The Peacock and the Guppy do Halloween

Happy Halloween from the little animals!

P.S. Portrait Innovations by my house does an awesome job and they are cheap!!!

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to say Happy Halloween! Hope you are all having a spooktacular day :)

Skydiving, Doggies, and Other Adventures

The last three weekends have all been great adventures for the Bates, first was St. George, the next weekend was Scottsdale, and this past weekend Anna and I went to Santa Rosa for Marissa's birthday.

We went to Arizona because the founder of Logoworks took the "Executive Founders" on an all-expense paid trip to celebrate the acquisition by HP. It was an incredible weekend, the highlight being the night he took us out by bus to the middle of nowhere without telling us where we were going or what we were doing (the middle of nowhere is apparently a place called Eloy, Arizona) to take us indoor skydiving. Unforunately we don't have pictures of us actually doing it because we were inside the Chamber lined up to jump in when it was our turn. Let me just insert here that it was not scary; you "jump" in and basically float in place because huge fans are blowing you up. It was very cool. I would tell you about the rest of the trip but suffice it to say it was over the top and slightly depressing as the whole time I was there I kept thinking I would probably never have a nicer weekend for the rest of my life. And in this family that means I have like 70 years to go.

This last weekend we headed out to Santa Rosa to spend the weekend at Marissa's parents house and celebrate Marissa's birthday. Anna REALLY loved Marissa's mom Sharon and her dog, Willow. The feeling was mutual, and Willow would try to jump up and lick Anna every chance she got. It was hysterical to see all of us adults freaking out, trying to get Willow down off the baby about every five minutes, all the while Anna is just smiling away, reaching out to the dog, completely unafraid or worried about any of it. We had a fun, relaxing weekend, and staying at the Beyer's is pretty much like staying at home: lots of women, cackling, Diet Coke, and buffets.

St. George with a detour to Vegas

I wasn't going to post these pics but, since the game this weekend has been rescheduled I figured why not. Go Cougars!

St. George Weekend

I didn't think that I would be the first to post a message from the "big" weekend, but I guess so. Just a couple of pictures that I took. It was a great weekend and thanks to everyone for your help and support. It was great to see everyone.

Jumbo in Her Bumbo

Why is it you can sit with a baby cradled comfortably in your rocking arms and they'll fight sleep with everything they've got and wail like you're burning the bottom of their feet with a lit match, yet they'll fall asleep in the most uncomfortable position without making a peep? I went into the kitchen to get something last night and came back to the living room to find her snoozing away like this - I'm not sure how her head didn't fall off.

One Month

I hope everyone is having a fun weekend in St. George! We miss you and wish we could be there!

Hallie is now one month old! She has already gained two pounds and is starting to smile.

Today in nursery they made headbands that said 'I can be honest.' It was too cute to see Oliver walking around with this on his head, I had to take a picture.

A Roll for Every Month

Anna is going to be six months old tomorrow, but I won't be able to post any pictures to the blog because we will be in St. George (and very excited to see everyone, by the way). I took the bath time pictures this morning, my personal favorite being the first one. She is like a tree - a roll for every month. Also please note Super Nanny Bridget, who last time I checked was breastfeeding Paige and feeding Anna her bottle at the same time. I'm just so sorry I didn't have my camera, although I don't think she would have let me post those pictures to the blog.

Baptism Update

Kate's baptism is going to be at Mom and Ruben's stake center. Because we are super special people, we got special permission to use the building and fill font. (Mom should get all the credit for this change of venue) It is on Bluff Steet just past the movie theaters, before you get to Snow Canyon Parkway. We will still be having the baptism at 7:00 pm. And dinner is still at 6:00 sharp at the Garnica's. Call me on my cell at 702-326-5870 if you have any questions, or my mom's house at 435-656-8523.

Congratulations Kurt and Jordan!

I got a text from Jordan yesterday revealing what John basically revealed in the comments a couple of days ago that she is pregnant! She said it was a BIG shock and she is due in June. I think Jordan will set the record for least amount of time between the bridal shower and a baby shower, and with Beth being due in May she slots right into the baby machinery. Congratulations you guys! You will be great parents!

Reminder

Honey and Papa don't want their house turned into a dog park this weekend, so no dogs allowed! Sorry!

Happy Birthday Jack Jack

Jack was lucky enough to celebrate his 1st Birthday several times this week. The first was with my parents while they were up watching Jack while Beth played across the country and I worked. That's when he got his first taste of cake. On Friday, the actual night of his birthday, Seth and Porter came over to check out his new toys including the Lightning McQueen car he loves so much. Tonight we celebrated at the McEuen's along with about 20 Texans visiting Kurt for General Conference. Some of them were loud singers and Jack wasn't so sure what was going on during "Happy Birthday". We stripped him down for his cake but after eating all night Jack passed on the cake and instead elected to play with the spatula.

Philadephia Fun

We visited the city of brotherly love for 4 days last week so I could attend the American Dietetic Association's Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. BYU sent me (well, they paid for some of the trip) to present my research at a poster session. The poster session went well, and we managed to squeeze in some site-seeing along with the educational sessions of the conference. Ben was a good sport and tolerated all of the "dietitian stuff" very well and kept Paige entertained while I tried to enjoy the meetings. Our hotel was in the historic district of Philadelphia so we were really close to some interesting sites. We visited and toured Independance Hall and the Betsy Ross house; and we saw the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklin's grave. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner one night and on our last night there two of my BYU professors watched Paige so that Ben and I could go out to dinner by ourselves! Ben chose McCormick & Schmick's - very tasty!

Paige was a very good girl on our flights and on the whole trip really. Just in the last week or so, she got her two bottom middle teeth and is mastering the army crawl! She has also finally decided that she likes to stand, no more wobbly legs :) Sadly, she also has her first ear infection.