October

September 28-October 31

Lived

- This month has gone by so fast. Is it really November already? We have done so much. Sometimes I love staying super busy with all our travels but I am not a huge fan of living out of a suitcase or paying for gas.

- September 28 and 29 was homecoming weekend for SUU. Leighton and i got all spirited for it and went with Sarah to the pep rally and the football game. After being at SUU for so long it was funny to finally go to homecoming. Poor Leighton was pretty sleepy though.

- The first week of the month we went on our very first family vacation (real vacation). Kaden, Leighton, and I joined my parents and Sarah on a cruise to Mexico for 7 days. We were so spoiled. Our highlights included sleeping in, over indulging on good food, snorkeling in Cabo, taking Leighton in the ocean, relaxing, boogie boarding in Puerto Vallarta, watching dad go down a water slide, getting massages, playing bingo, and watching kaden ring some church bells in Puerto Vallarta.

- Two short weeks after the cruise we made our way back to California  This time we followed Penn and Nancy down for Troy and Sally's wedding (Kaden's uncle). The wedding was beautiful and it was nice to catch up with the Leavitt side of the family.

- After the wedding we drove up to Jimi and Heather's for the rest of the weekend. We love spending time with them and the boys and only wish we could see them more often. Sunday we were able to watch Justice play baseball. It's amazing to watch an 8 year old play sports as well as our high school teams. I love to brag about James and Justice because they are. seriously so awesome! Both boys are in gate programs, top athletes in all of their sports and so fun to be with. I got to play basketball with them Sunday night and it was a little intimidating. I'm such a cults and playing against 8 yr old and 11 yr old who are both bigger than you is not easy. Jimi and Heather also spoiled us with three delicious meals. Quash for breakfast, lure for lunch and some Mexican chile chicken for dinner. We kind of like food if you couldn't tell.

- The 26th Leighton and I to go down to Saint George with Ashley and her kids to a super fun Halloween party. Lindsi hosted it and she did a great job. All of the kids dressed up and looked so cute. It was also fun to see a bunch of girls from high school. It's always neat to catch up and see how good everyone is doing.

This is the cutest pumpkin in the world.

Leighton painted it and it makes me smile.

- The 29th was Kaden's birthday. It's hard to believe my hubby is 26 years old now. 10 years ago I was secretly twitterpaited over that dreamy football player. How time flys. For Kaden's birthday we went for a nice drive in his new jeep. We like going out into the mountains and the weather was perfect. It was a nice day.

- Halloween is not too exciting for an 8 month old. Really it was like any other day except Leighton wore a super cute outfit and we went to a ward party. For Halloween I dressed baby girl up like a Peacock. Umm let me tell you I planned this outfit for months and its the most crafty thing I've ever done. I wish it was normal to dress her up like this all the time because I totally would. I dressed up too, kinda, I was a mamma bird. Poor Kaden ended up working late so he didn't get to join in on our fun but he was going to be a bird watcher.

Learned

- slowly I am learning to be more outgoing and I have realized its because I have been working so hard on being more confident. I'm still not the bubbly loving person I wish I was but I am getting there. I wish there were classes for this. I would totally go to them.

- I need to focus myself on whatever it is I really want to do before I go insane. So I have decided to take next semester off of school and i really want to try to focus on photography. It is honestly my greatest love and I want to be creative and enjoy what I do so what better thing to put all my effort into?

Loved

- This past month i have loved all of the time i have spent with Kaden. I know i say this on almost every post but really time together is the most precious thing to us. We have never spent so much time as a family before like we have this month. I love that we have been actually planning and doing things together.

-I have also loved seeing all of our extended family. We have been able to spend more time than usual with my parents, in laws and have been able to see my uncles family and Kaden's uncles as well.

- This is so sad to say but i have also loved watching Leighton grow up so much this past month. She became a super crawler, climber, stander and wanna be walker. She thinks she is so silly now and so do we. She likes to eat by herself even if its the biggest mess in the world. She says bababababa i think it means eat or binki, half the time she attacks me to eat when she says it or she looks for a bink. Leighton also says mama but its more like MAM MAM MAM! She only says it after waking up or when she is looking for me. I'm sure both sounds actually don't mean anything yet but i like to think my daughter is super smart.

