The BIG 2

Well that time has come- Auklin has turned two. Our little baby is 2! I cant believe it- He has come such a long way. We could not imagine our lives without him. He loves to talk and he needs your attention all the time. He loves playing ball especially with dad. When Kasey asked what he wanted to do for his birthday Auklin said "basketball" they are one in the same! My favorite thing that Auklin does is randomly during the day whether we are driving in the car or we are playing tag he will say "mom" .... I say what Auklin, ... "i love you" : ) it is amazing the happiness that little face can bring to ones life. He is just so precious and sincere. It crazy the things they pick up and learn so fast, and understand... its scary sometimes. Lately he will come up to ya and slap ya on the bum and say "hey babe" : ) hehehehehe YIKES I wonder where he learned that. He is just so funny and so fun! He just enjoys life and loves to be busy. He gives the best hugs and kisses and he is now 2!

Tis the season!!!

We finally got our christmas tree up and it is so awesome! I love our tree!!! And it smells oh so very yummy- I wont be burning any candles this year-  The tree smell is so strong and so good! Auklin loved helping put up the tree he had to hand me every ornament, he also brought me the lights and put them in a little pile for me.  He got to put up his own ornament this year and he was so cute. He was so excited.  I think my favorite part though is our tree is right next to a big picture of the Savior and so every time you look at the tree you automatically look at the Savior and remember what Christmas is all about! I love it! I love Christmas- I just love it all!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

So it snowed a good snow and Auklin loved it! He just wanted to be outside all day to play in it. It was also his first snow suit experience and I dont think he knew what to think... : ) He just loved being outside with dad and throwing snow at him eating the snow, making snow angels and just looking at it. He took his gloves off to touch the snow and Kasey tried to get him to wear his but they didnt last long...

The little things (obviously not this post)

So everyone is posting stuff they are thankful for to get into the holiday spirit and I think it is great  to read everyones thankfulness :) So I thought I would just add on- I am thankful for the little things in life. They are so small yet they have the hugest reactions on leave the biggest impressions. I have always believed that a lot of the time actions speak louder than words and I love seeing these actions in small ways. Like today I have been trying to notice them all and remember them but I am not very good - BUT I do have a couple that stood out. I was at the store and I totally forgot that ealier that day Auklin was in my wallet and was throwing my cards around and I thought as long as I watched close it was be ok and if I make a big deal about it he will think its funny and keep doing it. So I let him get bored of it until I had to run out the door to go to the store before his nap time. Well I was checking out and when I went to get my card to pay lo and behold they were all gone- every single one of them- there are only 3 but still- So for the reason of the story I called Kasey to see if maybe he was on lunch and he said no not yet and I asked if he was going to take a lunch and he said I dont know why- (they ate at work) and I told him what happened and without saying anything else he said "I'll be right there! " It meant so much to me that he wanted to save my day- it might seem like nothing but thats what I love about it- then to make it better I got to spend lunch with him and it was so fun! Then I walked out to the car to unload the cart and just as I finished and turned to take my cart back a man was walking away from the store and said "here I will take that back for you" I and I loved that cause I hate leaving Auklin in the car alone while I go take the cart back (I lock the doors but still-) and as I got in my car I watched this man take my cart back and turn toward the parking lot and walk back toward his car- It was awesome to me cause he wasnt even taking the cart in on his way to go shopping it was out of his way! So small but so awesome! Then I pull in my driveway and I walk around to get Auklin out and when I open the door he has his eyes covered and after a second moves his hands and says BOO- I made a big deal about how he got me and then he goes " I love you too mom" : ) awwwww I loved it. I didnt even say it to him but it made me think he recognizes acts of love and to him playing peek a boo was a little thing that meant a lot- and thats the other little moment was realizing that! Man I love the little things of life! Everyone try to notice them this month and maybe write them down! 

Fall time

so it has been a while since we have gad anything really to blog about. Halloween for us this year was kinda a come and go experience- we didnt really get into it very much. Auklin was a pumpkin and we had a fun time at our trunk or treat and my moms trunk or treat but nothin beat real trick or treating. I am excited for Auklin to get old enough to walk around the neighborhood with us and knock on doors and actually be excited about it! Halloween just isnt the same like it used to be- And now thanksgiving is coming up and I am so excited for it to come- usually it is not the fall holiday I am so anxiously excited for- but somethin in me this year is just jumping with thankfulness cause I can not wait! Weird I know but just sayin... I think it was when I saw my dad eating a turkey dinner with potatoes and rolls... mmmmm. I dont know. Or maybe its the day after thanksgiving I cant wait for! I will admit it I am one of the crazy 4 am shoppers out to see all the excitement :) I think I just get a kick out of watching everyone else and just giggling to myself.... or very much out loud! But regardless of what I am excited for I think the best part is we get to start celebrating Christmas! we put up our lights the other day while it was warm and I want to turn them on so bad but I will wait. And christmas tree hunting i hope will be a success this year- I just love the holidays and the smell outside and spending time with family. Nothing beats it! Well until we have something super exciting to blog about- I will be enjoying the fall weather and family time! Hope you all do the same!

