A Baby Blessing

Riley gave our sweet girl her baby blessing today. It was a great day for our family of five. We are so lucky to have a righteous priesthood holder leading our home. (How many years will it be until all of our kids cooperate for a family picture??)

Brandon, Papa, Riley, Grandpa, Curtis, and Jared (not pictured) were in the blessing circle. We are lucky to have so many family members who could be here for her.

The Proud Parents and Grandparents

Jaylee's Blessing Dress

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed about having a handmade blessing dress for my daughter. I wanted it big, long, and shiny! When I was finally pregnant with a little girl I told my mom about this and she got started. When I was six months pregnant my mom and I went shopping for fabric and I told her how I wanted it to look. My mom created the most amazing and beautiful blessing dress for Jaylee. I love it! She did such a great job and also made a bonnet and shoes to go along with it.

Aunt Shayla came over and did a photo shoot of Jaylee wearing her dress. The pictures on this post are some of my favorite from the day.

Jaylee was mad when we took this picture but it shows off the dress good so I am posting it anyway.

Beautiful Girl

I told my mom that I wanted the dress to hang to Riley's knees while he was blessing her. She made that happen!

Riley's mom embroidered these slippers that my mom made for her. (Well actually my mom's friend Pam stepped in to help her get these finished on time. Pam is a seamstress and gave my mom advice through the whole dress building process.) Both slippers have her first initial on the toes and one slipper has her date of birth on the bottom.

A pretty picture that Shayla took.

Our New House

We found a great little farmhouse to rent! We found out about from a friend of my parents and we were able to get it. I am loving this house. We are in the country surrounded by fields and we have a huge yard. There are two big barns on the property that are used by the farmers who farm the fields owned by our landlord. We now have 4 bedrooms and a basement, so I have a lot more space. The only thing I miss having is a dishwasher. I do have a good view from my kitchen window, so that helps with all of my dishwashing!

backyard

The thunder and lightning storms have been amazing this summer. We can see, hear, and even feel them coming from miles away. It is really cool to watch.

I even have a clothesline! I have always wanted one, so I am out there all of the time hanging up my clothes. You can also see the large garden in the picture. My dad planted it for us before we moved in and we are starting to see the beginnings of corn and beans. I hope to learn more about gardening this winter so I can fill up both of these garden plots next spring.

more backyard

side yard

This is the side view of the house.

...and this is what happens to your bathtub when you raise little boys in the country. We were only outside for a half an hour and this is the mess I got. I was at a church meeting awhile ago and a woman gave a talk and in it she mentioned that she always hated all of the dirt in her house. Then one day she realized that 'dirt means her kids are having fun, and dirt means her kids are spending time with their dad, and dirt means her kids are learning to work.' I loved that, especially because one of the reasons we decided to move here was so that we could raise our kids in the country and that they would learn to work hard.

These last two pictures are from moving day. We didn't want to pay for a U-haul, so both of our dads brought their trucks and trailers over to Cincinnati and helped pack us up. They packed an amazing amount of stuff onto this flatbed trailer!

My New Running Route

I just started running again after having the baby. I am pretty out of shape but not quite as bad as I thought I would be. Now all I need is a little more sleep, and I might be more motivated to exercise more than 2 or 3 days a week! Since we moved I have a new view while running. It is:

bean fields and...

corn fields! It doesn't matter which direction I go, I have miles and miles of fields to run by. It may start to get a little boring but I am loving the fresh country air and beautiful sun rises!

The County Fair, a Demolition Derby, and a Rodeo!!

Ever since we moved to the country, the boys have been busy doing all of the things that country kids do. In the past two weeks they have been to the county fair, a demolition derby, and a rodeo!

The boys had fun going on the carnival rides at the fair. They are getting big enough to do some of the bigger rides. However, Riley and I still had to ride with them on a few. We also got to see a lot of animals, but unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of them.

Grandma took Easton to a demolition derby. It was perfect for him and his love of motors! He told us all about how the cars crashed into each other until there was only one left that worked. There was even a lawn mower derby. Easton enjoyed his one-on-one time with my mom.

This is Easton pretending to rope a cow. Riley and the boys went to a rodeo with Nana, Papa, and their Aunts and Uncles. They both enjoyed watching all of the animals. Easton liked the calf roping and Brady liked the bull riding.

Brady also liked playing in the straw.

Easton watching the tractor, of course!

This picture is hard to see, but it is Brady falling asleep riding on Papa's shoulders. Both boys were worn out from all of the excitement and staying up late.

Riley and I are so glad that we moved back to Indiana and can do all of these fun things. The boys are already enjoying being near their grandma / grandpa and nana / papa.

Random Shots from the Past Few Weeks

Jaylee and her Bumbo seat...

Two Sleepy Kids

Papa and Jaylee

Jaylee Faces

Aunt Shayla came over and did a photo shoot with Jaylee. Here are some cute pictures from the day. She mostly took pictures of Jaylee in her blessing dress and I will post those after she is blessed next week!

Jaylee has beautiful blue eyes just like her brothers!

Jaylee is getting so strong at just six weeks. Look at her lifting up her head and body. I know it looks like a ton of rolls on her side, but I think it is mostly just the way she is positioned. However, she does make sure that she doesn't miss any meals.

This is a typical "I am awake but I don't really want to be" face.

This is Jaylee's "I am ready to get mad" face.

I already know what you are thinking... Jaylee is just gorgeous. You can thank Riley and I for making the world a more beautiful place!