Tessa is 1!!!

This cute little girl turned 1 yesterday. I can't believe how fast this last year has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her for the first time. We are so happy that she is a part of our lives!

About Tess at age 1:

• Favorite foods: diced ham and cheese
• Loves to smile and scrunch up her nose
• Took her first steps about two weeks ago
• Quite mischievous!
• Adores her older brother but also knows exactly how to push his buttons and frustrate him
• Loves her daddy and jumps into his arms the second he walks in the door from work
• Definitely a mommy's girl and I love it!
• Loves to lick the bolted down door stops at church
• Has the cutest little dance whenever she hears music
• Gives the best loves and kisses
• She is always happy, even wakes up happy

We had a little BBQ to celebrate her birthday and of course we let her devour her very own cupcake. She was not shy about it, she grabbed it right away and went to town. She was also very nice and tried to share with everyone around her!

Luke helped Tess blow out her candle

This is the cake I made for Tess. My mom always made us the most fantastic birthday cakes so I have decided to carry on this tradition with my own kids.

The birthday girls! Tess shares her birthday with my sister Karen (and also my nephew Mason).

Tess, we love you and can't imagine our lives without you in it. You are a joy and even though you always keep us on our toes, we are so happy that you are a part of our family. We love you sweet girl!

A few weeks ago we decided to head to St. George to visit Barrett's grandparents. We had a great time. We basically just hung out. We did a lot of hiking at the red mountain and Luke loved it!

Grandma Wendy joined us for the long weekend down south

After hiking we headed to the tabernacle where they have lots of fun water features to play in

We did a lot of hopping from rock to rock

Tess just chilled in the stroller

"look at me mom!"

washing his belly off

The best part of the trip was hanging out with Nana and Pops. Luke and Tess absolutely adore them. In fact, Tess said her first word while we were down there. Her first word was Nana. She would say Nana then wait for her to look and do all her tricks (which consist of "so big" and clapping) and then Tess would look so proud as Nana clapped for her. We had a great time and I'm so glad that our kids are able to get to know and spend time with their great grand parents, they are amazing people and great examples.

I didn't get a picture of the kids with Nana, next time:)!

Ready For Spring!

The weather keeps teasing us so we take advantage of the good weather when we can! Can't wait until we can spend more time outside! We are ready for spring!!!!

Another Ice Fishing Tale

A couple of weeks ago Barrett and Luke went ice fishing again. They had only been there a little while when Luke came out of the shelter and told Barrett that he lost he Batman fishing pole down the hole. Barrett and everyone else just assumed that he accidentally dropped his pole in the hole. Barrett hurried and drilled a bunch of holes in a row hoping to snag Luke's pole with another fishing pole, but he had no luck. So they fished the rest of the day with Barrett's pole. Luke was so sad that he lost his "very first fishing pole and it was a Batman one" (Luke's exact words.)

4 or 5 hours later they were getting ready to pack up and Barrett's brother started reeling in his line when all of a sudden he thought he got a fish. So he reeled it in and it was a fish, but it was a fish attached to Luke's Batman fishing pole! He caught Luke's pole and sure enough there was a fish attached to it. So it wasn't Luke that dropped his pole in the hole, a fish had pulled his pole in. He was so happy to have his Batman fishing pole back and it was a total bonus to catch a fish at the same time! It was a fishing miracle!

The pole with the fish that try to steal it!

9 Months Already?!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe that Tess is already 9 months old! She hasn't had her 9 month check up yet (due to some insurance issues) so I will post her "stats" after her appointment on the 17th. This little girl has definitely changed out lives. She is such a good baby and we all love her so much. She used to be such a little mommies girl, but lately she become quite the daddies girl. Her favorite person of all is definitely Luke. She loves and adores him so much and does the same for her. They are so cute together. Lately Luke's favorite thing is to have Tessa take a bath with him and while they are in the bath Tess grabs his face and gives him kisses, so cute!

So, at nine months Tess is crawling everywhere and man is she fast! She is pretty much happy all the time. She is a great eater but much prefers table food over baby food. Her FAVORITE food are these toddler cheeto like snacks, she would eat them all day long if I let her. She does not like peas or green beans. She can even tell if I try to sneak them into other foods. She will not take a bottle for anything but loves her sippy cup. She loves to play with toys, especially if they are Luke's toys. She is such a sweet, fun, happy baby. We love you Tessa!

Her hair was starting to look quite straggly so she got the new pony on the top of her head 'do

I love how she looks at Luke and just lights up

Her favorite thing is to play in the toy room with her big brother

She pulls herself up on everything these days. She just looks so grown up!

Giving Luke a push

She is saying "da, da, da, da" at the top of her lungs. She is loud!

her latest trick "so big"