Halloween, Belly Shots and More

Our little pumpkin!
























We were the family of pumpkins this year...
























Minus me, because I decided to dress up the baby boy instead :) I now have two lil pumpkins, just haven't seen what the second one looks like. Jon thinks brown hair, blue eyes...we will see shortly:) This was taken on Oct. 20




















This belly shot was taken two weeks later on Nov. 4. Trust me, I felt that baby's growth spurt! I am due December 3rd but I honestly don't think I will make it. However, my baby boy might sense I like surprises and come late. I will be happy either way.






















For Halloween we went to my mom's ward's Trunk or Treat. Here Shelby (Thriller character) is with princess Charley and pumpkin Em. I think Em is eying Charley's candy bag....in fact I know she is!


















Grannie and little Winnie! Britanna was SO cute in this outfit. I wanted to take her home with me. We had a great time. Thanks mom!


















We made a stop to the Featherstone household and instead ran into a banana.




















We love Gramare adn Grandpa Joe!






















Emmy with her sweet aunts. Nice glasses Han. Kate's footsie jammies are amazing. Her and Em should have a slumber party.

















Eating a sucker and simultaneously biting through a tootsie roll wrapper. . . welcome to Halloween!





















Okay, I know most of you must be cracking up right now. Yes, this is Jon and yes his chest hair is sticking out. What you might not know is that he is wearing our niece's little mermaid wig!! We had to dress up as 80's people for a ward mystery dinner. Jon played well the part.





















I couldn't stop laughing. It became a bit creepy after awhile!




















Awhile back the Feathies pulled out this cute little red Korean ceremonial dress their grandparents brought back from Korea. Jon's grandparents served a mission in Korea long before he did. How cool is that to have that connection with your grandparents? Jon brought back his ceremonial outfit from his Korean mission. They looked so cute dressed up together. This is a preview shot of a future Halloween costume, I'm sure. (Just pray it won't be because we are living in Korea...hhahah)

















I'm glad my husband is not Korean and I'm glad he is not a ninja.























My neighbors have the coolest Princess battery-powered jeep that Em and Charley LOVE. I always wanted one of these when I was little. I thought this was such a cute shot of them "driving."

















As I said in a previous post, We LOVE the FALL! This was on a Sunday after church. We walked past the most gorgeous red tree that had lost most its leaves. We had to stop and get a picture of sweet Em in all the pretty leaves.



















Emmy and Daddy--they spend the whole time at church together in nursery. It has actually been quite nice. I hope you feel the same, Jon!



















Mommy and Em



















My little girl!























And here she is, ready for the months of winter snow. I think this picture was taken the same week of the red leaf pictures. I'm glad we are having a little more spring weather after that bizarre snow. But yes, the Feathies do love the snow.

Happy Birthday Emmy!

Today Emmy is two. (okay yesterday because I never ended up finishing the post). I still can't believe what a little girl she has become---no more baby. I think this first picture shows how old she looks.













Here is Emmy on her actual birthday blowing out a candle. I let her blow out as many candles as she wanted that day! She was pro this year (minus this video where she actually struggles quite a bit).


We had 3 celebrations this year. I know, more parties than how many years she has lived! The first one was a big get together with the Marsden and Alexander family. We were celebrating Charley, Rissa, Emmy and Matt's birthdays. The big surprise was the party pony. Emmy loved to look at the ponies, but the minute anyone asked her if she wanted a ride, she said "no." But eventually she warmed up and went on the pony named "Cookie Dough" a few times by herself. It was fun because she had never done anything like that before (although riding on Dad's back is a close competition).


































































Cousin Marissa, Emmy and Jon under some pretty Autumn trees.



















Shelby is the greatest aunt to my kiddo. These next two pictures are darling.






































Em loved the built in tramp. She wasn't afraid to go jump with all the big kids either. My little girl is growing up! I loved Dean Alexander's superman pose in this pic.


















This was when Emmy was a bit unsure about the pony rides. She and Jon have become such good little buddies and she only prefers me over him when she is tired. One of my favorite things she says lately is, "mommy tired" when she sees me yawn (which I guess has become quite frequent!!!)


















