Cleaning up.

Today I'm thankful for the MANY opportunities Dallace gives me to clean something out in a way I wouldn't have normally thought of. For example after a quick bath this morning I put a diaper on her and went into her room, came back into the living room to get her dressed and she was sitting happily on the couch with a cute little smile....I had uknowingly walked by her bathroom where the tub was still draining and had Several new items added to it. You will notice besides bathtime toys that had gotten put up already: a wash cloth, a sleeper, a diaper, and 3 rolls of toilet paper. Awesome.

"That hour"

Today I am thankful for "that hour." You moms know what I'm talking about. When your kid goes down for the night about an hour earlier than usual and husband is either at work or already asleep. So for an hour or so you can pick up the toys, grab that "something sweet" you have hidden somewhere in your kitchen and kick back on the couch in your CLEAN living room with the floor completely uninhabited by any toys, balls, or boxes that have been converted magical vehicles for toddlers everywhere. "That hour" for me is right now. I have the very rare opportunity to take a deep breath close my eyes and actually RELAX if only for "That hour".

Cousin's

(Avery, Dallace, Crew, little miss M!)

Today we are thankful for cousin's.These are some of Dallace's FAVORITE people to play with (even the cute little boy one's that bite her!)..we wish they were all closer but really enjoy every time we see them! Again, there are a few missing from here (quite a few, unfortunately!) but we love each and every one of you!
Avery and Jax (hijacked this pic from Ashley's blog because it is just TOO sweet!)

Uncle's.

Uncle Scott (Brittney's side-Florida)

Uncle Tony (Florida)

Uncle Scott (Luke's side-Nebraska)

Uncle Connor and (uncle) Max? (Florida)

Our uncle's are each one of a kind..that's one thing that's for sure. We Love them all very much! (there are a few uncles that quite sadly aren't pictured here due to poor photography on my end)

Aunt's.

Today we are thankful for all our aunt's in the family. Although they aren't all "mom" they sure care about us like they are! We love all of our aunt's so very much!

Aunt Ashley (Nebraska)

Auntie Rae Rae (Washington)

Aunt Tracy (Florida)

Aunt Sandra (Florida)

Aunt Rhonda (Florida)

Grandpa's.

Today we are thankful for Grandpa's. Much like the grandma's we are very lucky in the grandpa department. Dallace has two grandpa's, two great-grandpa's, and TWO great-great grandpa's. We sure wish we able to live somewhere that had ALL of our grandma and grandpa's in one place but luckily it's just one short travel day on a plane and we are there!

Grandpa Lagg (in Florida)

Grandpa Watson (Washington)

Great-Grandpa Beus (Washington)

Great-Grandpa Watson

Papa (great-GREAT- grandpa) Ellison (Florida)

Great-Great-Grandpa Gilbert

Today we are thankful for gra

Grandma's.

Today we are thankful for Grandma's. Some near some far. But all are very close to our hearts. Dallace is very lucky because she has two grandma's, three great-grandma's, and one great-great grandma. We feel so blessed to have these wonderful women in our lives and wish we could really give them the thanks that they deserve.

From left to right:Mema (my grandma, Dallace's great-grandma), my mom who we still are a bit unsure of what we are calling her, me and baby D, and Granny (my great-grandma and Dallace's great-great grandma).

Grandma Watson.

Great-Grandma Beus.

My mom again, GiGi perhaps.

Great-Grandma Watson

Dallace

I am especially grateful for this little Tinkerbell. Dallace is so sweet, loving, and funny (just like her daddy). She is extremely active and loves to climb on anything she can hike that little chubby leg onto. She brings so much joy into our lives on a daily basis it just absolutely amazes me when I think back to the day she was born. From the instant I looked in her eyes I felt like I had known her my entire life.

Here is the quick version of our Halloween.

We went to trunk-or-treat at the church and the evening started off really well and well behaved. (see picture above.)
However, after going around to each car and getting oh so excited about the people throwing candy into her elmo bucket I made the fatal mistake of trying to take said bucket out of her freakishly strong little hands in the car so I could buckle her in to shuffle her on over to grandma's. After two or three minutes of trying to rip it out of her hands, I was FINALLY successful. This is what she looked like after the struggle.

Once we got to grandma's house she calmed down a bit and patiently waited for Daddy to open some of her hard earned candy so she could enjoy it.

