Summer 2010 Update 2

August was a pretty mellow month. We didn't do too much but we did have fun.

Madi learned that the best way to fight off the August heat was Slurpees and Swimming pools!

She also found simple ways to entertain herself when she was finished eating lunch.

Madi had tons of fun playing with "Goop". A simple mixture of cornstarch and water. She especially liked pouring it on her legs!

And of course there are always fun lightning storms during the summer.

And rain storms. Aaron and Madi had fun playing in the rain together!

We went on our yearly drive up the Uinta Mountains and wandered around for a little while. Aaron's sister Esther came with us.

Aaron did the Twin Peaks hike in the Wasatch Mountains....another "death hike" or so he said. He still looks alive to me! He went with his sister's Jessica and Esther and one of Jessica's friends.

Aaron was experiencing hiking hallucinations and thought that he was really punching out a grizzly!

These last two pictures were taken at the peak.

Summer 2010 Update 1

Here is a long time coming pic update of the random things we did this last summer. This will probably have to be done in a few posts so I'll just start out with where my last post left off.

Over the fourth of July weekend Aaron and I took Madi camping at Great Basin National Park in Nevada. Its only a hour and a half drive from my parents house in Delta. You might also know it as Lehman's Cave.

It was a little cold but otherwise an amazing place to camp. We're thinking of making another trip there next year, but we'll probably go in August when its a little warmer!

Madi was so excited to eat outside!

Aaron went ghost hunting with his friend Devin at the Union Station in Ogden. He said that the place was very interesting and kinda creepy at night.

Aaron and his sister Jessica also did the Pfeifferhorn hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon. He called it a death hike, but really that is what he calls most of the Wasatch Mountain hikes! These next pictures were taken at Red Pine Lake which is about half way up the peak (I think).

We also visited random parks and went on a few picnics in July. Madi loves swinging and she eventually learned to love slides too.

Madi.....walking??

Wow! I am such a slacker when it comes to updating our blog! Truth be told there isn't much to blog about!

Of course I can always go on and on about Madi! She's now walking....kind of! About 4 weeks ago she took her first real steps. About 4 or 5 in a row, several times! Both Aaron and I thought "This is it. Madi's walking!" We were so proud!

Boy did she surprise us when she promptly refused to walk anymore. The next few weeks whenever we would try to get her to do it again she would just go limp! Talk about stubborn! We tried everything. "Walk to (insert Mom, Dad, the cat, cheerios, sippy cup, some random toy, whatever else we could think to bribe her with)". Bribery just doesn't work well with her. She would just crawl to whatever it was that we were inticing her with instead!

So we sorta backed off and let her do what she wanted! And once again tonight she's taking her own steps! She was walking on and off for about 30 minutes! I didn't count but I'd say its somewhere around 10 steps in a row was the max. She even stood up by herself, with no help from us or furniture, twice! So maybe she's walking now, maybe not. We'll see what happens!

I went searching for a recent picture of Madi to post with my ramblings. But sadly I've forgotten what a camera is and haven't taken any in a while! Tsk Tsk Shame on me!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to Montpelier, ID over Memorial Day weekend for Aaron's family reunion. We were able to hang out with Aaron's Grandma and his sister, Jessica and her crew for a couple days before the reunion on Monday. We picnicked at the elementary school playground. CJ (Jessica's oldest boy) fed seagulls. The birds had to dodge tons of oncoming vehicles! Later we fed a neighborhood horse some left over apples. Madi was kind of nervous at first but enjoyed watching the horse eat. We also went to a BBQ Sunday evening at Uncle Sherm's house. It was fun getting together with all of Aaron's cousins, Aunt and Uncle.

Monday we got together at the stake house in Paris (YES, we went to Paris.....Idaho!) where a bunch of extended Grandy's gathered together. Aaron hadn't been to one of these things for about 15 years or so. I didn't know more than half of the people there...and I don't think Aaron did either! We had a pot luck lunch and then there was a talent show. We watched CJ break dance to Paramore. After that we headed back home. We detoured to my sister, Sara's house for my nieces' 3rd birthday party. It was fun playing in her backyard for a couple hours and a nice break from the car for Madi. I can't believe that Kennedy and Kassidy are already 3!! Over all it was a fun trip but its good to be home!

CJ and Jayden hitching a wagon ride to feed the horse.

Madi posing for the camera next to a old wooden fence.
Madi "walking".

Yum....cake!