She was content to just watch the kids ride the ponies and stay with her daddy.






















Birthday cake time! And just like her mom, this is always the favorite part of the celebration!



















The next celebration was with the Featherstones. We had so much fun as GraMare, Kate and Hannah had prepared a princess party, tiaras and all. Here Emmy is awaiting more birthday fun.




















I wasn't kidding when I said the birthday cake is my favorite part of birthdays! I have so much fun scheming ideas for the birthday cake months in advance, and carrying out the big project. This one was simple but still so much fun. Emmy has loved finding the moon in the sky and loves the nusery rhyme, "I see the moon and the moon sees me; God bless the moon and God bless me." I have always loved stars, so this cake was a perfect fit for her 2 yr. old cake. And it doesn't hurt that I could sneak in my favorite color...purple!!!




















When Emmy woke up from her nap, I brought the cake to her in her crib. I had a very excited little girl who was more than ready to be a wake! She liked her "moon cake."


















"Liked" the cake is an understatement. For those of you who know Emmy, you will know how truly happy she is when she is enjoying a yummy treat. She was especially happy to get her own large piece of cake and eat it however she desired (which meant eating the skittles, frosting, and then throwing the boring cake part in the sink!!!).
























Emmy with Gug and Bumps. Aren't they the cutest Great Grandparents? They are so good to little Emmy. I think Em and Gug looked adorable in their tiaras.



















Em has been absolutely fascinated with her dollhouse from the Featherstones. She likes to have the baby doll go potty in the little toilet. We're hoping that will influence her desire to use the big potty. She also likes the dolls to go down "the slide," which is really the roof of the dollhouse. That idea transferred quickly to her little brain as she tried to sit on the roof herself and try out the new slide. Luckily, I got to her before the roof broke. So, why isn't the idea of going on the big girl potty as fascinating as going down the roof slide??


















This is Em on her actual birthday playing with all her new toys. Thank you to everyone who gave her presents! She has been loving her tea set, puzzle pieces, bubbles, play dough, baby accessories, bath toys, and books. And I have been loving to dress her in all the new clothes!


















Here she is posing in a new outfit from Granny. So cute!






















Feeding her dolly (well, Granny's dolly that we stole but we'll soon be giving back as Em received a surprise later that day).


















The 3rd Celebration was going to the Kangaroo Zoo with our buddy Jake. Emmy adores Jake and looks up to him (literally) as a brother/uncle figure. He is so good to play with her.



















They wore their matching Converse shoes.



















Emmy loved all the blow up toys. It was great because Jake could take her on all the big slides while I sat and watched. Boy do I love just sitting these days!



















The big surprise was Daddy's gift later that night: a baby doll, stroller, baby bed and baby highchair. Oh my, I have never seen such excitement from my baby girl. She loves going to her cousin Charley's and pushing around all her baby doll strollers. This was a dream to finally get her own. She wouldn't stop smiling and she refused to go to bed (which is kind of weird for Em....thanks to the bink!) It was really the cutest thing for Jon and me to watch.























She would go from one piece of baby furniture to the next. The baby was hungry and fed in less than 30 seconds and then the doll needed to sleep in her bed for 15 seconds, etc. It was hilarious.
























All these genuine smiles reminded me of the time I first took her to the park after she could walk. The perma-grin just melted our hearts.



















I asked Emmy what the baby doll's name was. She said without hesitation "Ella." She kept saying "baby Ella" over and over and just smiled and looked so happy and proud of the name she chose. It was so cute because it was so original. We don't know any babies named Ella and I'm not sure where she got that name! It was so sweet to see how well she took care of the little dolly. But toward the end of the video, you will see that Emmy is still my little baby girl as she needs me to make a "boo boo" feel better.

We LOVE the Fall

Blogging has not been my thing lately, but I had to post this video that Emmy and I found browsing through pictures today. It is my welcome to Fall, one of the best times of year! (according to my husband, THEE best time of year and I am really starting to agree with him).










And here is Emmy a year later still enjoying pumpkins as much as she always has.

