What a wonderful life...

I am grateful for my beautiful family. I have the great fortune of being a part of a wonderful family, with great brothers and sisters (yes-that includes my in-laws too) and lovely parents (and in-laws) who show love and friendship constantly. I also am extremely lucky to have landed such a man as my Daniel and together create a family of our own. I am in love with our little red headed babies. They are so fun to watch grow and discover their world. It really is difficult to find words that properly describe my feelings about being a mother. I love it-and it makes me kinda crazy-but I love it. Marston is so sweet with Hazel. Every morning he wakes up and the first thing he says is "baby?" and we have to find Hazel and make sure she is alright. He is growing like a weed. Loves to jump, wrestle, throw balls, and play with trains, planes and automobiles. Hazel is cooing already. She is getting into a nice routine and smiles a lot. Really really sweet. She looks at you with a look that she is knows so much and just can't say it. It's amazing. I have much to be grateful for. I have a warm home, I have a refrigerator with food in it, I have a car, I have a husband that has a job that provides enough for me to be a stay at home mommy, I have a healthy family, I have the gospel. What a wonderful life! 

Brooke took Hazel's newborn pictures. She is 4 days old here. 

Marston loves to play in my flower boxes but always needs a good wash down after. 

Daniel turned 28 this year. 

I sent Daniel and Erik to Lowe's for our Christmas tree this year while I took a nap. Teeheehee!

Started running again. Feels wonderful! 

Marston ready for church.

Cute Hazel!

We met Ben and Telia in San Francisco.  Our boys love each other. 

Hazel and Eliza. 

Harold and Darlene in front of a giant castle made from sugar. 

Trying to get Christmas pictures was a bit of a mess. This is one of the best...

Marston looking dapper.

Say Hello to Hazel Abigail

We are happy to announce that our baby girl is finally here! I went into labor, 6 days late, last Saturday night. We went to the hospital and 8 hours later, we have a new member of our family. She was 10.1 pounds and 21 inches long! A big baby! I am still in shock. I only pushed for about 15 minutes and everything seemed very calm and relaxed. It was very pleasant- as far as birthing goes. She is a beautiful little girl with lots and lots of red hair. In fact, it is exactly the same color as Marston's hair when he was born. Who knew that we would get 2 kids with beautiful red hair. She is very sweet and we are thrilled to have her here. 

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This is William, Hazel's cousin, born only a day after her. 

This is Marston when he was about a week old. Same color hair as Hazel. 

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween weekend. Friday we joined Daniel's parent's ward trunk-or-treat in Placerville. We mostly ate chili and hotdogs and socialized with Dan's old ward rather than collecting candy with Marston-he would not keep his costume on. It was a lot of fun. Saturday was our ward's trunk-or-treat. We made Marston wear his costume and once he figured out that when he had it on he got candy, he kept it on. It was combined with 4 Lincoln wards and there were a ton of families. Daniel went as a cowboy and I went as mother earth (I made a felt earth and pinned it to my tummy).  We had a really good time. Sunday we just handed out candy to our neighborhood kids. Every time the doorbell rang, Marston would run to the door ready to put candy in the kid's bags. I'm a little sad Halloween is over. It is really one of my favorite holidays. Now I have to wait a whole year for the festivities to begin again. 

Apple Hill-about a week ago.

Our little monkey. 

The only way he would keep his costume on is when we were collecting candy at our ward's trunk-or-treat.

Marston's loot.

And he called me Mama

For the first time yesterday, Marston called me mama. My heart melts for those moments and makes me happy to be a mother. 

38 Weeks LARGE

I'm now 38 weeks pregnant. I had an appointment yesterday and the doctor told me I was dilated to 3 cm but her head was not engaged. Last night was miserable. I had irregular contractions the whole night, enough to keep me up but not enough to warrant a hospital visit. I guess it's just a waiting game from here on out. Come on baby!

38 Weeks - day of my baby shower

Making applesauce

I decided this was the year for canning - for some odd reason. I've done salsa, strawberry jam, peaches and a couple of days ago I did 22 quarts of applesauce. I'm tired of canning.

Applesauce is surprisingly easy but it took me all day. The day before, Marston and I went up to Apple Hill to an orchard to get our apples. I bought 2 bushels (80 lbs) of  golden delicious seconds. Because they were seconds I got them all for $24.

I really do like the idea of knowing exactly where the food my family eats comes from. I think that's the main reason I do it. It also saves a lot of money in the long run.

We visited several orchards while we were at Apple Hill. Love that place! 

2 bushels of golden delicious. 

I would chop the apples and Marston would put them into the pot. 

Victoria strainer-made making so much applesauce so easy. 

Daniel helped with a batch when he got home from work. 

The finished product. Yummy applesauce. 

Week in Tahoe

We got to stay in Tahoe last week. It was great. We just relaxed and did everything at snails pace. We walked around Tallac, skipped rocks at Fallen Leaf Lake, ate lots of ice cream and visited the pool daily. It was lovely!

Marston with his brand new Strider bike. He loves it!

Throwing rocks at Tallac.

Fallen Leaf Lake. 

We did a lot of rock throwing while we were there! 

Skipping rocks at Fallen Leaf Lake.

Maternity Pictures

I am lucky enough to have a sister in law (Brooke Trogdon) who is a super talented photographer. I got to take some maternity shoots a couple of days ago with her.  I surprised myself and actually had a good time. I am usually pretty shy with stuff like this but it was kinda fun. I am 33 weeks and feel like I am ready to pop. I actually had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he said I'm measuring 3 weeks ahead of schedule. So, we'll see what happens.