Happy Birthday Evelyn!

This first year of Evie's life has just flown by.  Jesse and I continue to be amazed with how fast she has grown and the new things she does each day.  Her birthday was October 8th and my dad's is the 9th so we had a joint party at my brother Tony's house.  We had a great time and Evelyn was all sorts of entertaining as you can see!

Evelyn LOVES monkeys and horses right now so I made this cut up cake. Not to toot my own horn, but I'd say for my first one ever it's not too shabby.  I even made the cake board to fit perfectly into the recess in her highchair tray.  This is what it looked like before we let her loose...

...During...

 

 

 

...and after!  At first she seemed a little hesitant, but it didn't take long to get over that.  She did a pretty good job and we had a great time watching her. 

 She got lots of books...10 total...6 from Jesse and I, 3 from my mom, and 1 from Dr. Baker at her 1 year check up on the 10th.  So it's a good thing she loves to look at books and be read to.  She also got a small squeaky giraffe and a ball.

 

Here is my dad opening his presents...he got a charger for his new phone and Twizzlers of course because it's not his birthday without them!

Overall we had a fabulous time! Evie loved the attention and was totally ready for bed by the time we got her home.

The Adventures of Evie-Doo

A few weeks ago we traveled to Southeastern Idaho for a family visit and Evelyn got to experience lots of new things.

We started with a stop in Pocatello for a visit with Grandpa and Grandma Cook.  While we were there Evelyn played piano with Grandpa Darryl and met her first horse.

She was quite excited about it until the horses came running up, then it was a little overwhelming.  Lucky for you, we caught it on camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafWTXDTxIc

Eventually she calmed down enough to "pet" and even sit on Red Raider.  Who I must say was a great sport.  He didn't even flinch at Evelyn who screamed at him, hit him, and pulled his mane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlzHZinSnEo

After a night at the Cooks we headed north to Driggs where we met Jesse's sisters and their families at the cabin.  On Labor Day we went on a short hike on the Alaska Basin Trail.  Darryl brought the horses and lots of the grandkids and even Kandace rode for a short while.

Since everyone had school or work the next day, Jesse and I stayed at the cabin until Thursday by ourselves.  We hiked to the top of Targhee on Wednesday and enjoyed some amazing views of the Tetons.  Evie got to go for a ride on her first of many chairlifts on the way down.

 

After our hike we drove to Jackson Hole and saw the Tetons from that side of the mountains.  They were AMAZING!

What a great week!  Evie had lots of new experiences, we saw family and had a break from life for a moment.  The best part by far was spending time with my little family in this beautiful country, exploring and taking it all in!

The Zoo

Jesse and I took Evelyn for her first trip to the zoo the other day.  We met Lucy and Patrick and made a day of it.  The weather was cool so we were able to see a lot of animals out and about that would have sought shelter on a hot sunny day.

 

 

The best part by far was the Butterflies in Bloom exhibit.  These butterflies came all the way from Costa Rica and were all sorts of beautiful colors.  The one on my shoulder in the top picture is the same as the one on Evelyn's hat. They loved Jesse's shirt and hat. At one point he had 5 or 6  land on him.

I don't remember what animal these ears belong to, maybe a dear, but as you can see Evie was not to keen on putting her head in between them.  I'm sure the people thought we were torturing her, especially when she started screaming.

They have this cool giraffe that has a slide on it's neck.  Evie and Patrick both loved it!

Spirit of Boise

Each year there is a Spirit of Boise Festival downtown in Julia Davis Park during which hot air balloons from allover come to the valley.  I have always wanted to go and this year I got my wish.  Tony, Jasie, Jesse, and I took Evelyn to the night burn where the balloons lit up the night.  It was pretty neat (although our 13 year old Sunday school kids told us it was totally lame) and we all enjoyed it.  Here are a few of our photo memories...

Mickey came all the way from Disney Land (obviously) and we learned that he's the only balloon ever allowed to land on the floor of the Grand Canyon...pretty cool.

 

Tony can correct me, but I'm pretty sure there were 13 balloons there (there was one hiding behind a tree and we didn't see it until the end...it's not in this pictures so when you count and only see 12, I'm still right...=).  It was amazing how they illuminated the park when they lit their fires.  Evie's face was priceless. I wish we would have thought to get a picture of her.

Playing Catch Up

This summer has flown by and we've had lots of adventures.  I wanted to share some of the more notable ones, but once again time has slipped away.  So I'm left with an abbreviated version of many events and promises to do better next time. Here goes...

Our first adventure this summer was a week visit to my sister Charlotte's house in Harrisburg, Oregon two days after father's day.  Evie and I left Jesse at home to work and went to play with cousins and aunts.

During our visit Evelyn took off as far as crawling went.  Before this trip she would take a few steps forward, collapse to her tummy, and reach for what she wanted while crying.  Thankfully she moved beyond that.  It was cute for a couple days, but I'd assume it would get pretty old, pretty fast.

Charlotte, Whitney, Rachel and I had a sisters night with dinner and shopping.  We got home late and decided to take some pictures before we crashed.  My dad always said "nothing good happens after midnight" and here's the proof.  We got a little goofy, but had a fabulous time!  Justin, my awesome brother-in-law, volunteered to stay home with all the kids, including Evie.  He does a great job of making sure we get some valuable child free sister time every visit and I LOVE him for that!

On Sunday after church we all loaded in the car and went to the coast. It was Evie's first dip in the Pacific Ocean and since the day was as most days on the Oregon Coast, I only put her toes in.  The bad news is right after we took this picture a wave came in and totally soaked her pants.  She was a good sport though and didn't complain too much.

Fourth of July

For the Fourth this year we got together with Jesse's family.  It was extra special because my favorite AM talk radio host, (yes I know I'm a super nerd...) Glenn Beck, came to Driggs on Saturday the 2nd.  There was a community fun fair with activities and shows during the day and Glenn Beck and Fireworks that evening.  I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our country's independence.  By far the best part was when he said he'd be back next year...Yea I can't wait!!

 

 

On the fourth we went to Victor, Idaho to watch their parade.  Evie had a great time and Aunt Kandace let her borrow her hat to keep the sun off her head.

Paulie's Wedding and Family Reunion

My little brother and his sweetheart Bryndy got married in the Rexburg Temple on the 28th of July.  That weekend we had a Christensen family reunion in the Logan Canyon.  Unfortunately I used all of my picture taking on the wedding and didn't snap a single one of the reunion. 

Jesse took our only proof we were in Utah at all when he climbed Naomi Peak with my dad, brother Dale, and brother-in-law Tyler.  This is the view from when they were bush whacking, because they lost the trail in all of the snow (so says Jesse).

We've had a fun and adventurous summer filled with the family we love.  We have definitely been blessed to live so close!

Bed Head

Evie is finally getting enough hair to do fun stuff with.  It's curling around the edges and looking quite cute...most of the time.

Mornings and after naps is the best!  She always wakes up with a fun new hair do that provokes a few laughs from Jesse and I.  We thought you could use a chuckle or two too!

We went swimming at my parents pond and since she's such a pale thing, we lathered her up.  I forgot to take her sun hat so I put lotion on her scalp as well...and this was the result. =]  

Random Cuteness!

We bought Evie a basket for her toys and her new favorite thing is dumping it out, turning it over, and chewing on the bottom of it. She hears " wood is not for eating" a lot and it doesn't seem to stop her...at least she's getting her fiber!

Can you say comfortable...if nothing else she is super bendy and stretching like this helps to keep her that way!