More Happenings

We had an uplanned Marsden Reunion last week as my brother Spencer and his wife Dian surprised us with a visit from Texas (They are now a family of 7 with the newest addition of 6 week old baby Sophia). It was a blast! I had so much fun with my whole family. It has been so long since that has happened. How long do you think Mom? This is a picture of the whole crew (well, sorry Shelby, only half of your head made it in the pic!) All 8 grandkids were there plus my belly represents baby #9 on the way. Oops, and Jon just pointed out that Spen, Scot and Parker are not in this picture. I guess I just missed that since all the Marsdens look the same. Well, we were all there at one point or another during the week.












A favorite activity of the kids was playing "pizza" or "popcorn" on the tramp. Here they all lie very still as Uncle Parker puts all the toppings on them before putting them in the oven to cook.



















Spen and Diana have two twin boys (Owen on left and Hudson at far right). If you enlarge this picture you can see how much Emmie resembles the twins. She could be their triplet! Most espeically I think her and Hudson have similar faces/noses. They also had very similar personalities. We loved getting to know them more!




















Lagoon Day with cousin Brenna. We had so much fun with Aunt Dosy, Tima, Brenna and Tess at Lagoon. Em loved having a friend on all the rides.


















This little girl was so brave on the bumble bee. If any of you can remember this ride, is is a wild one for kids. It whips the kids around very fast and they can pull on the bar to go up high (some of the characters are dumbo and other animals). Emmy was hilarious. She pulled on the bar the entire time and whipped around way up high. Her facial expression was like "woah, this is pretty crazy!" She seemed to enjoy it and didn't cry as I thought she might. I love when she surprises me like that!





















I had the time of my life watching Miss Em.




















Our first camping experience.....
This is Jon and Emmie in the morning after sleeping all night in the tent (or not sleeping). We didn't realize how cold it would be in the Uintahs in August. Oh my, Jon's head got so cold in the middle of the night he stole Emmy's hat and completely stretched it out. It was hilarious! Emmy was snug as a bug with her 5-6 layers and an amazing sleeping bag/3 blankies, my large socks on her feet, etc. (I don't pack lightly). I was proud of how well Emmy did her first time in a tent. She didn't wake up once. However, Jon and I were unprepared for the cold as were the rest of my family who came. It made for a great experience. We were all glad when morning came so we could stop pretending to sleep!




















Emmy was super happy to wake up and find both Mommy and Daddy on either side of her. I definitely look refreshed and well rested, don't ya think?





















Jon was crazy, die hard and left the tent at 7am to go fly fishing down at the lake. I couldn't even get near the lake until about 10 am. The three hours before that I pretty much spent in and out of the parked car, blasting the heat! Jon caught two fish. Way to go babe!





















Midget Shelby with the giant pink crocs showing us how cold it was.





















Emmy had a blast running around, tripping on logs and finding flowers for everyone.





















I love this pictures of Emmy and Granny!

Recap of the Last Month

Saying Goodbye to Baby Andrew, Mike and Erin. Emmy still talks about them and loves to ride in "Baby Andoos stroller" at GraMare's house. Aren't their blue eyes adorable???
















Our amazing, rejuvenating vacation to San Diego. And yes, we left Emmy with her wonderful grandparents, otherwise the word rejuvenating would probably not describe the vacation! I want to thank our families again for watching Em while we took this get-a-way to our honeymoon spot (Coronado Island). This time we stayed downtown San Diego and went to Seaworld, spent a lot of time on the beach, ate good food and just enjoyed the time together. Thanks for a great time Noj!



















Need I say more??




















We also had the chance to go through a session at the San Diego temple. It was gorgeous and the spirit of the temple was such a highlight of our trip.


















When we got back, Jon had nose surgery to fix his deviated sceptum. I decided to spare you all of pictures from that exciting time in Jon's life! It was a hard two week recovery, but Jon is breathing now.....through his nose (I understand that two weeks without breathing would be fatal). He can also successfully blow his nose which wasn't really possible before! I am glad you are feeling better babe. While he was laying in bed moaning and miserable, Emmy and I went to the 24th parade with the Feathies.




















My sweet mother-in-law and best grandma to Em.




















