he's 2!

Can you believe it? My sweet little boy turned 2 on July 9th. Here he is all excited it's his birthday!


We had a fun little BBQ at our house with some of our family to celebrate. Zion is OBSESSED with Car's so naturally I had to put together a few decorations, and I loved every minute of it. Zac laughed when he came downstairs at 4 am to go to work and I was still wide awake and happy to be cutting out all of the little pendant cupcake toppers.














Zion's giant birthday cupcake


Great granny Houtz and great grandma Haney


Zion and my dad


Zion was so lucky to have the real Fillmore come and visit him on his birthday, thanks to our good friend John. He LOVED it!!











But he was not happy at all when it was time for John to take Fillmore home.


Thankfully John gave him a little Fillmore car that we opened as soon as we got back inside and he was a happy birthday boy again.


When it came time to open presents, the first thing he opened was the card that my Mom and Dad gave him. Here's the embarrassing part... Besides Car's, Zion also loves Dora, so he was thrilled that it was a Dora card that sang to him.


One of the gifts my parents gave him was a bunch of miniature figures. And the embarrassment gets worse... Check out the look on his face when he sees the little Dora. He has a huge crush on her!


He also got a mini magnet bored with all of the letter and number magnets that we had to take away from him so he would keep opening presents.


My parent's also got him Bubble Mater and he goes crazy with it!


We bought him a Car's potty chair, and he was so not interested. It's more for mom and dad, though, anyway. (please note that our tv is not usually covered in fingerprints and sitting on a toy box. I was refinishing the tv stand so it was out in the garage at the time.)


He loved his new car though so I guess that made up for the "crappy present".


He got a bunch of other stuff, but those were his favorites, well except for the potty chair. Hahaha! Blowing out candles was probably my favorite part of his little birthday party. We had to do it over and over again because he was just too dang cute!





Zion, thank you so much for blessing my life for the past 2 years. I never truly understood happiness or love until I held you in my arms for the first time. I am thankful every single day that I get to be your mommy. You inspire me and make me want to be a better person. I hope that we can always be best friends and that I can be a mom you are proud of and earn your respect as you age to an adult. I love you little buddy!

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crazy brother

Earlier this summer Zac's brother, Isaiah, went a little crazy.... Actually a lot crazy!




He ran the Squaw Peak 50 Mile Trail Run! 50 miles! Squaw Peak! It was amazing! I wish I could remember his exact time, but I want to say it took him right around 10.5 hours. I'm so impressed by his huge accomplishment. He has been training so hard for it the past few months. Do you want to know something mind blowing.... He has only been running for about 2 years. His very first 5K (3.2 miles) was the summer of 2010, and before that he had just ran a little bit here and there to stay in shape. From 3.2 mile races to 50 mile races in less than 2 years is so crazy awesome! I am just in awe of the dedication and commitment it took to achieve this goal. Like I said, AMAZING! Here he is about to cross the finish line


And here is another picture just after he finished. The look on his face says it all, relief to be done, huge feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment, gratitude for his able body and health... And so much more.


I think he was happy to see his little boy after such an exhausting day.


I love that so many people in the family were able to come and spend the afternoon hanging out at the park waiting for him to cross the finish line.


The kids all had a blast throwing the frisbee, playing on the playground, running wild and eating treats all afternoon.














Later that evening we all went back to Gary and Leesa's to have a family BBQ and congratulate Isaiah again. Isaiah's legs were beat so of course the little boys wanted him and Zac to jump on the tramp with them.





Very quickly the jumping turned to lounging, and it was fun to sit and watch two brother's and their little boys catch up. I wish they didn't live 6 hours apart.





It was such an incredible day and I'm grateful we got to be a part if it. Way to go Isaiah! Thanks for being such a great example to all of us!
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newport beach & disneyland- part 2

We were able to spend a few days at Disneyland and California Adventure. We had a great time! I was kind of sad that Zion didn't get as excited about the rides as I thought he would, but now I realize he is still a little young and everything was so new to him and probably overwhelming. He never cried or got nervous- and let's be honest... some of the rides like It's a Small World and Roger Rabbit are rather creepy, but he never got overly excited about any of them either. We were all laughing because he would just stay blank faced with wide eyes wondering what in the world was going on. I guess it was a lot to take in for a little guy! Here are a TON of pictures from our trip. I realize how many there are but I don't scrapbook so this is where I put everything.




































Zion picked out this Mickey and would not put him down. He literally drug him around for most of the day. It was adorable.
















Of course seeing "Yiddy" was a huge deal. Zion was a little star struck.








We loved the California Adventure parade.
















And the Disney Junior Live on Stage show.




The bubble gun my mom bought Zion was a huge hit and kept him entertained for hours.












But, oddly enough, Zion's most favorite thing about the parks were all the letters. Have I mentioned he is OBSESSED with letters and numbers? Between rides he would run like crazy from one sign to the next, to the sewer covers to the trash cans... Anything that had letters on it, he was reading.








Mine and Zac's favorite thing was the World of Color show at California Adventure. We ate at the vineyard restaurant before hand to get the VIP seating, which I thought was way too expensive for Disney quality food, but it actually ended up being delicious and it was totally worth it to have a front row view. The show is AMAZING!








Our other favorite thing... Zion was soooo good when it came to napping in his stroller. We never had to go back to the hotel for naps. He would climb into his stroller, play with some of his new toys for a minute and then be out cold.




















I also enjoyed being able to go on some of the bigger rides with Zac while my mom and Heather watched Zion. They were kind of like mini dates.




We had such a fabulous and exhausting trip and I cannot wait to go again. I think it's just going to get more and more fun as Zion gets a little older... And maybe a little taller. I'm glad my family could come and enjoy it with us.




On another note, I love that Zion is always sitting like this. Kids and their flexibility.








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