Cabin Weekends

September  14-23

Lived

- WooHoo! My parents finally got their cabin and we have spent the past two weekends there. It has been so fun decorating and cleaning getting it all set up just the way we want it. Our first weekend up there was Mom's birthday weekend. We got her some pretty cute stuff from Bulloch's that just happened to go perfectly in her new little home away from home.

 

- Last Monday Kaden, Leighton, and I headed to Salt Lake for the day to buy Kaden a Bronco. I told Kaden i would only go if he promised we could go to Temple Square. Of course i planned out our outfits and everything so we could take some cute pictures and I totally forgot my camera. Iphone photos of our trip only. Oh and we didn't even buy the Bronco. Poor Kaden still doesn't have his own vehicle.

- School craziness is finally catching up with me and I knew this next week will be super busy so i already started packing for our cruise. We are so excited! It is only 6 days away.

- Our second trip up to the cabin was a mostly a guy trip to get pipes and water tanks going. Sarah, Leighton and I tagged along to make them food. Of course we forgot quite a bit of the food though. The best meal was breakfast and Joe actually helped me make it.



Learned

- I don't really remember as many details about my life as I assume I do. This past week as I tried to recall specific details from my childhood I realized I couldn't. I remember random small blurbs like it raining so hard while I was in kindergarten that the gutters were over flowing and my mom and Chris were there with umbrellas when we got off the bus. I remember sitting on the counter in the palm view house making carrot soup (carrots, sugar, and water) while my mom was sleeping. I can picture perfectly the tree in the front yard that I loved to climb and the cracks in the concrete from the pepper trees in the yard. I remember the bushes that I liked to hide in and the fields that i liked to explore. I can picture very short clips of times I was playing with my friends like ducking under frisbees, riding our bikes around the block, digging holes, and all the times me or someone else got hurt. When I was thinking about all of the things I do remember I realized that there is so much more that I don't. I wish I could recall everything, but mostly I hope I don't continue to forget. I want to be able to tell my children about trips to froggy city, and the time I fell in love with a bird named little foot.

I think every week I will start posting about a memory but we will see.

-I want to do this because I also hope that I never forget the sweet things that I am experiencing right now. Every time Leighton laughs at Tiffany i pray I will always hear her sweet sounds. The way she pulls my hair or screams when she wants my attention. I even want to remember her beautiful cries and how they melt my heart when she is so dramatic.

 posting these just for Camille. Isn't she the cutest naked baby ever?

Loved

- I love gift giving holidays and I love my mom. So her birthday is so much fun for me. I got to go shopping for her and spend the weekend with her. She is the most amazing mother. She is beautiful and caring and funny and hard working and exactly what i hope to be like someday.

- I love moments that make me realize that  we are doing the right thing with our lives right now. I pray to know what we should be doing at this point, if going to school, being totally broke and barely scraping by is where we should be at this moment and then i read this at lunch one day. Then I went to the Brigham City temple dedication and left with no doubts in my mind that we are supposed to be here. We are supposed to be working on raising a family and building a foundation for the rest of our lives.

- I also love all of the time that Leighton gets to spend with her Great Grandma. I remember my great grandma Peggy but very vaguely and my sisters don't at all. It is a special thing that Leighton has 3 of them to love her.

{Silly Sister} #1

A little post about the silly things my sisters (usually Sarah) do to make me laugh.

Hopefully everyone knows what a Jackalope is, because well, Sarah didn't...

This past weekend my parents bought a cabin and on our way down Cedar Mountain Sarah, Kaden and I were talking about all of the crazy things we could hang up in it. For example, Kadens antlers (since they aren't allowed in the house), or a squirrel, or hedgehog or best idea ever a Jackalope! Kaden and I got so excited about it we googled a picture to show Sarah. We talked up how rare they are and how hard it is to get one. I swear this mystical animal was on her mind for quite awhile because she was not too happy when she saw my instagram post.