This is the Paris Tabernacle. It was right across the street from the state center we had the reunion at.

Madi's Birthday Bash!

Madilyn had her first birthday last week! We had a little get together with family to celebrate! By little I mean BIG!! We had 14 adults and 9 kids packed into our house. It was so much fun visiting with everyone and watching the kids run wild! Luckily the weather was nice so they played in the backyard for most of it! Madi had fun being the center of attention! Thanks to everyone who was able to come celebrate Madi's birthday. We love you!!

Madi being silly! This pic was actually taken the day before the party. It was just too cute not to post!
Aaron and Madi laughing!

This was when we were singing 'Happy Birthday' to Madi! She was so excited when she saw her cake!

When she was finished eating her cake she pushed it onto the floor. She was so happy when everyone laughed at it!

Part of the crowd. Standing behind the couch is Aaron's Mom and Dad. Sitting in the back is Jessica. Sitting in front is my Mom, Sara, and Chase. The kids are Jayden (in the red), Kassidy (in the purple), and Kennedy (in the white). I think the head in the pic is Amber and the arm might be my Dad.

All of the kids were so excited to help Madi open her presents!

This was Madi's "smash cake". If you can't tell its a kitty, Madi's absolute favorite thing in the whole world!!

These were supposed to be kitty cupcakes but they looked a little more like mice! But hey, kitties and mice go together....don't they??

Catch up!

Sorry I haven't done a real post in ages! Its too depressing thinking about how much Madi has grown, let alone putting it down in words for others to read! In just a few short weeks Madi will be turning one and its crazy at how fast this last year has gone! I think about what was happening last year at this time and everything is so different. Last year we were eagerly and anxiously waiting for Madi to make an appearance. I remember being so jealous when my other friends and cousin had their babies and I was still pregnant! Never mind the fact that I was due after them!

It's amazing to think of how much she grows and changes from week to week. She has 8 teeth now! She hasn't started to walk yet, but she's getting closer every day. She is constantly getting into things she shouldn't. She says the usual dada, mama and other variances of those words and different baby sounds. She has 4 "real" words that she says; kitty, hi, bottle (though it sounds more like boo) and her personal favorite meow. She also says daddy but I'm not sure we can count that as "real" yet. Her hair is now long enough to fit into a ponytail...kind of. It looks more like a topnot, but its still cute!

I'm sure I can continue to go on and on about the many different things she does but I need to save something for her birthday post in a couple of weeks! Anyways it's probably getting old! Enjoy the picture!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to bake. I'm not much of a cook (and trust me there's a big difference). Lately my old chocolate chip cookie recipe has been failing horribly. I found a recipe online that looked promising. So I tried it out and HOLY COW AMAZING! These cookies could easily pass for bakery bought. They're big, chewy, and have tons of chocolate chips. I like this recipe so much that I wanted to share.

Big, Fat, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies (with this name who wouldn't want to try it out?)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt. Set aside.
2. Cream together melted butter, and both sugars until well blended. Beat in vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Until dough is stiff.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto prepared cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15-19 minutes or until edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

*hint the top of the cookies will appear slightly uncooked when you pull them out but will harden up a little while they are cooling. Yields 15-18 cookies.

Wow!

As of today Madi is 9 months old! I can't believe that my baby is so close to being a one year old!! Here are some pictures of when Madi was first born and some pictures of now.

Over the Holidays

Christmas is always an exciting time of year. This year even more so because we have Madilyn to celebrate with. She wasn't that interested in the whole unwrapping gifts thing but she did like to play with the paper and boxes afterword.
We celebrated Christmas in Delta this year with my family. We opened presents a day early because my dad had to work Christmas morning. It was fun watching all the kids play with their new toys and became addicted to my mom's new Wii.
The next day (Christmas day) we just hung around Delta, played games and ate junk food. We also took a drive out to Sunstone Knoll to collect rocks.
Then Saturday we headed over to Cedar City. It was a rush trip but still fun (if you ignore the fact that both Aaron and I were coming down with the dreaded GongBoo!). We visted with my grandma, had lunch with a bunch of friends at Brad's (Yum!), and then hung out with some more friends for a little bit before heading back to Delta.
We didn't really do anything for New Year's. Aaron wasn't feeling the best so we stayed home, ate pizza, and played Scrabble.
That about sums up our holidays! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and good luck in 2010!! (Does anyone know what happened to 2009?)