Christmas 2011

This year Christmas was pretty low key with our little family, but it was perfect! We woke up and Bridget opened presents.

Favortie present by far

After playing with her new toys, Bridget took a nap, then we went to church. Then we headed to my sister's house for dinner. Bridget had fun seeing the boys new toys and she loves getting on the floor and rough housing with them! Overall, we had a great Christmas and really enjoyed our day as a family and remembering Christ on this special day.

4 years

Josh and I had our 4 year anniversary on Sunday. A week before that we asked our friends if they could watch Bridget on Saturday so we could go out. She not only said yes, but offered to watch her over night. I told her I would think about it, but who was I kidding? We know them really well, and have been trading babysitting for the past few months now so I felt comfortable with them and I know Bridget does too. So I said yes, and it was so great! Josh and I enjoyed a nice dinner at Olive Garden and then went to a town just 15 mins away, where they decorate their downtown with lights and have people dressed up from like the 1800's singing. Even though it was really cold, we just enjoyed walking around and going in the little shops and drinking hot chocolate! Then we went hope and SLEPT IN!!! It was the best anniversary present I could have asked for. I of course didn't take any pictures, but lets reminisce back to that day four years ago!

Let's be realistic, this is how it really was: SO WINDY!!

Even though it was stormy on our wedding day, our life together has been anything but. I love you and look forward to many more anniversaries with you!

Grandma Marsh

Last night my Grandma passed away. She and I were super close. My sisters and I were her only grandkids, so she spoiled us and was able to have a lot of one on one time with us. I will NEVER forget all the times she picked me up from Kindergarten and took me to get a happy meal. I would get in her car, and pick out a piece of candy that she kept in the center console. My sisters and I had a lot of sleepovers at her house and we usually ate Taco Bell or Carls Jr. for dinner. (This sounds like all we did was eat fast food with my grandma, but we were all so skinny so I guess it doesn't matter!) But that's not all we did, she took us to a lot of movies, and spent countless hours playing a card game called "Flinch!". When I got older my mom would let me ride my bike to her house. I would do anything she needed around the house, we would watch t.v. shows together and I would update her on my "Oh so busy life". She was so easy to talk to and always cared so much for me and everyone around her. She had a great sense of humor and a contagious smile. Usually death is a sad thing, but in my grandmas case, it is actually good. Her quality of life was not good. She was starting to forget a lot, and she wasn't the same person I had grown up with. The grandma I had known left her body about 2 years ago so I guess that made this all a little bit easier. I know she is in a better place and will be much happier. I can't wait for a year to pass and help do her temple work. She was not LDS, I know she will accept the gospel in a heartbeat! I love you Grandma and can't wait to see you again. At my bridal shower

She at I at my wedding reception

Me, my grandma, and mom

Chrismas morning, with my nephew Jack

She was great at knitting! So before she got bad, while I was still in high school I went and pick out yarn and she made me this baby blanket. Good thing I had a girl! It was hard for her to leave the house, so she wasn't able to make it to my baby shower.

This is after she moved into the nursing home, last Thanksgiving. We got a picture of all four generations. I'm so glad I have some pictures of her with Bridget. (thanks Amber!)

I was just going through all of our pictures and wanted to share some recent ones of Bridget. She is now 15 months, and such a crazy little girl! She loves to play, run around and read books. She is communicating by pointing, and says "mama" and "dada". We love her so much, she is such a joy in our lives!

