Conner giving kisses to Kaiya, his little friend Conference weekend.

Conner's "New Chair"

Happy Halloween! October was a full month for us! Dave put insulation in our attic the first weekend after which we watched General Conference which was great. The next Monday we pulled everything out of our garden which was a good thing since our first snowfall was that Wednesday, but we're grateful that it melted and we haven't had our friend snow to visit us again...yet...(knock on wood). We've all taken turns with colds or fevers and unfortunately I think those are cycling back through again, but I guess it's just that time of year! We've had mostly nice weather which has been great since Conner still LOVES to be outside-especially with the kittens. Piper had another litter of kittens, but only three survived. Conner adores these three little kittens: Tiger(who I call fat cat since he's about twice the size of the other two), Patches who is a calico cat like her mom, and C.C. (Conner's Cat as Dave calls him). It's so fun just watch Conner with the kittens and they are surprisingly tolerant of him and all his antics with them. : )Since it's fall Conner and I made sugar cookies and decorated them Halloween style. Conner was the King of the Rolling pin-that boy would NOT allow me to touch the rolling pin without a major fuss! I'm glad he had fun, but it's so much more work to let him help than to just do it myself-of course. : )



Rolling Pin King!

Trying to eat the cookies instead of deliver them.


About a week and a half ago my grandpa past away at the age of 94, exactly seven months after my grandma past away in March. We had his funeral last Saturday up in Victor which was really nice-the weather was beautiful and the funeral and graveside were especially nice. It was a good thing for him to go, but hard for everyone to say goodbye. It was really neat to remember him and the exemplary life he lived. Now I only have one grandparent-my mom's mom and we're really grateful for her and hope she'll be with us for a long time yet!(And Nan too!)





Cutest Spider Ever!

We of course celebrated Halloween on Monday and it was super fun! It's amazing how much more we can do now that Conner is old enough to do a lot of things! We dressed him in his cute Halloween outfit during the day, put his costume on at night (he was a spider), took him to trunk-or-treat, carved our jack-o-lantern, and finished out the night with caramel apples! He was so cute and wanted to help with everything-especially handling the candy! We just really enjoy being parents to our super cute little guy-and are really excited to have our little girl here in about two months. So grateful for so many things and so many wonderful people in our lives! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and thanks for all you do!

We've had a lot of fun in the last two month and are excited for another month of summer fun in August! Probably most exciting was our trip to Oregon and Washington coast. It was a short trip, but we got some great pictures and had a blast.

We worked our way up Oregon catching water falls right off the road that were gorgeous! It was raining the first two days there, but it didn't really dampen the excitement...I mean, you have to expect a lot a rain for everything to be sooo green!

The only bad part about the rain/clouds was when we went to Mt. St. Helens and couldn't see the peak, but we still had fun walking around and enjoying the visitor's center.

After St. Helens we drove up to Washington (to say Dave's been there) and to go across the four mile bridge. This bridge is scary to go across because there is nothing but water-reminded me of going to Galveston, but longer.

A few miles up the coast line we stopped at a Lewis and Clark fort and further up a lighthouse with a beautiful view out to the ocean.

We headed back towards Oregon that night and stayed at Seaside which is a fun little touristy town, (but our destination was Cannon Beach-we just stayed in Seaside to save $40 for our hotel. : ) got up in the morning and headed to Cannon Beach.

This is the main place Dave wanted to come because he loves the pictures of the sea stacks and there is a great big one called haystack at Cannon Beach. We were thrilled that it didn't rain that day and was plenty warm with a nice breeze coming off the ocean.

We ate some delicious sea food-fish and chips and Conner absolutely LOVED the beach! He loved playing in the sand, eating the sand, and especially enjoyed the waves rolling onto the beach.

He was soaked by the time we left, but it was a blast just watch him. He would also wave to the other people on the beach and was very sociable which was way cute.

On the way home we stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory to watch how the cheese is made and packaged and of course to sample the cheese and ice cream there. Our last day we spend swimming in the hotel (another thing Conner loves) and driving the eight plus hours back home.

That same week was the Sowards Reunion which was a lot of fun! It was great to see everyone and was nice that we didn't have to drive a lot after just getting back from the coast. July just flew by with all of the get togethers, weddings, holidays, work and another reunion coming up this week. Dave was a trooper and helped my family get some hay hauled since one of my brothers injured his knee and couldn't help out, and he's always so much help with Conner. He spoiled me on my birthday and I just love him so much! I'm so lucky to have him and Conner-love my boys!!

The last two months have been good, but not overly eventful at our house. Dave has started his summer softball games which he really enjoys. In May we planted our garden which was very entertaining. Mostly because Conner was out helping and I put him in his "farmer pants" (what Dave calls overalls) and we spent most of the day getting the soil ready, buying seeds and of course planting and watering. Our garden is significantly larger this year than last so we're hoping we get lots of good crops! If not...well Conner had a great time playing in the dirt and mud! Conner also loves mowing the lawn with his dad. He and Dave go out for a few hours and Conner stays with Dave the entire time.

