Well Summer has finally come..I thought it would never get here! It definitely is my most favorite time of the year. I love spending the majority of the day outside playing in the yard, trying to get plants to grow and driving my hubby absolutely crazy with all the projects I want to do around the house. He always tells me I have a chemical imbalance..I have no clue what he is talking about!:)
I love this picture below, it is a picture of our street. Almost everyday Abbie and I love to take walks down it and she always has to stop and wave at all the cows, horses and dogs that we pass along the way. Although this summer is not that easy..she now wants to get out about halfway through and push me in the stroller..ha yea right.. I only wish!!

This is our neighbor's bush, I always love when it is in bloom..so pretty!

I came home the other day and Justin said he had a surprise for me. So instantly I thought he was the sweetest and had gotten me some stuff for the house I have been wanting. But I should have known.. I came home and this was his surprise. He and his bro Garret bought a 1960 something classic Ford truck. They love old cars and had been wanting to get an old mustang like they had in high school and fix it up. But when they saw this truck they decided they couldn't resist. It is actually really fun. All the inside is the original.. even the radio only plays AM so we only listen to 1960 music while drivin' around. Every time Abbie gets in she constantly says "cool daddy".

We finally got the patio shade cover thing finished(I can't think of what you actually call it) and the first thing Justin did was hang his hammock. I think this is where I will now find him whenever he isn't working!

Abbie's first encounter with a butterfly. It was so cute she kept laughing and trying to catch it and then she would ask the butterfly "what chya doin".

Can anyone say "BABY GOT BACK"!!!

While we were working in the yard Justin set up this little joy ride for Abbie to play on and man did she LOVe it!! Although we couldn't get Sadie to stay out but that didn't stop her, she busted up every time she and Sadie collided!

One of her favorite things now days is dressing herself in "pwetty skets". She is the most stubborn and independent little chick I've seen!! She insists on doing everything her way. I kept trying to pull her skirt up all the way but she wouldn't have it. I guess she already likes her booty hanging out..yikes!!!

This is exactly what my sweet little Abbs thinks of potty training!

This Memorial Day weekend we decided to take a little family rode trip down to Carlsbad Caverns. It was a lot of fun. The caverns were really neat. Abbie kept saying "dis es fon or cool daddy" She did really good the entire time until she got away just long enough to fall and skin her knee up. So of course her crying echoed big time throughout the entire caverns! I'm sure everyone was wondering who her crazy parents were!!

On our way home we decided to make a quick stop by the beach!! Yea right only in my dreams! This crazy picture is taken at white sands new mexico. It really is pretty weird .. in the middle of new mexico there is tuns and tuns of this white sand. I didn't get many pics b/c it was really bright and I forgot Abbie's sun glasses and she was super grouchy from being in the car forever! But it was worth the stop.. although all it basically did was really get me in the mood for lying on a real beach with waves drenching me, sippin' on a big fat diet coke and of course maybe a side of ice cream! Awww I could get lost in that dream for awhile!:)

As I was going through my camera I saw this pic and had to stop and look at it for a minute.. I can't believe how big she is getting, it honestly kinda makes me sad! Just ignore all the mosquito bites on her face, I swear my little chick is made of sugar, I can't keep those dang bugs off her!!!

Now I remeber why I dont blog too much anymore.. as I was just finishing this post I realized my little monster had snuck in the kitchen and emptied the enitre NEW bottle of dish soap all over the floor and rug! Oh the joys of parenthood!!

Well- I thought I would do a quick update since I am sitting here with Justin and his brother and they are watching a super lame show on how to build hot rod cars.. boring!!!So this picture basically describes Abbie for the past few months! She has been super busy and into everything. Shortly after I took this picture she rubbed it all in her hair so she would be "pretty" which usually happens after most meals!!! A while ago she walked up to Justin with her hair drenched saying "pretty" so Justin followed her and she took him into the bathroom where he realized she was using toilet water! AHHH!!! It is a daily battle trying to keep "pretty" things out of her hair!!

This was the day we were planning on getting the yard ready to plant more grass. Crazy weather.. the most snow we got all year was at the end of March. Abbie loved the snow except for the part that Justin and Garret kept throwing snowballs at us. They think they are so Funny!!

If Justin ever read this I'm sure he would kill me for posting this but I thought is was so funny and describes my crazy hubby so well. A couple weeks ago he had a ear ache and so I told him I had heard somewhere that if you put a garlic clove in your ear it will help..totally thinking he wouldn't do it ..he usually never listens to me!:) But he did and actually slept like this all night!

He's so funny!

I can't believe it has been five years since Justin and I got hitched!! It has definitely been a crazy five years but I never would have wanted to spend it with anyone else. For as much as he drives me crazy (and I guess I might sometimes drive him crazy too ;) I couldn't have asked for a better husband and daddy to my little monster. He makes Abbie and I laugh everyday. All day Abbs is asking where her daddy is and when he gets home she usually doesn't let him leave her sight. He is one of the hardest working guys I know and yet still comes home and helps me out. He is the best and we love him!

