The Young Family

10/18/08

The $12 Kitchen

I realized I never posted a picture of Mike's great find at DI :O) Of course, he ended up bringing home more "goods" than he was supposed to be "dropping off". (and P.S. the actual plastic foods are brand new)

10/13/08

She sings

The Farmer is apparently a very busy man!

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A Domestic Day Off

Today was a very domestic day off. Growing up, most of the fall was spent helping mom can goods from the garden. By saying "help", I must mean that it was strictly child labor :) Long assembly lines of snapping beans, shelling peas, and cutting corn. It was a long process that probably lasted weeks if I could remember properly. As an adult, I have always wanted to can goods but have never pursued it because you hear about the time and mess, etc. I have friends that can and it always seems like so much work. However, Yvette was kind enough to help me learn how to can peaches today! It was relatively easy, and kind of embarrassing, that I would not know how to do something so simple. Although most of the day was spent separating Reagan and Zoe (it was an "off" cousin day!) Yvette showed me the ropes and I'm excited to be able to learn something new and add the very first "home-made" good to our pantry! Thanks Yvette and Zoe for a fun day.

Before.....

AFTER!!!

The one "happy" moment of the day!

Ok, maybe the "two" happy moments of the day!

Scrappin'

This past weekend was an annual girls trip to Heber City for a weekend of scrappin'. We rent this beautiful cabin in the mountains and spend many, many, many hours scrappin' (oh, and eating ourselves sick). I left on Friday and came home
Sunday. Heidi was heading to Idaho for my sister Heather's new baby girls blessing. What! you say? I was not planning on going? No, rude as I am, I had already had this trip planned and paid for so I sent Reagan with Aunt Heidi in my place :o) Needless to say, Southern Idaho had a HUGE snow storm. It took Matt & Yvette forever to get there Saturday and in Burley, where Heather lives, there was over a foot of snow that day and they cancelled church!! Baby Malia was blessed at home and some family was able to enjoy it.

Me, on the other hand, spent my weekend talking, laughing, eating way too much (as aforesaid), and of course scrapbooking! It was so much fun and it was nice to get away for a few days. It was very cold and snowed most of the time, although only an inch or so stuck. Bet you are wondering about Mike...well, he got to do whatever he wanted (that was, of course, after he did my job list). He spent hours scrubbing the kitchen floor & bought Reagan a new favorite toy....from the DI! And wait until you see the picture people. This thing was $12 and before you go all icky thinking about it, it is in GREAT shape! So, overall, a very successful weekend!

This is an amazing picture - only because Michelle DOES NOT EVER make a card! However, she spent most of the weekend making cards!

Some of the girls relaxin'

Abbey looks happy to be here but Tasha...it kind of looks like forced fun huh?!

The back of the cabin

View from the porch

A few of my favorite pages (sorry, I couldn't figure out how to put them side by side)

9/28/08

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend Mike's brother Josh got married. We went home Wednesday night and were able to spend several days with family doing fun things, and celebrating. The guys got to race cars and golf while the girls were able to shop and get pedicures. Of course, we ate way too much and stayed up much past our bedtimes. Here are several pictures from the wedding. Although my camera was obviously not on the right setting because the pictures are kind of blurry, there were several cute pictures. Mike looked very handsome in his tux! Congrats to Amy and Josh!

Rea & Coop just longing to jump in

Sara and Kennedy

Cooper, Kennedy, and Reagan

Grandpa Dick, Grandma Judy and grandkids

The Happy Couple

9/21/08

Saturday Night Fun

Mike thought it would be fun to have a night of painting. After casing Roberts Crafts, the only things we could find to paint were mini lunch boxes. So....as you can see from the pictures, it was a fun & messy time. Reagan painted hers oh so pretty, I made a little box that Reagan can use to take treats to her buddies at school, and Mike, well, I'll let you see for yourself (apparently, we are a cool rock band familiy, but don't be fooled by how beautiful he depicted me! I thought he gave me some uber cool sunglasses but nope, it's eyeshadow!).

The budding artist

Look ma!

