Johnny's Special Day

I can't even believe this kid is a year old now! We celebrated Johnny's birthday last Friday with a little party here at our house. Johnny was so happy his Grandma and Grandpa Perkins were able to stop by and share in his special day as well, and says thanks for the great gifts. Later in the evening we had some friends come over for cake and ice cream. Johnny loved it when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to him, but got a little shy when it was time to dig into his cake. After everyone else was enjoying their own dessert, he started enjoying his a little more. Even though he loved all his presents, I do think his favorite is the bat and whiffle balls his dad picked out for him. Johnny is so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who already love and support him so much. Thanks to everyone who was able to share his special day with us, and to those who wish they could have been here!

Mother's Day

Even though I was pregnant with Johnny last year on Mother's Day, and he was born just a few days later, this year felt like the first real Mother's Day for me. Brad made it very special and was sure to take such great care of me so I could relax and enjoy the day. He even started a day early by getting me these beautiful roses on Saturday. Sunday morning he made us a delicious breakfast, and then after church came home and made a fantastic dinner. His parents also stopped by on their way up to Salt Lake and were able to enjoy their son's wonderful cooking.

Thanks Brad for the wonderful weekend, and for taking care of this little rascal so I could have a little time to myself.

Pictures

Just a few random pictures I'm finally getting around to posting. The first is of Johnny with his cousins that came to visit for conference:

He absolutely adored all of them, and they were so great with him. Even Camille, who endured some hair-pulling and excessive grabbing due to this little guy's excitement. But she was a tough girl and was all smiles in the pool:

And lastly, Uncle Stevie on his new bike. Johnny and his mom both hope he stays in one piece.

Brad's Big Day(s)

So many exciting things happened for us in April, and I'm only now getting around to blogging about a few of them in this post. We had family come visit us during conference weekend, my parents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. Then the last week of April my mom and two of my aunts came to Utah for women's conference. There are some cute pictures from both visits, but they're on my mom's camera so I'll have to wait to post those.

Brad's first big day in April was on the 15th, when he turned 24 years old!

His birthday happened to be the first reading day of finals, so he didn't have any classes, and decided to take the day off from work as well. We had a fun lazy day at home, and were sidelined with some of our birthday plans because of the large amounts of snow we had that day! Apparently someone forgot to tell April 15th that it was supposed to be a warm, sunny spring day. Johnny also gave his dad the present of taking his first step on his dad's birthday. To see a video of our wobbly walker, go to brad's blog to watch it. He's already improved so much since then and is walking all over our house now.

Oh, and by the way, Brad also GRADUATED in April. We're so proud of him and all of his hard work, graduating Magna Cum Laude with his degree in civil engineering. He already started working full-time and is enjoying not worrying about school and homework for the summer.

Brad's parents, and Daylen, Ashley, and Brooks all came up to watch Brad graduate. Johnny loved playing with Brooks. They looked so cute together. We were happy to have family there to celebrate Brad's graduation with us, we're all so proud and happy for you Brad!

Happy Easter!!

We've been busy with our move to Orem, but Johnny looked so adorable in his Easter outfit that I wanted to post a picture. Unfortunately he wasn't too into sitting in one spot long enough for us to get a good shot. This kid is always on the go, and usually with a big smile on his face.

These next pictures are of Johnny in his new suit coat and tie that he got a few weeks ago from his grandma. He just looks so grown up, I can't even believe it! I think he also enjoyed matching his Dad for church.


Posing for so many pictures wore Johnny out and he fell asleep before we even left for church. His Dad never turns down an opportunity for a Sunday nap himself. Such handsome boys!

Big News

Everything has been going great and life has been coming at us pretty fast. This is just a quick update on our lives over the past (and coming) few months.



Right now I am sitting in the Phoenix airport on a 4 hour layover on our way to Mexico. If I didn't get the chance to tell you what I'm doing, here goes. For one of my engineering classes we have been working with engineering students in Mexico on some civil engineering-related projects in Mexico. My project involves flood mitigation in the city of Tlaltenango. For the next week, we will be in Zacatecas working on the project, presenting our results, etc etc, and living up the spring break that BYU doesn't give us. So it will be quite fun, but a great learning experience at the same time.

The downside of all this? Being away from Keriann and Johnny all week :( But they will be visiting Keri's family in Seattle, which will be good for them.


I'm graduating! This is my last semester and I will graduate in April. The company for which I have been interning for the last year or so (JUB Engineering) made me a job offer. So I will be working there full-time beginning in May. I have also been accepted to BYU's graduate program. So, along with working at JUB, I will be working on a Master's in Civil Engineering beginning in September. That, along with the new baby, will keep us pretty busy. That means that we'll be in Orem for at least a few more years.

Oh, you're probably wondering about something that I just dropped in there towards the end of the last paragraph. That's right...I said "Orem." We found a new place to live that will be quite a step up and much more hospitable to all of you when you come visit. It is a 3 bedroom newly remodeled basement just off of 1600 South in Orem. We are very excited to move in at the beginning of April.

It just seems like everything is changing with school ending, a "new" job, new house, and of course, Johnny becoming a big brother.



Johnny is getting bigger everyday. He crawls all over and can stand on his own, but he is not walking yet. He has 4 teeth (2 front bottom and top). He also says, "Dadda" and "Momma." And he thinks (correctly) that he runs the house.

Keriann is also getting bigger, but for different reasons (she's not really big at all...I just thought that would be a good segue into the next topic). Ok, so here it is...Number 2 is on the way! Keri is about 3 months along and she handled the first trimester much better this time than last time. The baby is due on September 21 - so it could end up on Daylen's birthday or Cori's birthday (or anybody else's birthday in September). We waited this long to tell people because Keri wanted to tell her sisters in person. We already told Mom and Dad and, surprise surprise, Mom did a great job of not letting it slip. Thanks Mom.

So there it is. I'll give you updates when we find out the gender and anything else that is going on. We hope you are all doing great. Keep in touch.

-Brad

Viva Mexico

Tomorrow Brad is leaving for a trip down to Mexico for one of his engineering classes. He'll be there for a week working on an engineering project with other students from a university in Mexico. We're excited for him to have this experience, but we will definitely miss him and hope he stays safe. While he's gone Johnny and I will be in Washington visiting family so we don't get so lonely in Utah. Please pray that Brad will be safe, and please pray that I will be able to control my kid on the flight to Seattle by myself.