10 Months Old

O bebe! You're 10 months old already?!?! It's amazing how time used to pass with out much notice (until I was pregnant and at times seemed to crawl) but now it passes so quickly without much notice it's another month passed and you've changed so much! We try to capture every little experience with you because we know tomorrow will bring something new.

You and Addison are seemingly closer now that you're bigger. You two are so cute together!

Thank you for letting me take your pictures. You used to turn away or simply stare at me, but now you smile and look for me to pop out from behind.

You appreciate the small things. Details, small items, new textures are all of intrest and you can't wait to find more. You still do your light patting and have a very light touch when being 'soft'.

You are so very happy! Content and peaceful. It is such a delight to be around you, to love you, to hold you, and watch you grow. I know Dad told you that when you have 8 teeth you could have steak, but I don't think he realized you'd have 6 so soon (and more on the way). Thanks for saying "mama" for me! We love to hear you say: da-da, be-be, na-na, your cute little squeals, attempts to say 'jump' and sounds for 'this much' when we ask you how much you love someone (with arms in the air).

You started crawling at the end of June and are now standing up to balance on your own. We don't think you'll keep from walking for too much longer.

The doctor's office got a little off on appointments and you're scheduled for one on Monday. We will see how much you weigh and how tall you've gotten. :)

We love you so much!

Were has August gone??

O my! Here it is the end of August and I have so much to catch up on! I went to repay a favor and take pictures at an wedding open house and of course I couldn't help getting some of my own sweetie - whose going to be 10 months on Friday!

I just wanted to share this picture and hope it makes your day a little brighter - I get a chuckle out of it everytime I see it, or even think about it for that matter. She is so fun and has quite the personality! O how we love you Boo! Thanks for giving us an extra reason to smile everyday!

O, and by the way I am LOVING Kindergarten! more to come about that too. . . .

I made it...sort of

The first 2 days of Kindergarten that is. And they don't really count because there were parents all around and half-hour time slots to come to the classroom. It felt totally disjointed for me. I know the thought behind it was to get the kids comforitable with the classroom before school started, but isn't that was the open house was for??

Speaking of the open house, I had one very curt woman ask me how long I'd been teaching and that she didn't want me as the teacher, she wanted Mrs. B-----. (in front of other parents and students that is) and I simply said that Mrs. B---- was right here, since her daughter's in our class and that I was looking forward to have P---- in our classroom. Wow! She really was trying to put me through the ringer and I think I won her over by the end of the treasure hunt the following day :)

Did anyone else's Kindergarteners have a "treasure hunt" day to come check out the classroom and do some simple assessments? Just wondering. DOn't think I'll do it next year, but not sure.
(that is.... if I'm teaching Kindergarten next year).

So, check back after next week and we'll see how I'm REALLY doing. :)

Why the Private Blog?

I know, Cheryl had a great tutorial on how to have a private blog of all the past stuff and keep one open to the public, but... It just bugged me that I didn't always know who was looking. I don't mean random high school friends or others who'd just stop by occasionally, I mean the crazy people out there who can access too much information. I know I'm not THAT important that someone would harm my family, but who knows right?

I was tired of not being able to use Charlize's name. I love her nickname (Boo) but I LOVE her name. Strong, feminie, unique - that's why we gave it to her. I like to use it.

I also worked hard to not put any identifying information up on where we lived, last names, where we worked... (I know its up there in the phonebook & we both have public jobs) but I just don't like the worry. However, with my photos it was obvious where we lived and I have a classroom blog too, and I just didn't like it all out there.

I know it has its drawbacks to have friends rondomly find us (like I've found some of you) but, that's why the demo is there - to leave a chance to see.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

School starts a week from tomorrow and a week from today is the open house which means all the students and parents will be coming by to meet the teachers. Guess what??? My room is a pile of stuff everywhere and half of it is covered with Musical instruments I can't touch. Can we say - "I think I'm loosing it!!!" I have to take deep breaths and try to not care because I can't control it.

