North Carolina

Brynn and I have been in North Carolina this week visiting some friends of mine that I used to babysit for in PA, and they have since become like family to me. It has been a good trip, and I have been able to be lazy and relax a lot which I don't get to do often!! I was a little nervous about taking Brynn on a 5 hour flight by myself now that she doesn't like sitting still, but she actually did pretty well on the way here. She has also done a lot better with sleeping in a new place than I thought she would! Plus, she has been doing really well with pooping on the potty this week. I have only changed 1 poopy diaper since we got here!! WAY TO GO BRYNN!!! Plus, on Sunday she actually told me for the first time that she had to go poop. She started saying "poop" while walking around the room, and as soon as I opened the door she headed straight to the bathroom and stood in front of the toilet and waited for me to take her diaper off and then went on the potty! I finally feel like we are making some progress. Now if she could just tell me when she has to pee. I guess I can't complain though since she is only 15 months old. She's a little bit ahead of the game. Overall we have had a nice relaxing trip, and it has been really fun to spend time with Niki and her kids and to see how much they have grown. I am excited to go home though because I miss Jesse a lot!!!!!!!!! Well, that's all for now. I will post pics from are trip after I get home.

Fetzer's summer party

On Thursday night we went to Jesse's work party which we always look forward to. It was a luau theme this year, so Brynn and I even dressed up (sadly I didn't get any pictures of Brynn in her little Hawaiian outfit). Well, I didn't really take many pictures at all, but Jesse got some funny ones of me trying to hula hoop. We also went home with some prizes!! We got 2 new beach towels, a little painting set for Brynn, a pineapple, a $50 gift card for the Olive Garden, and $25 gift card to Chilis!! So thank you Fetzers for the great prizes, great food, and great night!!

My messy eater

Brynn has been really into dipping her food in sauce lately. She was eating some eggs for dinner a few nights ago, and I decided to give her some ketchup to dip them in. This is what happened when I left the room...

Brynn Brynn Brynn

Here are just a few random shots of Brynn from today. I can't believe my baby is now 15 months old!!! She is growing up way too fast! She is now walking really well, and gets around faster than me sometimes :) She is also starting to talk a lot more, which is cute, and also makes life a little easier when I am trying to figure out what she wants. I have decided that her favorite summer activity has been swimming. She loves being in the water! She is my little fearless fishy. I just feel so blessed to be her mother. And as you can probably tell from the pictures, she still only has 2 teeth. But that certainly doesn't stop her from eating anything and everything in sight! She has always been such a great eater!! And I have a feeling that she will have more teeth soon since I can see all of the top ones coming down right now...ouch!

Another Coupon Class

I am going to be doing another FREE class on how to save lots of money by shopping with coupons if you missed the last one and want to come. It will be next Wed (Aug 12) at 6:30 at my friend Crystal's house in Orem. Let me know if you are interested in coming and I will give you the address :)

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!!