Gracie turned One!

So little Miss Grace turned one on February 27th! We had just a fun day at home playing and doing whatever she wanted. I wanted to do a photo shoot with her and came up with making a one out of cardboard and then wraping it in paper. It turned out really cute thanks to my awesome husband who did it all!

Me and my birthday buddy. 

With her Birthday money from Great Grandma Jones we got some wooden blocks and she has been having lots of fun with them. 

She's getting so big I can't hardly stand it. She is so smart and learning new things everyday. Justin does this thing where he squeezes his hands together and says "squeeze!" now whenever Justin comes in the room Grace does it back to him. She is great at playing peek a boo and just having a fun. 

I love this one! It shows her funny little personality and a little bit of her mischeivious side. She sure is getting into everything. The saying that goes kind of like this. " Trying to clean up after a toddler is like trying to plant flowers in a tornado " has been ringing true at our house lately. But it's all good as she is learning and exploring.

How we really feel about photo shoots. Mom happy and excited. Grace.....very upset. 

This girl LOVES books, especially the book of nursery rhymes that Great Grandma Jones got her. We could look at that book all day every day. She loves to turn the pages, look at the pictures and just sit and have fun with mom. 

I love this one and was so sad that she moved just enough to make it blurry but she's still cute.

Grace is a lot like me in the fact that she loves soft things. She loves her blanket and when she's tired she has started to snuggle her blankie and anything else soft. She has never been much of a snuggly baby even when she was tiny so it's kind of nice to have that now. 

My beautiful babe. I can't believe what a little girl she is starting to become. She is such a joy and a light in our lives. I reflected back on what was going on  year ago and I am so glad that everything went well and that she made it a year. We both survived with many more years to come. She is my best little buddy and we have so much fun with her. What a blessing and a challenge it is to be a mother but what a great reward when she snuggles me or comes to me when she's hurt or smiles and plays with me. No better love then the love of a child. I am so grateful that I get to share in her love and show her my love for her.  Nothing is better then family. 

Halloween Happenings

We've been having some fun Halloween activities this year. We went to our ward Trunk or Treat to see the kids in our Primary. That was fun, they had some cute costumes and kept trying to come back for more candy. Then we carved pumpkins with the Messengers. It was actually a lot of fun because we had really good tools. I even got a little drill tool for Justin. He gets excited about the funniest things. 

Jinni made a big ole' hole that just about fit our heads. =)

Justin hard at work with his drill. 

My Vampire face is actually working! I can never get my pumpkins to look this good. I am totally sold on the tools we got.

Jinni's final carving.

Jyana working on her flower pumpkin. It was a perfect shape for a flower.

Ben's Jack King of the Pumpkins from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

He is so skilled he just looked at the picture and drew it out. I needed a stencil. =)

Justin's Hulk on the left and my Vampire on the right.

Jyana's flower on the left and Ben's Jack on the right. They look even cooler all lit up.

Cecilia's carved by Justin( hehe) on the left and Jinni's Ghosts on the right.

Grandma and Grandpa wanted a picture.

Then it was time to celebrate this lovely lady's birthday. She is so old, 17! What she was most excited for was Dinosaur fabric to make blanket or pajama pants. She loves Dinosaurs.

And, She's just cute. Love that chubbers 

Yum....that is some delicious cake. 

Happy Halloween!