Winter Please Go Away...Come Again Another Day

I miss the sunshine! I miss being able to see the valley, but mostly I miss getting out of the house more often. Stella is so big and articulate now at 17 months old. Just the other day I told her she could not have mommies medicine. I explained how dangerous medicine is and that only Mommy and Daddy can give it to her. To this she whined, "I'm sick! I'm sick! Sick!". I was amazed and impressed.

She is very entertaining and fun to take care of, but I wish we had more stuff to do. Activities that don't cost a lot of money are a must, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel...drawing in baby powder that spilled on the table. Actually it was quite fun! We have gone to Ikea to play with the toys and grab a free kiddie lunch, visited Arctic Circle in Herriman over and over again (a cone is only $1.07 and comes with an hour of kid friendly play time, yipee!), we traipsed all over Cabela's, used a coupon at Jumpin Jacks and had a blast, and we visited Boondocks and their kiddie jungle gym that Stella is not quite big enough to maneuver. We have had a lot of fun, and are looking for some more cheap and cheerful ideas.


We also have a new roomie. My brother Tim came to live with us and the best part is that his son Talen is included in the Tim Ross package. He is so cute and so much fun and Stella adores him. He calls her "Lella" and she loves to give him loves.


Life is good and holding steady. We are amazed at the joy of being parents everyday and are grateful for what the lord has provided.

The Great Escape!

Tag I'm it!

This is contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut. Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at The Great Gypsy Escape!

1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be?
Capri, Italy or the French Riviera

2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car?
Rehab by Amy Winehouse.....I love the groove of it

3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do?
Go to San Francisco or LA and visit all of the eateries I have seen on "The best thing I ever ate" and "Diners Drive-ins and Dives".

4. What is your guilty pleasure?
Creme Brulee Haagen Daz ice cream or a homemade hot fudge brownie sundae with sea salted caramel and toasted almonds (it will make your toes curl with pleasure I promise)

5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home?
Hawaii, not very original

6. Last book that you couldn't put down?
Magic Study

7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch?
Hackers.....it brings me back to a time in my life that was really care free

8. My favorite local escape?
H2O Spa

9. How do you escape on a budget?
I go to a great small little ethnic restaurant like Channon Thai or the Red Iguana

10. Best food you've ever had while on vacation.
At the Beachcomber and Keeii restaurants in Kona, Hawaii

Celebrations and Sadness

My wonderful grandpa, Leland Taft Teeples, passed away on August 25th after a long a tiresome battle with blood disease. He was an accomplished and loving man who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others. He will be greatly missed. We celebrate his life and embrace our sorrow as it is a measure of our love for him.

We are also celebrating the one year anniversary of the new addition to our family. Stella turned one on 8/18/2009. It was a fun party and we want to thank all those who were able to attend and all of those who were thinking of our Stella Belle. Thank you for the adorable gifts.

Stella is growing at such a remarkable rate. She says new words all the time like, "ball", "bum", "bye-bye", "hi", "peas", and "baby". Not to mention her own little language of jibber jabber that goes on and on and on. She is running around all over the place and is fascinated by the world. She helps her mom pick tomatoes and loves to climb on the open dishwasher. She giggles whenever Frank gives her kisses and is becoming less stingy with giving mom and dad "loves". She is very emotional and knows how to throw fits like no bodies business. She sleeps well and eats really well.

At her one year well check she was in the 15 percentile for her weight at 18 lbs. and 14 oz. and 90th percentile for her height at 30 inches. We feel very blessed to have her in our lives and treasure each day with her. I marvel at her growth and the wonder she has for the world around her. Her wonderful Daddy is working a lot to make our life comfortable and we love him very much!

