Ketchup Tastes Good!

We have found a new trick to convince Bella that vegetables taste good--Ketchup! Just put a few drops on broccoli and voila! You have a bowl of yummy goodness. Talk about deceptively delicious! No cookbook necessary--just a few well-placed condiments. She really gets into her eating right now. She's getting pretty good with the spoon. We never realized how difficult utensils are to maneuver. I guess it's like using chopsticks for the first time. Very tricky. She's doing alright though. She does have an entire cheering section--as you can see. It must be pretty motivating to have people get so excited at everything you do. Hopefully this doesn't inspire her compete in eating contests in the future.

Helping Mommy Cook

I dragged this chair into the kitchen so Bella could have a better vantage point to "help" me cook. All she wanted to do was sit on it. She would not stand up to wash her hands or to help me make dinner. She did really enjoy sitting there though.

Bella Laughing

Here's a little gift for those of you that have been anxiously anticipating another post. Nothing is more adorable than hearing Bella really crack up. Yesterday, I stayed home because she had a really high fever. Just before I took her to the pediatrician (she ended up having an ear infection), I was checking my work email and overheard Bella laughing hysterically around the corner from me. I watched for a minute and then grabbed the camera. Luckily I caught a really good belly laugh on camera. I think she may have been a little delirious from that fever! The really good laugh happens about two minutes into the video. For those of you that can't tell, she's playing with the dog leashes that are hanging down from some hooks on the wall--some people that saw the blog were wondering what the heck she was playing with.
It's also important to note that this laugh attack happened about two hours after she had a temperature of 102.7 and threw up all over my uniform while I was trying to give her some Motrin. It was quite a morning. Sorry that the video is sideways--I can't figure out how to rotate it.

Happy Halloween!

From October 2008

From October 2008

Bella was a turtle for Halloween. She told us that is what she wanted to be a few months ago when "turtle" became her favorite word. She can pick a turtle out of a crowd no problem. She also thinks that the little TIVO guy on the TV is a turtle. Whenever we are trying to select some fine programs from our TIVO list, she runs toward the TV yelling, "Turtle!" Green peas...turtles too. I guess I can see the resemblance. So, the Halloween costume was an easy choice.

From October 2008

From October 2008

We went to the neighborhood Halloween pot-luck. It was a very good time, and there was tons of yummy food and-of course-candy. Mommy and Daddy dressed up as Salt and Pepper shakers. Not bad for creating costumes in less than an hour. And we also had helmets in case any angry children started throwing candy.

From October 2008

From October 2008

From October 2008

Bella went for her first trick-or-treating adventure with the neighbors. She did carry her own candy, but Daddy had to carry her. She tends to walk opposite of the desired direction of travel, so this was not the year for her to walk herself to the doors. She didn't really say anything except for the occasional "Bye!" at any of the houses. I was hoping that she would announce that she was a turtle, but she got a little shy with the strangers throwing candy into her pumpkin. I guess that's not a bad thing. Her favorite activity was inventorying all of her candy afterwards. She spend at least a half-hour taking candy out and putting it back into her pumpkin. What a cutie! It was a really great Halloween! I can't believe that last Halloween she couldn't even sit up on her own. At this rate, she'll be going to college next Halloween!

Outer Banks 2008

This week we went to the Outer Banks for a week of relaxation and fun with the families of three of Todd's buddies from school. It was an EXCELLENT time. Everyone got along great, and the kids were all fantastic. Todd's friend M found us an awesome house in Corolla, NC. It was right across the street from the beach. We had two good summer days, and the rest were windy fall days. So, it was a nice mix. We never did get to see the mythical Corolla wild horses, but M did hear them neighing. :) Bella had a great time with Lex who is 18 months old. After hanging out with her, Bella decided that walking is cool, so she's been determined that crawling is not for her ever since. The two "older" kids, Liv and Z were best buds and were really great with the younger ones.
There were three families for most of the week. The P's joined us on Thursday with little E. Everybody fit right in and had a great time together. Good job to the S family for bringing the Wii. After the kids went to bed, that thing was responsible for lots of fun nights and tired mornings. Wii Karaoke was definitely the fave.
We figured out that we could definitely handle the beach house lifestyle. Maybe we could all set up an island hopper float-plane company. Any takers? I think I still remember how to fly. :)
Thanks to everyone that was there for making it a fabulous vacation. We are looking forward to another fun-filled week next year!!

Happy 1st Birthday Bella!!!

