September

We started packing feverishly when September came and we moved on the 6th. Moving was super fun, super awful, and super tiring for all of us. But it's really nice to be settled somewhere where we think we'll live for the next few years. The longest we've lived in a house since we got married is 19 months. We're definitely hoping to break that record here!

 Goodbye, Arizona...

After we unloaded our moving truck, we got packed up to go to Utah for a week. We went to Vernal and visited the Natural History Museum, which the kids loved!

During some down-time, I decided that Xander was too shaggy and needed a trim...darn clippers deceived me and he basically got a buzz. Oh well, he's still so adorable!

Heather gave us one of their trikes for Bekah and she loved it! We were staying at Chelsey's house and the kids just played outside for a few hours since it was so nice to be outside without melting in the 115 degree weather we were having before we left AZ.

We went out to Salt Lake to visit all the family on the Wasatch front before making the long trek back home.

Back home....What a mess we had! Xander started learning how to climb things, which was great because we had towers of boxes everywhere. Look how pleased he was with himself! And Bekah is just always cheesy.

For our anniversary, Garrett took me to the Humane Society and let me choose a cat. She's about a year old and Bekah named her Victoria. She's a sweety who loves to lick you while you hold her.

For FHE one night, we went and taught the kids how to climb rocks. Bekah loves it! When they were on the top, she said, "I can see the whole world!"

August

 August. My baby is a year! How happy he has made us this past year! He is a sweet little boy who loves to play and laugh. He and I have a ritual of wrestling before bead so he can wear out. It's so much fun and I can't believe I used to go to bed without wrestling a sweet little baby. He's feisty! He is starting to show an interest in communicating. He says, "Mmmah" for "more" and he points to everything, waiting for me to label it. He absolutely adores his sister! He follows her all day and laughs at everything she does. He's got this weird habit of eating hair and string and fuzz. He will rip Bekah's hair out just so he can eat it. Yeah. Also, he loves to clean my brush for me.... Other than that he is pretty normal!

He loves playing in the pool with Bekah. The porters came all the way down from Vernal to visit us in AZ and celebrate Xander Boy. We played in the pool all morning. Xander does great, as a second child, he's known nothing but splashing so he never freaks out about it. Also, his face in the photo above may look a bit distressed, but he's actually smiling....Sometimes it just happens that way!

Bekah and I discovered we could make silhouettes by spraying each other with the hose. We did it so many times throughout the summer! She loved it!

 So excited for the party!

Our local grocery store offered a "baby smash cake" free for Xander's birthday. He really wasn't very aggressive with it, but he did enjoy it. Bekah kept asking, so we let her help out!

He took a minute to get the idea of the presents, but he did get it, and he really enjoyed it!

Bekah really enjoyed the presents, too.

On the 6th, we woke up to see beautiful pictures of a new niece! Brett and Jess had Evie. 5 days later, Riley and Crystal had Soli Marie. I love getting nieces and nephews!

Bekah wanted to be swaddled like a baby. I also had to spend the day getting pretend medicine for her. She was a little needy, but in a fun way, much better than when she's whiny!

We went camping again and met up with Garrett's friend from work and his wife and baby there. It was really fun to go camping with other people.

It was a bit rainy, so Bekah did some crafts. It also kept her quiet when babies were napping.

Sometimes eating is really tiring.

And sometimes you just have to resist sleep till you drop on the floor.

One morning we were all up at 4...I wont name names but, there was a certain little girl who started yelling that she was "done sleeping", which made it so that the rest of us were done... This led to a long day of whining and crying. I've never thought that the Library opening at 9 was very late, in fact, usually 9 o'clock is early for me to get all 3 of us ready and out of the house. But this day, We had to play on the playground near the library for nearly an hour before they would let us in for some peace and quiet. And thank goodness for that quiet time!

And then, a little while later, Bekah got Strep. Again. Poor girl. She seemed to heal really quickly this time, though. 

Maybe all the watermelon she ate helped her get better more quickly!

On the 18th, Garrett got a job offer from Tyrone mine near Silver City, so we headed out to find a house that weekend. We found a house and then we went home and packed like crazy!

Bekah loves to help out with Xander. Especially feeding. 

Also, I repainted my table and chairs. I love them!