Sledding

Justin and I took Mckayla out sledding for the first time at the begining of this month. She seemed to like the first couple of runs down the hill, but after that she got a little scared.

Christmas

Our family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas this past year. I embraced the feelings of joy and hope that come during that time of year. I spent many nights just staring at the gorgeous glowing lights eliminating from our Christmas tree thinking about fun memories of Christmas as a child. My favorite memory that I thought about often was just waking up to snow and feeling like we lived in a cozy cottage in the woods. I didn't have to imagine hard, because my childhood home is surrounded by thick oak brush and a wooded backyard. It was so neat to see deer wandering through our backyard as a child. I also turned my thoughts to Christ during the Christmas season and cherished all the things that I have been blessed with in my life and throughout the year. Not only was Justin and I blessed physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc, but our families spoiled us with gifts once again. It is fun to feel like a kid again and be excited to open gifts. Justin and I just got one thing for each other for Christmas as we decided we want to save up money to go on a vacation. Mckayla had a nice Christmas but she didn't quite grasp the idea of unwrapping gifts. In fact, she never even touched one of our Christmas presents-shocking. She did love the ornaments on our Christmas tree though. I wanted to get a picture of my decorated tree this year, but there was not much left to see once Mckayla decided to undecorate the tree. The big round ornaments were Mckayla's "balls." She also loved the icsicles and gold stars.


This is Mckayla in her new ball tent tht she got for Christmas. She loves to climb inside it and play with the balls and read books.



Here are a few things that Mckayla got for Christmas: Her Mickey Mouse Club Ball Tent, Fisher Price Basketball Hoop,clothes, a zhu zhu pet, and new boots. We spent the night at Justin's parents house and Mckayla got to wake up to Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was so fun to see the look on her face when she walked into the room with all the gifts.

Fishy Lips

Oh this picture cracks me up. On Thanksgiving my Dad pulled out his Nikon digital camera and was taking pictures of Mckayla. When I saw Mckayla doing her fishy lips, it had me rolling on the floor. She is such a hoot!

Thanksgiving

This year Justin, Mckayla, and I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving. The guests also included my twin sister Jessica and her husband Tim, some family friends, my little sister Alexis, and my parents. We had a honeybaked ham, as per my Dad's request, and enjoyed some other favorite dishes. I love the fall time and have so much in my life to be grateful for: my life, my husband, my sweet daughter, my twin sister, my parents, my testimony, my faith, the employment that Justin and I have, my education, and the list goes on. Thank you for all who bless my life!

Fall Hobbies

I have felt super crafy this fall. The first picture is a floral arrangement I put together. That was fun. The next two pictures are of an apple pie I made. This is the first apple pie I have ever made. Okay, so have you ever hear of Wisconsin's famous apple pie in a bag? I hadn't either until the other day I was browsing for new recipes on the foodnetwork (which is also another hobby of mine). They had a video of some cooks at the Elegant Farmer in Wisconisn showing how they make this pie. Ah, it looked so heavenly I had to try it myself. Mine turned out a little juicy inside, but it was so delicious with some vanilla icecream on top. The next picture is of my first diaper cake. It seems I have had lots of baby showers the past little while. I have put together some fun baby gifts for my friends. The last picture is of some little girl hair bows that I made. I have been super excited about learning how to make botique hair bows for Mckayla and to give away to my friends as gifts that have baby girls. I will keep you posted as to how my skill increases in this area. I have struggled making the "korker" bow. They are the curly cue ones that you see. You actually put the ribbon on a dowel, spray starch on it, and then put it in the oven. They were really fun to make.

Mckayla's 1st Birthday!

October 8th Mckayla turned one! On saturday we had a birthday party with friends and family. We served sweet pulled pork burritos with costa vida ranch sauce (I made this home made), fruit, veggies, and a peach/fresca punch. Mckayla's favorite part of her lunch was the grapes and strawberries. Mckayla also got to see her second cousin Ivy who is a month older than her (See the picture above of the two girls and the toy car). One of Mckayla's favorite toys was a Fisher Price cookie shape jar. Right before we were going to sing to Mckayla, she already dipped into her cake! She loved squishing it in her fingers. I don't know how much even made it to her mouth.

Justin and I can't believe our little girl is already one! Recapturing the moments that classify Mckayla: her smile that makes her eyes squinty, her sad cry when she falls down, her sweetness when she cuddles a stuffed animal, when she coos to see balloons, or lights, when she claps whenever you say "Yeah", when her eyes get all bright when she sees the baby einstein caterpillar on the DVD, when she runs away stark naked when you are trying to change her diaper, when you come into the kitchen and see her sitting in the drawer tearing up all the coupons and ads, when she keeps throwing her sippy cup on the floor so she can say "uh-oh", when you put her in her car seat and she turns around and stand up, and best of all when Daddy and Mommy go into the nursery to see Mckayla fast asleep! Thanks for the best year ever Mckayla!

Growing up so fast!

Mckayla is now walking all over. She has been able to take a few steps at the beginning of the month, and is now using walking as her main form of transportation. Mckayla is growing so fast. She is babbling a lot and loves to read books. She is such a daddy's girl right now too. Whenever he is around, she clings to him. We are getting excited to celebrate her first birthday!

One Step Closer

Mckayla is so close to walking. We hope she can walk on her own before her first birthday. The day she started crawling, she was also standing up next to anything she could possible hold onto. To help her with this goal, she walks with this toy car. Her favorite thing to do is push the smallest button on the car which plays music. This has gotten very old to mom and dad when it is played at 7:30 in the morning at the loudest volume ever. Despite its loud sounds, Mckayla has made great steps with this car. She can walk across a room pushing it, even going at a quick pace. She loves to sit and dance to the music too!

Hiking in the Uintahs

Justin and I took Mckayla hiking for the first time yesterday for the 24th of July. The weather was not too hot in the mountains, so that was nice. Once we reached Long Lake, we took a lunch break and Justin tried catching some fish.

Fun in the Sun!

Mckayla got to play in her first baby pool. She loved it. She was so happy the whole time.