My valentine

It looks like it's time for Valentine's Day again. At our house December - May is gift giving season. With all our birthdays in the mix, Christmas, Valentine's, and anniversary we are almost gifted out. So this year we are trying to be a little more creative for Valentine's Day. I just finished my gift for Ricky and I'm so excited about it! I don't know if I can't wait another week! In an attempt to try and get my creative juices flowing I decided to browse Pintrest for some good ideas. Thankfully I found several. There was one I found through Google after I decided that I wanted to make some cute coupons. I started running out of coupon ideas and found the perfect thing at http://extraordinarybree.blogspot.com/2011/02/anything-card.html. It was for the "anything card". It is fully transferable and stealable. Which means that once it is redeemed the giver becomes the receiver. And it can be stolen so it makes for a fun little game. I am so excited to see how this turns out.

Front

Back

1 Year Old!

Our little Jace baby turned one last Sunday! It is so hard to believe how big he is getting. We just had a small little celebration Sunday after church. It would have been fun to throw a party but our family celebration was just right this year. Jace got to open a few gifts and go crazy with his cupcake. Right now he loves books, getting into cupboards and playing with mom and dad. We're still working on walking, but getting closer every day. He loves to walk everywhere as long as he's holding someone's hand. Any day now he'll find the confidence to just do it on his own. But we're really not in too big of a hurry still. I don't know if I have the energy to chase him around all day!

My mom sent Jace a cute package with some party decorations and a few cute gifts. But we're convinced his favorite thing was the balloon. He gets all tangled up in the ribbon and scoots around with the balloon following him. It is the funniest thing to watch!

A few new books and we're good to go! He was thrilled!

He had cupcake on his socks, in his hair, up his nose it was sheer madness! We recorded the hilarity, but the video was kind of long. So here is the final product. He went at that cupcake with both hands and didn't stop till all the frosting was gone!

Round 2

Yep. That's right. We're ready for round 2! Jace is turning 1 on Sunday!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! So, we decided that Jace needed a friend :) And we missed having a little one around. These two will be almost exactly 20 months apart. That is actually the same age span as my brother Drew and I. I loved having that friendship with my brother because we were so close (even though yes...we did fight during our teenage years). I know it may be hard to believe that Drew and I could ever fight (ha!) but it wasn't nearly as bad as our younger siblings would have you believe.

So our little peanut is 9 weeks old now and is due to arrive on August 27, 2012. Now we just need to figure out where we're going to be living!! San Diego?? (I wish!) We'll definitely keep everyone posted on that one... soon hopefully

Always on the Move

True to form this post is coming somewhat delayed. Our family has had a busy couple of months and it is time to catch up! On December 17, 2011 my amazing husband, Ricky graduated from BYU-Idaho. He graduated with a BS in Political Science, minor in Russian. We are so proud of all his hard work!

Then... We were able to go visit the Packard's in Ellensburg, WA. It was so great to be able to see family and let Jace spend some time with his cousin Henry. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family!

Then... We flew down to Mesa, AZ for a wedding! My brother Drew was luck enough to find the most amazing girl and was sealed to Cami Hatch in the Mesa Temple for eternity! We're so glad to have her in our family!!

Jace got a little too excited about the chocolate in front of him and ate my mustache!!

Finally on January 3, 2012 our little family moved to Denver, CO! We are so excited to be here for Ricky's internship. Right now he is working for the Honorary Russian Consulate here in downtown Denver. We are all learning so much and are so excited for the chance to get to know a new place. It has been so tough to leave Rexburg (even though no one ever thought we would admit it)! Unfortunately we are only here until the middle of March and don't really know anyone. So we have been going on a lot of walks and exploring the city together. And we can't wait to figure out what the Lord has in store for us next.

On the left is a pic of our apartment building. We are lucky enough to live right downtown and right above the 16th street mall! These are a few of the things our apartment overlooks.

Our funny man

It's hard to believe that Jace is 8 months old. I have heard that 7 and 8 months are the real turning point. That's when babies start crawling and getting their teeth and on and on. But I didn't really know what to expect until this last month. It is so true! I thought it would be so fun to watch our little man really start to move around. And it has been. But we honestly have to be watching him all the time! And I can't help but miss our tiny little baby that we brought home from the hospital that would just fall asleep on my chest. Don't get me wrong though. We are loving every minute of this adventure. Jace always keeps us laughing. I thought I'd post just a few of the funny moments we caught on camera this month. 

Jace loved my Parent's dog Baxter! We're just not sure the feeling was mutual.
And he thinks he is such a big boy now that he can crawl he thinks he can do anything! Ahh!

Eternal Perspective

I have been thinking a lot about my wonderful family lately and I just had to post about it. Ricky's grandma and grandpa Hartley passed away recently. Grandpa Hartley passed away due to cancer in May and grandma Hartley this past week due to poor health and a broken heart. It has been hard on the family but we can all honestly say that we know they will be happier where they are now, and now that they are reunited. I have been thinking so much about how grateful I am to know that we will be able to see them again. They were such wonderful people and such great examples to everyone they knew. I feel so blessed to have been married to my best friend in the San Diego Temple and know that  my family can be together forever. 

It's Gotta Go!

Last year when I graduated from BYU-I I got a new camera to kick start my photography business. Therefore, my old camera has been hanging around. I've tried to sell it on the school bulletin board but haven't really gotten serious about it until now. This time I mean business. It's time this thing found the hands of someone that can put it to better use. It is in great condition and comes with all the equiptment needed to jump start anyone looking to get into photography.

I'm selling my Tamarack camera bag, along with my Nikon D100, a 85mm portrait lens, 2 batteries and charger, extra battery pack, and 2 256mb memory cards for $400.