Arizona!

We went on a little family trip to Arizona in AUGUST to see 2 of my brothers and their families that live there as well as Kevin from his mission!

Ellie was still in a rear facing car seat and she HATED being alone in the back and not being able to see anything. She was not that great of a traveler, so the first day we didn't drive too far. The next day she was much better and even read some books as we drove along.


We stopped to see the Grand Canyon. Neither of us had seen it before and we were close so we figured why not?

It was amazing! Its crazy to think that something this huge and wonderful was only a couple hours away and we'd never seen it before. While we were there, it felt like we were visiting another country because we couldn't understand anyone! There were tons of different languages being spoken around us and none of those were English.

 

It was so fun to get Kevin back! I missed my big little brother! 

  

 It was fun to introduce him to Ellie too! I Mean, look at this kid! Who wouldn't be excited to meet her?!

We also got in a lot of pool time! Luckily, we stayed with Erik and Dawn who have an amazing pool in their backyard. And Phoenix in August means you NEED to have a pool to cool off in.

 

Since there was so much going on, we decided why not throw a surprise baby shower for Marianne?! Her mom was also in the Phoenix area, so I invited her and she surprised Marianne as well. It was so fun to see her so surprised! 

Of Course, we had to have a Harry Potter baby shower. Her invite came by Owl to Cory's house where she was staying.

Dawn  did an awesome set up with the food. We had broomsticks, hufflePUFFs, chocolate covered frogs, and butter beer. Everything was so delicious!

This was the sign in table for Baby J. Everyone left a fingerprint on the weeping willow. We played pin the lightning scar on the baby, had a wizard dress up photo booth, made a custom ABC book for Baby J, and played baby themed pictionary. It turned out really well!

Kaiya and Ellie became great friends on this trip as well. Ellie LOVES to eat and Kaiya loved feeding her... a match made in heaven.

WE had so much fun in Arizona, it was hard to leave! Especially with the daunting 12 hour drive back home....

Green Cousins!

Jen and the triplets came to Utah to visit in July and we had soo much fun! The Triplets love Ellie and she loved having little people to play with. Every single time Taylor would see me she would yell "Ellie?!" and look for Ellie. Carder and Cruz were a little more forceful with their love, wrestling Ellie to the ground or hugging her so tight. But she loved it all! We went to several parks, went swimming a few times, played outside, fed the duckies, and went exploring Provo River. It was a fun and exhausting two weeks!

 trying to take matchy cousin pictures.

 Playing in the park with the cousins.

 Trying to be big like the cousins.

 Cruz and Carder "Loving" ellie. Cruz would block her and Carder would tackle her. it was hilarious to watch!

Demolition Derby! Josh and I loved it last year so we got tickets for everyone this year! They all loved it too!

 Exploring Provo River.

Hanging out with Bozo, watching a movie!

Ellie the Model.

When I was in Rupert for mother's day, I got this email.

So naturally, I sent Ellie's picture in. I really didn't think they'd email back but...

She was in! SO I got really excited and really nervous that she'd cry the whole time or she wouldn't let anyone else hold her or it was all a scam and someone was going to kidnap her... 

I actually was pretty worried about a scam or something because the first photo shoot was a residential address in Plesant Grove, and as I drove closer and closer the neighborhood wasn't looking too great. But then I turned down a road and all the houses got bigger and better. However, I was still a little worried, so I waited in the car until other Moms and babies got there. 

The house was GORGEOUS. I could have taken pictures of the house all day. 

 

Something I thought was funny was that the models were all super super skinny. And wearing 6 inch heels, tank tops, and skinny jeans. One of the models had never even been around babies before so she was a little nervous. It made me laugh that they were pairing up babies with model "moms" because there was no way these ladies just had babies! 

 The first shoot was for Udder Covers. Ellie was the first one to go and she did ok for a minute and then wasn't too happy to be under a cover and not be getting fed..

 playing with the other babies. She had to wear a bib because she got her onesie dirty .5 seconds before they needed her and I only had one extra!

 waiting for them to get ready to put her in the shoot.

 This was the end of the first day. She was tired and had been in three shoots that day.

The second day was a shoot in Salt Lake and was for Seven Slings and Hot Slings. It was in this building that was designed for photo shoots. They realized this day to keep the moms completely out of the room for the shoots so that the babies would be more cooperative. Melissa, the marketing coordinator, took some pictures for me in some of the shoots.

 They always had three or four people there to make the babies look at the camera and smile or laugh or whatever. The founder of the company, Jenny, is in the polka dot shirt.

 Since I was in the other room with the other Moms and Babies, I didn't see Ellie a lot this day. She was with this blond model for like 2 hours. I could hear her in the other room and I kept peeking in at her just to make sure nothing was going on, of course. I was sitting by the stairs and as they were going down them to go outside I followed behind. There was no way they were taking my baby outside without me! haha

 They did some more shoots outside and then gave her back to me and the day was over!

The second day she was in 4 different shoots. They kept asking for her, probably because of her sweet hair. :) Her model "mom" was so nice and Ellie even fell asleep on her! She was just in the sling and fell asleep while waiting to do some more shots. I was jealous because Ellie never falls asleep in my arms!

There were over 1500 applications for these shoots and only 13 babies were chosen! They told us that on the first day and I was shocked! I really didn't think that many babies applied for it, so obviously my thinking that Ellie is the cutest baby in the universe is true. haha  

It was a really fun experience and I had a lot of fun talking with the other moms and playing with their babies while we were waiting around. And it was about time Ellie started earning her keep! Just kidding. But really, she got some money out of it and some sweet products. I'm glad we had the opportunity to do this, I'd do another photo shoot in a second! 

Jurgensmeier Cousins!

In June, Cory and Darin finished their residencies and while they were studying for boards/finishing up work their wives and kids came to Idaho! So Ellie and I caught a ride and played with them in Rupert for a few days.

We were so excited for them to finally meet Ellie and for her to meet them! We played and played and had tons of fun being together. 

 

Smores in the backyard.

 

One day I made a scavenger hunt for the boys. Beau was the most excited, but I think he was disappointed that the "treasure" at the end was ice cream and not something made out of paper. I'm not sure why, but he kept asking for the paper toys ha 

My mom got these dresses for the girls. We tried to get some good pictures with all of them, but its harder than it looks! Kaiya was so cute sitting there smiling and Ellie and Vivie would crawl away or look away or cry or something. oh babies! 

 

 

Meeting cousin Vivian for the first time! These cute girls are only 3 weeks apart and I hope they can always be cousin besties! 

The Montgomery grandkids that were at my grandma's for dinner

This is Corbin, my cousins little boy. He is so cute! Ellie and Corbin played together one afternoon and it was so cute to watch. 

 My dad gave all the grandkids rides on the 4 wheeler. (Ellie did like it)

 ELlie absolutely adores my Dad. It is so fun to see them play together.

 She probably loves him so much because he does crazy/fun things with her. Like helping her ride Max the dog.

After our fun in Idaho, Darin and Linsy and their family came and stayed with us for a night. We took the girls to the pool before the boys got to Midway. 

When we got home from our trip, Ellie started talking way more. Its fun to see her interact with her cousins and pick up new things from them. She definitely wants to be a big kid and do whatever they do. I just wish all the cousins lived in the same spot so we could have fun all the time!