The Savage's

End of Year Rundown

2012-01-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
Here's my quarterly post :) Maybe I'll have to add 'consistent posting' to my New Year's Resolutions... but maybe I'll just do that next year... :)

So this is a rundown of the last 3 months! Enjoy!

Madison's 5-month pics:

Michael turns 17?

Halloween

Michael and Josh are Don Lockwood, I'm Cathy and Madison is a ballerina... in a gorilla suit

For some reason blogger isn't let me put the text where I want it, so you'll have to figure out the rest of the pictures yourself with no commentary.

The Trip to Minnesota and Other Random Stuff

2011-10-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I never officially posted this, but Josh graduated from ISU and got a urology job at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota!
Some movers came and packed up our place in Idaho the last couple days of September and we left for Minnesota on Friday, September 30th.

To save on hotels we decided to camp on our way to Minnesota and turn it into a little family vacation. We had a great time, even though camping with kids is a lot of work! This is all backwards but here's our last night of camping:

They had a playground:

the Badlands:

Pretty or not, here we are after several days of camping! Notice the cool formations behind us...
Badlands is worth the stop. The views were amazing.

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We went on a couple hikes...
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As we drove into the Badlands, we decided to take the free campground several miles into the middle of nowhere with no water, rather than the paid campground close by. As we made the drive, Josh kept saying how we just had to see a buffalo. He's always wanted to see one, and I didn't think I'd ever seen one, either. Well, sure enough right on the side of the road we saw one! We stopped, took pictures, and got all excited. Then we saw another, then another. Then we got to the campground and realized they were everywhere, just walking through the campground! There was no fence or anything! They just roamed around the few tents that were there and I even had to wait for one to move so I could get to the bathroom because he was standing right in front of it for several minutes. It was crazy! I was actually really scared for the first while cause I was worried they'd charge our tent or something. I noticed some other campers chose to camp in their car, and maybe that's why. So here's Josh with his buffalo:
Yes, this buffalo is really as close as he looks and there were times when they were even closer.

Here's us at Mt Rushmore:
We realized after leaving that we don't think Michael ever looked up at the mountain. Even if he had, I don't know if he would have been impressed. I love kids!

Michael took this pic of Josh, pretty good, huh?:
Michael and Josh sleeping in the tent:

For some reason Josh and I thought we should have a big tent so it would fit our family later. We got a 9-man tent, and after setting it up we laughed at ourselves, realizing that this is way too big. But, we had plenty of room for our queen sized air mattress, all of our camping chairs, the pack n play, suitcases, and we still could have fit another queen-sized mattress. I don't think we'll ever need to upgrade! These pics are from the first night. We stayed in Custer, South Dakota, I think. The campground was called Beaver Creek? Just for notes for us the future--It was like $20/night but included internet, showers, bathrooms, a playground, and even a pool, even though we didn't get to use it cause it was Sunday.

The campground was called Beaver Creek? Just for notes for us the future--It was like $20/night but included internet, showers, bathrooms, a playground, and even a pool, even though we didn't get to use it cause it was Sunday.

in the car on the 26 hour drive. It took us 4 days, 3 nights. Thanks to Kristi, we survived :) Kristi made Michael a box of crafts and activities for him to do on the way. That helped A LOT. I'll have to take some pictures of those.

Here are some pics of my best friends in Idaho--Desiree and Eileen. Wow, I'm going to miss them! Here's Des making us breakfast the morning before we left. Both pregnant with little boys! I miss you guys! There are so many more friends, too, that I don't know how I'll live without. So thankful we went to ISU and I got to meet so many great people.
More friends at a bbq before we left: This is Phil, and notice how funny me and Nicki look in the background!
yes, and we'll even miss this one.... :)Michael's best friends in Idaho, Holly and Lucy:

Michael hanging out with the neighborhood kids at Hope Arms:
They had a hard time sharing their toys, so I was sure to send him out with cool stuff :)

Michael gardening with grandma Allred before we went back to Idaho:
Mom loves her garden, and her grandkids :)
More pics of graduation in August:

Hanging out with Jake and Lexi in the mountains in September:

Things are going great here in Minnesota, we really like it so far, but it's not winter yet :) I'll post some pics of us here and let you know later if we really like it!

Update!

2011-10-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Madison and Macie --my friend's little girl.
This is our apartment in Blackfoot... we had the best renters ever with the cutest kids. Miss this rotation especially.

The luncheon afterwards...

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This is the quilt Heidi made for Madison. Isn't it gorgeous?? I think it might be the cutest quilt I've ever seen! Can't wait to hang it up in her room when we get to that point...

You can't tell how hard it is raining here above, but Josh is walking back to the car from his White Coat Ceremony carrying both the kids in the pouring rain.

