2013 in review

I know I know I have been majoring slacking on the blogging. Life just gets a little crazy sometimes. I also got a bit consumed with my Christmas project. Anyways...it's a New Year! A new chance to make it great. I always love the new year and the great possibility it brings and the fact that there are a lot of other people out there with some of the same goals. So in review of 2013 to bring a bright and happy 2014 here it is: The good, the bad and the in between.

The Good

Sister Stoddard out on her Mission                                                                 Lots and lots of family visitor

Birthdays!                                                                                         Grace coming into our Family

Sister Stoddard got a baptism                                                                        A new nephew and niece!
Chatting with Sister Stoddard on P-Days                                                Jourdan and Tony getting Engaged!  
 Graduations for everyone! College, Highschool and more!                      Spring time! We had a lot of snow
Temple trips                                                                      Increasing my confidence in placing IV's at work
snuggling Grace                                                                                   Watching my baby grow and learn
Spending time with my mom and dad each week                 Increasing my testimony in the Book of Mormon
Making friends in the neighborhood                                                                  Getting Grace to laugh
Girls trip to California!                                                                                Blessing Grace in our church
Christmas time                                                                                         3 year anniversary with Justin
Been in our house for a year                                                         Justin acing his class for fall semester
serving in the church                                                                                        going for lots of walks

The Bad

Getting into a car accident pregnant                                           totalling the car and having to buy a new one

My dad getting sicker                                                                                          aging grandparents

sick baby after Christmas                                                                                   missing Sister Stoddard

Family Changes                                                                                                   My dad passing away

Justin having lots of stress at work                                                          Always trying to find a babysitter

Missing my dad and grieving

The in Between

Watching lots of netflix while nursing/rocking my baby                                    breastfeeding struggles

Justin going back to school                                                                      me going back to work after baby 

what to do with the flowerbeds in our yard?                                             trying to keep the house clean

  learning to deal with sleepless nights                                                     

As you can see we had so much more good happen this year then bad . We had many life changes which has helped me to be a little bit better with change. Although I'd prefer not so many life changes this year. =) I have great hopes for this year and many things to look forward to. I have a great sister in law who is getting me excited and motivated to run the Salt Lake Half Marathon in April ....so it's time to start now! May this year be a great one for you and your family.                    

September went by too fast

Septemeber got filled up with lots of stuff. The next weekend was our ward's Relief Society retreat and since I am on the committee Grace and I packed up and went. It was a beautiful place in Heber Valley Canyon. It just rained all the first day we were there. The next day it was beautiful. So we had to pack warm. It was a great experience and fun to get away with the sisters in the ward. I look forward to next year when I won't have to bring my baby.

Trying on Hats. 

I made some jam one weekend. I made a batch of Strawberry, a batch of rasperry , then threw all my leftovers in and made a raspberry/strawberry mix. So far it's been tasty. 

WE cheered on the Utes as they played against BYU and won! I am slowly become more of Ute fan. =) 

We also celebrated our 3 year anniversary. It was a little low key but there was just lots of love shared that week and it was great. I am so blessed with a loving and caring husband who takes good care of me and Grace.

We've been going on lots of walks and playing outside. We cleared out our flowerbeds and planted tulips, daffodils and some others . I am excited for spring to see how they turn out!

and she's just cute. 

Summer nights under the Stars

So for a fun last minute kind of date idea Justin and I went to the Summer Concert that the Layton City puts together. They had Peter Brienholt and Mindly Gledhill singing. You are probably thinking I haven't heard of either of them. They are local artists kind of folksy and just good music. I checked out some of Mindy's music from the library and loved it so we went more for her. The thing about the concerts is that it's an outdoor ampitheather and the day of the concert it was pouring rain. I was acting like a 12 year old mad that it wasn't going my way. But my sweet husband just said it's ok we'll go and see. It was supposed to start at 8:00. So we went and got some food and an umbrella and we were all ready to go. By the time the show started it had stopped raining and was all cleared out. The announcer guy said something to the effect of some of you must be living right and the pioneer spirit. Only in Utah. =) 

It was fun and a cool little date night. Even if it was a little wet. 

