Halloween

Wow, Halloween really changes when you have kids! For the last couple of years Dave and I have had pretty low key Halloweens, but as soon as we had McKenna, we all of the sudden have so much going on. We couldn't really decide what to dress McKenna as, so she had two costumes, a cabbage patch kid and a leopard.

On the Friday before Halloween we dressed McKenna up in her leopard costume and took her to see all of the Great Grandparents, that way we could just go to the Grandparents on Halloween. We took so many pictures and so many of them turned out really good, so I am going to share them all with you!

McKenna and I at Gardner Village

Our pumpkins on our porch

(Dave's, McKenna's, Mine)

Dave and Our Little Cabbage Patch

Great Grandpa Stokes and our little Leopard

Great Grandma and Grandpa Stokes with Kenna

Great Grandpa Behling and Kenna

Great Grandma Garlick and Kenna

Kenna and her Grandpa Bott

She didn't want to sit in the leaves all by herself

All of the "Bott Grandkids"

(Jocelyn, Dallin, McKenna, Landon, Ella)

Our Happy Little Cabbage Patch

Kenna and I

Steve, Gracie, Kenna, and Dave

The Lloyd Family

Miriam, Stephanie, Lia, Claire, Derek, and Brynn

The Darais Family

Abi, Jenette, Danny, Kylee, and Jacob

The Garlick Family

Breanne, McKenna, and Dave

The Delgado Family

Julianne, Gracie, and Steve

Starting Solids!

McKenna is now almost 6 months old!! I can't believe how fast she is growing! A couple of weeks ago we started feeding her solids. It has been a funny experience thus far. She is getting better and better with rice cereal, as you can see with the video below. A couple of days ago we decided to feed McKenna avocado, that is when we got these two great pictures. She had a hard time with the texture, it was so funny because she doesn't want to swallow it when it is in her mouth. It is like she doesn't know what to do with it. We are going to keep working on it.

Wow, It has been a while!

We have had so much going on lately, at least that is my excuse for not posting in a while. I was looking through the pictures on my camera this morning, and I decided that the best way to show what we have been up to in the last month is just to post a ton of pictures and then tell about them. Originally I was doing so good and had all of the pictures in order by what came first. Unfortunately that didn't last long!

These are pictures from our annual Murder Mystery Party. This year was a medieval theme, it turned out to be a lot of fun! I have to say every year the costumes just get better and better.

Ashley, Callie and I


Ryan and Callie

Dave (in a great wig) and I

Here is almost our whole group


Okay, so here is one place where I jumped out of order. This is the day of the first BYU football game. The one where they played Oklahoma, and won! Dave and McKenna are showing their BYU pride!

This is the first year that I have been to Swiss Days. McKenna and I went of Friday with my family and then Dave, McKenna and I went again on Saturday with his family. It was a lot of fun, just so crowded! I am modeling my new sling on got there. I wanted one since McKenna was born and I have to say that both she and I like it a lot!

My little sleeping Angel!

Here is McKenna with her
Great Grandpa Behling

A couple of weeks ago McKenna and I went up with Ashley and Ryan and Callie and their family to the Sundance Harvest Market and then after we hiked Stewart Falls. The leaves were amazing! I haven't done that hike in a couple of years, it was a lot of fun. McKenna is a great sport when it comes to the outdoors!

Callie, McKenna and I

The Fall Leaves (they never turn out as good in a picture)

Ashley, McKenna and I

So these next pictures are way out of order. For Dallin's birthday, which was in August we went to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We had never been there before and I was really impressed. It was a lot of fun because Dallin knew all about each of the Dinosaurs and he told us about all of them.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Las Vegas for a few days. It was a fun little trip to just get away. I have to say, Vegas is a totally different experience once you have kids. It is not nearly as fun when you have to be back in your room by 7:30. Not that Dave and I were ever out there partying or anything, but it is fun to walk around Vegas when it is actually dark.

Here are Dave and McKenna at the Forum Shops

McKenna and I at Cheeseburgers at the Miracle Mile (while we were waiting for our food Dave taught McKenna to blow a really good raspberry, so if when you are holding her you get spit on you can thank Dave for that!)

Dave and McKenna in front of the fish tank at the Forum Shops

This last weekend we went to St. George with Dave's family. It was our annual Garlick Family Vacation, and it was a lot of fun. We rented one big house and each family got their own room. Initially I was a little worried with all of the babies that we have in the family, but it worked surprisingly well. I also got to celebrate my birthday while we were in St. George, which was a lot of fun. We were able to go swimming, shopping, and to dinner and a movie for my birthday! I know that Dave made a special effort to make it a great day, my husband is so wonderful!

