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.

My Milk Dilemma

Okay, I have a question for everyone. What do you do if your one year old will not drink milk???
Babies NEED milk, right? That's what I've always heard, anyway. So when Rebecca turned one, a month ago I put some whole milk in her cup and she took a sip and threw it on the floor. She did this every day for a week, so I thought "I need to trick her."
So...I have tried so far...adding chocolate milk powder, watering it down, warming it up, and adding it to juice-sick, I know, but I am desperate! Every time, she tastes the milk, she throws the cup on the floor and will have nothing to do with it.
What do you think, all you experienced mothers? I am clueless, but I heard kids this age need 4 servings of milk every day. So could I just give her cheese and yogurt every day and nurse her in the morning and at night, and call that good? Or is she milk deprived because she isn't getting MILK? I know that now is the time she is building strong bones, so I still try every day, but it is getting frustrating. I don't show her that I'm frustrated though, I make it look like I don't care if she drinks it or not, I'm just offering it to her...BUT I DO CARE!! What should I do??
I have nursed Rebecca for a year now, and I am ready to stop, but since it is the only milk she gets, I am having inner conflict and feeling like I better just keep nursing, at least until I can figure out how to get the other milk into her.
Any suggestions??? Please???

Busy Baby

I can not believe how fast Rebecca can make a mess!! WHEW-she is a little whirlwind, into everything.

All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS FOR NAP TIME!!! (So that I can clean it all up for her to do her work again when she wakes up.)

And, to end with, here is a funny Rebecca story. Seth has been calling Rebecca Booga Booga ever since she was born. He'll pop around corners and say "Booga" to scare her and stuff like that. She LOVES it and laughs whenever we say Booga. Kind of a funny little nickname for her. Anyway, last week Rebecca started saying Booga Booga, and it is so funny. Not surprising, since she has heard it so much in her life, but it cracks me up that this was her 4th word she learned how to say (after Da Da, Ma Ma, and HI).

Happy Birthday Rebecca!!!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but my little Dolly turned one on Saturday. What an amazing year it has been. I love being Rebecca's mother more than words can say. Every day is wonderful and fun, watching my sweet baby discover the world. Everything is new to her, and it is like a second childhood for me. It is so much fun to see things as if they are new. I don't know how I ever lived without Rebecca! One of the biggest blessings in my life right now is that I get to be home with her. I don't miss a moment of her beautiful childhood, and she is getting more fun all the time!We had a party for Rebecca on Saturday in our back yard. WHEW!! 2 party weekends in a row in our back yard! It was fun to plan out and prepare for them though, and I love to have family at our house. We have a good time together. I'm grateful to have wonderful families that love and support us, and whose company we enjoy. I wish we lived closer and could do this more often. We want to thank everyone who came from so far to be with us on Rebecca's first birthday. It means so much to us!!

This is the fish cake my mom and I decorated for Rebecca. It turned out so darling!

Rebecca was spoiled by everyone!! She received so many nice gifts. Thanks everyone for helping to make this day so special and fun!! Even though she won't remember it...we will tell her all about it!! It was a really fun day.
We love our Becca Boo, she is the joy of our lives. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

4th of JULY!!

What a fun day this was! I bought this little dress for Rebecca months ago, I thought it was so darling and had to have it. I love the 4th of July and I love my country. I truly am proud to be an American. This month I am memorizing all 3 verses of "The Star Spangled Banner." I think the words are beautiful and powerful and I know God truly has made and preserved our nation. I have always loved the 4th of July and I love how Idaho Falls goes all out on this day. There are so many fun things to do here.

Seth's parents came up to be with us all day on the 4th, which was a fun surprise. Rebecca loved being with them and we had a great day together.
I got all festive and painted Rebecca's and my toenails. It was hard to do hers, because they are so small, but it turned out so cute!!

And of course, I had to make her some holiday hairbows. I loved how these looked. I had a bunch of random ribbon, and I didn't know how I wanted it to look. Seth suggested I try to make them look like fireworks. So I tried, and I don't know if they really do, but they are cute anyway!!

MY SWEET LITTLE FAMILY!

Rebecca at the parade...she was so cute waving and clapping all the time. It was a good parade! And we had awesome seats in the shade! The parade comes right at the bottom of our street, very convenient and we walked to the river at night too to watch the fireworks, which were spectacular as always!! Rebecca watched them so good and pointed at them. I was worried she'd be tired and cranky, but she was so good all day. We had a lot of family up for a BBQ in our back yard, which was a lot of fun. And we blasted of lots of fireworks after dinner in the parking lot across from our house. It was such a fun day!