Our Family

Thanksgiving

2012-01-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

I skipped a few months I know. I figured I would get some semi-recent pictures of my Things up. I'm going to be back-posting here in the next little while. So, here we go.

We've been carrying on a tradition with Daddy's family that we really enjoy. Even Thing 1likes it. We go shooting. I'm not talking about photo shooting, I'm talking the the big bang with rifles, shotguns, and handguns (can't forget the BB gun either). A good portion of Daddy's family likes to go shooting, so before the big meal, we shoot in the morning. It was actually nice and we didn't freeze.

Grandpa was shooting the .22 pistol with Thing 1. Don't worry he had earplugs, and we are very safe with the guns. We believe in teaching our children about guns because we have and use them. Regardless of gender, all of our children will be taught to handle a gun.

This little BB was a bit better in size for Thing 1. It funny shooting in comparison to the big guns.

Thing 1 ended up being the "Thrower", or as he calls it the "button guy". He sat down and pulled the lever to the clay pigeon thrower while either Daddy, Uncle J or I loaded it. He pulled the lever a few times for all of the shooters. This is Uncle R, he's an awesome shot.

Daddy with Thing 1 as the Thrower.

Thing 1 throwing for me.

He did it for Uncle J too.

This was at the end of the shooting. He was getting bored and needed some active play. Thing 1 missed Thing 2 as well, because he was with Grandma. Thing 1 will start coming when he's between three and four. Thing 1's nose wasn't even red, I was so happy with how warm it was.

After the big Thanksgiving meal; the Things and I went out with Aunt D and cousin S to play on the swing set.

Thing 1 loves getting height on this one!

Aunt D helped Thing 2 off the slide. It was awfully fast, but he loved it!

He loves the swing too, if that wasn't a look of joy, I don't know what is.

Christmas is almost here!

2011-12-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited for Christmas, and I just can't stand it! It's not because of the gifts (Although, I'm excited to give to my boys). It's because Thing 1 understands the true meaning of Christmas. At first he was pretty excited about Santa coming, however, Santa hasn't been that big of a deal once we explained Christmas with my Nativity. The first Family Home Evening of December we talked about The Nativity. We used my special Nativity that Dad gave me as "action figures". It was so exciting seeing everything click in Thing 1's eyes. We have even focused family scripture study and all of our FHEs on the birth of Christ. It's been a wonderful experience. Don't get me wrong, Santa is coming Christmas and for many more Christmas', but he's not at the forefront, let alone the reason why we celebrate this wonderful day. Merry Christmas and may you remember the true reason why we celebrate this blessed holiday.

P.S. The snow has finally arrived here lil old Southeast Idaho, so I'm no longer in rebellion, enjoy the snow!

More of July (To help remind me it doesn't stay cold forever here)

2011-12-07T20:01:00.001-07:00

I am in complete an total rebellion. Until the snow stays on the ground, I will not be putting up a snow background. I was so excited for snow, but it has yet to come. No, it's too cold to snow, it has certainly tried. Last week there was an awesome storm that put down maybe two inches in IF, but it was gone by the end of the day. So there, :)

Back to when it was warmer and sunnier..... Thing 2 received his first haircut and it went awesome. No crying or fussing. He talked and giggled with the stylist, it was awesome! So I've been giving him his haircuts since. No, I haven't had professional training. I was taught on dairy heifers. I used to clip them with big animal shears, and I was good at it. I like the haircuts that I give my boys, because they look good. Before his haircut

After

Mommy went with Daddy to a Cisco Live! conference in July. Guess where? Las Vegas! It was exciting for about 24 hours. Going out on the strip at night was not a good idea, but it was the only time we got to go out together. The outlet malls were nice for picking stuff up for the boys, but there wasn't much else I got to do. I ended up getting a nasty cough, and I was coughing up cigarette smoke and who knows what else for a week. It was disgusting.

At the end of July, Dad and I had three family members graduate from BYU-Idaho. Yay! We were so proud of them. Dad's sister-in-law graduated from Recreational Leadership.

Dad's younger sister and her husband as well. She graduated I believe with an Arts degree and he graduated in Computer Information Technology. All three of them received a Bachelor's of Science.

Come on give me some credit, I'm doing better! :)

A Moment to Blog Independence Day

2011-11-27T17:02:00.001-07:00

Finally, I'm not crazily running around cleaning, or editing or something that requires no computer time. So here we go. Not a whole ton happened in June, so I'm going to start back up in July. Particularly on Independence Day weekend. My family came into town and we were able to go up to Driggs at Huntsman Springs and participate in bunch of free activities.

This little car that Thing 1is standing by is the car that I grew up watching. It was used in one of the original movies in the late 1960's. This was...Herbie!

An air show provided by the Air Museum in Rexburg. It was pretty cool.

The boys were a little bored for a little while, but thankfully it didn't last too long. We actually stripped Thing 2 down from his shirt and hat so that he wasn't so warm.

Here's my happy and joyous Thing 2.

I loved this one of him with Daddy, waving the flag and all sorts of happy. Thing 2 was called a girl twice at this event despite the blue shirt he was wearing. So, he got a haircut a week and a half later.

My Mom and Dad are here on the right. My Dad can fall asleep just about anywhere. No joke.

Thing 1 stole Grandma's iPhone to play games many times.

My youngest sister. She was so fried by the end of the day, thankfully you can't tell, but she could feel it the next day.

My parents in front of the Grand Tetons.

Fireworks from that night.

Monday was actually Independence Day and I introduced Lil' Sis to a group called Americanas located in Rexburg, they're a horse riding drill team. Rexburg's rodeo was that day and so we were able to watch her ride in the grand entrance and National Anthem.

We were standing there talking and these little girls came up to her just wanting to talk. Now if you grow up around the rodeo world as a little girl, the princesses and queens are always shiny and beautiful. Well I do believe that these sweet little girls thought Lil' Sis to be a queen, they were absolutely adoring her.

Do you know what a pole cat is?

2011-10-09T16:16:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a while since you may have heard from/about our family. I do apologize. It has been a very busy summer, and now that fall has arrived, it's cool enough that I can stay inside for a little and get some other things done. Well I thought that I might start with the blog. Here's a little story that I think you might find amusing.

About two weeks ago, Thing 1 and I were out picking tomatoes out of the garden. Mind you it was dark, but not cold yet. So probably about 7:30ish. Thing 1 had a head lamp on so that he could use both hands and see what he was doing; I had a long tube flashlight that I love how bright it is. While we are loading our boxes full of the wonderful red fruit I hear a heavy rusting of leaves at the edge of our back property. Thinking, "Great, who's dog is out and about right now." I lift my light up and see a cat, not just any cat, a pole cat (skunk) running full bore at Thing 1 and I. As soon as I took my huge gasp, I very urgently tell Thing 1, "Thing 1, RUN! There's a skunk!" We both ran for the house and to the safety of a clean smelling sanctuary. That pole cat stunk up the neighborhood for the night, and I heard the next day that someone had found it rubbing up against the foundation of their house. Yech!

I learned that Thing 1 recognizes the urgency in my voice, he listens without question which I am completely grateful for and that he is an awesome little boy.

More to come soon. So don't give up on us yet!

Catch up: Memorial Day

2011-07-30T18:17:00.000-06:00

So, here's what we did on Memorial Day. We went to Grandpa P's grave and Granmda L's. We got to clean them up, put flowers on and spent time working on the garden. Again. Imagine that, prepping the garden around Memorial Day in Idaho. :)

We went out to Grandma P's house for lunch with a good portion of my husband's extended family. It was fun, and Thing 1 had a blast with his a cousin-in-law of Daddy's.

Lots of tag and chasing.

Thing 2 was really tired and almost fell asleep in Daddy's arms. Daddy didn't have a problem falling asleep while holding him though.

Thing 1 was holding and adopted uncle's flag. He passed away on a British island during World War I.

Aunt D and cousin S.

Thing 1 loves to help. Thankfully that hasn't changed.

"I didn't do it Mommy" He said so innocently.

Whee!!!!

What you lookin at?

Thing 1 and Grandma GG wandering around the cemetery. Reading and looking at different headstones.

Grandpa's headstone

Milestones

2011-06-03T10:32:00.000-06:00

Thing 2 has reached some milestones in the last week and I thought I might share them. I don't have a whole lot of pictures of them, but I'll still include a picture of my baby boy (Okay THREE pictures). He's currently cutting what looks to be like four teeth. The top four, poor tyke. Last Saturday, he officially started crawling. Almost two weeks ago he started sitting up on his own. Last week sometime I can't remember the exact date, but it's on the calendar, he has been pulling himself onto his knees. Not two days later he was pulling himself up into a standing position. Obviously while holding onto something. It's been exciting to watch, and it seems that he has reached all of these milestones within less than two weeks. So in a nutshell, Thing 2 is very mobile and growing so fast.

Thing Likes putting his Mickey ears on Thing 2, and Thing 2 doesn't mind it at all.

Yes, I know this one is blurry, but I wanted to show a completely joyous face of Thing 2. And this was the only one I got that day with the Mickey ears.

Almost Too Much Chocolate Cake

2011-05-28T06:00:00.002-06:00

For those of you who live nearby, you know that I've been having waaaay too much fun with this wonderful recipe from an old friend of mine and cake creator. It's called Almost Too Much Chocolate Cake. I've made a few variations of it for my sister's birthday (Raspberry filling) and Mother's Day (Cherry filling), but this was my first go at it. This was for the Relief Society birthday party. It was a sheet cake and 12x18 so no layers or filling. It turned out beautiful! Let the mouthwatering begin!

Randomness

2011-05-25T15:23:00.002-06:00

We're alive and kicking, don't worry, we're just busy. Busy with colds, prepping the garden, spring cleaning while it pours rain. Ya know, this and that. Here are some shots of the boys to keep up with them. Thing 2 is in my favorite outfit that he has worn yet (Thanks Aunt Rhen, she has good taste ;) ). Unfortunately, it didn't last very long, because the turkey just won't quit growing. He's just too big for his own good, but I'm okay with it, but how big is he going to get?

Thing 1 where are you?

There you are! Thing one painted while one of his aunts was here working on a project for a college course. He had a lot of fun. He's had this painting for quite some time and it is still hanging on the fridge. He is an even better helper. He went out and got the mail today and then the garbage truck came right after he brought me the mail. So Thing 1 proceeded to grab the 95 gallon garbage can and put it away. That's awesome for a 3 and 1/2 year old. I'm grateful for the helper that he is.

The Many Faces of Thing 2

2011-05-03T14:24:00.001-06:00

These are just a few of the faces that Thing 2 made in less than a minute. Looking at these pictures makes all of us smile every time. Enjoy Thing 2's expressions.

