Update on Abigale

I know I post a lot about Abigale but I thought it was time to give a little update so you all know the fun things she is doing at almost 15 months and also share a few of my recent favorite pictures.

New words: Up, says "da" for down, all done, apple, bye bye, hot, baby einstein, "mo" for more and hi.

New words that she signs: baby, apple, ball, coat, cold, dad, and shoes (I have kind of stopped teaching her signs because I want her to talk but she has picked up a bunch from her Baby Einstein video)

Animal noises she knows: fish, elephant, tiger, snake and cow

Favorite things to do in the house: pull all the dvds out of the stand, change the channel with the remote, throw things in the garbage when I ask her to and throw everything else in the bathtub, put things in the dishwasher, help cook whenever possible, throw and kick balls, carry my purses on her shoulder, and carry her baby around the house. For some reason she also loves it when I put curlers in her hair, which is fine by me!

In Mourning. . .

For those of you who don't know, I am a HUGE Green Bay Packers fan. I am not just talking about those bandwagon fans who only like them when they have a good year, I have been a fan since I was in 7th grade. In 7th grade my English teacher made us play fantasy football for extra credit. Not knowing very much about any of the players, I randomly picked many of the Packers players including Brett Favre. I have always liked watching sports but didnt really get into the NFL until my grade depended on it and then I was hooked and have loved Green Bay ever since. They had an awesome season this year but I am so sad that they lost to the Giants. I would have loved to see them play in the Super Bowl against the Patriots but unfortunately they didnt play their best tonight. Hopefully, Favre will be back for one more season but in the meantime I guess I will have to cheer for New England.

On a side note, we taught Abigale "touchdown" so everytime we yelled touchdown she would jump up and put her hands in the air. It was so funny.

The only thing that made the loss bareable was the fact that I got to watch the game on our new flat screen tv in high definition. It was a whole new experience compared to our other tv where we could not even see the score.

Our Chirstmas!

We had an amazing Christmas. We started it out by spending the first five days with Jonathan's family at their cabin outside of Park City. I love going to the cabin. Jonathan's family built it themselves when he was 12 and it is the place that Jonathan and I got engaged! We had so much fun there snowmobiling, playing games, eating great food, playing Wii, watching movies, and just hanging out. I was a little nervous about taking Abigale because the cabin is not really baby-proof, but she did great and had so much fun. Being the only grandchild, she was very spoiled and loved all of the attention. Christmas morning was so much fun and Abigale loved all of the many, many presents she received. Jonathan and I also recieved some great presents and feel so blessed.
Abigale sleeping on Grandma:

Abigale discovered her love of candy canes:
Ready for the snow: Abigale's favorite person as the cabin was the dog. She followed him around and tried to give him hugs. He is such a good dog and I couldn't believe how good Abigale was to him:
Christmas Morning: Recovering from Christmas morning:We then drove straight to Pocatello and spent a week with my family. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a lot of pictures but we had a lot of fun and once again Abigale was very spoiled and loved having a big house with stairs to explore.
I think this picture is so funny:Her new favorite toy:Our little snow princess:
I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Congratulations Jonathan!

Yesterday Jonathan finished his last final at BYU! We are so proud of him and how hard he has worked these last 3 1/2 years to graduate with a degree in Biology. We got married right when he began his education at BYU so it has been quite the long haul but Jonathan did it and we are so happy! Many are probably wondering what we are going to do with a biology degree and that is a good question. We were planning on going to dental school but we still have not heard from 11 schools and this late in the game, that is not a good sign so we know the Lord has other plans for us. Yesterday Jonathan got offered another job at the MTC which is a big promotion and he will be able to work full time so we decided to take that job for now. Jonathan has been applying for jobs and has a few interviews lined up in the next few months so we will continue to look for the right job but in the mean time we are happy to stay here in Provo and save some money. Thank you to everyone for your support and congratulations again to Jonathan! You are amazing and I love you soo much!

California!

My dad travels a lot for his job and last weekend he had a conference in Laguna Beach. They like to tell people that they invited Abigale to go with them and had to bring me along, which is fine by me! With finals coming up for Jonathan, I thought it would be a good time to get away and let him study and who can turn down a trip to California. We spent two nights at an amazing hotel in Laguna and then two nights in San Diego where we went to the zoo. Abigale loved it all so much, especially being with Grammy and Poppa. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great vacation!



Abigale didnt really like the water but she loved chasing the birds:

The hotel had a giant gingerbread house (this picture is only half of it) and every part of it was made out of food. Of course, Abigale was obsessed with it and every time we walked past it we would have to drag her away from it: The hotel had a dining area on our floor and they served delicious food all day long and so of course we made frequent trips. One time we were all just sitting down with our food and before we started eating, Abigale folded her arms and bowed her head. At first I didnt know what she was doing and then I realized she was praying! I was so proud and had to capture it on the camera. This is after she finished her "prayer". So serious.

Sorry I cant get this picture to turn but this is at the San Diego Zoo!

Abigale loved all the animals kept trying to touch them through the glass. I was impressed with how brave she was.This monkey walked over to the window and Abigale walked right up to him and tried to pet him. She even leaned over and kissed the glass.She loved this hippo statue. She walked up to it and just sat there and started laughing. Silly girl!

On the Skytram at the zoo. It was freezing but an overall awesome trip!

Thanksgiving and a little Halloween!

I know it has been a very long time since I updated, but we are still alive and doing well. Jonathan is getting ready to graduate in a few weeks, I still love staying at home, and Abigale suddenly became a toddler almost overnight. She is now walking/running everywhere and finally started signing. She knows about 10 signs and it has been so amazing! Now that she knows she can communicate with us, it has kept everyone's frustration level way down. I highly recommend it to everyone!

We also had a wonderful Thanksgivng in Pocatello with my family. My sister and her new husband came from New York and we had so much fun hanging out. We played a lot of games, ate a lot of food, went to a movie, went to Lava Hot Springs, ate some more, and since my sister and bro-in-law don't have a tv, we helped them catch up on episodes of The Office. It was so much fun and went way too fast. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Getting ready to eat:

Working hard in the kitchen. Can't you just see the excitement?:
Jeffrey's face says it all as we begin to bring out the food!:
Abigale was more interested in these bowls then the food:
What is Thanksgiving without a little apple pie before bed?
Abigale had so much fun but was definitely tired. She slept almost the entire way home:

Better Late Then Never:

Our Little Dalmation Puppy!

Happy Birthday Abigale!

I can't believe my baby is a year old! Time continues to fly so fast, and sometimes too fast as she is turning into such a little girl! This last year has been an adventure to say the least, but I have truly loved every minute of it. Abigale has brought so much love, happiness, and laughter into our life and we love her so much. I made a slide show for her birthday party but I think the file is too big to post, so instead I chose my favorite pictures of Abigale from the first year of her life. Happy Birthday Abigale!
Warning: There are a lot of pictures below, but it was too hard to narrow it any more! She is too cute! Enjoy!