Amanda

It is Amandas birthday and she is so much crazy fun- its so fun to have her in our family. She is so quick witted and so hilarious. She is a great mom, and so caring for her family. She is so crafty and love to make things for her home and other people. Happy Birthday Amanda we love you!

Derek

Well its yet another Birthday -I will be done posting birthday after the end of this year... But we have one to celebrate- I am a little late but it was my brother in law's birthday and he turned the big 3-0 it was an awesome celebration. He is so much fun and such a great day! He loves people- anyone! Seriously he can talk with anyone for hours. He just enjoys life and tries to just be happy and make things simple- We love Derek happy birthday!

Blank

It was Blakes birthday and it was a great day! I love my brother Blake, we have always been pretty close friends- sometimes it bugs him when we were younger that I wanted to hang around him all the time- but we had a great teenage life hangin out together- He is so smart and can read people so well. He always tries to make things better when they go bad- Blake is funny and just plain fun! Happy birthday Blake!

I love to see the Temple (looong post)

So from the very moment I started taking pictures my most favorite thing was to take pictures of the Temple- I have captured a few shots that are pretty and some that mean a lot to me- A long time ago I was driving around and I saw this picture of the temple and I loved it so much because it reminded me of my brother who is in the air force- well i had taken another cool picture at the same time earlier that day so I was excited about that one so when I got home I was editing the other picture I took first and kinda forgot about this other shot- it was a little while after that I came across it and to be honest my relationship with my brother was not so great- I mean it wasn't bad but we never talk and I had not seen him in forever because he lives out of the state/country and I felt a little bitter that I didnt have anything in common any more with my big brother so I was kinda avoiding this picture but I kept coming across it so I finally edited it and I sent it to him and told him that I took this picture for him and it reminded me a lot of him. I dont think he will even remember this cause at the time he said it looked cool and thats about it- and then nothing else was really said about it. Well here we are 2 years later and I came across this picture again and I decided to re-edit it a little bit and make it personal. This past year I have been really working on my relationship with my brother and we are talking more on the phone and getting to know each other all over again. So again I sent this picture to my brother a few months ago and he had a little bit more to say- we talked about my photography for a while and he finally said to me " you should name that one - For God and Our Country" I teared up a little bit and I knew that thats exactly what it should be called. I respect my brother so much, he has been in the air force for 10 years now and he is very devoted to his country. He has been to Iraq and other places that I cant spell many times and his family has supported him every-time, being left home without him for 6+ moths at a time and knowing that he is doing what he is called to do. He is also strong in the Gospel and his family is so blessed because of their testimonies and activeness in the church. I have been to the temple one time with my brother and sister and law since I have been married and it was a special day- it was the day I told him I was pregnant in the celestial room and he was the first to know. They were going back home soon so they would not be here when we broke the news to everyone. So everytime I am in the temple I hold on to that special day and I think a lot of my brother and his family and pray they are always safe. Therefore this is why this picture is so special to me and the name that Mike named it is so special to me- I love you Mike and thanks for finishing this picture off for me- 

Now- the reason I am posting this picture is because I was asked to donate pictures to Auction them off at a fundraiser for my friend (I mentioned it below) So here they are-  :)

This is the picture I took that distracted me from Mikes picture- This view is actually gone now- they have built a huge building right behind the temple from this view so this picture can never be duplicated :) hehehe its pretty sweet though!

This one is for you Mike ; ) 

This one of course had to have a name plate on it... From this picture you cant tell very good cause the flag is blending into the tree but the real print the flag stands out more cause it is red, white and blue- 

Kasey helped me make these awesome frames- he is amazing! and a big thanks to Color pro lab, home depot, and burton lumber for donating all the material to make these! And to my dad for getting the name plate for me up on base! :)

Matt

Happy Birthday Matt! ..... 

...

...

Yeah, I got nothin! 

;) hehe no, Matt os awesome! He is very smart and very talented. He can fix anything and make a "second living" out of it! :) He is such a great dad and loves to be a kid at heart- and as you can see he is also trying out for the fire fighters gay awareness calendar! We love good ol Matt- Happy freakin birthday! ; ) 

Projects

So its a little late but I have been looking for our before pictures of the yard and I still didnt find them so I had to pull one off my blog form last year- So it is not very good and doesnt do the before look justice- but meh... We finally finished our front yard! Kasey surprised me when I came home from Colorado- I came home early to surprise him and boy was I surprised! :) It was awesome! He worked so hard and we had so much help from our families once again! We have the best families!!! Thanks everyone!!!