His "What?" face. This is Daddy's favorite photo of him right now.

Two versions of his Happy face.

An almost shocked/don't know what to think face.

And we'll end with another happy face.

December 2010

2011-04-22T22:13:00.001-06:00

In December my younger sister graduated from college (Hooray! Congrats dear sister!) Our parents and some of our siblings were able to come up and attend the graduation, so we went sledding and had lots of cold fun. I took Thing 2 with me outside and to the sledding location, so here are some videos and pictures from our little adventure.

I love this picture. Thing 2 was bundled up very well and in a pack so that it was easier to haul him around and up the hill. Can you see his little eye?

My brother-in-law gave us lifts up to the top of the hill with the snowmobile. It was nice.

Thing 2 even got a ride down the hill, not very far, but he got a ride nonetheless.

My feet caught some snow as we were going down the hill and it got in Thing 1's face, poor kid, was not happy at all.

This was a lot of fun. Thing 1 had a blast (other than the picture above :) ).

These are a Few of Mommy and Daddy's Favorite Things

2011-04-13T12:00:00.085-06:00

We were in the middle of reading scriptures about two weeks ago when Thing 1 said, "I want to hold Thing 2." Without waiting, he grabbed Thing 2 off of Daddy, and pulled him onto him for a hug. I quickly grabbed the camera and was able to get two shots. I love this one because Thing 2 is looking up at his big brother and actually laying on him. Right before I got the camera, Thing 1 said, "I love Thing 2." These are a few of the joys of having a big brother who loves his baby brother.

For those of you who don't know what that little yellow blow up doll (minion) is, go watch Despicable Me, it's an awesome show that the entire family will love. Thing 2 is sitting up on his own and has been doing so for just a few short weeks (I mean sitting up straight up, not folded in half). He loves the minion and is always playing with it and hitting it.

Thing 1 is normally right there with him playing and having tons of fun. It is so much fun watching the two of them play together. As Thing 2 has become more mobile in his rolling, Thing 1 is much more interactively playing with him.

Looky what I made!

2011-04-10T20:45:00.000-06:00

I don't claim to be a crafty gal or extremely creative, but this time, I think that I can claim both. I have a friend who was having a baby shower and she had a little girl already and some items for this new little one due to soon arrive. I wanted to give her something unique and nice. Well, my younger sister had a really cute mobile over my nephew's crib. She told me to go to the Porter's blog to go get the ideas for it (here are the links for a butterfly and star mobile). The butterfly one was beautiful, but I wanted to do something a little different. So with some ideas of my own, and some help from my mother-in-law finding some Gerber daisies and the use of a Cricut, this was the awesome gift that I made and designed for a friend's little girl.

Halloween 2010

2011-03-27T17:46:00.000-06:00

Better late than never right? Here are some shots from Halloween. Thing 1 being Captain Thing 1. He wanted to be a ship's captain, but I didn't get that until it was too late, so I had sewed a cape and put an "A" on his shirt before I understood what he was talking about. That's okay though, he loves his cape and still wears it around the house running to make it fun.

I had to show off what I made, I was pretty proud of it. He even picked out the colors. Oh, and the pumpkin on the right, Daddy carved. Most little boys will recognize the character as...Thomas the Tank Engine! He's carved on the outside of the pumpkin and glowed very well with a candle at night. As it aged the white lines got whiter it was great. Thanks to our friends Christine and Sam for bringing us pumpkins from their garden.

Thing 2 was a cute little pumpkin as well. He was all bundled and warm in his costume.

The night before Halloween my sister and I took our boys to Boo at the Zoo. We had other plans, but they fell through, so we headed over to the zoo. Considering it was Halloween and we were in light jackets we were really surprised. It was very comfortable and unusual weather for Southeast Idaho at that time of year.

You can see Things 1 and 2 on the left. Cousin Red on the right was Yoda (although he was mistaken a few times for Shrek, which Sis and I thought was hilarious). And the little guy in the stroller was a Sushi roll. I got a kick out of that. Sis even borrowed a whale to make the tail stick out at the bottom. We had a lot of fun, but there were tons of people there. If I do it again, it will be with Daddy.

Thing 1 has been to this zoo twice before so was very "knowledgeable" about where to go and just kept pushing on. I loved how his cape stood out. It was kind of a time lapse/flash shot when I took this and loved what it did. Not at all intentional, but still neat.

Mommy dancing with Red to some fun music that was playing at the costume contest for little ones.

Daddy and I took the boys trick or treating the next night and delivered pumpkin bars to those we visited. That's a tradition in my family. It's a lot easier to take the bars and then get the treats. Besides, some people are expecting the bars and we can't disappoint them. One year we went on Saturday as Halloween was on Sunday (we don't trick or treat on Sunday), and we had a neighbor who was a huge fan of the pumpkin bars. She was really worried she wouldn't get her Forester pumpkin bars, so she was ecstatic when we showed up at her door.

Be patient, the rest of 2010 is coming.

Last one, I promise! (for this season at least...)

2011-03-13T15:28:00.000-06:00

So, I am SOOOO proud of Thing 1, he has been fantastic this year at our favorite family winter sport. Yup you guessed it, we went skiing. Again. This was the first time that he was able to go during the day. He had his goggles on most of the day so when he took them off for a picture, he said, "Wow, it's blue!" After replacing the goggles, surprisingly yelled, "It's pink now!" It was so funny to see him shocked by the color changes his goggles made. It was a beautiful day being warm and sunny, and the snow wasn't too bad either. Daddy, Thing 1, and I all have sunburns from our cheekbones down. Daddy and Thing 1 also have some sunburn on their foreheads as well. You can see the red cheeks in this picture.

Thing 1 also hit a major milestone yesterday. He went down his first BLACK DIAMOND! There are different levels to skiing, Green Circles which are the easiest and Double Black Diamonds being the hardest. There are varying levels and degrees, but these are the basics, or at least what I was taught. Here are the levels

Green Circle
Blue Square
Black Diamond
Double Black Diamond

Does that tell you what he went down? I'm so flipping excited! He had a little help, but didn't fall or anything, and did great!

And by the way, he skis WITHOUT a harness! He's gone without!

He also wanted to go off of some jumps that are taller than him. I, being overprotective Mommy that I get to be, said maybe next year. He really wanted to go on the boxes that are on the jumps course, so we took him over, and let him attempt two of them. Although he didn't land them he still wanted to keep trying.

Aunt Shelby went with us and she was a lot of fun too. Thanks for bringing the camera, we forgot ours.

Daddy's getting better too.

We're sad that it's the end of the ski season, but will be back and rearing for more next season, more confident and daredevilish. Especially if Thing 1 has anything to say about it!

Thing 2

2011-02-19T08:31:00.001-07:00

Okay, I am very proud right now of Daddy, he's posted three times within two months! I know I'm not doing so great, so hopefully this will help. Thing 2 is also lacking in appearances and braggings on our family blog, so this post is all about him. Disclaimer: Whether or not it involves other is at my discretion :) These images start back in September, so if Thing 2 looks so infant, it's because he was.

This is one of Daddy's favorite things, cuddling with his boys and knowing that Thing 1 wants to join him.

You're probably wondering why this picture is so far away from Thing 2? Notice a pair of feet underneath the chair where Thing 2 is sitting? Thing 1 used to like hiding from us under there. He was pretty good at it too because the blanket hid him.

Believe it or not Thing 1 took this shot of Thing 2, and he's only getting better. He's even started grabbing my big camera, not just the point and shoot I have on hand.

Thing 1 took this shot as well. Scary huh?

My cute little pumpkin for Halloween. He had Millia (baby acne) for the longest time, thankfully it wasn't painful, and it went away I think in November. He has the smoothest face now.

I love seeing images of him crying. Weird I know, primarily because I know it's a genuine image, I know it's not posed or set up or anything.

The first time I was able to finally capture his adorable little smile on camera. He was a toughy to catch because we always liked making him smile, we just never got the camera out in time to capture it.

Before Christmas, Thing 1 decided that Thing 2's sleeping with his arm out made a great tree branch. First it was the candy cane....

Later it was the largest ornament on the tree. Or should I say Thing 2's hand? It was fun.

More posts to come on Thing 2. As well as a bunch of catching up. I'll do better, I promise.

My side of the Slope.....

2011-02-16T21:03:00.007-07:00

So this time we were bad parents and left the budding new skier with grandma. We enjoyed a wonderful time at Grand Targhee as adults hitting some more "challenging" runs. (At the end of the day my thighs were ready to spontaneously ignite.) We snapped a few pictures that we thought you might all enjoy.

There was not a cloud in the sky and it held to the high 30's to mid 40's throughout the day. Needless to say, beautiful. The view of the Teton's was clear and pristine. And by the end of the day the sky was the most perfect blue. We really enjoyed ourselves.

So those of you that knew me growing up and are wondering how in the world did Travis get his mind changed about skiing. Well last year my in-laws drug me up to Kelly Canyon for night skiing. After the evening of fun and instruction by both a sister-in-law and a mother-in-law I started to have (here comes the scary word) "fun". For the rest of the 2009-2010 and 2010 - 2011 ski season I was tutored and sometimes what feels like beat over the head with a Louisville Slugger and learned how to ski. (Somewhat.....)

My ski instructor is also a good friend from work who has had the patience with me to teach a 27 year old what my 3 year old is learning this year. Richard has helped me learn and enjoy what can be a truly fun and beautiful sport. So thanks Richard for all your tutelage, guidance, and patience with me over the last two seasons. Tasha and I are deeply grateful. (More Tasha :) )

Skiing Again!!!!!!

2011-02-13T18:18:00.003-07:00

So we went skiing up to Kelly Canyon again this week. I think before long "Thing 1" will be begging to go alone on the lift leaving Mom and Dad in the dust. Check out the videos........

He enjoys this way to much.

Come join us. We try to go up once a week.

Skiing

2011-01-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

It started off with just Mommy. She was the only one in the family that went skiing. She loved it and didn't have a whole lot of time or money to go before there were Things running around or crying. Then last year, Mommy's family went and she asked Daddy to go with her. After some convincing and coaxing, he finally capitulated (Big word huh? Gave in ;)) Little did he know the consequences, he loved it. We just had to find him a pair of boots that would fit him properly. Well, he got a pair for Christmas, as well as skis and poles thanks to the effort of both sides of our family.

Now starts a new story. Thing 1 watches a cartoon called Caillou. Don't ask, I have no desire to explain. Google it if you're curious. This character went skiing and Thing 1 decided that he really wanted to go. So after Mommy and Daddy talked and consulted with each other and ski instructors (her Mom Sister, and Daddy's co-worker), we got him boots, a helmet, and of course skis. And this is the result...