New Pictures...well almost new

These are some pictures we had taken a little while ago. Stella is getting so big. her first birthday is coming up soon...August 18th. We have been having a lot of fun. We have made a trip to the Farmers Market downtown, splashed in the new lake in Herriman, swam at the pool, and played a lot out in the sun. Life is good and we are very blessed. Stella took her first steps on Father's Day and has yet to take off on her own. She will stand for about 60 seconds...take a few steps and then sit down and crawl. She is very fast and such a chatter box. She says "Bye", "Boom", "Dog" "Daddy" "Momma" and she tries very hard to say her name as well as everything Mom and Dad say.

Rodeo fun in Herriman!

Things are going well for our family. Summer has brought the sun and the warm weather to us and facilitated some fun adventures for Stella and our family. Stella had an eventful month of May. She learned to army crawl, got her first tooth, and learned to clap her hands...and all in one week! She is cruising around and improving her verbal skills all the time. She is the light of our life! Her toothless grin is something to behold. I love it!

We attended the PRCA rodeo in Herriman with Grandma Ross, Aunt Charity, Cousin Brighton, and Uncle Timmy. We all had a really good time eating and snacking, watching the events, goofing off, and chatting. Timmy enjoyed taking some pictures of all of the events with our new camera. He got some really cool shots.

We attended the Jackson Family reunion over Memorial Weekend in Richfield. It was a big party for my Grandpa and Grandma Teeples 60th wedding anniversary. I am in awe of them. We all are. Congratulations! We got re-acquainted with family members we have not seen in quite some time, ate some good food, scrap booked pages for a gift for the couple of honor, and had a lot of fun. Rachel and I even played some volleyball!

We toured the Thanksgiving Point gardens a few weeks ago month with Stella's Aunt Tierney and Cousin Maddie. The gardens are beautiful and the weather was fantastic. Dan, Tierney, and Maddison moved to Herriman and we could not be more pleased! We really enjoy spending time with them and easy access makes it even better.

Stella is growing big and learning more and more everyday. I am so happy to be home with her and to be there everyday to witness her growth and learning. Little babies and kids truly elevate the everyday knowledge, skills, and experiences to the extraordinary.

Stella is growing up so fast. She is 8 months old today! She rolls all over the floor and loves the freedom. Boy is she fast! She is working on crawling, but I wouldn't be surprised if she took after her mommy and only crawled for a few days and then started walking. She loves to walk around with mom or dad's hands for support. She can do it with only one hand, but it still makes her nervous. She can support herself by holding onto the couch and can pull herself up all by herself. All she wants to do now is walk around. When mom gets tired, Stella gets ticked off!

She is eating lots of new foods. She loves sweet potatoes, applesauce, yogurt, Cheerios, graham crackers, and macaroni and cheese. She is on a little bit of an eating strike, but hopefully that will resolve itself.

I love being her mommy and I really enjoy being at home with her. I couldn't even imagine it any other way. John is such a great support and a fabulous daddy. We are very blessed!

We love you guys!

It sure has been a long time since I posted last. Things have been a little hectic around here. I had my surgery on 3/27 and due to a complication I ended up with a spinal headache due to leaking spinal fluid. After 2 blood patches the leak did not resolve and I had to lie FLAT on my back 24/7 for about 2 weeks. Thank you! Thank you! For so many wonderful helpful family and friends. These include but are by no means limited to: My mom, my mother-in-law Jane, Charity, Candice, Dan and Tierney, Becky, Tim, my best girl Angie, neighbors Susan and Chris, Rachel, and of course the best of all my FABULOUS husband. John took the week off to nurse me back to health, wait on me hand and foot, and be the worlds greatest Daddy to little Stella. Stella was so great throughout all of this from the 2 hour wait during the surgery, that took unexpectedly almost 6 hours, to the 2 weeks of mommy being out of commission. She was delightful, patient, and just plain adorable. So was her Daddy!

The dinners, flowers, company, prayers, and well wishes were so helpful. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful support system and such loving people in our lives. I am feeling a lot better and healing nicely. I should be all healed up in a few more weeks. My leg pain had been greatly reduced by the pump and I am so grateful. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts! We cannot adequately express our gratitude.