Make a Wish...

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Gabriel,

Happy Birthday to you!!!"

I have been teaching Gabe how to blow on his food when it's too hot -He says "Hah" and then sucks in his bottom lip to blow... He knew the candle on top of his cupcake was "Hah" but was mezmerised and tried to grab it anyway... his sucked in lip, although totally cute, was not working...so finally Eli blew out the flame for him!

Gabe is no stranger to goodies, but he usually only gets a bite... I think he was surprised that he was being allowed to have the whole cupcake all to himself!

He sat back, crossed his ankles and dug in!!

DISCLAIMER: I am posting lots of pictures below but I just couldn't choose...they were ALL so precious and candid... I was camera happy I know, but it's one of those moments where you have to try to capture it all... but the pictures don't even begin to depict how cute he really is... there is something so perfect about his little soft body, his movements, and his expressions that I just can't ever seem to capture on film... these all may seem like the same shot to you, but there are subtle little differences in each one that just melt a mother's heart (and this isn't even half of them...) so bear with me! I hope that you also enjoy seeing my cute birthday boy...

Hmmmm??

This is good....

check out his crossed ankles...

getting messy

I am so grateful that I am this little boys mom and am humbled everyday by the love that I feel for him and the joy that he brings to us!! He truly is fresh from Heaven, a precious gift, and I love him so!!!

Happy First Birthday and many more to come...my sweet Gabriel!!

One year ago today...

Last year Mother's day was pretty special because that's the day that we brought Gabriel home from the hospital!! What better gift can you get as a mother, than a new sweet baby?!! And this year it has been so fun to celebrate his first birthday on Mother's day, perfect timing , once again!!

Here he is fresh from Heaven...

what a bitter sweet day it's been... sweet because of all the milestones and happiness we've experienced this past year but also a little sad realizing that I can't re-live those days with my sweet Gabriel. I am hoping that I will never forget how my heart nearly burst when I held him for the first time, or how he used to hold my pinkey finger as he nursed. His first smile and giggle, his tiny toes and his strong little neck... right from the start!! I can still picture our family gathered around him cheering for him as he rolled over for the first time! Watching his chubbing little arms "roll it and roll it and toss it up!" I love the soft curls behind his ears and the way he scrunches up his nose. The way his eyes and expressions tell me exactly what he needs, and show me all the trust in the world! I love the excitement on his face when he gets to sit on Daddy's lap to drive the car (only to church and back!) and how he knows how to reach over and turn up the radio, bopping the whole time- he loves to dance!! His soft skin, and dimpled bottom. the scent of his hair and they way he closes his eyes as he splashes wildly in the tub! His sensitive side where he looks to me for reassurance. When he's not sure about a situation he gathers my shirt in his little fist and holds on for dear life! I love the pure joy in his face when he plays with his brothers... seeing him watch every little thing that they do, taking it all in. his wobbley walk and his determintion... even after lots of bumps and falls he never hesitates to get back up. the way he gagged the first time he ate peas, and the way he rubs his blanket on his face as he's falling asleep, his little hand waving bye-bye, his tiny newborn clothes, and swaddling him in a blanket for comfort. falling asleep with him in my arms, his grin, the sound of his voice, his tiny white blessings shoes....these are just a few of the memories, moments and milestones that we've shared with Gabe this past year! It's crazy that one so small can fill your heart so full and bring so much happiness!!

Happy Birthday little guy!! We sure love you!!

(pictures and details of his birthday bash still to come...)

Life is crazy....

