December

Here's a few pictures we've taken this month. We've been pretty busy getting ready for Christmas and trying to stay warm. Eden is a great big sister and helps me out a lot and Rachel is getting chubby and smiley. Andy has had most of the month off so we've been having a lot of fun with him as well. We hope you enjoy!

Rachel's Blessing

Andy's parents were here visiting for Thanksgiving so we decided to bless Rachel while they were here. Rachel didn't cry at all and Andy did a good job and didn't surprise me by changing her name at the last minute.

My mom made my blessing dress and I have always thought that was really special so I wanted to make a dress for Rachel. I thought it turned out pretty good, considering I have never made a blessing dress before. It was pretty long and Andy had trouble finding where Rachel ended and the dress kept going. Marcia made the pretty afghan for Rachel and we used it when she was blessed as well. We love our little Rachel Elizabeth!

More Pictures

Rachel is already five weeks old and the time is just flying by. We're having so much fun with her in our home. Eden is a great big sister and loves to hold Rachel and give her kisses and take care of her.

Rachel is a pretty good sleeper (on most nights) and when she is awake she is very alert and studies what is going on around her. The past few days she has also started to smile at us when we are talking to her. It is so fun to see those smiles (although we haven't been able to catch them on camera yet). She is also gaining weight and getting a double chin and chubby cheeks. She's so much fun to hold and snuggle with.

On the 15th I took pictures of Rachel at one month, sitting on the quilt I made for her. I thought the pictures turned out pretty cute, although I couldn't get Rachel to look at the camera. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

New Baby

I know some of you have been waiting a while to see these pictures- 20 days to be exact. On October 15 we welcomed our second little girl into the world. Rachel Elizabeth was born at 11:33 am, weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 10 ounces. I had a really easy delivery- just a couple hours of labor- and I'm feeling great now. Rachel is quite a cutie and we are really enjoying having her in our famiy. Eden loves having a little sister (as long as she isn't crying) and we love it when she sleeps for more than an hour at night. We'll try to be better about posting pictures in the future. Rachel has already changed so much since she was born- she's put on some weight and is getting chubby cheeks and a second chin. We hope you enjoy these pics!

This picture was taken right after we told Eden she had a little sister. She was so excited because that is what she had wished for. I love the look on her face.

Our two girlies. Eden is a great big sister.
More pictures to come when we have a chance....

Birthdays

Warning: Picture Overload!

In September we got to celebrate Andy and Eden's birthdays. The day before Andy's birthday was our ward campout. He and Eden decided to go to it (and I opted to stay home). They had a lot of fun.

Eden loved the s'mores!

The only unfortunate part of the trip was the bug bites. Eden got 16 of them- all on her face. She looked like she had the chicken pox and we had to keep reassuring people at church that she wasn't contagious!

Eden turned 4 years old a few days later. We can hardly believe it's been four years since she was born. Andy had the day off and Eden wanted us to take her to the zoo. Andy and I loved watching the new tiger cub.

Eden's favorite part was the butterfly exhibit

Eden got a new scooter for her birthday (along with a lot of other gifts - she sure is loved!) but I think her favorite gift this year was the pillow pet she's been drooling over for months. She got a unicorn pillow pet and named it Uni. It has hardly left her side since.

Eden asked for a princess birthday party with her friends this year. We had a lot of fun planning it and getting decorations. It was fun to watch 6 little princesses dancing around our house.

Summer Part 3

After we go back from Utah Eden decided to try washing her doll clothes the old fashioned way and was the cutest little domestic darling I've ever seen. She loved every minute of it!

She even hung them up to dry after they were washed.

She also got in some quality time in her swimming pool. The end of the summer was unbearably hot and humid (in the high 90's with 80% humidity) so cooling off in the pool was a must. And swimming is always more fun with a friend- especially one who is willing to share her brother's goggles!