Roly Poly Santa Cookies

I just have to tell you all about these cute cookies I made to give to friends. They were so fun to make, just time consuming. I would recommend doing it during nap time or when the kids are in bed. Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/roly-poly-santa-cookies-recipe/1/

Thanksgiving

Okay, so I did a really bad job of documenting Thanksgiving. It was extra special because it was our first time just staying home and doing our own thing. We had our friends the Peck's over, they have a little girl that is 10 months. She and Bridget have so much fun together! Josh also invited a co-worker that had plans, but fell through. Josh and I had this ongoing "debate" of how we should cook the turkey. I wanted to roast it in the over, but Josh always wanting to be different, he wanted to smoke it. He had actually been wanting to get a smoker for a while, so this was just another excuse to get one. I was very nervous that it wasn't going to taste good, but after all the stress and time spent outside, it turned out GREAT!! Our friends lived in Texas for a little while so they have had their share of smoked meat, and he said it was some of the best he has ever had! I wish I would have gotten a picture of Matt devouring his turkey leg, he loved it! Here is Josh rubbing the turkey with some spices

Cutting the bird!

Here is Bridget(a.k.a. bottomless pit) with some mashed potatoes on her nose! She LOVED Thanksgiving dinner, and of course dessert too! I made homemade apple crisp and vanilla ice cream.

Josh was holding Annalynn, so then Bridget wanted in on the action too.

We had a great Thanksgiving and can't wait to make more traditions!

Drinking our veggies

Lately Bridget has been really picky about what vegetables she will eat. Since she loves smoothies, I decided to add some spinach to our strawberry & banana smoothie. She loved it!

Straws

Today I am thankful for straws! The past couple of weeks Bridget hasn't been letting me feed her anything. By this, I mean she wants to hold the spoon and do it herself! Yeah right, is what I say to that! On Friday I remembered how much she loves to use a straw, so I decided to have her try it with applesauce. She slurped up the whole cup through a straw! Then this morning I poured a yogurt into a cup, added a little milk to thin it down and she ate it all!! I was so happy, because it was getting kind of hard to find healthy snacks for her that she could do herself! Thank you straws!

Photo Shoot

This is the first Saturday in a while that we haven't had anything going on, so I decided to take advantage of it. I have been wanting to take pictures of Bridget, but I wanted Josh to come with me so he could make her smile. All I have to say is taking pictures of a one year old is HARD! Josh probably did a thousand fake sneezes, and made every funny noise there is possible! We went to the temple where the landscape and scenery is always gorgeous! Here are some of the good ones we got:

I love this picture, but the lighting is bad.

Now for the bloopers:

We had this #1 that we wanted Bridget to hold....I don't know how my sister-in-law Amber does it. Bridget didn't do very well holding it. It would either be backwards or upside down, before just throwing it and wanting nothing to do with it!

Trunk-or-treat

Last night was our ward trunk-or-treat, here is Bridget in her ladybug costume! I wanted to take pictures outside but I knew it would be impossible for her to sit still.

She loved the feel of her dress, and chewed on it on the way to the church!

I gave her this for bribery, and before I knew it, half of it was gone! So I took the wrapper off and she ate the rest!

Bridget & I-Josh was getting the truck ready to pass out candy.

Lucky girl talked me into letting her have a lollipop. Everyone thought she was so cute, I would have to agree!

Yesterday we enjoyed the nice weather and did some more work in the yard. We laid a landscape fabric to block the weeds, and then put mulch over it. Here is Josh using his truck to it's fullest!

Bridget looks like a rag-muffin, but she LOVES playing outside and getting into whatever she can! And yes, that is dirt on her face!

Josh said it looked like she got into a box of oreos!

Pumpkin Carving

Tuesday night we carved pumpkins and Bridget LOVED eating the pumkin. I put her on the table with us and I thought she was going to be a pill, but she just sat there playing with the pumpkin guts! She saw us putting our hands in the pumpkins, so she wanted to give it a try!

This was right as she was throwing some of the guts at Josh!

She would pick pieces of the pumpkin off and eat it!

It's good for you, right? Here she is with a mouth full of seeds! At first I didn't want her putting the seeds in her mouth because I was afraid of her swallowing them. Later, she snuck a couple, and when I put my hand in front of her mouth she would spit them right out. She just loved the pumpkin flavor I guess!

Our final products!