Sorry this is a really long post...but about a month or so ago my cute cuz Kristin took pics of Abbs for me!! There were a tun of cute ones but for some reason my computer wouldn't let me save them so I could post more, it only let me do this one. I'm sure I messed it up somehow ( I hate working on computers!) But hopefully I'll get it figured out because I love how she captured Abbies sassy attitude perfectly!! But here's my little red head at about 15 1/2 months!! Ok- on to the long part.. a few weeks ago our little fam took a vacation!! We went and saw my cousin and her hubby in Delaware. It was honestly the best!! I could go on and on about all the different things we saw and did but I will spare everyone and try to really condense it.

From the moment we got there we started running and didn't stop the whole time. It was a complete miracle because my busy little girl was good basically the whole time!! We first went to Gettysburg. This is a picture of just one the cemeteries. It was super neat learning more about what happened there. Justin kept makin' fun of me because I really got into all the history back there and kept wanting to learn more, but it was just all so interesting to me!

After Gettysburg we went to Lancaster Pennsylvania to see the Amish! This is a pic of Abbs in front of one of the cute Amish stores.

The Amish farms were so beautiful!

Justin loved to watch how they cut and gathered their hay. I didn't post a pic but we saw a father and young son (maybe 10) each using a team of about 5 horses to harvest their corn. I couldn't get over how little the boy looked, but it didn't stop him he kept right up with his dad!!

I got a kick out of this picture. It was a mom and son coming home from the store in a wagon! I can only imagine Abbie and I doing that.. she would either jump out or be jumping all over me!!

My cousin Lexi's house is really close to the beach.. so we had to take Abbie for her first time to see the ocean. At first, as you can see in this picture she wasn't too sure what she was looking at...

but as I figured it wouldn't take her long to want to run and jump into it! The rest of our time there was spent blocking her from the water...it was freezing!! As you can see in the picture Justin thinks his turn is over!! :)

The east coast beaches are so beautiful.. so different from the west coast beaches. I love all the tall grass growing near by! (I told Justin he should have wore the same get-up the guy behind us is wearing.. hot ;) !!!

Lexi's husband Hector has a speed boat and took us on a ride out to the ocean. I love how whenever I take Justin's pic he always look so "cool" .. I can hardly ever get him to smile..what a dork! But it was really pretty .. I've never seen so many trees or at least what I kinda saw of them since my eyes were mainly closed the entire time b/c I swear Hector didn't go below 60mph the entire ride!!!

Then off to Washington DC. I didn't post many pictures because everyone has seen them before. But the museums were so great.. I could go into detail about them all but I will spare you. I'll just say I'm definitely fascinated about our countries history and am so grateful that I live in this amazing country!

Our next destination.. the BIG NYC!!!!! Lexi was so sweet and offered to watch Abbie while Justin and I went to NY! Wow- what a big city!! When we first got off the bus we were both so lost. This is one of the many times we had to stop and figure where in the heck we were. I guess we are both just a couple of hicks!! Oh- and you can see that Justin is wearing a hat.. well it is a Boston Red Sox hat and if anyone goes to NY NEVER wear that hat. We didn't realize what rivals Ny and Boston are. Need less to say he eventually took if off after about he 20th comment!!

Times Square.. right next to our hotel!

I loved Central Park, we spent most of the afternoon there! The colors were so beautiful!! To say the least it was one of our best vacations! Thanxs so my Lex for letting us bunk up with you two for so long.. we already miss it!!

Ok- it is definitely confirmed.. I am loosing my mind!! Today Abbie had been super cranky, I think its b/c she is getting in one molar, I swear the kid only gets in one tooth at a time making to miserable for she and I!! So in between trying to update my blog I decided I would give her a bath to try and make her feel better..well this is what happened. I went to grab a towel and noticed I had put her in the bath with her DIAPER ON!!!! I always knew that when I had her she stole some of my brain cells and I guess its true.. I can't even imagine what I'll be like when I have more kids.. yikes!!:)

As I finally sat down to update my blog, I looked over and this is the little booty I saw! I have been meaning to put her walker away but lately when I'm doing Justin's paperwork I have found that if I set her in it and give her a few snacks it helps to keep her trapped so she can't make HUGE messes (for at lease a short while) !
I don't know what happened to my sweet little baby. It seemed like the day she turned one is the day she got an attitude and turned into my little terrorizer! Her favorite things to do are: unload everything from the cupboards while mommy isn't looking; quietly sneak into her room and pull out ALL the wet wipes from a new case; push all of daddy's buttons on his printers and credit card machines so the next day he spends and least 30 min figuring it all out; kiss mom's newly cleaned mirrors with peanut butter covered lips; once outside, immediately head to any dirt, water or mud and completely cover herself with it; etc. etc , but her absolute favorite is bossing around Saydie (our dog) and her baby dolls!
Although she does definitely keep me on my toes, I have to say I do love her little sassy attitude! She is so much fun and cracks me up everyday with all her new words and just watching how her little mind works!
Lately going shopping has been a nightmare... I won't even go into the details I'm sure everyone gets the picture - but I have found the solution!!! We went to Costco and they had balloons and of course she had to have an "oon" so I loosely tied it to her wrist and I was in total shock!!! She didn't want out of the cart once the entire time.. miracle!!! She was even good when we went to Target after! Now I just need to find a place that has helium balloons every time I go shopping :)

