Strawberry River

Fishing with dad on the Strawberry River.

I LOVE the drive,
I LOVE talking,
I LOVE walking through sagebrush,
I LOVE the pressure of the water
on my waders as I step into the river,
I LOVE concentrating on my line,
I LOVE the smells,
I LOVE landing a big fish,
I LOVE eating junk food and drinking soda
I LOVE hanging out with my dad!

Name blocks

I have been wanting to make something using Afton's name
for a while now. I was going to (and still might) use big
wooden letters but I wanted something small and I also
wanted something Afton would play with!

So... I made these blocks. Afton LOVES them and I actually
had fun making them!

Happy Halloween

Afton is the cutest little witch I've ever seen. She loved the pumpkins and even left her hat on for a few shots. Her little tutu was made by Grandma Watrous and has little bats and cats on it. Too cute!

 

 

 

Brett and I were pirates this year. Instead of a parrot we had a little chicken!

Fun in the Fridge

Afton LOVES the refrigerator! Every time it opens she comes running! She loves to take things out and climb inside.



Mmmmm - raspberries!

 

 

 

 

 

 My mom made these adorable aprons for me and Afton! We loved wearing them while we made yummy chocolate chip cookies!

Scrapbook pages for sale!

My cute sister in law Tiff has gone digital! She is in the process of selling her page layouts! They are 12 by 12 and some are assembled, some are not. If you are interested check out her blog!

Scrapbook pages for sale!

Afton turns one!

Afton is one! I can't believe I have a toddler! Afton's birthday was on the 8th of October but her party was on the 10th. Here are a few pictures from her birthday party. We went to a park in Lehi and had lunch, cake and ice cream. All of the grandparents came along with aunts, uncles, cousins, and even a great grandma. The weather was beautiful and Afton's birthday balloons were blowing in the breeze. Everyone spent time eating, talking, throwing a football, and playing on the playground.

Afton didn't want anything to do with her birthday cake and when everyone sang Happy Birthday she started to cry! Other than that she was happy and completely content to walk around with Grandma Watrous and play on the playground! Afton was exhausted when we got home!

Afton's actual birthday was awful - she and I celebrated by throwing up all day! Luckily the party wasn't planned until that weekend! Poor kid!

Afton received many wonderful gifts from friends and family!
Car seat, baby doll with a bed and a blanket, musical clock, jacket and hat, onesie and dress, hat and gloves, musical stacker, cloth tea set, musical-talking phone, books, levi's and a hoodie, Mr. potato head, a cute shirt, shorts and a t-shirt, and a wooden alphabet set!

We are so grateful for friends and family and we appreciate everyone celebrating this wonderful day with us!

Afton's first twelve months!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really?

Let me just start by saying, "I am a dork"! I have had blogger troubles lately and I am really behind but I just wanted to mention how disappointed I was that people quit commenting on my posts. All of the sudden they seemed to just stop and I assumed people either weren't logging on or they didn't care enough to comment. So here is where the dork part comes in... I FINALLY decided to investigate and found I had changed my settings to verify each comment before it was posted. Ohhhhhh! NIce - so I am no longer disappointed and I am grateful to have friends and family reading my blog and want to encourage you to keep commenting because I love it!
Tons of pictures to come - I don't know where to start! Afton is walking, talking, making animal sounds, and is now officially a toddler. Check back soon!

Walking already?

Afton's new kitty!

Six Long Years and California

I can't think of a better place than the beach to spend a wedding anniversary. Brett and I have been married six years! We have been through a lot and are fortunate to still hold hands once in a while - especially after the journey to Cali.
We left at night thinking Afton would nurse and sleep on the plane. The Salt Lake airport wasn't too bad but for some reason neither of us had eaten dinner and therefore were already grumpy. We boarded the plane and Afton was already acting tired. We knew Afton would most likely be into everything and saying hi to everyone as usual but for some crazy reason we thought our plan might work. I fed Afton during take off and she DID fall asleep until........ I moved my seat back (which was about ten minutes after she fell asleep). Well that woke up her so now she is awake and sooooo sleepy she can't keep her eyes open. But somehow she did. She was glassy eyed and fussy and Brett and I just kept looking at each other. We really wanted our first plane ride to go smooooothly! Anyway - she stayed awake the entire flight and once we landed in L.A. we couldn't wait to get off the plane. Oh Wait - we aren't going anywhere! The pilot said there was a "plethora" of problems and we would be unable to exit the plane for quite some time.
Well sometime ended up being almost 45 minutes later!
Once off the plane we grabbed our bags and headed to catch the shuttle to the rental car company. 10 minutes, 20 minutes 30 minutes and Afton is still awake in her stroller in the middle of LAX. If anyone has been there it is loud, stinky, and dirty. By now she looks completely stoned, her eyes glazed and her arms slumped over the front of the stroller. Aghhh
Talk about feeling helpless - all I wanted to do was scoop her up and deliver her from this madness.
So onto the rental car - not coming. We checked our reservations on the phone and they said they had us down and were picking us up. The only thing they forgot to mention was that they CLOSED at 11:00 and didn't care if our plane was delayed. So now we are jumping (in slow motion) onto some random shuttle and we end up at Budget Rent a Car. We walk in to a line - it's now around 1 am and wait our turn only to have the guy behind the desk tell us we have to CALL THEM to make a reservation. What the....
So we are standing in front of the Budget guy calling to make a reservation. We finally get it worked out and then they brought out the 'toy' car seat and I wanted to cry. You should have seen it. Nasty and little and awful.
So... plane fiasco over, rental car rented, baby who did finally sleep through the rental car mumbo jumbo is awake again and it's off to find food. McDonald's has never tasted so good.
Bellies full - off to Dana Point which I probably failed to mention is still an hour away. So we reached our final destination around 3 am. Only three hours off track. Needless to say by the time we arrived Brett and I weren't happy.
Happy Anniversary my #%$!
Moving on - we got over it and had a fun vacation and we even ventured out for a little dinner for two! We are grateful to have a new addition this year and we love every minute with her. I couldn't ask for a better husband and he is an AMAZING dad to little Afton!

Afton LOVES her cousins Tally and Holden!

Brett and Tally riding the waves in California!

Bear Lake

Afton doesn't like to wear her sunglasses so this was a rare moment caught on film. She is also very unhappy with her life jacket so this was also a rare moment (tear and struggle free) caught on camera. She did seem to enjoy the boat ride though, especially when I pulled out the cheerios.

Afton LOVES the water. She will splash and play all day long! Bear Lake water is freezing but here in the shallows it seems to be a bit warmer. She wanted to walk everywhere but finally decided to take a minute, sit down and relax with her dad.

Fun family moment - I know - I am not sure why I am posting a picture of me in my swimming suit but the overall picture is just so cute and so fitting of what we spend our days doing. Afton loves to walk. I am so glad this didn't start earlier because she would have been way too little. All day long she grabs my fingers and leads me around the house. She knows where she wants to go and will turn you and guide you until you hit the right destination. I will be glad when she can walk on her own just so I don't have to bend down all day! (not that I have that far to go)

Enjoying some yummy raspberries! Afton loves to eat. Her main staple is definitely cheerios but she also loves raspberries, broccoli, bread, turkey, avocados, yogurt, and well the list goes on and on. I am glad she eats so well. She is a healthy little kiddo!

Another fun dinner at Grandma Keetch's!
The kids LOVED riding around the backyard on the sled!
Afton held on tight the whole time - no matter who else was there.
Kids were getting on and off and Afton held her position!