Once again I find myself VERY far behind in my updates of what we're up to! After the whole Christmas post in March.... I promised I'd never get behind again.... yet here I am with so much to do and so little time!!! Ahhhhhh! I just got home from Logan and hurried to get the kids in bed, with thoughts of blogging in my head the whole time....I tucked them all in...heaved a sigh of relief as I raced to the computer....I sat down and quickly realized that my cute husband who is in Hawaii... WITHOUT ME took the laptop! Argh!!!! It has all my pictures downloaded on it and it is also a lot faster than this old computer I'm using now!!! So I can't update and it takes me like 10 minutes to even pull up someone else's blog... can't blurk (blog+ lurk) either!!!! So... here's a quick run down of things to come... Tulip Festival, spring break, karate, baseball, Gabe exclusively walking (no more crawling!!) and finally signing "milk" and "all done" ( at least a few we've been working on!...) glasses, baptism, women's conference, and new recipes.... SEE what I mean?? how am I going to catch up?? looks like I might just have to start packing instead!!

...It might be awhile folks....

Obsessed!!

Gabriel used to be a momma's boy, but lately he is obsessed with his daddy!! Whenever Glen walks past him Gabe leans and reaches out for him, he squeels until he catches his eye and as soon as he does he kicks his legs in excitement and grins!! Gabe loves to play rough, and wrestle with Glen. Much to my dismay, he loves it when daddy tosses him in the air... I love to hear Gabe giggling as they play together! Lately Gabe cries whenever Glen leaves the room and he follows him all around the house!! I married the worlds greatest daddy and believe me.... the obsession goes both ways... It's pretty obvious that this daddy is in love with his baby boy!!

Cousins...

This is a bit late, but I had to be sure and post these cute pictures of some of the Huber cousin's doing what cousin's do best.... PLAYING!! three of Glen's five sisters came to Utah for their kids spring break during the last week in March. Carrie and Holly from Montana and Debbie from Colorado, plus all their kids -11 total!! It's not too often that there are so many cousin's around for my boys to hang out with and they were so excited! Here are some of the fun things we did together while they were all in town.

Family Home Evening...

the three out of town siblings, plus the other two siblings that live here in Utah and us.... all got together one evening for FHE at grandma's house!! and it was a houseful!!! but with the Huber's it never feels crowded... there is always room for everyone! That's just one of the things I love about Glen's family- his parents are so warm and welcoming and never seem to be stressed out or overwhelmed by all of us!! Glen's mom made a delicious dinner that fed us ALL! I love her dinner's she is such a good cook. I borrow some of her recipes soemtimes, but when I make them they never taste as good as her's!! After dinner all the boys went out in the backyard and played football. Then grandma taught the Family Home Evening lesson on ancestors and we learned some really neat stories about some of them and learned about a pedigree chart. She made one for each individual family, with pictures and everything!!! Then she showed us her geneology that traced back to Kings in England all the way to Adam and Eve!! Pretty Amazing!! I am so thankful for our ancestors who paved the way for us to be right where we are today... Every decision that they made did have an influence on the generations to come! I try to remember that often... that my choices will affect my children and their children.... It's kind of scarry to think about.... but a good reminder!! We had a great time visiting and catching up and then planning some activities for the rest of the week...

here are most of the football boys... a bunch of hunks!!!

left to right

back row: Evan, Braxton, Sam (on the shoulders) Andersen, Drake

front row: Jake, Eli .... Wesley is missing....

Here's Elijah running for a touchdown!!!

Hogel Zoo

I took my boys out of school so that we could join everyone at the Zoo. It was such a warm day. Perfect for walking around, eating kettle corn (thanks grandma!) ricing the train, and checking out wild animals!!

the Cousins....

Eli and Avery


Evan, Andersen, Braxton, and Eli...
My boys think these two brothers are the coolest kids ever and do everything that they do! They have such a fun time together!

One day after school some of the kids came over to our house to play while their mom's had a little alone time....shopping! When they got back, we had dinner and played games while the kids all watched a movie!!

Evan and Maddie's bakery....

Sam helped a little too!! (isn't he the cutest?!!)

I used to swear I wouldn't have boys that played with toy weapons. I wasn't going to have them in my house you know, the whole "they might encourage violence".... well ,It started out that way but any of you that have boys know that little boys find a way... they make weapons out of stuff.... even if they've never seen a weapon or how it works, somehow they know.... it is in their gentic make-up or something???.... They make a carrot a gun and a paper towel roll a sword.... I finally gave in and just bought some after awhile and they are the toys that get played with the most. Here are the boys as "ninja army guys"

Eli, Wesley, and Jake

We love cousins!!!

