It's been over a month now since Jeff and I moved into our new home so I guess I better catch up on my blog! It took a while to get everything organized, mostly because we still had to buy a bunch of furniture. This house is quite a bit bigger than our little apartment so it took some time to get it furnished. It's still a work in progress, but the main floor and bedroom are looking decent at least. It was pretty scary to move into our own place, but now that I feel settled, I'm really enjoying it! The part I love the most is probably waking up in the morning to such a gorgeous view. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a hotel or in a postcard. We are truly blessed to be able to own this home! I finally took some photos of what I've done so far.
Moving was a really great experience because we have the best families who are so willing to help us, and Kellie made us some yummy lunch once again! I'm so excited to have Kellie just a few doors down from us and can't wait for all the fun times Bentley will have with her cousins living on the same street.
Well, I know it's not even December yet, but I already have Christmas decorations up and Jeff's Staff Party is already done. For some reason, Nov. 21 was the only date they could settle on so it was an early one this year! It was at our house (how this happened, I still don't totally understand), but it forced me to get the house put together quickly so I borrowed some Christmas decorations from Cindy and my mom. It was actually really fun to host the party, as I hadn't been able to host anything in our apartment. I didn't have to cook, though, so it wasn't bad at all. The caterers were excellent, and even went through our cupboards to find tupperware to put all the leftovers in! I didn't have to cook for a couple of days, and let's just say barely any food was wasted. We also did a gift exchange and I ended up with some really cute Christmas bobbly-heads.
We thought we better keep the early Christmas going, so we went to see the zoo lights, and also let Bentley meet Santa. She LOVED the lights, or maybe just being outside. She was so excited! Santa on the other hand...not her favorite, but she did okay when we sat her there on her own. We definitely couldn't get a good family shot though!
Well one last thing before I finish this post. Bentley turned 10 months old! I can't believe how big she's getting. She has so much personality, and we just love her more and more every day!!
I'm a big fan of Fall! I think the colors of the trees are gorgeous and the weather is usually nice, but it does mean that Summer is over and Winter is coming...so that part I'm not a huge fan of. We have had a great summer and fall so far, making the most of the nice weather (besides the early snowfall we had this year a few weeks back). Bentley is growing up so quickly and it's so much fun to watch her. She is now 8 months old! She's not yet crawling but loves to sit up and play with toys. She also has 2 teeth now that look so adorable, although it wasn't so fun waking up a lot of times in the night with her teething. I've been feeding her lots of solid foods and she really enjoys tasting different flavors. I have so much fun making homemade baby food and giving it to her as the "mmmmm" sound she gives me is quite worth it! She's also had a few laugh attacks lately and usually has a pleasant face on. I love this girl more than anything.
The other week my sister, Tamara, asked me if I wanted to join her in the Neon Run. Lee was originally going to run with her, but since his knee is busted right now that wasn't going to happen. So I took his ticket and Lee and Jeff were there to cheer us on and take pictures! I hadn't been running much since having Bentley. I've been doing a lot of walking, but before the run I made sure I at least ran a 5k distance. It turned out to be not so bad and I kept up with Tamara the whole time, although towards the end I was ready to stop. We ended up running the entire time and did it in half an hour or less, although it isn't timed so we didn't know for sure. We had a lot of fun buying neon and glow things beforehand, especially enjoying the knee high colorful socks, gloves, hair things, and glow necklaces. During the race they throw glow water and powder, so I got pretty covered. There's also a black light spot in the middle and end of the race where we took some pictures. It was a fun time!
I've also been enjoying living with my parents, as it's great to have the company! We are excited, though, to move into our new home in the next few weeks. It still seems a bit unreal to us, but it's coming so fast. I guess I'm growing up! I also really like the new ward that we are in now, the Cranston Ward. It was an easier transition to this ward than it was to New Brighton because I knew quite a few people already. I've made some new friends as well and really enjoy going to the Baby Play Group we created every week. Book of Mormon class is also a regular thing for us each week, and working out. I also better mention my new calling as the Ward Chorister. That one was a little unexpected for me, as I've never led music before, but it turns out it's not so hard and I am starting to enjoy it. Well that's the haps with me right now, I guess my next post will probably be about moving. Wish me luck!!
I just got home the other day from a 3 week vacation in Montana and am excited to write about the fun times we had (for the most part...)!
Our first week was spent at Ashley Lake with my parents and my sister, Tamara's family. Since we were with MY family I think it's safe to say that this was my favorite week! We got to do a ton of boating - Jeff and I love to ski and do some wakesurfing, along with my dad and Tamara. Unfortunately Lee had a bummed knee so it was sad to see him unable to do one of his favorite things! It was a lot of fun to see Tamara's kids do their water sports as well. I was very impressed watching Mason get air on the wakeboard...which comes with some face plants that he wasn't too happy about (which is why I stopped wakeboarding!). He also learned to slalom, and Dakota's not too far behind him. Griffin's still young but learning quickly, and we got to play with my crazy little niece Scarlett - the free spirit! She was a cutie, and all of them adored Bentley. I have to thank my mom for staying back with Bentley many times while Jeff and I went on the boat, it was really nice to be able to do that. We did bring Bentley on the boat several times as well and at first she was quite stunned by it, but it didn't take long for her to get used to the boat and fall asleep on it too! We love boating and the best part is when you get that glassy water and your ski just glides through it...there's no better feeling!! I have to say I was slightly worried about getting up this year just because I had Bentley not long ago and didn't know how great my core muscles would be. I was happy when I got up on my first try! Jeff did well also and made sure to fit in his "annual" wakeboard. Haha I don't mind him wakeboarding once a year...I'd rather him not blow his eardrum again!