The sad thing is the only time we brought out our camera was at the pool, but we did get some cute swimming pictures.

Kylee and Brynn at the pool

Steve and Gracie

McKenna (we didn't buy McKenna a swim suit at the beginning of the summer; and then when we tried to get her one at a couple of months ago all of the stores were sold out of them!Hence the topless baby)

This is the first time that McKenna actually enjoyed swimming!

My Baby and I

McKenna's Happy Faces!

McKenna is such a happy baby! She is becoming such a little flirt when it comes to her Daddy! She loves Dave so much! It is so cute because she just has to see him and she gets this huge toothless grin! These are pictures we took in Jackson Hole while we were waiting to check into our hotel. McKenna was thrilled to be out of her car seat, and she was smiling and laughing at Dave.

Idaho Falls and Jackson Hole

We have gone on a lot of fun weekend trips lately! Last weekend we went up to the Idaho Falls Zoo, and then onto Jackson Hole. The wife of one of the doctors Dave visits in Idaho Falls volunteers at the Zoo there and she offered to take us on a tour! We met her last Friday morning and she took us around and told us about all of the different animals, it was so much fun!! She was wearing her Zoo uniform and all of the animals really responded to her, especially the monkeys! I think McKenna had a little more fun on this zoo trip because she is much more aware than she was before, but Dave and I both had a blast

This gorgeous lion sat there and posed for our pictures!

Here we are with the lion (kind of)

McKenna and I with the camel

This is an Asian Sloth Bear, he was one of my favorites because he was so playful the entire time we were there!

After we left the zoo we drove to Jackson Hole for the rest of the weekend. We shopped and did all of the fun touristy things while we were there. We also checked out Teton Village for the first time, it was pretty cool. They were having an Art and Antique fair while we were there so we went to that too. I don't think a lot of people travel with their little babies because everywhere we went in Jackson Hole everyone was stopping us to look at McKenna. In Utah everyone has babies, so we weren't used to all of the extra attention we received!

It was a really fun weekend for our little family. By the time we got home on Saturday night McKenna was so sick of her car seat. She didn't exactly love it before, but now if we are in the car for longer than half an hour she starts crying. Hopefully we didn't traumatize her too much!

Dave and McKenna in Teton Village

Dave and McKenna showing off their new hats in the Mangy Moose!

Our happy little girl, ever since she can face forward in the baby bjorn she likes it so much more!

My little family at the elk antler arches

McKenna, I and a Bison (doesn't he look happy?)

Here McKenna and I are at the arches again, (Dave really liked this arch because there were fresh antlers on it)

Anniversary and the Zoo!

So I have honestly been trying to keep up with my blogging, updating it as things happen, but lately, I have just had too much going on!

The first really exciting event of this month was our 6th Anniversary! I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. Someone who not only makes me happy, but is kind, handsome, wonderful and supportive! We have so much fun together! Even though we both have hobbies that the other doesn't really understand, (Dave- hunting; Me-Reading) we still can respect and support each other. I know that I have been so blessed with such a wonderful husband! So to celebrate this wondrous occasion my Mom was wonderful and babysat McKenna for a few hours so Dave and I could go mountain biking up at Sundance!

I actually wanted to blog these pictures awhile ago, but like a mentioned above, I have had a lot going on lately. Ashley came up with the brilliant idea to take McKenna to the zoo. To be honest, McKenna slept for most of it, and I don't know if she really saw any animals, but Ashley and I had fun! I guess we will have to take Kenna back when she is a little older and can appreciate the experience.

Pete's Hole!

This year to celebrate the 24th of July Dave and I decided to go camping at Pete's Hole. We have come to this pretty little lake at least every other year since we got married. We thought it would be the perfect place for McKenna's first camping trip. Pretty impressive, don't you think, she went camping before she hit twelve weeks old! Actually, I think we may have been just a little crazy to have taken her so young, if we didn't have our tent trailer there is no way we could have done it. It was so nice to get outdoors and enjoy the cooler weather!

Gauge, McKenna, and I holding the fish that Dave is catching in the picture below!(Yes I am holding the fish pretty tight, it had already gotten away twice and Dave was determined to get this picture)

Dave catching a fish for our picture
Dave and McKenna cuddling on our bed


McKenna and I getting ready for our hike

After the first sleepless night we decided to try something different, so we bundled McKenna up and put her in her car seat, it worked great! She slept so well in it, which was a huge relief!

McKenna enjoying the Great Outdoors

McKenna and I playing

Dave and McKenna about to go on a walk

McKenna and I at our campsite