Week in Pictures!

I have a ton of pictures today. Im a little late on posting all this, but we had a really good time last week for thanksgiving. Ben and Wendy and also Ben and Lacy came and hung out with us for awhile. They both got here on Sunday and Ben and Lacy stayed til Wednesday and Ben and Wendy stayed until Saturday! It was so much fun to get to see them all again. While Ben and Lacy were here, we went up to the mountains to see what we could see. Which wasnt a whole lot since it was pretty cold, but we went to Bridal Veil Falls and it was pretty. We even found some snow..probably more ice than snow, but Makella loved it anyway! We watched movies and played games and had a lot of fun while they were here. We even went to the playground by my house and played there for a bit....yeah 6 grown ups and 1 baby all playing on the slides. Unfortunetaly I didnt get pictures that day, but it was fun!






























On Wednesday, we ate breakfast with Ben and Lacy and then they had to go back to Lund. That afternoon, the zoo in salt lake had free admission! So of couse we went! Karianne got to come with us too, which made it even better! We had a lot of fun seeing all the animals. We left right when it got dark, so we got to see all the christmas lights that they had put up at the zoo. It was really pretty! The whole time Wendy was here, Makella was pretty much attached to her and was pretty content to just be with Wendy. It was a pretty nice break for me!






























This is the red panda, it was my favorite animal and I think I want one! They are so cute!













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They look pretty excited! :)















We have pictures just like this from when we were little and we came to hogle zoo!















Makella got to ride the carousel! She wouldnt ride on any of the animals because she gets scared easily, but she Loved to sit on the bench!
Then the next day was of course thanksgiving! This year me and Wendy pretty much made everything! It was the first time we have ever attempted Thanksgiving dinner. It was really a lot of fun though and everyone helped out, so it turned out awesome! We had it at Jon's parents house because they had a little more room than our apartment. They werent even there though because they had gone up to spend thanksgiving with Kami. So It was just me and Jon, Ben and wendy, and Karianne and Larry. We didnt slave too hard I dont think and it all turned out good. Im usually not a huge fan of turkey on thanksgiving, but I actually really liked it! It was really good, so I guess turkey can taste pretty good. Plus, we only had the things that everyone liked, so it was a really great meal! Jon was pretty concerned with us having enough pie...haha, so I think we overdid it on the pies...but you can never have anough pie, right?























































Jon is pretending to cut the turkey, but really Larry is the master turkey cutter, so he did the honors! After that, we spent the next couple of days out and about. We did a little shopping and then we went with Karianne and Larry to see the new James bond movie and then to Cafe Rio, which is always good. Ben and Wendy had to leave the next morning and Makella was really sad to see them go! She misses her aunt wendy and knows that she lives in california so now, that is where she wants to go! It was a really good week for us and we were so glad they could come. Its been awhile since Ive been able to have thanksgiving with anyone in my family, so it was great! Now, we are just gearing up for christmas and all the good times that come with it! I hope everyone had a good thanksgiving and that you have a good christmas holiday as well!

Post-Binky Update

First of all, Thanks for all the advice and stuff about the Binky's. I was really freaked out about getting rid of them because I thought she would never sleep well again! Well, we are on day 3 and its really not that bad! I have had 2 nights without a peep! No getting up looking for binky's, Not even getting up just to cry. She has stayed asleep all night long. Its fantastic! I took some advice and have been timing her crying and just been letting her put herself to sleep. She only cries for about 10-15 mins total! Bedtime just isnt as enjoyable as it used to be with the cuddling and singing songs stuff. Now she cries and hates it. Today when I told her it was time for bed, she actually started begging to go into timeout....So she doesnt really enjoy it, but its getting better. I should have done this a long time ago!



P.S. As I write this, she is in her bed crying and yelling.."Im Happy, Im Happy". Poor thing.... :(

Bye Bye Binky Party!

So Makella has had a binky since she was born and she loves it! I had every intention of getting rid of it before she turned one....But that never happened. She got really attached to it and I tried replacing it with other things, but it never worked. For a long time she has only used it at bedtime. But when she sleeps, she has to have 2 of them. One in her mouth and one in her hand. Taking even one of them away was a BAD idea. Its been starting to annoy me that she likes them so much and she has been waking up like 3-4 times a night when she cant find them. So I finally decided that I had enough! All day yesterday we were getting ready for her "Bye Bye Binky" Party. She was so excited about it! She talked about it all day and was pretty ok with throwing them all away. I told her that for every binky she threw away she would get a present in place of it. She had four binkys so she got 4 presents. She got a couple books, some necklaces and bracelets, a new bedtime bunny and a donut! She was more than happy to throw them away and said bye to them and everything! It was great.....Then bedtime came. We were expecting it to be a long night, so I put her to bed kinda late in hopes she would be more tired, but after crying for almost 2 hours she finally fell asleep....for about an hour. Then she woke up again and I felt so bad that I held her for awhile and she was awake for about another 2 hours before FINALLY being totally out at midnight. Even when I was holding her she was still whining and crying. It was sad! I guess 4 hours is a good starting point. It can only get better right?? Im really hoping she can adjust to this. It was hard listening to her be so upset. IF anyone has any suggestions on how to make it any easier, Id love to hear!




































