Trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house

We were able to go and visit Eric's parents in Missouri in September. We had a really great time, and made some really great memories. One occasion that I wish I had a picture of was when Mom, Hope and I were sitting on the porch watching Eric and Grandpa lighting fireworks. They found one (yes a BIG firework) that had separated from the stick. They decided that it would be okay to just "stick" it back together. When the lit it, the firework flew towards us, and went off about 4 feet behind us. I was doing everything I could to get Hope and get out from under the porch. I am sure it was quite the sight. It provided a good laugh anyway.

I can't believe I let MY child walk into the gas station looking like this. We left the house very early and left her in her PJ's hoping she would go back to sleep.


Hope loves to wear other peoples shoes. This is also the face she makes when she doesn't like her hair hanging in her face.


"Helping" grandma with dishes.


Riding the horse outside a restaurant we went to.


Pictures with Grandma and Becy (I'm not sure how Grandpa avoided the camera!) and the beloved tractor rides. Her first ride, she fell asleep after not taking a nap for a couple of days. After that she loved to go and see the horses in one of the properties nearby.








I wish I had been better about taking pictures, but we all had a blast!

Kind of embarassing

So, Hope has now grown out of this stage, but not before I found myself trying to explain this odd behavior. Hope loved to stuff her onsies as full as possible with anything and everything she could find. She did it a few times at friends houses and I never quite knew what to say! I think the pictures will speak for themselves.


Once she emptied out her onsie on this occasion, I just had to take a picture of all of the stuff she had stuffed into her onsie. This was definitely one of the times she got the most in there! Someone, oh someone, please tell me that their child did this at some point!?!?

Random pics from this summer

Other random pictures.






At a park with one of her other cousin Seth.


Hope doing a sparkler with Dad.


This was a trip to Silverthorne where the Guys went fishing and the girls spent the day shopping after a fun picnic at the park. This was during the 4th of July weekend.


This is Hope having fun with some of her cousins Branton, Carter, Aubrey and Lauren. She has really come to love each of them. She loves having them all around.

Eric THE Wing King

Okay so this is really funny! This is a copy of an e-mail that was sent out to all Colorado employees at Eric's work. He was pretty embarrassed, so I think I'll just embarrass him some more...

Announcement:
Kiewit’s own Eric McCain is the first “Wing King” of Boulder, Colorado as decreed by the West End Tavern on Pearl Street.
50 wings in 30 minutes.

Way to go Eric!
Pictures attached.

They actually sent out pictures, but I can't figure out how to get them downloaded, I will work on it though! The funniest thing is if you go to the website http://thewestendtavern.com/Events/WingKingChallenge/WingKings/tabid/503/Default.aspx They asked him to take a picture, but he said he was so sick he just couldn't do it. If you notice all the other guys look pretty happy. They obviously didn't finish. If you don't do it, you pay $50.00!!! He even got the shirt to prove it!

This is how we told my parents that we were expecting. Hope is really going to be a good big sister. She loves to do any thing that she can to help.


This is a picture of one of the many ways that she loves to help. If we are carrying anything, she either has to "help" or have something of her own to carry. This was funny because she was absolutely sure that her big strong dad couldn't do it alone! She also loves to "clean" with a sponge and spray bottle. She definitelty likes to have tings in the right place. She keeps us busy in more than one way.



Obviously I am trying to get caught up, so MANY more pictures to come. Sorry it is so much at once!

Lazy way out

Okay, so I have been really excited to post some pictures that my friend Jacynthe took a couple of months ago. I have not been able to find the time to get them on the blog so I am going to tell you that if you go to the blog named This and that photography on the right--->
Then you will have to scroll down since it has been awhile. I am so grateful that she took the time to take these. She did such a great job! She took a bunch, but I think these are some of the best. Thanks Jacynthe, you are talented in many, many ways! (Photography is just one of her hobbies.)

Hope's 1st birthday and Easter

I am realizing that I really should call this Hopes Blog. Then I realized that not many people would be too excited to hear about my laundry, grocery shopping or bread making. The only real exciting thing in our life is Hope, so here's the update. Now that she is walking, I am realizing how much baby proofing we have to do still. The funny thing is that she started doing somersaults the same time she started walking. Here are some pictures from the last few months. Chelsea, I am sorry it took me so long to upload pictures of her birthday... We went to the park in the afternoon before her party.




Here are some pictures from her party. We invited our local family members. I know that the best part of the day was playing with her cousins! Don't look too close at the cake, it was my first time ever frosting or decorating a cake. I had a lot of fun doing it though!




I am realizing that I didn't take many pictures! Especially after she dug into her cake. If anyone has pictures, please send them to me. We got most of the cake eating on the camcorder, but I still can't figure out how to post from it.

Here are a few pictures from Easter. Hope had a great time with the egg hunt. Easter is a lot more fun with kids around!

Finding Joy in the Journey

Finding joy in the journey has really become my new motto. When I heard President Monson say this in conference, it really struck my mind and has never really left. I truly feel blessed to be where I am in my life. I never had a clue how much I would love my life and all of those people in it. Okay enough serious stuff! Here are some pictures from the last couple of months.