Before...

the grass before we finally started was totally dead- here it looks ok but it went to pot like seen below :P

During.....

After!!!!! : )

we are still working on the garage door! ;)

My little boy/big boy

So for the past little while after I get Auklin dressed he goes into the bathroom and gets Kaseys deodorant out of the drawer and has me help him put it on- he wants to be just like his daddy! He holds out his arms and says "arm" so I put it on his arm and then tell him to put it in his armpit so he lifts up his arm and has me put it in his armpit too :) (he also likes to have kasey spray him with his cologne if he sees kasey putting it on ;) hehe ) Well today his deodorant was not there so he looked at me and then looked at my deodorant and then looked at me and I said its ok you can use mommy's :) so he pulled it out took the lid off all by himself and put it on all by himself :) hehehe... oh he is so dang cute! 

I love his face!

                                                                        he is so big!  

Successful Labor Day

So we had a pretty eventful Labor Day- we first started out the day buying some "new couches" kaseys parents neighbors were selling their couches and we have been wanting to get rid of our couches for a while now but just dont have the funds for new ones so when this deal came around we had to jump on it! First of all we know the people selling them so thats a plus and second of all we got the good friend discount :) they sold all 3 pieces for $250. They are pretty cute and so much more comfortable than our other one! We also made some frames for some pictures I am donating for an auction. My friend is fighting Gastroparesis (spelling?) and they are having a fundraiser for her, A spaghetti dinner and auction so I am donating some of my Temple pictures for the Auction so you should all go to this and get a yummy meal and but some cool stuff- its for a wonderful cause- (rushingforrushton.blogspot.com/) so I will post pictures of the frames with my pictures in it soon ... once I get my prints back-  then we had someone call us about our wood burning stove we were selling and they came out to "look" at it and wanted it right away :) so they planned to just pay us the money and have us hold it cause they had just picked up another wood burning stove in clinton (so 2 stoves in one truck- cast iron!) and had TONS of other stuff in their truck but her husband wanted to try to fit it cause he measured it out and thought it would fit... well, I will just tell you one thing- they must have been livin right cause we fit it all in... this picture of their truck does not do it justice because there was still like 4 totes that were on our lawn that had not been put in yet, 2 rolls of fencing, the back plate of the stove with the blower on it, and the piping for the stove- how we fit it all in? WHO KNOWS but it was miraculous, truly! and guess what we got our money back that we spent on the couches- it was an awesome day! We were debating whether or not to get the couches cause we really didn't have the spare money and then we ended back even, it was awesome! I mean it would have been cooler to be $250 richer but hey I got cute couches!!! :D I was then able to also finish my little blanket/toy box and I must say it is pretty cute too- so we had like I said- an eventful day and it was just awesome! We were going to try to go 4 wheeling and shot gun shooting but I am glad we got all this done today, it feels good! Happy day!

Kasey was pushing the 4x4s forward so the stove would go into the truck- these guys were amazing, they moved this 600+ lb cast iron stove from our basement to the back of this truck... Amazing! 

these people were seriously so awesome! I love the feeling you get when you sell your stuff to great people and you just feel so great about them! 

Maela Galbraith

So my sister had her baby it been a couple weeks now and she is doing great~ she was born on the 21 of August- she is a little cutie and we are excited to have a new little one in the family-

Josh

Josh is 1!!!! If you didnt know better you would think he was almost 2, this boy is so tall and so handsome. He is super smart just like his sister- He has big beautiful blues and funnest little stare. He eats evrything in sight :) but what little 1 year old doesnt... ;) We love little Josh Happy Birthday!

