Halloween with Cousins!

We went to St. George and spent Halloween with Keb, Melissa, Sam, Rachel, Jared & Nathan. It was a blast! First we went to Melissa's Halloween concert. Laralei loved the music and so did we. Then, on Halloween we made Mummy pizzas, Bone bread sticks, and Witches Brew (root beer poured over dry ice in a cauldron). The kids all dressed up, and so did Shawn and Keb. Shawn dressed at a handsome Robinhood and Keb was a stick man. Check out the pictures of everyones' costumes below. Keb's costume was particularly creative and a lot of fun. He was moving when I took the picture so the arms aren't just perfect in the picture, but you get the idea. Outside in the dark you only see the glowing stick man walking down the street!

Laralei loved her ladybug costume. From the time she was dressed, she knew something was up and took off running down the street! It was difficult to get pictures because she did not want to stand still. She also started saying "thank you" for the first time! Being handed candy at every door was a great reinforcement for the newly acquired manners. Laralei loves her cousins, and so far, loves Halloween!

Some more pictures...

Sorry it has been so long. I am trying to catch up here....Laralei's first birthday...family party!

Emergency Essentials

Shawn and I have been working on building our food storage and I found out about this really neat calculator by Emergency Essentials. You input your family, and then the food that you currently have stored. The calculator generates and estimate on how long the food would last. It makes recommendations on nutrient areas that are deficient in your current supply! So neat! There is a link to the calculator on the side of my blog!

Disneyland 2009

This year we all went to Disneyland for Free on my birthday! We had a lot of fun introducing Laralei to the Tiki Birds, Carasoul, Pirates of the Carabean, Dumbo, It's a Small World, Peter Pan and Neverland etc. Her eyes were wide and she hardly made a noise, blinked or moved. When the rides were all over she clapped her hands. She was a good baby all day and I believe that she had a good time. I had a wonderful birthday. Thanks Disneyland!

Laralei on the Carasoul.

Laralei liked the tea cup music...

"A Very Merry Un-Birthday to You!"

Fun at the beach

We had a wonderful Friday on the beach with Grandpa Mike and Grandma.

Laralei kept putting her face in the sand to make nose imprints in the sand. Consequently she was covered in sand from head to foot. She loved it! She ran in the water, dug in the sand and chased seagulls.

Post-It Baby!

Shawn figured out how to smuggle Laralei into class with him!

Birthday Movies

More Birthday Pictures

Ladybug First Birthday

Yesterday Laralei turned one. I feel so blessed to have her as a part of our family. She is a great joy in our lives. 2 Behives in our ward have taken a fancy to Laralei and came over yesterday to enjoy a ladybug cake. It was a lot of fun. Check out Laralei and her first birthday cake and celebration. We will have a family party on

Sunday. Didn't Shawn do an awesome job on her Ladybug Birthday Cake?!

Finally Setteling In

I have not posted for some time. It has been a busy summer full of moving and school. We enjoyed spending the last few months in Utah where we were able to spend time with Faith and Donald, Leisel and Blake and Keb, Melissa and their kids. Shawn has been thrilled to have his mountains back and we all enjoyed our summer.

Now we are settleing into our apartment in Pomona California. The warm weather is fun and we have enjoyed going to the beach. Shawn has been anxious to get back up on a surf board, and we are all excited to go to Disneyland. A new season of BYU Football has gotten a magnificant start, and Shawn is enjoying classes at Claremont. Our new ward is kind and very helpful. We have both given talks, Shawn has substitute taught Sunday School, and is the Duty to God specialist. Laralei is making new friends, and everyone is charmed by her sweet smile and pigtails. We feel overwhelmingly blessed to be in our new home and new life here.

First Steps

Last night Laralei took her first few hesitated and unsteady steps on her own.  She is still a little ways off from walking, but it won't be long now!

My baby ate dirt!

Well, it's official. Lee has tasted dirt. We went to Liesel and Blake's home today and enjoyed an outdoor dinner. I set Lee down for a little bit so that I could eat as well. The next thing I knew, she turned around, and dirt was oozing down her chin in her perpetual teething slober. She had managed to get her fist into the neighbor's flower pot and put dirt in her mouth. She must not have minded the taste too much, because she headed back for more, but her efforts were thwarted as her dad made a dive to intervene.

Well, we are now in Provo UT for the summer. I have 3 classes to finish and I will graduate from BYU. In August we will continue our westward journey to Los Angeles CA where Shawn will start his Phd program.

Lots has happened in the past month. Besides moving, Shawn graduated with his Masters degree from Purdue and my sister Faith married Donald. I will be posting pictures of the happy couple, as well as lots more of the past month soon. Little Lee is growing as always, working on pushing through her top two teeth and learning what "no" means.

Shawn, Lee and I feel so blessed that we have been able to spend so much time with so much family recently. I think that the only siblings we have not seen are Keb, Melissa and their kids (we will see them next week-can't wait!).

Here she comes!

Laralei began to crawl today and we've taped her first lengthy crawl for you to see! This crawl also enables you to see the steps to crawling...she gets onto her knees, rocks back and forth, and then rather unsteadily moves forward! It is amazing as her mom to see her develop. Look out world--here she comes!

Mmmmm...

Laralie is learning to mimick sounds, such as Mmmmm and dada.

Purdue Spring Fest

Laralei, Shawn and I went to Purdue's Spring fest. Laralei enjoyed the animals. The weather was beauitful and we really enjoyed our time together. Laralei's favorite were the baby piglets. They ran around a lot and made funny noises. We also saw a 2 day old lamb, horses, llamas, cows as well as the baby chick and the goat that sniffed Laralei's shoe.

Laundry Days

Laralei got herself into this basket all on her own. She was playing, tipped over the laundry basket, and somehow ended up with it over her head! She had a lot of fun trying to get out.

Shadow Games

Laralei discovered her shadow.

Thanks Uncle Larry, Julie and Alyssa for the outfit!

TEA anyone?

T. axed E. nough A. lready

Wednessday Shawn, Lee and I rallied with thousands of other Americans at tea parties in Lafayette IN and Indianapolis IN. The rallys began with prayer, the pledge of Allegance, and singing of the National Anthem.

I was not the only one with tears rolling down my face as we recognized and thanked those in the crowd who had served in the armed forces, helping preserve American freedom.

Lee's diaper bag held a sign stating, "American Baby: Born Free, or In Debt?". She loved the music and crowds of happy people! You can see both sides of Shawn's artistic sign as pictured here.

We as a people have been passive too long. It is time, today, to commit to becomming an active participant in our republic. Government must be responsible to the people.

Pay attention to the voting records of those running for office. Last election cycle, when Congress held a 9% approval rating, 92% of incumbants were re-elected. This is insanity. We need to find canidates that are not beholden to lobbyists, and who are not for sale to special interest groups. Seek for such canidates, and then help organize support for them. They will need our support if they are not for sale!

It is our sacred duty as Americans to help preserve the Constitution that protects our God given freedom. We must do all in our power to propel the cause of freedom, and sustain it for the sake of our children, and our children's children.

As we pray for Freedom and a spirit of unity accross this great nation, may God elarge our efforts to fight for this Divinely inspired cause.

Uh Oh!

Doctor day

Laralei went to the dr's today. She is doing well developmentally and weighs 18 pounds!

Boys Make Girls Cry

Friends joined us yesterday for an amazing conference. Their 4 year old (very cute) son was completely taken with Laralei and kept kissing her on the forehead and cheek! Everytime, Laralei cried in protest! It was so cute, Laralei's first kiss. Shawn nicknamed the little boy Georgie Porgie.

Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play
Georgie Porgie ran away.