Alice's First Hike

We went on a hike at Donut Falls in April. The water was FREEZING and there was still some snow, but it was the perfect day for a hike! Alice loved the fresh air and all of the rocks.

Alice with Daddy

Alice in the carrier

running free

close up

a nice stranger took this for us

loving the rock

Alice with mommy

a hug for daddy

she loved picking up rocks

Playing Catch Up

So, it's been a long time since I have updated my blog. I am terrible at this! Life has been very busy since I last wrote. We have gone through several changes:

*I have been accepted to the SLCC Dental Hygiene program for this fall. I am quitting my job and going to school full-time come August 22nd.
*We have moved back to Murray! Scott's parents have graciously welcomed us into their home so we can be closer to school, save money, and not have to run Alice back and forth while I go to school.
*Scott is going to start his last semester at the U in the fall. He will graduate in business management at the end of December!
*Moving to a new ward has presented more responsibilities than before: I am the 1st Counselor in the YW and Scott is the Gospel Doctrine teacher! He does an excellent job and it's fun to see him teach. I have been enjoying myself getting to know the sweet girls in our ward and teaching as well!
*Speaking of church, Alice can go to the nursery now. Does she, though? NO. She went the first few times without incident and then recently has decided that going to nursery is a death sentence. Simply walking across the threshold of the nursery room gives her anxiety and she cries like I have never seen. I never thought that my happy little girl would be one of those kids!
*Scott and I have been trying harder to get into shape. I have been running a lot and Scott has been dieting. He's lost about 20 pounds and I am so proud of him!
*I have gone back to being a blonde. While being a brunette was a fun change, I have decided that I look the best with blonde hair. Who knows how long that will last, though. I love to change my hair whenever I can!

Here are some pictures that I haven't taken off of my camera:

 back at the old apartment

 Alice in her Easter dress

 on the Hewitson Family egg hunt

 wow, my hair was dark

 at the Dickson Family egg hunt

 Alice with daddy

 the spoils

 Alice in the tubby

 Alice loves to empty cupboards

 Alice with Grandma, Grandpa & cousins

 Alice loves to snuggle with us on our bed

 she doesn't need to take the wrappers off

 she finally got the hang of it

 she eats anything she can (that's not edible, that is)

 is this one mine?

 in trouble

cute little bottom

Alice's One Year Photos

We finally got around to getting Alice's one year photos taken. Last time I got pictures taken, I went to Kiddie Kandids. Big mistake! They charge way too much and the pictures aren't even that great. This time we went to Fotofly in Draper and got a lot more for our money. You just pay a flat rate for a 45-minute session and you get all of your pictures on a CD with the copyright release. Plus they were super nice and by the time we were finished, we walked out the door with all of our pictures. We even got a few family ones. Alice got super fussy at times because she hates it when strangers get close to her, but we ended up getting some cute pictures. Here are a few:

Alice's 1st Birthday Party

It's hard to believe that Alice's birthday has come and gone and that my little girl is one! In some ways it went by really quickly, but in other ways it has seemed like she's been with us for forever. At her one year check-up, Alice weighed in at 18 pounds 12 ounces (14th percentile) and measured 30 1/2 inches (79th percentile). She surprises me every day with everything that she's doing. She loves to say "hi," "hello," "mama," "dada," "ball," "elmo," "no," and an occasional "baby." She gives fives, blows kisses, waves, claps, walks around with her tummy sticking out, and gets into trouble! Lately she holds everything up to her ear likes it's a phone and starts babbling.

We had a family birthday bash for Alice the day after her birthday, despite her being sick (I had to take her to the doctor on her actual birthday). We had kind of a Cafe Rio-esque dinner with cake. It was pretty low-key, but it was fun all the same. The following are pictures from the party:

unfortunately, they messed up her name on the cake

the adorable cake that my sister Emily made

the party table with decorations

the cousins with the pinata

Alice and me opening presents

the birthday banner I put together

Let it Snow!

A few weeks ago, it finally snowed. We borrowed Dude and Korrin's snowsuit to bundle Alice up for temple square and decided to use it again to introduce her to the snow. Although she didn't love the experience of being in the snow (or the feeling that she couldn't quite move in the snowsuit), we did get a few cute pictures of her.