Company Retreat

A couple of weekends ago, Kimball Property Maintenance had their annual company retreat. This is where Kimballs takes their main managers and their families to snowbird for a fun filled weekend. We had such a great time. Josh is really good friends with the people he works with and our families get along really well, which makes it that much more enjoyable. We had fun rock climbing, swimming, playing tennis and just hanging out! Our room was huge and very nice to relax in. A big thank you to my dad who hosts this wonderful event and for spoiling all his employees. We are so grateful Josh has such a great job to support our little family. And more importantly, we are so grateful that he really enjoys working there! I, of course, forgot our camera so thanks to my sister Kelsi for these pictures!

Josh rock climbing

Savanna and Mommy

Grandma and Savanna... love that big grin!

Mommy, Savanna and Aunt Kelsi

Our "Chessy" moment!

So, all through mine and Joshes relationship, I have always quizzed him on "what was it about me that you liked... what was it that attracted you to me?" This is due to all of his many women fans that seemed to follow him where he went! He has always teased me and said "Hmmm.. maybe it was this, or maybe it was that" and would give me funny answers. It wasn't until we got married that he finally broke down and said it came down to a few things. First, my CURLY hair. He LOVES LOVES LOVES curly hair. Apparently my our of control curl was something that attracted him! Second, my smile. I think I have an outrageously big, over the top grin, but he loves it! There are some other things that I am a little too shy to share but those are the 2 main things that attracted him to me :) Now, why am I telling you this... yesterday we were driving in the car and the song "All these things" by Stephen Speaks came on and we both just smiled and laughed because it fit us so well! I tired to get it to play on here but playlist.com doesn't have it in their system :( But I still couldn't resist sharing our cheesy moment together. I love you babe!

IT'S A BOY!

Oh, I can not begin to tell you of our excitement! The second she said boy, I was crying, Josh was smiling a very proud smile and just sheer JOY overcame the both of us. We ended up going to Fetal Fotos, which is so much fun. We went there with Savanna and the little video and memories, were so fun so we had to do it again with this one. I was so glad to have my mom there too... I wish Joshes mom could have made it :( Anywho, just thought I would share the very fun news. Here are some of the cute pictures they got... I know, I am a proud mom already.

The time has finally come!

Well folks, the time has finally come... my little Savanna ACTUALLY HAS HAIR! And enough that I can do piggy tails. This has been monumental for me and I am so happy! I thought I might share this cute picture of her sporting her new hair-do. Seriously, I think she is the prettiest thing ever, hair or not, and I will argue with whoever thinks otherwise!

First picture

I thought I would share the first picture of Baby Mitchell with everyone. Our Dr. apt. went GREAT! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr. Later. I am so grateful things worked out with our insurance so that I am able to deliver with him again. Everything looks great and I am scheduled to have this baby March 7.... it seems WAY too far away and I wish it would go by faster! I am feeling a lot better, although I still have bad days, but over all GOOD. Thanks for all the love and prayers from everyone. We are going to find out the sex of the baby in 2 weeks and I can hardly wait. We are crossing our fingers for a boy!

PICTURES!

I am still learning how to have a message and a slide show in the same post... so sorry that there are 2 different posts for the same vacation! Not quite a professional blogger yet :)

OUR SUPER FUN VACATION

Oh where to begin.... we had such a great time in Mexico and California. It was just what the doctor ordered for ALL OF US! The weather was amazing... my grandparents beach house was amazing... the entire trip was just amazing! Savanna LOVED the water and loved waking up to the beach every morning. She was such a trooper and slept great. I actually went to bed with her every night (and that was for my benefit, not hers) and took a nap with her every day. The sleep was much needed! We played hard and enjoyed the time together. We ended up leaving 1 day early and went into San Diego to spend a day. It was nice to get back to the clean US of A and spend time there too. My parents spoiled us all rotten and I am so thankful to them. Thanks to my wonderful Grandpa and Grandma Kimball for letting us use their house in Mexico... it was so nice. It is right outside of Ensanada and Rosarito... only 40 minutes past the border! They have this HUGE main house with the kitchen and living area and the master, then this cute little quaint courtyard that leads to the guest house. My little family stayed over there and it was so perfect. This was our first "vacation" since our cruise in 2005... let me tell ya, we needed this! Hope you enjoy all the fun pictures I took :) By the way, I chose the La Bamba song because it was Savannas favorite when the little bands would come around and sing to us!

Josh and I also celebrated our 4 year anniversary in Mexico... I could not have asked for a better way to spend it. Honey, I hope you know how much I love and appreciate you. We have had a many years together and I love each memory we have shared. Clear back to when I first saw you... it was 15 years ago... and you were the most handsome "boy" I had ever seen! And then our first kiss on August 24 1996... pretty pathetic that I have the exact date :) I love you baby and I look forward to many many more years together!