For Memorial Day we went to Victor. I always love Memorial Day and going to the cemetery for the American Legion’s program. I want my kids to have the growing up-knowing the reason we celebrate Memorial Day is to remember those who have gone before and especially those who have fought to keep our nation free. Bbq’s are nice too, but not the reason for the holiday!



Conner and his goldfish...after he stepped on an entire bag and smashed them into the carpet.)


(Super Conner!)

Last weekend we had a parade for the rodeo here in Rigby. Conner loved seeing all the horses and big trucks, plus he got lots of candy! Dave’s and my favorite part was the free chocolate milk! We went to the park afterward and had hamburgers and such and wandered around until it was past Conner’s nap time and we were in meltdown mode. Lately that happens a lot…especially when he has to come inside or get in the car instead of playing outside. I wish we had a fence so could play while I cooked and watched him from the kitchen window, but…maybe in the next house.


(Begining of a meltdown because we came inside.)

We’re excited for our Oregon trip this weekend and for the Sowards Reunion next weekend. Hope all is well for everyone!

April showers (and snow storms) are upon us!!

So, today is a beautiful day and the sun is shining but spring time in Idaho definitely has it's ups and downs!! For example, last week started out with nice warm weather which brought everyone outdoors to start cleaning up the yards. The grass is green and beautiful, the birds are singing, but by the time Wednesday rolls around and Dave and I go out to celebrate our 4th anniversary, we're met with...... a Blizzard....awesome!! Can I just tell you how excited Dave was? It was kinda depressing. On top of that Conner was being WAY cranky and so we took him to dinner with us instead of dropping him of with the Graebers and I don't think I've ever been so anxious to leave a restaurant before! We've taken him out before but this time he just yelled and jabbered at the top of his voice. We dropped him off after dinner and went to a movie...it was by far the best part of our evening out! When we came out of the theater the car was completely covered in snow and we just wanted to go home. It snowed for the next two days, but now the weather is warming up again and it looks like we might see spring for real...but I'm not betting on it. We've had a crazy last month!! It started with the decision to put a bid on a Camry Hybrid down in Provo. We'd been thinking about getting a bigger car since we had Conner because the Corolla has such a small back seat so when we saw this car that BYU was selling we felt like it would be a good car for our family. Then there was an announcement at church that four of the Rigby wards would be split to form a fith ward. We got that announcement on the 20th of March and Dave and I just knew that we would be part of this new ward, but we really loved being in the ward we were in!! But on the 22nd I got a phone call that my Grandma Kearsley had passed away the night before and that her funeral would be that Saturday. She hasn't been doing that well and had fallen twice in the last month, so it wasn't exactly a shock, but still kind of hard. The next day we found out we got the bid for the Camry and that we needed to come and get it within a day or two. So Dave worked half a day Friday and we drove down to Provo, got the Camry and drove back to Rigby that same day. (We really like our new car by the way-it's Dave's new baby : ) Got up the next morning and went to Victor for my Grandma's funeral which was kind of sad but it was good too. She was 90 and had lived a full life, it was just hard to see my 94 year old Grandpa without her. We came back to Rigby that night and the next day found out we were part of the new Rigby 15th ward which I took really hard because I just love the people and especially the young women in our old ward. Needless to say it was kind of a hard week! Conference was great and greatly needed! It always seems to come just when I need it to. We also were able to go to my neices baptism on saturday which is always neat. We've had lots of family gatherings lately between birthdays, funerals and baptisms to get to see each other which is nice. Sunday we went to our new ward for the first time it will be a good ward-just different. I was called as a councilor in the Primary and Dave's the ward Financial Clerk, so we'll certainly be busy!! Conner got to go to Nursery (a few months early, I know) because neither Dave or I could take him and it was really nice-for all of us!!
Conner is growing like a weed. He certainly has a personality and an additude which for the most is fun, at least until bed time and then it gets old, but he really is so much fun. He loves to dance and lead music-it's way funny. I couldn't get a great shot of him, but here's a little sample.

He's such a jabber box-LOVES my phone and to talk on it. He is also great at texting-I realized the other day that he had sent at least 8 messages-so he doesn't get much phone time anymore. He loves to sit and ride on his firetruck. He spent most of conference sitting (or standing when he could get away with it) on his firetruck. He loves to read me stories-not the other way around. I don't understand what he's saying, but he jabbers as he turns pages which is fun. He's just a cute little handful!!

Hope everyone is doing well and that you all have a wonderful Easter!

Okay!! So I totally missed February's post so I'll to sqeeze two months into one!! First off and the most important was Conner's First Birthday!!! We had lost of my family and the Graeber's over to celebrate and Conner loved having lots of people over!! We started with cake since that's really what everyone comes for and people needed to leave early so that's why in some of the later pictures Conner has wet pants/shirt because we hosed him down after the cake.