In other news, we celebrated Jon's Birthday this month. His Birthday was on the 5th, but because of his crazy school schedule we didnt get to celebrate it until about a week later. We just had a little party. His parents came over for dinner and then we had a cake. It was nothing big, but it was good! I'm really proud of Jon. He does so well in all his classes and this has been an especially hard semester for him. He is so good about studying and working. I dont know if I would have that kind of stamina! He is such a great husband and father. Im so lucky! I only got one picture at his party and its not that good. It was on the wrong setting and then my camera died. So this is all Ive got.

Its Halloween Time!

One day while driving in the car listening to the radio, there was a commercial and they kept saying "Its Halloween Time" all spooky ghost like. Ever since Makella heard that she's been saying it. So she was ready for Halloween! This is one of my favorite holidays and so I wanted it to be such a great day and for the most part it was! We woke up and I made makella some jack o lantern Pumpkins. It was kinda silly, but she was SO excited that there was a face on it and that it had chocolate! So it was worth it.

Then we were going to run some errands and on our way out, my neighbors invited us to go with them to Macy's for some morning trick or treating. It sounded a lot better that errands so off we went! She didnt have her costume on yet, but at least she had her cute outfit on! I have really enjoyed out new neighborhood and all the awesome people in it! It was fun to get to know some of the ladies a bit better! Plus, Makella really loves playing with all the kids.

So after that I finally got around to running some errands and when we got home makella was literally begging for nap! "Get a banket momma, get a banket. Take a nap, so tired" She refused to eat anything so I just put her down. When she woke an hour and half later, she was a mess! She had a fever and was non stop crying and just plain miserable. So this was her for the next 4 hours:

She didnt want anyone but her dad so he was forced to sit there with her for about an hour. They both looked pretty miserable. She got some tylenol and finally around 4 o clock she decided she could eat and she started to feel better! Im pretty sure she is teething!
So after that I got her all dressed up in her wonderful spacegirl costume, which my mom made and I was sooo excited for her to wear it! Its adorable! Then Jon's mom stopped by after work to see her. She had a pretty funny costume so it was fun to see her and it helped makella be a little happier! She insisted that Grandma Nena go trick or treating with her, so off we went! She got the hang of trick or treating pretty quick! Here are some pictures of the evening.

We went trick or treating for a whole hour and she loved it all! He bucket was getting so heavy that dad had to help her! Jon said it was one of his favorite halloweens because he got to take her and they had a really great time! Plus, she got a lot of good candy that he got to enjoy with her! :) After that, Karianne and Larry and her brother Jon came over and hung out. Karianne has a lot cuter pictures of Ella because my camera decided to die. Anyways, we got pizza and watched a scary movie to end the night. It was a lot of fun! I hope everyone else had a great Halloween too!

Fall Fun

**This is probably going to be pretty long, reader beware!**

Its been awhile since Ive really posted about anything and I kinda have a lot of catching up to do, so bear with me. There are lots of pictures! Ive really been loving this past month. Its just been perfect! Im really not a big fan of summer and all the heat (especially in our new apartment), so Ive been waiting and waiting for it to feel like fall and cool down a bit. It seemed like summer was never going to end over here because it was so warm all the time. But Finally this past month, its been wonderful! Its so cool during the day and almost cold at night. I love it! Plus, where we live, we have 2 big trees in our front yard and they are the first ones on the street to lose there leaves. So rather quickly they turned yellow and then gave us wonderful leaf piles to play in! Makella had a blast playing in all the leaves!

The changing of the leaves and the weather has just put me in a pretty good mood and we have just been having fun whenever we can! At the beginning of the month my mom drove down with Val and her kids so Valerie could see her family. We went to the aquarium with them and had a great time! Then my mom came and stayed with me for the weekend. It was really fun to have my mom here for a couple days! Then a couple weeks later me and Karianne got the opportunity to see Jamie before she went back home from her mission! She was in South Salt Lake for her mission and they had a final testimony thing for all the missionaries that were going home. It was a really neat thing to see Jamie there. She was totally in her element and had sooo many people who love her and appreciate the work she has done. It sounds like she was a fantastic missionary and made some really good memories. There was a lady there who came up to Karianne and I and was crying and she thanked us for being Jamie's friends and helping her get into the gospel becuase Jamie had had such a good influence on her family. It kinda suprised me at first because I didnt really see how I helped her so much. Jamie was always such a good example to me has helped me in so many more ways than Ive helped her! Im just really grateful to have her as my friend! I only got one picture from that night because I kinda forgot that I had my camera, so I took a quick picture before we dropped her off. Anyways, It was really neat!

The Everyday Stuff

These are just some random pictures from the other day. Makella was having a pretty good day and was being pretty funny! I try to take her places and show her things throughout the week, but usually we have the most fun when we are just playing at home!
After we made cookie dough, she got to have her own spoon, Yummy!
When I told her we were going to make cookies....haha I love this face!
These entertained her for a good half hour! Thats pretty good!
She is getting so grown up!
Helping make the cookies!

Best Friends!

So last weekend Amiee came down here to see the football game with her family. Me and Karianne got to hang out with her for far too short of a time, but it was still so much fun! We had chocolate fondue and just talked and Laughed and had a great time! It was awesome to get to hang out with my best friends! These girls are the best and we are all pretty much crazy when we get together! Just like the good ole days! I havent laughed so hard in a long time! Thanks for coming Amiee!

Mmmm....chocolate!

This is a pretty typical Amiee shot! haha jk Amiee!

The girls!

Yeahh....

Im not so cute in this one, but Karianne is!

And just to throw makella into all this, here is her fantastic funny face! She thinks its hilarious!