From August 2008

Wow! We can't believe our precious little baby is one year old. This year has flown by, and it has been amazing!
There was a man who locked himself in the basement of a library for a year, and read the entire Oxford English Dictionary. He found wonderful words that he never knew existed that could describe the indescribable. For example, (I don't remember the word), but there is a word in the English language for the way the street smells right after it rains.
Well, I challenge anyone to invent a word that encapsulates the awesomeness of Bella. This word has to describe a lot of things. Someone who is adorable beyond measure (look at those cheeks). Someone who finds excitement in everything ("wow!" is her favorite word) Someone who gives the best hugs first thing in the morning. Someone who loves music, animals (even Capo), and causing mischief. Someone who always makes us laugh. Someone whose smile can melt your heart. Someone who makes this world seem so much more beautiful every day.
All those words describe little pieces, but, none can quite describe the joy of watching her grow and being with her every day. It is just a constant wonderful miracle to witness her discovering the world in the darned cutest ways.
We love you Bella! We are so blessed to have you in our family!
Thank so much to all those who sent sweet birthday gifts and wishes to Bella. She is a very loved little girl, and she sends big hugs out to all of you.

Birthday Party #3

On the day of her birthday we had a little family party with Mommy, Daddy, G-ma and Gramma. Right during her party Bella got a phone call from Aunt Dawny's Family and Aunt Robin's Family. They both sang her Happy Birthday on speakerphone. She loved it! She was laughing and saying "wow!" the entire time.
As you can all see, by this time, Bella got the hang of the cake and icing thing. No more daintiness for her. She dove right in this time. Since it was her second cupcake of the day, and Mommy wanted her to go to sleep before midnight, Mommy helped her out with her cupcake a little bit. :) Then we opened presents. She is one lucky girl. She got some fun toys, cute clothes, and some amazing books. Thanks to everyone for all of the sweet, thoughtful gifts. She was definitely excited about all of her presents.

Party at Pepi's

Bella's second party was at day care on the day of her birthday. Here she is with all of her friends. She is definitely a superstar in Pepi's house. Every morning she gets a hero's welcome when we walk into Pepi's door. Wouldn't it be great if you arrived at work every morning and all of your co-workers ran up to the door yelling you name and holding their arms out to give you a big hug. What a happy little world she lives in.

From August 2008

Here you can see her winding up for a big bite of cupcake. She was definitely into it.

From August 2008

From August 2008

Bella's Birthday Party

Bella had a great party at Mount Trashmore the day before her actual birthday. She invited all of her friends and had daddy grill a bunch of burgers and dogs. It was a lot of fun! It was great to get a bunch of our friends together. Thanks to everyone that came out--and to those that helped. And thanks to Robin and Ricky for driving all the way from Sumerduck. I wish I had been better about taking pictures because I didn't get pictures of everyone that was there. But, don't worry, we got you all on video singing to her. One day I'll figure out how to get videos on this blog. One step at a time.
Bella had a great day. She was very happy to see everyone and to be the center of attention. I expected her to attack her cake, but, she turned down the opportunity to crawl into it. She wasn't sure about getting that icing all over her pretty dress. She loved the icing as long as someone put it directly in her mouth and she didn't have to touch it. After all that excitement and sugar, she passed out within two minutes of getting in the car to go home.

Baby Shower!

Today we had a baby shower for Scratchie Lambie's Momma. We all had a great time together and can't wait until we can meet her new little guy. Thanks to everyone who helped out!!

Congratulations Will and Meg!

We went to Will and Meg's wedding in Charlottesville this weekend. Notice Bella is nowhere to be found in these pictures. Yes, it was Mommy and Daddy's first trip together without our precious little bundle, and it was great! Thanks to Grama for making it possible. We had a great time seeing old friends and enjoying a little extra freedom. The wedding was gorgeous. Congratulations guys!

Todd and His "Mini Me"

You can't deny the resemblance. Look at those cheeks! On both of them! :)

Scary Pete

Bella showed fear for the first time today. Yes, it was Mr. Pete and his giant afro. His outfit did wonders for sales at the squadron basket auction (he was the auctioneer), but was not a hit with Bella. We tried to hand her over to Pete for a photo op, but she was clinging to my shoulder for dear life. She wanted nothing to do with Mr. Pete and all of his bling.

Meeting Brooklyn Bella!

We drove back to Salt Lake City to catch our flight home and met up with my fabulous cousin Chelsea and her family for dinner. That is where Bella and Brooklyn Bella (Chelsea's daughter) got to meet. They were so cute together. Brooklyn got to show Bella all of her big stuff like eating peas and walking. Bella couldn't stop talking about how cool her cousin was. We were so happy that we got to see Chelsea, Dave, and Brooklyn. We would love for them to come out to the East Coast to visit sometime. (hint...hint)

Goodbye Idaho Falls!

Today it was time to say goodbye to Aunt Dawny, Uncle Scott, and the boys. Bella truly bonded with everyone while she was there. If you noticed from the pictures, her cousin, T, was carrying her around every chance he got. All of the boys were just wonderful with her. It was so nice to see everyone, and we were so lucky to be able to spend so much quality time together in such a wonderful place. Thanks for everything! We love you guys and can't wait to see you again!

