Thankful

I wanted to write down the top 10 things I am thankful for this year. I have been so blessed over the past year, and it's hard to narrow it down to what I am most thankful for. But, here we go:

1-The two people in the picture above. There is no one I'd rather spend time with than Seth and Rebecca. I'm so grateful for my fun-loving, hard working husband and our beautiful daughter. Seth makes it possible for me to be a stay at home mother/homemaker, which I feel is a full-time (and then some) job! I love it though, I feel like I am living a dream right now. I love taking care of my home and family.

2-Rebecca is my angel. It's hard to explain, but she makes me want to be a better person, more than anyone else in my life ever has. And when I'm in a difficult or new situation, she gives me confidence just because she is there with me. I don't know how I ever survived without her!

3-Where would I be without the gospel of Jesus Christ? I don't want to think about that! I love my Savior and will be forever grateful that I was raised in His true church, I never had to search for it. I feel that I have always had a testimony, it just grows all the time. The gospel gives me peace in my life, direction and purpose, and happiness that lasts.

4-The most recent house Seth built is still not sold, but an investor has taken over payments and found renters for us since June, and it is such a relief and amazing blessing that we ran into this investor and have the peace of having that bill taken care of each month. Let's hope he can sell it next year! It will be nice to move on from that.

5-We have been healthy this year, no major sicknesses or accidents. I am grateful for our strong bodies and minds, and for the opportunity to learn and grow in this life.

6-We had our first successful garden this summer, and it was so fun! I never knew how fulfilling it is to grow things, and to see the "fruits of our labors" in this way. I loved going out there to grab something to use in the dinner I was making. I am so grateful for good food!

7-With the economy getting worse all the time, I am so, so grateful that Seth has a good job. We know many people who have been affected by layoffs, or lack of business, and who are hurting financially. We've had our struggles with this too, but we have always been ok and had all the things we need. I'm learning to be happy with less and to make things last longer and I think that is a good thing.

8-I am grateful for good friends. I don't have any family close by, and it's nice to know I have people here who are like family, who would do anything for me.

9-It has been amazing to me this year, how my Heavenly Father knows exactly what I need and He sends people into my life to help me. When I'm sad, a friend calls and lifts me up. When I need something, people are inspired to share with me. It's been a lesson to me this year, to receive with a heart full of gratitude. It's easy to be on the giving end, and it has been humbling to receive so many nice things from so many unexpected places. That's how I know God is aware of my little family and our needs. I'm grateful for people who listen to the spirit and are willing to give. It has taught me to look for opportunities to serve and to pay attention to who might need me each day.

10-I'm grateful for my home, to live in a wonderful city, for this beautiful Earth, and for my life in general. My life is so good. I'm grateful for a loving and forgiving Heavenly Father, for each new day, the opportunity to start fresh and be a little better.

Your new Avon Lady!

That's right...I started selling Avon a week ago! And I am so excited to say that it is going really well so far! I've had a great response, and just wanted to let everyone know that I've started this new business and if you'd like a catalog to look through, I'd be happy to drop one by your house.
I've been thinking for months about starting some kind of business, but nothing felt completely right. I want to do something to help my little family out financially while Seth is in school the next few years. I don't claim to be a beauty expert, but I like Avon because it is affordable for people, and a lot of the stuff they sell are things people buy all the time in WalMart, like makeup, deodorant, jewelry, gifts, etc. FYI: They have lots of fun stuff for holiday gifts right now!!! And I can save people time and money and a trip to the store, since I deliver their orders to them. So it's a good deal for me and for my customers. I love it that I can bring Rebecca with me, also. It would break my heart to leave her and go work somewhere.
So wish me luck as I start this new little business! If you know anyone who likes Avon, I'd be really happy to get some referrals. And I'd be happy to be YOUR Avon lady too! Those of you who have bought from me, I really appreciate your business and support.

Fall Pictures

Well, we finally finished Rebecca's room!! I love it, and I'm so happy to have a place for all of her STUFF!! Whew! I feel like we have at least doubled the amount of stuff we own since having Rebecca. But now we have a place to put it all! And it looks so good.

