The Mitchells

Photo Shoot

2011-06-19T21:31:00.001-07:00

I am always trying to get pictures of Malaya and 9 times out of 10 its blurry because she is a little wiggle worm. I wanted to get some on her birthday, and these actually turned out pretty good. My little princess. Isn't she cute!?!
We also had a little visitor in the back yard while we were taking Malaya's pictures. We always see a ton of wildlife going through the yard.

TWO Years Old!

2011-06-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

I can't hardly believe my little baby is already TWO! For Malaya's party we headed to the Hogle Zoo. We saw all the animals and Malaya loved it! Although she was a little scared of the dinosaurs that sprayed water, she had a blast running around. We had a picnic lunch (princess theme) and princess cupcakes. After lunch we headed back in and rode the train and saw more animals. Malaya was completely worn out afterwards and fell asleep as soon as she sat in the car...I would call that a success :) The weather was great and we had all of Greg's family there.

At age TWO:
Malaya can count to 20!
Can say most of her ABC's with little help.
She copies everything her daddy does and says
Loves to sing nursery rhymes and has a lot memorized
Loves to go to the library each week and pick out books
Loves to have stories read to her
Loves to be outside and go on walks with mom
Starting to potty train
She is our little energizer bunny! She is constantly on the go and is always the life of the party.
She is not shy whatsoever and always keeps us on our toes!
We love you Malaya!

HE DID IT!!

2011-06-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

My little bro graduated from high school!
Malaya and I were lucky enough to be able to fly up to CDA to witness this miracle :) Way to go Mitchell!! Doing the robot dance... he could hardly contain all of his excitement haha We decorated the house and got him a cake. Unfortunately, as soon as we got home the balloon popped because it hit the ceiling fan... so we taped it to the wall. The whole weekend we were there Malaya kept singing the happy birthday song it was pretty funny. It was great to be home for a few days and Malaya had a blast with Grandma Kaelyn and the boys. We miss them already!

Excuses excuses....

2011-05-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

So, I know I could make a list of excuses of why I haven't kept this blog updated...
1. I don't have time
2. I rarely remember that I even have a blog that needs updated
3. We have MOVED to Utah and been super busy
4. We are starting a clothing store
5. I am to lazy
but no one wants to hear my excuses... so I'll just get to my updates :)

The biggest thing that has been occupying our time is our recent move to Midway Utah. Yep... That's right... Midway- home of Wayne and Cheri Mitchell (the in-laws). I know, crazy right?!? Who would ever move in with their in-laws (for the second time) hehe. Well, actually they were kind enough to let us crash here till we figure out where we will be doing our store. SO- a HUGE THANKS goes to Wayne and Cheri!! It's a good thing we all get along :)It was quite the process getting all packed up. Moving is NEVER fun! Thanks to my mom and a few people from our ward that helped us pack and load the trailer. I was a little emotional packing up. I was excited to start a new adventure, but sad to leave Spokane, our ward, friends, my job, and especially my family. We couldn't quite fit everything in the trailer so I had to give Malaya's play kitchen away to our Spanish neighbors, along with our portable air conditioner, and other items to my mom. Malaya had fun helping with the packing! (this is one of the shelves Greg had just made for our food storage that we hid behind out couch- unfortunately this is one of the items that didn't make it to the trailer :(
Lets just say, there were a lot of tears and a lot of stress. Thankfully we had Greg's sister Jenny who flew up to help us out and help drive with Malaya and I . I'm so glad she was able to come- she helped entertain and tend to Malaya which was a huge help. Thanks JEN!! We also purchased a portable DVD player for the car- it was the best purchase I've made! Malaya did so good the entire trip and loved watching all her movies.
MOVING ON...

A store? YES!!!! We were lucky enough to find an investor who wants to do a clothing store with us, and we couldn't be more EXCITED!!! Yiiiipppeeee :) So- we said goodbye to Spokane, and Hello Utah! But, we never could have done it without my aunt Val, who gave me a great opportunity to work at her store for the past 4 years. Thanks Dan and Val! Here is my staff at my going away party. I'll miss you guys!

More info on our store coming soon!