Bleh....

We woke up this morning to 2 inches of snow... it was freezing cold last night and a blizzard! I'm a little surprised there was not more snow... I think the wind was so fierce it just blew it all around! Spring?? I don't think so...

So here are a few things that I'm looking forward to and thinking about so that I don't go into a total depression about the weather

My parents are coming home from California today... They've been out there visiting my sister Sara!! They are going to stay with us tonight! They keep insisting that we go out to a movie so that they can have the boys all to themelves... we will probably take them up on it!! I love my mom and dad and am so excited to have them stay with us!!

the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point starts this week... Tulips are my favorite flower! If you've never been to Thanksgiving Point gardens, your not living... they are breathtaking... I love it there!! check into it, you don't wanna miss it!!

Spring Break for my boys is just around the corner... the forcast predicts 87 degree weather where we are going... I can't wait to lounge by the pool... Oh wait, I have a baby now... maybe there won't be much lounging... but at least it's a break from the day to day hum- drum!!

I'm going to Women's Conference with some of my friends from Logan who I have not seen in a long time. They are going to come and stay with me and we are going to relax, have fun, and be uplifted, surrounded my thousands of other women! the theme for women's conference this year is "Awake, arise, and come unto Him." Moroni 10:30-32 It is my first time and I can't wait!!!! If anyone wants to join us.. it's not too late.... check it out here and let me know!

The bi-annual "Huber Girls Trip" is this year in Utah!! I am training to run the deseret news 10k, (6.2 miles) along with all the other sisters! I'm on week four of the training program and It's sort of kicking my butt! I am sticking to it though and am so excited about the race! I love running, it's just a little more challenging because I have a few too many extra pounds on me right now... I'm hoping that in the process... I might loss some of them!!! I have always wanted to enter an official race... this is the perfect push that I needed!! Anyone else want in??

These are just a few of the big things that I am looking forward to! I'm tring not to think about the nasty weather and all the packing that I have to do in between... oh well, such is life!! Good and bad.... and I know I have it pretty good!!

So Big!!

Gabriel took his first steps over the Easter weekend! Since then, he just keeps getting more brave! He loves to pull himself up to things and then he takes a few steps away... he usually quickly changes his mind and turns back for safety! But he is getting close to being a full time walker!!! He thinks he is pretty neat and always smiles for the camera...he loves to see us all gathered around clapping for him!!

He also says a few words... "da da" is his favorite, he calls me "na na" and the cutest word he says is Eli... Yes that's right, he calls for him all day... "E-i" "E-i" He can also tell you what a monkey says. "ooh ooh ahh ahh" He really likes animals and stands at the sliding glass door watching our neighbors dog. he squeels and grunts and pounds on the glass! I've been teaching him a few signs... milk, more, all done, eat... are the main ones. He used to do a few of them but now he just watches me do them and them squeels for whatever it is that he wants... I don't know if I should just give up?...hopefully he'll start to use them more!

Gabe loves to wave bye bye to his brothers as they go off to school... He waves until the bus pulls away and oh, he has the cutest wave...like he's on a float at a parade. He scrunches up his nose, and has the funniest expressions! He loves his blanket and gives a little giggle when we hand it to him for bedtime. If you say "where's Gabe?" He stops whatever he is doing and ducks his little head down then quickly pops back up... wearing a big grin, that's our que to say "boo!" He loves that game as well as the "trotting in my pony cart" (thanks to uncle Richie) and "the noble duke of york!" He is seriously the sweetest most happy baby... and if you can't tell...

we sure love him a lot!!

Here's our baby WALKING, TALKING and WAVING bye bye!!!

(before you play the videos, scroll down and pause my music player so that you can hear his cute sounds...)

Happy Birthday to me...

I Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for a perfect Birthday celebration!! When I came downstairs this morning there were streamers hung all around, a stack of presents and happy Birthday signs too... Glen got up in the middle of the night to decorate... and surprise me!! How sweet is that?? I woke up early to hit the gym and as I crawled groggily into my friend Emily's car she had a giant cupcake (so much for the work out...) from "dippidie" their cupcakes are divine... fluffy cake with a creme filling, rich, sweet frosting and giant sprinkles!! almost too pretty to eat!! She even put a candle on top, all lit up, it was the perfect start to the day!! Later Glen took me (and Gabe) to Olive Garden where we ate soup and salad for lunch!! It was delicious! he also let me spend more time than I should have updating and changing my blog a bit... We had takeout for dinner and an oreo cake to celebrate! My husband is so thoughful and did lots of shopping... he tried so hard to pick out some gifts... but he probably should have consulted a sister or friend first... sorry baby... at least we had a good laugh huh? He is the BEST!! My friend Sunny spoiled me and has also planned a girl's night out for me this Thursday, my brother left the nicest message on my phone, and thanks to lots of people for cards, comments, phone calls and emails... My little sister Julie was so thoughtful and wrote some stuff about me on her blog ! Thanks to everyone for making me feel so special!! Like Julie says on her blog... I'm celebrating my 29th Birthday for the third time...and will be celebrating good old 29 for many years to come!!

True Aggies!!

So... I guess it's time to "make it official" and let the whole world know that we are moving!! Yes... I know it was just a less than a year ago that we said the same thing and here we are loving life in Utah county...facing yet another move!!

Glen was offered a new job and it is something that we'd be crazy to pass up! even still, at first I was torn because we just moved and planned on being here for a long time, I absolutley love it here!! We have the BEST neighbors, love the school, the area, our house, friends and ward... I was so nervous to move here... my first move out of Cache valley, it was a big deal! I decided early on that I was going to make the best of it and I dove in loving it and so it's been hard to think about a change again... but not too hard because we will be going back to our beloved Cache valley... home to lots of our family, friends, and of course the Aggies!!!

Glen will be working for Kauai Travel Authority as their sales and marketing manager. The office is located in Providence, just south of Logan. This opportunity will put him in a really great position! He is excited to use his expertise in sales and marketing to assist the company towards even more growth!! He is so hard working and I know he will be a huge asset to them!

Glen will start the new position the first part of May. We will move the first week in June, just after the boys finish school. Like I mentioned... at first I was a tiny bit resistant (sorry family!) But as I look back over the last year, I can see how little things have made this possible for us and that everything has just fallen into place. Not only that but I have learned so much about myself this past year and about relationships. My love for my extended family has grown even more, I have learned to rely on my husband more, I've learned what having true friends really means, I know that change is good, I have seen a different side of my boys as they have embraced it too.... there is so much more and it's been a really incredible year for us!

I am so excited to live near my parents, my grandparents, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins and my brother and his family. Cache Valley is beautiful and historic, we have so many fond memories there and truly feel blessed to be going back!! One other thing I am really excited about is that Logan canyon doesn't have bears!!! I know that sounds stupid, because I'm sure there could be like one, maybe?...but we love camping and hiking and knowing that there are lots of bears down here, even attacks... I was working on talking myself out of loving the mountains... but now I don't have too!! We love everything about Cache Valley!!

I mentioned that everything has fallen into place for us, here is another example. My aunt and uncle just moved out of their house a few months ago, it is empty and they have offered it to us to rent while we look for something more permanent! It is a beautiful home, with lots of property, (the boys will love exploring!) in a really nice location in Hyde Park!! It is within walking distance to my mom, my grandparents, and my brother! So it will be lots of fun! We are so grateful to them and it takes a lot of stress off of us during these crazy times with the housing market so up in the air! It's all really working out for us!!