This is my carousel from when I was 9 or 10. I was so excited the year I got it for Christmas, and then I got to spend the next few years collecting the horses/animals to put in it. It turns and plays the song from "Carousel" and the horses go up and down. It was fun for me to get it out of its box downstairs and clean off all the dust (that took a while!) and put it together for my little girl. When I gave it to her, she was so happy. It was really cute.
Rebecca's favorite hangout lately....AAARRGGHHH!!!! And why does she always go for the knives?!?!? These next few pics are from our weekend at the Bancroft Farmhouse a few weeks ago. I found Rebecca upstairs babbling away to all these dolls.

I took Rebecca for a ride on the RHINO!! So Fun!! Can you tell she LOVES IT?

And of course the swings. I had to pry her little fingers away when it was time to go in. She thought it was the end of the world!

My mom used to take pictures of us kids every fall. I will carry on this lovely tradition...fall is such a beautiful time of year! Rebecca loves to crunch around in the leaves. Here are my favorite shots I got of her.

We walk at the park and lately Rebecca has to push the stroller. Which is good...maybe it will help her finally learn how to walk. Maybe. Anyway she pushes it along, smiling and waving at everyone who passes us, and looking so proud of herself the rest of the time. She is so funny. And then she throws a little fit if I try to make her ride in the stroller, and she slides herself right out of it if I don't strap her in quick enough. My little baby is getting so independent! I just love her, she is the highlight of my every day.

Halloween!

What a fun time we had in October! So many fun things to do. I'm so glad the weather has been so beautiful this fall, we've been able to play outside a lot, which Rebecca loves. Here we are at the local pumpkin patch. My friend and I picked the right time to go, we had the place to ourselves, and it was soooo cute! They had rows of pumpkins, corn stalks, hot chocolate and cookies, this cute barn, and a straw-bale maze. It was really fun! I tied Halloween ribbon in Rebecca's pigtails, but you can't really tell. Too bad. It was a battle keeping them in her hair all day!

We finally got around to carving our lovely pumpkin on Oct. 30 Rebecca looked like she wondered what in the world I was doing the whole time. She can say "pumpkin" really well now! We saw so many last month, it's no wonder! I dressed her up in her fairy pajamas and let her wear the fairy wings from Grandma K. She loved them, and the wand. What a cute little fairy I have. She's so funny, I tell her to smile lately, and she does this cheesy smile, every time.

Our ward did a Trunk-or-Treat. We did games and dinner first, and a lot of people came, and it was a good time! Here is Rebecca planting a big smooch on her little friend the skunk!

Here we are, the fireman and firewoman with our Dalmation. I like to dress up. What a fun day...we saw so many neat costumes!

Fabulous Fall

Here are a few pictures from the past month. Fall is officially here, and I am loving it! The weather has been just beautiful and Rebecca and I have been spending lots of time outside. Here is my new favorite picture of her. And these next two pics are just for my mom. Thanks for the cute outfit! Too bad it's too cold to wear anymore :(

Rebecca loves the swings. I take her to the park most day and it is so cute to hear her laugh and make "wheeeee" sounds.

Rebecca at 14 months old.

And, the messes continue. Seth and I are finally finishing Rebecca's room. We got the new window put in and are working on the sheetrock. Rebecca got into the mud and decided to see how it tastes. YUCK!! She sure looks happy though!

THANK YOU to my wonderful parents for coming up to watch Rebecca while I helped the kids do their parts in the Primary Program. I must say, I am really glad the program is over! The practices were a bit stressful, but the kids pulled through in the end and did a great job. I was really pleased with it. Children have the spirit with them so strongly and I always look forward to the primary program. I've just never been involved with it like this before. It sure is easier to just sit in the audience and enjoy! I really do appreciate my parents coming up to support me though. They are fabulous!!!

So, Rebecca will be 15 months old this coming Sunday. I practice with her many times a day, but she has NO confidence when it comes to walking. She does great as long as I'm holding her hands. She is a SMART baby though, I'm not worried. She's a late walker, I guess, but it will come! Here we are practicing in the back yard.

Here we are walking and playing at the park with Samuel, Rebecca's best buddy. They are SO cute together. They always get so excited to see each other.

