Christmas fun!

This Christmas has been an interesting one, but very good. Mitch found out that he was able to work in Evanston Friday instead of having to work all day in Riverton and coming late Christmas Eve night. It was such a nice surprise. We actually drove to Utah Thursday afternoon to pick up a present that we had gotten for Mitch's grandparents. We got to go out for lunch together Friday, and had such a wonderful day Saturday. Maddi loved opening her presents. She would rip one open and move on to the next one. Once she got them all open she went back and decided there were some that she wanted to play with. Grandma and Grandpa Revelli got her a doll house. She has played with that everday since then. She wouldn't even take a nap that day because she was so into her new toys. The only bummer was that the weekend was too short. Mitch had to head back on Sunday and we miss him already. Only 4 more weeks (hopefully) and the baby will be here and we can all be together again. =)

Maddi has really gotten into Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. She has watched them everyday for the last 2 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Maddi really didn't want to have much to do with Santa. She got really excited when she saw him come out, but when he wanted her to sit on his lap for a treat that was a different story.

Maddi got a Baby Alive doll. She loved feeding it "nanas". Then she started feeding herself. It was a lot of fun to watch her. She is going to be a great big sister.



Maddi and her cousin had been stuck in the house for the last few days leading up to this, so being outside in the snow was a lot of fun. They really liked to dig and cover themselves in the snow.



Maddi had so much fun in her new snow pants. She would crawl through the snow and run back and forth on the sidewalk in between Grandma Revelli and I.

New Happenings

  Well a lot has happened in a short amount of time. I am not on my home computer and don't have my cord for the camera, so sorry there won't be any pictures.
    You are probably wondering why I don't have my computer and it is because I am no longer living at home. Don't worry it isn't because I left Mitch or anything crazy like that. It is because I am living with my in-laws in Evanston. It is kind of a complex story, but I will tell it anyways because I need to vent a little. Because of crazy circumstances with Maddi I had to have a C-section or at least I felt like I had to. It wasn't fun and I didn't think I could handle another one, so the only place that will let you even try for a natural delivery after C-section or VBAC is here in Evanston or in Cheyenne. Cheyenne was a little further and there was no one I could stay wtih, so Evanston won out. Mitch's sister Kaeli got married on the 10th and so we came for that. At that point I was 34 weeks and Mitch didn't want me traveling back and forth. So he left me here and went home to work (or at least close to home, he ended up being in Casper all week because they opened up a new store in the mall and needed help). I had my first doctors appointment here loved the doctor and really feel a lot better about everything happening the way that it has.
     Don't get me wrong I miss Mitch terribly and I know that has been kind of hard on Maddi, but she does get to spend some good time with her grandparents and some quality time with momma before that is all interuppted by baby girl #2. Speaking of which I got to see her again on an ultrasound and couldn't be more excited to meet her in person. The doctor thinks she weighs about 5 1/2 pounds. She looks healthy and instead of an 80% chance of the baby being a girl it went up to a 98 - 99% chance. Thankfully because the only clothes I brought to Evanston are baby girl clothes. So I would hate to have to explain to a little boy when he gets older why all his first pictures are taken while he is wearing pink. =)
        Mitch does get to come for Christmas and New Year's and we are hopeful that he can work from Evanston for a short while, but I guess time will tell. Meanwhile if any one wants to call or e-mail me I do have a little extra time on my hands. As well as if anyone is driving through Evanston you are more than welcome to stop by and see me!
        That is all of that news. I have more to talk about, but would prefer having some pictures to go along with it. So that may be a few more weeks in the making. Sorry

Mini-vacationing

    Recently I had a friend from high school get married. Her wedding was in Rexburg. I had decided as soon as she told me she was getting married that we were going. It took Mitch a little convincing, but he decided that he could easily get work off. We also decided we could make it a little vacation. 

     We started our journey on Friday night and drove straight to Rexburg. We got there about 9:30 and decided we had enough time to go swimming in our hotel pool. Maddi had a great time, Mitch and I not so much. The pool was freezing. The next day we got up and did a little shopping, then headed to the wedding. They had a room reserved in the chapel next to the temple for all the kids. It was great Maddi ran right in when they saw that they were watching a movie. The ceremony was wonderful. Then we had a wonderful dinner on BYU-Idaho's campus. After dinner we went back to our hotel to relax, but we didn't realize how soon the reception was after the dinner, so our relaxing didn't last very long. Once the reception was over we headed back to our pool, but it wasn't quite as much fun as before. There were way too many wild people in it, but Maddi still loved it. She even sat in the hot tub to warm up for a little while. I wanted to, but being pregnant I didn't think I should. 

