We Found the Lost Maples!

 Saturday we went to a Texas State Park called, "Lost Maples." We had a great time just enjoying the beauty God provides for us and our beautiful little girl.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

101 Things I am Thankful for this Thanksgiving

1.       Jesus Christ-without Him I would be doomed to misery. I owe everything to Him.

2.       Nichole-she is my best friend.

3.       Abigail-she fills me with so much joy every time I look at her

4.       Music-Moonlight Sonata, anything by Ben Folds or the Beattles, Riverwalk Jazz on Saturday evenings, singing the Spanish primary songs in the mornings, playing “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” on our piano, Nichole’s piano camp, “Autumn Time”, “Adagio Bird flies slow”

5.       Sports-Basketball on Thursday nights, a good game of racquetball or Tennis, an intense BYU basketball or football game, sports center highlights.

6.       Our dog, Mo-Anytime she acts like a normal dog, how she gets so excited to see me when I come home, “the great Modini,” when we thought she was lost but was just hanging out with another dog and was scared of the back yard for weeks because our neighbors had a loud party

7.       Food-Hot fudge sundaes, sweet potatoes, Wendys, asparagus, watermelon, barbeques, corn on the cob, pancake and sausage on a stick, soup, fish, really good burritos, tacos, fajitas or enchiladas, a fruit smoothie, orange Julius and popcorn at the Francis house

8.       Our neighbors-George and Sharon watching Abigail while we went to a Hockey game, The Al Hadad family having us over for an amazing dinner and teaching us about Islam, The Binghams and Hills who have now moved away but were such good neighbors, Reina giving me and a Nichole a chance to practice our Spanish, even our partying neighbors giving us a chance to practice our patience and charity

9.       The scriptures-The Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, General Conference talks

10.   Our House-We really like it

11.   Movies- “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “You Can’t Take it with You,”  “Back to the Future,” “Indiana Jones,” “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings,” “It Could Happen to You,” “Heavy Weights,” “The Majestic,” “Happy Gilmore,” “Remember the Titans,” “Life is Beautiful,” “Better off Dead,” “Finding Neverland,” “Paul Blart-Mall Cop,” “Mission Impossible,” “Quigley Down Under,” “The Conspirator,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “A Few Good Men,” “Hitch,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “Rear Window,” “Rocky 1-6,” “Cinderella Man,” and pretty much any super hero movie. These are just a few of the movies I have enjoyed watching.

12.   A Good Book-The last novel I read was “The Hunger Games,” Some other books I have enjoyed reading are, “1976,” “The Alliance,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” and of course, “Harry Potter”

13.   Beautiful Art- We have a painting in our living room that I love. Sometimes I imagine going inside it and just spending the day there.

14.   Drinking Fountains-I think one of the neatest thing about America is the fact that there is free clean water provided for you all over the place just by pushing a button

15.   Our Car-I have gotten used to it and it gets me where I need to go and always provides a conversation piece

16.   Living in the USA!-The freedom and safety we enjoy is unparalleled. I am so grateful for those who have died protecting our freedom.

17.   Our dishwasher-Seriously, it saves us so much time to not have to wash dishes by hand

18.   Running Water- Oh my gosh, really, when I lived and Mexico and there was no running water, that really sucked. It’s so nice to be able to take a hot shower or bath or wash my hands anytime I want.

19.   Modern Medicine-Without it our little Abigail would not have made it. It may be a pain going to all of those doctor’s appointments and giving her medicine every 8 hours, but I would do anything for that little girl and am soooo grateful for all of the doctors that kept her alive.

20.   To be done with school possibly forever-Two more weeks and I will have a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Hopefully I will never have to take another class. Booyah!

21.   My parents-They are so generous and I am really looking forward to seeing them this Christmas

22.   The fact that my little brother, Kevin, is about to go serve a mission

23.   Bike Riding- I have recently started doing this and it has been really cool. I’m grateful to have a bike.

24.   Our piano-I play it every day, it is the perfect distraction

25.   Joseph Smith-I can’t even imagine all that he went through in order to bring about the restoration of the gospel. He is the Man!