We have also been talked into doing a sprint triathlon with Greg's sisters. I know what your thinking... Kalie- running?!? (or biking and swimming for that matter) What the?? Yeah, that's what I kept saying till I was peer pressured into it! Yep- we have signed up for a sprint tri at the end of June as well as the Dirty Dash June 4th. This should be interesting. haha Bff Jenny and Malaya at the Gateway shopping center in SLC.

Surprise!

2011-03-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

yep... that's right... I'm actually posting something on our blog. :)
I know its been WAY to long (as I always say), but I promise to be better :) We have been busy with life and work and my new addiction of coupon shopping. I would like to show some videos of Malaya back from Christmas and other events, but I still can't figure out how to get it from my phone to my blog :( So, hopefully those will be coming soon. Till then, here are a few pics:
Our poor little girl! We were headed out the door to church when all the sudden I hear Greg say "run Malaya run"... I look back just in time to witness Malaya trip and fall flat on her face on the pavement. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a moment and all I could think is CRAP, I hope she didn't knock out her teeth!.... and then the yelling at Greg set in (because it was his fault of course. After all- it was him who told Malaya to run... so it has to be his fault). She had scrapes all down the side of her head and blood coming from a cut under her nose. She immediately got a fat lip... but no teeth were hurt, and she was surprisingly calm after about 10 min. So, we headed to church, and Malaya went to nursery with bloody face and all. Poor girl! (by the way.... it's still Greg's fault hehe).
Malaya's new favorite thing to do in the bathtub thanks to Grandma Cheri! She loves coloring all over the tub (and herself).
Malaya recently discovered that Mitchell has a drum set in his room. Now every time we go to Grandma's house, this is what we find Malaya doing. I have a great video of this.. hopefully I can figure out how to post it.
I came home from work one day to find Malaya in pigtails! So cute! Usually, I try to do Malaya's hair before I leave to work, because Greg wasn't quite sure how :) But, to my surprise he starting doing her hair and he is actually pretty good at it!

Malaya Sledding

2010-12-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

Malaya would count to three at the top of the driveway and Greg would send her on her way. All bundled up... she probably could have stayed out there all day.
p.s. Sorry this is sideways.

So much to be Thankful for

2010-12-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we headed to Midway, Utah to spend time with Greg's family. I had to be back to work for Black Friday, so we ended up going the Saturday before Thanksgiving for a longer trip. We had a great time and Malaya definitely got a lot of attention.
It was nice to relax and just hang out and we were sad to leave.

We celebrated Cheri's birthday when we got there. She got a train set for all the (future) grand kids to play with. Malaya loved it! She wasn't quite big enough to push the pedal down to make it go, so Greg had to rig it for her... she loved it.
Happy Birthday Grandma Cheri! Malaya was also treated to a kids entertainment play land (kind of like a Chucky Cheese). There were a bunch of fun rides and games to play and it was all indoors. Malaya was a little hesitant to go on the rides, but she defiantly had fun running all around with the other kids. Grandpa helping Malaya All the Girls

me, Jenny, Cheri, Jessica

Thanksgiving morning we bundled up and headed out into the -14 degree weather for a 5K. We must be crazy! It was cold.. but not to bad once you got going... and of course we all finished in record time :)
Here we are sporting our sweet turkey day shirts.
*everyone except Greg (who had a really bad cold), and Ben (who was just to chicken to bear the cold) :)
It snowed a ton while we were there... so Malaya got to do a little sledding in the driveway. We had a great time and we are so thankful we were able to go and spend time with the fam. We are thankful for so many things, including the gospel, our jobs, and our sweet little Malaya who we love soooo much!

PG aka "Puke Girl"

2010-12-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

Time: 230am
Date: Nov 2010
Location: Malaya's Bed
Incident: PUKE!

Okay, so for those of you that know me (you shouldn't be reading this blog if you don't) you probably know that I was once known as the infamous Puke Girl (or PG for short) back in my high school days. Yes, it sounds horrible... and that's because it was. I was blessed with an incredibly weak stomach... so let's just say car rides, fair grounds, or the occasional stay up way to late and eat junk food with my girlfriends... wasn't the best on my stomach. Sadly, I have thrown up at just about every friends house, or their parents cars, or at every summer fairgrounds possible. Yuck... Well, over the years my ability to make it to the bathroom has gotten much better and these throw up sessions have been few and far between (except for the THREE months I was puking my guts out while I was pregnant with Malaya, and the yearly flu).

