It seems like we kinda crammed lots of summer fun into these last couple of months! But boy oh boy have we been LOVING the fall weather so far! :) Fall is by far my favorite time of year. It just seems like there is a different bite to the air that I just can't get enough of! This last week has definitely not been the most productive, and I have certainly wished that Nick could be home with us more, but it has been the COZIEST week ever! Ahhh! On Monday I woke up and made the Hendershot homemade Clam Chowder (which doesn't even taste clammy, just lots of red potatoe deliciousness) so my house smelled SO GREAT all day, especially after I burned my oatmeal cookie candle.. mmm... and I was just so LAZY all day!! and to top it off, Mag was so snuggly! It was almost perfect! The only thing that could have made it better is if Nick could have been home... :(
Anyway, there is my shpeel about coziness... I love it!
This weekend we went to St George like we do every year (except last year because Mag was only 2 weeks old) to see Nick's dad, Lon, run the marathon down there. This year Andy decided to run it with him, which was cool, and Nick's cousin, Emily has also been running it the last three years! It was really fun, and very motivating to see them accomplish such a huge thing! This is Lon's 20th marathon, and 18th St George marathon! There is no way I could run 26.2 miles, let alone in the blistering October St George heat!! Wow, awesome for them for running it! It kinda sucked just waiting for 3 hours in the heat for them to cross the finish line! But then we went shopping and swimming and it was really fun!
*Sidenote- I scored big time with shopping! I got 1 Jacket, 2 hoodies, 5 shirts, a pair of boots, 2 outfits for Maggie, 1 pair of jeans for Nick, and 5 shirts for Nick, all for a little over $100!!! Sweet!!! I am a savvy shopper that's for sure! :)*
A couple weeks ago we were able to go to Strawberry Reservoir to go camping with the Cookie Fam! It was so fun and relaxing! I just let Maggie play in the dirt! She was COVERED from head to toe! It was hilarious to see her so much in her element! We got some of it on video! We spent a lot of good time with my Gramma Ardie and cousins and family! This is when Mag really started to blossom with her walking skills! It was also fun to finally put up our new tent! Nick got it from Walmart randomly one day for $15!! We thought that it would be pretty small for the price, but when I put it up, it is pretty huge! It is a 6 man tent, but holy cow! That was probably the best $15 we've put towards something ever! :)
So here are some pics from August/September! I apologize for the lengthiness!
At the new North Park in Spanish Fork. They have this splash pad thing, and I didn't intend to have Mag play in it, but since she showed interest, I decided to just let her play in there in her clothes. We went with my friend, Kate and her daughter who is a little older than Mag, and she played in it too! It was really fun!
After playing in the water.. this is the "stinkbug crawl"! I guess she does this when she doesn't want her knees to get hurt! She doesn't do it too much anymore, now that she is finally getting the hang of walking, but it is great memories!
At my Gramma Ardie's house.. It is so beautiful there, it feels like a vacation just going there. The view out of her huge back window and off of the deck is breathtaking! That must have been what Maggie was looking at, but her house is right on top of a hill that overlooks the golf course and frames the mountains beautifully. I so love it! I am going to make it a point to go see her more often! I love my Gramma!
So beautiful!
We went up to Santaquin canyon to have a picknic dinner with the Hendy's and it was delightful! I love the mountains more than I can ever say! I feel so blessed and comforted to know that anywhere in Utah that I am, there is always a mountain getaway in as little as five minutes away! Wow, who wouldn't love that? To me even just looking at the mountains gives me a little recharge in my battery. But especially that crisp, fresh mountain air.. Ahhh.. It's great! I hope I always live in a place with easy access to the mountains! And mountains in the fall steps them up another level!! Holy cow! All the beautiful colors! Heavenly Father is very artistic and creative! I love his masterpieces!
When she is in her stroller, more often than not you will find her feet resting like this on the cupholder! It is so dang cute! She's full of personality that's for sure!
At the Cookie's family reunion! She LOVES Crampa Cookie! He likes to "hypnotize" her by talking nonsense monotone sounds in her ear like so! She loves it!
On Mag's birthday we decided to have a little picnic lunch and discover somewhere new in Hobble Creek canyon. We found this picnic area called Jolley's Ranch, where they have a big open well-kept area with trees and picnic tables! Maggie loves the mountains just as much as Nick and I do! She was having the time of her life! That was the first time she had room to run around and play in the great outdoors. Other times she has still liked it, but the peacefulness just put her right to sleep!
Big news!! My nephew Christian James was born!! August 13th! Yay! We so love him! He is one snuggly baby! I love him! With the nephews that I have, I have found that I love them so dearly, very closely to how I feel about my own child. It is really fun to have a new baby in the family. Funny thing- Christy and I decided that our babies sometimes get confused and think that we are each other! I don't know if that makes sense but Christy always had a special way with Maggie, and could calm her down almost just like I could, and it seems to be the same way with Christian, and I remember Jaxon being the same way too! Isn't that crazy!?! They can sense the similarities in us! :)
Mag was exhausted after her birthday fun!
Maggie and her "boyfriend" aka. Uncle Andy. At her Birthday Bash!
The happy birthday partiers! Maggies first birthday party! We had so much fun! It was decorated with pink, purple, green, and yellow! So girly and pretty! We had her party at the Hendy's and had hamburgers and hotdogs and cake! We had lots of friends and family come to celebrate with us! Nick's aunt Cindy and cousin Brittney even came and visited from Vegas! It was really fun!
Mag and Uncle Jeff
My cute sisters, Erin and Karly! Love them to pieces!
We had a seperate little cake for Maggie to terrorize, but when the time came she got TERRIFIED!! She wouldn't even touch it! We tried to coax her and give her a taste, but she was too scared! Nick even put his face in the cake! Then I was silly, and stuck her feet in the cake, and that was THE END!!! She threw a ROYAL TANTRUM!! She was not even consoled with a bath! It was hillarious, and we got it on tape! I have yet to get more pictures from family members but we had a very memorable time!
Moral of the story, my daughter HATES to be dirty! She can't stand slimy feeling goop on her hands, feet, or anything! I even try to feed her dices peaches and bananas and she won't even touch them, she just hates to be slimy! Ha ha, hilarious! Something cute we learned about Mag on her first bithday party! :)
Then she had a great time opening her presents, and of course got royally spoiled! :) I love spoiling her!
Once again in the mountains!! She loves her Daddy! She says Dada now! :) and many other words and babbles I have yet to decipher!
Beautiful!
Loves the swings! :) She always laughs and smiles when she's in them!
Honestly, this time in our lives is so much fun! Maggie brings so much joy into my life I don't know what I would do without Nick and her!! I am also grateful that our family will be together eternally! Wow, what an awesome thing! We are lucky, and I hope that we strive to live worthy of the blessings that we have!
