Landscape Woes

We decided to get rid of our old bushes. They looked HORRIBLE. Unfortunately, they were like four miniature trees, that were 30 years old, and very well rooted--practically into the house. It took a real man to get this job done:) It looks considerably better now that we have planted new bushes and flowers.

Here she comes!

Look at the that crazy hair! I think the wind caught it just right!

Elizabeth has decided to walk now! I knew she could for a while now but just hasn't had the motivation. She saw some of her friends at church yesterday walking though and I think that did the trick. She stood up and took about 10 steps like she had just been waiting for the right moment to tell us all she actually already knew how! We were so happy that Craig was there for it since he missed Ethan's first steps because he was on a business trip. Although he did have to leave a few hours later--we were glad he could be there for the special moment:)

2012 Fall at the Farm

I love fall. I love the food, the colors, the final release from horrible hot humidity, the sudden disappearance of many bugs. Oh, I love it:)

This year as part of our celebration we went to the frying pan farm park fall festival.  We usually visit the farm about once a week, but this trip was extra special. They had all the old machinery up and working--including the massive apple cider press, the logger and lots of other exciting tools. We saw baby piglets just two days old--they were adorable! We enjoyed apples, honey, and a hilarious puppet show. If you have never been to the east for a fall festival you need to do it--seriously a highlight of the year. Here are some pictures of my adorable children enjoying themselves.

She is One Year Old!!

 Elizabeth is one year old! What a party we had! Grammy and Grampy came up for the occasion and we all enjoyed her favorite cake--strawberry short cake.

I know everybody always says "I can't believe it's been a year!" well, I really can't believe it. I really can't believe it. We love Elizabeth more than I can say. She is sweet in every sense of the word. Her little smile it the best thing ever.

A couple weeks before her birthday she had no teeth. She now has seven teeth. They took their time but showed up in full force ready for birthday fun! Once we can get her sleeping again at night we will all be a little happier.

I imagined this to be a gloriously adorable photo with all the colorful balloons but I could not for the life of me get her to look at me. Baby photography is serious business!

Her favorite toys are balls. She LOVES balls. Big, little, smooth, rough. If there is a ball within a mile she will crawl (with one little leg pushing) as fast as you ever saw a baby on all three move to get it.

Some of her skills right now include backing down the stairs--for which Mommy is very grateful. Also she is remarkably good at somehow stealing anything from Ethan in the car. Unfortunately I can't see how she does it because I am driving, but somehow she ALWAYS ends up with whatever Ethan is holding. She also loves to irritate Ethan. She will steel his toy, crawl as fast as she can with it to our bed and throw it behind the head board so he can't get it. She thinks she is hilarious. She also loves to wrestle with Ethan. She is only 5 pounds high junior so they make a fairly good match and they are hilarious to watch tumble around.

Elizabeth also loves music. Sometimes I turn up the radio and we all have a dance party. (Sometimes I forget to shut the blinds so if you drive by you might be in for a show) Elizabeth loves its. She bounces, waves her arms, yells along. I can't wait to enroll her in her first dance class.

There are so many things about this little girl I wish I could write down. I hope she knows how much we love her. How beautiful she is. How much her Heavenly Father loves her and expects of her. She is my little princess, and in truth a perfect daughter of God.

Happy Halloween!

 Ethan decided he wanted to be old McDonald for Halloween. The crazy thing is Elizabeth said she wanted to be a prize winning piglet! So they went great together:) They both played their roles like they were born for it. You can't see in the picture but Ethan has a cute beard we drew on and Elizabeth has a curly pig tail. They were adorable. They raked in the candy, and now we just have to plan what we can dress up for next year!

Of course he hated getting his hands dirty!