One whole year

20 pounds  9.5 ounces

29.5 inches

still 7 teeth (though I swear molars can't be too far off)

Emmett turns ONE, a birthday extravaganza

 We (mostly Amy) maybe went a little overboard for Emmett's first birthday.  But we were in Utah with both our families and once the party-planning ball got rolling...well, it was a little hard to stop.  I understand that my future children will probably ask me why they didn't get a grand party like Emmett when they turned one, and I will just have to tell them it's because we love Emmett the most.  :)
In all honesty, we've just really enjoyed this first year as parents, and we wanted a chance to celebrate how much fun we've had with this little guy.
I know I will love my future children just as much as we love Emmett.  And if that love doesn't translate into a big 1st birthday party for each of them, then I'll have to show it some other way.

Bear Lake 2012, a Monson reunion

We always look forward to our week in Bear Lake with the Monson Family.  We certainly missed a big chunk of our immediate family; but all of my mom's sibling were there, which hasn't happened in a while.  Also, we got to introduce Emmett to Bear Lake!  How sweet is this picture of Great Grandma Monson walking with him at the shore?!  I love it.  We had great weather this year--hot days, very little wind, nice water.  It was probably the most relaxing part of our Utah trip, and we definitely enjoyed not having to be in the car at all for a few days.

Sugar & Spice, a baby shower

 Sugar and spice and all things nice is just what my dear friend Elizabeth deserved to celebrate the soon-to-be baby girl she was growing.  She was kind enough to fly out from California, so we could have the honor of throwing her a grand party.  We tried to incorporate fun, playful sherbet colors in a sweet and elegant sort of way.

Wonderland, a garden party

The cousins/daughters (many of them) before entering "Wonderland"--hats required!

The sisters/moms

This year our annual Monson Girls' Garden Party was an Alice in Wonderland/Mad Hatter's Tea Party theme.  It was held in Idaho Falls in Aunt Geri's backyard.  Once again, everyone (particularly my mom and Aunt Geri) went above and beyond to make it a spectacular event.  The fact that the party started at 8 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m. as printed on the invitation really was a blessing.  By the time we sat down to eat, the summer heat had cooled and it was perfect weather for being outdoors.   I do wish I had a picture of the invitations.  They were so adorable.

Whirlwind

Despite the fact that Emmett and I were in Utah for a full three weeks from the end of July through mid August, it still felt like our time flew by.  Those three weeks were jam-packed with parties to throw and places to go.  Not to mention the Olympics, which kept us up late every night.  It was all very fun and maybe just a tiny bit exhausting.  Clark (whose comments are in red) was able to join us for the last half of the trip, and we saved plenty of play for him.  The parties and Bear Lake trip will get their own posts, but here are some of the other highlights:

Cedar City

 For the first time ever, I left Emmett overnight in the caring hands of Grandma Gayle and Aunt Celia and headed down to Cedar City with my parents and grandparents to see Grayson star in the musical The Goodbye Girl.  Is that the sequel or the prequel to Hello, Dolly?  We all enjoyed dinner at the restaurant where Grayson works before the show.  The show was very well done.  It was great to finally see my brother in one of his plays.  He did a really excellent job. 
Emmett had tons of fun with the Schmutz clan.  I think after the first 10 minutes of tears he hardly noticed I wasn't there!

Scrollie Fam

 We had a fun, casual bbq with some of my closest college friends.  I'm not wondering what a non casual bbq is like.  We always have a great time together, and it is always fun to see how our numbers grow! 

  These handsome boys were all born within 3 months of each other.  So fun to see them together!

Cool Uncles

 Uncle Steve taught Emmett some tricks on the slack line (I was pretty terrible at it).

 Uncle Kent helped Emmett develop his drumming skills.  It was a proud moment for me as a father.  Emmett has great rhythm and is starting to use both sticks at one time.

 Emmett played so hard at Grandma and Grandpa Schmutz's house that he curled right up and fell asleep.  That is not something that typically happens with this busy boy!