Josh loved this old park we found in Blackfoot. The slide and swings were huge... they don't make 'em like that any more...
Hahaha! Love this pic below...

It's hard to believe that we're here. For months we've been saying "when we get a job..." and now he starts tomorrow! Can't quite get it through my head that this is not another rotation. Yay! I'm not going to give info on all these pics and stuff cause we're still in the middle of cleaning and organizing, but I just wanted to get them uploaded.

Ready for Church!

2011-05-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get good pics on Sundays since we're all dressed, our hair is done, there's no food in anyone's faces, and it happens all at the same time! A miracle! Plus, Madi is so darn cute in her little dresses.

Not Much Has Changed...

2011-05-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Still Swinging

Still Smiling

Still Sliding

So what's different?

There's just a new little person along for the ride!

Life around the house...

Michael and dad playing "darks."

I wish I could say this was so crazy and funny I just had to grab the camera... nope, this happens almost every day, I just thought "I better get a picture of one of these fiascos because someday this will be funny...."

Nope, not much has changed!

It's a Girl!

2011-05-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

We think we're naming her Madison Janice Savage. She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. Born May 4, 2011.

Michael

2011-04-07T10:36:00.001-07:00

Feeling a little nostalgic about my Michael lately. After this baby is born it will never be just me and Michael anymore. I have been spending tons of time with him up here, another reason I'm glad we came. I hope he adjusts well to the baby. I know I'll love her to death when she comes, but it is harder than you know to imagine loving her as much as Michael. I desperately don't want him to feel left out, or like he doesn't get to be with me as much, it makes me emotional just thinking about it. At the same time, we are excited to see him interact with her and we know it will be so good for him to have a little friend! I know she'll teach him things we never can. But as of right now, this little man is my life, and I can't think of anything I love more than Josh and this little boy:

This is Michael at the library when I took him for storytime. He looks so grown up in these pictures!

Michael's coat and sweater were both being soaked to get stains out, so when he wanted to go outside in the cold, I had to dress him up in my clothes, and I thought he looked awesome!

Josh decided to sweep outside and of course Michael wanted to help, so we sent him out with a mop.

I love these pics of Michael in his pajamas with his shoes! He was in such a funny mood and I'm glad I caught it. We decided to go somewhere after he was already in his 'jamas' as he calls them so we had to put his shoes on over his feety jamas, and it was cute.

This is us doing our inside joke when we say "josh... gasp!" "Cheese... gasp!"

For Family Home Evening we had a bubbles activity and Michael and Josh both loved it :)

Some funny things he's done today:
Ninja stance--for no reason at all, or when he's about to throw his ball.
Turns on the TV by himself. I turn it off (again) and he says "Nope. Nope!" Turns it on, uses the remote, acts very interested in ESPN. Looks very carefully at the remote and tries different buttons.
Took him out of the bath this morning and he said "Mommy Mommy! Towel! Hold you!" I wrapped him in his towel and held him. He laid his head on my shoulder and said "mmmmm..." That's what we do when we have a good hug. Love it!

Funny things he's said today:
"la la la-la-la. Do dee do."
"Josh... stop it!" Don't know where he got this, since I don't usually say that to Josh...
"Josh... gasp!" These gasping ones are an inside joke between me and Michael :)
"Cheese... gasp!"
"Side! Side!" He means outside. He asks to go outside about 10 times/day
"Baby Sime!" means he wants to watch Baby Signing Time
"run run run--pancakes!" "run run run--potty!"
"Very hot..."
"Oh... hurty!" I love how he adds "y" onto everything
"oh... hotty!"
"Baby Beluga, baby beluga, way down song happy where play..."
"Help! Working!" After he unplugged the TV.
"Ateyou" or thank you, while handing me the cumin--opened.
"open open!" Trying to get into the fridge and outside to the balcony.
"ouch.... hurty!" When he bumped his finger.
"help! Help!" when he can't get the door open.
"Follow plophet, follow plophet, follow plophet, do do do...." His version of Follow the Prophet
"Sine night!" He is obsessed with Silent Night right now, and always asks us to sing it.
"I fill love!" or I feel love--I feel my Savior's love, another one of his favorite songs.
"Bike-a-ball" or basketball
"Sign eat!" Michael LOVES signing with us, and even tells us to sign sometimes.
"a-one, a-do, a-free!" His 1-2-3 way to tell Dad that he wants to be thrown around.
"hahaha... funny"
"big hug!"
"Shu-up" SO funny. Josh and I don't say shut up to eachother, but I say it to people on the phone as an expression of "No way!" And Michael caught on to that real quick. He did yell it one time in church and the people in front of us had to lean over in the pew they were laughing so hard. I need to stop saying it, so if I say it, remind me not to!