Peter Beinholt did a big line of "cups" you know the tap tap slap the cup routine. It was pretty cool to see all of them doing it together.

Mindy sounded great and shared some songs from her new cd which I would like someday. I think that they are both members of the church but I am not sure. She had a super cute super poofy dress on. Loved it. If you are looking for good, fun, and uplifting music check them out. 

Comic Con 2013

 So for those who live in Utah you probably heard all about the giant Comic Con that went on a few weeks ago. Well I am here to tell you my version. =) It was actually pretty fun if not a crazy, people packed, long day. We got tickets for Friday which was probably the best thing we could have done had we got tickets on Saturday I would have taken one look and then went home.

It was pretty packed when we got there right when the doors opened at 12 but by the time we left it was even crazier. By Saturday they could not let anymore people in due to it being a fire hazard. Anyways...to add to the fun Justin came in his Creeper costume in which it needs a truck to be taken anywhere. So he left  me for a while to go and get that and then he walked around for a while in it. He couldn't go far because every where he turned somone wanted to take his picture . That was nice for him. However, it kind of made for a grumpy wife. So while I was out and about on my own I discovered that I am not nearly nerdy enough to fully enjoy a comic con. While there was stuff I liked like a few Harry Potter booths and some game and book booths. Most of it I didn't care for. Sorry but I am just not that into the games and books to buy the figures and pictures and lets be real a lot of times the way girls are drawn in the games is very naughty at times.

But for people watching it was prime! There were tons of people in costume which made it fun. I saw tons of Dr. Who people and Iron/.Super/Spider/Batmans and a bunch I had no clue. Hence the not being nerdy enough. One of my favorite things was the HUGE lego display it's pretty awesome everything you can think of made out of legos. I thought of my Brother in law Ben Salisbury so I took a few shots for him. See if you can make this Ben.

 It's the evil tower in Lord of the Rings.

 Some Lord of the Rings fight scenes

I am guessing Emerald city. I just thought it looked Cool. 

Dino costume was pretty cool.

 This is for my Brother Ben- You could play pokeman there,

Justin and Castle or The dude from Firefly. If you look close on Grace's onesie it has Jayne from firefly saying" Time for some thrilling heroics. Grace went as a boy. =) 

They had a really cool Hobbit display with the costumes, weapons and figures. The gollum one kind of freaked me out. But it was cool .

And we went to panal on Superman and guess who came in Dean Cain from the T.V. Series Lois and Clark. It was celebrating it's 20 year release date. That made me feel old cause I remember watching it on T.V.. But man Dean Cain was looking good. He definitely pulls off the facial hair. =) 

Oh and lots of this....booty hanging out. This one is actually more mild compared to ones I saw. If you thought Halloween was bad for girls to have an excuse to not wear much this I think was worse. I saw a pretty awesome mystique costume from X-men..meaning...she really looked like she wasn't wearing anything. 

But it was fun and a bucket list thing to do. They are already planning for next year!. They had some big names come this year like William Shatner, Henry Winkler and of course Stan lee. I didn't see any of them because they came on Saturday and you have to pay to get a picture or autograph. Lame. Just a fun Adventure. 

Six months!

So in the aftermath of everything in August this little lady turned six months. One morning the light was perfect and she was happy so we did some pictures. They turned out pretty good I think. I got to do something about the light switches in the background hehe. 

But she is doing great! This little girl is such a blessing in our lives. She is growing everyday and learning new things I can hardly keep up. At six months she can sit up great. She doesn't want to roll over yet. We have been trying her on new foods and she does pretty good with bananas, peaches and other fruit. 