Well... now it's payback time!!!

Actually, I would say my payback began when Malaya was about a month old. She would throw up just as soon as she was done eating... always drenching herself and me. Let's just say- in the first eight months of Malaya's life.... the washer got a beating!

This brings me to the reason for me posting. I just wanted to share with all of you one of my wonderfully eventful night. It started off great. Malaya in bed before 11pm, just starting to fall in that deep deep sleep... when suddenly (at 230 am) I hear Malaya crying out for dada. I go to pick her up and make it to the door way of our bedroom, when I realize that her blanket is wet and it smells like PUKE! Yuck... I called for Greg to turn the lights on and help me out. Turns out that Greg had given Malaya two botles attempting to put her to bed (while I was at work).... and I gave her another one shortly after (without knowing she already had two). Well, lets just say the smell was bad enough that even Greg threw up! Great! Now I had two messes to clean. We ended up putting Malaya in the bath and starting a load of laundy at 3 am... sorry to our downstairs neighbors. I would go into more detail, but at the risk of causing others to puke, I will resist. :)

Trunk -or- Treat

2010-10-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!

Saturday night our ward had a Trunk-or-Treat. It was a lot of fun. Malaya apparently wanted to be a witch for Halloween... she kept sealing the hat from the table next to us and running off with it on her head. The kids did a little parade around the gym and up onto the stage. When it was Malaya's turn, she got to the middle of the stage and tripped... then got up and waved to everyone and everyone laughed... ooops! :) After some Chili we headed out side for the candy. Malaya didn't really understand what was going on, but loved running all over the parking lot with the kids. Their was a family that brought their 20ft haunted trailer that was decked out with strobe lights and people in masks. It was a lot of fun and a great turn out.

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-31T17:03:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday we invited my family over to carve pumpkins and my mom and I made caramel popcorn. Yum!

Even Malaya got to join in on the fun and had her own little pumpkin. Then we gave Grandma a sneak peek of Malaya's costume...
Afterwards it was time for a bath...
and this is what I found when I went to check on Daddy and Malaya :)

Malaya- 16 months

2010-10-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

I can't hardly believe my little monkey is 16 months old!
Malaya is so full of life and has so much energy. She is always running all around the house and getting into (and on top of) everything she can find. A few words she has recently added to her vocabulary are: dog, cow, cheese, movie, more, knock knock, car, and horse. She can also point to animals in her books and make all the animal sounds. She can count to three and loves to watch Barney and the Dinosaur Train. She loves playing hide-n-seek and making forts with daddy. Malaya loves hearing the train go by and always makes a train sound while moving her arms up and down. So Cute! We love our sweet Malaya!

Night night time!

2010-10-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Malaya has recently made a transition from this: TO THIS!!! Let's just say...it was not my choice to have her make this transition at only 16 months old.... but she had figured out how to climb out and make it into our room for three nights in a row.... so we had no choice. Usually Malaya is a really good sleeper and will sleep the whole night no problem.... but not any more!! UGH! I even bought her a pillow cover with Buzz Lightyear (her favorite character from Toy Story) but she wants nothing to do with her new bed. We have been trying to read her some books and get her used to a routine but it has been really hard to get her to stay in bed. We have had two successful nights so far (out of 2 WEEKS!) but I am not giving up... she will learn to like her bed and that's that! :)

What we've been up to this Summer...

2010-09-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

We went to McCall, Idaho for Greg's family reunion. We had a blast and it was great to get away from work and life's daily stresses. We had condos close to the lake and Malaya loved every bit of it. The weather was great and hanging at the beach was very relaxing. We also went rafting down the Salmon river in Riggins, Idaho. It was a lot of fun... and Grandma and Grandpa volunteered to watch Malaya while we went... thanks guys! We had lots of yummy food and water sports as well.