26.   Friends-Wow, I didn’t think of this until number 26. We have so many good friends. We are so blessed.

27.   Mountains

28.   Oceans

29.   Trees

30.   The refrigerator

31.   Clothes

32.   Animals

33.   The fact that I really like my chosen profession

34.   Abigail’s smiles

35.   Dancing with Abigail

36.   When Nichole acts goofy

37.   Forgiveness

38.   A good story

39.   Campfires

40.   Oppurtunities to serve

41.   Family Home Evening

42.   NPR-Wow, seriously I am really grateful for national public radio, I listen to it a lot

43.   Barack Obama

44.   Soap

45.   Heat- when it's cold

46.   AC-Seriously, living in Texas would be miserable without it

47.   Airplanes

48.   French Fries

49.   Pizza

50.   Beautiful Lakes

51.   The fact that I was able to see my first daughter be born and my sister Amy get sealed in the Temple the same week

52.   Chapstick

53.   Snow-for sledding, skiing, snowball fights, snow angels, igloos, and the wonderful beauty of it

54.   Rain-Going through a drought this last summer, I am grateful for any rain we can get

55.   Board Games-Seriously, we play a lot of games and quite often. It is fun.

56.   Other games like bocce ball, croquet, ladder ball, etc.

57.   Good eye sight-Not having to wear contacts or glasses anymore has been so freakin’ awesome

58.   My brother Todd has a girlfriend. Nice work Todd!

59.   I have relatively good health. Despite a little asthma and allergies, I am in really good shape.

60.   Pictures-without them so many wonderful moments would be lost

61.   The Temple-It is a Holy place, I am so grateful that I was able to go there and receive the highest ordinances of exaltation. I am grateful any time I can go there to do work for the dead.

62.   Cupcakes-Nichole is awesome and fun and has been making crazy good cupcakes lately.

63.   Being able to call and talk to Nichole any time I want (except when she doesn’t answer)

64.   Kind acts

65.   Inside jokes-as long as I’m on the inside

66.   Laughter

67.   Changing seasons

68.   Waterslides

69.   Movies based on true stories

70. When Nichole gets excited like kid at Christmastime over little silly stuff like changing the air freshner, or getting to pop popcorn when we watch a movie, or going through an mechanical carwash and seeing it get washed from the inside.

71.   The spirit of Elijah

72.   Electricity

73.   Thunderstorms

74.   Insurance

75.   The plan of salvation

76.   That we don’t live like 600 years anymore. 72-101 sounds great to me.

77.   Little children

78.   Disposable Diapers!

79.   Trash pickup

80.   The Priesthood and blessings-both the opportunity to give and receive

81.   Root beer

82.   Nichole’s compassion and positive attitude

83.   The amazing opportunities I’ve had in my life-ie. Spending a summer in Mexico, serving a two year mission, going on lots of cool vacations

84.   BYU

85.   That I can speak Spanish

86.   Missionaries and the opportunity to go teach with them

87.   Peace

88.   Good hearing and the ability to back up a car very well

89.   Great TV programs like “Ducktales,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Jag,” “Psych,” “The Cosby Show,” “Arthur,” and “Sesame Street”

90.   Having dinner and playing games with friends

91.   Firefighters

92.   Pandora

93.   Roller Skating

94.   Church Activities-Christmas party, Halloween party, Pioneer Picnic, Turkey Bowl, Fourth of July Breakfast, Father and Sons Campout, etc.

95.   The term etc.

96.   Angels

97.   Martin Luther King, Jr.

98.   George Washington

99.   My Ancestors

100.  Sun block

101.  Sun glasses

Baaa!!!

So, two years ago Jeff saw this cupcake book on someone's coffee table and mentioned how the cupcakes looked good. I told my Mom about it, and she placed it on her wishlist on paperbackswaps (a cool way to trade books online, you can get really great books for basically free) and two years later, this wonderful book showed up in the mail. Proof that good things DO come to those who wait. Jeff didn't even remember the book at all. We have had ALOT of fun making and trying yummy cupcakes. In fact, probably too much fun. We have made marshmallow-filled chocolate cupcakes, peanut-butter filled chocolate cupcakes, two varieties of pumpkin cupcakes, mint filled chocolate cupcakes, and these sheep cupcakes. I will probably never make cupcake from a box ever again. These are just too good!

So I made these sheep cupcakes for our preschool piano class. I  was really excited to try them, and they turned out--- okay. Alot of work, and they actually kind of tasted gross. But you should have seen the kids' eyes when they saw them. They were pretty excited. So if you are looking for a fun christmas gift for a baker in the family-- we highly recommend this book, just maybe not the sheep cupcakes. :)



Long overdue - Memora'belle

So, a very talented photographer in our ward took some beautiful pictures of Abigail when she was still a newborn. I was looking at them today  and missing my tiny little baby. That newborn time goes SOoo fast.  **** Side note;Abigail had her kidneys sonogramed today, we'll find out soon if she has any problems with them. She was such a good little baby. In fact, I don't think she had any idea that anything out of the ordinary was going on. She just laid there and sucked on her fist and smiled at the sonographer. I wish I had brought my camera (is that grammar correct?)*****

On to the beautiful pictures:

Jessica, the photographer who took these pictures is very sweet and talented. To see more of her work, check out her website, www.memorabelle.com!