Anyway.. this summer was super crazy, which they usually always are and I was really bad at remembering my camera, so I'll just post what we have been up to lately. For labor day we went to SJ to hang out with my fam. As always it was a lot of fun. We decided to try our luck and go 4-wheeling in Nutrioso...and it turned out that we got pretty lucky it only rained on us for a short while. Abbie loved it.. she slept most of the time.. yea!! Oh- and don't you just love Justin's pink little coat, we were really scrounging to find rain proof gear! The pose makes it look even better!:)

This is on the top of Greens Peak.. soo pretty!! We were able to climb the big metal tower, which I thought was actually kinda scary, but worth it. I just LOVE the mountains!

This is a really bad pic (camera phone) but we went to the Brad Paisley Concert!!! I just loved our double date.. Garret and James.. it reminded me of the cruise we took a while ago. It seems like I'm always stuck with a bunch of boys! They are a lot of fun but it would be nice to have a little more girl talk..hint hint!!

It rained all day and so I thought for sure we were going to get soaked, but we got lucky again because it stopped right before we left!! It was a blast and Brad was great!!

This year our garden once again turned into a jungle! I thought that I had done so well at spacing the plants so it wouldn't, but I was once again wrong.. maybe next year! Abbie loved just about everything, but her favorite was the grapes from our grape vine. I think she liked it because she could pick them herself and then they popped in her mouth when she bit them.

This year I tried canning salsa which of course was a lot of work, but worth it when I was done! I just got a bunch of apples so this week I'm heading to my gram's so she can help me make applesauce and apple pie filling .. she is the best!

I got this recipe from my sis in law and I thought it was super good, so I thought I would share the wealth! :) I am always looking for different ways to use the veggies I get from my garden.. so this was great! I have been meaning to post some pics from our crazy summer but I got a new camera and I haven't taken the time or I guess wanted to take the time to figure out how to get it loaded onto my computer. So hopefully sometime I'll get it done :)

Zucchini Boats

4 zucchini
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 medium-size onion, chopped
3/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped pepperoni (pork or turkey) or crisp-cooked bacon (optional)

Step 1 Fill a large soup pot halfway with water and add 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook the zucchini whole for 1 1/2 minutes, just enough to tenderize the shell. Use metal tongs to transfer them to a colander until they are cool enough to handle.

Step 2 Halve the zucchini lengthwise. Then scoop out the flesh with a spoon, being sure to leave an outer wall about 1/3 inch thick. Finely chop the flesh and set it aside.

Step 3 Measure the oil into a large sauté pan. Add the onion and zucchini flesh and sauté the vegetables over moderate heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Sauté for 2 more minutes.

Step 4 Add the tomatoes and turn up the heat slightly. When the mixture reaches a low boil, cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft. Remove the pan from the heat, then stir in the parsley, salt (at least 1/4 teaspoon), and a little pepper. Let the vegetables cool for several minutes, then add the bread crumbs, cheese, and, if desired, pepperoni or bacon.

Step 5 Heat the oven to 400° and grease a medium-size shallow baking dish with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Spoon the filling into the zucchini halves and arrange them in the baking dish.

Step 6 Bake the Zucchini Boats on the center oven rack for 20 to 25 minutes, until heated through. Serve right away. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I know it's a little late- but my sweet baby turned ONE on June 1!! It honestly made me a little sad. I just can't believe how fast this past year has flown by! She has been so much fun, she makes me laugh every day! Its weird looking back and seeing how much she has changed! When she was first born she had really dark hair and for a long time we thought her eyes were going to stay green... but now she is my feisty little red head with dark brown eyes!

Of-course the morning of her party I took her outside just long enough for her to be attacked by mosquitoes!! I was watching her the whole time I was pullin weeds and I guess the mosquitoes were too! I didn't see any around me so I didn't even think about them getting her. I felt like such a bad mom because of course she has sensitive skin so they swelled up like crazy!! So I had a mosquito bitten, cranky, tired baby on her first b-day!

I took a million pics of her while she was diggin into her cake and of course none of them turned out- but she definitely loved it. She cried the whole time until we put the cake in front of her. She instantly dug right in and ate every last crumb!! She is just like her mommy and LOVES the sweet stuff!!