She loves to play peek a boo and to be tossed in the air. She sings along to Taylor Swift and jabbers to herself in bed onces she wakes up. She is sleeping better at night and is just a happy, joyful baby, She is my saving Grace every day, gives me something to smile at. 

Now she sure looks  a lot like her daddy but she has some things from me. Her favorite blanket is soft with a ribbon edge she has to rub that and then she'll fall asleep. She tends to choke on her spit which is what I do and she loves to be outside,

She is great and just getting more fun each and every day,

F2TF 5K

In August my Aunt Becky worked really hard  with the Anything for a Friend orgainization to get a 5k  put together. It was a 5k to help honor and support loved ones who have passed on from cancer or are currently battling it. She made a team for my dad. Team Ralph, for those who don't know my dad had been diagnosed with Kidney cancer in the fall of 2011 and has recently passed away from it about a month ago.

A few days before he passed the 5k happened and it was a fun if not emotional experience. It started off with a beautiful morning. ( don't mind the bug guts in the picture it still is pretty).

The race was on the Weber state campus home sweet home for me and most of my siblings. It was so cool to see all the people. Each team had a different color of t-shirt so it was easy to see who was on your team. Before the race we had a balloon launch  and that was really cool. All the colors and love that floated up to heaven. 

All of us kids after the race. Justin and I actually just did the one mile walk. It's still a bit painful to run and be nursing a baby. But Bryan and Cali ran the whole thing and they did great!

So many people there! It wasan awesome support and great energy. Races have a great energy allready and to add all the love and support made it truely an inspirational event. 

A few days later my dad passed away. He had tumors around his throat and they started to bleed filling his lungs with blood and fluid. I was blessed to be with him his last day and help suction him and give him one more big hug. I know he loved me and he knows that I love him.

The theme of the race is Fight To The Finish. My dad certiantly did that. He never complained, even though he was in a lot of pain. He was always concerned about those around him in his last days. I miss him but I know that he is not in pain anymore and that he is still with me. Often times when feeding Grace or putting her down for a nap she just stares at the ceiling and the other day she was laughing and smiling at the ceiling as if someone was making faces at her. I had been thinking of my dad and was pretty sure he was playing with her. 

May we all Fight To The Finish in all our daily trials whether it be health, finances, relationships or work. We have the best cheerleader, support and love in our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ who are just waiting for us to come to them for their help. I know that families can be together forever and that I WILL see my dad again and that will be a happy day.

Baby Butler Baby Shower

In early August we threw a baby shower for Justin's sister Jyana who is going to have a baby girl in October. It was fun to help with the decorations and to get everything ready. Justin's family is getting pro at throwing together a baby shower . By the time his youngest sister has a baby it will be nothing.

We are so excited to have a Messenger/Butler cousin and so close together! I hope that they will have great memories of playing together. I have a cousin on my mom's side and we are only a few months apart and growing up we were the best of friends. He still has a special place in my heart even though we are both adults and busy with our own lives.

Anyways...Justin's Aunt Maria was able to come and she makes great diaper creations that are not only beautiful but functional. With all the diapers she used on the cakes for my baby shower I didn't have to buy diaper for about two months!

I wish I could take credit for this cake but alas I just paid the creator. A gal that I visit teach loves to do cake/cupcake decorations so I asked her to make some cupcakes and a baby cake. Isn't it adorable? It was very tasty as well. If you need a fun and yummy cake in the davis county area use her! She is great. 

I forgot to take a pictures of the beautiful mom to be. But lets be real who really wants to take pictures when they are pregnant. I know I wasn't supre jazzed about it just did it for the docmentation. But she is looking great. So far Jyana has been doing really well and I am glad. I hope that all goes for her during labor. It's kind of hard to prepare for something you've never done but she is very prepared and ready. Now she has only weeks! We are excited. Our little Grace has brought so much love and joy into our lives that I am happy for Jyana and her little family to experience that as well. We love babies!