Halloween

Ok- so I know Halloween was a long time ago, but I had to post some pictures of our little MONKEY!

We had a work party at my Aunt Val's house with all the girls.
I was a basketball player and Greg was a cowboy... except he left his hat in the car.

Later that week we went to our ward party.
It was a Trunk-or-Treat and then a chili cook-off afterward.
*Little side story... we dressed Malaya in the dark when we got there. She spit up right when we were putting her costume on and I couldn't really see. Once we got inside I realized that she had actually spit up all over the inside of her costume and it ended up getting all over her head...poor girl! :)

We also went to the mall that week. Malaya is all dressed in her Halloween tights and T!
I just had too much fun picking outfits for her :)

End of Summer

This is a long posting..sorry it's been a while and there is so much to share.. (I actually wrote it last week, but my computer was being crazy and it erased the whole thing... this is the second attempt.)

This is Sarah, (Davids girlfriend) holding Malaya at Silverwood. Mitchell worked at Silverwood this summer and let us use his free tickets so we all got to go for a fun family outing-

Thanks Mitch!

Sarah's daughter Jaylynn playing in the tree fort. Greg and I took Malaya downtown a lot this summer to play at the park.

Greg thought it would be fun to run through the water...

She loved going down the big red wagon slide!

Malaya Turns 4 Months Old! (oct. 5th)

At 4 months Malaya is rolling over, putting everything she can grab in her mouth, is fascinated with her feet, drules all over everything and loves to talk. Malaya getting her first taste of rice cereal...She LOVED it! At first she wasn't sure about it, but she ended up eating most of it.

(I think it was more fun for Greg and I to watch her) This vest was a gift from Grandma Mitchell from Swiss Days.

It's one of my favorite outfits for her...just so cute! Thanks gma! Thanks also to Jenny (Greg's sister) for sending us packages. She sent Malaya an adorable jump suit and coat along a sing-along book and shirts for both Greg and I. It was all great!
(and who doesn't like to get packages?) :)
Thanks Jenny!
Greg and I have been super busy with life and work lately- so for our day off we relaxed and went to the Green Bluff Pumpkin patches. We got some pictures and some pumpkins for carving later. Malaya is wearing a new sweater that I thought was so cute...Greg on the other hand- thought it looked like an old lady sweater...sad. Well- that is some of what has been happening in our lives in the last few weeks. Sorry this was so long :)

Picture update...

I just can't resist taking pictures of our sweet baby. She is getting so big and changing everyday. Yesterday she rolled over 3 times with no help! Yay! This morning I found her in her crib on her side smashed up against the side- she is such a mover- Im trying to think about ways to strap her down so she can't move in the middle of the night- any suggestions :)

At three months: she is starting to show her little personality.
She loves her puppy dog! (and loves to slobber all over it) She loves to stand up- what a strong little girl.
She tries to laugh when you tickle her neck, she loves to grab her hands and feet, she wakes up with huge smiles every morning, she is very vocal and can entertain herself for quite a while. We took some pictures before church today -we made it to the church just to find out nobody was there- it was stake conference and we forgot- dang! we could have slept in- so we had an hour to kill and we took some pics. Stake conference was great. It was a broadcast for all of Washington and Alaska. This was the first time in a while I was actually able to listen to a full talk without having to take Malaya out.
We are still trying to decide if we will move to the Spokane Valley or just stay here. We have been going back and forth between two stores and it feels like I haven't slept in three weeks. I am very glad to have a job, its just been hard to never have a break- one of us is either at work or with Malaya. (it doesn't help that she refuses to take a bottle either).
Life has definitely been different with a baby!

Just Kidding...

Well.. life doesn't always work out the way you plan it! Long story short- with our apartment all packed and the u-haul rented we found out Greg's job fell through. So... tears and all, I went and asked for my job back. Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Val, Greg and I are now both working at Plato's Closet. I am the manager at the new store and we work opposite shifts so we don't have to get a sitter. On top of all this chaos, Greg and I are both sick and I have completely lost my voice. UGH! Crazy!!

Our friends had a going away BBQ for us. Miles even brought Greg his own steak :) It was a lot of fun and yummy food. Thanks guys!
Now we joke that we need to have a welcome to the ward BBQ :) Here are a few pictures of Malaya we have taken over the last few weeks. She will be 3 months old on the 5th! Time has gone so fast and she is so big!

Big Changes Ahead...