3 months of our Happy Abi!

Abigail is 3 months!!! (and a couple weeks.... I am always a little late)

These pictures speak for themselves.I put them all up, because I figure you can never have too many pictures of Abigail. I love these because you each one she is giving a different look. My awesome friend Jenny took these one day while she was watching Abi for an hour while I went visiting teaching. So nice. They really do a better job of capturing her, than the pictures we take! So if you like these pictures and want jenny to take pics of your sweet kiddos check out her photography blog jennybayphotography.blogspot.com.

So, Abigail didn't have a pediatric appt this month, but she did have a cardiology appt, and she did go to the ER! Boo! She had a high temp, and we didn't know what to do! It kept going up and down, and so finally on Friday night we took her temp and it was 101.7 (still not super high) and called the nurse, and she said to take her in. After  4 days and 2 catherizations later, we found out she had/has a UTI. Poor girl. In spite of this, she is still our happy Abi! But they weighed and measured her so  here are her stats:

Weight 12 pounds 7 ounces (only a gain of a pound, definetely a slow down from last month where she gained 3 pounds)
Length 25 1/2 inches! She grew 3 inches in a month. I remember in my biggest growth spurts in high school I grew like 2 inches in a YEAR! I can't imagine what it must feel like to grow 3 inches in a month. No wonder when I pick her up sometimes I can feel her bones popping.

She smiles a ton, and talks really loud (especially to her Dad, they yell at each other each morning, it's quite amusing to watch). Her new love in life is her fist. It entertains her all day long. And when she gets sick of intensely gazing at it, she sucks on it. Not her thumb, but her entire fist. She is using her pacifier less and less. She loves laying on her playmat and hitting this monkey to make it light up and make sounds. It is so fun to be in the kitchen and hear her in the living room kicking the toy and hear it sound off. She can do a mini pushup, and holds her head up really well.

Being a Mom- Good Day

 I had to get a picture with Abi today, because I actually got a shower! :) And she was so cute and good today, I want to remember this day.

She is getting so big. She loves to be sitting up, and can support her head so well. She is a very easy baby, because generally whenever she gets tired, wherever she is, she falls asleep, without much fuss. This is a classic picture.

So, being a Mom has been a wonderful  and challenging transition. Mostly wonderful. I feel blessed, because I think Abigail is an especially good baby. I may be wrong, she may be just a normal baby, but she is not fussy, and she sleeps 10-11 hours at night.... without waking up, and she sleeps for about 2 hours 3-4 times during the day. But even still, I have had my share of feeling tired and overwhelmed, and then I feel guilty for feeling that way because Abi is the easiest baby on Earth, and I am getting sleep! So, I don't know why, but I still feel like I am not quite in the swing of things, and that life is passing by me so fast, and I am not quite a full participant in it. The biggest challenge I have is my memory loss. It is quite extreme and frustrating, and my attention span and concentration have suffered too, which make me frustrated, and also frustrating to be around (try having a conversation with someone who can't remember anything, and cant concentrate for more than 1.1 minutes at a time).

So today, when I got a shower, went on a walk (in the beautiful weather) kept my house clean, got a nap, AND felt like I spent some good quality time with Abigail, who was smiley and happy and content ALL day long, I had to document it. What a good day today was, and what a wonderful blessing I have to stay home with her and take in the good and bad days.

Happy Halloween

Abi was a little cowgirl! My aunt Linda and I made her boots. Aren't they cute? She kept kicking them off. Jeff and I didn't dress up on Halloween, but we were festive with our black and orange. I even wore ghost earrings.:) My old roomate Marissa came over for dinner since Jeff was gone teaching a parenting class downtown, and we watched old Halloween episodes of Psych while we passed out candy. It was great.

 This year I accumulated Halloween decorations for the first time ever! I am a terrible decorator, so this is big. These cute pumpkins were handmade and given to me by my sister in law Lisa. She is crafty!

 This beauty is a roll of toilet paper wrapped in material with construction paper rolled up for a stem! I made this with the Activity Day girls. Very awesome.

And this spooky centerpiece is a quart jar with acorn, and sticks spray painted black. I made these with the primary presidency for the Trunck or Treat at the church.

I am glad Halloween came, and I am also so glad November is now here, and that I didn't eat too much candy or stress too much over costumes. Whew, sometimes Halloween can really stress me out, but this year was really fun.