By the way, I saw a bald eagle two days ago! He landed in a tree about 20 yards from our balcony! It was crazy! I went outside in time to see him fly away again and I got a pic of that that I'll have to post even though you can only tell it's a bald eagle if you zoom in. SO COOL! I was so excited. Ants infested our raisin bran and honey last week.
Also, Josh's rotation is going great--he has 2 great preceptors up here and he is learning a lot. We get to hang out a lot in the evenings, which I love! We are working on his cover letter--redoing it again, and looking at job opportunities. Let us know if you hear of anyone needing a PA!

Blog Alternative

2011-04-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am known to friends and family as a big journaler. Yes, I LOVE writing in my journal. But I'm annoyed at the effort it takes to keep up a journal, a scrapbook, a blog, facebook, etc. I just want them all to be one. But Blogger is not cutting it for me. I've never really liked it since I've started blogging, and for the past few months I've been casually looking around for an alternative. I know there is a website out there that does everything I want, I just have to find it. I'm looking for an online scrapbook really, but I want it to have tons of journaling features and layout features and lots of other things, and to be able to be viewed by others. Here are lists of things I do and don't like about Blogger, if any of you know of an alternatives, please let me know about them! This is something I will be willing to pay money for in the next few months, so it doesn't have to be free.

Things I like:
it's free!
That i can turn it into a book--i want to be able to transfer and edit in Shutterfly, etc.
Lots of space

Things I don't:
One picture at a time--why not a full page layout with more possibilities?
No Private and public posts--maybe this is possible and I don't know about it. (I don't want a private blog and a public one)
Old posts don't keep the old backgrounds
I can't tag people--I love Picasa for this reason, but it also lacks a lot.
Pictures take forever to load--so much slower than other websites I've tried. Why?
Can't easily re-order posts. I want to make a sort of life history and go backwards, but that would be a lot of work on blogger, if it's even possible.

I will keep updating this post as more things come to mind.

For Lindsey

2011-04-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,
My good friend Lindsey Robinson Karr has been given a short time to live because of brain tumors. I've known Lindsey since 5th grade and she's one of the most amazing people I've ever known. She first got brain tumors when we were in 9th grade, I believe, and has always handled her health problems with such a positive attitude! You should visit her blog at:

http://forlindsey.blogspot.com/

What I think is cool is that there is a daily deal website that is just like Groupon that donates 15% of your purchases to the cause of your choice, and Lindsey's cause is one of the choices. It's called Deals that Matter and you can sign up for it and learn more about it on her blog. There will even be a 30 day period when 100% of your purchases go straight to Lindsey. So cool! I wish I'd known about this earlier. The 30 day period will start when Lindsey's family has gotten the word out to enough people and they have enough people signed up.

Lindsey has tons of medical bills, of course, and her husband Josh (who was in Jazz band with me in high school) has taken an unpaid leave from work to be with her. I can hardly think about it without crying. Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you'd check it out.

Our Garden Valley Vacation!

2011-03-31T09:17:00.001-07:00

How could it not feel like a vacation when we wake up to this view every morning?

I took this picture from the kitchen table, it's hard to tell but we look out the window and see a gorgeous view every day!

We decided to have the attitude that this is a vacation because in a lot of ways it feels like one! At home there is always something that needs to be done, and here, once I get the usual things cleaned up, I'm finished! We get to spend a lot of time together in the evenings (Josh studies a lot, but it's still fun just to have him here.) I am getting some good reading in, and my fill of ESPN for years to come. :) Every night I say "what do you want to do tonight?" And he says "there's a great game on!" It's a joke now because there's 'a great game on' every night. All year round pretty much, but especially right now as you all know.
Crazy game last night between the Lakers and Mavericks, huh? That one was actually pretty fun to watch. 5 ejections in one game! I don't understand why Joey Crawford is still a ref...

Another reason it feels so much like a vacation is because of the dishes! Or lack thereof! I decided to use paper plates, bowls, cups and utensils while we're here. Wow, I love it! I really should have done this during our rotation in Utah, too. It it is absolutely amazing to only have a few pots, pans and cooking utensils to clean every night. It makes life so easy! I'm going to remember this lesson and keep paper stuff on hand for times when I'm stressed out. It really makes it feel like we're camping/on a vacation.

Saying "mmmmm!" Because we're excited for dinner

Licking our lips because we're excited for daddy's grilling!

Kisses!

Michael's first time Finger Painting:

Not in your hair, Michael! You can tell the look on my face by the look on his face. This is his "is this making you upset, mommy?" face.

This is us in the shower downstairs--Michael loves to play in the shower!

Michael's Pictures:

Michael took these pictures all by himself! He got a hold of my camera and would say "smile!.... cute." I guess I say that every time I take a picture, because Michael said it on every picture, even when it was of the ceiling (which most were.)

Josh's hair

This one of the ceiling was his very first one.

He actually got my whole head in this one!

