Merry Christmas

Yeah, it was one of those days. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year! We love all of you!

Birthday Time, again

Not only has my baby turned one but my other baby just turned 4, ouch. While it breaks my heart to think that Macy is growing older I have to admit that I really enjoy this age. Macy can take care of herself but not so much that she doesn't love to cuddle and hang out with her mom and dad. Macy has a huge heart and is a natural peacmaker. She is funny and smart and beautiful. 4 years ago on Thanksgiving I realized what it was like to fall instantly and thoroughly in love.

For Macy's bday she had a princess party. 8 girls, 1 boy, and 1 sane mom, it was a success!

Autumn Time

Well here we are again. Another season change and another catch-up post. The past few months we have relished in fall leaves, went pumpkin hunting with grandma and grandpa Boshell, went to the pumpkin patch (located at our friendly Smith's grocery store) with our neighbors, celebrated Halloween, and spent a week in Midway. The following pictures are proof of all of our fall fun!

GG, Shilo, Macy and yes Minnie the dog is wearing a costume.

My mom made Macy's costume. Really, this lady can sew.

Shilo the chicken. The best part was her waddle!

Midway

My One Year Old

It happened. My baby turned one. I know that everyone says this but I can't believe how fast this year has passed. Shilo has truly been a blessing in our family. She is full of life; we call her our little firecracker. While I think that she has inherited her dad's independence streak she also loves to give kisses and snuggle. I haven't found a thing that she won't eat, except for her birthday cake which I believe she wouldn't eat because the candle scared her! She loves to jabber and dance. She is truly in love with her dad, when he's home nobody else exists.
I hope that as she grows she never loses sight of her strengths and identity. I love my little Shi.

Photos taken by Vanausdal Photography. See vanausdalphotography.blogspot.com

In celebration of Shilo's birthday we went to the zoo.

Since Shilo literally wouldn't touch her birthday cake uncle Nick and Macy took care of it for her!

Pangletown

Last week Bryan and his brothers decided that the manly thing to do was to go hunting. So we packed the family up and traveled down to Panguitch. Luckily Bryan didn't find a deer worthy enough and we came home empty handed. I love driving in the mountains of southern Utah. It's a different kind of beauty than I am used to but it is still beautiful. I had a blast hanging out with the girls-Ruth, Char, and Laura. While we didn't take too many photos I managed to shoot this one of the girls and their most recent cousin, the big M and of the go-cart ride.

Cousin time

The first cousin relationship is an interesting relationship, bonded by blood but not often by life experiences. I am blessed to have an array of cousins ranging in age, religion, political affiliation, and geography. The past few years as my grandparents have aged and passed away I’ve felt a desire to grow closer to my family, my cousins. So recently with the help of my uncle’s cabin, I and my girl cousins got together for an awesome weekend. While I tease most of them for being older than me (which they are) I love them and am glad we started this tradition of keeping family bonds tight.

Boshell Summer Fun-Part ll

With fall just around the corner and school in session I've decided to wrap up the summer blog-style! Here are pictures documenting the latter half of the summer.

Aunt Larla married Erik, congratulations! Macy was very diligent in her assignment to carry the wedding gown train wherever Aunt Laura went.

Weekend in St.George. When Bryan and I lived in Cedar City we often frequented Mongolian BBQ located in St. George. It is a wonderful restaurant with delicious and healthy food. We were so excited to introduce it to Macy and Shilo. Macy was quite good with chopsticks.

Shilo preferred to eat the chopsticks rather than use them as an utensil.

On our way home from St.George we stopped in Hamilton Fort to visit Grandma Emoret and her chickens. Macy was a little nervous to go into the chicken coop. I was standing in the doorway with my camera in one hand and a mop in the other hand in case the rooster decided to attack!

The couch that we were sitting on is one of the most comfortable couches I have ever sat on, seriously. We love grandma E and wish that we could see her more often.

What is the summer without attending a good 'ole tractor pull? This is my aunt Shirlee showing the men how it's done!

Camping. Bryan and I decided that we needed to introduce our girls the wild outdoors (ie: Jolley's Ranch). We were both a little nervous to go camping but it turned out well.

Unfortunately Shilo is in the worst possible stage to go camping, crawling. We didn't want her crawling into the fire pit or the creek so we stuck her in a box. It was her cozy little play place!

Shi was tuckered out.

Check out Bry's shoes. Velcro is hot!

Honestly this kid can roast a hot dog. She is surprisingly patient.

So I guess that wraps up our summer. It's been a good summer with some changes and a lot of fun!

Discoveries

Have you ever made a decision and then down the road have questioned it? That’s been me lately, questioning, wondering, pondering, and then today came. I was trying to get some work done on the computer with both of my daughters on my lap. Shilo was pounding on the keyboard and Macy was asking non-stop questions. With all of the confusion and lack of accomplishment I realized that this is exactly what I want, my girls on my lap. Being a stay-at-home mom is hard, financially, emotionally, sometimes even socially but it’s worth it. We’re not rolling in the money, I probably won’t get my Corvette but what I have is worth more. Unsolicited “I love you mommy”, good morning hugs, consoling a crying baby, trusting my husband to be the man that he is, all combined with a lot of laughter is what makes me truly happy. Today I took a step back, exited the rat race of life, and found a little more peace and contentment.

Lake Powell

You know when you just need a vacation? That was me a few weeks ago, luckily my parents had a family trip planned to Lake Powell. Shilo was too young to go (baby, sun all day, and sand not a good mix) so she spent a few days with grandma Ruth. Bryan didn't feel like he could take work off so it was just me and Macy. While I missed Bry and Shilo it was fun to "bond" with Macy. Like always here are some pictures.

Chex Mix anybody?
Macy was the self appointed "flagger".






Allison and Luke were able to join us for a few days. Curtis met them while serving his mission in Iowa. They are awesome and we were so lucky to meet them!