Oldest friends

 We had the privilege of throwing dear Elizabeth a baby shower in honor of her soon-to-arrive little girl (little Caroline has actually made an early appearance since then and is just beautiful).  Anne had just had her sweet little baby the week before and Rebecca happened to be in town for a visit.  We girls hit the town for some delicious food and conversation.  Love those ladies.

Just before I left town we managed to get a few of us together for a little impromptu baby shower for Geeg.  It was so great to see these girls--some of whom I hadn't seen in over a year.  We had a fun time catching up.

New(ish) friends

Clark got to meet up with some of his fellow sports bloggers at City Creek.  He'd never met any of them in person, and I think they had a fun time hanging out in person.  We did have a good time.  It's not often that you can eat dinner and talk with everyone else at the table about the Utah Jazz and have them understand and pay attention.  Amy is a trooper, but she just doesn't have that passion for it, like my slcdunk friends do.  No offense, Amy.

Driggs and Logan

Before Bear Lake, Clark, Emmett and I headed up to Driggs, Idaho.   I had gotten to see Phil and Jerai some when I first got to Utah since they were still there from Brewer's surgery; but Clark hadn't, so we needed to make the trip.  There we had lunch at Teton Thai with Phil and cousin Sean and enjoyed lime freezes from Corner Drug.  We got to stay with Grandma Moulton, visit Roy and Kayleen, and play with Boyd and Baby Brewer while visiting Phil and Jerai.  It was a short visit but really good to see people we love so much.
Clark and I both laughed when Emmett gave Uncle Roy a kiss and got the exact same reaction that he gets from my dad.  Those brothers must have gone to the same grandparenting school.  :)

On the way home from Bear Lake we drove through Logan.  We both have a soft spot for Logan and have to take advantage of opportunities to pass through.  We drove by every single one of old apartments (there were 5 of them), drove around campus, ate lunch at the Italian Place and got a french soda at my beloved Citrus and Sage.  I even got my ring cleaned.  It was nostalgic and yummy and my ring is oh-so-shiny once again.

Overall, Emmett was good sleeper and napper during the trip (hallelujah!), though we did have some early mornings due to the time change.  Also, on this trip Emmett was welcomed into the world of all things sweet--mostly thanks to Pop-Pop, who felt it his duty to offer Emmett any sweet he could get his hands on.  He ate chocolate, licorice, cookies and candy.  And pretty much loved it all.

Sister time!

 In July, for her 14th birthday, Beth got a ticket to come play in North Carolina for a week.  We had a such a fun time together.  In fact, after spending a week with her here and three weeks in Utah, I think I'm having sister withdrawals!  We shopped at the outlets, ate delicious treats, played with Emmett, made Beth try coleslaw on her NC-style BBQ sandwich, watched movies, played old-school nintendo games,  went to a Durham Bulls game and took a day trip to the beach. 

 Unfortunately the Bulls game had a rain delay which meant I ended up taking the babe home to bed not even an hour into the actual game.  Beth, Clark and Jake stayed to enjoy $1 hot dogs and cheered on the Bulls, who lost terribly.

 We took a day trip down to Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington.  Vaughn came with and we had a grand time in the sun, sand and waves.  It was Beth's first time playing in ocean waves and I'm certain she had a memorable time!

 Emmett had some rockin' windblown hair, got plenty of sand in every part of his body, seemed to enjoy playing in the waves with mom and crawled after plenty of birds.

After dinner at the Mellow Mushroom, we headed down to Wilmington where we ate ice cream and walked the water front.

We had pretty great beach weather on our trip but had to drive through some crazy rain storms on the way back to Durham.  We were happy to make it home.  

 

While Beth was here, little E started taking steps.  It's pretty darn adorable.

 Overall, I think we had a pretty successful week together.  I'm hoping that this lovely girl gets a ticket to come visit me each year for her birthday!  Love you, Beth!