Boy or Girl?

Well tomorrow we find out if BB3 is a boy or a girl! It's such a fun time to be in this stage of life where our family is growing. Tonight we don't know what our family dynamic will look like, but by tomorrow at 9am we'll have another piece of the family puzzle.

I asked Justin what he is thinking about and the first thing he mentioned is that if we have another boy we'll be all set for clothes (even the seasons will be correct, again), but if it's a girl we'll have to buy a bunch of new clothes haha.

In all honesty though he said he's mostly just excited about how cute the boys are going to be when the baby comes. They're going to want to give the baby kisses and hugs. They're going to be such good big brothers.

In fact, it was so funny because when I was newly pregnant we started testing out Nolan's feelings on having another baby. And every single time we brought up the idea of another sibling he'd scowl and say, "NO! Branson is enough!" or "Just Branson!" But then a couple of weeks ago when we told him in no uncertain terms that there is a baby in mommy's tummy he immediately 180-ed. Seriously, there was not a moment of overlap. Now he and Branson are always patting my belly and saying, "good morning baby", "does baby wants some fries?" "does baby want some shake?" "can baby see the show?" "can baby hear me singing?" and telling the baby goodbye when I leave for work. It's the cutest thing ever. And when we had a water balloon fight the other day N didn't want to hit me or baby and told Branson not to hit me either. What a sweet gentleman.

Justin and I are also thinking tonight that it will be kind of fun to start thinking about names and starting tomorrow we can do that. In fact, he said he has a few girls names he really likes, but if it's another boy he'll have a hard time coming up one :)

I really am happy no matter if the baby is a boy or a girl. I'm sure it would be fun to have at least one of each gender, but at the same time I really love my boys and I'd be so happy to have another sweet little man in the house. Plus, I like the toys boys typically play with better haha. Although, obviously personal experience tells me that even a girl can like those toys and sports just as much, if not more, than the boys! I'm also a little bit worried about how I will handle a girls emotions. I'm already not the best dealing with the boys emotions, I can't imagine if I had a little girl that was more dramatic haha. But, who knows, maybe a little girl is just what I need to help me work on that side of myself :)

Either way, we are so very excited to welcome another precious child into our home that we get the privilege of loving and caring for. He or she is already blessed with two wonderful big brothers <3

Random Fun - July

Cutting Nolan's hair

This stinker ran away after the movie; this is how Justin brought him back :)

My parents and Granky came and spent a night with us! It was really fun being able to show them our new house!

This picture was taken about a minute before Branson was running on the deck, tripped, and fell into the leg of a chair and was about this close --> <--- to needing stitches. Poor, crazy, kid. We went swimming with some Holladay friends at Kris Peterson's house.

We couldn't find Branson anywhere and I was starting to get worried when I caught a glimpse of two cute little legs sticking out of dad's clothes rack in our closet haha.

Branson will often wave goodbye to me as I leave for work and I absolutely love it.

These silly boys never want to take their church clothes off on Sundays. Not sure where they get that from because I take mine off about .5 seconds after getting home.

Both "reading" their Book of Mormon

Branson got a bloody nose one morning and, instead of coming to tell us, decided to sit on the stairs and rub his face into our brand new carpet. But with some elbow grease and my trusty Folex I'd say it looks pretty good!

Climbing up the water tower at Trolley Square. That was a 'no thanks' from mommy haha.

Pioneer Day

We had lots of fun this Pioneer Day! We ate some tin foil dinners (thanks @annawevensen for the idea!), played outside, had a water balloon fight, and did sparklers and popped a lot of pop-its!

I also took the opportunity to tell the boys the story of one of their pioneer ancestors, Alva Benson. Alva was born in New York, then moved to Indiana where he heard the LDS missionaries preach, believed, and was baptized. He was a millwright by trade and followed the Saints to Missouri, then Illinois, then crossed the plains to Utah. He helped survey and settle the town of Hyrum in northern Utah. A short history written about him concludes with the line, 

"Surely the Lord loved Alva Benson."