This picture is when we were waiting at the airport to go to Colton and Julia's wedding.



Obviously, we are experiencing some hair issues! Hopes hair is in a real awkward stage. to complicate things, she refuses to leave anything in her hair. As soon as I get it somewhat under control, she is pulling everything out. These are some of the "craziest" hair pictures we have. I love the picture of Eric and Hope!


This is a night that I made spaghetti and decided to let Hope have at it...

This is a day that I set a load of laundry on the couch while I was switching laundry around, Hope not only pulled a bunch of clothes down but managed to get one of Erics shirts on her.

Just a cute picture of Jordan and Hope at the wedding...

Dang it!

Dang it- Gable beat me to posting! Okay, so I was planning on posting this hilarious video I have of Hope, but I guess the disk needs to be formatted- or something (I wish I spoke electronics)???? So I will work on that, but the video is of Hope dancing! It was the funniest thing, one night we were watching a movie, and we looked over at Hope and she was rocking and bobbing to the music. When the music stopped, so did she. Now anytime she hears music she is dancing (ie to the organ in sacrament, ring tones etc etc.) Apparently, she loves to dance. She has even picked up some fancy foot work. I love that she started doing it all on her own...

I am so grateful after all the holiday chaos, Hope is back to sleeping in her own bed for 11 hours at night. I feel like a functioning person again! I can also say Hope is officially crawling now. She has been "able" to for a few weeks, but as of Sunday, it is her preferred mode of transportation. Her second mode is walking, holding on to our hands. This girl is ready to MOVE, and boy is she on the move!

Other than Hope our lives are pretty quiet and boring, I guess because those are the only updates I can come up with. I will post a few pictures that others have sent to me, but hopefully I will figure out how to post some of the pictures from my new camera. Hope all is well with everyone!

Halloween

Here are some pictures of Hope on her 1st Halloween. We just made a stop at Grandma and Grandpas house, but she made out in the treat department thanks to Jordan and Grandma and Grandpa. So far, I am liking the costumes that are easy to make.

4 Movies I have Watched More than Once
*How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
*Dan in Real Life
*Sense and Sensibility
*Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (I actually hate this movie- I think it is kind of creepy!)

4 TV Shows I Watch
*Intervention
*Top Chef
*Criminal Minds (Erics favorite)
*Prison Break

4 People who E-mail me Regularly
*Junk Mail
*Junk Mail
*Junk Mail
*Relief Society updates
(Most people realize that e-mail is not a very quick way to get in touch with me, or that I may just never respond- sorry y'all)

4 Favorite Foods
*Anything sweet- especially ice cream (I copied this line from your blog Chels.)
*Italian food
*Erics chocolate chip cookies
*Seafood/sushi

4 Places I want to Visit
*Argentina
*East Coast/New England
*Mexico again with the family
*Anywhere I haven't already been- I'd love to see the world.

4 Things I look Forward to in the Next Year
*All the fun there is to experience with Hope.
*Mexico with the family (hopefully!)
*Taking more pictures so that I have more of a lasting memory.
*Going to Colton and Julia's wedding.

4 Things I like about my Husband
*He is my best friend.
*He loves being a father, and because of that, Hope knows her daddy loves her more than anything in the world.
*He has always supported me in the different directions that I have gone in my life. I know that he wants me to be happy.
*We are very similar in many ways, but we make up for each others weaknesses. (Yes honey, I sent in the water bill!)
*I like that I can't see my life being complete without him in it.

4 Friends to tag...
*Abbie Condie
*Pam McCain
*Mom (Good way to start off the family blog)
I guess that is all of my friends that haven't already been tagged

Just recently Eric and I were saying that we wished Hope gave us a real clear sign when she was full. Well, we got our wish. This is Hope loving her oatmeal and pears....



This is the way Hope has decided to let us know when she is full! I love it! She is getting so much personality. She loves to play and spend lots of time making us laugh.

Guess Who!?!?

Here are some new pictures of Hope. Thank goodness her Aunt Jordan takes a lot of pictures to make up for my lack of picture taking. Hope is really developing her own personality. The funniest thing is that I told Eric a long time ago that if you stick your tongue out at babies, they will try to do the same. Eric would stick his tongue out at her ALL of the time. Now that she has figured out how to do it, she sticks her tongue out at him every time she sees him. It is hilarious.

Updates

So, I never have our pictures with me when I have internet access, but I thought I could at least post something new. Hope is really a growing girl! At her 4 month appointment, she was 26.5 inches and 17 pounds which put her in the 95th percentile for height and weight and 50th percentile for head circumference. She grew 3 inches in 2 months! People are learning to not remind me how fast she is growing, because it brings a few tears to my eyes. I am enjoying her so much, I just don't want her to grow up too fast.

Also this weekend, we went to Costco, and put her facing forward in her stroller since she is sitting up so well. This opened up a whole new world to her. When she gets excited, she rolls her hands and feet and gasps for her breath, which she did all of the way through the store. We just about couldn't get through the store because of all of the attention she was drawing. Anyway, she is so much fun, I will try to post more picture sometime soon.