Where has Fall gone?

My sister Alison, our friend Jody, and I went to the Jason Aldean concert in Salt Lake back in October, Thompson Square and Christ Young opened for him. OMG, I felt like a fun, crazy teenager again. We had a blast. Jason Aldean puts on an amazing concert-deffinietly one i'll be going to again. When we got out we couldn't hear and our throats were so sore from singing at the top of our lungs! HAHA! SO much FUN!!! Deer season has come and gone...but this year we actually had some luck! We finally saw some bucks worth shooting and not just some little 2 points. HA! I got mine during rifle season and John got his during bow season. So funny thing, John sends me a picture at 7:15am of his deer that he just killed, so I wake Raegan up and we hurry out to the shop to go see his deer. After he pulls it out of the back of the truck he goes into the shop and grabs my deer head that the bugs had ate all the flesh of off (post about the bugs soon to come, John is pretty proud of them) and measures mine up to his. At least it wasn't a competition.....HAHA Even though his was 1/2 inch wider than mine, my deer has one more point than his. John says they would measure up about the same-so we will call it a tie for this year!

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house this year. We had 24 people crammed into our house. 4 of John's sisters and family and Grandma Jo came up for the holidays. We are so glad they did becuase it made this years Thanksgiving one to remember. We played card games, Just Dance on the Wii, Colored fun turkey pages, a pingpong tournament, good food, fun games and great company. Raegan LOVED having cousins over to play, we hope we can do it again soon!

Here are some random pictures from this Fall. I'm getting worse and worse at blogging it seems. I use to try and do a post once a month but now if i'm lucky its every season....Here it is almost Christmas and I'm just blogging about Halloween. opps! :) The bench in the picture is one I made out of a twin size headboard/footboard that I got for $5. I LOVE how it turned out.

Raegan was a Bumble Bee for Halloween. She loved Trick or Treating. The weekend before Halloween the High School had a carnival that we went to for a bit. My Friend Jessica and her two kids came with Raegan and I down Main St. in Driggs to do some trick or treating on Halloween. Than later that night John and I took her around to a few people in our ward. This girl at WAY too much candy that day.

Future deer hunter

The other day we were out checking the trail camera and Raegan had to be in the middle of everything... She wanted to see the pictures of the deer too. Than we got in the truck and John had a piece of a weed in his mouth (like a redneck)ha ha, and within 10 seconds, Raegan did too! She always has to be doing what everyone else is doing!

Our Little Beach babe...August 2011

How cute is this picture?

This picture explains how Raegan's first trip to the beach was! BUSY! This little girl LOVES the water. The water was freezing but that didn't stop her. The second you would let her down she was out playing in it. We were all exhausted after the week was over just from trying to keep up with her!These pictures below are of her very first time on the beach! She was over stimulated for sure! Look at those faces. haha, she was going crazy!

We stayed a week in Seaside, Oregon with my family. John wasn't able to make it because he was really busy with work, but he let Raegan and I join in on the fun. I'm so glad we were able to go. We kept busy for a whole week. We went out to the ocean at least twice a day. First, we would go in the early morning to go look for sand dollars-which we made bank on :) Than we would go back in the afternoon to go boogie-boarding, than would have to hurry back to the hot tub and swimming pool so we could warm up because the water there is SO dang cold!

We visited a few other beaches while we were there also and found tons of star fish. At nights, we would usually go out to eat and a couple times we went to the arcade. When we were kids we would spent all our time there, so it was fun to be able to be a kid again. haha! We rented an eclectic car and went through a drive-through. We thought we were pretty funny. I'm sure it happens a lot. I would have to say the worst part of the whole trip was hauling the stinking stroller back and forth from the beach to the place we were staying. For all of you that have been to Seaside, you know what I'm talking about...that walk to the water is forever long! Overall, we had a blast enjoying the beautiful ocean and just spending time with each other!

We hope we get to go back soon!

Carrots anyone?

We had another successful garden! John thinks I'm so crazy for putting all the work towards growing a garden every year because I don't like to eat over half the things I grow. I blame that on growing up on a farm...I just love watching things grow and being part of the process. We finally got the last things out of our garden this last weekend.
Raegan loves carrots. I'm always worried she is going to choke on one, but she seems to do ok and always wants another!

Its getting cold here...can you tell? At least it wasn't snowing this day!

Raegan...

Here are a few silly pictured of Raegan...
We had ribs for dinner the other night and I'm pretty sure they are her favorite. She went to town on them. We experienced her first crack in the head... Very traumatizing for me more than her. Luckily she didn't have to get stitches- mainly cause they couldn't hold her down. I'm kind of glad cause I didn't want them to shave part of her hair off that it took almost 15 months to grow. :)
Raegan loved huckleberry picking this year. Her and John ate way more than they picked, but we had a good time and have some stored away in the freezer, thanks to me.

Raegan will be 15 months next week. I can not believe it. She has queit the vocabulary and is great at coping what we say. Some of our favorite words and sounds of hers are- ban an an an a (with her tongue sticking out like a lizard) and cockooooo - cock a doodle do

Also I asked her if she wanted a banana this morning, she shook her head yes and than presided to show me the one she stored under the couch. Guess she has been storing her nuts away for winter- silly goose! She is very busy and one smart little girl. I just can't believe how fast kids grow!!!

Only in Idaho

3 years

John and I just celebrated our 3 year anniversary. I barely made it home in time for it. It was about 10:50pm. I was up in Washington and the Oregon coast with my family(post soon to come) and I tried to make it back in time. It was a LONG day of driving with just Raegan and I, But we made it! I can't believe how fast 3 years go by. I am so glad I get to spend forever with this guy! I Love him!
To Celebrate our anniversary with went to a Josh Turner concert out in Idaho Falls-just him and I! It was SO much fun to spend time with just us two, made me remember the good ol dating days! :)

Sweet Summer Time

We have had one busy but FUN summer, I just can't believe its already coming to a close. After my parents and Morgan came for a visit for Raegans birthday and the 4th or July, Morgan stayed with us until I took her back 2 weeks ago. We loved having her stay with us. I think I did and saw more in this Valley in 5 weeks than I have in 3 years. Some of our summer activities included: Fishing, camping, hunting squirrels, cookouts, hikes, motor bike rides, Drive-in, swimming, boating, bear world, floating the river, Lava hot springs, Alpine Slide, intense Volleyball games, hanging out with friends and tons of family visiting! It was a great summer!

1st Birthday

I can't believe my little girl turned one (July 5). We celebrated her birthday on the 3rd cause my parents weren't going to be here on her actual birthday. We had a small little party with some close friends and family. We ate dinner, had some yummy cupcakes and played an intense game of volleyball- girls vs. boys! It was a good time. Raegan loves all the fun gifts she got. She was some what interested in opening the presents but not long enough to open the whole thing. Raegan LOVED her cake, she dug right into it without hesitation. She had already test tasted the icing before we could get the cake on her tray to sing happy birthday. It was very entertaining to watch.

She took 12 steps on the 4th of July, but it wasn't till a few days after her birthday did she really start taking off with her walking (where she walks more than she crawls). She now has 11 teeth. I sure hope after this last molar comes through she will get a break for a bit. It is very painful for me... and her! :) She continues to surprises us with new words. She said thank you four times the other day, granite she was just mimicking me, but that's how she learns, right?! She is just a little copy cat and tries so hard to be a big. We love watching her grow up but are almost sad at the same time cause its going by SO fast!

June

June has been a very busy, but fun month! The first of the month we were in Washington. My sister Alison graduated from good 'ol Connell High, so it gave us a good reason to go home for a visit. Raegan and I were there for a little over two weeks. It was nice to be around family and in warmer weather, although it wasn't as warm as we would have liked, we still returned back to Idaho with a tan. She loves her Papa!My brother Randy recently got a dog, named Stetson. While we were up there Raegan found her Best Friend. Stetson and her were inseparable. No joke! She can even say his name. I know hard to believe-this girl is a talker though!! Stetson was so gentle with her for being just a pup. They even shared dog food-not a proud moment, but hey at least she wasn't in the toilet again for the 50 millionth time! Just this last Sunday we were Skype ‘in with my family and my mom held the dog up to the camera and Raegan freaked out. She started 'woofing', pointing at him and saying his name. Then she tried to grab the scream trying to touch him. Than when she realized that wasn't going to happened, she was looking behind the lab top trying to find where he was. It was really cute and funny all at the same time! John thinks we need a puppy now... I think not! hahaRaegan also turned 11 months while we were in WA. (like how her b-day is in a week and a half and I am just blogging about her being 11 months...) By 11 months she could say quite a few different words, some she picked up after she turned 11 months, these include mama, dada, nana, more, day, go, duck, dog, Stetson, eggo, ya, what, out, bye and a four letter one I won't mention on here (opps)...she also knows what a mountain lion, fish, duck, dog and motorcycle, 4 wheeler and truck say.
Raegan is now classified as a "short distance walker" HAHA she has been standing up and taking a step or two for about a month but when we returned home from WA she started taking like 5 or 6 steps than slowly sitting down. I wish she would just keep going because I'm getting sick of caring her all over the place! I'm hoping one of these days she'll just surprise us and take off.

Raegan LOVES the water! She especailly loved jet skiing On the 22nd John had his birthday... he is now 27! holy cow is that OLD! haha (He doesn't look it) The only good thing about marrying someone older is I always feel young-or younger at least! :) We had some friends over, had a weenie roast and played some volley ball for his birthday, It was a lot of FUN! The weather is finally warm here and we love it. My parents and Morgan are coming down for the 4th and Raegan’s birthday. Then Morgan is going to stay with us for the summer. We are so excited. She will be a professional weed’er once she leaves here! ….Someone has to do it because Raegan is no help, all she does is eats the dirt and licks the rocks. -This girl is going to have one strong immune system!

ack, ack

Raegans new favorite word now is ack, ack (Quack, Quack). She loves our baby ducks. They are in a box in the garage right now till they get a little bigger, so she point at the garage door and says, ack, ack. She is a smart one.
I have to admit that ducks are my favorite "baby" animal, they are just SO cute! Occasionally we let them out on the lawn when we are out side and Raegan just herds them around the yard. She is so funny. You would think that once she would catch up to them she would grab one and squeeze it, like most kids...No, Raegan she just sits right next to them and stares. They will probably be chasing her soon

Easter

The Easter Bunny found our house! Raegan was one excited little girl. She didn't really know what was going on, but the fact that there were new bright colored things on the floor that she could put in her mouth gave this little girl some excitement. My moms family had a tradition of making a nest for the Easter bunny with your clothes you wore the day before Easter, so growing up that is what we did the night before Easter and Raegan is too. Kind of a fun tradition, I must say!!

For Easter Sunday we went to church and than went over to our friends, Chantz and Jessica's house for dinner. Jessica's family was in town. We had a lot of fun with them and were glad we didn't have to spend Easter alone.

8 & 9 months

Well my little girl is no longer little, I'm afraid! She crawls everywhere, gets into everything, stands up on everything, eats everything we eat,(did I mention she had 7 teeth before she was 8 months?) She plays patty cake, says Mama, Dada, and Nana, she waves, claps, "pounds it", points at things she wants, plays peek-a-boo, loves being outside, especially on the dirt bikes, and is definitely a Daddy's girl! We love her! She is such a busy body, but I am not surprised.

At Raegan's 9 month check up she weighed 19#1oz. and was 28 1/4 inches long. She is such a long little stinker. She is in 12 month clothes which is a not good for us cause they are all shorts and carpi's and this morning we woke up to 4 inches on the ground... We have yet to see Spring and most people are "ready" for summer... Really, I just want it to be warmer than in the 30's during they day and the sun be out, so we can go play outside and not have to be bundle up. Maybe in another month....

Our 4 week vacation

Well, for the first 2 weeks of our vacation we spent it up in Washington. My brother Randy came home from his 2 year mission in Denver, Colorado. I can't believe have fast 2 years goes by. He hadn't meet Raegan yet, so we were excited for Randy to meet her. We had so much fun while we were up there hanging out with family.

For the last two weeks, we went down to visit Johns sister in El Centro, California (the town is below sea level, how crazy is that), its 2 hours east of San Diego. For 5 of those days we babysat Amy's cute kids (below) while Amy and Jason went of a business trip... Being a mom of 4 is hard work, let me tell you! We really enjoyed going down and visiting and getting to know Amy's family better. We especially enjoyed the nice 70 degree weather while we were there. We were definitely ready for Spring here in Driggs, but when we returned home, there was still 2 feet of snow on the ground and snowing every other day...in a few more months maybe it'll be spring here...doubt it! :)

The first weekend we were there, we spent a night in San Diego. We went to Sea World and the beach while we were there. At Sea World my favorite was the flamingos, they are such funny and funny looking birds. We bought Raegan a stuff animal Flamingo, she loves it, she snuggles to it every time she sleeps, its so dang cute. Right as you lay her down, she grips her flamingo and closes her eyes. its priceless.