We went for the first time last night, and Thing 1 loved it so much! We had to make him quit. He went who knows how many times down the bunny hill. And then he begged to go on the chair lift. A friend helping us out and I just couldn't say no. With lots of help, Thing 1 rode the easiest chair lift and the easiest run five times! Mommy has done it! She has skiing buddies!!!!

Thank you to all of both of my families for helping to get my boys and myself on the hill!

Oh, how we love to laugh! He he he he

2010-12-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, once again, I'm up late with Thing Two, attempting to get him to sleep while my older two boys are sleeping soundly.

Thing One does an awesome job of making Thing Two smile. He's even gotten a sort of laugh or giggle out of him. Hopefully you'll be able to see the smile behind Thing Two's little fist. Enjoy, because I sure do!

The Gifts of Christmas

2010-12-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Recently President Clark release his Christmas message. I really enjoyed this and hope that you will as well.

Travis

Our little Things

2010-11-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am waiting for the little guy to go to sleep. I was out of bed four times and then decided it was better to wait in his room for him to go to sleep rather than be in and out of my comfortable bed attempting to get some sleep. So, I thought I might try to post.

Imagine I took these the day I got home from the hospital. The plan was to bring both of the boys home and take a few pictures of them in their take home shirts, but there were a few changes in plans and it didn't end up working out. So they got taken quite a bit later and we still had fun doing it. The romper that Thing 2 is in was actually the way we planned on announcing that we were pregnant, that didn't work out so well either, but I hope that we will have the opportunity to have it work next time (Which that won't be happening any time soon). We might have to make the shirts next time because they aren't cheap. We'll see.

We love our little Thing 1 and Thing 2. Thing 1 dotes on Thing 2. He still will give random kisses and hugs to him without prompt, although sometimes for pictures, he doesn't mind being prompted.

Hopefully you can tell, but I'll say it anyway. Thing 1 was trying to give Thing 2 a kiss on the face, but it wasn't working and he settled for a hand, which he sometimes will do or a foot. However, Thing 1 doesn't like kissing Thing 2 where there is hair on his head. It's funny to watch especially when Thing 2 is jerking his head around.

Thing 1 loves getting Thing 2 to hold his finger. Thing 1 will occasionally try to force Thing 2's hand open so that he will hold it.

Now that Thing 1 and my husband have been asleep for between an hour and a half and two hours, Thing 2 has finally fallen fast asleep. Night and enjoy!

Travis' Work

2010-10-17T23:39:00.000-06:00

It's late at night and I'm waiting for Ethan to go to sleep. He takes a little bit to fall asleep and I've learned it's just easier to wait in his room until he goes to sleep rather than be in and out of my comfortable bed. I should be lying down or resting, but this seems to be the only time that I can find to do this without being bothered.

Travis currently has the opportunity to work in the auditorium that they are building on-campus. It will seat 15,000 people and has the same design as the Conference Center in Salt Lake. He wanted me to post this picture because it's a once in a lifetime shot. This is a shot from a projection booth where just behind Travis a projector screen will be. Once the screen is up you will no longer have this view from the booth to see. He's enjoying work right now, and is keeping very busy with the VOiP deployments.

Sorry it's blurry, but you do what you can with a cell phone.

Ethan is finally out and so am I! Good-night!

Before Baby Brother...

2010-10-14T14:24:00.001-06:00

Two days prior to my due date, Jordelle called Adam and I and invited us to go to the zoo. I was so excited. Jordelle, Michael, Boston, and I hadn't been before, so it was new to us. It was a really nice day too. Here are some pictures from the zoo.

Being very pregnant made it very difficult to get very good pictures. (Sorry, couldn't help the very thing) So they're kind of random, and I'm learning that sometimes it's better to capture the moment than be terribly picky about the actual image, so I'm learning to carry the point and shoot instead of my DSLR. The birds the boys were looking at were huge, and they had a lot of fun.

Don't know if you can see the lioness in the background, but she's on the right.

Adam for the most part was tall enough to see over most of the exhibits. That was nice because he is not a light little boy.

This tiger looked very old, and seemed upset over something. I think it may have been their dinnertime, because it was close to closing time. We were actually the last people out of the zoo, we were...escorted out by a security guard after looking at the alligator. Oops. But we sure had fun.

This water fountain was so much fun. Adam could reach the side but poor Michael wasn't quite tall enough.

My boy's corny smile, and Michael's scowl. Thanks Aunt Delly, we had a ton of fun and were so excited to get out of the house.

He's Here!

2010-09-24T20:11:00.002-06:00

Ethan arrived September 8, 2010. Yes, it was the day after Adam's birthday, and he was very excited about it. I have debated on whether or not to post this, but so many friends have asked to hear about "the story" that I figured you may choose whether or not to read this. For those of you curious (which there seem to be a lot), here's the story.

I made the blue blanket, it's made of minkee. So soft that

I want to cuddle my little boy no matter what.

I had a doctor's appointment on the 4th (a day before my due date), and my cervix was ready but we just had to wait. I had tested positive for a bacteria that required penicillin to be administered at least 4 hours prior to giving birth, otherwise it could be harmful to the baby. Don't worry it's not that big of a deal, it's pretty common. So, after talking with Travis and my doctor, we decided that I would be induced the following Wednesday (the 8th) because if we were going to choose the date, we didn't want to choose Adam's (the 7th) birthday, and I really wanted to feel comfortable again.

So Adam went to his Grandma's after we did a small birthday celebration on his birthday the night before. We were to be at the hospital by 7 a.m. so that I could be started on I.V.s and such by 7:30. They immediately put I.V.s into my wrist. I'm so glad that it wasn't in the back of my hand this time, that was more painful to me than my epidural. The first thing I noticed in the birthing suite was that there were smelling salts everywhere. Three packages on the outside of the bathroom door, two on the inside and two on the mirror. I couldn't help but wonder if they were more for the father. :)

Apparently I was having contractions between one and six minutes apart. This was before they had even given me anything to induce labor. I was already in labor, and talking with my nurse and doctor, they said with how strong my contractions were and consistent, I would have gone by that night anyway. Little did I know that I had been contracting for weeks, I just thought they were cramps. They were very different compared to with Adam. So I feel just fine with receiving a little extra help and with the need for penicillin I felt even better about it.

I hate the right after birth picture :(

Love the Daddy after birth shot though. :)

At 10 a.m. oxytocin was administered. At 1 p.m. the anesthetist administered the epidural. My doctor broke my water somewhere between 1:30 and 2 p.m. Around 3:15 my nurse came to check on me and see how far I was dilated. I was up to a nine and she told me to make her aware of when I felt pressure. Immediately following her departure I felt pressure, but waited ten minutes just to make sure I was feeling it. I called her and let her know. She checked me again and asked me to push, and Travis said she was holding Ethan's head in so that he wouldn't come out. She left immediately to call my doctor. Travis was a little confused thinking, "She doesn't have to push for two hours?" The doctor arrived shortly thereafter gowned up and asked me to push. Travis looked at me after the first push and said, looking a little astounded, "Babe, I can see hair." The doctor asked me to push again and Ethan's head was out. A third push and he was completely out. Ethan came into our lives at 3:56 p.m. weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long and with 14 inch circumference head. I would rather give birth than be pregnant, I wish I could just give birth and skip the pregnancy, is that possible? If you know of a away to do that please let me know. ;)

Adam loves his baby brother

We're all doing fantastic. And I'm healing very quickly in comparison to Adam's labor and delivery. Adam has adjusted to Ethan very well, and is always bestowing his cheeks with kisses. Whenever he is parted from Ethan, he always gives him a kiss when he returns, and he just will randomly kiss him. It's wonderful to see him adjusting so well.

These are the only ones you get...

2010-08-21T08:54:00.000-06:00

As a good portion of you know, I really dislike pregnancy, so to even show these to other people is a little bit tough for me. The only reason why you get to see them is because Travis requested some maternity portraits and Adam is in them with me. These are my favorites. A friend Heather Lyn willingly took these for us and in return we posed for her for an assignment, which included costumes and props, it was fun.

I love this photo of us, it fun and casual, no you can't really tell that I'm pregnant, but I'm okay with that.

This one is my favorite, I think primarily because Adam was attempting to give baby brother a hug, and wasn't quite tall enough to reach. He normally gives him these really sweet hugs while I'm sitting down.

The only reason why I did the photos was because I had Adam in them with me, so don't expect to see many more. I think this one is very sweet, he pretty well did this on his own, I think.

Road trip

2010-06-17T12:44:00.000-06:00

Daddy went away on business, and I really didn't want to be by myself in a big house, so we took a little road trip to Utah. We visited one of my cousins and one of my favorite roommates from college. Although I didn't take very many pictures, I was able to get a few.

Here's our little boy with my cousin's children on Temple Square in Salt Lake. He loved the water fountains and could have just sat at the fountain the whole time.

The reflection pool was their favorite, primarily because they played in the water and could actually reach it. Thankfully there were no accidents and no one fell into the water. It was a somewhat warm trip so that shorts and t-shirts were worn, but it snowed and rained the next day and we were back to jeans and sweatshirts.

He loved looking at the temple, which makes me so excited that he somewhat understands how important the temple is to Dadddy and I.

Here is my cousin and her children. We had so much fun! Thanks for letting us come and crash with you guys for a couple of days.

As you know I'm not in front of the camera very often, so thankfully we were able to get a shot of us before we left. My goofy little boy! He's been in front of the camera way too much already huh? Sorry, I don't have any pictures from my roommate's place (I was tuckered out, being a single parent on a road trip is tiring!) but you can see some pictures she took here.

Easter

2010-04-26T16:12:00.001-06:00

It snowed the day we planned to do our Easter egg hunt, so we colored eggs inside and had an Easter egg hunt in our basement. Growing up I remember coloring eggs was a blast in my family. We would be as creative as we possibly could, using a variety of things to make our eggs cooler than all the other eggs. We used crayons to color on the shells, which created some neat stuff especially with a white crayon. We loved using rubber bands and dipping the eggs in multiple dyes. My younger sister is at a college nearby and came over to help us decorate.

Travis says he didn't color eggs more than once or twice growing up, so he just watched us thinking we were crazy. Like I said this was/is something that I have so much fun doing with my siblings and parents, I hope that our boys have as much fun doing this together as I did with my siblings.

The crayons also made it even more fun for him so that he did something more than just drop the eggs in the dye. I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of the eggs after we finished, oops, but he sure had fun.

Hope you enjoyed your Easter celebration!

I can explain...

2010-04-09T17:57:00.000-06:00

Why there have been a shortage of posts. It also has to do with the downpour of tears as mentioned in the last post. I've been sick a lot lately, and it's not because of all of the colds, or bugs that my husband and son have shared with me or vice versa, it's a little more permanent than that. And being this sick messes with my head, so I decided that it was best to wait until we knew what was going on inside my body. See the thing is...