Erin's

Reagan's

Mike's - I'm sure he'll be taking this to work from now on

9/18/08

I'll Hold you Forever

Anyone who is around Rea knows that she frequently wants to be held. It's hold me, hold me, hold me. I think it's an up at your level thing so she can see what's going on and probably some of it is just because that's the way she is. Anyway, I was reading her journal that I have kept for "her" the other night and just shortly after she was born I had written "It's amazing how much I long to just hold you, I'll hold you forever - or at least as long as you'll let me!" The other night I was trying to clean up after dinner and Mike is out of town and it was "Hold me mommy, hold you mommy, etc". I was getting really frustrated at having her at my feet and said "Reagan, WHY do you always need to be held?" and she looked up at me with those sweet brown eyes and said "Cuz I need my mommy". My heart melted and I thought, "why wouldn't I pick you up and hold you my sweet girl". It reminds me of one of my most favorite books "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be". There will come a day when she won't want to be held. I'll have to beg her to let me hold her or snuggle with her. So, until then, I'll continue to hold her and one day, when I'm old and grey, maybe she'll hold me!

On a side note: as I mentioned before that Mike was out of town. Thankfully, he doesn't travel but a week a month now and I don't look forward to that week but I find that I have enjoyed having the alone time with Reagan. She's such a daddy's girl and when he's gone she is usually very good for me, it boosts my self esteem about being a good mom (grin), and I try to take her somewhere special and really devote time with her. We always try to have dinner with Aunt Heidi because she loves her so much. I can't wait until the days when we can get pedicures and have girl dates and do fun crafty things together. Since we both work we basically smother her when we are home with her. She's been the most amazing blessing in our lives.

9/14/08

Mission: ACCOMPLISHED!

Well, it's official. Mission "Potty Training" is complete (we hope). It's been several months since we began potty training Reagan! It began earlier than we wanted but due to others potty training at her daycare, we sort of had to jump in. We've now had 5 days of COMPLETE dryness! That's waking up totally dry and Reagan telling us every time she needs to go potty! So...she got a new present (Play Doh fun), and some special new panties (which as you can tell by the picture she was so excited she put them ALL on at once). Now we'll keep our fingers crossed, knowing their will be accidents and hopefully not huge relapses. We've already done the stop-in-the-middle-of-nowhere to go potty in the dirt as we were traveling!

Time Well Spent

The PRIZE!

The NEW panties

A Fun Weekend

We had a fun weekend enjoying what is probably left of our summer or warmer fall weather. We went with Heidi and Matt & Yvette to a friend's cabin in Scofield. It's a little a-frame cabin in the middle of no where with nothing but silence!! In spite of the girls not getting naps, cold nights, and using an outhouse, we had lots of fun and always enjoy each other's company. Food eaten while camping always tastes delicious too.

Mike and Reagan

Nature Walk

Heidi and Katie

Mr. Caterpillar (he stops moving soon after Reagan pinched him to death!)

Erin & Reagan at Scofield Lake

Throwing Rocks

Our "catches of a lifetime"

Reagan and Zoe

9/2/08

Because it's cute...

I missed the first verse of Reagan singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". Several of you have heard it numerous times but it's just cute! (And warning...this song stays in your head for a VERY long time).

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Conversations....

A few conversations with Reagan:

Mommy: Rea, did you poop in your pants?
Reagan: Don't really think so.
Mommy: Well either you did or you didn't.
Reagan: Maybe mommy

M: (After her stomach growls) Are you hungry Reagan?
R: No, my belly tooted

R: Reagan naughty mommy
M: You are? No, not really. Well, sometimes
R: Reagan need spanking mommy
M: I don't think so

M: Can you get down and walk please?
R: No
M: Why?
R: Cuz that's why

Daddy: One more book and it's time for bed.
Reagan: I scared!
Daddy: What could be scared of?
Reagan: (with a pause and a fold of her arms) Penguins!
Daddy: Uh, Penguins? Penguins aren't scary Rea.
Reagan: Yeah

We had a fun Labor Day weekend in Idaho. We enjoyed a lunch with Grandma, Heather, Ella and Emmett, Mike's cousins reception, a jaunt to the fair (remember my post from last year...it stands true every year :), and most of all hanging out with cousins and spending quality time with family! Here are several pictures from the weekend including the newest member of the McEwen/Gibby family. Heather's new baby girl - Malia Jo was born on Sunday. Welcome sweet girl!

The Proud Big Brother