Dinner in the Bus

Today we spent the day back in Idaho Falls. It was nice to have a day of rest after all of our traveling. We celebrated Mommy and Daddy's birthdays today, since we weren't all together for our birthdays. We had dinner in the taco bus. It was delicious AND fun. What a great idea! A restaurant in a bus. Genius!

Last Day in Yellowstone

This morning we got up and said goodbye to Mammoth Hot Springs. We headed up to the North Gate to see the famous entrance to the park and we also heard that we could see mountain goats up there. Sure enough, we saw them. AND babies to boot. Those little guys could hope around those mountains like nobody's business. So cute! That left only one more animal for us to see on our trip. Bears. And thanks to our good luck from Mr. Moose (the one we saw on the first day), we not only saw one bear, but we saw four. Uncle Scott got his wish. I couldn't get a great picture, because they were a little far away, but I promise that we saw them. First we saw an adult bear. Then, after some other tourists gave us some tips, we went a little further and saw a Momma bear with her two cubs. It was so adorable seeing them wrestle and play with each other. It was like watching the boys wrestle and play.
After our breakthrough bear find, we decided it was time to head home.
We had a wonderful time in Yellowstone together. The company was great fun, the scenery was glorious, and the animals were plentiful. What more could you ask for in a vacation? Thanks to Aunt Dawny for planning such a wonderful trip!!! Bella was absolutely awesome the entire time. I knew she was going to be an outdoorsy girl!

Yellowstone Day 3

Today we had the best weather so far, so we got to do a lot less driving and a lot more exploring. The boys started off the day by building a fort behind our cabins. Then, we went to see Old Faithful erupt. Everyone got geared up because it was pretty cold. We were missing a pair of gloves, so Todd improvised with some socks. Old Faithful erupted as promised (I guess that's why they call is Old Faithful) and it was amazing! After that we went through the Norris Geyser Basin on our way to our next night's stop an Mammoth Hot Springs. It was incredible seeing how the landscape went from beautiful, lush mountains to a wasteland of sulphur, hot springs and geysers. The Prismatic Spring was my favorite. On our way to see that spring Bella fell asleep while riding on Todd's shoulders. That takes real talent to be able to sleep through riding on someone's shoulders while walking on a small wooden walkway just inches above steaming hot magma. That's my girl!
Mammoth Hot Springs was our favorite overnight spot. The area around our cabins was teeming with prairie dogs. The boys wasted no time in completely terrorizing the poor things. Those little varmits made for hours of entertainment for them while we had a chance to just sit on the porch and enjoy the view--and the cries of distress from the prairie dogs. That night while Aunt Dawny napped with Bella, we went on a great hike with Uncle Scott and the boys. We were so grateful to be able to have nice weather to be able to get out and stretch our legs. It was a beautiful day and everyone slept great after all of our adventures.

Yellowstone Day 2

Today we traveled from Lake Yellowstone to Old Faithful where we stayed in some other cabins. It rained all day today, so we spent a lot of time in our trusty Suburban. You would think that eight people spending extended amounts of time together in a car would be a recipe for disaster, but everyone did really well. We had no big fights or major breakdowns during the entire trip. Everyone really got along and enjoyed each other.
This was our first day seeing Buffalo, and we saw a ton of them. We even witnessed a street migration. One of these pictures that Todd got was of a Buffalo that was right next to our car. We also got to see some baby buffalo. The "red dogs" were adorable. We also got to see some elk.
That night we stayed at Old Faithful and Bella hung out with her cousins while Mommy and Daddy had a nice dinner alone. It was really nice having a little time to ourselves. Thanks Aunt Dawny and Uncle Scott!

On our Way to Yellowstone

Today we set out for Yellowstone National Park. All 8 of us piled into the Suburban (I was skeptical, but we fit comfortably, even with all of our gear) and headed on our way. We drove through the Teton pass, and stopped in Jackson Hole, WY for lunch. That was an amazing drive! It was so incredibly beautiful. Jackson Hole is an adorable town. We will definitely have to plan a trip back there. Unfortunately, it started to rain, but that didn't stop us from snapping some great pictures. Here Bella began blazing her trail of blowouts throughout the wild west. She was going through about three outfits a day during our entire trip. Poor thing set herself up for several freezing cold wardrobe changes on the back seat of the Suburban.
After Jackson Hole, we drove through the Grand Teton National Forest and saw a moose. I think that moose gave us good luck because we saw just about every animal you can possibly see while we were in Yellowstone. We finally made it to our destination, Lake Yellowstone Lodge. We stayed in some cabins there, and went to dinner in the restaurant. That place looked like something out of the Great Gatsby. It was full of people from all different places and had a very 1920s style.
It was a fantastic day. It felt so good to finally get out and breath some fresh air. The majesty of the West is not like anything else, and it just made us all feel a little more free being out there.