I would like to join Clancy in acknowledging the fabulousness in my life this Friday!
1-Seth has been so sweet and helpful to me this week. I love him so much.
2-Rebecca had a fever this week of 104.5 Then she had a scary rash all over her face and body for 3 days. Who knows what it all meant, but it is gone now. She also ate next to nothing for 5 days. She is back to normal and I'm so grateful. Having a sick baby is so hard.
3-I've been thinking of how I could save some extra money each month because I really feel we need to have some food storage. I was sad because I didn't see how I could do it without it taking a year or more before I got a decent amout of food storage. But, I thought small steps are better than nothing. So I started. Then a few days ago, Seth's parents gave us A TON of food storage. We are set for a while. What a blessing and an answer to my prayers. THANK YOU Mom and Dad Wistisen, we appreciate this soooo much!!
4-It's going to snow this weekend and I have a nice warm cozy house to stay in.
5-We are finally working on Rebecca's room! I love a good project. Our entire house has been a project, let me tell you. But it's been a while since we did anything major. This weekend we plan to take down wallpaper, get the trim up, and get primer on the walls. I'm so excited to finally have my little girl's room look more girly! And Seth gets off at noon today so we can get going on it! HOORAY FOR THE WEEKEND!!!


Rebecca loves these toy necklaces, she's always wearing a few of them, it's funny.

Rebecca would love for us to read to her all day long. She is getting so smart. She points to everything, and knows what the moon is, the fence, spoon, bib, trees, ball, lots of others. I love to read with her and am glad she loves books so much.

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I know Rebecca will miss BUS RIDES!!! She loves her little bus and even buzzes her lips as she rides. I just laugh. She is so dang cute!!!

Hiking

Well, there probably won't be very many more days like this! A few days ago, we set out to find a hike up in Kelly Canyon that I've heard a few people mention. We had a great time, and it was such a beautiful day with beautiful views from the top.
Rebecca had a great time too! I only had the backpack on for a little while, thank goodness. She is getting heavy!

Wheat Harvest

Since I grew up in Utah, in the city, I basically knew NOTHING about farming until I married Seth. We've been married 4 years, and every fall he loves to go to Bancroft to help his dad drive the tractor and harvest the crops. I usually go with him (with the exception of last year, since I had a newborn) and the first time I rode on a combine, I was amazed and impressed. Those machines are AWESOME!! And I'm still amazed and impressed! Seth's dad explained to me how far they have come too...you used to get so dusty and dirty and have to do a whole lot more manual labor. Not anymore, you steer with one hand and control everything else with the other. And you can talk in normal voices, no yelling, even though the machine is loud. In the cab, it is nice! Radio and air conditioning too, and no dust flying around. Anyway, farming is a totally different lifestyle than what I grew up around, but I'm glad this city girl fell in love with a country boy. I appreciate farmers and the work they do. I'm glad to be related to farmers and have a chance to be around during this wonderful time of the year...the harvest.
We dressed Rebecca up in her cute little overalls for her first ride on the combine. She loved riding around with Grandpa!

Here she is driving...oh, boy!

Seth, Dad, and Rebecca went around a few times and I just wandered around and took pictures and had time to think. It was so nice to just be out in the middle of nowhere, all alone. I really like that sometimes, and in Idaho Falls, there is nowhere to be alone. It was nice though, I reflected on my life and all my blessings, set some goals, and prayed. I know Heavenly Father is aware of me and He blesses me every day of my life.

Rebecca loves to give kisses lately. It is so cute. Anytime we say goodbye to someone, Rebecca puckers up and leans forward to kiss them goodbye. At Seth's work party last weekend, she wanted to kiss the boss's 5 year old son over and over again. She grabbed his shirt and kept yanking him over for more kisses. He was so patient with her and just kept letting her kiss him. Here she is kissing baby Rylie. She is so gentle and sweet with other babies, I'm so proud of her. Also, when Seth and I pray on meals, we kiss afterwards. So we tell Rebecca, "fold your arms, it's time for prayer." She'll fold her arms and the minute the prayer starts, she puckers up and waits patiently for the prayer to be done, so she can kiss us both. I love it.

Summer's over...WHEW!!!

First of all, I must say THANK YOU to everyone who had advice for me about my milk dilemma. It's been a month and Rebecca is slowly doing better. I've tried a lot of your suggestions, and I'm thankful for friends who know more than I do on parenting topics and are willing to help me. Thanks!!!

