Welcome Home Marcus!!!

My brother Marcus got home today from his 2 year mission in Argentina. It was so exciting to see him again. He's pretty much the same ol' Marcus, which I love (whom I love?). But because it's late and I forgot my camera, you can check out the post that my aunt did on my grandma's blog. Thanks Alliene! :)

This is Halloween! This is Halloween!

Getting a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch

Carving the pumpkin

Party time!

Utah (it's a long one)

We got back yesterday from our first big vacation as a family. Halle did remarkably well, even with the 14 hour drive home yesterday (should've been a couple hours shorter if it wasn't for a flat tire and traffic in Phoenix). She definitely had her restless, get-me-out-of-this-carseat moments, but as long as we kept her entertained with food, toys, and anything else we could think of she was ok. We left Wednesday afternoon, a couple hours later than planned, and drove to St. George where we stayed with a friend from David's mission. We got there around 2 a.m., talked for a little bit, went to bed, got up and had breakfast with them, then left for Spanish Fork around 11. Thanks Dustin and Felicia for the hospitality, it was good to see you, even if it was only a short time. Then we drove to David's sister's house in Spanish Fork and spent the rest of the weekend there, or at least slept there every night. I had arranged for my cousin to take pictures of us that night, so we drove up to the Mt. Timpanogos temple and quickly took some pictures there as the sun was going down. I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be, mostly with Halle's outfit, but we still got some good pictures, even if Halle didn't want to smile in the family pictures--we needed my mom there to make her laugh. But she did great when we took pictures of her by herself. (She's quite the independent one.) Here are some of my favs--






There's a lot more, but I'm tired of trying to figure out which ones I want to put on. You might be able to see more at my cousin's photo blog.
So after the pictures we went to a museum at BYU with Andy and Annette (David's sister) where they had tons of stuffed animals (real animals, not toy ones) on display, everything from insects to elephants to fish, and watched a little presentation about the different types of ecosystems and the animals that live in them. The girl doing the presentation even had some live animals to show and touch. So Halle got to touch a turtle and a snake, but not the tarantula, since you had to hold perfectly still and not breathe on it if you wanted to hold it. I wouldn't have let her anyways. Then after some Cold Stone we headed back to the house. This is the only picture I took at Annette and Andy's, and it's from my phone, but this is Halle eating with her cousin Madi.

Friday we slept in and just took it easy for the most part, but did make a trip to DI and then to a "Country Farm Fest" in Payson. I saw it advertised while we were out driving, so we decided to go check it out. There was a hay maze, wagon rides, a petting zoo (which Halle loved until the piglet started squealing when Annette tried to pick it up), food, and other booths trying to sell stuff. The kids had fun, and it was nice to do something "fall-ish". The only pictures we got were these two from David's phone:


Finally on Saturday we went up to my cousin Amy's wedding in South Jordan at the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was beautiful--the temple, the wedding, Amy, the weather besides a little wind, the reception. This was our main reason for going up to Utah. It was just nice that we got to see other family and friends there too. Here's some pics from the reception:
I loved how the tables were decorated--perfect for a fall wedding.

Halle loves chairs--this is her reaction after I put her on it.

Halle loves her Grandma too, and was so happy she was there.

The happy couple, Eric and Amy

Amy and me

We had a great time and I'm glad we were able to make the trip. Utah is so pretty right now, I wish it was like that here. It's good to be home though, now I need to get back to my laundry. :(

P.S. Thank you Annette and Andy for everything!

It's a Zebra Party!!

My baby is now 1 and I don't know whether to cry or jump for joy! It's bittersweet--the "baby" year flew by and when I realize she's never going to go back to that stage it makes me a little sad, but when I think about what comes next and the new things she'll start doing I get excited...and nervous. I'm really gonna have to take advantage of naptime, or I won't get anything done! Good thing she has some new toys to keep her occupied for little moments at a time. Anyways, I'm not going to get too mushy, but I'm just so thankful that I have an adorable, fun, lovable, healthy daughter. It's hard to think about life before she was here--it just seems like she's always been a part our family. I love you Halle!! Her day didn't start out too good because she had soaked through her diaper and wasn't too happy when she woke up, so after a quick bath she was ok, especially when she saw her new toy-- This is her door that I decorated. Growing up, our doors were always decorated on our birthdays, so I wanted to carry on the tradition. Of course she didn't really notice it because she was too upset about being all wet. I made her some Swedish pancakes for breakfast which apparently aren't her favorite, but I enjoyed them, and so did Audrey and Clarice. (We always got our favorite meals on our birthday too.) The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent getting ready for the party. We had lots of friends and family come to celebrate. Halle wasn't too interested in opening the presents, but luckily there were plenty of little girls to help her! She loves her stroller aunt Clarice and uncle Brady gave to her! Then we had the cake. Let me show you the picture first-- Isn't it beautiful?! My aunt Alliene made it, and it was her first time using fondant. Pretty amazing huh? It was just what I wanted!!! Thanks Alliene. (I guess I should expain the whole zebra thing, except there's really nothing to explain. I just thought it would be cute, hence the zebra invitation, zebra cake, zebra outfit, zebra toy, and zebra balloons.)
So we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, gave her the cake with the candle in it, and then she reached for the flame and burned her finger. It happened so quick David didn't have a chance to stop her. But luckily it didn't do any damage, just scared her a bit. I'm sure it hurt too, but there's no blister or anything. I have it on video but it was taking forever to upload so I canceled it. Anyways, hopefully she's not scarred for life. After she calmed down we put her back in the chair to eat the cake, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