That same weekend just happened to be our
SIXTH anniversary!
Greg got me a nice set of snorkels and fins and we went exploring around the lake....okay... so we didn't see anything great cuz the water was pretty murky, but it was the thought that counts and we still had fun :)
Happy anniversary babe! I love you!

We also took a trip down to Stanley, Idaho for my family reunion. We traveled about 10 1/2 hours to get there... but we had a good time and it was great to see family that we hadn't seen in years. A big shout out to my cousin Jessica for putting the whole thing together. THANKS JESSICA! We spent 3 nights camping, eating, swimming, fishing, roasting marsh mellows, and playing games. We also went to the hot springs and took a trip to Ghost town (an old mining town that was abandoned after the mine shut down and was now turned into a self guided museum). We had a lot of fun and Malaya loved every minute of it. Unfortunately I forgot my camera battery so I only got a few shots with my phone. The picture on the right was our last day... Malaya was so worn out. I tried to keep her clean before the long car ride home... but as you can see I was unsuccessful. Oh well, that's the joy of camping. :)

What we've been up to this Summer... (part 2)

2010-09-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

We have spent many Summer days at different parks. Downtown Spokane has a fun carousel ride and Malaya loves it. We also have a brand new park close to our house that has a splash pad and tons of cool toys. Malaya loves to swing and go down the slides. She loves seeing all the kids and saying "Hi" to everyone.

We have also gone on lots of Sunday walks...
of course after our Sunday naps... if we can get one.

This was at our ward picnic. Malaya ate pretty much the whole ice cream cone and lots of watermelon. It was a huge mess- but at least she was happy... right?

We have a nice family that lives below us and their kids are always outside playing. Alexa, who is 3 and just adores Malaya and is so sweet to her, and Manuel, who is 5 and loves to show Malaya his bike and scooter. They invited us to a fiesta, which was a joint birthday party for their kids at the park. Turns out we were the only Caucasian family that attended... can we say awkward?? Oh well, Malaya had fun and they even let her hit the pinata :)

We had a fun and busy summer- and of course it went by way to fast!

WARNING: BLOG OVERLOAD

2010-06-20T14:53:00.001-07:00

It has been a while... and much has happened, so sorry for all the postings at once :)

Last week we went to River Front Park.
Malaya had a blast walking all around and chasing the ducks.

There is also a big water attraction there and of course we couldn't keep Malaya out of it. We didn't plan on getting her wet.... but she loved it, and screamed every time we walked away so we let her play.

Eventually she just ended up in her diaper because all her clothes were soaked.

Malaya with her daddy going down the big red wagon slide

Just too many cute pictures to choose only one...

Tyler and Aimee's Wedding May 29th

2010-06-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Tyler and Aimee!
Their wedding was in Blackfoot, Idaho over memorial weekend.
It rained a little, and was pretty cold, but everything turned out great.

All the girls helped out with the flowers for tables, boutineers, and the bouquet. There were 200 pink roses and also beautiful tulips from the garden that we used. It all turned out great (especially considering I learned how to do this from YouTube! :)
Aimee had me do her hair the the weeding, I think it turned out pretty good.
All the bridesmaids had pink and black polk-a-dot dresses made by Aimee's mom.
She even made one for Malaya. They were so cute.

Good luck to Tyler and Aimee with their new adventures!

Malaya Turns 1

2010-06-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it... My little monkey is 1! Time has gone by so fast!

It seems like just yesterday we were telling family that we were expecting a girl....
And then we welcomed this sweet little spirit on June 5th, 2009.
AND NOW... She is 1!
We had my family over for pizza, cake, and presents. I made cupcakes for everyone, and Malaya got her own. She loved it- and surprisingly didn't make too much of a mess. She loved opening all her presents and getting all the attention... she even missed her nap and was still so happy. In the pictures above, you can see the polk-a-dot theme we had and her fun new jungle gym from Grandpa and Grandma Mitchell. Once everyone left we headed to the YMCA to go swimming. Malaya LOVES the water!
We even took her down the slides and she loved every bit of it.