Oh, and this has never happened to us before: A couple nights ago as Josh and I were laying in bed going to sleep, we heard a pack of wolves howling! It was loud and pretty close, and we could tell there were many of them. It was so crazy! Pretty cool.
On a not-so-cool note, the bugs are slowly returning. Ants on the counter again, what's the deal? We've run out of bug spray and need to go get more and apparently our little ant poison things aren't working. I'm learning that getting rid of bugs is a skill, and one that I don't have yet. So every day I keep a string of TP on the kitchen counter so it is handy to kill all the ants I see. And, our large spider count is up to four. I've killed 2 and Josh has killed 2. I'm over the ants thing already, I really don't care when I see one. It's the spiders I'm anxious to get rid of!

Our Garden Valley Adventure

2011-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

We drove up to Garden Valley yesterday for Josh's new rotation. We had a lot of second thoughts about all of us coming up here to stay since we have a nice, comfortable apartment in Meridian, only an hour and 20 minutes away. And because his rotation ends May 6th and my due date is May 7th! But we decided to come--because we'll save gas money, I'll see Josh more and most of all, I thought it would be a fun adventure! So far I'm right!
We got here Saturday, March 25th in the afternoon. We are living in a cabin, and the people who own it are nice enough to let students stay here while they are away. They are interesting people, who definitely love nature and animals. Even bugs :) We got here and there were bugs everywhere. I never looked down at the counter without seeing an ant and there were piles of dead bugs lining every window sill, and every door to the outside. The tub was full of bugs and so were the counters in the bathroom. I have been so spoiled at our apartment in Meridian! We have only ever seen ONE spider in the year and a half we've lived there! Bugs have been almost non-existent for us ever since we've had Michael, so this is good for me. I haven't had to kill bugs in years!
The cabin is really cool, though. It has a wrap-around balcony in the back with a beautiful view overlooking a river and mountains and pastures with livestock. It's gorgeous. And there are 9 windows in the living room and kitchen, so we get that view all the time! It's fun to look out over the mountains while we're eating at the table. The doctor's wife brought us to the apartment and told us a few things we needed to know. For example, where in town you can get cell phone reception! "There's a spot in front of the post office..." she said. And where THE grocery store is.
The first night we went to the grocery store--the Merc. It's the only grocery store here, and it's next to the only restaurant and the only gas pump--yes, just one. There are no specified parking spots at any of the stores, everyone just kinda parks wherever. Driving through the "town" was hilarious! All the stores are cabin-style with old-time signs and handwritten everything. This place should be in a movie! And the best part is that it's not for style, it's just how it is here. Of course the grocery store was fun. There's a sign out front that says "no public restrooms." The locals all know each other by first name, of course. I guess they are building a new building for the grocery store, so the talk of the town right now is what will go into the old building. They all had their opinions about what they'd like to go into the building--a bakery, a farmer's market, etc. So funny. I went through line carrying 3 gallons of milk and the lady in front of me said "oh dear, give me those!" And she put them on the counter for me and then said "We're dairy people, so thanks for supporting us. You drink as much milk as you like, and we'll get ya some more!" The store was a little spendy, but I was impressed how much they stuffed into one little store.
That night we put things away and put Michael to bed... in our walk-in closet. There are 2 extra bedrooms here, but one is downstairs and the other was so full of bugs and spiders' egg nests that we couldn't put him in there. So we made it look as cozy as possible and put him down in a closet. We both felt so bad. There's something sad about closing your child in a closet. But he did pretty well for his first night. It started to rain by the time we went to bed and it caught us off-guard because you can hear every drop. We must have a tin roof with no insulation because it sounded like we were hearing the rain in a tent! We laid in bed and turned on the lamp to read our scriptures and all the bugs in the house rushed to the light and Josh was having to swat them all away--just like camping! So we had to turn the lamp off fast. It was hard to fall asleep with the rain and bugs, but we did.
Sunday morning we woke up to Michael calling out for us and I was quick to get him, still feeling guilty that he's sleeping in a closet. He laid with us in bed for awhile and said "happy." Josh has taught him to say that during sweet moments when one of us is having a tender moment with him. It was so sweet. day we went to church. There is a small branch here, and they meet in a beautiful huge church building! It's the nicest, biggest building I've seen here! It's just like all the huge ones in Utah. We got a new branch president on our first Sunday! My favorite part was taking Michael to nursery. The signs on the doors said "12-18 yr old Sunday school" and the nursery door said "18 mo. to 4 yrs." Michael did well in nursery, but I went to check on him because my back hurts if I sit too long anywhere, so I had to leave Sunday school. He happened to see me peeking through the window, so I stayed with him for a few minutes and was shocked that the 2 nursery workers also take babies! Any children under 4 are welcome in the nursery! So they were rocking babies and playing with toddlers and teaching the lesson... it was impressive.
After church we cleaned a lot. Josh sprayed the entire house with bug spray, we had to open all the doors and windows to be able to breathe! I disinfected all the surfaces in the kitchen that I was planning on touching. I was shocked at how well it worked! After that I have only killed a handful of ants and other bugs! Yay! We also figured out that we DO get internet access and today I found out that I get cell phone reception if I stand by the window! I can't sit down or tilt my head the wrong way, but it sure feels great to be able to call someone if anything happens! We also have cable, which will be fun for awhile. The funny thing is, we don't get any local channels, so no Survivor or Amazing Race or March madness.
On that note--neither of us have any of our teams going to the final four, so our brackets are shot. But I reached my goal--my bracket beat Josh's the second year in a row! I can't wait for next year!
Tuesday, March 29th
Had to kill my first huge spider today. I'm still shuddering.
Many people wondered why we were coming here and they'd say "there's NOTHING to do up there." Well, they're right, but Josh and I think it's just fun being here, though. It's kind of fun to sit down at the end of the night and have nothing to do! I'm reading some books and making fun things to eat. It has been difficult for Michael, too. He doesn't have his toys here, so he's been creative while entertaining himself. It's great cause I can just get up with Michael and say "what do you want to do today?" and we do it! Today we read books, had snacks, fingerpainted, played 'come on,' played with the phone, ipod, and camera, and then Michael wanted to watch some ESPN. Really, he did. I think after this I'm going to give him a bath just for fun--after scrubbing down the bathtub because it is still disgusting.