What a fun summer we had. We were home this past weekend, and I think it was the first time in 7 weeks. Busy times! It's been really fun though. At the end of July, we had Seth's family reunion. Since it is so expensive to travel lately, his parents decided to have the reunion at their farm in Bancroft. Here is their beautiful home, where Seth grew up. I love to go to Bancroft, it is such a peaceful place to me, a real get-away whenever I go there. It's like life slows down when I'm there. It is such a beautiful valley too. So this was Rebecca's first camping trip. We slept in the tent together...the first night. Rebecca is so wiggly!! And she woke up 18..22...38 times, I don't know, I lost count. We slept inside the next few nights, and everyone was much happier!!
What a great place to camp, huh? Nice soft grass.

Here we are, all the Wistisens in our matching shirts ready for the big parade on the 24th of July. This day is really big in Bancroft, a lot of people are there, and you can not say that on any other day of the year! The parade is fun, they go down the street and then turn right around and come back so you can see the other side. And every one of my nieces and nephews got an entire bag full of candy. They throw an amazingly large amount of candy out.

Here we are at the Lava Hot Springs Pool! I haven't been here since I was about 12 or so, but I used to love coming here as a child. They've got new water slides, very fun! Rebecca wasn't too sure about the water. She slept on Grandma's lap most of the time.

This was pretty constant at the reunion...Rebecca's cousins LOVE her!! I'm glad we all live so close and are able to get together once a year. The cousins are all so cute together, and it's fun to relax and talk with all my in-laws. I am so blessed to have married into such a great family. We have fun together many times a year and I love and admire Seth's family so much and hope to have a strong and close family like them of my own.

The Ol' Fishin' Hole! Grandma gave out some pretty fun prizes every night at the fish pond.

At the races on the 24th. Rebecca raced all the one year olds. She didn't win, but she finished!! Daddy was so proud :)

This is the Wistisen Homestead, where Seth's ancestors came and settled in Bancroft from Denmark. Pretty cool!!

We went to Chesterfield to look at family history and take a tour. I love to look at old stuff and learn about our great heritage.

By the end of the reunion, this is how Rebecca felt. 10 cousins playing with her all day every day. Good thing she is such a happy, good-natured baby. She took it all really well, but sometimes, you could just tell she wanted some space!! It was a really fun reunion, THANK YOU Mom & Dad Wistisen for all you did, and the great memories!

Some other things we did this summer...

Sleepover with Rebecca's cousins
They couldn't understand why she wouldn't turn around, sit still, and watch Cinderella with them!

We went to the Snake River Roaring Youth Jam, which is a community art day by the river. I go every year, and man-it is sure more fun with a kid! And it will be better next year, because Rebecca will want to do the art projects!!

Rebecca is learning to walk...she does really well, runs even, as long as she's holding my hands. Without support, she's not too daring yet.

Rebecca and I went to Utah to visit Grandma and Grandpa Kulicke for a week. It was so nice and relaxing, and my dad had the whole week off too! It was fun to be there. It's so cute to see my parents with Rebecca, she is their only grandchild and they light up around her.

Rebecca had a great time in the back yard learning to climb up stairs.

Rebecca loves corn, but she'd never had it on the cob until this day at my parents' house. She was giving us the cheesiest smiles, she had us all laughing so hard, and I got some great "corn pictures" as I call them now. So cute!

Grandpa giving Rebecca a piano lesson!! Rebecca loves music, she dances to it all the time, whether it's in church, on the radio, me playing the piano for her, or singing to her. She is a good little dancer!!

Rebecca in the rocking chair that belonged to my great grandma Peck. And wearing her sweet birthday dress that I love! Pretty in Pink.

Rebecca's first trip to the ZOO here in Idaho Falls. She was so cute, she'd point and wave to the animals and tell them, "hi." She especially loved the chikens, she thought they were saying "booga booga" and she was so excited and joined right into the booga fest!! It cracked me up.

Here we are with our friends Ryan and Leslie and their baby Rylie. (Ryan is Seth's cousin too.)

And last but not least, our garden was a huge SUCCESS this year! Here is the flower Seth brought in to me last week. Very nice, and grown by us! We have lots of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, corn, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins and sunflowers!
I love eating from my own yard! Someday I will learn how to can, and hopefully someday we'll have our own little "farm" ---an acre or two that we can grow lots of stuff on and then eat it all year. Yummy!! I love harvest time! I will do another post soon about harvest...Rebecca got to ride on her first tractor!! It's fun to have farmers in the family. We are trying to be farmers in our city way too. It's been fun this year.