I can't believe how big my little girl is getting! One of her favorite church dresses this summer was one I used to wear when I was a little girl (although I was 4 or 5 when I wore it and Eden was only 3). It was fun to see Eden wearing it too. I had to take a picture of her wearing it on one of the rare days she let me curl her hair.

Summer Part 2

I have been so terrible about blogging lately and I have so much catching up to do! Here's a mostly photographic summary of what we did the rest of the summer.
We had a lot of fun with Andy's family at This is the Place Park (or whatever they call it now). Eden wanted to spend the whole day in between Abbie and Ashley (sorry about that Ashley!)

Andy caught a chicken for Eden to pet and she thought that was a lot of fun. I personally think watching Andy catch the chicken was more fun than the petting of the chicken...
Eden learned how to wash clothes the old fashioned way and loved it. I learned to appreciate my washing machine a little bit more than I already did.

We also got do bull riding (well, not me since I'm pregnant) and it was fun to see everyone hang on. Abbie did a great job. Even Sha-Sha gave it a try......

.....for a moment anyway.

What we've been doing all summer: Part 1

So, it's been quite a while since I updated our blog. Our camera has not been communicating well with our computer and who wants to read a blog without pictures? Not me. Also we've been busy. And tired. Well, that last one might just be me...


We spent all of June and half of July out and about in the western US. Andy worked in Scottsbluff NE for 3 weeks and then we spent about 3 weeks in Utah with our families. It was really a lot of fun and we wish we could have spent more time there and seen a lot more people. As proof that we've been busy, here's a little photographic tour of what we were doing.


Scottsbluff is on the western edge of Nebraska, about 12 miles west of Chimney Rock. It is really quite a pretty little place. If it weren't in the middle of nowhere, I would recommend visiting it. Here is a view from the bluff.

While in western Nebraska, one must stop to visit Alliance- home to Carhenge.
It's arranged just like Stonehenge but it's made with spraypainted Cadillacs instead of stones. This is what people do for fun in Nebraska. All while wearing these hats:

We also went to the zoo in Scottsbluff and Eden had a lot of fun feeding ducks and smelling the flowers and eating Sno Cones and posing for the camera.

That concludes the first three weeks of our trip. Stay tuned for What we did this summer: Part 2- UTAH. It's still in post-production.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Final Four!

If you haven't been following the two previous posts, Andy's brother Ben is in a blogging competition for Mormontimes.com. The contest started with a ton of applicants but it is now down to the final four contestants, and Ben is one of them (the best one, I might add). If you go to www. mormontimes.com and click on the Blogger Brawl icon you can read Ben's blog about single life as a Mormon and you can also VOTE for him. The voting closes Sunday night at midnight. We would love to have as many votes as we can for Ben. Thanks!

Ben Again

Hello Folks,
We do not currently have the ability to take pictures off our camera and put them on our computer, so that is the main reason for the lack of blog posts lately. However, I can't be lax about posting this- Ben won the last round of the blogger brawl (thank you for all your votes) and he is in the running again today! Please go to www. mormontimes.com and click on blogger brawl to vote for Ben again. The voting ends tomorrow (Friday) at midnight and we can't bear to see Ben's talent go to waste when you could be enjoying a weekly blog from him. Thanks for all your support! Go Ben!

Vote for Ben

I know, I know. It's been months since I last updated the blog. I promise, more is soon to come. But important things first:

Andy's brother Ben is really witty and funny and talented and is also in a contest on MormonTimes.com to become a regular blogger/ columnist. And he needs YOUR votes. He has made it to the second round of the contest which means the competition is getting fierce. We know he's the best but you can find this out for yourself by going to http://www.mormontimes.com/ and clicking on the Blogger Brawl icon at the top of the page. Click on the listing for Ben Craven and read his ingenious thoughts- and then vote for him! We'd love to see Ben go all the way in this competition and be able to read his column every week. And we'd love to have you help him get there. You DO need to hurry, as voting for this round of the competition ends Wednesday (the 14th) at midnight. So what are you waiting for? Have fun! And tell all your family and friends!