New house

Lucky Peak

2010-07-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Josh had Tuesday and Wednesday off this week, so on Wednesday we went to Lucky Peak Recreation Area, which was awesome! This is one of the coolest things I've seen about Boise so far, and we can't wait to go again. It takes about 1/2 hour to get here and there's a big park with biking trails, grills, tables, a beach, and even a concessions hut and bathrooms! We went biking for about an hour and a half, and then came back and made lunch and played in the sand. Michael absolutely loves being outside and he was happy the whole day.

These are the sand toys he got for his birthday--thanks grandma!

Happy Birthday Michael!

2010-07-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is Michael helping dad wrap his present from us.

Michael is so spoiled, look at all these presents! Thanks grandmas and grandpa for these presents!

I guess he liked it!

I decorated Michael's birthday cake and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I wasn't trying to do anything fancy like mom, I just wanted something fun to dig into, and apparently Michael thought it was perfect for that...For Michael's birthday dinner we had his favorite--spaghetti. He LOVES shoving spaghetti in his mouth, which makes for perfect little-kid-spaghetti photos!

We started off the day by letting Michael lick the beater for the first time. Very appropriate birthday activity.

Grandpa Savage's House

2010-05-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Ope, gotta go, so I'll talk about these pics later!

Grandma Allred's and Grandma Sally's Houses

2010-05-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Drive Down

We drove down on Friday afternoon, and it didn't go as smooth as we hoped, but we managed. We took a pit stop in the middle of nowhere to calm Michael down and Josh gave him this long piece of dried weed that he had fun swinging around for awhile.

Grandma's swing!
Notice the other two grandkids in the background admiring my mom's fountain.
This is Michael swinging in the swing my mom has out back. She has made her yard absolutely gorgeous--it is prettier every time I go there.

Mother's Day dinner with all the moms and ladies at the table... and Josh...

While I was down there Heidi helped me start my first quilt! It is the same pattern she made for my sister Jenn (who is having baby boy in August!) It's a little elephant, and I can't believe I didn't take a picture. But I will soon and I'll get it up here for all to see cause it's so cute. So here's Heidi and mom helping me while Josh is perfecting his grilled-cheesing skills.

Cousin KateShe has such big beautiful brown eyes

I love that Kate and Michael are so close in age--only 8 days apart, can't you tell? I love this picture, they are both eating with the same hand and they both have their feet pointed in the same directions. I wish I could see them together more to compare--it is so funny!

Grandma's highchair didn't have the bar that usually goes between the legs and it didn't take Michael long to figure that out!

Well I am so bummed because all the pictures I took at Grandma Sally's house were deleted by accident when I was trying to organize my pictures!!! The reason that is so upsetting is that Grandma Sally has the CRAZIEST spider bite you have ever seen and I was hoping to keep that picture for generations to come cause I know it will impress Michael some day...
She was bitten by a hobo spider several weeks ago and I guess the venom killed her skin cells so she has this little black crater in her skin. Isn't that a cool grandma story? Don't worry, she has been to several doctors and she will be fine. Oh well, if you see her be sure to ask her about it. It makes for a good story!

Letting Michael Take the Lead

2010-05-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

I am reading a book right now called How to Get Your Kid to Eat--But Not Too Much by Ellyn Satter, a dietician whose work Josh really came to respect in his nutrition classes at BYU. In the book she also talks about some things she learned from fellow psychologists about letting your kids take the lead. I guess they recommend getting down on the floor with your kids and staying within 12-18 inches of them and just following them around and doing what they do, being careful not to be too overwhelming or to show more excitement than they are, and not introducing any new activity that your child doesn't come up with first. Josh has done this a few times with Michael and it has been really fun for both of them!

Heading to Utah!

2010-05-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

We are heading to Utah this weekend! We are so excited to see our family's! Michael was so sweet to help me pack. :)

"Seriously, mom, this is way too many diapers. You are exaggerating. Let me take some of these out of here for you..."

Michael's 9-month-old picture

Just noticed the other day how we never take pics of us anymore. I always said I wouldn't do that, so here we are!

"Look how smart I am, I know what all of this is and what all these words mean!"

"Stephanie, why are you taking a picture of me?"

Michael loves to swing... I think he would do it all day if he could!

I'm so sad this is fuzzy! Here we are at the sewing club--my weekly retreat to Sister Garner's house! Here is Sister Hibbard, Sister Garner, Michael, me, Eileen, Holli, Lucy, and Desiree!

Michael's first birthday party invite! Here is Casandra, Eric, Emily, Megan, Josh (the birthday boy) Holli and Eileen!

More friends! We had Easter dinner at the Nielsen's. They are Paul, Eric and Casandra. Apparently Michael thinks I'm being a cheeseball and is turning to me to say "mom, are we seriously taking ANOTHER picture?" Meanwhile Eric is hamming-it-up as usual!

Michael took a break from playing with his toys to do some light reading in Josh's Family Medicine textbook.

The Wire Whisk

2010-04-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

The other day we went to the park and brought the wire whisk because Michael loves it. He carried it like this all the way to the park--which is several blocks away:

Us at the park:

Michael being cute:

Tidbits

2010-03-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Michael loves Dad's new hairdo!

All ready for church! Doesn't he look so big in this picture? I love it.

Holly came over to play and Michael was jealous because he can't walk yet. He would grab her and she could just get up and walk away.

This is Uncle Adam. Do either of us have a brother named Adam? No. But we see him enough that he has gained uncle status. I go to the sewing club every week and Sister Garner helps me with my sewing projects and Adam often entertains Michael so I can get something done! Thanks Adam!

Our New Car!

2010-03-10T19:55:00.001-08:00

Our 2001 Chevy Impala: Ta Dah!It's not technically new, but for how excited we are about it, it may as well be! We got this car at auction in January and someone (Ryan) won't stop pestering me about pictures of it, so here it is! Isn't she beautiful? We love it. Oh and for my friend Eileen--she keeps asking me if the volume automatically turns up when you go faster and go down when you slow down and it does! Isn't that the coolest? Oh, and we think the trunk can fit at least 6 people. It's huge. I don't know why I measured that in people...

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Family Pictures

2010-02-26T14:34:00.000-08:00

This is my ENTIRE family! Let me tell you about my family--Logan, Jennifer, Brandon, Lori, Heidi, Ryan, Kristi, Stephanie and Holli. Then you add 7 spouses and I think 17 grandkids (plus one on the way, Congratulations, Jenn!) so that makes a lot of people. We pulled off a miracle and all got together over Christmas Break to take these. I know that everyone can't be seen perfectly and there are definitely some funny faces by the kids in the front, but I am so happy to have this group photo just to see everyone's faces. I love you guys!

(Please notice Seth on the far right, 3rd row down. Josh and I love zooming in on his very unhappy face.)

Me and Michael
Littler Family Picture
Lori took these pictures behind Guru's on Provo's Center street. Michael was so cold, but I think it made his little pink nose even cuter. :)

Ah-Dah!

2010-02-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

Michael is so cute in this video! I love how he uses so many expressions like he is actually carrying on a conversation with us. Well, I guess for him... he is! You'll notice him playing with his keyboard during the video. He loves keyboards! So that one is his very own, and he plays with it every day.
***Hey I guess this video wasn't playing because I only allowed 25 views on Youtube, I didn't think more people would be watching it, so I just changed it to unlimited so everyone can see it. Thanks for watching!*****

First Video--Giggles

2010-02-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here is Michael laughing his adorable laugh!

New Haircut and Outfit

2010-02-22T08:08:00.001-08:00

Precious! Josh went running with Michael and he fell asleep in the stroller halfway through his run.
Notice Josh's hair... it is buzzed! He was going to cut the front of his hair on Saturday and have me finish the back. He put a 2 on the trimmer and without thinking just went straight for the top of his head! He usually does the sides first and he just wasn't thinking. He probably doesn't look that different in this picture, but it is quite funny for both of us to get used to.