She even said she had been imagining how it would pop her tire if she accidentally ran one over.

New Schedules

September 1-13

Lived

- The past couple of weeks have been great. We have all been working on getting used to new schedules and spending more time together.

- School has been going on for a few weeks now and for some reason i just don't feel like i have a need to do homework or work on lesson plans right now. My problem might be that i only have two classes and feel like playing with Leighton or auditing notes might be more important.

- Kaden's work schedule flipped so he is no longer working Sundays which makes me one happy wifey. Going to church alone is not as hard as it looks, but it isn't fun either. I sure am glad that i will have my hubby by my side during sacrament for now on and in Sunday school. Church seems just that much better with  him there.

- Speaking of work... I got a job! Finally i am working for my mom at Mesa View Hospice and i love it. I do all of my work online and at home. It truly is the perfect job and perfect for my family. I am so grateful that My Mom and Shannel felt like i could do this.

- Labor day weekend was eventful. Saturday we went to the Iron County fair with our friends Eric and Courtney. You can see some of our pictures here at Courtney's cute blog. I was surprised how small it was and what little there was to do there. We have always been so spoiled with the Clark County Fair but we still had fun. Kaden is already spoiling Leighton with all the little carnival toys. Sunday we headed to the annual family reunion. It was too bad no one in the family was there. (cough cough Vance, Teisha, Kyle, and Jessica) I guess we missed out on seeing everyone on Saturday. We still had a nice time though hanging out with Penn and Nancy.

- Last weekend was fun too. Sarah and I packed up Leighton and Tiffany and headed to Logandale. My mom called Friday and was in a shopping mood, we couldn't turn her down. Needless to say we had one very successful shopping trip. The next morning we all woke up wondering why we didn't buy more.

 

  

- Leighton took her first Tortoise ride while we were in Logandale. I have had Stuart (the tortoise) for 15 years now and it is crazy to think that when i brought her (yes, her)  home from the pet store she fit in the palm of my 8 year old hand.

Learned

- I may have a little obsession and this one is probably not very good for me. I now own six pairs of colored jeans. Is that totally obnoxious? Ah how in the world did i get hooked on this expensive obsession. I swear i cant feel cute with out a pair on. The worst part about this is that they will all probably be completely out of style by next fall.

- To add to my post last week i think i totally had an ah ha moment this Sunday. I was able to listen to an amazing lesson in relief society that i swear was meant just for me. We talked about how before we can love others we need to love ourselves first. We also need to quiet our own voices in our head in order to hear the spirits promptings. It is so true! As soon as i heard those two things i immediately started thinking about how insecure i have felt lately, how hard it has been for me to talk to people, and how awkward i seem to be. I am sure i have been all of these things because i have put myself down so much. I know i really do tear myself apart and i really need to work on that. I remember when i first moved out and i would feel this way i would write notes to myself on my mirror. I would recite good things about myself out loud to actually remember and hear them. I think i am going to try these again and see if these will help in my endeavor to be a kinder, happier person and better friend.

  

- Ah looks like i need to mop everyday now too. 

- It is sadly time to start baby proofing. I actually probably should have done this a few weeks or even months ago but instead i have been loving that my somewhat mobile baby hasn't been too curious but now Leighton is completely mobile and overly curious. She makes it around the island in the kitchen in 2 minutes and can dump out Tiffany's food before Tiff has a chance to get to it. I'm sure it will only be days before all my cupboards are emptied.

Loved

- I have loved the grades i have received so far this semester. I made a goal to get nothing short of an A in both of my classes, and so far i am still holding a 100%.

- I have loved the time Kaden and i have been spending together. We got hooked on the show Parenthood and couldn't stop watching it. Sounds ridiculous but it is a show worth watching and even gave us some marriage and parent advice. I can honestly say that i am so grateful for the way both of our families have been raised and how close we all are. I hope our own family will be the same way.

- I have also loved all the time that Kaden has been spending with Leighton. It works out so great that on Tuesdays Kaden gets to watch her while i am in school. He is an amazing father and is so in love with her. He helps me so much at home and with our beautiful baby girl.