Oliver at ELEVEN months

         This month Oliver made the long flight to the birthplace of his father! Yup, England! We flew to England for Christmas and it was way too much fun. I started to feel incredibly excited about moving here next summer. One of the first places we went to was Warwick University to check out the campus and see if it would be a good fit for Nathan. It was. All three of us loved the campus. It felt like where we needed to be. I'm so glad that we have the Spirit with us always so we can be told when something is good or not. This campus visit was a good thing. 

       After visiting Warwick University we of course had to go to my favorite place... Warwick Castle. I cannot express how much I love this place. Anyone who wants to come visit us, I will take you here and you will love it!

        Soon we were off to Wales for Nathans family holiday. All the Mulligans under one roof. We had to get a pretty massive house but we easily filled it. We had the house over Christmas so we were able to celebrate together. It was a fabulous holiday for us and for Oliver. He had a great time with all of his cousins. A few of them getting quite attached to him. Good thing that we will be back in August for more cousin fun!

            I loved loved loved this trip to England! We had a great time with Nathans family and I was able to picture life here without all the fuss of Wedding plans. It felt so great to be there! I'm so excited for our move to England. What an adventure!

Oliver at TEN months

       We went to Mesa Falls this month! We drove there on a Sunday afternoon. It was getting close to the end of the season so it was pretty empty up there. We just wandered around and enjoyed the great outdoors.

      Oliver loves water features so we thought he'd love watching the waterfall instantly. Not so! He was actually pretty afraid at first. Its really loud! But after some time he really liked looking out at it.

        We went on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin for Halloween! We went to a pumpkin patch and just couldn't resist taking thousands of pictures of little Oliver amongst thousands of bright orange pumpkins! Love them all!

         We spent Halloween with Rachel's family in Ucon. We took Oliver around the trunk or treat and only got a few suspicious looks as we took candy for our 10 month old. Needless to say, We ate just about every piece ourselves. Oh, the joys of having a child!

Our Halloween window decorations

Flynn Ryder, Rapunzel, and Pascal

Oliver at NINE months

Ready to Party!

           This month Oliver and I went to DISNEYLAND! We met up with my family in Anaheim and had a great couple of days at the happiest place on earth. Oliver did absolutely amazing! He was pretty entertained by the whole thing. The rides were fun and he could go on just about all of them. I did managed to sneak away a time or two to go on some of the big rides. Tower of Terror is my favorite! We went in October so Disneyland had a special "Halloween Party" that we dressed up as Rapunzel and Pascal for. It was a blast!

T.O.T!

              Not long after getting back from Anaheim, my family came to visit Missy and I in the 'burg'. We went to the park one afternoon and had a really good time playing with the kiddos on the play structure and challenging each other to silly competitions. Who knew I could still hang upside down from a bar? Unfortunately there is no physical proof.

            We also wanted to go to a straw maze while my family was in town. It took a while for us to get out of our house so we were pushing our time limit. We had to get through the maze with the kids before the straw maze became 'haunted' after dark. We did not want Lily and Oliver to be in there when a bunch of teenagers dressed like creepy clowns and monsters were trying to scare them. Okay, honestly, I didn't want to be in there with those creepy teenagers either! Luckily we had Parker, Nathan, and Mark using their best analytical thinking so we got out of there with 15 minutes spare! Go boys!

         Oliver is old enough now that he is getting to know people and he has a really good time with my parents. My dad chose to come with Oliver and I to 'Toon Town' at Disneyland and as if that wasn't enough he also bought us some very expensive corn dogs afterward too. My mom always brings Oliver new clothes or toys and will get on the floor to play with him. Both he and I are lucky to have them!

Oliver at EIGHT months

           During Olivers eighth month we flew to San Antonio to visit my brother, Mitchell, his wife, Becca, and their sweet baby girl, Halle. The flight was really good despite it being Olivers first trip on a plane. As soon as we stepped out of the airport the heat hit. In a way it was comforting, it felt like home. 

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

           It was so hot that we frequently went for dips in the pool. When we first put Oliver in the pool with the floaty he wasn’t sure what to do. We put him on a big shallow step and he just started walking backwards and crying. The step was so big he was able to do this for a few seconds before we caught up with him and stopped him. It was hard not to laugh. 

             We had a lot of fun days while we were there. We went to the outlet malls and did some shopping, we played mini golf, and swam some more, all while poor Mitchell had to work. When Mitchell did get off at night we would go out to eat (fajitas!), play Mario Kart on the WiiU, or indulge in a “sweet volcano” from a much loved shaved ice 2point0 place that they discovered. Oliver even took his first solid steps in their apartment! Texas really felt like home when I got to meet up with my good friend Kylie and her family. They had plenty of embarrassing stories to tell Nathan... thankfully most of them were about my brother, Matt!

Sea World

             On Saturday morning, Mitchell, Becca, Nathan, and I went to Aquatica. It’s the new waterpark attached to SeaWorld. It is the coolest water park. One slide had a clear tunnel through a sting ray exhibit and another made you question whether you would live or die (seriously). It was our first outing without Oliver and it was too fun! Soon we missed our babes though so went back home, changed, and headed back to the park with our little ones in tow. This time we went to the actual Sea World part of the park. We saw dolphins getting fed and cool looking fish. Oliver really likes looking at fish. I am currently trying to convince Nath that we should get one!

             We also went to a couple shows. The Shamu show was in this absolutely massive stadium. Before it started they had a pre-show “dance party” going on. People would do certain dance moves and they would get shown on the jumbotron. During the freestyle part Becca and I stood up holding Halle and Oliver and made those babies dance… and they totally put them up on the big screen! I still chuckle thinking about it - chubby babies being forced to dance for everyone to see - gotta love it!

            So another day we did what my father insisted needed to be done while we were there. Go eat at the Big Bib. Oh man, did it live up to the hype. It was cheap and oh so delicious! And the last honorable mention for food in San Antonio is…. Shipley's Donuts. We had breakfast there twice, and grabbed an evening treat (dozen donuts) too. Oh my YUM! Why, oh why, are there no Kolaches up north?!

A pic we sent to dad of Becca and I peeking into the Big Bib

            On one of our last days we went to the Alamo. I will never forget it! (Hehe) Mitchell warned me not to ask where the basement is in the Alamo, its disrespectful. Darn.We also went to the Riverwalk. I love love love the Riverwalk in San Antonio. It has the coolest restaurants, shops, and hotels alongside this river. It’s a little Venice-esque. It had lots of awesome water features, which Oliver loved. He just stared at each one as long as we would let him. Cutie boy. As we walked along the Riverwalk, we went to the one place I deemed as a must-see. The stage on ‘Miss Congeniality’ where they do the interviews (“All you really need is a light jacket!”). We couldn't find it for a while but Mitchell didn't give up and he eventually found it for me -though we did have to walk through "Pee Alley". Haha! What a good brother!

Remember the Alamo!

      It was such a great visit! I miss Texas. It has a little piece of my heart there. Thanks to Becca and Mitchell for the fabulous time!!! Love them LOTS!

     The flight back was fine and then it was back to regular life. Regular life is not so boring though. Not with my Gops by my side!