We are not dead!

I have gotten so many calls and emails asking where I am, what is going on and if the Mitchell family is still alive! Yes... we are indeed alive, I have just been in bed for the past 3 weeks sick sick sick. I swear, we are done having kids. I am not a very good pregnant person and it just doesn't seem to sit well with me. My poor daughter has been let free to "RULE" the house and I am paying for it daily. Her newest naughty trick is emptying her dresser and closet full of clothes. No doubt, I have put her clothes back away 3 times in the last week. I keep closing her door but hen I forget after I change her diaper. All I have to do is go down stairs and she is at it again. I can't get too mad at her because she is just starving for some fun and attention... which I have not been able to give her. Good news is, I have started to feel better the last few days. At least I am up and around and socializing with PEOPLE! We are headed to Mexico soon and I really want to have a good time so I am determined to get over this whole sickness thing :) Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know we are here, alive, and hopefully there will be some fun pictures to post in the next few weeks!

Out Playing

Okay, so I officially HATE being pregnant. I remember not feeling well last time but I swear I forgot the details! I have been soooo sick and so I am way behind on everything, including my blogging. So I will try to catch you up!

We have had some fun days aside from me feeling yucky :) This last weekend was Draper Days and we had a great time at the parade and at Clyde and Connie's lunch party. We didn't go to the festivities at the park due to the heat but we still enjoyed the day.

Savanna and I were able to go to the Expo Center and preview the Days of 47 floats with some friends. Can I just say they are so awesome! The creativity was amazing and it was so much fun. Savanna loved all the colors and sparkles and I loved that it was inside and very very COOL!

Josh has been pretty darn good helping me out with Savanna while I have been sick. The other night, he just took her and played and played with her while I rested. The next morning I went to put the camera away and found this picture on it. I couldn't help but just smile at how silly they are together. Savanna adores her Daddy and they have so much fun playing together.

Arriving in March

Well, I was going to wait until my first Doctors appointment to "officially" announce my pregnancy, but Josh and I are so excited I swear we have told everyone! So I figured I might as well let the blogging world know too! So... YES WE ARE PREGNANT! We are so excited for this new addition to our little family and can hardly wait to find out if another little girl will be blessing our family or a sweet new boy! We are happy with either one (of course deep down inside Josh wants a boy:) So any who, I will keep you posted on all the fun and boring news of "Life with Michele Being Pregnant!"

TAGGED

Okay, so I just got tagged by Jen. Never been tagged before so this is new! I was told to #1 get the closest book, #2 find page 123, #3 find the 5th sentence, and #5 tag 5 other people! Here is what I found. My closest book is "Living a Covenant Marriage" and my sentence says "In those efforts, I will succeed or fail, but I will, if I am being realistic about it, give my best." Love this book! I tag Ashleigh, Mandy, Aubrey, Rachel and Heidi.

Emotional Wreck!

Do you ever have one of those days where you are just emotional? Today would be that day for me! I had to call 10 of my students to tell them I am cutting back on teaching. Josh and I have been talking a lot about this lately and we decided that I should only teach 3 days a week instead of 5. Now let me tell ya... calling those 10 students had to be one of the most difficult things I have EVER done. I LOVE ALL my students and I just felt horrible having to call and say I could no longer teach them. :( So, I declare today a "CRY ALL YOU WANT" day for anyone, especially me!

Happy 4th of July

We had such a fun weekend. Despite the very HOT weather we still hung outside and played! We had fun at the Riverton parade, great BBQ at my parents house, fireworks in our front yard, and to finish it all off, we watched the Riverton fireworks from our backyard. Although we have been very very sad that my sister and her family could not fly in... she is pregnant and her Doctor said she could not fly due to her high risk pregnancy... we were able to keep busy and look forward to being able to see them, including baby number 4, at Christmas. We did have other family in town and it was so nice to be able to spend time with them. I am so grateful for this wonderful county we live in and for all the amazing soldiers out fighting for our safety! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

RECITAL

Okay, so let me just start out by saying I have never looked forward to something so much and at the same time, dreaded it coming. I was so excited for my recital to be here and for my cute kids to "show off" all of their hard work, but I was seriously SOOO nervous. Of course, THEY ALL DID AMAZING! I even cried! I was a proud "parent" of 30 kids and I could not have asked for it to have gone any smoother. As I sat there and listened to them play or sing, I was just in awe of how far they have come. I have been teaching some of these kids for almost 4 years and I am just humbled to have them in my life. I love each and everyone of them! As I sit and think about the fun times we have shared over the past year, I can't help but just smile. Music has always been a HUGE part of my life and I am over joyed that I am able share to it with other families. So thanks to all my little, and big, kiddies for making me the most proud teacher around!