I'm pregnant, and am 19 weeks along with a due date of September 5th, 2010. Hopefully you can see his profile and left foot in the bottom picture. I had to take a picture of the images with my computer, all the cameras batteries are dead, so the foot looks like his right. Adam has been excitedly telling people on the phone, "Baby brother!"(Yes we're having a boy) He's so cute about it too. When we left the doctor's office, Adam said this to my doctor, "Thank you for baby brother." And insisted that the ultrasound pictures are his, so I'm going to have to make a copy of them for him, so that he doesn't accidentally tear them.

Hopefully soon, the regular posting will resume, the colds and bugs we keep getting will go away. And last but not least the warm weather will quit holding out on us so that Adam and I can get outside and play/work in the dirt. Here's hoping!

The Girl I used to be

2010-03-19T14:11:00.001-06:00

I stole this from a good friend's blog, who in turn stole it from a dear friend of hers. I read this on her blog and really liked it, then I read it to my sweet husband and made it to the third line and was in tears. I have a few reasons why I was in tears, but will explain more soon.

The Girl that I used to be

She came tonight as I sat alone, the girl I used to be.

And she gazed at me with her earnest eye, and questioned reproachfully:

Have you forgotten the many plans and hopes that I had for you?

The great career, the splendid fame, all the wonderful things to do?

Where is the mansion of stately height, with all of its gardens rare?

The silken robes that I dreamed for you, and the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad, for I wanted her pleased with me.

This slender girl from the shadowy past, the girl that I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand, and guided her up the stair

Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay, innocent, sweet, and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems, and precious they are to me;

That silken robe is my motherhood, of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love, and the only career I know

Is serving each day in these sheltered walls, for the dear ones who come and go.

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest, she smiled through her tears at me.

And I saw that the woman that I am now, pleased the girl that I used to be.

I still have a few dreams that I hope to make come true, old and new, and the best part is that I have a wonderful and loving husband who is not only willing to support me in them, but also make them come true.

What's a post without a picture?

Halloween 2009

2010-01-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

I'm backlogging and that's okay, I'll get to present pictures and events soon, don't worry. Anyhow, I had an amazing opportunity the day before Halloween. Evelyn Hymas of Hymas Images located here in Rigby hired me to take over for her Halloween shoot last year and I was happy to do it. I've also helped her with Senior shoots as well. But this was my first completely solo act without her on site. It was exciting. Here are pictures of Adam from Halloween this last year at the studio.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but Adam knows how to pose for a picture. He's been the model too often for me. I re-finished his bag from last year, made a smaller and used my serger to finish the seams. I even added some black lettering to spell BOO. I loved it.

He's so good at pouty faces too.

I love this huge smile while he's riding the rocking horse. He's having a huge giggle fest. The shot I took right before this one was where Travis was tickling Adam on the horse, and Adam is leaning the opposite direction. I love that shot and am debating on using for other for something else.

P.S. Hopefully you can tell he was Zorro.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu!

2009-12-03T16:22:00.001-07:00

For those of you who didn't know (which is probably a good portion), Adam was very attached to his pacifier. That was more of my fault than anything. Once I realized in late October that I was using it as a crutch for silencing the whining, I was able to let go. Adam has asked for it no more than half a dozen times since we took it away.

Yes, we went cold turkey.

You may think it sounds funny, but I had a harder time taking it away from him than he did having it taken. He cries when we put him to bed sometimes instead of just rolling over to cuddle into his pillow with the plug, but there are a good amount of times that he just goes right to sleep, no fight, but it depends on how tired he is. Goodbye dear plug, until the next one.

I got into the canning craze that seems to happen around this area beginning in August and going into November. Normally young moms who are doing the canning by themselves only get their legs and feet wet. Nope, not me, I dove in head first. This is just to document one of our adventures with canning. We canned pears, peaches, and plum jelly that day. These pictures are from the plum jelly. We had an overflow situation. Oops!

Not to worry, despite the fact that we probably spilled around 2 quarts, we still had 20 pints from the batches. They didn't set though, so it's now plum syrup which goes great on breakfast foods, ice cream, and a few other things.

Thankfully, I didn't have to clean this up by myself, Travis was helping and taking pictures. He was home on this particular day, and boy howdy, if I hadn't been laughing, there probably would have been a few choice words.

Yup I know, I'm nuts. But I loved it! I had a blast! You know what else we/I canned? Nectarines, tomato juice (wonderful for scratch tomato soup and scratch sloppy Joes), sweet pickles (My great grandma's recipe, delicious!), salsa, huckleberry and nectarine jam, apple jelly, applesauce, apple pie filling, and did I mention at least 10 gallons of freshly pressed apple juice? Thankfully all of the apple products were free! And there were a ton of apples! The only thing I had to purchase were the jars and tree fruits. I'm proud to say that everything else came from my garden. That doesn't even include all of the vegetables that I froze; peas, corn, green beans, and carrots.

Talk about a money saver! I guess it wasn't exactly a money saver this year because I had to purchase I don't know how many jars, but next year will be better. I want to grow a bigger garden so that I can add more to my food storage and enjoy even more of my labors. The garden was my thing this year because we were in school, Adam helped almost every time I weeded it and watered. Travis helped with the planting and watering when I was gone for two weeks. Next year will be different because I'm definitely going to need the help if it's going to be bigger! Love you hon!

Unofficial first day of Vacation

2009-12-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Yes! We went on another warm vacation. Instead of a cruise this year, we went to Orlando, Florida with my family (Tasha, since she is the only one who ever post's. Hint, hint) So our actual vacation started on November 2nd when we headed down to Utah to spend the night with a cousin before we headed for the airport on the 3rd. The kids you see Adam playing with our actually his second cousins, and they had a blast playing on the trampoline together. It was so nice out that we were all in t-shirts and jeans before we went to the airport. Here's Adam by himself. I had hoped that playing before we went on the airplane would help wear him out, it worked, but not until our second flight.

Now being joined by his two cousins. Adam is between the two in age.

We really did try to get a picture of them sitting down together, but for a 3 yr old, a 2 yr old, and a 19 month old, it's almost impossible.

Here's my cousin pushing her kids along and Adam soon followed suit.

Adam wanted to push his cousin too! It was a pretty cute train.

There are some videos that I want to post, but because Blogger no longer offers the option on the their new layout, I haven't been able to figure out where I can put up videos.

There was a time...

2009-11-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

When it was warm enough to run around in bathing suits and and no shoes, but those days have quietly slipped away. That's okay, it won't be long before we're running around in the snow and having a ball (fingers crossed).

These are some of the neighborhood boys that like coming to play with Adam. Although there a several years difference, they enjoy each other nonetheless.

Depending on the day, Adam can be a bit protective of his chalk, so we have to be a little careful of that.

I love capturing the chalk covered face...

feet...

hands...

and last but not least, legs. We love playing with chalk!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've learned to keep a point and shoot camera on the kitchen counter because my camera is always downstairs, so I miss things if I don't have immediate access to the camera. So bear with the pictures, especially since they are shot with my left hand instead of my right. It definitely was a challenge.

Happy Halloween! We carved pumpkins for the first time with Adam on Tuesday night as a kind of late Family Home Evening. Mainly because our well was being worked on, so no water. But that's a story for another day.

We could only get Adam to put his arm into the pumpkin twice, he sure thought it was, and I quote, "Icky!" The look on his face and reaction to pumpkin guts on his hand made it all worth while.

Travis pulled some guts out and showed it to Adam and he kept smiling while repeating "Icky, icky."

Okay maybe he stuck his hand in more than twice, but the only reason why was because he had a spatula in his hand and this is the farthest it actually went inside.

Daddy and Adam with our pumpkins. Not just the pumpkins that we carved, but we actually grew these in our very own garden. So exciting to me, and you'll see more garden conquests soon. There were more pumpkins about the same size as the little one, but when the cold weather hit we had to bring them in the garage and they had brown spots which turned into mold spots. I have a few ideas on how to better grow the pumpkins next year.

We decided we wanted to swap hats.

Birthday Boys

2009-10-29T07:55:00.004-06:00

Adam and Travis' birthdays are about a week and a half apart, so I figured I would throw the two of them together for a post.

Adam didn't burn himself this year, because he learned about fire during camping and canning this year. It's hot, so he doesn't touch.

If you can't tell who this cake is, that's okay, Adam could. I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it, but I'll do something better next time.

Maybe the stripes will help. Yep, it's Nemo!

Adam started opening his presents and was actually getting into it.

Yes, Adam received a tricycle for his birthday and refers to it as his bike. He also received some knee/elbow pads and a helmet he calls his "hat".

We thought a gallon of bubbles might keep him happy for at least a year with bubbles.

Here's my little man trying to ride his new bike. He's actually not too bad at it now. If you give him a boost, he'll actually be able to pedal around for a bit.

This is Daddy's birthday.

Travis received a set of golf clubs for his birthday as well as a range basket of foam balls to practice with in the backyard.

Adam loved having the balls dumped on his head and he made the cutest faces during the dumping. He still plays with the balls more than Travis, but its gotten to cold to go practice anyway. Any of you wanting to go golfing with Travis? There's a stipulation, I have to come too, this is one sport he doesn't play without his wife. :)

It's all about Adam anyway

2009-10-06T13:32:00.003-06:00

We decided to visit Daddy at work one day and go out to lunch. Travis is working in some areas where it requires him to wear a construction helmet. Adam actually stole Daddy's helmet from him while we were eating. He had a hard time keeping it on sometimes because he loves moving, but what 2-yr-old doesn't?

The cashier was handing out free little cupfuls of mini M&Ms so Adam obviously enjoyed them.

Sorry about the quality, camera phones aren't exactly the best for capturing movement. But isn't that an adorable face?

This was from the fair in August. I can't help but laugh, Adam was so tired that night as we were setting things up for the fair. Poor tyke, he survived though.

Farewell Fair Weather

2009-10-02T12:04:00.005-06:00

The end of summer came on Wednesday. It was no higher than 45 degrees in the area. We had to turn on the furnace that night. It was rainy and windy. Yesterday and today have been cold and windy, but thankfully not rainy. Fall has arrived, so I thought I might bid farewell to the summer with some warm pictures. We went to a local lake and went swimming sometime in August, and discovered that our little Adam is a water puppy!

"I'm so cool, I have glasses like my Daddy!" Oh, these pictures were taken with a film SLR. Our point and shoot was dead I didn't want to take my camera, so I grabbed my film SLR and a roll and we had a blast and I miss working with film, but like knowing that my pictures turn out the way I want them too immediately.