The Bucket List

The Bucket List. Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not

Things you have done during your lifetime:
(X) Gone on a blind date (chelsi)
(X ) Donated Blood (both)
(X) Skipped school (both)
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada (both)
(X) Been to Mexico (both)
(X ) Been to Florida (Chelsi)
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane (both)
( ) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost (both)
(X) Gone to Washington, DC (Chelsi)
( ) Hugged a homeless person (I may or may not have already known them)
(X) Swam in the ocean (both)
(X ) Swam with Stingrays (Chelsi)
( ) Been sailing in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep (both)
(X) Played cops and robbers (both)
(X) Recently colored with crayons (both)
( ) Ran a marathon
(X) Sang Karaoke (both)
( ) Volunteered at a soup kitchen (both)
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only (both)
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X ) Seen the Northern Lights (chelsi may or may not have I have attempted twice staying up late and I think I might have seen them but there was lots of trees around me-) 
( ) Been Parasailing
( X) Been on TV (both)
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't (both)
(X) Made prank phone calls (both)
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose (both)
( ) Fed an elephant
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue (both)
(X) Fired a gun (both)
( ) Been to the Opera 
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus (both)
( ) Serenaded someone (sadly)
( ) Seen a U.S.President in person
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe (both)
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone (both)
( ) Driven a race car
(X ) Been to a National Museum (Chelsi)
( ) Been to a Wax Museum
(X ) Eaten caviar (Kasey)
(X) Blown bubbles (Both)
(X) Gone ice-skating (Both)
(X) Gone to the movies (Both)
( ) Been deep sea fishing
(X ) Driven across the United States (Kasey)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(X) Gone snowmobiling (Chelsi)
( ) Lived in more than one country (Kasey)
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets (both)
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish (both)
(X) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser (both)
(X) Seen the Grand Canyon (both)
(X ) Seen the Statue of Liberty (Chelsi)
(X ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle (Kasey)
(X ) Been on a cruise (both)
(X) Traveled by train (trax?) (chelsi)
(X) Traveled by motorcycle (both)
(X) Been horse back riding (both)
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World (both)
(X ) Been in a rain forest (Kasey)
( X) Seen whales in the ocean (Chelsi)
(X) Been to Niagara Falls (Both)
( ) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins
( X) Been to the Olympics (Chelsi)
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing (both)
(X) Been snow-skiing (both)
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X ) Been to a Major League Baseball game (Kasey)
( ) Been to a National Football League game 
( ) Swam with sharks
(X) Been White Water Rafting (both)
( ) Written a book or screen play-(dissertation)

Our little helper

So Auklin has always liked helping us clean around the house and I am happy to say we have trained him well! :) hehehe we were cleaning the house the other day and Auklin was so excited to help us- he had to have his very own rag and he was just so willing to help us- 

St George

So another vacation! :) we lucked out this month and had 2 awesome vacations! This last week we went to st george with the Cravens and it was so much fun! We went to Zions and Vegas so there was a couple little trips rolled into 1- Zions was so cool- it was beautiful! we didnt get to hike as much as wanted cause the kids and lack of time but what we saw was amazing! we will for sure be going back to get the hikes we missed- Vegas is always a fun time! it was Brielle and Kyrons first time and they seemed to enjoy it. We were able to make it to fremont street this time and it was way fun! We then were able to do a session in the St george Temple and it was awesome! Of course it was beautiful! And the Brigham young home was also cool, I love seeing things like that from history, we learned a lot about the Mountain Meadow Massacre, I never knew about it and it was such a precious moment that I was able to learn about. Over all it was such a fun time! I love family vacations!!! 

Making an Echo :) 

we also played Minute to win it :) haha it was a blast!

move the cookie from your eye to your mouth without using your hands!

Landon

So I have been out of town and didnt get amy internet where I was so I am late- but I wanted to wish Landon my nephew a happy birthday- he is getting so big and is such a good cousin to all the kids. He is so smart and loves school. He makes friends so easy and has such an imagination. He is so compassionate and is just so fun to be with! We love Landon! Happy Birthday!!!

Like father like son

Auklin just LOVES his daddy, he copies evrything he does. They are just best friends. When Kasey is around Auklin has nothing to do with me and even though its a little sad for me- it is so cute and I love seeing Kasey be such a great dad- they are already so much alike in so many ways!!! I thought I would just post these cute pictures of Auklin helping daddy out in the yard- 

look how stinkin cute they are- they even match  :D

We surprised him and shot him with water when he was looking at this sprinkler head :) hehehe

Park city

So I am a little behind but we went to park city for a family vacation and it was amazing to finally get away! It was so much fun- I love park city so much! and Auklin loved the little gondola rides- there was a concert we went to and a farmers market that was so fun- it was raining when we went but it was a warm rain so it was awesome!!! We went to see the olympic park and believe it or not I had never seen it and neither had Kasey- it was really cool! There is a nice little museum up there with footage going and stories and I really enjoyed it! There was great sales at the outlets and so we got just a couple things- oh how I just love park city! Anyways here are just a few pictures of the park city  love!

kids in the free shower caps hahaha 

we missed you Jeni and the kids! 

she LOVED this I promise! :) for those of you who dont know Kasey is 6' almost 5 " and she is almost doubled his height right here! she could have done this all day! 

cute little things!

Landon is such a good big cousin- he loves all the little babies and just takes such good care of them! He is always so helpful and the kids just love "LANDON"!!!