At one years old Malaya is:
Walking, dancing, pulling apart everything in the house, loves talking to people, loves to go to the park, love puppies, loves her stuffed animals, she likes picking outfits to wear for the day, loves taking a bath and running naked afterwards while we chase her with a diaper (yes, she has had a few accidents on the floor). Malaya loves life and is so full of energy. She keeps us very busy and entertained. She now gives kisses to everyone that asks and is always talking on her pink cell phone (and when there is no cell phone, she just uses her hand) so so so funny to listen to her babel on to herself and her imaginary friends.
We love you Malaya!
Happy 1st Birthday!

Plato's Closet Conference

2010-06-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to San Diego for a Plato's Closet conference in May. We had some manager workshops/ training, lots of food, and beautiful sunshine. It was my first time leaving Malaya so I was really nervous, but she did great.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for staying home and taking care of her. I took my computer so I got to skype them each night which was great... but made me miss her even more! She was just beginning to take a few steps so I was sad that she would already be walking by the time I got home... but she waited a little longer :)

Busy Weekend

2010-05-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

To start off the weekend, my mom and I attended Time Out for Women. This year the topic was on Infinite HOPE. It started on Friday night with Virginia Hinkley Pierce and Ardeth Kapp speaking. There were also many amazing songs with Jenny Oaks Baker on the violin. She was amazing and had so much talent. She had been playing since she was 4 years old and eventually played for the National Symphony Orchestra for seven years. She was wonderful!
It continued all day Saturday with many speakers along with Mercy River providing the music throughout the program. The main Presenter was Mariama Kallon from Sierra Loene, Africa. She spoke of her childhood and having to flee from the rebels who were taking over the city for the diamonds. (if you have heard of the movie blood diamond (I have only seen previews)- that is where she grew up). She had witnessed he parents and sister killed by the rebels. She told about her conversion story and she eventually ended up serving a mission on Temple Square and has been in Utah ever since. She is an amazing person. We had a great time and it was a great escape from the daily stresses of life. Thanks MOM!
Greg and I also participated in the annual BLOOMSDAY race here in Spokane. It was a lot of fun and there were over 52,000 people that participated. We went with a lot of the staff from Plato's Closet and we had shirts made to advertise our store. Due to my awful disease (many of you may not know this)- but I suffer from a disease called extreme laziness or maybe we should call it my fear of excersise and overindulgence of chocolate, or need to make brownies when I should be going for a run (if there were such a thing, I would definitley have it) .... so of course, I did not train for this 7.5 mile race... however, I did finish it it 2 1/2 hours... walking ! YAY for ME!

(Greg and I are on the bottom row- left side)

Greg, however, did great. He has been getting back into running lately and he finished in 1 hour 7 minutes. Way to go babe!
Here is a picture of the streets right before the race started. They do a big clothing dontation and you can toss your coats in the street so you don't have to run with them. I thought it looked pretty cool.

There were SOOOO many people it was crazy!
We had fun, and yes, I was sore for the entire next day :)

2010-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip down to Parma to meet Greg's parents and sister Jenny

and hang out with Aunt Marilyn and Great Grandma Mann. We had a great time.

Jenny and I got to escape for a shopping trip in Boise while Grandma Cheri watched Malaya :)

Jenny got Malaya tons of cute clothes and it was so fun to see her.
THANKS JEN!

Unfortunately.... Greg caught the 24 hour flu and eventually we all got it. It was not fun!
The price you pay to see your family... just kidding-
we did have a good trip and Malaya did great in the car.

Easter Pics

2010-04-22T10:50:00.001-07:00

We had fun coloring Easter eggs

Malaya got a few fun toys and eggs full of gold fish crackers.
Grandma Kae also got her a cute outfit and hair bows.
Greg got us some kites and I got him an easter basket full of his favorite candy.

I just love these bunny ears!
Malaya would only wear them long enough for me to get a few pictures.
She had fun playing with all her eggs though.
Dan and Val let us use their house to watch conference so we didn't have to watch it on our computer. We had a good time with our family
and had a wonderful ham dinner prepared by Sarah (David's girlfriend).
I just love Easter!