Travis took his wetsuit so that he could snorkel and he took Adam out towards the middle of the lake. Adam loved it, but had a hard time with Mommy not being near as close.

"Time to get out, I'm freeeeeezing!" You can't tell in this picture, but Adam's lips were a purplish color, so we went and played on some toys to warm him back up.

When we finally ran back in, Daddy was done snorkeling so we just played. I know you can't really see it in this picture, but Adam was sporting the biggest grin while attempting to splash the camera and myself.

He loved being swung around and skimming the water.

I don't get in front of the camera very often, and I'm trying to do that so that Adam has evidence that his Mom was on the adventures/trips/vacations with him.

Grant County Fair

2009-09-18T13:33:00.003-06:00

Aww, the fair, I love it! This was an event I looked forward to every summer. Not only because of the rodeos we attended, but because of the atmosphere. I showed dairy heifers and my younger siblings still do. I showed from the time was about 6 until I was 18. It seemed longer, and I was sad to have it end. But maybe that will change in the future.... instead of being the exhibitor maybe I'll get to be the exhibitor's mom? Hehehehehe

Here's Adam leading an 1100-1200 lbs pregnant heifer. With just a tad bit of help from Aunt Shelby. Adam would pull with all of his might and Snowball (the heifer) would just sit there and look at him, almost as if she was laughing.

Shelby Won in her division of Fit and Show. As the Grand Champion she competes against the other Grand Champions who show different species the event is called Round Robin. Each winner starts with their own animals and rotates from sheep, to pig, goat, horse, beef, and dairy. Shelby's not showing here, just waiting for rotation, if she were to do this in the ring while showing, boy howdy, she wouldn't even be considered for Round Robin winner.

Parker and Adam intently watching as Shelby shows a pig. You may be wondering what's with the white clothes. As dairy showing folks at the Grant and Adams' County Fairs we are required to wear white show clothes. Why? We don't know. But a judge did tell me once that it makes our heifers stand out more than anything. I personally think it to be mainly tradition.

Adam was attempting to pet Shelby's heifer, and she was attempting to lick him. Cattle don't bite people in defense, they usually charge or kick. But because of how friendly they may be they might lick. And when you get licked it hurts. Imagine having the coarsest sandpaper being wet and rubbing down your arm. Yeah, ouch.

No he didn't get licked, just was grossed out by the wet and slobbery nose.

My brothers loved having Adam there because he helped with their barn duty. I remember when my brothers loved helping, but that changed when they actually had to do it. ;)

Kelton showing his heifer Miami.

Preston showing his heifer, I can't remember her name though.

Papa talking to Adam about the heifers and my brothers.

This is the class where Shelby earned Grand Champion. The three ribbons and one belt buckle you receive are beautiful, but I forgot to get pictures of them. I think that Shelby has at least a dozen buckles. I have about ten or twelve, but I only have three with me now, the rest are back in Washington

Happy Birthday Adam!

2009-09-07T11:26:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it! Adam is two years old today! He's getting so big! I'm so excited for some of the gifts that he's getting, I hope he likes them as much as I think he will. We'll let you know in a few days. Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to Washington. More are coming.

With start of fair comes so many memories, and little irrigation boots from when us older kids were little. They were huge on Adam but it sure was fun to watch. Aunt Shelby helped him to start walking in them.

It was funny to watch because he about tripped over himself so many times.

This is Adam at the fair, while the kids are showing, he was bored and decided he wanted to chew on the plastic bottle rather than his plug.

Happy Birthday Adam, we love you!

There is no end of the earth

2009-08-27T12:50:00.001-06:00

Here's how I know, I haven't fallen off yet. Yes, we've been gone a while, but I needed a break. Period. So here we go.

The first weekend in August some family came to visit , and our original plans were spoiled. We were going to go whitewater rafting down the Hoback, however being the unusually rainy summer that it has been it decided not to disappoint us. It was cold and rainy thus changing our plans to a Jackson Hole visit.

This is Adam and Jayden. They were best buddies that weekend. Holding hands, and everything, it was pretty darn cute.

The photographer in me loved the lighting from that the overhang allowed, too bad, my subject wouldn't pose without his pacifier.

I like Jackson, I just wish that we would have wondered around more. The cold wasn't bad because we were mostly under awnings, or in stores or galleries. There were so amazing photographers and their galleries.

Just waiting outside with the group.

Adam has figured out how to cover people's eyes when he's on their shoulders.

And be an absolute goof.

He wasn't too fond of the this Native American Chief. No, he's not real, just a very impressive statue.

This is what Adam looks like when he's just been woken up when taken out of the car. And I think his daddy is so sweet to cuddle him. P.S. It's Travis' birthday today, Happy Birthday Trav, we love you!

This is what Adam looks like when his eyes are open, but not necessarily awake.

Jayden and Adam had grilled cheese sandwiches and milk downstairs while watching Finding Nemo and the adults ate upstairs.

Quick story about Jayden and Adam. When we were in Jackson, Jayden found a grass hopper and was so excited about it. He was just laughing and pointing so proud to have found this grass hopper. Adam came over to see what the commotion was about, and saw the cause. And...SPLAT! Adam stomped on the grass hopper. Adam had no reaction and was fine, Jayden on the other hand was traumatized. He cried for a good 15 min or so. I felt bad for Jayden, but was glad that Adam knew that we smash bugs. It was pretty funny.

This was a cake I made for Travis' and my graduation that I forgot to post with our graduation stuff. It was made with fondant and a chocolate cake.

What a fun day

2009-07-30T09:56:00.002-06:00

Adam and I were so excited to break out the pool. It was really warm and the water...was freezing! I knew our well water was cold, but I didn't expect to try and put a pitcher of warm water in to warm it up for Adam. The closest I got Adam to actually sitting in the water was just playing in it and playing with the hose. I didn't trust him with the hose (what mom would trust an almost two-year-old with a hose?), so I hid the camera.

This started s a thumbs up, but ended up with Adam pointing at something I can remember what, but it ended up being pretty funny.

My sweet little angel. Doesn't he look innocent as all get out right here? When it comes to water, heck no!!! We love him nonetheless.

Ladies and Gentlemen....

2009-07-26T14:00:00.004-06:00

We did it!!!!

We're so stinking excited, we finally graduated with our Bachelor's Degrees from Brigham Young University Idaho.

Travis graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Information Technology. He will continue to be a VOiP administrator and network engineer at BYU-Idaho.
I graduated with a Bachelor's of Scicence in Unversity Studies. I will continue to pursue Adam full time and work on my photography as time allows.

Here are some pictures that my family took at graduation on Thursday night. It was so hot in the gym during commencement! Convocation was cooler, but still warm.

Adam gave me a congratulatory kiss, and it was so sweet. Don't mind my little brother's face in the foreground.

I'm pretty sure that this was a look of relief and "Don't take a picture of me, I'm supposed to be behind that camera!" But mostly relief.

Adam thought our caps were funny, but not funny enough to wear one himself, we only could get him to wear it for a few seconds.

Yay! We walked! But hey we got gipped, where's the real diploma?

Travis and I are very grateful to those who made this trip to be at our graduation. It meant a great deal to both of us. Although we hadn't planned on walking, it was kind of nice to have a culmination of some sort to show the end of our schooling.
This is a picture of all the people who attended either commencement or convocation. I had a great-grandma come all the way from California as well as grandparents, another great-grandma, and immediate family who traveled from Central Washington for the very short trip. Thanks to Shelby's friend Hannah who made the trip and took this picture.

I think this was just as much a graduation for Adam because of what he had to put up with while Mommy was in school. I think it was a sacrifice on both our parts, but that's okay, I'll promise Adam, it will be worth it in the end.

My graduate and my son. I'm so proud of both of them.

We've been crazy busy!

2009-07-22T07:25:00.003-06:00

We're so busy that the only time we have at the moment has been

A. working on homework
B. Eating
C. Sleeping (if we're lucky)

Anyhow, the reason why you ask we're so busy? We are finally graduating with our Bachelor's degrees. Yes! And we're graduating together. We're so excited to be done, and it's not even funny how burnt out we are.

Here's a picture of Adam's first time swimming this year because I have so much posting to catch up on. And I always have to have a picture, otherwise it drives me batty!

It finally happened...

2009-07-02T13:38:00.003-06:00

Poor Adam, he went going downstairs last night a lot faster than he normally would. I was in the kitchen and Travis was in the basement. We think that probably half way down he leaned too far forward and went head over heels. Because Travis was in his office, he heard his first thump and whine and ran to the bottom of the stairs and was able to catch Adam before hitting the bottom. I thought that the thump was from Travis and he had scared Adam thus creating the whine. When Adam started crying I thought it was because he was terrified. The look on Travis' face said otherwise. Adam was bleeding a little bit, but we couldn't find where, it was either his lip or tongue. He ended up being fine and just a little spooked, but he definitely doesn't go down the stairs near as fast as he did before. When we first moved here in April we debated on getting a gate, but Adam has always been so careful, that we put those thoughts to rest. I think this has reopened the debate.

Shelby's Graduation

2009-06-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yay! Shelby graduated from Royal High School! And one week later, she graduated from Big Ben Community College with her AA Degree. Lucky kid she'll be done with her Bachelors before we know it.

Shelby received a beautiful orchid lei as a graduation present from a family friend and "boss" at Mission Ridge ski resort (Shelby was a ski instructor. Cool huh?). Our parents also received similar leis from the same woman. It was funny seeing Dad wear flowers. Hehe!

Considering this was shot through a chain link fence, I think it turned out pretty cool.

There's Uncle Shadd and (this one's for you Shadd) Stewie! Wouldn't you say that's a Stewie look?

She's has her "diploma" now run for it!

After graduation and right before we left Shelby wanted to introduce Adam to Samson. He's a 16 hand tall Tennessee Walker. He's gorgeous, but huge! Poor Adam was a little nervous, but not extremely scared. I guess what I mean is that he didn't cry, just got real quiet and leaned back a lot.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T14:58:00.002-06:00

We sorta forgot to send out Father's Day cards, (oops) so please forgive us. We just wanted to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads in our lives whether they be blood related or not we truly appreciate you.

Grandpa Forester thanks for showing me grit and how to be tough. We love you

Grandpa Frank Poulsen thanks for being there and sharing the stories from the past we love to hear. We love you.

Grandpa Blair thanks for your support for the last while especially while we moved into our new home. The willingness to give suggestions when we needed and to let us borrow you lawn mower amongst other things! :) We love you.

Grandpa Kennon thanks for your help, advice, and the vacations that you worked so hard save up for so that not only we could go but also so that I could go as a child. I'll never forget all the time and effort it not only took to get there, but also the good times that we had. I love you Dad. (Oh, Travis and Adam say they love you too.)

