Picture Overload!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks that I have been meaning to put on here!! Life has just been too crazy to do it. We have been having a really fun summer so far, and are looking forward to going on some trips soon! Next weekend we are going to Bryce Canyon for the Shelley family reunion, Brynn and I are going to North Carolina for a week in August, and then we all go to PA in Sept, and to Canada a week after that! Let the vacations begin :) But in the meantime, here are some pictures of things we have been doing around here.
Here is Brynn in her new whale pool from Uncle Zach and Aunt Amy. She loves to swim!!!
Brynn has discovered reading on the potty :)
Brynn and Grandpa Shelley.
Taking a bubble bath in the sink.
Riding the carousel at the steel days carnival. She was a little terrified!
Brynn and her cousin Avonlea getting ready to go to the Steel Days parade.
Brynn and Aunt Adrienne eating Otter Pops at the parade.
Me waiting for the Steel days final show to begin! It was so much fun. They did American Fork Idol, The Biggest Loser, and had some great fireworks.
Brynn and Uncle Matt.
Here are some pictues of Brynn after she found a can of pringles. I wondered why she was being so quiet...

My little bumble bee

Today was American Fork's baby contest and I decided to enter Brynn because I think she's pretty cute :) I was just planning on having her wear one of her cute Sunday dresses, but when I went to register her a few days ago, the lady told me that most people dressed their kids up in costumes. So Jesse pulled this bee costume out of her closet last night (that we bought for Halloween for this year) and decided to try it on her. She looked so cute in it so that is what I decided to dress her in. With my luck, she was in a very grumpy mood this morning as I was getting her ready! Then we got to the contest and she was the ONLY one wearing a costume!! I felt a little silly because people were looking at me a little weird... but she still looked cute :) Unfortunately she screamed the entire time she was with the judges and wouldn't even look at them! Oh well, it's all for the experience and I am glad this morning is over!! I just hope she is in a better mood this afternoon for the carnival.

Coupon Class next WED!!!

I will be teaching a class on how to shop using coupons next Wed July 22 at 7:00 pm at my house. Let me know if you are interested in coming and I can get you my address. And feel free to bring friends!!

Canning time is here again!

I love this time of year... getting fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden, canning, and making jam (my favorite)! Every year I make a goal to do better than the year before, and I think I am doing pretty well so far this year. Last week we made and canned apple sauce at our house with Matt and Janice with a bunch of apples that we picked at Jesse's grandpa's house. We has 4 big buckets for of apples, and were able to get 31 quarts of apple sauce. And more importantly, we had a lot of fun doing it!

My favorite thing to make and can is jam! I love trying new kinds, and was able to try 2 new kinds so far this year. I have made 2 batches of strawberry rhubarb, 1 batch of raspberry jalapeno (may sound gross but it is really good), and 3 batches of raspberry. And I look forward to doing more with the raspberries this summer! I am so lucky to have my very own berry patch to pick from :) I love it! Hopefully we will end up doing a lot more canning this summer. I am planning on at least doing peaches, pears, tomatoes, and maybe trying some apple pie filling.

Happy 4th of July!

Our 4th of July started out bright and early at 5 am!! We woke up and headed down to the balloon festival in Provo. Jesse's dad works for the forest service, so we usually go down and help out with the smokey bear balloon (although this year we just kind of watched). Brynn had lots of fun watching the balloons and playing with her cousins, but she is still TERRIFIED of Smokey Bear. We tried to get a picture of them together, but she wouldn't let him hold her. It was a fun morning though, and we'll see what the rest of the day brings. We don't really have any plans so I am going to try to clean my house a little and we will probably go see some fireworks tonight. I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!!

Our trip to the zoo

We decided to take Brynn to the Zoo yesterday and had so much fun. Unfortunately, everyone else must have had the same idea because it was really crowded. It was kind of funny because I almost think Brynn enjoyed seeing all the other little kids more than the animals! She just kept saying hi to everyone. But she loved the birds, and the monkeys too. It was a fun day, and fun to spend some time together as a family and with our friend Jarid.

Here's the proof

Here is a little video of Brynn's first steps!! They weren't technically the very first steps...but close enough. Enjoy!!

Brynn took her first steps!!

Brynn finally took her first steps last night!! We were over at Matt and Janice's house, and Matt was holding Jesse's car keys and we got Brynn to walk to him to try to get the keys. We were so proud of her, and she was even more proud of herself!! Of course we made her do it over and over again, and she would take about 5-10 steps at a time. She kept looking down at her feet like "wow, I am really doing this". It was so cute! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. But we did record it on Matt and Janice's video camera so now I just need to get the video from them. Way to go Brynn!!! She has been standing up by herself for a while now so I knew this was bound to happen soon.

A day at the park

These pictures are actually from a couple weeks ago, but better late than never right? My sister and I decided to take Brynn and Cameron to the park and it was so much fun! Brynn loves to swing, and loved seeing all of the birds and ducks! We also tried getting a cute picture of the two of them together... but as you can see that didn't work out. They are pretty funny though. Thanks again Mer for a fun day!!


Here is the first picture I ever got of her standing up alone. And she HATES the grass! That's why she is crying. It's almost like she is afraid of it, and I can't help but laugh every time she freaks out for being on the grass.