May catch-up...

Happy June, everyone! I was just looking through some of our pictures from May and realized that we had missed blogging about some of the fun things that happened. I've been a little pre-occupied with my "nesting" tendencies at the end of this pregnancy, and have been a negligent blogger. So here are a few quick pictures for jounaling's sake.

The month started off with a bang--Paul's 30th bday. We had a fun celebration as a family, spending the day together and enjoying the beginning of Paul's vacation time. Here is the cake Michael made with my assistance.


He was the brains behind the operation, formulating the theme, design, and directing my mixtures of colors. It is a beach cake... his favorite place to go with his dad. He did the waves and the sunshine, and directed my placement and methods, squeezing the frosting with me in the other elements of the cake. I had a lot of fun doing it with him.

Then it was off to Utah. As always, I got home from our trip sorely disappointed with myself with the lack of pictures I had to show for all the fun times we had.

The highlight for me was the surprise 30th bday party for Paul. We got to see so many people we haven't seen for far too long. Paul was really surprised and is still talking about how good it was to see so many friends there. It was heartwarming to see so many of you... thanks for the effort many of you made to celebrate with us. We were also able to spend time with my parents, Matt and Angela's family, Farcles, and my grandma Risenmay. They all made a significant effort to be there, and it was so good to be with them all. A special thanks to Paul's parents and mine for all the work that went into the party... it couldn't have been pulled off without the help!

And a special thanks to everyone who sent a birthday message to Paul. He had a really nice night reading through all of them. He just kept saying... "that is so nice," "those were good times," "I hope we get to see them soon..." etc. etc. etc. Our lives have been touched by so many wonderful people creating many wonderful memories. Thanks for being a part of our lives.

But can you believe I didn't take a single picture?? Pathetic. I'll have to grab some from Stephen...???

Other fun times that I actually have pictures of--a trip to Thanksgiving Point with the Frandsen "cousins"--Jill and Steven's kids.


We love, love getting together with them... but always feel outnumbered with all of our youngins. This time we had 7 (1/2) kids four-and-under.


Having fun Uncle Stevie there helped out the adult-to-kiddo ratio...


Michael has a blast with the triplets, and I always come away with new ideas and helpful hints from Jill. This time I racked her brain about potty training and "big bed" switch-over.

Michael and Zach are so fun together...

Here is a cool-daddy-o shot inspired by the NYC Hipster, probably...


And Abby and Bekah loved following Jane and Kate around.


We also had a fun day at the Children's Museum in SLC. We will definitely be getting passes there in the future... so much to enjoy and discover.


This was an exhibit with balls that are suctioned up into tubes. They "fly" up through curves and loops, which fascinated the kids for the longest time.



We had lots of other fun times doing things with the family, and just hanging out. My parents came down from Oregon and we were able to spend some with them, which was a special treat. It was fun to be around Stephen and get to know our nephew, Aaron a little better (oh, and see his parents, too). Mother's Day was, as always, a special treat with a gourmet dinner done completely by the Frandsen men (and Hannah, who made the best rolls ever!). We were also able to do some looking around/thinking about hospitals and spots to live. Exciting to think about... just one year away...

The morning we got home, Bekah entered a new phase I'll call "kitchen discovery." It began with flour from the baking shelf in the pantry. Her mess...


and her sidekick...


The "kitchen discovery" phase has expanded to the refrigerator, inspiring her to even figure out the refrigerator "safety lock" I purchased. Her favorite food: stollen strawberries.

One of our biggest transitions this month was getting the girls into "big girl beds."


They LOVE their toddler beds, and have been having a LOT of FUN at bedtime. The giggling and chattering lasts for at least 30 minutes after the door is shut, but they eventually fall asleep.

Here is their "practice" sleeping before getting in their jammies that first night.



This is going on too long, so I'll wrap up... but another highlight came last weekend when we got to meet up with Joe and Amy Lee. They are both friends of Paul's from high school... a wonderful couple. A big advantage of marrying Paul was inheriting the good people who have been a part of his life.


We loved being with them for a night in LA, and are grateful that we'll be getting together with them again and again throughout our lives.

May ended yesterday with a bit of a scare as I had contractions coming every 10 minutes throughout the day. They were more intense than normal, but never got too bad, and never got within the 4-5 minute range that sets off the "go to the hospital" alarm. With rest and a day off my feet, they have calmed down and I felt great today...

So a little bit of "false labor"... no big deal. We are at week 37 now, and the ultrasound I had last week shows that little Ella is actually pretty big, and the Dr.'s estimate guess is that she'll be pushing 8 pounds this week.

Anyway. We've made plans to induce labor on the 12th of June (less than two weeks!) due to Ella's estimated big-ness and Paul's funny residency schedule. So unless she decides to make more productive contractions before then, June 12th is the day! Just a few more things on my to-do-to-nest list before then...