Em plugged her ears a lot with all the sirens. It was so cute! I think that is when she learned the meaning of the word "loud" because ever since then she uses it in the right context.



















My sister-in-law Hannah was in the parade with the BHS cheerleading squad. She is an amazing tumbler and I caught a video of her flawless moves!







The other highlight of this month was our outing to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple Open House with Sue, and her two kids. Here are Emmy, Pauline and Chadwick all squished into the back seat of our car!


















Sue was a good friend from our Salt Lake Ward. She really enjoyed the temple as it was her first time inside of one. She is preparing to get a temple recommend. Her excitement throughout the open house was contagious. Her kids were so good the entire time. We went on a very busy night and didn't end up going through the temple until 10pm! Emmy, Chadwick and Pauline kept themselves entertained by pushing the two strollers around the grass. They actually did really well considering the late hour and I count that as a blessing. It was neat to have Em see the temple. She talks about it now and especially likes looking at pictures of the baptismal font. She remembers the "water" and that Jesus was "batized." The other day I asked her what she wanted to do that day. She said "tempol, Pauline!" Whenever we pass a temple (or a chapel for that matter) she says "tempol mommy, tempol!" I hope that love for the temple continues throughout her life.






















I was so happy that my dad came with us too. He was so good with the kids and Chadwick really liked him. I remember my dad telling me how going to the temple elevates us more than anything else. Every activity we do in a day after going to the temple is never quite as uplifting as being in that Sacred House. He helped us drive out the big group. Jon came too but somehow he was always the photographer and never in the pics.





















We have also been to Lagoon twice in the past month! Once with Granny Jyl, and once with cousin Brenna. Emmy loved being with her Granny and I now know why taking kids to Lagoon is one of my Mom's simple pleasures in life. It was a blast to watch Em get so excited on the rides and I plan on taking her any chance I get!


















Our little fam on the wild kingdom train (which wasn't very wild because all the animals were inside sleeping or didn't exist at all!) Jon and I even went on a ride together "Tilt a Whirl." It had been a long time since I'd been an a ride like that and I ignored the "use common sense if pregnant" warning and went anyway. I'm not sure if "noodle" (Charley's nickname for our baby boy) appreciated my judgement, but we had a good time anyway. Jon was a good sport and came too. He still hadn't fully recovered from the nose surgery and I think all our activities that week brought on another infection.....uh oh. You can thank your wife who always overschedules us. Thank goodness for antibiotics



















Emmy's favorite---the "hoe-sies"



















She also loved the boats. I don't have the pictures to post of her trip with Brenna but she was even more brave that day and tried some pretty wild rides. She really surprised me!



















And our little Em isn't so little anymore. She just keeps growing and turning into a sweet toddler. Here she is modeling some winter boots she likes to wear around the house.























Her hair is so long now she can wear it in a ponytail!




















And her latest phrase to say good bye "See ya layta"

Baby Andrew

We have been having so much with Jon's brother Mike, his wife Erin and their darling baby boy, Andrew. Here is the 8 month old showing off his walking skills and his beautiful rolls! I cannot get enough of this baby.































































The Feathies came swimming at the pool and it was so fun. The pool is finally heated so the babies loved it!



















Shannon and her cute baby Isabel came swimming too. It is fun for me to get together with Shannon as we have become friends through Erin and also through my sister, Rachael.
















"The Boy" as Mike calls Andrew is always so mellow and just chillin (so Scottie and him are the perfect match).


















Emmie loves her Aunt Kako! (and her crazy hair after she swims. Don't worry Kate, I didn't include that picture but I love it!)


















All three of these babies have the most beautiful blue eyes.



















Cousin bath time! Look at the size of Andrew compared to Em. I love it. This kid will be 6 feet 5 inches easily.

Our New Niece Sophia Elizabeth

This beautiful baby girl, Sophia Elizabeth Marsden, was born on Sunday morning (very early in the morning) to my brother Spen and his cute wife Diana. They have the cutest family already and I am so happy they have added sweet Sophia to their family.













Look at all that hair! I love it. My mom says that Marsden babies come this way---looking like they are already a few months old.