A day at the zoo with Fiona

Mommy is slowly but surely catching up on the stories of our busy summer. We are enjoying every last minute of it! Last week, we got to spend the day with my friend Fiona. I'm learning how to say her name now...and LOVE to play with her. We enjoyed a beautiful day at the zoo together!

we loved the turtles!

gotta have a classic fountain picture

the rhinos!

the hippo was sleepy

about to see the polar bears...Fiona could hardly wait!

"paws" in the ice

now my turn

Fiona hangin' out with the prairie dogs

the beautiful butterfly gardens

What a great day!

Fall recipe cook-off!

I love being a pampered chef consultant! There are so many things I love about it! Here are just a few:

• I love showing people how to make a delicious meal in under 30 minutes for less that $2 a serving.
• I love encouraging families to get around the dinner table together!
• I love getting a night out once and a while...just me, meeting other people.
• and I will admit...I do love the extra money too. This summer we used it for things like our zoo membership and buying all the flowers for our yard.

How about you? Could you use a little extra spending money? Or how about a night out away from the kids once an a while? I would love to talk with you about how you can start your own pampered chef business!

Another great thing about selling pampered chef is the networking with other consultants. Our wonderful director Maureen hosts get togethers at her house every month. We have a great time getting together to share ideas, encourage one another, and best of all sample new recipes. We just recently had a fall recipe cook-off. Each one of us brought one of the new fall recipes to share. I actually took these pictures early in the evening...there were a lot more recipes that came in later. We had a very fun and delicious time! :)

This south of the border meatloaf that you can make in the microwave was just one of the delicious recipes that we tried. If you would like for me to come show you and your friends how to make this or another "comfort food" recipe...I would love to hear from you!

A fun filled day at the splash park

I'm still way behind, but we are slowly catching up. These pictures are from a trip to the splash park that we took with our mops group a few weeks ago. It was one of our last really warm days, so I'm so glad that we went.

We went to the splash park one other time this summer...Hannah was much more brave this time. We had so much fun running through the water, splashing in the puddles, and playing in the sand. It was good to enjoy one of the last warm days of summer!

I love the many faces...

Let the potty adventure begin

YEAH!! Today marks the beginning of the potty training adventure. As I mentioned earlier, Hannah did poop in the potty while we were on vacation. This morning, she pooped again. I finally got the potty chair that I spotted on craigslist a few days ago (don't worry it was brand new :)) this evening. Hannah was very excited about it. She sat right down on it at the lady's house! When we got home it was time for bed, took her clothes off, set her down, she made a funny "pushing" face, and wouldn't you know?! She went potty!! High fives all the way around! Yeah Hannah!! :)

A Year and a half

Can it be that my baby is already a year and a half?! Happy 1/2 birthday Hannah!
She is the sweetest little girl I know!
Here's a little of what she is up to these days:

• says "I love you" without us saying it first
• stands/walks on tip toes
• says more words than I can count and now is talking mostly in phrases
• loves bubbles
• enjoys sitting to play with play dough
• loves to go for walks her her stroller
• loves animals
• isn't scared of anything but her toy vacuum sweeper
• loves to hear "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and do the motions to go with the poem
• loves to sing
• is Daddy's little girl
• loves popsicles (she asks for them everyday..usually around breakfast time)
• loves to read and sing songs
• prays before every meal and bedtime. If she's the one to pray, she says "Dear Jesus..amen"
• can climb up and down off chairs
• takes one two hour nap in the afternoon
• uses manners: "please", "thank you", "sorry", "bless you", and "excuse me"
• has pooped on the potty twice!
• brushes her own teeth
• answers "Whats your name" with "Hannah" and "How old are you?" with "one"
• Talks with possession: "mommy's","daddy's"," Hannah's"
• Knows opposites "happy, sad" "open, closed"
• Answers yes and no questions
• points to the neighbors house (they just had a baby) and says baby
• talks on skype to family

She is a very busy little girl...always learning, exploring, and just so much fun! We are both absolutely in love and thank the Lord for our precious baby girl!

Heading home

Probably one of Hannah's favorite parts of the trip was getting to watch tv when she got up in the morning. We really limit the amount of tv at home, so she got a little spoiled while we were on vacation.

We packed up and headed up to Ohio. We purchased a portable dvd player for our trip..and I think it's the best $100 we have spent in a long time. It really helped keep Hannah entertained while we were driving.

being silly in the car

ah...fast asleep

We arrived at Papa and Grandma's house in time for dinner. It sure was nice to be able to stay with them for a few days. It broke up our trip home and gave us a chance to rest a little. Cody and Erica came and spent the day with us on Saturday, then we went with them to their church on Sunday. Although we always miss Farmington while we are away, it was nice to be able to see Cody and Ericas church and worship with them.

Thank you Lord for the chance to take a much needed vacation, enjoy the beautify of your creation, and have time away with our family!

TN Vacation Day 6

On Friday we went to the Aquarium. I think that this was one of the best parts of the trip for all of us...we loved it! We loved seeing the sharks and all of the amazing creatures that God created!

Check out this video of a shark swimming over our heads:



shark!

such big fish!

having so much fun!

not too sure about touching the horseshoe crab

or about the fish...

After the aquarium we went back to the condo for lunch and to rest during Hannah's nap. Then we headed out for another hiking adventure. No bears this time, but we did get to enjoy this beautiful stream.

After our walk in the woods we headed back into downtown for one last evening walk. We stopped for some ice cream along the way. We ended up passing our cones around to try each flavor. Here Hannah is with her cone and her Daddy's. I asked her which one she liked best and she held them both up...yummy ice cream!