ARGH!! you may have to check back in a bit to see if I'm still around - or rather don't plan on me updating for a while because I'll be at my classroom 24/6 (yep six days left).

Farmington

For the Pioneer Day weekend we headed to Farmington for a roping. Boo and I were excited (we always love watching dad) because there was another family going with us and they were gonna camp there with us too. More kids around for her to watch and someone for me to visit with.

Well, we got off about an hour later than planned (I still have not gotten used to getting 2 of us packed and be on time), picked up Kason's horse, said HI to the family and off we were. We got to the fairgrounds and I immediatly spotted a beautiful place to go take pictures (hopeing that they're kids would let me).

We got camp set up and went to eat dinner at Taco Time (Thank goodness for air conditioning, huh Kristi?! ) We were all expecting it to be cooler than home, but it wasn't. The trailers took a while to cool off, and once the sun went down it was much better. I set Boo down in the trailer on a little step for the slide out and off she went- straight on her cheek. Bummer - first shiner and it was my fault. :( Good thing Dad was riding so that made her happy again.

We trotted down to my new location and got some beautiful pics as the sun was going down. O how I love the setting sun and the beautiful lighting it puts on everything! I'll post more on my photo blog...
The next day, we went to the mall and shopped for most of the morning (the guys we're roping till 5 so we had most of the day). We went to WallyWorld and got a playpen for Boo to sleep in and I spotted a Hobby Lobby - wish we had one here at home! Nate had dinner planned for us all. He started it, then went off to rope - so I had to finish it and I didn't ruin it. Yea for me! Boo had fun crawling around in their trailer and watching the kids run around.

The guys got into the #11 roping (both header and heeler numbers have to equal 11 or less). They were doing good all night and tuned out Nate and his partner were high call back for the short go (they had the lowest time for the previous 2 steers caught and had time taken off for being such a low numbered team). He was cautious about getting out so he didn't break the barrier, they both caught and they won it!



It paid out belt buckles and $1500.00! Yea for Nate!
The following day's roping didn't prove to be as successful, but fun nonetheless.
In the morning Boo and I went to visit our friends the Canova's and I had hoped to get to see more of the family with their kiddos. I was so happy when Susan said that she'd called Lindsay and McKenna so we could get to visit! I was so excited to see them and their cute little famlies. Sorry we missed you Joni and Nate. Of course I was too busy visiting and forgot to take pictures with the kiddos, so after it all I got one with their dog Miley. The guys had another roping that evening that didn't prove to be as successful as the night before, but still fun. We left town and headed to Goshen to stay at a friend of their's place to rope the next day. It was cooler than Farmington and I was so excited! I could tell it was out in the country and when Boo woke up at 6, I had no trouble taking her out for a walk so I could take pictures. It was beautiful! I wished I could have gotten behind the cows (I just love backlighting) so maybe next time, but for now it was lovely landscapes to look at.

We went back to the trailer and actually got an hour nap in while we waited for everyone else to get out and about. Nate took Boo for a ride before they started roping. O how that girl loves to ride! The ladies all sat in the shade while the guys roped - amazing how much cooler it was in the shade. Boo enjoyed a short nap in the playpen and being able to move around in there. Later on, after a late lunch we were hanging out (being amazed at Kristi's wasp catch/kill techniques) and she actually crashed again.

The nap didn't last long. We got the big carseat and brought it on this trip thinking she would like to sit up higher. Unfortunately she never got comforitable in it and cried ALL THE TIME. So we flipped it around, forward facing. I know, I know- she's not a year yet. She is however definitly over 20 lbs, but We couldn't take another 3 hours of her fussing. New lessons learned: DOn't try a new carseat on a long trip. We are however making a little progress in the "hold-your-own-bottle" category.

Thanks G family for such a fun trip and to the Young's for letting us hang out at your place!

Anniversary #3 and 9 months old

Yep - its been 3 years since we got hitched. We're not good at taking pictures each year on our anniversary so I just put together some representing each year. We celebrate by being all together - as a family. Maybe we'll get out to dinner and (gasp!) a movie which we haven't done is probably a year or so. But today we'll just be together and enjoy the day. Thanks for being my sweetheart Nate - I look forward to many more to come!

- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

Today also is Boo's 9 month birthday. She's crawling all over and pulling herself up to stand by things. Crazy how fast she transitioned into all this movement. She's still such a happy, healthy baby and we love her move everyday.

She is so cute in the morning when I have to wake her up, she sits up - eyes still half closed- and claps. She is so happy!
She points with her pointer finger and still does her sweet little hand tap. She touches most things this way- soft, gentle taps with all four fingers. She can get a little more aggressive and thump, but its those sweet taps that are endearing.

Wyoming

I just love Wyoming! Nate used to tease me alot about my silly obsession, but the more we go, the more he likes it. I just love seeing all those wide open spaces and massive amounts of sky. My soul takes a deep breath when we go. I know there are places like that other than Wyoming, but it will always have a special place in my heart.

Unfortunalty, its been every other year due to different trips, getting married and being pregnant (the 13 hours would not have been good for the hurt tailbone) so, from here on we hope its a yearly trip :)

We made it a two day venture on the way up. We were going to haul a horse trailer for a friend up to Greybull and I was excited because I'd never driven that way before. We ended up not taking the trailer, but went that way anyhow. Except for the construction it was a nice drive. Not one we'd do again as it added an hour or two to the trip, but pretty.

We stopped in Thermopolis for a bite to eat and let the little one move around.

Just before Burgess Junction we saw this herd of sheep just grazing along the road and I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of a mama and baby moose that were not too far off.

Coming down the mountain - this is all we could see. They are taking out the s-curves most of the way down, but we couldn't see the massive amounts of clearing - just lots of fog.

We stopped by Sheridan College to see what was the same and what had changed.

We got to visit with Dan and Agnes. Agnes drove (drives) bus for the college and she is always a good time to be around. She had knee surgery again in June, but she's doing well with Physical Therapy and Boo had fun watching their dogs run around. :) Dan didn't want his picture taken, but I got in a portrait or two.

We ate lunch at the Pony Bar & Grill, and it was so nice out on the patio. Yes Nate's in a long sleeve shirt and it was nice enough for him to wear it.

And his happy grin - Fried Pickles.

I know you're thinking gross, but they are delicious! He thought I was crazy when I'd talk about them, till he had them on our last trip and he couldn't wait to get some more.

We went to the rodeo Thursday and Friday nights with my good friend Gwen. O, it was so nice to get to see her! They have te championship Indian Races and a pretty entertaining clown that didn't do the same thing each night.

The parade is quite the event. This year's theme was "You Can Bet On It" and it was almost 2 hours long. Boo had so much fun watching everything!! That's my host family from when I played volleyball in Sheridan, and we've kept in touch through the years. It is always so much fun to get to visit with them and watch their kiddos grow. My old boss, Roger, plays in the Drum & Bugle Corp (spelling) and our other friends the Englerts drove pulled the trailer representing the college.

ss, blue skies and mountains. The funny thing is, I didn't take oodles of pictures - I was too busy soaking it all in. Can only see so much through the camera and I needed to see as much as I could. :)
The last day, we got to see my friend Texie and her little kiddos - three of whom I'd never met. The boys were so cute with the girls. Cute Teka is about 3 months older - yea I have a chunky little girl! :) We love every single roll!
Last, we headed out to Wyarno to eat lunch with Roger and the Englerts. It is so nice to get to catch up and visit. Katie and Cody used to hang out with us on the farm - and now they're teenagers! Geez how time flies! Hopefully one of these times, we'll catch them when they're in our neck of the woods.

On the way home, I had fun taking pictures of Boo as she showed off her new trick of the week (second 'cause Rick and Nan got her full on crawling!) but that cute little pointer-finger is out and she likes to touch with just it. :)

Sadly, we left the nice 80-90degree weather and came back to find it 90 degrees at 3:00am when we pulled in. Urgh, but hey after a few days adjusting we're back into the swing of staying indoors alot - in the air conditioning.

To those friends we missed - hope to catch you on the next trip!