in the US). 

The Beach

Ahhh, the beach.  There's something so relaxing about hearing the sound of the small waves crashing on the shore.  The water in Lake Tahoe is soooo blue and clear!  Zach said to me, "I know this sounds weird, but you should just take a swig of the lake water."  Ummm, no thanks!  

 Eli in a Pink onesie.  Why you ask?  Well, we had been out and about this whole day doing things, Eli had already had a blowout and the onesie that I kept in my diaper bag had already gone to use for that.  When we were at the beach he had another blowout!  Thankfully, Eli's cousin Brynn had an extra pink onesie (thanks Hillary).  Eli and Brynn are only 3 weeks apart, she was only two weeks old on this vacation and both she and Eil were super good!

Heavenly Village Gondola Ride

Our hotel was in Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe.  We literally walked right outside the hotel doors and boarded the gondola for a 20 minute ride up the mountain.  After a quick stop for some photos, we continued up and had lunch at the top.  We had some awesome views of the massive lake.

Zach and Eric both share the same birthday, which happened to be while we were there.  We celebrated at one of the local restaurants.

Love this little guy

Grammy Debi bought all the grandkids cute matching pajamas

She also had the great idea for this photo. . . Eli is number 9

Thanks Dad and Debs for one of the best trips ever!

Zach Turns Twenty-Seven!

We were out of town on Zach's birthday earlier this

month so when we got home we made sure to par-tay! We celebrated by going out and doing some of his favorite things; Golf, Sushi, and Shakes!

Tokyo is where we love to get our Sushi. It's kind of a dive, but it's not too expensive and still super good.  They waitress even knows us by name, which is awesome because I hadn't been there since before I was pregnant!

mmmm, we LOVE our shakes.  Our faves are either Iceburg or Shivers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!

Classic!

One of the things I look forward to every summer is this. . . 

Our neighborhood water slide party at Classic Fun Center. Eli and I enjoyed watching and taking pictures of family and friends, what a great night!

Zach felt like a kid again.  As soon as he would land in the pool at the bottom, he was running right back up to the top to go down again.

  I can't believe my little guy is a month old!

My cute nieces, Ellie & Ruby

I am already excited for next year!

4th of July

The 4th of July is one of my FAVORITE holidays!  I love summertime, the BBQ's, playing outside, swimming, picnics, and the fireworks!  

 This year as always, we went to our neighborhood breakfast and parade.   

Aunt Jules, Granny B, Gramps, Dad and Debs, Ellie, Ruby, Zach and Eli.  Thanks Granny B for saving us the usual spot on the curb.

After the parade, we met up with the Whitchurch family for their annual picnic.  This year we went up to Silver Lake at Brighton.  The weather was absolutely perfect!

Later that evening, we went to our most favorite neighbors, the Bailey's for a pre-firework show BBQ.  The ginormous mallo's made for some awesome smores.

The night ended with watching the Sugarhouse Park Fireworks show.  Our sweet little Eli did sooo good the whole day and slept right through the entire show. 

Introducing. . .

Eli James Whitchurch

June 22, 2010

7 lbs 12 oz

20.5 inches

At 41+ weeks pregnant, I was beginning to feel as though I would be pregnant forever!  I will say I will never forget the feelings I had after holding my sweet baby boy in my arms for the first time.  He was definitely worth the wait!

This picture was taken just after we got checked into the hospital. Soon enough, that basketball belly would turn into pizza dough, muffin top belly.

I was induced because I was so many days past my due date.  I was skeptical about the whole inducing process, but after experiencing it all, I absolutely LOVED labor.  It was so much more 'chill' than I thought it would be.  Yes, I did get an epidural and it was awesome.  I had full feeling in both legs and was able to still feel my contractions without actually feeling pain.  9 hours and 7 pushes later and the baby was out! 

This is what happens when you get bored waiting to have a baby.

Along with Zach, my wonderful sister Megan and my step-mom Debi were the best support group.  We had a blast just hanging out in the delivery room.  I feel so lucky to have such great family around. 

Moments after Eli was born

Proud papa and Eli the day we got home

We LOVE our sweet baby boy!