Slackers Catch Up (in reverse order)

Well, since we haven't posted on the Blog since Bethany's birth, we are going to do a massive glossed-over catch-up month by month, in reverse order.  So without further ado.

August 2015
This month we took a couple short family trips.  At the beginning of August we spent a day in Jackson Hole and then in Star Valley, WY with Steve's family.  In Jackson, we went shopping on Main Street, ate some good BBQ, and Abigail's favorite--swimming (though it was actually just in a large whirlpool/jacuzzi).  In Star Valley, we were able to go to a fair, spend time with Oma and Opa, and enjoy the beauties there.

Last week, we went "camping" in a cabin in Midway with Alison's family.  It was a beautiful little getaway.  We were able to have a fire and introduced Abigail to s'mores (though she preferred to just eat plain unroasted marshmallows).

Also, at the end of July/beginning of August, Bethany became mobile.  She never army crawled.  She just went from sitting (her favorite position), to reaching, to crawling.

July 2015

July was a rough month.  We celebrated the 4th of July, but the aftermath was pretty rough.  After several nights of fireworks right outside Abigail's window, it took most of the month to get her back to sleeping in her room through the night.
We also "celebrated" Steve's birthday, but couldn't really enjoy it because he and the girls were all sick with colds.

June 2015

In June, we celebrated Abigail's 3rd birthday.  She wanted a rainbow party, so we had rainbow food, made rainbow necklaces, played pin the horn on the unicorn, had bubbles, and did a rainbow piñata.

We also had our niece Aurora here from Colorado for a week.  We were able to spend a lot of time with her going to the Aquarium, the Museum of Natural Curiosity, and having family dinners.  Abigail loved it!

The last weekend of the month, we surprised Steve with a Father-Sons getaway with his dad and brothers.  They went to St. George and played 9 holes of golf, went to the temple, and saw Jurassic World.  While they were gone, we were able to have a get together with all of the Harris cousins.

May 2015

In May, Steve and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  In the morning, we went and got family pictures taken.  Then, we went to do sealings in the Draper Temple where we were married and went to the second Avengers movie.

Later that month, I took Abigail on a mommy-daughter date.  We went to Build-a-Bear, where Abigail chose a green dinosaur to build.  She dressed it in a tutu and named it Belle :).  Then we had Cold Stone.  It was nice to have some one on one time with her since Bethany's arrival.

April 2015

In April we enjoyed Easter.  We had a couple Easter egg and basket hunts and dyed eggs, but also tried to focus on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  One of Abigail's favorite things to look at was our "Jesus Eggs" as she called them, which had various items symbolizing Christ's final week of life and his Crucifixion and Resurrection.

We also enjoyed the freak snow storm at the end of April.  It was Bethany's first time out in the snow and Abigail had fun sledding and helping me build a snowman family.

March 2015

March was a special month as we were able to bless Bethany.  We chose to have the blessing on the same Saturday that our niece Kaytlyn was baptized, which allowed many family and friends to be present.  Bethany slept soundly through the blessing (thankfully, because she was a very sensitive crier at that time... and still is sometimes).  Steve gave a beautiful blessing that was definitely very tailored to our sweet, sensitive girl.  As the blessing ended, she woke up and looked around smiling at everyone there.

February 2015

For our Valentine's Day, we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity and then had a family fondue night.

January 2015

In January, Bethany was starting to grow out of her colic and was learning new skills like focussing on objects, grasping toys, sitting supported, and spending a few minutes on her tummy.

We were also able to meet our sweet new niece Eden, who was born at the end of December.

December 2014

In December, at almost 2 months old, Bethany gave us her first smile.  Since then, she has been a very smiley baby (as long as she is content).  Abigail was getting used to being a big sister, and has been improving each day with getting along with Bethany.

 On 12-13-14, my little brother Travis got married to Malory.  It was a wonderful ceremony and a happy occasion for the whole family.

We enjoyed celebrating Bethany's first Christmas.  It was a time spent with family and remembering the birth of our Savior.  It was Bethany's first big day out and about and both girls did well.

Well, if you've made it this far, congratulations!  We love our little family through all the ups and downs and are grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends that surround and support us.