18 Month-ish Photo Shoot

I had been wanting to take pictures of Dani out in the corn and hay all year long. So in September I decided to do it for her 18 mo photos (a month or so late). She was so cute! We actually got really lucky because I didn't think to check the camera before we left the house and it was so dead it wouldn't even turn on! I had to take all these with my phone! They still turned out pretty good. For the most part Dani was her usual happy, model self. She has always loved the camera.

This next one is my favorite!! I have had it on my phone ever since I took it. I love her sly little smile.

September 2011

September was a busy month for us. We usually get started on crop just before Labor Day but this year we got a little break. It was so much fun. We got to go to the Iron County Fair. (All the footage from that is on our video camera, sorry no pics.) Tom and Natalie came down to enjoy it with us. We had a really good time. Putting off crop for a week meant crunch time before the weather turned so after our break we got busy!

 Look how cute she is feeding the horsie! We have really missed our walks these last few months. I'm excited for the weather to warm up and to start them up again.

 We added a new doggy to our family. This is Jack, he's a black lab/blue healer mix. We adopted him from the shelter at the Iron County Fair. Next year, if we make it, I don't think I'll be allowed to walk by their stand. ;-) We were a little unsure about him for the first couple of months but he has turned out to be a great dog and a good friend to Sitka. Dani loves Jack. She calls for him every time that we go outside. He is really good with her and for the most part pretty calm. Travis has been working with him and we're really hoping these two dogs will stick around longer than some of the others that we've had.

Dani got super attached to her stuffed animals and dolls. She would pack her arms full of them and walk all over the house. She read them stories and talked to them in bed. It was really quite cute!

My Mother passed away in September. I was very grateful that we were able to get someone to cover for Travis while we went up for the funeral so that I didn't have to go alone. I was very grateful for the tender mercies that occurred that day. My brother was able to call and talk to all of us while we were at the cemetery after the internment. He was still on his mission down in Florida. It meant a lot that my parents came to the service to support all of us kids through this more challenging time.

August 2011

Sorry everyone! I am way, way behind on my blog updates! Things just got crazy and then the idea of playing catch up was overwhelming and it just got worse the more time passed. Well here I am! Determined not to let it beat me! ;-) Besides let's face it - how much more daunting would it be to try and catch up after the baby is born!
So here we go! The month of August (at least what I remember of it.) ;-)

Dani is loving getting bigger and bigger. She can help with so many things. She helps with the dishes sometimes and she helps Mommy make salads (she shreds the lettuce then I re-shred it). ;-) The easy rule of thumb is - "if Daddy is doing it, I have to do it!"

We were taking lots and lots of walks back in August. Dani loved to go see and feed the horses. She was getting pretty good at knowing the way too. She just loves animals!

Dani also started "brushing her own teeth." Or at least running the tooth brush over her teeth after Mom brushes them. She's so funny, if I can't convince her that it is bed time all I have to do is tell her that we need to go brush her teeth and she takes off for the bathroom and the rest of her bed time routine. Silly girl!

Bananas were her new favorite food. They used to freak her out a bit because she doesn't like to have messy hands and she would squish them and they would be everywhere. She would eat them if Daddy was holding them so finally we got her to hold the banana still in the skin and she was SOLD!!! She learned to peel it down herself and asked for them all the time!

Aunt Jessie came down to see us. It was the first time she had ever been down since she left on her mission right after Travis and I got married. We had a good time visiting with her.

I'm still not sure how it happened but somehow Tom and Natalie and Justin and Jacque got the same time off work and came down for a visit so we just had a big party! ;-) The guys had a good time getting all decked out and going out to kill bunnies.

While they were here we ran up to Beaver for some lunch and ice cream. It was fun to have a weekend together and the girls really enjoyed each other's company.

August was the month that my Mother took a turn for the worst and started deteriorating really quickly. We went up a couple weekends in a row towards the end of the month to spend what time we could with her before crop started again. I think it scared Dani some that she wasn't able to play with Grandma like normal but she did help put lotion on her arms and helped Grandma eat some leftovers from her ice cream birthday cake. This is one of the last pictures that we got with the 3 of us.