To the most important father figure currently in my life, Travis. How do I say how grateful I am for the man that you are and father you are to our son. Thank you for all the hard work you do to make us happy and help both Adam and I to learn. We love you Daddy!

Seepy Adam

2009-06-02T13:37:00.003-06:00

Adam says seepy a few times of the day. Near his nap time, near bedtime, and in the morning. He's also started using it as an excuse to not eat or do something... Anywhoo, it's pretty darn cute. Sunday morning before church he was in a very playful mood, and this is what we were able to get from him. Travis repeats a lot of what he says just in case you can't understand him, but for the most part the understandable words are: top (stop), cars, seepy, huh?, kay, banket, puppies. Enjoy!

Sand Dunes

2009-05-29T06:00:00.001-06:00

Friday night, last week we went out to the sand dunes with the Poulsen Family. We only stayed for dinner because we had a lot of homework this last weekend, and wanted to get our garden planted. This is a shot of Western horizon just after sunset, it doesn't quite do it justice, but you get the idea.

Left to right: Jake, Lynda, and Desirae. I didn't get too many shots because I was out on four-wheelers a little bit with Lynda. Thanks Lynda, I had so much fun! Roger, thanks for switching me onto your four-wheeler.

This was a shot later in the evening from where the Poulsen campers were. There were a whole slew of other campers and motorbikes. I loved the sky at this point, it was so pretty.

Memorial Day

2009-05-28T14:54:00.002-06:00

I thought these pictures of Adam might be appropriate for the Memorial Day post. Travis and I were in Boise for a wedding that I was shooting, and we went to the Osh Kosh outlet. Travis saw this shirt, and couldn't help himself, he turned and just gave me this puppy dog face, and I had to say yes. Adam just looks so darn cute in his "Mud Scout" shirt.

Adam loves watching Papa Blair mow the lawn.

In these last two images, I see Travis so much it's not even funny. The way he's sitting all sorts of relaxed, eating, and his elbow in the air, there's not a doubt that he is his father's son.

Most definitely a Travis pose there.

Adam loves to swing

2009-05-22T16:48:00.004-06:00

Granmda Christine and Grandpa Blair have a toddler swing attached to a tree branch in their backyard. Although Adam was very wary and scared of the swing at first, as you can tell by these videos, he has no problem them.

Adam's holding two old General Electric walkie talkies that Daddy used when he was little. When he wanted to be pushed more, he would pat the front of the swing. He loved it.

Cute Little Adam

2009-05-15T06:00:00.002-06:00

I remember my Grandma used to have two of these cars in her basement and we loved to play with them. Before we moved from our apartment, Adam loved to play with this car, and finally figured out how to move it with his feet. Although it may not be forward, he still figured it out.

My other Grandma and an aunt visited the day after we moved in, so we had lots of things still out. One of the boxes had the bottles for our water storage, so Adam, Grandma, and our aunt decided to play with them for a while. Adam had a blast, and we really enjoyed having Grandma come to visit. Thanks Grandma, it was great to see you and show you our new home. We love you!

This is what happens....

2009-05-14T13:56:00.002-06:00

This is what happens...

....when you let an aunt take Adam to visit Grandma at work. He gets the "chicken pox", oh dear. ;)

...when you take Adam to Toys R Us and he finds a laptop just his size.

....when you leave for a cruise for a week without Adam.

....when you let Adam's aunt do his hair after a bath.

Taylor Swift's Love Story meets Coldplay's Viva La Vida

2009-05-13T13:39:00.003-06:00

Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson did an amazing job! I found this on a friend's blog, and she found it on another friend's blog. I know it looks long, but it's so worth it. I love this arrangement I couldn't help myself and hope that you enjoy it!

We're Baaack!

2009-05-12T16:30:00.002-06:00

To go without Internet for homework or anything just about killed me! I'm so excited to be back in the world of the World Wide Web. Thankfully Travis and I were very determined to get our trench dug so that he could have the necessary "fast" speed connection for work. Patience is a virtue, pictures of the house are coming.

This is a video of Adam shortly before we moved. Enjoy!

New House post coming soon!

2009-04-29T19:39:00.001-06:00

I have to apologize, I hate posting with a picture, however, we really don't have internet in our new house yet. We're using a wireless internet card borrowed from Travis' work. I promise though pictures of our new house will be coming within in the next couple of days!

This is for you, Daddy

2009-04-15T13:42:00.004-06:00

Travis is away for business in Denver right now. He left Sunday afternoon, and we wanted to show him what Adam did. Hopefully you'll be able to see that Adam is jumping. He has a little help from the springs in the couch and stuff, but he's getting some air.

This is what happens...when Grandma wants to play the piano with Adam.

We love you Daddy! Enjoy Denver.

Fondant Recipe

2009-04-10T10:25:00.003-06:00

I had someone ask if they could have the fondant recipe, so I though maybe all of you might enjoy it.

Fondant

16 OZ mini marshmallows
2 TBL water

-Melt the mini marshmallows just enough to mix them all together and add the water before melting. Try 30 sec at a time.

2 LBS Sifted powdered sugar
1/2 C Shortening

-Pour 1/3 of the sifted powdered sugar into the bowl with the marshmallows and mix. Put some shortening down on the counter/tabletop/cookie sheet, etc and some more powdered sugar down. Then pour your marshmallow mixture onto the shortening and sugar. Cover your hands with shortening and powdered sugar and knead the soon to be fondant. Keep adding sugar and kneading the fondant is supposed to be pretty hard to work.

Chocolate Fondant

I like using the swirled chocolate marshmallows, if they're not mini that's fine. Use either swirled or chocolate marshmallows instead of the mini white ones. Just realize, using straight chocolate marshmallows have a tendancy to be a lot more dry.

Instead of adding powdered sugar first add 1/2 C up Cocoa powder and then 1/3 of the powdered sugar and continue with the process.

One batch of fondant will make enough to cover an 8 inch 2 layered cake round. The fondant will stay good in an airtight container at room temperature for two weeks.

Final Cake Project

2009-04-09T19:14:00.002-06:00

I did it, I finally posted the photos from my final cake project. I am pretty proud of my cake. Everything is made from scratch. It's a fondant icing with chocolate cakes underneath. I had so much fun with it! We'll see how I do for my grade. My teacher was very proud of our class for our work, so that's always a good start.

Adam is back

2009-03-24T15:17:00.004-06:00

He eats! There are two things that we know Adam won't eat and we don't know why, we think it might be the texture. He doesn't like potatoes (which is strange for here in Idaho) and ground beef. But he loves his grilled cheese sandwhiches.

We as a family like the show George Lopez. The theme song happens to be Low Rider, and we all love it. Whenever we watch and hear the intro/theme Adam just starts dancing away. Grandma Christine has the song for Grandpa's ringtone, and you may not be able to hear it, but this is what Adam looks like when he hears it.

I knew this day would come, I just didn't think that it would be this soon.

A few of our accomplishments

2009-03-24T14:45:00.006-06:00

Alrighty, here are a few things that I've done lately. I know that this blog is mainly about Adam, but once in a while it's nice to show what Travis and I have done. This is what I've done. I love the bouquet, I had to make it for some floral classes and its made of different kinds of orchids, leucadendrom, palm, spray roses, and jade.

I also made this corsage of pinus, aster, mini calla lilies, and raffia.

I made this cake for class using royal icing and buttercream, it was a lot of fun, but very time consuming.

Something that Travis and I are going to do/have done...

We're graduating this July together with our Bachelor's degrees.

And oh, yeah, this little purchase...

Sorry it's so poor quality, we don't have any real pictures, so I had to take one of the picture on paper. But here's a Virtual Tour.

Photos I keep forgetting

2009-03-10T08:32:00.002-06:00

I went skiing in February, and I'm kicking myself for not taking a better camera! It was an absolutely beautiful day at Grand Targhee Ski Resort. This is me and the picture below, is the valley. I can't say thanks enough to Roger and Lynda for inviting me to go with them skiing. P.S. Happy Birthday Lynda!

Gorgeous huh? Like I said, kicking myself.

This is a video from January, that I keep forgetting to post. Adam doesn't do this near as much as he used to, but every once in a while, he puts his hands behind his back and starts clucking. We call him our little chick. I'm making a decent amount of noise to encourage him, but he's doing it too. Pretty cute huh?

I love Fondant Cakes!

2009-03-08T20:14:00.002-06:00

So for my cake decorating class, I had a to do a fondant decorated cake. Our options are limitless, but there are certain requirements to accomplish for the teacher. I had so much fun! This was the first time my teacher had seen anyone do a Mickey Mouse design. I had so much fun with this, I think that I'll end up doing it for Adam's first birthday, but we'll have to see how long that takes me. I used white and chocolate fondant. I had to add a lot of black food dye to chocolate to go black though.

The fondant recipe that I used requires marshmallows, water, sifted confectioners (powdered) sugar and shortening. That's what it takes to make the white fondant. For the chocolate I used Chocolate marshmallows and cocoa in addition to the previous ingredients.

Another This is What Happens...

2009-03-05T16:48:00.003-07:00

When you give Adam Mac & Cheese. He has to have ketchup, it has to do with the dipping.

Yes, that means he's eating. For the most part, we still have our struggles now and then, but it's better than it used to be.

This is What happens....

2009-03-05T16:30:00.002-07:00

When Mommy's in class.

Travis watched Adam pull up the chair, and do this onto the couch several times, but caught the very last time on video. Adam is laughing while he does this, but the TV is kind of loud, sorry. He grunts three times before he goes over, it's his way of counting, "1 2 3!"

Valentines/President's Weekend Continuation

2009-02-24T15:04:00.002-07:00

Following our snowshoeing expedition, Adam sat in Des and Jake's car to get warmed up. He was enjoying a Fig Newton and a Nilla Wafer when he propped his feet up on their dash. It was pretty cute.

This was Sunday after/during church. Grandma offered to take Adam so that we could enjoy church. It was great! Anywho... Jordelle taught the boys and Shelby to play Yahtzee and Adam was game for it. If only he could understand.

Poor Michael! He had to sit on the couch because he can't do much.

I thought this was a moment to remember. Adam always struggles when my parents come to visit. Primarily because he recognizes them but doesn't know them. He warmed up a lot faster this time around, and even gave both grandparents kisses a couple of times. He even kissed Shadd! :) Grandpa Kennon was playing with Adam and his quiet book and had a great time.

Valentines/President's Weekend

2009-02-20T13:33:00.013-07:00

Well last weekend the Forester Family came to good ol' Iceburg. We started off the weekend on Saturday by going snowshoeing. It was a relatively new experience for the Forester and Lovell families. However the Poulsens, we're pros. Just kidding. We started off waiting for everyone to arrive at the hotel my folks were staying at, the AmericInn. Letting Adam run rampant with my little brothers and it was nice to take a break.

