Look at her!!

Well, I know I am biased, but I think Rebecca is brilliant. She is not even 4 months old in these pictures and she is sitting up by herself!! I'm so proud!

Seth the Builder

Lots of people ask me about Seth, how he's doing, how the house he's building is going. So I thought I'd talk a little about my hard-working husband and show some pictures of the house. First of all, I must say that this house is beautiful. Every time I go out to see it, I love it more and more. Then I go home to my little house in town and wish the big house out there in Rigby was mine. Eventually I stop wishing for things I can't have right now and be grateful for my cute little house in town again. But I sure hope that one day Seth can build a house like this for us.

The house sits on one acre. I always think an acre looks huge, but once you put a house on it, it doesn't look so big anymore. I think it is the perfect size, especially since we live 3 feet away from our next door neighbors. Space is good! And then you have room for a garden and a shed and lots of room for the kids to play. I like this subdivision, it is really nice.

Aren't the arches pretty? I love them and there are 3 in this house. Seth has gotten to be quite the little pro at tile lately too.

The house is full of nice big windows. Lots of light.

And here is the master bath. Notice the bench in the shower and the rounded tub deck. If you go to the left there is a huge closet. My clothes would take up 1/4 of the space, I think. It's big.

I'm so impressed with Seth and the quality way he builds his homes. He does so many extra things to make the home nice and unique. He told me recently that there is nothing he would do different if he was going to live in it himself. I know a lot of builders cut corners because it's not for their family, so they don't care as much-just get it done and sell it. Not Seth! That is something I really admire about him. He really does take pride in his work and try hard to make a product people will be glad to buy.

Good job Seth!! I love you and am so grateful for all the hard work you do to provide for our family.

SO CUTE!!!

To my vast audience of blog readers (ha ha) : I just have to show off these darling bracelets that my sister Kerstin made. I'm lucky she is so crafty, my baby wears them every day, and I get compliments on them all the time.



These pictures don't do the bracelets justice, I couldn't get the camera to focus very good. Aren't they beautiful though??

Rebecca is never completely ready for the day unless she has a bracelet on and a bow in her hair. I must say, I love having a girl! It is so much fun to doll her up.

Kerstin has made a bunch of these bracelets to sell, and I'm selling them for her too. Get this--they are only $5.oo each. That is a deal. I have seen them in stores for $9-12.oo each. So, if anyone is interested, let me know and your baby can be as darling as mine!! :) They make great, unique gifts too. And we have all sizes, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, and on.

Now, this is awesome. Kerstin also created these binky holders. They are so pretty. I have this one and one with flower beads. So fancy! Everyone compliments me when I have these clipped to Rebecca's clothes. And I love it because then the pacifier doesn't get dirty as it constantly is falling out of Rebecca's mouth. Everyone needs one of these. They are also a killer deal at $15.oo each.

And just check out how cute they are on!!! I love these bracelets so much. Thanks, Kerstin, for all the work you've done to contribute to my baby's cuteness!!

How crafty are we!

Last Saturday, Seth's sisters, mom, and I got together to make Christmas cards. We each came up with a card idea and brought enough supplies for each person to make five of our cards. So we all ended up with 30 beautiful cards. I was really impressed with all of them--everyone did a really nice job on their card ideas, I thought. Here are all the cards we made.


We started at 1:30 and didn't get done until about 5:30. It was an all day event, and I loved it! I love crafty things and creating something fun to share with my family and friends this holiday season. We had Christmas music on the whole time. It was fun to get into the holiday spirit.

Just look at what a mess we made though! Good thing mom put up another table so we could spread out more.

Here we all are! It was a fun day, good to be together. And Rebecca was so good the whole time too. Whew!

Daddy's little girl

A year ago, when we found out we were going to be parents, I asked Seth if he wanted a boy or a girl. And of course, he wanted a boy. We had the ultrasound done in March, and it was so amazing to see our little child. We were told it was a girl, and we were so happy. I think Seth had to mourn the loss of his boy, but only for a minute. He has loved her since the moment he saw her, as you can see here:

And Rebecca loves her Daddy, too. She gets so happy lately when he is around. After being in Utah for a week and not seeing him, she just stared and stared at him the night we came home. I love watching the two of them together. Dads add so much fun to life. He is a lot rougher with her than I am, but she loves it.

It's neat to see Seth being a dad. I always knew he'd be a good father, because he is so cute with all our nieces and nephews-they all adore him. He takes such good care of Rebecca, like in this picture. He got her ready for the day, all decked out in her John Deere socks. And I don't know where he found the green socks for her hands, but here they are!

And here is one from this week. Rebecca could hear her Daddy talking, but couldn't see him, so what did she do? She found a way to look at him. She keeps us entertained!

At this Thanksgiving time, I am so grateful for a good man who is our little girl's Daddy. What a sweet little family I have.

I'M BACK!!!!

Well, it has been forever since I last updated my blog. We changed internet companies (twice) and didn't have the internet for a few weeks. I didn't know how much I like having the internet until it was gone! So I'm glad it's back and now I can blog and email again.

Rebecca is adorable. She is growing and changing so much. She is already four months old. I took her in for her checkup yesterday and she weighs 14 pounds. She is so healthy and happy and lately she has learned how to sit up (by herself!) only for a few seconds before falling over smiling. She also uses her voice A LOT! She makes this high pitched sound over and over again. It is so funny. She is still such a good baby- as long as she's in the same room with us she doesn't cry. She just likes to know and see what is happening. She loves to watch us eat. She watches the fork go from our plates to our mouths and back to the plate. We love her so much and we tell everyone how much she spoils us.

POTATO PRIDE!!!!

Growing up in Utah, I always knew Idaho was famous for its potatoes. Mostly because it said so on the Idaho license plates. Little did I know that Idahoans love and celebrate their potatoes. I've lived here in Idaho Falls for 3 years now, and last year I discovered a little celebration in the small town of Shelley, 15 minutes from where we live. So, we went. Last year it was miserable, cold, rainy and windy and we didn't stay long. But I remember being really amazed at the turnout of people on such a yucky day. We watched the parade from our car and saw a huge line of people standing there waiting to get a free baked potato on our way out.

Well, last weekend, it was Shelley potato day again, and I was excited to go. The weather was beautiful and I was looking forward to taking Rebecca to her first parade. And what a first parade it was!! I was cracking up the whole time. Where else in the world do they have spud harvesting tractors going down the street in a parade? They had little trains with kids in them dressed in potato bags, with posters on the side boasting their potato pride. My personal favorites were "Darth Tater," "Spudzilla," and the float entitled "Tater Potter and the Deathly Hallows." The Shelley Russett Cheerleaders were there too. Those lucky kids who grow up in Shelley--they get out of school for 2 weeks to harvest the beloved spuds and then have this lovely celebration to end it all!! I'm feeling a little deprived that we do not have a celebrated fruit or vegetable or SOMETHING in Utah!

Well, after the parade, there are all these booths set up with crafts and other interesting things I love to look at. Also lots of good food. But my favorite thing is the spud races. Yes, they see who can pick up the most potatoes the fastest. It's great. Then they give out free baked potatoes with all the toppings. It is quite the festive day in the otherwise sleepy little town of Shelley. I don't know why it cracks me up so much that they go to all of this effort over potatoes, but it really does. It was a fun day, one of the true joys of living in Idaho.