Point Mugu Camping

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Camping. We love it and don't do it as often as we'd like to.
There's just something about being in the outdoors and away from it all and sleeping under the stars all cozied up to each other on a (deflating) air mattress. ha. but really. i need more camping trips in my life.

About a month ago, we drove up to Point Mugu and camped with Hawkleys + Facers.
We had such a fun time and it will for sure be a trip none of us would forget.

I always feel so lucky that Piper gets to grow up with her cousins. 
They are all so close and love each other so much. They have a special bond that is unlike any other.
I know for sure that these kids were playing with each other in heaven before they all came down to earth. I know they knew each other before. 











Piper's FIRST Year

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

I'm a little behind, but Piper turned ONE! 
(on October 6th)
She is seriously my favorite little human ever.
She: loves chocolate milk, bath time, strawberries, blueberries (any fruit really), loves gnawing on sliced apples, has 4 teeth - two top/two bottom, favorite game is "I'm gunna getchya" & "whereeee's piper?", walking like a champ, loves to brush her teeth/cries when we brush our teeth because she wants hers brushed, naps amazingly, takes a binky when she sleeps (and whenever she's in a screaming mood), loves to be held when I'm cooking..it's like she KNOWS  hates sitting in the shopping cart - HAS to be standing in the large cart area of it, loves her new shoes, loves chatting on the phone with her imaginary friends, very social, waves hi and bye, says "Dada" all day long, loves to be right next to me playing by herself, likes for me to hold her while I'm cooking - which makes cooking a meal a long process, laughs at pretty much everything and it's the best, started throwing her food off her tray while eating and it makes for an awesome mealtime (wink), obsessed with dogs (her first official work is "Gog" aka dog), loves to crawl holding a shoe in each hand, actually ALWAYS has something in her hands, and loves to lay with us in bed.
One of my favorite things about her is how independent and curious she is. She wakes up squealing and excited to get the day started. She loves doing things on her own most of the time and she is pretty fearless when trying new things. she is such a lover and if someone else is hurt or crying, she gets so sad and concerned. we are obsessed with her blue eyes. i feel like she stares into my soul sometimes and honestly, sometimes she looks into my eyes with the most serious face and i feel like we just connect. some of my favorite moments with her are those.
she talks ALL day long. she is not quiet or shy in the slightest. 
AND she gives me kisses all. day. long. 
she is my littlest best friend and i love her more than words.

sidenote: when she was born/the first while of her life, she was 99% me, looks wise. as she's grown she's definitely started to change a little and look a lot more like her dada. she's pretty much 50/50. 

i put together a little video montage of some of our favorite clips of her from her first year of life.
I'm still blown away that it has been a full year. 
enjoy!

Puerto Rico - Part I

Thursday, September 18, 2014

I'm separating this in two parts because otherwise, it could get prettttty long with all the pictures and the video and whatnot.
so part I is the video.

First though, here's a little bit about our trip...

WHAT A WEEK! We seriously had so much fun. 
we decided to hop around the island and see different parts instead of just staying in 1 place the whole time.
we felt like we saw almost everything there was to see. (I'm sure there's tons more, but we were content with all that we did)

We started in San Juan. (where the airport is) I found a cheap place through airbnb, which was kinda weird/we are super glad we were only there for one night. the girl was there the whole time and it just wasn't in thee nicest part of town, but it was fine and all we needed was a bed to sleep so it worked.
it was fun to explore san juan. it's definitely the most touristy part of the island so we knocked off some tourist "must-see" spots like old san juan and went on our way.
i loved old SJ. it was so beautiful with its different bright colorful buildings.
the food was yummy too. the ben & jerry's in PR is off the charts. they handmake the waffle cones as you are ordering so that when you get it, it is still warm and amaaaazing. 

after SJ, we headed to the northeast side, Fajardo. We took a jet to an island called Culebra where we went to Flamenco beach and spent the day there. it was so gorgeous. that water was insane. while we were beachin it there, a storm rolled in so we just put our stuff under a nearby beach goers umbrella (don't worry we asked) and stayed in the water until it passed. it was actually kind of the funnest thing ever and kind of romantic. (cheesy, but true) we took the plane back and headed to our hotel..which was un.freaking.believable. 
this resort had about 8 restaurants to choose from, a spa, the nicest gym, a water park, a private island, shopping stores (like a mini mall), and more. we honestly didn't want to leave...but we couldn't afford it, so 2 nights was perfect.
when we got there we quickly changed our original plans of going out and exploring and decided to stay at the resort and enjoy all it had to offer for a day. because there was too much goodness to pass up and we weren't about to pay all the money to stay there and not reap the benefits. that would just be stupid. so we did. we dined, we swam, we laid out, we worked out, AND we enjoyed that amazing water park. we actually could've spent a couple hours at just that place alone. at night that night, we did a Bioluminescent bay tour. we kayaked through these mangroves in the ocean and the water was ELECTRIC blue when touch. it was probably one of thee coolest things i think i've ever ever done.

