More Trick than Treat

I was really looking forward to Halloween this year because I found Launa a really cute costume, she would be old enough to enjoy it, and we'd even been practicing saying "Trick or Treat". The pictures speak for themselves... I tried on the hat, a cousin wore the hat, and to no avail, she wasn't even jealous enough to put it on. We captured the struggle on camera. At the end of the night if she was trying to kick the hat across the gym flooring yelling "no, no!" Better luck next year.

Tagged

I know I'm lame and never post pictures, but once I actually find my cord to connect the camera to the computer you'll be overloaded. I have some classics coming. :) In the meantime, my sister, Ally tagged me. I've been told I'm unique in a lot of ways so where to start...

#1. My pet peeve since I was 4 was people stepping on the back of my heel. Mark once skinned my heel with a shopping cart and I've never seen him so afraid.

#2. I've decided my all-time favorite movie is "The Notebook" -- I had no idea I was such a romantic.

#3. I'm so afraid of snakes I have dreams about them coming out of the ground everywhere. I should probably credit my syblings for letting me watch Indiana Jones at a young age. :)

#4. I think make-up should be banned. If no one invented it in the first place we'd already know who was beautiful and we could all quit wasting so much time and money (I'm sure this one is a real shock to those of you who know me)!

#5. I'm also afraid of windows at night. I can thank my brother Brandon and his pig face mask for this one.

#6. I spend ridiculous amounts of time making lists and doodling. I have no reasonable explanation for why.

I've decided to tag... Jen, Alli, Kimberly, Becky, Lacey, and Christine. Enjoy!

Miss Independent

For those of you who don't know, Mark and I are living in a travel trailer behind my in-laws (I know, it's a real treat). We've rigged out one of the bunks with a guard so that's Launa's bed. Usually, I put her down for a nap, go inside and do my laundry and then come back out. It was about the time I thought she should be waking up when I went out there and saw the camper door was open. She was standing on the step with the door open yelling "Mommy, Mommmmmmmy!" I don't know when she learned how to get down from her bed, open the door to her room, then open the door to the camper, but it was funny. What can I say? She is my little Miss Independent.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

I'm a couple days late, but my Dad just had his 58th birthday on September 13th and I wanted to do a post on a few reasons why he's the best...

#1. He is a great listener
#2. He has a great sense of humor and can laugh at himself
#3. He offers great advice (and generally only when you ask for it which is rare!)
#4. He shares my love for reading and history so we always have a lot to talk about
#5. He cared (and still cares) more about his family and children than about money (actions speak louder than words in this case... I'm a girl and he has rarely missed any events in my life, he worked a lot but made time when we needed him)
#6. He is genuine (You'll never see him pretending, "what you see is what you get")
#7. He is a "man's man" -- loves sports, fishing, isn't picky about the house or food, etc.
#8. He is always fun to be around
#9. I've always known how much he loved my Mom
#10. He is open-minded and fair (although I have heard him say "life's not fair" quite frequently:)
#11. He sympathizes & has empathy with me through the unpleasant aspects of life
#12. He is just a good person all around.
#13. He is a patient teacher (unless we're talking about water skiing :)
#14. He takes the time to be one of my best friends

I love you Dad!! I'm so glad you were born 58 years ago!

Chicago

I recently was complaining to Mark about him missing my family vacations this summer while his mother was in the room and Voila! Two weeks later we have been able to spend the past few days in Chicago visiting my parents who are on a mission here. Even though Mark really didn't want to take Launa on an airplane he made the sacrifice of a few hellish hours traveling with our baby so my parents could spend some time with her. Thus far, it has been great! My Dad called Launa a "delight" and told me her "spunkiness" was a good thing. For those of you who don't see me often, my Launa is a delight.... sometimes. My sister refers to her as "Jeckel & Hyde" and my brother dares people to stick their face close enough for her to get a swipe at them. With that said, she gives the best tight hugs, yaps my ear off, loves animals, and is the center of my world so it's always encouraging for other people to see her sweet side. My Mom has been treating me to all of her homemade cooking, we've been doing some shopping, and seeing all the awesome sites in Chicago. Have I mentioned I miss my parents? Chicago has such beautiful parks and amazing architecture here, there's just not enough time to see everything. We did do the Sears tower tour and the city boat tour and saw all their parks. I love history and reading so I loved it! Here are the top 5 best things I got to see & do while I was in Chicago (seeing my parents was of course the highlight)

1. Sear's Tower -- They have a ton of history and influential people through Chicago history that I found fascinating and the view was amazing

2. Boat Tour -- Here you tour through the city and they point out all the buildings and where they came from.

3. Streeterville -- A man started collecting the garbage from developers and basically built an additional 148 acres in Chicago, how amazing!