Sooooo Cute! Me, Desiree and Eileen went thrifting again on Friday and I found this little outfit for Michael. Love it! He looks a little slovenly in this picture because he can't hold still of course. But I think he kind of looks like a pioneer in the early church days taking care of the farm on Sundey.

Update

2010-02-18T10:13:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I put up streamers and had a candle-lit breakfast on Valentine's Day for Josh. We had a lot of fun.

Our little friend Eric came over to play. Michael was thrilled about it, but Eric not so much!

I think this picture of Michael with the spoon is funny. He's not choking, but after I took it got scared and took the spoon away! But I do think it's cute.

Heidi Highlight

Heidi sent us this cribset--the bumper pads, crib skirt and quilt. Aren't they adorable? Michael loves them. Thanks, Heidi!

AND Heidi and Mom MADE this Valentine's Day drapery heart thing and it is still hanging over my window. Doesn't it add some fun color to the room?

Lucy and Michael
Lucy came over to play a few weeks ago and we got some cute pics 0f her and Michael.
Desiree is one of my friends here in Boise, you can see half of her face in this picture :)

He LOVES to swing! The green buildings right behind us are where we live,

Michael loves his veggies! (so far) Except peas.

... and we're back!

2010-01-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Michael's 6 month pictures! I couldn't find the bear, but they turned out so cute!

Bathtime!

Josh's Thai food

Josh offering Michael his Thai food.

Josh decided this was his sheath of choice for a sword letter opener I got him last year.

Michael and Daddy Sunday morning
Just another day rocking Michael to sleep... notice how he doesn't really fit in the glider anymore...
This is supposed to say 2010. A new tradition we started two years ago. :)

We are SOOO excited for 2010!!
Michael with a couple of his cousins, Vinny and Sofie.
Hello! My computer died and we were sick and we were on vacation and we were living life, etc, etc, so I just haven't been able to post or just haven't felt like it, but here are some quick pics of what we've been up to. I have a bunch more from more of Christmas break and more family, but they are on Josh's computer so I will have to post those later.

Thrifting and Halloween

2009-11-09T19:56:00.001-08:00

I didn't know that Thrifting was a verb until we moved to Boise, and rightly so, because I have never, ever seen so many thrift stores in my life! And, I have never been to such great ones, either. It is magical. :) My favorite is Idaho Youth Ranch. And I don't just go to the regular thrift store, I go to the Idaho Youth Ranch OUTLET!! (thanks to my thrifting buddy Eileen for telling me about it) Yes, they have an outlet of a thrift store. I know the point of going to a thrift store is to buy things for cheap but make people think you spent a lot of money on them, but I must be lame and share some of my prices in this post, cause they are so cool!

I got this little Baby Einstein playgym for $3.00. Michael loves it.

Halloween!

Here is Michael's Halloween costume! ($2.00)
Here are ours! Yes, we are Wesley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride. (My dress, which you can't see very well, and is very pretty-- 50 cents!) For Josh's costume he is wearing a black robot suit backwards and inside out. We realized that he has worn clothes backwards and inside out for every Halloween we have had together because our costumes are always put together out of the stuff we can find in the house! I promised him that next year he can wear something comfortable for Halloween. :)
Michael eating Dad's arm. He eats EVERYTHING these days.
Josh's hand looks so huge next to Michael
This is Michael's other Halloween costume that his grandma gave him, he didn't fit it this year, but we tried it on for fun. :)

P.S. Remember how my digital camera could only get fixed for $130? Well I forgot to mention that I fixed it by myself!!! We determined that we would buy a new one before we would fix it, so seeing as how it wasn't worth anything to me, I took it apart myself and banged some things around. I was sure I was breaking it and when I gave up and tried to get the case back together, I accidentally hit the power button and it worked! It took me an hour, but it was an hour well spent. I prayed really hard that my camera would somehow start working again, and this was an answer to prayers!

Random, Bathtime, Football, and Orange Chicken

2009-10-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

Josh took this picture on purpose while we both weren't looking...? Where did I get this character?My little angel after his bath

My little angel during his bath.

My little quarterback watching football with Dad. We do this every Saturday cause Josh says "Oh by the way, there are some GOOD games on this Saturday, so we need to reserve time for them." I'm just glad I have learned to enjoy football. :)

I can just see the years of Saturdays ahead with Michael and Josh watching football together. Here we go.

Mmmmm... Josh's orange chicken. Josh makes great chinese food. After putting in all the work, though, we determined that Panda is faster and tastes almost as good. Almost.

Can you believe the personality in this little face? He is getting so big! I love my little Michael. Sigh.

2009-10-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here's Michael being cute
Josh and I went to our home teacher's house to paint pumpkins--they are Andy and Jen.

And Michael being cute again...