2010-03-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

our little monster

2010-03-24T18:32:00.001-07:00

Malaya Turns 9 Months! (march 5th)

2010-03-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Malaya is growing so fast! She is into everything she can get her hands into. She loves pulling things out of the kitchen drawers, she continues to go face first down our stairs, she waves hello/ goodbye (with both hands at the same time), says mama and dada, loves music and dances all day, loves the guys on American Idol, loves to see new people, loves making forts with dad and playing hide 'n seek, and is currently working on some of her top teeth. I can't imagine life without her. She brings us so much joy and no matter how exhausted we are, she can always make us smile :)

Feb 21st 2010

2010-03-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Greg and Mitchell's (my little bro) Birthdays together this year. We had potatoes around the roast, cake, and presents. Malaya had a great time playing with the wrapping and even had some cake :) Happy Birthday Babe!

2010-02-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day 2010

2010-02-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Not your typical Valentine's day for the Mitchells.....
1. Meeting with the Bishop at 9am to get a calling...
I was thinking maybe they would put me in the nursery, or primary again.... but, I was way wrong...
I am now a WARD MISSIONARY! I am pretty excited, really nervous, and hoping that I can find the time to squeeze this in our already busy lives.
2. Back home to make a quick breakfast of hash browns and pancakes. Yum!
3. Back to church
4. Later that night we headed over to my mom's house for a ham dinner. Yum!

2010-02-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

SNOW! (pictures taken in December 09)

2010-02-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

Malaya's First Christmas

2010-02-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas in Utah this year with Greg's Family. It was great to see everyone and enjoy a few days off work. Malaya did great on the plane and was spoiled the whole time.

UPDATES

2010-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

OK... LIKE I HAVE SAID BEFORE.... SORRY IT HAS BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE POSTING, AND I COULD LIST ALL OF MY MILLION EXCUSES WHY I HAVEN'T, BUT IT WOULD TAKE WAY TO LONG....
SO, HERE IS THE FIRST OF MANY TO COME.

Halloween

2009-11-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-05T23:50:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-03T10:36:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-07-14T14:14:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-07-10T16:43:00.001-07:00

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.

Cute cute cute...

2009-06-25T09:11:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures we have of Malaya. I love the one with her feet. She's laying on the blanket Greg's mom and sisters made for her. It's pink with John Deer on it. So cute!

It's so hard to get pictures that aren't blurry unless she is sound asleep
because she squirms all over.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY GREG!

To Greg: Thank you for all you have done in the last few months.
Thank you for always making dinner and cleaning the house so I could get some rest. Thank you for taking the early morning shifts and making me breakfast. Thanks for being such a great husband and a wonderful dad. Malaya and I are so lucky to have you!
I love you!

Our sweet Malaya

2009-06-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist putting a big bow on her head... it's just too cute!
She has a cute little squish face when she sits in her bouncer. :)

Always sleeping.
Malaya likes to cuddle in a ball with me
and sprawl out when shes with her daddy.
1st sponge bath
Greg's family came to visit for a few days last week. We loved seeing them as well as getting help with our new little one. Thanks to Greg's mom for making meals, cleaning, and taking the night shift so mom could sleep. Also, thanks to my mom for staying a few days and helping with the night shift as well. Thanks so much!!

We Love Malaya!

2009-06-08T08:52:00.001-07:00

Malaya's story:
We went to the hospital Thursday night around 7. By the time we got checked in and hooked to fluids, we found out I was already dilated to 2 1/2 and I was having small contractions without really noticing. Yay! They gave me pitocin and I had contractions all night. By 4 am the doctor broke my water and contractions came very hard and every 2 minutes. Yikes! I thought I was going to die! So... then came the epidural, and sweet relief! By 9am I was ready to start pushing. She came very fast. The first moments of her life she was laid on my stomach and she just stared into my eyes. I was overwhelmed with joy to see her and it was a feeling I can't quite describe. We are so blessed to have baby Malaya in our lives. What a sweet spirit she brings in our home.

Malaya with her daddy getting all dressed and ready to head home.
Doesn't she look so cute!?!

Malaya loves her bouncer! We tried to put her in her crib to sleep, but she would wiggle out of her blanket and be squirming all over.
She likes the constant movement in the bouncer and it just cuddles perfectly. So cute!

We love you Malaya!

She's Here!