4. Fat Johnny's -- Not so much my favorite food per say, but Mark loved it. It was like this lean-to shack in the middle of not a great part of Chicago. I'll post a picture, but when the cop strolled up wearing the bullet protector and his badge, I was feeling slightly uncomfortable and ready to run for the car!

5. "Naperville Walk" -- Naperville was really a quaint suburb of Chicago that had a really neat running path that was just beautiful

If I ever come back there are some other things I still have to see. Chicago is definitely a must-see city however! I'm sad to leave tomorrow. Back to reality...

Life on the Farm

We've moved places a few times so I figured it was time for an update! Mark, Launa and I all moved back to Washington in April because Mark decided to buy his Grandma's farm. So... we moved back and Mark has spent the majority of his time slaving over his 100 acres of wheat while I've been doing my summer travels!

Launa is loving the country life. At first she was fascinated with the cows and woke up every morning saying "Moooo", but now she is now more interested in the baby kitties. She has even learned to say "Here Kitty Kitty!" As you can imagine they run the other direction but she loves to try to haul them around. Her other favorite pasttime is beating people up. :) When I picked her up from nursery on Sunday one of the older kids was telling her "you don't hit anymore" just about the time Launa was taking a swing at her. My pediatrician told me that it's good and normal for kid's to have tantrums at this stage and it's part of their development so I'm happy to announce that Launa is surpassing expectations in that category!

Mark is just wrapping up his final week of water on the wheat and then it dries out before we can harvest it. He'll be excited and relieved when our first little crop is finished. I'll have to post a picture when it's at that point. He is still working for Northwest Farm Credit, though he has moved into the commercial division instead of community.

I just started working yesterday for my older brother doing some bookkeeping (which I love!). I took my niece and nephews with me for a two week tour of all my syblings. It was great! I drove while they tried to entertain Launa. I'm going to volunteer to drive all the time. We did have a great time visiting cousins in Rexburg, Utah, and Las Vegas and were able to do a lot of fun things. My oldest sister just had a baby so we were especially happy to see Sara Kate Dunston.

We just got back from the Jenkins family tradition of camping at San Poil for a whole week. We got to enjoy the great outdoors which means that Mark got his fill of fishing in for the year and I reread the Twilight series while Launa ran wild with the kids. She loved every minute of it.

We were living with the Mollotte family for a few months. They were gracious enough to allow us to live in Mark's old bedroom. For those of you who don't know my husband there are multiple bird mounts all around the room. I got to wake up to a giant goose outstretched over the top of my side of the bed every morning, but all-in-all I couldn't complain, Launa loved greeting Grandma and Grandpa every day and it was fun. Now we've purchased a travel trailer we're going to live in while we work on building a house!

Beginning...

Hello! This is my first attempt at the whole blogging thing, but loved looking at everyone elses and thought it would be fun! Mark, Launa, and I are currently living in Rexburg, Idaho where it is March and still snowing on a regular basis! I'll get some pictures to show what it's really like.

Launa is now 14 months and has turned into quite the wild child! She must take after her Dad. She loves to dig through the fridge and "help" me cook, play peek-a-boo, rough house with Dad, go for wild rides on her buggy, read books, and eat anything remotely sweet (that she gets from me). The other day I caught her in the cupboard with the sugar dumped out eating it in handfuls! Yuck! She still shows her individuality by refusing to do anything the conventional way. Launa refuses to walk but does a "bum scoot" which you need to see in real life to do it justice. She is crazy but is also the joy and highlight of our lives. There is nothing better than sharing a good giggle from her! :)

Mark is still working for Northwest Farm Credit, which I have decided is the ideal job for him. He gets to go on farm visits and scout for great hunting land. I'm kidding. He really just enjoys getting to talk to all the farmers in the area and be out getting to know people. He is scheming for some big bear, deer, and elk hunting this season -- oh goodie.

I am also still working for my brothers doing their accounting and bookkeeping and staying home with Launa. It's insane but the challenges it offers keep me running and I'm never bored!

All-in-all life is pretty great for us. We feel lucky to be happy, healthy, and living around people we love.