Happy Superbowl!

We love the Packers at our house! It was so much fun to watch a team of ours win last night. We were a little nervous on that last drive by the Steelers, but luckily Clay Matthews and the boys on Defense got it done. I use to know nothing about football. Then, once Casey and I were married, I would sit with him and his Dad watching the BYU games and ask endless questions. Now I love football. We had a good Superbowl party complete with lots of tasty junk food for dinner. I made soft pretzels from scratch, so yummy, and we also had a spread of burritos, sloppy joes, sausage dip, cake, candy, nachos, and popcorn. So fun! No, sadly football is over until August. We will turn on our Jazz team spirit now and hope for another good run in basketball. Hopefully Jimmer will keep the BYU basketball team on top as well. Oh, one more comment about the Superbowl--How do you mess up the National Anthem? The commercials were also a bit of a let-down, but the Packers one so nothing else, including Fergie's flat man-voice, really matters! Go Packers! We just love Rogers, Jennings, Matthews, and Driver!

A Whirlwind

Well, since Halloween we've been experiencing nothing more than craziness here at the Duke house. I'm really only blogging now because it's Friday and I'm too lazy to clean. We had a great Halloween, a fun Thanksgiving, and the greatest Christmas yet. Plus, I turned 25 on January 15th and could not have had more fun or been more spoiled. We are so blessed by Shelby. She was so much fun at Christmas. She is definitely a toddler now. She learns a new word practically every day. Some of her current favorites are: gone, baby, ball, popcorn, and candy. She is a fireball who now throws dramatic tantrums that sometimes cause mom to feel like throwing one too, but life would be way too boring without her. Here are some highlights from our tornado-like holidays:

It's a good thing this girl needs to gain weight because she will eat any type of junk food that's around.

She sat on Santa's lap just long enough to get her present, then she was out of there.

This is her "I'm so worn out I don't care it's Christmas" face. She has the greatest scowl.

We took Shelby to her first Jazz game and she had so much fun and was so good. She cheered and at her favorite food, popcorn, and threw things at the guys sitting in front of us. Luckily, they didn't mind all that much. She's just lucky she's cute.

And this is my birthday dinner at Olive Garden. She loves my dad to pieces and eating out with my parents is nice because my dad is happy to just take care of Shelby and do whatever she wants.

Sam, Jack, & Painted Pumpkins

I really meant for this to be 3 posts, but alas, my busy toddler doesn't really get "blogging" time. She's too busy playing with all the fun Halloween decorations and helping dad around the house.

Well on October 9, my brother Sam finished the Kona, Hawaii Ironman! For those of you who don't know what an Ironman is, it is a triathalon of mega proportions. First, you swim 2.4 miles. Then you bike over 100 miles. To end it, you run a full marathon of 26 miles. He is just amazing. He did an Ironman last year in Arizona so he could qualify for Kona. He raced on his daughter Rylee's 12th birthday, and she got to hug her dad when he crossed the finish line. He is such an inspiration to me about dedication and perseverance. It took him just over 12 hours, and if it were me, I don't know if I could have finished most of my marathon with my stomach cramping like he did. We got to watch him cross the finish line live on the internet. It was a very emotional and exciting thing to watch him complete this great accomplishment. Watch this video of an interview with my brother on his Ironman awesomeness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMIRI1FgFys

Another exciting event was the birth of my adorable nephew Jack. My sister and her husband live in California, so I haven't gotten to hold the little guy yet, but I cannot wait to see him. Oh, how I just want to kiss that little face! I am so proud of my sister. This is her first baby and I know from experience how crazy that first delivery is. We are all so happy that they are healthy and doing great. Jack really got two of the best parents in the world.

Last but not least, we had our annual pumpkin painting party at Casey's parents. This year we did Jessie for Shelby and of course Casey did a Simpsons themed pumpkin. I always have a hard time deciding, and I usually come up with something last minute. I think the best pumpkin of the night was painted by Casey's cousin Jackson. He did Lot-So from Toy Story 3--it looked amazing. I love Halloween and this tradition, but I think next year, instead of painting two pumpkins, I'm going to put Shelby in some kind of outfit protector and let her go crazy with the finger paints.

The Duke house is ready for Halloween!

Floods and Sippy Cups

Well I can attest that there is no quicker way to clean out your basement than to have a flood. Last Thursday, on October 7th, our basement flooded because of a broken sprinkler valve. It was so strange because on that morning Casey and I both thought we heard the sprinklers on, we both checked at separate times, but found that they were off. Since I was home, I paid attention and the water turned off in the middle of the morning and didn't turn back on. I didn't worry about it until Casey came home and went downstairs to lift weights and found the basement flooded. We don't know why the water didn't run the whole day, which the house would have flooded a lot worse, but we estimated we still took out about 60 gallons of water from our basement.

We spent the rest of that night moving the entire contents of our basement to our other floors and the garage and sucking the water out of the carpet. We were very lucky that none of the musical equipment got ruined. Most of our stuff was just fine. I'm so thankful for my in-laws. Casey's dad and brother in-laws spent hours cleaning up, while his sisters helped me with Shelby so we could move all the stuff out. Hayli even showed up with dinner for all of us starving Dukes. We did have to rip up our carpet pad and that will have to be replaced, but I feel so lucky that nothing really got ruined. It just makes for an inconvenient mess.