The fun sides of Savanna

So any of you who know Savanna really well, knows that she HAS TO BE IN HER BED to sleep. She is a great little sleeper, but she needs her 4 walls to do this. Well recently, she has started to break this habit. The other day, she actually fell asleep int he car, let me get her out, and then went back to sleep on my shoulder... this was monumental! And last week, she feel asleep watching, of course, Enchanted on our couch. I had to capture this on film so I could actually believe it. Finally, after 19 months of sleeping, she will sleep somewhere other than her crib!

This next picture is of her sporting her new sunglasses. I have been walking/running outside a lot lately and so we got her these so she could protect her eyes. As you can see, she also likes to protect them while inside. And I don't know what it is, but she likes to where them upside down :) You can't help but just smile at her!

Nothing like the fun of your own backyard

We finally got a pool!... well it doesn't exactly fit Josh and I, but Savanna sure LOVES it! We filled it up with the hose and of course, she froze, so I heated up some water on the stove to make it a little warmer! Other than her blue and purple lips, she had so much fun!

I love my little family and I love having time with just the 4 of us... 4 if you count Lucky which we do :)

After, Daddy snuggled with her so she would be all warm!

Mommy & Savy day!

So this weekend Josh had to go to Buffalo, NY for a work conference. Savanna and I were really bummed... we hate when Daddy has to travel. My friend Ashleigh called and invited us to this "splash pad" in Herriman so we would have something fun to do (thanks Ash)! Unfortunately, Savanna HATED the water area. She hated how when you touched the water, it would splash all over her... go figure. Luckily, there was a little play land next to the water area that Savanna enjoyed playing on. I can't help but post these pictures of her in her swimsuit. I mean, I would just love to be that little again and look so darn cute in my swimsuit. We had a great day playing in the sun and spending time as just the girls!

My little model... I asked her to turn and smile and this is what I got!

Look at that cute BUTT!!!

Shoes, shoes and more shoes

Savanna has recently discovered how to put on shoes. Well, at least she tries to put them on. But the catch is, they are a particular pair... her FAVORITE pair... her crocs. The first thing she does in the mornings is take off her bottoms (I have no clue why she does this) and then she puts on her crocs. She will just walk around in them and play in them... it is so funny. These pictures are her struggling to put them on! When she can't get them on standing up, she then goes to plan B which includes Luckys bed. For some reason, she LOVES to play in his bed. This would be yet another reason why she loves him but he doesn't always feel the same way in return!

Attempt 1... try to step into shoe.

Attempt 2... "put hands on ground" method.

Attempt 3... Lay down in Luckys bed.

The End result... shoes still not on, but a big smile on her face!

Happy Fathers Day

Today my husband celebrated his 3rd Fathers Day. Although technically we have only had a child for 2 Fathers Days, we still celebrated it when I was pregnant as the "Happy Father To Be Day!" All in all, I think he had a nice day! Savanna and I gave him some nice new NON WORKING clothes. Hopefully he will listen to me when I say he is not to work in them. I know it's pretty boring but he has ruined all of his other clothes and when we want to go out on a Friday night he has nothing to wear (I know... I am such a girl!) Anyways, we have not only had a great day together as a family but a great long weekend. It was so nice that Josh was able to take Thursday and Friday off from work so we could play for 4 days straight! He is such a hard worker! He works his butt (and a very cute one I might ad) off for us and I love him so much for that. He is an amazing father to Savanna and she absolutely ADORES him. He has been a wonderful husband, soul mate and best friend. Happy Fathers Day honey!

I am bummed that my dad is out of town so I have not been able to give him a big hug. He is off playing in Mexico with my mom and some friends. I want my dad to know how much I love him and appreciate all he has done and still does for me and my family. He saw to my every need growing up and worked very hard to make sure I had a great childhood. He continues to give and give to me and I love him indefinitely for that! Thanks dad and I love you! I can't believe I don't have an updated picture of my dad and I. I will work on that for later post!

Willow Creek County Club

Today was the first "warm" day in a long time and we decided to take full advantage of it. Josh has seriously worked 7 days a week for the last month and so he finally got some well deserved time off and we wanted to PLAY!!! My parents belong to Willow Creek Country Club and it has an awesome pool. I am horrible at golf so I figured I better at least use the pool! Because of that awful sickness that went around last year in a lot of the pools, Willow Creek has a new policy that any child that is still in diapers must 1.where a swimmer and 2.must where this protective swim truck that goes over the swimmer. Well by the time I got both things on Savanna, her cute bottom to her actual swim suit wouldn't fit over it all! So we kind of have a miss match thing going on, but she still looked cute! At first, she was really tentative to get in the water but once she figured out how fun it was, we couldn't get her out of there. Some of these pictures are really cute and really funny and it just goes to show you our Savannas very vibrate and expressive personality! Such a fun day!

Whenever someone tells me that Savanna is looking more and more like me, I get really excited.... and then I see a picture like this and I think "NO WAY"! She really is a mini Josh!