Lil bit o' fun

2009-10-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Guitar Heroine! (me, of course) We hung out with Josh's PA friends and their families. I was pretty good at Guitar Hero for my first time playing. Josh thinks he's so good, but really I'm right up there with him. Our PA friends are: Austin, Sydnee, Augie and Jentry.

Michael and my foot!

Super Saturday! We did some sewing projects for Super Saturday and it was a ball. Here are some of my friends--Eileen, Carrie (who probably had her baby on Thursday) and Sister Walker.

Believe it or Not

2009-10-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

So if you're reading this blog then you probably know me, and if you know me then you know that I can't cook. A Christmas present I got a few years back says it all. It was a cookbook compiled by my sister Kristi. The message inside the front cover said "For Chef Steph--The Cook That Can't Cook Anything!" She included recipes like mashed potatoes, Bisquick biscuits (Bisquick and water), and Chili, Chips'n Cheese. Yes, I actually used them.
Well, guess what? Being away from mom's house has made me crave some good food and now that I have the time, I've been doing some cooking! I don't necessarily enjoy it yet, but I'm getting there. I said to Josh the other day "I'm starting to get excited to eat my own food." Now that is saying something.
This is a chicken pot pie that I've made several times. Thanks to mom's great pie crust, this is definitely one of my favorite dishes.

Weekend with them Allred's!

2009-10-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

Ryan, Crystal, Emily and Megan came up to visit this weekend. We had a great time! On Friday we hung out and played games and on Saturday we went to a thrift store, watched Psych, and played more games! It was a nice, relaxing weekend. Unfortunately, Ryan and Crystal were both short on sleep because of this nice little air mattress that didn't come with the right pump. They were so uncomfortable since it couldn't get blown up all the way that Crystal slept on our couch and Ryan slept on our recliner. Megan and Emily were the lucky ones with real mattresses.

We had a lot of fun playing Jenga--Emily was really good at it!

2 Months Old! (a month ago!)

2009-10-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

First of all, sorry for the absence. My camera of four years broke about 3 weeks ago and I have had no photos to post. It has been sad. Luckily in September Josh was inspired to have us buy a little videocamera/camera. I was against it, but he talked me into it! I am so glad he did cause we have all these pictures because of it. I took my camera to a camera store to find out how much it would cost to fix. They said $130.00. So I may be using the camera on my videocamera for awhile... I miss my great little camera!

Yes, I know Michael is actually 3 months... today, in fact. But I never posted his 2 month pics so here they are! He is sporting the outfit Holli sent him that says "Road to Indy"

Michael at 2 Months old...

The Fair

2009-10-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

We went to the Western Idaho Fair with Michael in September. It was so fun! We had Michael in that carrier for about 5 hours and he did great! I just fed him there and we walked around and he stayed awake the whole time!
Our Little Cowboy

His Hick parents

Our pet cow

Handsome

2009-10-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Isn't he so handsome here?
Hahaah! These ones always make me laugh!!

Michael and Mommmy

2009-09-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

Doesn't Michael look so big in this next picture? That's cause he IS! We had him measured and weighed two days after this was taken on September 14th. He weighed 13.5 lbs and measured 24 inches long! He is getting so big.

Our Excited Little Boy

2009-09-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Michael gets really excited... as illustrated in these pics. Now that he is smiling I feel like he is always interacting with us. When we are talking to him, his face will automatically recognize it and he responds in the funniest ways! One morning I had him in his bouncer in the bathroom while I was getting ready and I started talking to him and he really liked it...

Michael and Daddy

2009-09-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Josh loves his little boy. When Michael was first born Josh couldn't stop holding him and was even excited when everyone was gone so he could have him all to himself. I thought it would wear off, but it hasn't yet. Josh loves the weekends because he gets to hold Michael all day. At church Josh takes him to every class. I think it's adorable and I'm so glad cause it gives me a break!

Savage Family Home Eveing

2009-09-13T21:28:00.001-07:00

This was one of our favorite FHE's that we had back in August. We made a Savage Family crest. It was one of the FHE's listed in our FHE book for newlyweds. Since I was feeding Michael, Josh decorated the entire thing--didn't he do a great job?! I told him I wanted to take a pic of him with it, and he was less than enthusastic.

I told him to be more excited about it, and this is what I got, even though he forgot to hold up the crest... I actually really love this picture of Josh cause it shows his extra-excited faking it look which always makes me smile.. :)

Michael's first smile!

2009-09-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is literally one of Michael's very first smiles--it was taken a couple of weeks ago. :)
Michael and Daddy napping together...
Michael grumpy right after a bath--but still cute in his bathrobe!Michael happy in his cute bathrobe!
Michael's one month picture next to his teddy bear from Grandma Allred
Josh's first day of school! (It was on August 18th)
The fam hanging out in the kitchen on Michael's Blessing weekend. Sally, Josh, Janie, Brian