We worked our way out to the Webster Homestead with permission from Byron Webster. It was pretty cold, so we all had to bundle up.

This was on the way out to the Homestead. It's actually in the middle of a field.

Lovell push-in-the-snow fight!

Peek-a-boo

Even after Travis was "tackled", by Jake, Des, and Mom he still didn't go down. But Des and mom did.

Hey! Des don't use my baby as a shield from Shadd!

Isn't my niephew so cute? Jordelle accidentally forgot his winter hat, so Michael had to use his mommy's hat.

There were lots of snow burials. Christine and Des were probably the funniest. Yes, that's my mother-in-law in the picture below this. You can barely tell, but the black jacketed guy (my brother Shadd) is still throwing snow on top as her son watches.

We're all here, Foresters, Lovells, and Poulsens!

This was too funny, Dad kept thinking that Mom was stepping on his snowshoe, I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it was sure funny because he would yell "Paula!" and she would just start giggling. Do you think she did it? This was the second time. What a blast, I'll post more pics later of the rest of the weekend.

May I have your opinion?

2009-02-11T15:15:00.006-07:00

Someday I will have a website for photography, however a blog will have to suffice for now (Sigh). I have decided that a blog that sits on the same page with the same photos gets old, that's where you come in. Hopefully you can see that I have posted a little poll on the side of my blog. If you could possibly just answer it with one click I'd appreciate it. I'm trying to get my name out there as a photographer and would appreciate any comments or suggestions that you might have concerning my work or blog. You're awesome!

P.S. Starting tomorrow you will see new posts. I promise! (On the photography blog that is!)

It's been a while

2009-02-09T14:27:00.002-07:00

For those of you who enjoy reading my blog and others, I apologize, things have just been a tad bit busy, so here's a whole slew of pictures to make up for the last little while. You can't say I didn't warn you about a post every now and then when school started back up.

I babysit Michael (my nephew and Adam's only cousin) on Tuesdays while Jordelle goes to class because I don't have class on Tuesdays. Anywhoo... Adam had a rough night so he came into my bed and didn't get up until late so when Michael arrived Adam was just getting up.

Michael doesn't take too bad of a picture either.

And of course, men or boys, don't look too bad in the mornings.

Travis and I were playing with Adam under a blanket and the static just added to the fun.

I love this picture because he's truly laughing. I would have loved to submitted this picture to my cousin Jenna's photo challenge, but it was after the fact.

This could be bad. He loves putting on Travis' and my shoes, so either he is going to be a shoe-aholic, or he just likes copying us.

This cake was my first project for my cake decorating class. I'm proud to say I made everything . The cake of course is chocolate, so is the main frosting, and I also did the designs and made the roses myself. I wanted to submit this one for another one of Jenna's challenges, but I forgot to take picture of it before it went into the freezer up on-campus. I will hopefully find out this week the grade I received for this lovely buttercream frosting project. Wish me luck!

Help!

2009-01-26T21:19:00.002-07:00

Alright, I could use some suggestions from Moms or picky eaters who may have encountered this problem. Adam is really only eating fruit and granola bars. Yes, I know that's a good thing, but you haven't smelled his diapers or applied the Desitin. I can't get him to eat cheese very much anymore and could use some help on trying to get him to eat other things. He's a real picky eater. I'm also out of ideas (that's pretty easy to say when I'm preoccupied with classes). So if anyone has suggestions, even those of you who don't have kids, but might have been picky eaters. HELP!

PJs

2009-01-22T20:52:00.002-07:00

Another Christmas gift from my mother-in-law. I finished these a while ago, but keep forgetting to post a picture. They're a satin backed flannel. They're really slippery, Adam likes petting my leg when I wear them. It was really simple to make especially because Travis gave me a serger for Christmas. Don't worry it was used, but it's top of the line and only a few years old. I think it will help encourage me to make for thing in the future. After graduation of course.

Have some cake and eat it too...

2009-01-20T21:07:00.002-07:00

Alrighty here's the deal, I'm in a cake decorating class and I have to decorate cakes. (Duh!) Anyhow I brought the first one home, and it the frosting didn't turn out right, but that didn't stop my lil' guy from making me laugh at the otherwise frustrating subject.
(P.S. Jenna it was a chocolate scratch cake)

He's goin' in!

We have a direct hit!

Mmmm, not bad!

Well, I tried to get away with it!

I was assigned to make a service cake and I did. This one was a scratch white cake. That was a first for me. It turned out pretty good, but really, really, really sweet. Did I mention how sweet it was? :)

I made a Jumper

2009-01-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

No, for once, I am not referring to Adam. My mother-in-law made a jumper for her daughter and I thought it was way cute. So, for Christmas Christine (my mother-in-law) gave me a pattern and a note that said "IOU fabric and notions for one jumper" I was so excited. I made it just after New Years with direction from Christine and little bit of help. Isn't it cute! I'm so proud of it. Unfortunately I worked on it for more than 10 hours, and felt like I wasted her day. Thanks Christine! I love it!

Merry Christmas Adam!

2009-01-06T21:51:00.002-07:00

Alright, we're back to the normal everyday posting of Adam. Yes that adorable little guy that you all love. These are some pictures from opening presents and playing with presents.

We gave Adam a basketball and hoop, and he's pretty good with it. After we set it up Adam had no troubles figuring out what the ball was supposed to do. He's got awesome hand-eye coordination.

Aunt Desirae received a Nintendo DS for Christmas this year and not long after she started playing it Adam joined in. In fact, he all out stole it as you can see above this picture. The little turkey. He knows how to use it no doubt about that.

The first present Adam got to open this year was a foldable fort. Mommy and Daddy sent the cardboard fort out to the Poulsens because we can put this one away, the cardboard one, not so much.

This is from a couple of months ago. Aunt Jordelle needed a haircut so I offered to watch Michael. Adam climbed on the couch and tried to give Michael a kiss, and I was able to catch it on my phone's camera. Sorry about the quality on all of these photos, they're from my phone.

Adam loves to help take care of Michael whether it be giving him his pacifier when he's crying...

Or by giving him lots of love through hugs. We did not prompt this, Adam did this all on his own. He's so good with babies!

Day Seven of Our Cruise

2009-01-05T22:25:00.003-07:00

It finally happend, the end of our cruise finally arrived. I was so excited to see Adam! We spent a couple of hours at an art auction, and ended up going in together with my parents in purchasing 5 paintings by the artist Alexander Chen. I love his realism, and the detail of his paintings. His paintings will take him longer because he will get the detail even if it means using a single bristled brush.

Our Stateroom attendant no matter was always able to find my sunglasses and put them on our little towel animals that he made. His name was Romeo and he was such a friendly guy. We loved this monkey that he made.

Okay, this technically Day Eight of Our Cruise, because we disembarked from the ship back into Miami. Mom and Dad rented a 15 passenger van, but the words "sardine can" still came to mind. As you can see from the shot above there are 10 of us in the back three seats. But in the front bench seat, there's all of our luggage. Beyond that, our scary pilot and navigator. I swear we didn't know where we were half the time. I love you Mom and Dad!

Day Nine of Our Vacation. The Forester girls. The wind was blowing, not extremely hard, but it sure was hard to keep the hair under control. We couldn't help but squint either the sun was so bright. It was 80 something degrees that day, and we flew into Salt Lake with 20 something degrees that night. Boy, I missed that nice warm balmy air. This beach was about 3 blocks from the apartment that Mom and Dad rented in Miami. It was gorgeous with white sand, beautiful water and sky-scraping hotels.

I know, I know there's no people, but I couldn't help it, it was gorgeous.

This guy flew in front of my mom with her camera and then in front of me, and I was lucky enough (Okay, maybe good enough) to get a somewhat decent shot.

Day Six of Our Cruise

2009-01-04T13:45:00.005-07:00

Alrighty, we're almost finished with the Cruise posts so I can return to blogging about our adorable little boy and his life. I promise, you're almost through with us. Once school starts on Wednesday you'll probably be back to seeing a post once a week or every few. I'm hoping to do better this year, but only time will tell.

There was a soft serve, self-serve ice cream machine on the pool deck that was pretty much open 24/7. Travis sure enjoyed when I would let him. Yeah, he did sneak a few like right after breakfast as we were walking back to our stateroom.

We think that Adam would have loved to play in the H2O zone. This is one reason why we would have loved to have brought him. 1. To see him play in this area. 2. To watch him walk down a hallway as the ship was rocking from 15 ft swells. Yes, we're cruel, but you have to admit it would be funny to see.

Kelton, Travis, and I were sitting at a railing and someone had left their empty beer bottle. It was just to tempting not to. Sorry Mom, I promise that he didn't drink it though. He didn't want to at first if that makes you feel any better.

We were able to play dodge ball on the ship's full length basketball court. We had plenty of fun, and here's a shot of Shadd.

Team Kennon, you're up! (Consisting of Jordelle, Josh, Kennon, Tasha, Shelby, and Shade (Shadd))

Can you believe that there was an ice skating rink on the ship? Travis had an ingrown toenail that was bothering him so he opted to take photos. I just stood in the rink and let the ship skate me around. No, not really, I could have. Do you know how hard it is to skate when the ice is moving? But I can say something that most of you can't, "I've ice skated in the Caribbean, and in the middle of the ocean!"
There were actual Olympic quality stunts and shows performed on this rink at night and on a very rocky sea I might mention.

Ah, look how sweet Josh and Jordelle are!

Day Five of Our Cruise

2009-01-03T21:14:00.003-07:00

I'm slowly getting there. Sheesh, don't get so crabby! Anyhow, Day Five was in St. Maarten, U.S. Virgin Islands. It was my favorite day as well as Travis'. We went Scuba diving first thing in the morning, what a great way to start the day.
Our dive was a two tank dive which also included two different locations. The first tank and dive was around a small coral reef which also had parts of ships in the area. We saw this huge anchor on the ocean floor as well as other bits and pieces. The second tank and dive was around a sunken ship, we got to see a lot of marine life and swim through parts of the ship if we wanted to. I'll admit it, I was chicken, there's something about swimming through a sunken ship that spooks me. Not my brave Travis though, he had no problem swimming through the wheelhouse.
My other favorite part of the day was getting all fancied up for the evening dinner with my handsome husband. We had so much fun that day, that I didn't worry about Adam at all.
Peek-a-boo!

How sweet we're holding hands. I think that I did it more for comfort than for the photographer, I was just a little nervous being so far from the surface. Normally when I dive here in Idaho the surface is less than 15 ft. However for the first dive we were at least 50 ft down, and the second was 75 ft.