She had so much fun splashing the water all over her and daddy!

"THIS IS FUN!!!" ...and check out that awesome farmers tan on my hubby :)

Say CHEESE!

Savanna loves to talk and tell you all about everything (which is usually a bunch of nothing) but every time she would get out of the pool, she would come over and inform me of everything that had just happened. This is the expression on her face as she is trying so hard to tell me all the details! PS check out that messy fry sauce face she is sporting!

Our Sleeping Beauty

Savanna has always been a GREAT sleeper during the night. When she was first born, I had to wake her up to feed her because she would just sleep forever! At 3 months she was going to bed at 8pm, waking up 1 time to eat and then sleeping until 9am. Now, sleeping during the day is another story... she has been a horrible nap taker. She is very sensitive to sound so her naps never lasted more than 30 minutes. These days, she just converted from 2 naps to 1 nap and it has been lasting anywhere from 2 to 3 hours! Can I even begin to tell you of my overwhelming happiness? I can actually "DO" things while she is asleep instead of just get into something and have her wake up! Happy mommy means happy everyone :)

Is she really mine?...

Do you ever have days where you look at your child and think "is she really mine?" Today I had one of those days where I am in awe that Savanna is mine... that Josh and I created her... that she is my baby girl! I love her so much and I can not believe that an 18 month old can bring such enormous joy to my life. I am so grateful that I have been given the chance to be her mom...to raise her and be a witness to her every day adventure. I love you Savanna!!!

My New Scrapbook

So, thanks to my friend Nicole, I have recently found out that I can print out my blog and have it bound into a book. How genius! I have always done scrapbooking and have really enjoyed doing it. But, thanks to my sweet daughter, that hobby has been put on hold seeing as when I pull everything out, it takes me longer to cleanup after her then it did to scrapbook 1 page! I have decided this blog will be my new scrapbook until I can return to the good old fashion way! So what does this mean... I will probably post a lot of boring things that mean a lot to me but not much to any one else. I don't want to forget cute little moments that happen and simple pictures I capture! For example, my husband had a bullet bike before we got married. He and Mike decided they needed to prove their manhood by buying one. He ended up having to sell it to buy me an engagement ring... sad for him, not so sad for me! Ever since then, he has longed to have another one and I am sorry, but it just is not at the top of our priority list these days! Yesterday, he saw one and of course complained again how much he longed to have one. As I sat there feeling guilty he had to sell it for me in the first place, he turned to me and said "being married to you has been worth selling my bullet bike. I love our life together!" Now for some, that may seem like not that big of deal but he really loves motorcycles so it really meant a lot that he said that to me! I would normally scrapbook that with some cute picture of the 2 of us so I would never forget it. Instead I am posting it for everyone to read and embarrass my sweet loving husband! Love you baby!

Living Planet Aquarium... so much fun

Today we went to the Living Planet Aquarium with our friends the Jones that live across the street from us. They have cute little girl 1 year older than Savanna named Liv and Savanna loves playing with her! The Aquarium was so much fun and the girls ran around looking at the different fish, frogs, sharks, jellyfish, stingrays and all sorts of fun things. It was such a good buy too... for $15 it gets Savanna and I in as much as we want for an entire year! We had such a great time and we will definitely be going back there. If any of you have little ones just itching to go do something on a rainy day, I would recommend trying this place out.

The girls were so cute... they kept walking around and holding each others hands!

Memorial Weekend

So despite the not so great weather, we still made the best of the holiday weekend! We started it all off by going to the new and very disappointing Indian Jones movie. In my opinion, not all that great. Saturday we spent the majority of the day in our yard. We planted so many flowers, took out ugly trees and shrubs and made our front yard look beautiful! It was a lot of work but way worth it. We also had a little time to run over to the park and let Savanna play on the playground... which she loved! She is so cute and fun to watch as she runs around and plays. Sunday was spent running from grave site to grave site trying to visit all our family and loved ones. It was so nice to just spend all day together. My poor husband had to work on Monday so I had a girls day with my mom. Movie and shopping... what could be better! I hope everyone had a great weekend too!

18 Months Old!

Well, today Savanna is officially 18 months old. It will be the last time we celebrate a "months" birthday for her. From here on out, it will be the "YEARS" celebration. Unfortunately it wasn't that great of a day considering it all started with a trip to the doctor for her exam and 2 shots. She seriously screamed so loud. I felt horrible... like I am a terrible mom (which I am assuming all mothers feel)! She is a whopping 21 pounds and 32 inches tall. Yes folks that's right... we have a light weight on our hands! She followed that with a long 3 hour nap and then played outside with the flowers. She also does this new thing where I ask her to smile and she squats down and gives the biggest grin. So here is our precious 18 month old taking time to smell the flowers and giving her new grin that makes me laugh!