Well besides boating we did many other activities. A popular thing this year with my family was picking huckleberries. My dad found a great place to pick them just up the road a little ways. One night we all picked berries, making sure to pick the good berries, not the poisonous ones. After picking for about an hour, we combined all of our goods and created one bucket full. Huckleberries are tiny, so it's a lot of work to pick that many! Tamara made pies out of them and also some syrup which we put on our pancakes. It was pretty delicious!
On Monday night we had FHE around the campfire. We told Book of Mormon stories and roasted marshmallows to make smores.
We also spent our time playing Mexican horseshoes and doing some archery, which I'm getting better at! Paddle boating and swimming were also a lot of fun. One day we dragged the lily pad behind our boat a little ways out and had my dad make waves while we all tried to balance and stay standing as the waves went by. That was fun until the rain came and we had to go back in and cover up the boat. We also played lots of games and watched some movies and TV - including the Bachelorette finale!
Bentley was super good this week and it was great to have people around to take her now and again. I put her in the blow up pool and she loved kicking her legs and splashing in the water. She sits quite well now but at that point she wasn't sitting so I leaned her against the side and watched her closely. I even put some towels on either side of her at one point as well.
The food was great as well and I made some apple streusel muffins for breakfast and my chipotle chicken burrito bowls for dinner one day. They were quite good and everyone seemed to like them.
When the week was over we packed up our truck and said goodbye to everyone. We drove away from a bunch of sad faces sitting on the deck waving goodbye to us. I wish I had taken a picture. Then we heard cheers as we continued driving. I have quite the hilarious family...oh how I love them!! Haha.
We spent the next week at Echo Lake with Jeff's family. The first 2 days were a family reunion, so I got to meet all of his Dad's family. Most of them I had seen before but I also met a bunch more new faces. All of our meals took place at Jeff's grandparents cabin up the road a ways from Jeff's parents place. It was a bit of a pain dragging Bentley there for every meal (usually during her nap time), but the food was definitely to die for! Jeff and I helped with one dinner and made a peach salad. We also had a gift exchange, which turned out to be really fun. I had bought the movie "Heaven is for Real" along with the game Monopoly Deal and wrapped it up. Jeff's grandparents ended up with it, and we ended up getting their gift, which was a cute little cooler and a Christmas book. There was also a "Family Feud" act that went on which included a bunch of inside jokes about Echo Lake that Jeff had to explain to me. It was fun to meet and hang out with everyone, but when it was over I was ready to do our own thing with Jeff's family alone.
We did some boating and swimming with Jeff's parents, Brent, and Scott and Kellie's family. Jeff took me skiing one day and this is where the less fun part comes in! Jeff drove the boat over a sand bar and totally wrecked it, so we had to take the boat in for repairs. Jeff felt terrible the whole week - like he had ruined everyone's vacation. So that wasn't very fun. Luckily Jeff's Aunt and Uncle took us all out on their boat for the rest of the week. We also played some games, hung out, and went into town one day.
The next week Jeff left to go back to work but I decided to stay one more week and then have Jeff drive back for the weekend and then take me home. I stayed at the Ady's for 2 days, which was a little more lonely with just me, Don, Kellie and her kids left. We hung out at the cabin and went swimming one day and then into town the next day. I met Melanie at the mall and then she took me back to my parent's cabin after a bit of shopping. Jordan had just left from their week of fun at the lake and Melanie wanted to stay a little longer, so I thought I'd come over and keep her company, since my parents had left for home as well. I spent 2 days with her and the kids alone, and then my parents came back. Pretty confusing!! I had fun with Melanie and her kids also. We did a bunch of swimming, hottubbing, and lots of games! Then when my parents came back we got to do some more boating. Unfortunately these were the coldest and rainiest days but we made the most of it and still did our skiing, etc. when it wasn't actually raining. The hottub got some good use. I was also impressed with Skyler and how much he loved to ski and wakeboard. He's also very good for his age! We went into town one day as well, did some shopping, and ate at Famous Dave's. Pretty yummy!
Jeff was planning on coming that weekend, but called to tell me he had too much work at home to do, so I ended up coming home with my parents.
It was a super fun vacation and I can't believe how fast it went! The summer seems to just fly by. Bentley did great with all the moving around and different people. She definitely doesn't play strange like she used to! She seems to thrive now with lots of people around. She learned to say mom, and also has this really funny laugh that sounds like she's a dog, panting. It gets everyone laughing. Most people say they've never seen a baby so happy, so that's good to hear! She loves to eat solid foods and I've introduced her to almost everything, finding nothing that she won't eat. She just loves eating! She's also sitting up quite well, although will still fall backwards the odd time.
Well that sums up our summer vacation!!