March was also Just's 28th birthday! We are gettin so old!!!! I asked him what his favorite part of his birthday was and he told me his costco cake. I have never met anyone that loves cake more then him...it's a close tie with my love for ice cream.. and that's bad!!! Last year he wanted the huge sheet cake you can get from costco and yes we ate the whole thing basically just the two of us. I know we are sick!!!

Well, February has been a pretty eventful month for our family! First of all we found out a few weeks ago that we will be having another sweet little drama queen coming to our family in June! I love how she is already acting the part by posing with her little fist under her chin! I think it is going to be super fun to have two little girls together. Justin's friend called and told him he is the king of estrogen... even our dog and horse are girls! Ha- poor Justin!!

My little brother Preston also came home from in mission in South Africa! As you can see he really became one with the culture!! It has been so good to finally have him home...he is still most definitely the same ol' Pres with just a stronger testimony! We all loved listening to all his crazy, funny, yucky, and of course super spiritual experiences. He sure was a fun and hard working missionary!

Karli was so excited she could hardly stand it. She was counting down the hours..literally!:)

Abbie is still warming up to Preston. But I don't think it will be long before she is running around the house asking where Pres is just like she does with "Karyee" and "Sack".

During all the craziness of the homecoming dinner Abbie and Cambria snuck away to watch "Abbie" ( which is the Little Mermaid but Abbs calls Abbie because they both have red hair:)

And finally according to Justin the most exciting thing in February was the arrival of our 30 new baby chicks!! A while back he was watching some Discovery show on chickens and decided he wanted to become a "chicken farmer". So every night he was on the Internet researching what breeds were the best, how to raise them, how to build a coop, etc etc. He is now the chicken expert!! He is so crazy!:) Abbie absolutely loves them.. multiple times throughout the day we have to go out an look at the "bak baks"!

I guess I have to admit they are kinda cute! In a few months we are going to have eggs coming out our ears, so if anyone wants any please come get some!! :)

Wow.. I have been out of the blogging mood for a long time but I thought I better do a quick update before I get too far behind. So this is a short abbreviation of what we have been up to lately. This year for Christmas we stayed here in the good ol' nuevo mexico . (As you can tell I'm starting to fit in ;) We had all of Justin's family and all his uncle's family over for Christmas Eve which was a lot of fun! Abbie absolutely loved sweet little baby Paizlee. She would not leave her alone the entire night. She has always been my little girly girl. She has always loved babies and is usually trying to carry around all her dolls at once!!

Every Christmas Eve our neighborhood gets together and puts luminarias up and down the entire street. It really looks super neat!!

Christmas morning we loaded up all our presents and took them over to Justin's parents house so we could all open them together. But I left out a few of the presents from Santa so it would be a little easier. Abbie loved them, although the baby kinda freaked her out because it did this weird eye blinking thing and made funny sucking noises, but she got used to it and now won't put her down!!

I am so not a animal in the house kind of girl but when it gets super cold outside Justin sneaks in Saydie and Abbie is in heaven! I have found her trying to kiss Saydie on the lips, share her binky with her, and is constantly trying to hug her!!! But Saydie is such a good dog and just lays there while Abbie tourchers her.. poor dog!

I just loved Abbie's face in this pic..you can tell she doesn't like to share her "horsey" rides! We are still working on the sharing thing!

For Thanksgiving we went to SJ. This is the only picture I got. I guess I was too busy stuffing my face! :) First thing Karli did when she woke up was dress up her and Abbie.. make up and all!

After the fourth Halloween Justin and I have spent together I have realized I have married the Halloween nazi! We all had to dress up whether we liked it or not and he had his costume planed out since Oct 1! I tried to get him to match Abbs and I but it just wasn't "good enough"!?! Halloween night he had scary music blaring from the garage, about 10 carved pumpkins all over the drive way, spider webs everywhere, and he and his brother sat and scared the older kids who would come to the door. It was pretty funny! We also had some friends come over so that their kids could go trick or treating in our crazy neighborhood. It was a great Halloween!

My sweet little bumble bee!!

Now that Abbie has gotten a little bigger Justin sometimes takes her with him when he rides his horse which she absolutely loves!!! She cries every time I have to take her off! I think she is going to be daddy's little "cowgirl'!

Justin was so proud that his little girl loves to ride with him that, that next week he had to go and buy her, her own pair of cowgirl boots. Even though they were about two sizes too big she still loved them and I could hardly pry them off her!

This past weekend we met my family at my grandparents to just hang out and be lazy. Although after a while we all started to go a little stir crazy so of course Justin wanted to take my brothers on in a competition of who could do the best "tricks" on the tramp. He thought he would for sure win with his fancy front flip and smooth finish of landing on his booty.

Zack somehow got his huge body into multiple back flips..

and Nate of course was full of all sorts of different flips. This is when he was doing some kind of crazy side flip...he's nuts!! After all was said and done Justin was still convinced that his front flip took the cake! :)

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.