2009-06-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

Malaya Kay Mitchell
Born Friday June 5th
9:37 am
7 pounds 5 ounces

Headed to the hospital!

2009-06-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

YAY!!!! It's Finally time to do this :) We are all packed and headed to the hospital tonight. We can't wait to meet baby Malaya (although I am getting a little nervous). Greg has been sick for a week now and I just got it yesterday. Hopefully we will make it through this and Malaya will be perfectly healthy. Wish us luck! :)

Another sleepless night...

2009-05-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a little after 12 and I am going crazy because I cant sleep. I know this is in preparation for the baby... but seriously... this is not fun. I either have terrible heart burn so I have to sit up, or I'm going to the bathroom almost every hour, or baby Malaya is giving me rib shots and it keeps me up. The good news... only one week left of being prego! YAY! I am going to be induced next Friday if Malaya doesn't come on her own (which I pray she will come sooner than Friday) but we are excited. It's been a long nine months and I can't wait to see our little girl!

Baby Showers

2009-05-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ashley Hamlet, my assistant manager at Plato's, had a baby shower for me a few weeks ago. It was held at my aunt Val's house with all the Plato's girls (and guy). She had lots of cute games planned and a yummy cake. Malaya got tons of cute stuff :) Thanks Ashley!
Stacy Crandall, a good friend from CDA, also threw me a shower this last Saturday. She had decorated everything with black and pink and balloons. Everything was so cute. Her husband made me a diaper cake with toys and pacifiers hooked to it... who knew Keith was so crafty! :)
(I will have to get the other pictures from my mom and put them on later.) The shower was great and there was so much food, everyone got to take home a plate of goodies with them. Thanks to everyone who came and to Stacy for all the work she put into it. Also thanks to Mikie Smart who held the shower at her home. Malaya will be so stylish with all her cute clothes!
Here is my mom and I at my shower. Thanks mom for all the gifts! Only a few weeks till Malaya gets her. We can't wait to see her!

Easter at Grandmas farm

2009-04-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

For Easter we went to Parma, Idaho to the Mann farm. (Gregs Grandma's). It was great to see all the family and have a little vacation before Malaya comes. It's the family tradition to do an egg hunt down behind Aunt Marilyn's house. Each kid had to find their own special colored eggs as well as a large medical glove (used for the cows) filled with candy that are scattered all along the trail.

Greg had to do some climbing to get his Easter glove out of the tree...
Mine was a lot easier.. I found it laying on a log :)
We also celebrated Grandma Mann's 90th Birthday while we were there. Here is Greg with his Grandma. We love you Grandma!

Hailey, Heather and I also got mini cakes to celebrate our April birthdays.
And of course.... had to get some prego pictures while I was there :) (33 weeks and counting!)

Chiefs win again!

2009-03-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Greg and I went with my family to the Chiefs hockey game at the Spokane Arena. We won 5 to 3 against Seattle. Whenever the Chiefs score 5 or more points they give coupons at the door so after the game we headed to IHOP for free pancakes and had some good bonding time Although I was pretty sick, it was fun to hang out with the fam.

Finally 30 Weeks!

2009-03-29T21:17:00.001-07:00

This post is a little late... but here is a pic of me at 30 weeks.

2009-03-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday GREG!!!
27!

We decided to go to the Oregon Coast for the weekend to celebrate Greg's Birthday and just get away. We stopped in Portland first and then headed to Salem and then drove all along the coast.

We also stopped at the Cheese Factory and Greg got to pose with the
cows while I ate the cheese curds and chocolate ice cream. Yum!

We attempted to fly kites on the beach.... but it didn't really work to well in the rain :(

Our trip was a fun.. very quick.. but fun.
We would love to go back to coast in the summer when we have more time to spend there.

Malaya's Crib

2009-02-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

We now have a crib put together for Malaya. Its seeming to be more real now that we are going to have a new addition to our family soon, with the crib and some baby clothes...not to mention that I look like I have a basketball under my shirt! Here are some pictures of her room.

Its not the pink bedding that everyone expects...
I just loved this print and had to get it. Plus... we got it for a great deal.

We've got a mover!