    The next day we headed to Bear World just outside of Rexburg. It is kind of a drive through park. We started driving and saw some white elk and a bunch of deer. It was going along just fine until we ran over a branch that was in the road. It got stuck up underneath the car. Mitch didn't think he should drive any further, so he jumped out and tried to get it out. He had to come back in because some of the deer and elk were getting a little too close. So  he got out to try one more time. He got it, but soon after we started going a young guy came speeding up in his covered 4-wheeler. We got in a little trouble for getting out, so when we entered the bear pen he followed us. It was a fun time and we even got a little fudge for the drive. Then we headed up to my parents house. 

    We decided to go home through Yellowstone National Park. As soon as we entered the park we hit the park traffic. We got slowed down to about 20 mph, and the worst part was that we were in some pretty thick woods. Thankfully it was October so there weren't as many dumb people as there are during the summer. We decided to take the Old Faithful part of the loop. We stopped twice before getting to Old Faithful to see another geyser and some paint pots. We must have just missed Old Faithful because we sat there for almost an hour. We did see it and were on our way again. I don't think any of us were all that excited when it did go off because we had sat there waiting so long. After a very long day in the car we finally made it to my parents house. We got some much needed sleep and the next day Mitch went out hunting with my dad. He got a nice doe, and once they got it all cut up we headed for home. It was so nice to get back home, but our little vacation was a lot of fun too.

This face shows how much Maddi loves weddings that are during nap time

Maddi loved the shower so much she decided to jump in while I was getting it warm

We were going slow enough I pulled Maddi out of her seat and let her look out the window

I was shocked to see Mitch petting a deer. At bear world they have a petting zoo. The fat little goats kept following us everywhere. I think they thought we had food.

Maddi loved feeding the ducks. Although we had to watch her close because she tried to eat the bread a couple times

Maddi wouldn't really cooperate with this picture either, but I thought it was a fun one.

Maddi did like showing me all the colors in the water.

Maddi was really tired at this point and didn't really cooperate with pictures.

House update

This is where the rock wall used to be. There is still a little bit there, but we got it all Also the tree in the background is now gone. It was very rotten in the center and we were worried it would crash into our neighbors cars

   We have been doing a lot of work on the house as well as outside. The outside stuff wasn't 100% planned, but now that it is mostly finished we feel a lot better about how things are coming along. Since our last house update we have dug up the backyard, put down conduit for new electrical lines (we had overhead, but feel that underground is a lot safer), refilled the trench, put in a new tank less water heater, filled in the extra basement windows with cement, restrung all water lines using pex pipes instead of metal, cut down a tree, leveled the driveway, taken out the rock wall, and put down gravel. It may sound like a lot of work, and you'd be absolutely right. Especially since Mitch usually only has one day off to work on the house. We have been really trying to get things done faster, but more stuff keeps getting in the way. For instance it is the fall and Mitch has been doing some hunting. Which isn't all bad. We have been able to visit with family a lot lately. Also in another post I'll mention our little vacation we took.

It took a lot of talking Maddi into getting into the mini-excavator, but she did it and eventually really liked riding with her daddy

Announcing.........

   Maddi is getting a baby sister!! We are very excited to announce that we had our ultrasound yesterday and got a look at our little girl. The ultrasound tech says that she is 80% sure that we are having another baby girl. Although this baby must be a little shy. She kept her legs crossed the whole time and she had her arms over her face any time we tried to get a good look. She isn't completely shy though, the very first thing that we saw was her cute little bum sticking out at us.
   Our little baby is due January 22nd. We told family and a few close friends soon after our first visit to the doctor, but wanted to wait to tell everyone until we found out what we were having. I think it is a little more exciting that way.
    We tell Maddi all the time that she will be a big sister, but I am not sure she really understands what we mean. She is such a good mommy to her baby dolls that I know she will be a great big sister. She loves to put them down for naps in her bed with the blankets and everything. She also takes her babies for wild rides in the stroller, has to take them shopping with us, and hugs them when they are sad. We are very excited and can't wait until January.