My boys think our neighbors, Jack and Luke, are just the coolest (and they are so sweet to them). We were hoping they'd be around to hang out with us, but they had to leave for a family obligation. Maybe next time!

How old are you?

Nolan is very interested in how old people are and comparing their ages. So if you see Nolan in the next bit, be prepared to answer his question about how old you are :) We just had GGm and GGp Hunt and Uncle Andy staying at our house and the first thing Nolan asked GG was how old she was haha. She told him 82 and asked if that was the oldest person he'd ever heard of and he said, "Nope, Granky is 99!" So cute. And he doesn't just ask and then forget. He remembers for a long time. Weeks after he'll say, well Paul is 42 and Uncle Andy is 48 and Daddy is 36 and mommy is 33 and Uncle Preston is the same age as Mommy, etc. He also thinks the older you are the stronger you are.

Family Reunion in Logan

Last weekend we drove up to Logan, twice, for some family time. It was a bit of a strange situation. My second cousin Jeremy, Debbie Coffey's son who lives in Missouri, planned a kind of informal Holmes/Hoffman family reunion in Yellowstone this year. It was really just my grandma's family and her sister Jeannine's families. Anyway, my grandma has started to have some trouble with her heart and was a bit worried about going to Yellowstone. So Jeremy and family kindly planned to spend a few days in Logan on their way to Yellowstone to spend some time with more of our family before heading out.

On our way north the first day we stopped (at my mom's request, but we were happy to do it) in Roy to put flowers/flag on the graves of Granky's brother and sister, LaRae.

I went to LaRae's funeral so I thought I'd remember where the stone was, but I was way off so the stop was longer than we planned. Didn't matter though, the boys were happy to wander and Nolan  helped look for the name (in the process he even found one that said Nolan!).

Of course we stopped at Maddox's on the way up for some yummy fried chicken and cornbread.

We had a few minutes to kill before meeting my parents so we took a drive down Main Street to find the old post office. I wanted to do this because I had recently seen a photo of my 3rd great grandfather, Moroni Benson in front of it and the photo indicated the structure was still standing. Sure enough, it is! It's actually an auto shop now and stands right next to the current post office.

I asked Justin to try to get a picture from a similar angle cause I'm a nerd like that :) Moroni is on the left (he lived 1833-1917).

Visiting great grandma Mathews grave. She would have loved these great grandkids so much! It's sad to me that she passed away without ever meeting one of her now 26 great grandchildren, although I have no doubt she is near, admiring them and loving on them in different ways.

Granky made the long trip up to Logan and we are so glad! Not only that, but look at him trudging up this hill in the Hyrum Cemetery to visit the graves of his in-laws and others of his wife's family <3

Posting these pictures made me think of a time recently when we were in the car and talking to the boys about how our family could be together forever. Nolan asked a few questions and then thoughtfully said, "I hope that's true." So Justin and I had a chance to bear our testimony that we know it's true and we're so happy to know it. He of course seemed more hopeful than anything, but that's ok. I hope to do whatever I can to help him cultivate his own testimony of the principle of eternal families.

Justin and Nolan went wandering in the cemetery and found this old tank. Nolan was in love. He and Branson played on it for a long time!

We found an awesome park in Logan. Seriously, I'm going there again next time we're up north.

Met some of my dad's cousins at The Bluebird (a family tradition). Nolan showing Granky his Transformers game, so cute.

Nolan loved LaNette, and she was such a good sport haha.

On the Fourth Justin took the boys to get some fireworks then we headed to Logan to meet my mom's family.

Porch swingin' with great grandpa Hunt.

Justin and my Uncle Adam talking college football/basketball :)

We headed back that night and went straight down to Gm and Gp Bailey's house for dinner and fireworks.

Two cute brothers in their 4th of July outfits.

My parents (and Granky!) got to stay one night and see our new house for the first time!