the next day we checked out and headed to our next destination, Rincon, which is on the westside of the island where the surf was. we made a pit stop at the Yunque Rainforest (a must) on our way and it was gorgeous. we hiked to a waterfall that was stunning..minus the tourists. 
the drive to Rincon was about 3 hours (had no idea it was that long), and we hit a major storm on our way..the raindrops were ginormous to the point where we literally couldn't see out the window. but we made it through and then the sun was shining 5 minutes later. (that place is funny like that)
Rincon was the cutest place and just enough rural to get the real life Puerto Rican experience. away from all the tourists and attractions.
we found a beach resort and stayed there for the next 4 nights. we woke up, surfed, ate, came back to our hotel, read our books at sunset, ate dinner, watched a movie, and slept. it was kind of perfect. AND i have to mention the dinner i had at our hotel was hands down the best meal i think i have EVER had in my entire life. it was so good i ordered it 3 nights in a row. I'm salivating just thinking about it right now...
we surfed at 2 spots called maria's and domes. I long boarded 1 day and jason was able to use a short board one of the days and long boarded the next. the water was so nice and warm. i am by no means a good surfer AT ALL, but the waves were so fun and easy to catch that it made me feel like i was amazing! haha it was the best.
on our last day there we drove up to Arecibo, just an hour north to hit up a couple must see spots. We went to this cave called the Cuevo de Ventana..where we literally hiked through a DARK cave with BATS EVERYWHERE and cockroaches and deadly spiders. it was absolutely terrifying..not sure i've ever broke out in a sweat so fast in my entire life. i just squeezed jason the entire time. the view at the end of the cave was unreal, so worth it, but it still gives me chills just thinking about it.
we also went to this spot where there are amazing arches on the water, cool water caves, and we went snorkeling. it was the perfect way to spend our last day there.

it was so fun to getaway with just jason and i and reconnect by spending quality time with each other. although i have to admit, i missed piper more than i'd like to admit. like on the verge of tears when i thought about her. but she was in great hands and i knew she was fine. i just missed my little sidekick. while i was there i realized i have spent every single day of her life with her. every. day. minus a couple hours where we've gone out to dinner or a movie without her. going from every day to not seeing her at all for EIGHT DAYS seems like eternity. jason missed her just as much as i did too. we kept catching ourselves talking about her and every time we saw a baby about her age or size we'd just look at each other with a sad face.

but i truly loved this trip and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. 
it has something to offer for all types of people. 

here's a little video i put together of our vacay.
(pictures to come in the next post)

 
Puerto Rico - HD 720p from Annie Kimball on Vimeo.

ELEVEN months

Monday, September 8, 2014

wait, can we just talk about HOW my baby is going to be ONE next month!?
I can't even handle it.

this age is SO FUN. 



 she is crawling like crazy and pulling her self up on anything and everything.
she uses her little walker like a champ. 
she can stand for a couple seconds.
she is eating big kid food.
she says mama.
she can understand a lot.
still takes 2 naps a day.
talks all day long.
loves sitting on her knees..kills me.
she is just so fun and energetic and we couldn't love her more.

time just needs to slow down, that's all :)


LeSueur Family Reunion

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

This year our family went up to Lake Arrowhead to spend a few days of quality time together.
it was so much fun, I never wanted it to end!
I made a little video of our weekend..here it is:)

washington

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

last week, piper and i went up to washington to visit my grandparents.
we only went for four days, but it was so fun to be up there.
growing up, we spent time up there every summer and i have so many memories of that beautiful place.
it was also so fun for my grandparents to meet one of their great granddaughters. that reunion was so sweet to see.
while we were there we went on walks, went running, went to riverfront park, watched an imax movie (piper watched the whole thing), went to lunch, had dinner outside in the backyard every night, played games (booray- a new favorite), went to the river, paddle boarded, visited with cousins, and enjoyed the summer days up there in the green trees.
we missed our daddy, but overall, it was a wonderful little trip:)




































10 months!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

the boobooz is 10 months! 
(on the 5th)
she is so busy..always on the move and always getting into something.
she talks all the time and loves to use that pointer finger of hers.
she loves to eat whatever we are eating and she is actually really good at chewing..even though she doesn't have many teeth.
speaking of teeth, her first 2 bottom teeth finally made an appearance!
she's seemed fine with them..hasn't been too cranky.
went on her second big trip on a plane..we flew up to spokane, washington to visit with my grandparents.
it was so much fun and she did so great.
she has mastered crawling up the stairs and can do it so fast.
she is a crawling machine.
can understand a few things we say like: "no", "come here", "hi & bye", and loves to imitate us.
she started waving and it's my new favorite thing.
loves the beach.
pulls herself up on everything and can walk while holding whatever she's holding onto.
takes 2 naps a day.
because she's so mobile, she seems to be bonking her head, running into things, falling down, etc. more often than not. but she rarely cries about it. she just gets up and keeps on moving.
loves to do whatever we are doing.
loves listening to me when i'm talking to someone on speakerphone.
has become so cuddly.
still loves to give big kisses.
laughs all the time..a few sundays ago i had to take her out of sacrament meeting because she was laughing too much/too loud. haha it was funny.





these pictures are getting harder and harder to take because she won't sit still.
you should see/hear the things I'm doing behind the camera to get her to sit there and smile.
lets just say i was sweating by the end of this little photo shoot. haha
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