I took these pictures of Gabriel a few months ago... He was not too happy about it or very willing for a photo shoot, but I was afraid these jammies wouldn't fit him much longer! He is so cute in everything... but I especially love these with the words accross his chubby bottom!! They are a fun reminder of our college days with the logo of our #1 team...who's home is Cache Valley... Utah State Aggies... we're coming home!!

Don't be shy...say Hello... come on please!!

So... I put this map on my blog (down by my music player, check it out) that lets me know how many people look at my blog and where they are from!! Pretty cool huh? Well not really I've decided... it's driving me a bit crazy! most of the cities I can guess who the person might be who is checking it out, but there are a few who I have no clue... like the United Kingdom??? I don't think I know anybody there?? and Germany?? Now... I do know how the blog world works... you just click from one person to the next to the next to the next until you realize that you don't even know the person who you are reading about! We've all done it... It doesn't mean your psycho! I am not freaked out by that... I just try to be very carful about what I write and although I do understand the whole private blog thing, I'm not totally into it! The thing is... there are lots of people who look at my blog and I know that they know me... so I'm just saying... I'd love it if you would say hi... It's really easy to leave a comment all you have to do is set up a gmail account- you don't even have to use it for email, just set it up so that you can leave me a comment! Better yet, start your own blog- it's easy and then I can check yours out and leave you a comment!! There is nothing worse than writing a post, being willing to spill your guts and then NEVER having anyone say anything! It's almost more creepy to me to know that people who know me are spying and not saying anything than that strangers are randomly falling upon my blog!!! So... yes I'm going crazy... I used to think mainly just the people who leave me comments are the ones who check my blog... but now I know that's not the case... I get an average of 5 comments per post but have up to 20 hits a day.... come on people- just say Hi ...please !!! I'm making a new committment that I'm going to a lot more! or maybe I should just get rid of that map?... hmmmm

A Night at the Spa...

Every year about this time, the snow starts melting and instead of wearing stuffy old socks, it feels so good to air out and finally slid into some flip- flops!! Well there is nothing worse than un-painted, long, unclipped toenails, or rough calloused heels looking out at you from a flip flop or sandal, it's just gross. Especially when it's on a guy... with any of the above mentioned anomalies... add a lot of hair to the toes and barff!!! So Every year since Glen and I have been married I have vowed that no husband of mine is going to be walking around with un-manicured feet!

Well now that I have two sons who are entering the world of...gross feet... You know when they're little... toe jam is cute, and their feet are kissable...not so much anymore!! So....For the Priesthood session of general conference, when all the big boys are gone, I know that a lot of girls get together with friends or sisters and moms and have bonding time. Little traditions of making jewlery, shopping, painting nails or scrapbooking, which I'd love to do... it's just this year there was no plan! So I decided that I'd treat my boys to a much needed, night at the spa! (excluding Gabe... I could eat his toes right up!) They were SO excited!! And I must admit it was the most fun we've had without Dad around, in a long time!! So we pulled out the Dr. Scholls Foot Bath, lined up all the foot products, and the pedicures began...

Elijah... soaking...

Lucky boys...what man doesn't love being pampered?!? (don't mind the toilet paper shoved in Evan's nose... he had a little trouble earlier...)

With wide eyes, they were looking through the many colors of nail polish, I reminded Evan and Eli that BOYS usually just use clear polish. Evan agreed that clear would be best! But not Eli, he boldly reminded us all that "uncle Richie always has painted toes...green or blue and besides David has black painted fingernails!" I asked him, "Who is David?" he gave me that "duh mom" look and said "You, know David ... on American Idol!" Oh, yeah... David Cook one of our favorite contetants on the show. I had never noticed his fingernails but I guess Eli did. I decided it wasn't that big of a deal if he was ok with having colors on his toes, as long as it wasn't pink!!

He chose mango...

Evan stuck with clear...

Glen is up next....

then I can check that one off my spring cleaning list!!!

flip-flop season, here we come!!!!

