Christmas Pictures

We had our family Christmas pictures taken this year by a guy who lives in Rexburg named Brandon Bishop. His prices are really reasonable, and we really liked his work. The pictures on our Christmas cards were taken by him. I have had a request for additional pictures of our family, so I wanted to include Brandon's website.

http://brandonscustomimagesblog.blogspot.com

For those of you who live in Rexburg or close to it, we really recommend Brandon Bishop. If you are looking for someone to take great pictures at an excellent price, then contact Brandon!

Emily's 12th birthday!

Emily turned 12 on December 13. We celebrated at Mom's apartment after Elizabeth's luncheon was over. Emily got lots of books for her birthday, including one that Karen put together on Shutterfly that were full of pictures taken of Emily at the John Hayes Museum in Salem. Emily had a chocolate cake that Mom ordered from Deseret Book. It was very delicious. My grandma came to visit this past week. She just left today, and I miss her already! It was nice that she could be here for Lizzy's blessing and Emily's birthday.

Elizabeth's Blessing

Elizabeth had her baby blessing given by Bryce this past Sunday, the 13th. We had a luncheon after Sacrament meeting at our place. Kathy made her beautiful blessing dress. Doesn't Lizzy look so pretty? Devon loves holding his baby sister, and gets upset if someone tries to take her away!

More Pics

I had taken a final pregnancy picture on November 8, so that is what I looked like at the end. Here are also a couple more pictures of Elizabeth.

More Pics of Elizabeth

We have had a couple of people asking for more pictures of Elizabeth. Crystal asked for one of Bryce and Lizzy, so I got one of them sleeping. Here are also pictures of Devon being a sweet older brother.

Elizabeth is here!

On Saturday, Catherine called when I had just got done playing basketball telling me that she was having contractions and I needed to get home and get her to the hospital. At 9:19 on November 14th, Elizabeth Jane was born. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 18 inches long. She is a sweetie and already has dad wrapped around her little finger. We brought her home today and Devon has been really sweet with her so far. Both Catherine and Elizabeth are doing well and are healthy. We will post more pictures as we take more. Love you all!

Miscellaneous Pics

On Halloween morning I took Devon to a couple's apartment in our ward who take professional pictures. They had offered to take free pictures of the kids in their costumes, so I made sure to get Devon over there. I thought it was way nice of them to do that. He looks like such a cute little superhero!

I thought the other pictures were funny, because Devon likes to act like he's playing the Xbox while Bryce is. The controller he's holding doesn't even have any batteries in it, but he doesn't know that!

Happy Halloween!

Devon had a good time collecting lots of candy this year as Superman! We went to Melaleuca on Friday so Devon could get candy from the different offices. Then on Halloween we had a ward trunk or treat. We decorated our trunk as you can see, but it ended up being pretty windy and a lot of our decorations blew down. But all the kids care about is getting candy, so no big deal! Bryce carved our Utah Jazz pumpkin. One of the guys in our ward said that he now respected Bryce as a Jazz fan since he even carved a pumpkin to show what his favorite team is! I took Devon to a couple of places later on in the evening, but the bulk of his candy came from the trunk or treat.

Baby Shower

Mom threw me a baby shower on October 17. My cake was very delicious, and I had specifically told Mom that I wanted the plush Minnie Mouse that's on top of the cake for Elizabeth. We played three games and I opened my gifts while everyone else ate cake. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts and cards! I got a ton of adorable clothes, a double stroller, blankets, a robe, hooded towels, and other necessities. I tried to post at least one picture that showed my stomach pretty well. I am exactly 33 weeks along today!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Devon!

Devon turned two on September 21st and we had a birthday party for him on the 20th. As you can see, Spongebob was the theme. Spongebob is definitely Devon's favorite TV character. He and few other little boys had fun hitting the Spongebob pinata. We finally had to have Bryce bust it open. The thing seemed like it was made of steel! My mother-in-law, Kathy, made the adorable Spongebob cake. It was delicious! Devon got a couple of pairs of cool sunglasses. He likes just placing them on his head more than anything, like he's doing in his car. Devon got a lot of nice things for his birthday: clothes, Spongebob items, a Superman Halloween costume, shoes, bath toys, a Berenstain Bears DVD, and books. It was a nice party. Thank you to everyone who was able to come, and thank you to all who sent gifts and cards.

Misc. Pics

Here are just some different pictures that I have taken recently. Bryce and I went to Mammoth Hot Springs about a week and a half ago in Yellowstone National Park. We had already bought Playmill tickets to see "Guys and Dolls" on August 15, and then we found out that the park was free that weekend, so we decided to take advantage of it. This was the first time that we had gone to this part of the park. They were doing some construction, which included a lot of blasting, so we didn't see too many animals this time. I have never gotten to see a bear or a moose while I've been in the park.

I had Emily take a picture of my pregnant self to let you all see my belly's progress. I will be 25 weeks along tomorrow, and recently had to start pulling out the maternity shirts. I have been wearing maternity pants for awhile, but hadn't had to wear the shirts until a few days ago.

The reason I took a picture of the back of Devon's head was because he had his first official haircut. I trimmed a little curl awhile ago, but I really got the scissors going this time. I had to have Bryce and Emily help me hold onto Devon while I cut his hair, because he wasn't too thrilled with the process. I took the picture of Devon in his car, because I thought it was funny that he had put my car keys in the keyhole. I was looking for my keys and all of a sudden noticed them in his car. He's a funny boy, that's for sure!

A Girl!

Catherine had an ultrasound appointment yesterday, and at first the doctor couldn't tell if the baby was a boy or a girl. So, he went ahead and did all of the other stuff (checking the heart, doing measurements, etc). Devon kept looking at the ultrasound and saying "baby, baby" over and over again, so at least he understands, somewhat, what is going on. After a little bit, the doctor checked again and said that we are having a girl! The doctor said that both mom and baby are healthy and the expected due date remains the same-December 10th. We definitely have some busy months ahead. :)

Trip to Indiana

This past week was our annual trip to Indiana. We had a lot of fun visiting friends and family. The week just flew by. These pictures show some of our activities. Devon got to ride the carousel at the Washington County Fair a couple of times. We also let him play a couple of games, which he won prizes for. He had fun sharing a sno cone with my stepmom, Karen, while there! We went to the John Hays Museum in Salem and had Devon's pictures taken by Shane Dowling. Anyone can view these pictures and purchase them online. The website is www.dowlingfamilyphotos.com. You have to add the www. to make it work. When you get to the main page, scroll down and click on portrait proofs. Then click under the "libka" file. You will then be asked to give a password, which is "Devon". If anyone has trouble viewing the pictures, just e-mail us or give us a call. Emily and Dad are racing in one of the pictures. Emily likes to have what she calls "contests" when we visit Dad. They usually have a race, play basketball, throw a frisbee, etc. Dad always trash talks and Emily thinks it's great and always ends up winning the contests somehow. LOL! Devon also made a new friend named Lilli. She is my friend's, Jenne Smith, daughter. I was able to visit with Jenne, Andrea, Mariah, Summer, Rachel, and Ashley while we were there. It was nice to see them and catch up on things. It's always hard to say goodbye, but it is nice to have the time there that we do.