Day 241 - My Little Reader

Abby has taken to sitting down on things like sitting in a chair. Obviously this picture shows her sitting in an Abby size chair, which is convenient. She now will sit on the fireplace ledge, on my knee, or on the ledge of the bookcase. Sometimes she will sit down with a book in her hand and start reading to herself. I love how cute my baby is!

Day 240 - Walks

Walking has become my new favorite exercise. I was able to walk regularly while I was in AZ, and now that I'm back home, we are at it again. Abby does well in a stroller... rarely ever complains. She just sits back, or up, and quietly enjoys the scenery.

Day 239 - Hey Momma

Tonight we hung out with our friends the Buccambuso's for Steve Buccambuso's birthday party. I was trying to take a few prime shots before the sun went down, so I hoped behind the short concrete wall. Abby is not a fan of being separated from me in practically any way, and apparently a wall that is about her size is qualifies as a valid separation. Darn cute, don't you think?

Day 238 - Texas Sheet Cake

Today I was craving some chocolate, but because I'm trying very hard to limit the junk food in the house, I really don't have much other than Ovaltine, Hot Cocoa mix, and Cocoa Powder. So, drinking some chocolate was not enough, so I made a Texas Sheet Cake. One of my favorite's, though I really love eating the batter more than the cake. So, I baked the cake and offered it on facebook to the first person to say they wanted it. So I got my chocolate fix with minimal diet damage and Kinzy Ackroyd (and family) got the cake.

Day 237 - Hosed Off

It's nice to be back home. One thing that we have really enjoyed this summer is watering the grass. Sometimes Abby will want to help hold the hose, other times she will put her hands in the stream of water. Today she walked straight into face first. It was so hilarious. You really can't see that part of her head is dripping with water, but it is.

Day 235 - I Love to See the Temple

Abby and I left Oak City today and headed up to Salt Lake. It takes a little bit longer to go this way back home, but I wanted to go to Temple Square and take some photo's for a Sacrament Board Book I plan on putting together for Abby. We got quite a few beautiful photo's. This one is probably one of my favorites.

Day 234 - May I Help You?

This evening, Julie and I headed over on a whim to her grandparents house to take some photo's with our babies. There was a really rusty old truck in their back yard as well as some cows. The cows were very curious and came right on over to where we were. We were a little nervous, especially since they had us pinned in a corner. I was ready to jump the fence. Everything turned out just fine and the cows went back to standing around on the other side of the yard.

Day 233 - Self Portrait

This is the first time I've allowed a photo to be taken where I was not holding the camera. I did, however, push the button; 10 second timer. I had to stage this scene by finding something to put the camera on and that something was some rusty old rolled up fence wire that I stood on end and balanced a flat rock on top to put the camera on. I had to keep walking back and forth to check positioning. I'd say this photo deserves it's place in CM365.

Day 232 - Oak City Days

Today was the beginning of Oak City days. Julie and I took Abby and the 3 boys to the parade. It wasn't long, but it was very interesting. Oak City is a very small place and I love that there were tractors and horses as part of the parade. There was lots of candy of course and I caught Abby more than once trying to steal some out of the big candy bag.

Day 231 - Photo Practice

Sometimes it's nice to just play around with the different functions of my camera or lighting of the sun. This evening I was experimenting with the setting sun. I captured quite a few great shots, but this was one of the favorites. I let Julie pick tonight and this is the one she chose.

Day 230 - Father's Son

Yesterday Abby and I drove up to Oak City Utah with Julie and her family. I was outside with Abby and Julie's son Isaac playing and taking pictures. I happened to catch this amazing shot. Probably one of my most favorite photo's ever. This pic capture this little man so perfectly... he is a born soldier, just like his daddy.

Day 229 - Great Stephensens

Today was our last day in Arizona, and I wanted to get some good pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Stephensen before we took off. We headed over to a grassy area for our photo shoot. These two are such a cute couple.

Day 228 - Hello Ellie

This is Ellie, Abby's cousin. She is beautiful... look at those gorgeous blue eyes! Ellie is going to be a big sister by the end of this year. She loves to drink milk, is learning about sharing, speaks English and German words, and walks around like an old pro.

Day 227 - Come to Grandpa

Great Grandpa Max really loves the babies. Though, this trip, he had a hard time getting Abby to come over to him. It's always great spending time with the Stephensen's. We get to eat good food, play fun games, and usually hear one of Grandpa Max's stories which he has already told a couple times.

Day 226 - Grandpa's Buddy

Abby got to spend a lot of time with her Aunt Steffi, Uncle Matt, Cousin Ellie, and Grandpa Mont while I was away this week. When I went to go pick her today, it took 45 min before she would even come to me. I was really surprised by how quickly she wrote me off. Steffi told the first day I was gone, that she walked around the house saying Momma over and over.

Day 225 - Support

Today was the last day of Reunion and this evening was our awards banquet. This is a pic of our top consultant, Wendy McGee and her husband. He created a special book for her (which she is sobbing over in the background). It's so important to have a supportive spouse when you are working your own business.

Day 224 - The Legend of the Sprites

This year, our Reunion is being held at the Arizona Biltmore. A fabulous place. I had some time to walk around the grounds and enjoy some time to myself. I discovered that there were several of these very unique Sprites placed around the grounds. I think they are beautiful.