Her eyes were SO puffy from screaming the entire ride to grandma and grandpa's. So sad.

So, I made a decision that to avoid anymore major meltdowns I would trade in her candy for Curious George snacks.

She never even noticed the trade-out and was just as excited, so over all I think it was a successful Halloween!

Luke

I absolutely LOVE this man. I know that must sound pretty obvious, but it's true. He knows how to make me laugh and to comfort me in any situation. He's a wonderful father and worthy priesthood holder. He always puts his family first and will do anything for those in his life. He works hard (or rather goes to work often ;) to make sure that I have the opportunity to stay home with Dallace without worry. He's working hard at finishing school (only 3 1/2 -4 years to go) while going to work 60+ hours a week and trying to still have family time . He tells me everyday how beautiful I am and that he doesn't know how he got so lucky to marry me. I tell him he's crazy and that I'm the lucky one. I can't imagine spending eternity with anyone besides Luke. He's amazing in every way.

A month of Thankfulness.

My goal for this month is to post EVERYDAY about something I'm thankful for. I'm a day behind as we just moved into our apartment and had the internet hooked up today. So today I will do 2 posts to make up for it.

FOOTBALL!

Let me just begin by saying..I love fall. There's lot's of good "F" words I associate with Fall:

Friends.
Family.
Food.
Feast. (which I do consider to be in a different category than food alone.)

But probably one of the most important...

Football.

I realize we are already almost halfway through the season, but as those of you that know me are more than aware, I wasn't blogging at the beginning of the season. So even though the Bronco's lost

MISERABLY!

last night, I decided we still should take a quick picture or two.

Dallace has been well trained to know how to throw her arms up in the air for Touchdown..and since Seattle actually won their game, she got to do this in her Seattle jersey with a smile..My team didn't allow for me to have a celebratory picture like hers.

Caught Red, or rather BROWN (sugar) handed.

So, here is how it went down. I decided I would make "something sweet". This particular "something sweet" called for brown sugar. I left the brown sugar on the counter and my child in the kitchen, on the ground, next to the counter. I walked less than 6 feet away for approximately 2.5 seconds, looked back around the corner just in time to see her scrambling to eat as much brown sugar off the floor. Being the amazing parent I am, I decided to give her 2.5 more seconds while I grabbed my camera to capture this moment. As I got the camera she was trying to flee the scene of the crime. (you'll notice her right hand is clutching as much sugar as it could possibly hold)

Baby Gym!

My friends and I recently discovered that a local gymnastics place let's little kids come in and play for FREE. (18 months and under are free, but it's still pretty cheap). So here are just a few of the things they offer..

17,000 square feet of springy ground with lots of springy mats great for jumping.

All sorts of little cars and riding toys.

A "rocker" for lack of the correct terminology..Sydney and Olivia LOVED this one!

A long trampoline, great for running and jumping.

A fish rocker.

Bars, that with a little assistance from Daddy, are really fun to hang on.

And then, of course, there is the slide. (There are actually two slides, but this one they can do without assistance)

The Corn Maze

We thought we'd take a quick pic in the car before our day got started. I noticed someone had dozed off in the background so we had to get a closer look.

After waking Dallace up we went and looked at the animals..she seemed to be a bit over whelmed by the reindeer.

Then, we climbed the straw pyramid.

Then we were off to the corn maze.

First Dallace led the way.

Then she pulled Daddy in to help her lead the way.

Then she found an even BETTER way to make it through the corn maze..on Daddy's shoulder's.

Pumpkin Patch

How to choose a pumpkin.

First, make sure it's not a chair disguised as a pumpkin.

Next, make sure no one is going to steal your pumpkin (or chair if you're still undecided).

If you decide said "pumpkin" is in fact a chair and not a real pumpkin go find a "real pumpkin."

Then, check to see if the pumpkin will play peek-a-boo with you.

If it won't- don't completely rule it out..there are still other tests to see if it's right for you.

For example, make sure it can hold your weight (just in case you WANT to use it as a chair)

Check to see if it's good for drumming.

Of course, you should PROBABLY make sure you can pick it up.

And THE most important test of all-making sure it has a belly button like yours..thus the first ever photographed "belly button comparison test."

And that's how you properly test a pumpkin to see if it's right for you.