Our Easter Weekend

This Easter was one of the best! As I posted previously, we tried to have a more Christ centered Easter this year! It turns out that we did have a lot of fun and learned more about the life of our Savior too, it was almost perfect... We will definatley keep this tradition going and I am excited to add in a few things next year too!! We spent Easter weekend in Logan with my family. We took the boys out of school and drove up there on Thursday. My mom is the best hostess, she gets so excited when we come to stay, she makes us gourmet meals, does special little grandma things for the boys, insistes that Glen and I go out for a date and is just the best!! Not only that but she planned the big Easter Picnic with all of the extended family this year too! Usually we go up the canyon or over to my grandparents house and have a hot dog roast, a delicious picnic lunch, and an Easter egg hunt ! This year since Easter came so early, it was too cold in Logan to be outside! So we had to improvise and do an indoor picnic and egg hunt! It was pretty fun, but I sure missed being outside, having a fire and especially eating my grandpa's black baked potatoes, charcoaled in the fire!

Easter picnic

there are so many of us now that it really only works to eat together outside or in a church gym

After the picnic, the adults hid Easter treats all around the gym and then shut off the lights. The kids were so excited to use flashlights in order to hunt for their Easter eggs and treats!!Here are a few of them lined up, anxiously awaiting the doors to open so that they could begin!

hunting...

Gabe is obsessed with plastic eggs... He knows that they usually have something tasty inside! He loves to shake them first to check ,and then he quickly pulls them open and eats whatever is inside, wrapper and all!! that is... until Glen or I fish it out of his mouth and try to redirect him...which is pretty difficult... he has a one track mind lately, especially when he sees

a plastic Egg!

Some of the cousins checking out their full Easter baskets after the hunt...

The Easter Bunny?

The next day there were several Easter celebrations going on at local businesses. We went to Lee's Marketplace in North Logan and met the Easter Bunny... after meeting him Elijah looked concerned and said in a hushed voice that it could not have been the real Easter bunny because there was skin between the glove and the suit! Evan quickly jumped in and told him that of course it wasn't the real Easter bunny... just one of his helpers. The real bunny was much to busy to be standing around at the supermarket the day before Easter... He was in his workshop painting eggs and toys and making the rest of the candy!!

We all agreed that that was probably true!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Saturday night we dyed Easter Eggs. This year we tried the paas shiny mix along with the regular dye too! We made some pretty sparkley eggs and tried mixing lots of colors... It was really fun!!We boiled 5 dozen eggs and probably only ate about a dozen...I love egg salad sandwiches but you can only eat so many... we finally decided that the rest of the eggs would have to be looked at as a cheap form of entertainment and they were thrown into the garbage a few days later...

Grandpa always gets really creative and dyes the BEST eggs!

Easter Morning
On Easter morning the boys crawled into bed with us and we talked about that first Easter morning and what it must have been like hundreds of years ago on that day when the stone was rolled away and our Savior was risen, just as had been prophecied! We talked about the life of the Savior, his atonement, and his loving sacrifice for each one of us that makes it possible for us to live with Him again! we talked about the special things we'd done during the week... We had watched for acts of service and love done in our home and then secretely written them down on strips of paper and then put them inside plastic eggs. I left those eggs out for the Easter bunny to hide along with his other usual stuff... the boys couldn't wait to read them!! We listed attributes of the Savior and picked one as a family that we wanted to try to emulate during the week. We chose PATIENCE and in each prayer that was said, we asked for help in being more patient. Every night we sang Easter songs from the primary children's hymn book, and read about the Savior in the scriptures and shared other special stories too! The boys looked forward to it each night... It really was a special week! We were also all anticipating the arrival of the Easter bunny!!

After our little morning discussion. The boys could not wait any longer and had to see if he had come... sure enough there were trails of jelly beans throughout the house and each of their names spelled out in candy with an arrow giving a clue, pointing out the direction where each of their baskets were hidden....

collecting Eggs

Elijah's favorite find...sweat bands!

Along with their baskets, the Easter bunny hid these other items...

Our family on Easter Sunday...

Hope you had a Happy Easter too!!