Day 223 - Reunion

Today is the first day of our annual Heritage Makers Reunion. It's not just a reunion of consultants but a reunion of friends as well. I love running my own business and I love that I work such a dear and close friend, Julie. With Julie is her son Shem... this was the first time I got to meet this sweet little man.

Day 222 - Chocolate Cake

Dad and I made a cake today. We adapted a Wacky Cake recipe just a little... i.e. Bailey's Irish Creme ;) It was so much fun... and the four of us sat around the table eating wholesome cake goodness :D Happiness!

Day 221 - German Food

My Sister-in-Law is German and tonight I helped her cook some German food. We made a huge mess tonight but it was a lot of fun cooking Bratwurst Dumpling Soup and Potato Cakes. Both tasted really great. I learned that Germans like to enjoy applesauce on their Potato Cakes... it was so yummy!

Day 220 - Lighting

Grandpa Mont wanted some pictures of him and his two granddaughters. I had a hard time getting some good photo's because of the position of the sun. I happened to get some excellent shots of Matt and Ellie... just wish I had realized that so I could have done the same with Grandpa.

Day 219 - Uncle Matt and Cousin Ellie

It's so great being with family. Abby has really warmed up to her Uncle Matt. I suspect that she thinks he is Daddy... it's quite cute.

Day 218 - Standoff

Today we started our trip to Arizona. I tried to stop frequently so that Abby would get some play time. Our first big stop was at a gas station that had a nice grassy area where we played. Abby had a great time chasing the seagulls. Overall, our trip went really well. I was quite surprised to get through the day with minimal complaints from my little girl.

Day 217 - 14 Months Old

Today little bit turned 14 months old. This morning we took the car down to Tire's Plus to get an oil change and took advantage of the time to wonder around to take Abby's pictures. Just down a nearby side street is an old pioneer wagon and it was a great backdrop for her photo's today.

Day 216 - Dressed for Artic Warfare

This morning I decided I wanted to go for a run, so I put Abby in some warm clothes so she wouldn't get too cold. Now that I'm actively trying to lose weight, we will be going out more regularly.

Day 215 - Momma's Little Helper

This morning we picked up Oma Bonnie and went to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Abby has taken up wiping things down, and decided that the table we were sitting at needed a good cleaning before we ate. We had a good visit with Oma yesterday and today.

Day 214 - Abby and Oma

We had a nice surprise visit from Oma Bonnie. It's nice that we have one grandparent a little close by. Whenever we are with family, I try very hard to take some nice pictures of Abby and whomever we are with.

Day 213 - Friendship

I'm so glad that Abby and Bailey are able to grow up together. Though Abby still doesn't really "play" with others, she still finds it very entertaining to see how others play. Bailey is a lot of fun to be around and she is a really great example, even at the tender age of 2.

Day 212 - The Greats

Today we were visiting at Great Grandpa and Grandma Kintners house for dinner. We also got to visit with Grandma's Niece Sally, shown here in the photo with Abby and Grandpa. I took advantage of taking some pictures of Abby and Grandpa together this evening.

Day 210 - Corn Hog

We have been eating corn about once a week this summer. I've found that a cob of corn can be very entertaining for Abby (and even Momma). This girl will chew on a corn cob for about an hour without getting bored.

Day 209 - Feed the Birds

we went to Virginia Lake today to take a walk and afterwards we stopped to feed the geese (among other birds). At first there wern't that many, but it wasn't long till we had a swarm. I even had to keep chasing them off a little because they were getting to close to Abby and her stroller.

Day 208 - Visiting

Today the Sadlers threw a party for our friends the Jeppsens who were visiting from out of town. It was a great chance for many of us who know Trent, Amy, and their kids to see them. Unfortunately, this was the only picture I got from the visit. It sort of shows how much fun we were having!

Day 207 - Vision Poster

I have commited myself to making changes in my eating habits. This month I joined SparkPeople to help me with my weightloss/health goals. We are encouraged to put together a Vision Poster that reflects the things we feel and want out of pictures and clippings from magazines. Here is my poster. I feel very proud of it!

Day 206 - FHE: Chill Style

Tonight we did our Family Home Evening in the side yard. Since my birthday, I have felt a new appreciation for this part of our home and desire to use it more often. We had a really comfortable evening out in the yard tonight.

Day 205 - The Coming Storm

The wind is blowing pretty roughly this evening and the clouds look a bit ominous. I always love to see how the leaves turn when a storm comes in. I find the contrast of color striking.

Day 204 - Work in Chalk

Sometimes you just have a creative spurt. So, today was one of those creatively inspired days. Abby and I were outside playing with our sidewalk chalk and I started writing Daddy, Momma, and Abby and decided to fill up a whole section of concrete.

Day 203 - Peruvian Lilies

These are more Birthday flowers. I got these ones from my best friend Katie Rossman. I had been looking at the little card that gave information about them and learned that not only are they called Alstroemeria's, but Peruvian Lilies as well.

Day 202 - Birthday Gifts

Today I received Steve's gift in the mail. I've been telling him for months that I would like some flowers. I was pretty excited to get these beautiful roses in the mail today!