Camping, the zoo, and birthday parties

Maddi playing with her cousins

Maddi is our little monkey and loved this strange

 

I don't know why I wait so long especially the last few weeks. It seems like there has been a lot going on this summer and just when I think it will slow down it speeds up. The next adventure after our last camping trip was yet another camping trip. This time it was with my family, and it was also just Maddi and I. Mitch had to work and was not able to take any vacation time (his vacation time started the week after). Maddi and I and a couple of my sister's boys headed out Wednesday morning and headed straight up to the Big Horn Mountains for the annual Winters family reunion. There were lots of cousins to play with, so Maddi absolutely loved it. We played games, ran around a lot, and ate some great food. After our adventure camping we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Winters house. The next day (Saturday) we went to the 24th of July celebration. It is full of parades, games for the kids, a pioneer day program, lunch, and then for the adults a nap.

Maddi was so happy to get candy at the parade

The zoo.... So after only 3 days of rest (if you can call doing all the laundry and cleaning rest) after getting back from camping we headed to Utah for a fabulous weekend of spoiling from Grandma Revelli. We headed straight to Aunt Jenny's house in Orem, and met grandma. After a wild play session with cousin Jade it was time for much needed sleep. In the morning Jenny and I headed for the Draper temple where I went to a good friends wedding. After that we headed back and picked up Grandma and the girls and headed for the zoo. Maddi loved it and I know that Jade did too. Grandma bought the girls some stuffed animals and Maddi wouldn't let go of her elephant the whole time. I gave in and bought her some pink flamingo sunglasses, and she was in heaven.

Jade didn't care to wear hers

Maddi looked like such a diva in her shades

Grandma hanging with the girls

The day after the zoo we did a little shopping and later that afternoon we headed to Cowabunga Bay. The girls had a blast. There was a pool with some fountains in it and a lazy river, but that isn't what was so fun. They have a huge water slide park. Maddi wasn't a huge fan of the slides and it might be because of all the cold water raining down from the water features all around or the water that she swallowed at the end of the slide. Overall a blast!!

I decided to please everyone at the party and have cupcakes as well as some cake. It was a big hit. The marshmallows on the sheep did not last very long though. Mitch said they were the first to be sheared.

I think the frosting was the only part she actually ate

2 years older and thinks she is wiser.... Well I can't believe it but our little girl just turned 2 years old. We had a small party with my sister and her boys over. It was a lot of fun. There was pizza, pasta salad, cake, ice cream, and presents. What more could a 2 year old want? Last year at her birthday Maddi burnt her finger on the candle. This year she wouldn't even get close enough to blow it out. She put her hands over her mouth and there they stayed until she got her cupcake and ice cream. Maybe next year we will have better luck.

"Timber!!!" and camping

    Before leaving for a small trip to Evanston on the 4th of July we had this tree limb fall down into our yard. Of course when something like this happens it has to land on the newly made kennel we just built for Rustie. Oh well thankfully it only crushed one panel which we had a spare from our old fence. Also thankfully we had just finished it that day and hadn't moved Rustie out into it yet. We are lucky to have such great family that will lend us wonderfully helpful things such as a chain saw and tow trailer. We took care of the tree as soon as we got back and filled the trailer completely full.

     Mitch's sister Jenny and her little family (husband Ben and 10 month old daughter Jade) decided to come and join us the weekend after the 4th. It was so much fun. They got to our house Friday night and the next day we went over to Thermopolis for a nice swim and then that afternoon/evening we headed up to Sink's Canyon (near Lander) and did a little camping. We all had a great time. I think that Maddi was absolutely made for the outdoors. She loved it! As soon as we got out of the car she was off exploring. She especially loved digging in the dirt and smearing it all over her face. Maddi wasn't very excited about the fire (I think it was just too hot) and any time she would get near it she would cover her face with both hands. In the bottom right picture she really wanted to cook her hot dog, but didn't quite know what to do with it because she couldn't cover her whole face.  The only bummer of the weekend was that it started raining on our second day there and we were all kind of trapped in our separate tents, so after a couple hours of that we decided to head home and call it a day. Although it wasn't a total loss because we did get to play some fun games and have our dutch oven apple crisp at home.