2009-01-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

Malaya is definitely having a good time in my belly :) She moves all the time. Always pushing up against me and rolling around. I can feel her kick and squirm every day. Greg put his head against my belly one night to hear what was going on... and she kicked his face. It was the first time he got to feel her move. What a fun moment. Sometimes I can feel her for a half hour at a time.... its crazy! Also, I am finally starting to look pregnant... instead of people thinking " is she getting fat.. or is she pregnant?"... yes I definitely have the pregnant look now.

It's A GIRL!!!

2009-01-10T21:03:00.000-08:00

Yay! We went to the doctor today and saw our beautiful little girl playing around. She was rolling and moving her feet and hands everywhere. We saw her do flips and squirm in every direction. For now we are pretty certain that her name will be Malaya Kay Mitchell. We are very excited and can't wait for our new adventure to begin!

Watching eagles

2009-01-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

My fam went down to lake Coeur d' Alene to watch the eagles on Saturday. We only saw a few in the trees and a few flying, but no real action. After church today, Greg and I went snow shoeing and saw two bald eagles right off the side of the road eating what looked like a rabbit... unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me for that.

New Camera

2009-01-04T22:27:00.000-08:00

So Greg got me a new camera for Christmas and here are just some photos for fun and of my prego belly.

Christmas Party

2008-12-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

We had a Christmas Party for Plato's Closet. We went to aunt Val's house and had dinner and a gift exchange and then headed to the CDA resort for ice cream. Yum! It was a lot of fun and we all dressed up

Updates for the Mitchells

2008-11-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well, It's been a while since we've posted anything. We just got back from Utah spending time with Greg's fam for Thanksgiving. It was a great vacation. We got to relax, sleep in, eat some great food and see all the fam. I also got spoiled... we did lots of shopping and the girls got massages. I got some prego clothes for when my belly gets bigger..Thanks Cheri! I actually felt better while we were we there....no puking, although I did get sick right before I had to fly home...Yuck. I had to go to work when we got back, but before I did I made a grocery list and figured I would do it the next day after work.... but when I got home that night I was pleasantly surprised to see that Greg had gone to the store and gotten everything. What a great husband... I didn't even ask him to do it!

Today Greg is hunting with my brothers... which leaves me home alone with nothing else to do but post on our blog and watch girlie movies. I did get Greg to agree to get all the Christmas stuff out when he gets home so I'm excited to decorate tomorrow. A few weeks ago we had our first ultrasound and got to see our baby. It was pretty neat. The baby was moving all over! I would post some pics but my camera was stolen... very sad!

Well, that's what we've been up to lately. Hopefully we can get another camera soon so you can all see some pics...

The Phantom

2008-10-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Greg and I went to the Phantom of the Opera on Thursday. It was great. We sat in row 8 so we were pretty close. Unfortunately I was sick most of the day and was eating ice and saltine crackers. Yum! Other than that we had a great time.... and Greg actually liked it. wow!

Fun with the fam

2008-10-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Greg's Parents and sister Jenny came up from Utah to see us this weekend. We went to Sandpoint, ID to show them around. It was so pretty with all the leaves changing. Greg also showed them around Spokane. Saturday night we went to red robin and both Greg and I were puking in the middle of the night. YUCK! I don't think I'll eat out for a while now. We are glad they got to come up and spend time with us. Its too bad we live so far away, but we'll see them for Thanksgiving.

Our New Blog

2008-10-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to do a blog... Not that I have a lot of time to do it, but I thought this was a good way to keep everyone up to date with the exciting life of the Mitchell's.
What we've been up to lately:
Greg and I have been in Spokane, WA for just over a year now and I (Kalie) work at Plato's Closet as the manager. I love the store and it keeps me really busy. If you don't know what Plato's Closet is... your missing out, so look it up! Greg is also keeping busy with work. He has his own tile company (Rep-Tile & Marble) and has been blessed with a lot of work. We have enjoyed living here and being close to my fam, although we do miss Utah and we are not so much looking forward to the coming winter. (except for snow shoeing and skiing).

Also, we just found out the we are expecting our first baby. We are very excited and can't wait to start a new chapter in our lives. Unfortunately I have been spending a lot of time in the bathroom....not so fun, but hopefully the morning sickness will go away soon!