The photographer was from Australia and his name is Paul Tustin. Boy, underwater photography and topside photography are two completely different seahorses of a different color.

I know you're going to hate me Shelby, but oh well. I think she looked nice when her tongue wasn't sticking out. :)

You'll never guess who picked who picked out his outfit. I know it's corny to match, but I think that he looks hot! Especially in so much black.

Yours Truly overlooking the mall on our ship. Yes, I repeat there was a mall on our ship.

Until tomorrow. I promise I'll do better.

Day Four of Our Curise

2008-12-29T21:17:00.004-07:00

Here we go again, this time to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. We started bright and early to take a tender to a small island that's part of St. Thomas called Water Island. Here we go.

It was awesome to "sea" this plane, it sure looked gorgeous on the water.

This is an old bunker, if I remember right I think this was built for WW II. I'm not exactly sure though. This was actually the highest point on Water Island, and where we started our bike tour. It was a hot day, and it was nice to get away from Iceburg that's for sure.

A beautiful shot at the top of the bunker overlooking Water Island and St. Thomas.

Yours Truly!

Shadd's pretty good at poppin' wheelies, but he has to concentrate real hard.

Good ol' Kelton making faces at a very friendly and pregnant iguana who not only let us feed her, but also touch her as much as we wanted.

My Travisfish in the water. It was so clear!

Once again our monstrous ship, Freedom of the Seas, but in daylight, isn't it pretty with the water surrounding it?

I better finish Travis is going to kill me. The Internet is down at home so I had to come to campus to reply to some babysitter stuff, and I did promise my fans that I would post today. Hey, I have to be a woman of my word. I love you honey!

Day Three of Our Cruise

2008-12-28T17:23:00.003-07:00

There's a reason I skipped Day Two of Our Cruise. For one I didn't take any pictures, and secondly, we were sick. The swells were 10-15 ft high so we had a really rough first day at sea. You should have seen how many times we saw the clean-up crew in the Windjammer Cafe.

Here's Our Third Day on the Cruise. Our first Port of Call was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We arrived around two hours later because of the rough seas. But hey we got there, boy did I debate on kissing the ground. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't like Macs, so it won't let me drag the photos to chronological order, so I apologize.

This was our cruise ship, Royal Carribbean's Freedom of the Seas. It is currently the largest cruise ship in the world. With an ice skating rink, and what's called a flowrider, a synthetic wave machine that pumps 30,000 gallons/min so that cruisers can surf on the back of the ship. Here's a link to the Flowrider

This was a fort built by the Spanish in the 1500s. During its heyday it had least 140 cannon from its turrets. It was overlooking the ocean, and had a beautiful view, but it was too dark to see.

This was Puerto Rico capital building. It has an awesome interior, with some beautiful mosaics. Did you know that even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. Territory, it has its own government. The citizens cannot vote for the U.S. President.

This was one of the staircases, that we thought was pretty and thought it would be appropriate to get the whole family into a picture for.

Your truly!

This was the same fort but a different view. We saw it as we were coming into port and it's obviously during the day.

I'll post more tomorrow.

Day One of our Cruise

2008-12-28T16:57:00.002-07:00

Yes, we did it. We went on a cruise with the Forester Family. I know this might sound terrible, but Adam did not join Mommy and Daddy. It was nice to take a break, considering we left the last day of finals. The following are pictures as our ship left the Miami port. Oh, by the way Late Merry Christmas. Happy New Year! From the Poulsen Family.

This is some sort of fancy resort, it sure looked pretty.

These were some loading docks that I thought looked cool with the sunset in the background.

Two very excited cruisers, my Dad, and sister Jordelle.

The wind was blowing pretty hard, so we didn't stay on deck very long.

A shot of the Miami cityscape. My dad isn't so found of these shots because they don't have people in them, but that's okay. I still like it.

Our Computer Guru

2008-12-09T08:03:00.002-07:00

Things have been a little crazy lately. Travis and I are both in finals for classes right now and we're also preparing to go on a cruise with my family. So posting hasn't exactly been a priority. You'll probably hear a lot from me next week posts-wise I mean.

Just typin' away at Mom's computer.

Uh oh, I've been caught!

Ah, who cares!

Adam loves our laptops, so he was being a little fussy last night, so I locked my screen and let him at it. He had so much fun. He's been a little fussy lately, and that's just not our little guy. Yesterday, he was his normal self, happy and just plain old fun.

Three Years

2008-11-24T22:36:00.003-07:00

As of Saturday, November 22, 2008 Travis and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Isn't it amazing how fast three years has flown by? We've never regretted a single second of it. Well, maybe except for gaining weight from a certain blond haired blue eyed boy. Oh, to be skinny again! You know what the best part in the world is? I have the best man in the world to share my everything with!

A Fort, A Fort!

2008-11-23T11:21:00.002-07:00

We got a large box and were going to throw it away. However, Travis had a better idea. We turned it into a fort. Although, Adam doesn't use it all that much, he does occasionally, when he does he sure has fun.

The only way to get him into the fort the first time was for Mommy to crawl inside. It wasn't too cramped.

Roomate dinner

2008-11-09T12:39:00.002-07:00

Just like old times having fun and being goofy. Janna and Leslie came over for dinner last Sunday for a kind of reunion, we had a blast. Hopefully they'll come over one more time before the end of the semester.

I can explain. Adam being the messy eater sometimes got it all over his shirt and it was also time for bed. So, we kind of stripped his shirt so things didn't get worse. and he was being so goofy around our two guests that we let him get away with it for a few minutes.

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-05T06:45:00.003-07:00

I'm not near as crafty as my cousin Tanya, but I thought that I would try, this was also a last minute project. I made Adam a trick or treat bag to go with his cute little costume.

This was our first stop for Trick or Treating, Aunt Jordelle thought that he looked so cute! Who could blame her though!

Alright, hear me out, for those of you who knew what Adam's costume was originally going to be Zorro, I had an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Remember that cute and sad little video of Adam crying with the mouse costume on? Well, I happened to be in Idaho Falls while Old Navy was having a Halloween sale. Their costumes were $5. I couldn't turn that up especially when it would cost more to make the Zorro costume, and I didn't have the time.

Adam didn't cry at all this time in the costume. He actually hugged it when I brought it home and showed it to him. It's really soft, and had so much fun in it. He even tried to hold to his bag, but unfortunately the mittens wouldn't allow holding onto very much.

Adam has the cutest belly laugh

2008-10-30T07:01:00.002-06:00

Adam messed up my hair after I had put him on my shoulders, so I blew my bangs out of my face. The first time I did, Adam was laughing so hard he tipped over backwards and hit my lower back with his head. The next time for this video, I made sure he wasn't going to fall. Travis and I had to restrain our laugh so that Adam could definitely be heard.

Catch up

2008-10-24T21:16:00.006-06:00

This is what happens when Grandma Christine goes to Mommy's favorite store. While Mommy's in line to check out, Grandma goes outside to let Adam smash his face against the window. I happened to get it on camera. We also put a mouse costume on Adam, but he didn't like it too much.

This is what happens when you give an 13 month old chalk. Not only does he draw on the sidewalk, but he draws on himself, the back of the couch, and the back of the vacuum. He sure is cute when he does it though.

Mommy went on a swing that was about 30 ft high, it was a little scary at first because she was the one that disconnected herself to swing.

Adam's First Hair Cut

2008-10-07T07:10:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately there will be a lot of first on here for a while, but that's what the first year is all about huh? Adam received his first haircut last Thursday.

He obviously needed one.

It didn't start off so well. He held pretty still though.

He slowly got more comfortable with the idea, and eventually...

he was making noises, and being his jolly little self.

Bath Time

2008-09-29T11:46:00.002-06:00

Aunt Des took these photos a while ago, but I just haven't had time to post them. So here they are. Can you tell Adam loves his baths?

He might hate me for this someday, but that's okay, I think he's pretty cute.

Adam's Two Current Favorites

2008-09-25T14:35:00.002-06:00

Adam can't seem to get enough walking around. He's getting so good at it! He's a little unstable when he's wearing shoes, but he's getting better. He also really likes making this noise, I'm not sure what it's called, but it's awfully cute. Sorry I haven't posted in forever, school has started, and I've gotten really busy. I'll try to do better.

Adam's First Birthday

2008-09-08T07:23:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, September 7th, Adam turned a year old, we had family and two friends over to help celebrate. He had an absolute blast.

I sure felt bad at the end of this video. You take your eyes off him for one second, and he gets burned.

Thanks everybody who came!

Four Wheelin

2008-09-05T07:22:00.003-06:00

Uncle Roger bought a four-wheeler a while back, and took it with him on the Poulsen Family camping trip. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay because I had a cold, and Adam was just getting over his. We got to ride around for a little bit and Adam loved it. In fact when we went down the roads he would throw his hands up in the air or clap and then yell or talk. He had huge smiles on his face.

Can you tell where our true loyalties lie? Oh, look it's a Deere!

Travis' Birthday and Mesa Falls

2008-09-03T08:33:00.006-06:00

Travis is now 25 (Yay, even lower insurance!) His birthday was last Wednesday. We went to Olive Garden to celebrate, and spent the night away. No, it wasn't that hard for me because I knew I needed a break from Adam for just a little while. Anhow, the next day after we got home we went to Mesa Falls, and had a nice leisurely day of enjoying ourselves. Here are some of the shots we took.

This is Lower Mesa Falls. I love my telephoto lens!

That's a long ways down Mom! It was funny to see Adam grab ahold of the rail when I leaned toward it. I think he was afraid I would actually drop him!

This is Upper Mesa Falls, it's over 200 ft wide and 140 ft tall. Maybe that's why Adam kept grabbing ahold of the rail.

It was fun walking Adam along the some of the paths, especially because he was wearing tennis shoes. He's not used to wearing a hard sole, so he really had to lift his feet up. It was cute to watch.

I think it's safe to say he had fun.

He's Walking!

2008-08-24T14:10:00.006-06:00

Adam has taken his first steps completely on his own as of August 23, 2008. We were at my sisters Jordelle's when it happened. My younger brothers and Mom were able to see it because they were here for our nephew Michael's birth.

His face is just funny here because after he walks we all cheered and got excited. He just plopped down and looked at us all of us like, "What's the big deal?" We're so excited! Our little boy is growing so fast. Isn't he just cute?

Change of Name

2008-08-22T17:39:00.002-06:00

My nephew's new name is Michael Ron Lovell. After they came home from the hospital, they decided that they wanted to change his middle name.

He has a Name!

2008-08-21T12:29:00.002-06:00

Josh and Jordelle have decided on a name for Baby Lovell. I don't know I was getting fond of the name Baby Lovell. Anyhow, he is now Michael Joshua Lovell.