It was really funny because Abbie and Cohen (her cuz) kept "sharing" with each other. I think they just liked sticken their fingers in each others mouths!! :)

Abbie got a lot of fun toys- she loves this grocery cart. It is super funny watching her push it around because it is almost as tall as she is and she has a hard time seeing over it so she is continually running into things and hasn't figured out how to turn it around. So she gets super frustrated and starts chucking everything out that she just took forever loading in. -funny girl-

Another one of her favorite toys is this magnet farm set thing. She loves to stand at the fridge and push the button because it plays songs and she loves to dance! So to say the least I have every song memorized and can never get the tune out of my head all day long!!!

The first part of June we went with Justin's fam to Durango. It was a lot of fun. I always like getting out of town and heading up to the mountains. We rented a pontoon boat so we could go fishing and hang out on the lake. Of-course all the kiddos were required to wear life jackets and it was hilarious trying to get the babies to wear them. Poor Abbie... the jacket was as big as she is!

This is definitely my favorite picture. She couldn't move at all! Her face says exactly what she thought of the whole thing! :)

Justin was nominated to be the captain- although he soon got fired because he kept hot rodding it and splashing us all!!

I also went to St. Johns to hang with the fam and take Abbs swimming for her first time. I have always love the sj pool. Growing up I think I spent everyday there in the summers! Although the first day it was kinda cold and windy and then the second day it was closed. But she still loved it! So instead of swimmin we went to the park and swung!

Her favorite thing right now is dogs or "doe doe" as she calls them. While she was swinging she saw a dog and started yellin for the doe doe.

Abbie absolutely loves water. Whenever I am watering the flowers she is constantly squirming in my arms so she can stick her hands in it. Although the absolute worst is when I irrigate .. she trys to do nose dives out of my arms so she can reach the water. One day I got sick of fighting her so I let her have at it. She instantly started splashing, crawling, rolling and even tried to drink it!! She is my crazy girl!

I can't believe summer is already here....TIME FLYS!!!! So far this summer has been super crazy for us. Justin usually leaves by at least 8:00 am and doesn't get home until around 8:30 pm Mon -Fri and on Sat he is gone until at least 2 or so and Sunday he usually has meetings!! Sometimes I go crazy but I am starting to get used to it. Abbie and I are definitely never board....since Justin is never home we get to do ALL the yard work and Justin's paperwork for his business on top of everything else. I really do like doing yard work but sometimes it gets overwhelming.. I swear I could pull weeds daily and still never get them all!! It was pretty funny.. a few days ago I was trying to start our lawn mower (which ALWAYS takes me forever) and of course the stupid thing wouldn't start , so I was yankin and yankin on the dumb string thing and after about the 20th pull I let a few cuss words slip and I was getting super ticked! I looked over at Abbie and my dog Sadie and they were both completely kicked back on the porch just watching her crazy mom.. I wish I had taken a pic cause it was really funny!




So...since we have been so crazy I really haven't taken any pics (besides the millions I took at my cousins wedding). But I did get this one, Abbie loves to talk on my cell phone. It is pretty funny every time she could get ahold of it she puts it right to her ear and starts blabbering.


So the rest of this post is for my cuz lexi.. since she lives in Delaware she couldn't make it to Tara's wedding so I promised I would take lots of pics and post them for her...sorry there is so many..I was kinda camera happy!

Tara and TJ

I can't believe it has been over4 years since we were at this same Temple!

* The cake *

gramp and Justin chillin in the shade at the temple

my cousin Devin who had just gotten home from in mission and my sis cam

And another cute little cousin Riggs. He was so pumped that he caught the guarder. I liked how he decided to wear it!:)

Even more cousins ( yes I have tuns!!) Makayla (top) and Makenna ( bottom ) both loved playing with Abbie and she definitely loved it just as much. I basically didn't see her the whole night. They had so much fun together!!

This is the picture that doomed us all!!! I'm pretty sure Justin feed Abbs refried beans all night.. because we definitely suffered for about 4 days after!!! I seriously didn't think such a little thing could honestly crap so much!!! Poor baby...and mommy! :)

I thought this picture was super cute.. Abbie was trying to give Payson (Ki's baby) a kiss. I wish the picture would have gotten him in it also, but he is behind the leg tryin to get away. :) Lately she has been such a smoocher! She will give ANYONE a big wet one including people at the store, luckily I stopped that one!!

Abbie buggin Payson again, she was trying to give him flower petals. I love his expression..such a guy!! :)

My funny gram dancin the night away like she is 17 again! ( Sorry lex.. my camera takes horrible pics)

My mom and some of my aunts doing the macaraina (no clue how to spell it :)

Justin trying to act like he is a pro dancer.. nice try !

gram and Zack, look at the height difference.. where does he come from!?!

Justin and Orrin trying to give all the boys tips on how to pick up on the ladies!! Whatever.. keep tryin!! :)

I just love this chick!