Moving...
Yep. We are headed back to Utah this Friday. It's bitter sweet for both of us. We will really miss being close to my family and we will miss our ward and the friendships we have made here. Greg has the opportunity to do a job in Salt Lake and hopefully finish his last year of school at UVU.
We have been pretty busy lately- I have been training for someone to take over at Plato's Closet as well as trying to get some scrapbooking stuff done for my mom, not to mention packing and having a 2 1/2 month old that keeps me busy.

Hayden turned 15 this month.. CRAZY! (and Mitchell is driving...) Marcie Grimes from our ward made Malaya a beautiful blanket and 3 pairs of adorable baby booties. They are so cute! I had to take a picture of them and show them off. Thanks so much Marcie! Here is just another pic of my sweet baby :)

2 Months old

I can't believe Malaya is already
2 months! It has gone by so fast and she has gotten so big.
Malaya has been such a joy in our lives. We love to watch her little personality as she plays on the floor.
She LOVES the TV! She likes her Baby Einstein movie as well as all the Disney Classics. She has learned to roll on to her side and has made it all the way to her tummy a few times. She loves to talk to us and always has smiles to share. :) My favorite thing is watching her sleep... it has been quite entertaining. She is always laughing in her sleep and sometimes we get a full on cry, it makes us wonder what she is dreaming about.

We LOVE you Malaya!

Summer Fun

Wow... This summer has gone by so fast! Here are a few pictures to recap what's been happening

Here is Greg jumping off the rocks at Boulder Beach on the Spokane River. My family got together for a camp out and floating down the CDA river. Greg and Hayden(my little bro) brought their scuba stuff and had fun looking at the fish.
5 Year Anniversary!
WOW 5 years already? Yep! Time has gone by so fast. For our anniversary I made Greg a candy gram... it was kind of silly, but I figured we could eat the candy on our car ride to McCall Idaho for Greg's family reunion. Yummy :)
I love you Greg!
Family Reunion at McCall ID
Greg's Family has this tradition for the last 30 years. We rent condos on the Payette Lake in McCall and do lots of boating, jet skiing, swimming, cliff jumping, and of course eating WAY TOO much food! This was Malaya's first car trip. She did great. She slept most of the way. She's so sad she didn't get to go on a jet ski ride :) I just love her little hat.

Malaya with Great Grandma Mann. We had a great time seeing family and just relaxing. I wish we could have stayed a little longer. We love McCall.

On the way home we stopped at a park to eat and let Malaya out of her car seat.
She loved playing on the swings!
Here a just some random pics. I swear I take about 5 of the same pictures and only one turns out that isn't blurry from Malaya moving around. :) (Sorry.. I know this was a really long posting)

Fun at the park.

Greg and I took Malaya down to River Front Park to walk around and I got a few pictures while we were there. The flowers were so pretty. I just love Spokane and CDA during the summer.

This one is kind of silly...

I just can't resist taking pictures of all Malaya's different outfits... she is just too cute!

Baby Blessing + 4th of July= Family filled weekend!

We were able to bless Malaya the weekend of the 4th of July. Greg's parents and sister Jessica came as well as my dad and his wife JC. We also had my mom and brothers and aunts and uncles. Thanks to everyone who came- we loved seeing everyone and although it was super hot in our small apartment, it was a very nice weekend.

On Saturday we had a barbeque with lots of yummy food. Afterward the boys went to the Spokane river and jumped off rocks at Boulder Beach to cool down. Later that night we headed to Post Falls to see the fireworks. We had a great view from the Red Lion Hotel-there were hardly any people where we sat and the fireworks were great. Malaya pretty much slept the whole time... till we got to the car to go home... then she screamed (she doesn't like to be put in her car seat very much).We are so glad my brother David was able to come to the blessing as well as hang out with the fam for the weekend.From left to right: Greg, Mitchell, Mom, Me and Malaya, David, & Hayden.

Malaya's Grandma Mitchell, Grandma Rhoads, & Step Grandma JC

Malaya's Grandpa Mitchell and Grandpa Rhoads

Greg's Family : Wayne, Cheri, & Jessica

Malaya was definately ready to get out of her dress after all those pictures! :)
After the blessing we headed to Dan and Val's( my aunt and uncle) home for some food. Thanks to Cheri for making sloppy joes and my mom for helping with the food as well. Also- Thanks to Dan and Val for having us in their home. It was a wonderful weekend and we were happy that everything went well.