Now, I didn't do anything fancy like Rachel does, but it was fun to make some fun cakes for Conner's birthday. Thanks everyone for birthday wishes and gifts-he certainly was spoiled that day!: ) He was so tired-wouldn't take a nap all day and was fighting sleep when everyone arrived, but thanks to a large slice of cakes (which he ate most of) he was good to go!!! It was really fun.










Conner has been my little helper lately. He loves to pull out the pots and pans and put his books and toys in and stir with one of my spoons. It's really cute!! Yesterday he pulled out my new mop and has been carrying it around the house and today he started wiping up the kitchen floor with one of his shirts...funny!! He has been walking for about a month and a half now and is pretty close to running. He also finally got a tooth-his first one broke through the week of his birthday so he's just growing so fast! We love him to pieces.






Dave has been busy with work, Elders' Quorum, and snowboarding in his spare (and not so spare) time. We went with some of his co-workers last month to Kelly Canyon and everyone but me was snowboarding. I was the skier, but I hadn't gone in 9 years so I was pretty anxious about going down. It turned out I was anxious for a for good reason-the first part down I totally wiped out and strained my knee-bad enough I basically walked/scooted on my rear down the rest of the hill. Awesome!!!!! Yea. So then I sat in the car and waited for them to finish and my knee is still having issues. However, I did injure that same knee my senior year of basketball so that probably doesn't help matters much. I told Dave I was done skiing for this year, so yesterday he and the same co-workers took off half a day of work and went snowboarding. Dave loves it-thinks it's tons of fun, but is always REALLY sore the next day. Kinda funny!

I've basically just been busy with Young Womens and filling in on the organ the last month or so. Our organist had back surgery and though I don't play the organ that well, its been kind of fun to fill in. Hope everyone is doing well!

If I don't sit down and do this now, there will be no post until next month!! First we had a "Welcome home Nate" party with my family and we were all able to get together and go to a temple session, listen to Nate's talk in church and enjoy good food together. It was a quick little weekend, but it was fun to have everyone together during the Christmas season!! We've grown by leaps and bounds-all 24 of us (plus my Grandma Hansen in the picture)...amazing what happens so quickly!! I feel like it was just yesterday (well maybe like last year anyway) that I was still living at home and excited for my oldest brother Ken and his wife Jen to bring their kids for us to play with. Now there's so many of us to go around that we drive each crazy (in a good way of course). : )

The next weekend, we packed up the car....basically every square inch...and headed off to the land of hot and humid; aka Houston, TEXAS!!! We'd been looking forward to this trip for about four months and were so excited to get the opportunity to go. We drove which went really well-Conner was such a little trooper!! He was so patient and good-such a huge blessing! We arrived Sunday night, the 19th and were able to stay until Sunday the 26th (til 4:00 a.m. TX time). It was really neat to have almost everyone there (missed Mike and fam) and got to finally get to know/meet some more of Dave's family! (It's only taken me what...4 years?) We had tons of fun baking, skating, shopping, golfing, picture taking, gaming, movie watching, caroling, and of course eating!!! I honest to goodness gained a good 5-10 lbs. while down there. There's a reason we only go once every three years!!! : ) Thanks so much to Becky and D.J. (and Sarah and Israel) for hosting us and supplying all the fun!

This was also Conner's first Christmas and he loved the wrapping paper and the toys tha he got. (Becky, the laptop saved us on the way home-he played with it all day long...both days!!) Dave was a super sneaky guy and helped surprise me with boots, a crock pot, pots and pans, and a kindle!!! What an awesome Christmas!! (Yes, I do use the kindle everyday. Dave says he could make a comercial about me and my kindle.) I have the best husband!! Love ya!

After getting home and unpacking things, getting the oil changed in both cars, making christmas exchanges, grocery shopping, loads of laundry and getting sick (thanks to all those sweets I ate), we celebrated New Years Eve with Amber and Graeber, then New Years Day with the my dad's side of the family. Needless to say, it was really nice to just stay home this last weekend and not do anything!! We love to have fun, play games and get together with everyone, but it was a nice to have a relaxing weekend. Well...it was until I got a call sunday morning to come and see the bishop (this is what happens when you are perfectly comfortable, like I was in nursery) and I'm now the second counselor over the Young Woman for our ward. Wow! And, I'm over the Beehive Class and there are 18 of them!! So! I'm super excited and uberly nervous for the times ahead. We had a joint ym/yw activity Tuesday where they learned to ball room dance and I apparently look 17 because I had a guy-I think he's a senior in high school-come and ask me to dance...pretty sure if he knew I was a leader he wouldn't have done that. : ) So much fun!

Well, that's us for now-hope everyone is doing well and having an awesome January!!