On top of all of this we actually got Shelby off her bottle! Thanks to these great NUBY sippy cups (I found them at Target), she really didn't notice when I offered her the cup instead of her bottle. They have a soft spout, so they have been a really good transition cup.

She's so cute and getting so big. She carries the cup around as she walks like she's some big girl. Her new thing is running everywhere. I have to say she really enjoys all this stuff everywhere. She has plenty to look at and explore. She can tell us yes and no now, which makes for some interesting conversation. She has almost 8 teeth and loves that she can eat all the food mom and dad eat. She's very much a dairy girl, she'll eat cheese and cheese and cheese, but I cannot get her to eat fruit. Candy-Yes. Fruit-No. Any ideas would be appreciated. Hopefully over time, she'll love all kinds of yummy stuff.

Yeah what's a post without a picture of Shelby.

House Guest

Periodically we get to watch my parents' dog Professor when they are out of town. He has been in the family since I was in 5th grade, so he's getting a little up there in the years. But he is sweet and fun. He loves scratches and tolerates Ellie. He doesn't like Ellie as much as my parents' new dog Cookie, she's staying in a kennel because they can't trust her yet in their house and Ellie well, hates her, but he does like Ellie and they run around acting crazy.

Ellie does wish one thing though,

She wishes she was taller. Professor has helped me out though by cleaning up Shelby's mess.

Shelby enjoys the dogs too.

Everyday is all about the dogs. She can say dog pretty good now, so that's all we hear. She has to be with the dogs and loves to pet the dogs. Life is all about the dogs.

She's One-derful

This is my Shelby when she was 5 days old. She was still in the NICU but had her IV taken out and her first bow and outfit put on! I remember taking this picture, how little she was, and how anxious we all were to take her home.

This is my Shelby today. She is silly, talkative, and opinionated. She is also sweet and loving. This year has just passed me by but I think we filled it with memorable moments. It's so bittersweet that she is no longer a baby, but she is so much fun these days! And I like to look on the brightside, she sleeps through the night :)

Here Are a Few Highlights From THE Birthday

Shelby just loves Woody and Toy Story, so Mom and Dad got her Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye for her birthday

Peterson Cousins

Walking With Rylee. Can I just say what a beautiful little lady my niece is becoming?

Shelby had lots of help opening presents

Shelby hugging her new pants. She loves to give anything soft hugs.

Chocolate

Enough Said.

Happy Birthday Shelby! We love you!

Well who knows where the summer went? We have been having way too much fun and been way too busy. Hence, I have become a lazy blogger. I will now attempt to update you all with more photos than words.

June

In June, Casey's band Our Dilemma performed at the Relay for Life down in Payson. It had been pouring rain the whole day, but we all showed up and the boys put on an awesome show.

Here they are under the pavilion they performed under: Adam, Peter, Casey, & Tarun

Shelby was such a trooper the whole night! It was cold and rainy by we set up our table to sell cds right by the portable heaters. She loved the umbrellas and enjoyed being the center of the band-wives attention.

Here we are in Wasatch. Every year we take a trip with Casey's Peterson side up to Wasatch to golf and shop. Shelby got to go swimming for the very first time while we were up there. She loved it!

July

We got to have 2 Fourth of July parties this year at our house. It was so fun to celebrate with both families. Casey bought a Buzz Lightyear Sprinkler toy at Target and needless to say, everyone loved it. Here are 3 of my nephews after a nice, long water-fight.

In July we also went to Bear Lake. Shelby did so great, but she would only go on the sand if she chose to. You could not put her in the sand or she would freak out. She actually loved the water despite the cold. The boat was so much fun. Casey's brother-in-law brought a surf-board which all the boys enjoyed riding.

For the 24th of July we went to my brother Sam's new house. His wife has done such an amazing job of moving them all in and decorating it. Shelby enjoyed swimming, lounging by the pool, and playing peek-a-boo with Rylee, Sami, and Dani.

We also bought Shelby Lot-So-Huggin-Bear from Toy Story 3. Yes, he is the bad guy, but Shelby loves him. He just needed a good home. She seriously gives this bear more hugs and kisses than Mom and Dad get.

Shelby also passed her 10 month mark. When did she get so big? She can stand up and walk around things now. She says Mom, Dad, dog, Ellie, baba (bottle), and a slew of other noises when she is trying to communicate. She loves real food and will eat anything that comes from Mom's plate. She really wants to talk right now so she jabbers all day long. She also has quite the attitude. Let's just say, she wants things her way.

Then on August 5, Casey and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. He got me McDonald's for breakfast because I love it and that's all we had for breakfast on our honeymoon. We did a little shopping at the Provo Town Center where we had our first date, the Preference Dance. For dinner we went to Macaroni Grill, another place we use to go in high school. He took me there for Prom. We kept Shelby with us the whole day because she's just too much fun and we miss her when she's not around. She loved being out an about and posed perfectly for the waitress when I insisted on taking pictures.

I'm so grateful for my husband and crazy little girl. We were blessed that Casey got a new job and started this week. It will be an adjustment for me and Shelby without Dad around, but hopefully soon life will find a rhythm. Now that it's August it's party time at the Duke house. From Casey's birthday this month to mine in January it seems like we play non-stop. We are all so excited for Fall but you can tell we've had some great times this summer.