Cheesecake, Doggy Doors, Fourth Anniversaries, and Window Wells

Cheesecake

         First off I just have to show off a little. This was my first attempt at a baked cheesecake and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It was a chocolate fudge raspberry cheesecake with white chocolate garnish. Now if only I would have gotten a taste of it. Oh well...... It was for a Relief Society dinner and it was all gone before I got a chance to try it out. 

Doggy Doors
        Our original plan was to have a place for a dog before we bought one. That didn't happen, so we have slowly been working on a place outdoors for Rustie. We got a doggy door put in on the side of our shed and MADDI was the one who really loved it. She would crawl in and out. Luckily Rustie was watching and figured out how to use the door as well.

Fourth Anniversaries

    Our Anniversary plans started way back in December. Mitch's parents gave us a gift certificate to the Anniversary Inn. For those who don't know what that is (because I sure didn't), it is a hotel with themed rooms. We put off choosing a room and ended up getting the only one with a king sized bed that was left for the weekend we wanted it. Our room was called the Taj Mahal. Included in our room was a half hour couple's massage, jetted tub with waterfall, multiple jet shower, complimentary cheesecake, and continental breakfast. Also included in the gift from Mitch's parents was a free babysitting service. I am positive that they didn't mind watching Maddi for Saturday and part of Sunday. I am also positive that Maddi didn't mind the time spent with them either. So we left Maddi at their house in the morning and drove to Bountiful. We ate breakfast/lunch at Ihop. Then we went to the temple and did a session. Bountiful is where we were married. We haven't been back since we were married four years ago. We took some pictures in the same poses that we had during our first trip there. We may look a little older, but the grounds look the same. Then we went to Odgen to eat dinner at Tony's. They have the best salad dressing there. Mitch normally doesn't eat salads, but really loves that one. Then we had pizza and headed to Logan where the hotel is. We relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed our massages.  We didn't really care to leave the next day, but figured we had better get back to Evanston so that we could be there for Cole being ordained a Teacher.

Window Wells
     Our new house had a terrible basement, so we cleared everything out and started working. Mitch bought himself a new cement chain saw to cut some bigger windows for the basement. We had an excavation company come and dig three holes around the house. Each bedroom downstairs has to have windows big enough to escape from if there is ever a need. Mitch got each hole cut and then we put the window wells in filled the bottoms with gravel and surrounded the wells with dirt. It was a lot of digging, especially since the first one we didn't screw the wells in place, so when we filled around it with dirt the whole thing shifted and was terrible. We had to dig it completely out again and put it back in place again. Now we are done, and can't wait until we can do even more in the basement.

Adventure and a little bit of danger.....

 

You may be wondering why there is a huge metal "U" on top of our car. Well you and about 100 people driving by us. Our new home has an unfinished basement and to finish it we have to put in bigger windows. That also means we need window wells. Hence the huge things strapped to the top of our new car. We drove over to Casper (about a 2 hour drive) and picked these up. They were a few inches too tall to fit inside so we had to strap them on top. It was a little scary coming home because each time we would pass a semi-truck the car would wobble a little because of the wind gusts. We made it home though and now we are super excited to get working on our new basement. It will be a lot of work, but we are just so excited about making our old house into our new home!

Finally figuring things out!!

   It took me a little while to do, but I finally figured out how to work most of the things on this page. A great day for me overcoming technology!

   Well we have a new addition to our family. No it isn't a baby, but close. We got ourselves a new little puppy. We decided on calling her Rusty. She is a German short-hair Pointer. She has been so much fun. Maddi was a little scared at first, but after quite a few tears she decided she liked the puppy. Mitch is excited to train her for bird hunting. I swore that I would never have an indoor pet, but I relented and let her sleep in our mudroom. I can't just let her sleep outside, can I?

   Time has flown by with our little Maddi. She is now 19 months old and runs the house. As much as Mitch and I would like to think we are the bosses, we couldn't be further from the truth. She definitely has us wrapped around her finger. She is saying lots of new words everyday. I may not be able to understand what she says, but she does a lot of gabbering. Maddi loves her baby dolls and takes them everywhere we go. Maddi loves working out with mom and has her own "weights" (empty toilet paper rolls) that she uses every day. Maddi always has to wear something on her head as well.