So, it all turned out great. Thanks to everyone who helped, especially David who did his "honey do" list without complaint. Couldn't have done it without him. And thanks to my mom, Audrey and Morgan for babysitting so I could get stuff done, and for helping with the food. (Alliene and Lynette too.) Thanks to all who came and shared this day with us.

I'm back

This blogging thing has become more of a chore lately and it's getting harder to find time to do a post. But I thought some of you (Clarice) would like to see and hear about the latest and greatest in Halle's life, so here are some pictures for your entertainment.

We went to Willcox last week to watch David rope with his dad and brother--Halle always gets a ride when Dad's on the horse.


Chilling in the stroller

All by herself!


Halle's cousins, Austyn and Shealyn, were there to watch their dad rope too.

These last 4 pictures were taken today. I was in the living room with Halle and I don't remember what I was doing but I looked up and she had gotten herself into this little box all by herself. She is quite the climber!


This picture just makes me laugh

And this picture just melts my heart. Don't you love her ponytail? And those teeth? And how cute she is?!?!

I can't believe Halle will be one this month. I think this year went by faster than the nine months of pregnancy. I love watching Halle grow and learn new things. She's actually taken a few steps, but I think she still prefers crawling for now. She is also a drama queen--she better get what she wants or you'll hear it from her. She gets that from her Aunt Clarice (when you were younger, not now!) But we still love her and wouldn't have it any other way!

Catching up...

I know it's been a long time since I've updated. It's not like I've been super busy, I just haven't gotten around to it. Plus my slow computer takes forever to upload pictures so after I get all the pictures on I'm not in the mood to do anything else, or Halle has woken up from her nap or something. But here's a little catch-up on some things that have been going on in the last month:

One of our dogs, Jovi, had puppies (I don't remember when) and Halle loves playing with them. Granted, she doesn't play with them very often because I don't like to get all dirty and stinky, but she loves looking out the window at them.


Halle also had her first ride on the skid steer with Dad. She was pretty intrigued.



Here's a picture of one of the many messes Halle likes to make. She loves drawers and loves pulling everything out of them, one at a time. I'm surprised she hasn't figured out the cupboards yet, but that's quite all right with me!


Halle and my nephew Luke got to be in the Benson 4th of July parade this year. It was my mom's idea, of course, and I think they all loved it! Halle even got her picture in the Benson paper! They were the cutest part of the parade! And as you can see, it wore her out.




I just had to put this picture in because it cracks me up every time I see it. Luke and Halle love playing together and get so excited when they see each other. I was trying to take some pictures of them and I happened to snap this one at just the right moment!


That's all for pictures. Halle had her 9 month checkup a few weeks ago. She weighed 18 lbs, 6 oz which put her in the 50th percentile. Her doctor is a little concerned that she's dropped from the 90th percentile down to the 50th, but she's still in the 90th for height so I think she's just stretching out. She is 10 months old today and I don't know how that happened! I love watching her grow and do new things but it's going by too fast! I can't get enough of her.

I guess I could put a little blurb in about me and David, since this has all been about Halle. We're not as exciting though. David is pretty much always working, which I appreciate, but I love when he's home too. If he had more time he would be riding horses and roping. Maybe someday... I've been playing in a women's softball league and have lots of fun with that. I was also able to get away a few weeks ago and saw Wicked with my mom and sisters. (Amazing--loved it!) Halle stayed home with David and did great! We are a happy little family enjoying life.

Our Little Cowgirl

For Father's Day I wanted to take some pictures of Halle dressed as a cowgirl to give to David. My amazing aunt Alliene took these pictures the other night and they turned out SOOO good! (Even if her legs are too chubby to zip up her boots!) Halle was so happy and smiling--most of the time. I was so excited for David to see them so I gave him his present last night. This was the picture I framed:

And here are some others that I really like too:






She didn't really like the wooden horse--this was the best we got: