Hey, everyone! I decided it was time to stop procrastinating...so here we go....

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving and Christmas! We had a birthday party for Audrey who is now two years old thinks she is sixteen!

We are settling into the cold and bad air quality here in Provo. Tim is heading out to Portland, Oregon, on the 28th for an interview with a school there. (Please pray for us!) We really hope to get accepted there so we can start that new phase of our life and be one step closer to being settled down. We'll let you know what happens there...

For those of you that don't know....we are expecting a baby in June. We have our ultrasound on February 8th to determine the gender. Taking all (real) name suggestions starting now...



A collection of birthday Elmo panties Audrey put on her arms calling them "pretties" all the while.



The new apron and broom from Santa

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About to explode from happiness with the Elmo doll Santa brought (thanks Shaun and Eliza for letting us steal that from your D.I. bag)



Getting ready to play in the snow
Audrey was actually really mad at me when I was putting on her snow clothes...She finally started laughing when I got the camera out. She loves to have her picture taken!



Playing in the snow

Funny girl!

Audrey has been saying the funniest things lately. She is really learning a lot of new words everyday. I am blown away by the things she says to me sometimes. I wonder how and when she learned what she is saying.

Here are a few examples....

We have a book with pictures of Jesus in it for Audrey to look at during sacrament meeting. She usually loves looking at this book. :) Well, one day at church she decided she had had enough sitting still and looking at her Jesus book so she out of nowhere started to throw a big fit and threw her Jesus book on the floor. As soon as she realized she had thrown the book on the floor she immediately stopped crying, looked down at the book, and said, "Sorry, Jesus." Tim and I both looked at each other and started busting a gut! It was so funny!



Last night Audrey put on this hat and looked like such a gangsta' we had to take a picture of her. (Thanks for the hat Uncle E!) After we took the picture of this movie star I showed her the picture of herself on the camera. She was very happy. (She loves to see pictures of herself, as all toddlers do.) I was putting the camera away and she followed me into my bedroom. In all seriousness she said to me, "I cute!" Looks like this isn't going to have any self image issues, at least not yet.

Also, last night Audrey was sitting by her cherished Aunt Molly, when she kept saying "eating." She kept putting her hand in her mouth like she was trying to grab something but just couldn't quite get it. It was obvious she was chewing on something, but we just couldn't figure out what it was. Finally, she grabbed the treasure out of her mouth and handed it to Molly. Molly was looking at it trying to figure out what in the world it was when she informed us it was a "booger." Ha ha ha! Sorry, Aunt Molly you were the lucky recipient of the booger. That was just too funny though!

Have good day ya'll!

The Zoo!!

Last week we packed up Audrey and headed out to Hogle Zoo. We had a blast! The only downfall was that it started snowing on us. However, the storm didn't last long and we were able to continue our adventure! Audrey didn't like being confined to her stroller so she ended up being carried the bulk of the time. I think that made it easier for us to point the animals out to her though. Some were very camouflaged!






Rhinos are frightening!







Zebras rock, man!







These fake tigers are just as scary as the REAL ones!







This singing monkey made the entire zoo worth it for me! We could still hear it loud and clear about 200 yard away while looking at the giraffes. Talk about a set of lungs!



All I have to say is that I am sure glad that glass was there between us and the leopard. He was pacing and pacing and looked like he wanted to eat something. I'm glad it wasn't us!


We had a good time!

Fall is in the air

I love looking outside our windows and seeing the beautiful Wasatch Mountains staring back at me. Especially, this time of year. I can see splotches of red and orange on the mountains. It is a sight to behold!

I love the fall weather too. Nice cool temperatures... that much closer to sweater season! I love the feeling of being all cozy and warm in my sweaters. Oh the joy of it all! This begins the magical rest of the year for me.

A few days ago we took a drive up into Provo canyon to look at the pretty leaves. We ended up at Sundance, and took Audrey for a walk. She collected some flowers, an orange leaf, a red leaf, and a yellow leaf. Such amazing treasures! I think they were mostly eaten or ground into the seat of the car by the time we got home. :)


Tim has been working really hard on his master's school applications. He has already sent out three applications and will be sending out three more soon. We really hope he gets in!!!

Audrey has officially destroyed her crib and is now attempting to sleep in her "big girl bed." The first night in her big girl bed she was so cute! I was up at 5 with Tim getting him ready for work and went in to check on her. I found her standing beside her bed laying her head down on it. She had a grin from ear to ear and was just so happy about the new bed. I am not sure how much sleep she got that night or since then.

Things since then have been interesting to say the least. Every night she gets out of her bed to bang her head on either the floor or wall. She sounds like she is literally beating the snot out of herself. Our neighbors downstairs have told us their light fixtures rattle when she is hitting her head against the floor. Our neighbors an apartment down and over have also told us they can hear the head banging in the middle of the night as well. Not to mention the countless others that probably hear it and don't say anything to us. I am grateful for such kind and understanding neighbors!

In an effort to try and help matters we have recently purchased an Audrey sized rocking chair. She likes it already and we hope she will come to like it even more in the future. Sometimes she rocks herself so hard that she falls out of the front. It is really funny!



Life is good here! Can't complain. Afterall, fall is in the air!

Mini Vacation

We went to Rexburg, a few weeks back to help Terri after her foot surgery. (Terri if you are reading this no more high heels!)

We had a good time.

Especially Audrey

While we were there we went to see Sally (Katell's a.k.a. Martell and Katie's new baby).


Tim, Martell, Audrey and Sally. As a side note, I have come to the conclusion after looking at this picute that Tim and Martell have the same nose. I think that is all they have in common look wise. If I didn't know they were brothers, I would have thought Martell was adopted or something.

We stayed close to the surgery victim the next couple of days to make sure she was okay.

One day we took the vicitm and ventured out to the splash park and carousel.



Apparently water flying up from the ground is really scary.

Before we left to the splash park my father decided that it was the perfect time to do the long awaited under-the-house fungus project. Ew! Gross! I know. I guess there has been a water leak somewhere and lots of weird looking things started growing under the house. He turned off the water so he could get down there and fix the problem. To our surprise the couple hour project turned into an all day affair. Poor father!

When we got back home from the splash park there was of course, still no water! Tim, Audrey, and myself had a family picture scheduled in just a short time! I had a plan in my mind that I would hurry and bathe Audrey and jump in the shower. What no water??!! Poop-ola. What was I going to do? I hadn't showered for a few days and really needed a shower. I stank! My hair was greasy and my teeth needed brushed. Not to mention Audrey needed a cleaning herself. I ran down to my cousins' house a block away and low and behold they had their little kid pool set up. I let them watch Audrey in the pool (at this point, it was the best thing I could do for a bath because we were in such a rush). I ran inside got my hair wet, grabbed Audrey kicking and screaming, and then ran home. I dry brushed my teeth. Got Audrey dressed and threw myself together as fast as possible. (Sorry, Katell that I didn't get to see you much at that moment. My life was just a wee bit hectic.)



As good as it gets.


Audrey is a DOLL! (Even without a proper bath and sunscreened hair)

Sometimes you just have to make do when you're a mom and laugh about it later. Unfortunately, things hardly ever go as they should or as you plan them. Oh well. Just get over it.

Craziness

Life has been good here. We have been so busy! I know you all have been biting your nails in suspense of my next post... So after many complaints...Here it is!!

Audrey is in a REALLY fun stage right now. She makes us laugh out loud every day. She won't call us "mom" and "dad" anymore. She calls us "Tam" (meaning Tim) and "Teh" (meaning Tara). Such a big personality in such a little body! Audrey playing dress up Audrey playing in her "boat" At the fourth of July parade With Aunt Molly at the parade The ginormus Madeline balloon (Audrey's favorite item in the parade) Fourth of July get-up

We went to Bridal Veil Falls a few weeks ago and had quite the adventure... Tim exlporing the abandoned whatever it was.... The girls The falls Dad and Audrey "Stinky, stinky stinky" Loving the high pony tail


"Mamamama.... ABCD!.... Audrey!... Tim! Tim!... Weeeee! [crash] "

Life has been really good around here lately!

Tim has been getting his hours at work. People are still hurting themselves and getting sick so we still have a job (I know that sounds kind of morbid)!


We feel really grateful that Tim still has his job. We have seen many people struggling with their employment during this time of economic turmoil. Crazy times! I hope it will end soon, but not before we all learn the valuable lessons we need to about consumerism and money-handling. Afterall, why did the economy go south???

I am still running my guts out and have lost almost 10 pounds. Yee-haw! Running still isn't easy but well worth the effort! I got asked to give a talk on Mother's Day. That was so NOT fun! It reminds me of how much I detest talking in church! I am glad it is over and hopefully my number won't be called again anytime soon. GO away bishopric!

Audrey took her first steps recently. She still doesn't want to walk, but we know she can so we work with her every night. We call it "Mandatory Walking Time." I think it is her least favorite part of the day. Oh-well. She needs to do it some time. Audrey knows a lot of different animals and the sounds they make. It is really cute when she barks like a dog or oinks like a pig. Talk about a payday for me. It is fun to see that she really is learning what I teach her! Audrey still loves books. We hope she continues to love them throughout her life. Reading is awesome!


A culinary attempt at an ice cream roll. It looked a little sad, but tasted fantastic!




Audrey put this hat on yesterday all by herself. It was really cute so we took some pictures.


Today, we had a girly party and painted Audrey's toes for the first time. She thinks it is really cool. :)