Happy birthday, dear Gracie

Dear Gracie,
Before you were born... I never knew how sweet a little one could be. I had never pulled an all nighter- (even though I had tried). A lot of things grossed me out (It takes a lot these days). I worried a lot about how to take care of you (still do :)

Before you were born:
I never knew that messes could put such a big smile on my face. I was well rested. I had to look a lot harder for reasons to be silly. I had so much time on my hands (what did I do with my time?). I hadn't mastered the art of carrying a million things in my arms.

After you came:
I wondered if I'd be able to love another little one as much as I loved you, but learned that love just grows and grows. I loved to sit and hold you all day long. I loved to see your daddy make you laugh and hear him sing special songs just for you.

I love to hear you shriek with excitement, giggle, or play make believe. I love to see you learn new things or hear you use your manners (Nein, danke. No, Thank you).

I love to have a helper on every project I work on.

I'm inspired when I see you overcome challenges (the picture above is Gracie at age 17 months with her thumb sucking casts on. They didn't work but she wore them for two months. She finally stopped sucking her thumb this summer).

I'm amazed by your bravery and willingness to try new things.

I love to see the wheels turning in your mind and wonder what you will surprise us with next.


I love the way that you made us a family of three and love the reminders you give us to pray and read the scriptures.

I love your happy smile, and all of the things you do that make me smile. I love to hear you sing.

I love that you look like your brother, and your dad, and me.

And even though you're not as tiny as you were the day you were born, you are still just as sweet.

We love you , Gracie. Love, Mom

Thought you might want to check this out...

Sign up and Kodak and they'll give you a free $15 off coupon. A great deal with Christmas coming up. I think I might use my $15 coupon to update a little cousin book for Gracie and Gunner.

Windy

It's been super windy here in Colorado. Yesterday I announced that I was going out to get the mail. Gracie said she wanted to come, but when we got to the door we saw how windy it was. I said, "do you still want to come?" she said in her most serious voice, "No, I might blow away". Justin thinks she got that idea from seeing piglet blow away on winnie the pooh. So cute and funny.

Bugged

So, the other day I searched high and low for my camera cord. I finally found it in a bag that Gracie had carried out to the car. After my frustrating search for the cord, I sat down to blog and post some pictures of our most recent visitors (Jeff and Sara:), one of the cutest pictures of Gracie and Gunner that I think I've been able to get, a picture of the awesome cheesecake that we devoured in just a few short days. Anyway, I need to get something one of these days to put pictures on my blog and computer again. I think I might get the kind that you just put your card in and stick in usb drive. Who knows. Any suggestions?

Twinners

One of these pictures is blurry, but I thought you might enjoy a recent bath picture of Gunner and an older bath picture of Gracie. Maybe it isn't too hard to tell who is who, but they sure remind me of each other.

Wedding Bells

All week long I've been daydreaming about this cute couple's engagement. Justin's brother, Jeff, proposed last Thursday to Sara Holt (we get to meet her this weekend!). Jeff is becoming quite famous for his proposal ,which he mowed into a field (P.S. I heart Gardner lawn mowing). The story was on KSL news this last weekend and on the front page of the Spectrum (st. George newspaper) yesterday. Click HERE to read more about it.

I seriously love weddings, love, and romance in general. I am so giddy and so happy for them. Congrats to Jeff and Sara!

Food glorious food!

On Tuesday, we went to a pick your own farm that was somewhat nearby. The deal was that you could pick 10, 6lb bags of produce for $10. We had a great time. It originally started out as a field trip for Gracie's pre-school and then suddenly there were 12 women (most of them moms with kids in tow). Anyway, we are loving all of these fresh farm goodies.
Pumpkins, corn, eggplant, zucchini, green peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, celery and green beans

Carrots, potatoes, and beets

They had these cars painted like the cars from the movie, "Cars". It was awesome. Too bad I didn't get a picture of mater.

Gracie with our food and our Gunner.

Gracie and Me with our friend, Jaylene

My friends Ashley, Amy, ME, and Jaylene. (I had more friends there and more pictures, but thought I was already on picture overload for this post).

Gracie and me on the "think pink" tractor. The sun was a little bright, can you tell?