Lisa, Gracie, Anna and Tim

This was Gracie's first year of Halloween fun (last year she slept through it all), and we sure had a lot of FUN!! Friday I got a little antsy to take pictures of Gracie in her costume...low and behold she didn't take it off again for a couple of days. She LOVED her 'buggy' costume and was rather content to do everything in it :)
To begin our festivities, our ward had a fall festival with carnival games and a dinner. Gracie enjoyed wandering around looking at all the costumes! I got into the fun by dressing up as a Renaissance era lady. Gracie thought I was wearing a tent and hid herself in the layers and tried (to no avail) to rummage through the petty coat and find my legs! As the carnival began to wear her out, the skirt became her resting post. It was soft and provided easy access to a game of peek-a-boo when she got bored!
Saturday we spent a few hours downtown with our neighbors at a Halloween stroll- the businesses were open for trick-or-treating and we walked all over getting enough treats to enjoy for a while! Then we went to the mall for more trick-or-treating and called it a day! Tim had the day off and it was really fun to have him there...he was the designated photographer and I didn't even snap a photo of him to commemorate his presence! Well, all the activities seemed to take more of a toll on me than Gracie, but we sure had a blast.

photos:
my neighbor and her little boy- we did all this fun stuff together
Gracie requesting more candy at the costume contest
Gracie and I at our ward fall festival
My grouchy lady bug...I must have suggested taking the costume off
figuring out the candy bag
the back of the costume (note the padded bum)
she didn't feel complete until her 'buggy' head was in place
me in my costume...it seemed to fit a bit easier last time I wore it...

These photos are from our family reunion in Delaware in August. We had a blast!
I've updated the slide show. Now it only shows the family reunion photos. NOT the 1500 other photos I have on Flickr.

This is from a few weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to posting it. She had a lot of fun showing off for the camera. She likes flexing to show off her muscles!

My dear friend Bree is part of this new company and I would love a chance to win some beautiful flowers, so, here it is:

So, you've been oriented, this is the blog, you've seen the site, (you HAVE seen the site haven't you?), and you've pretty much met Bree. Well, I'm Keshia... the guru of sorts in the graphic department. Nice to meet you... I like long walks on the beach... cuddling up next to a fire with cocoa... haha no. Well yes, but I digress, this post is mainly to help us get our name out there and reward you for doing so, so here's the deal:

That my friends is our blog button and a code so you can put it on your blog, and if you do... you get a present! SO, if you post our button on your blog and write about us in a post (or copy one of ours) and then come BACK to our blog and comment on this post to tell us that you did it and where, you get your name in a draw for a mod-ern bouquet of flowers. (and yes, we can get them to you wherever you are). OK, sound good? good! so go! Go spread the word, let them know what mod is all about! (And why not follow us while you're at it!)

Well, since Tim is away at meetings I thought I could post an update (without pics since I forgot how to put them on the page) about darling Gracie! The story begins like this...Tim and I whistle at eachother when we are apart and need the other person or want to draw attention to something (thanks Aaron and Jill, we stole your idea). For instance, when dinner is ready, I will whistle to Tim and he whistles back to tell me he heard and then he makes his way to where I am. Gracie has caught on to this habit of ours and goes around saying "dada" and attempting to whistle- a very breathy sound. At that point I will whistle for her and Tim comes to find her!

Since Tim has been away she goes around the house saying "dada" and trying to whistle and seems to be confused that he isn't responding. The other night she did this in the bathtub and after her whistle, she stood up and looked down the stairs to see if he was coming :) It was very cute! We think she is picking up our lifestyle at a pretty quick pace!

Other things she is into right now are baby dolls- dressing them and wrapping them in blankets and carrying them around, singing- well she likes me to sing to her, reading books, playing outside, throwing things in the trash- no matter what it is, if she suspects she wasn't supposed to throw it away she looks at me and says "uh-oh", and dogs- every animal is a dog and every time she hears one bark she says "doggie" and looks to find where it is. She is a silly girl who keeps up on our toes!!!

Working it for the camera.

This is her sign for "Help"

Gracie telling us it is time to Pray.

We headed to Utah to pickup a used piano that Lisa found online. This was a gift from her parents for graduating from BYUI last year. It's a Yamaha digital piano (no, not a keyboard) and sounds great.

We decided on a digital piano because we don't really want to have to deal with moving a full size acoustic piano if we ever move again. My dad always warned me about marrying a girl with a piano... well this is our compromise. This has already paid off, we were able to pack the piano in our Ford Focus crammed with our family and all our stuff.

So for Gracie's nap today I took off her pants so she wouldn't get too hot and when she woke up, I just didn't put them on again. Not a big deal. Well, later in the afternoon I am on the phone when she brings my two onsies- (a sign that she got to the clean, folded laundry on the bed...) and signs please while handing them to me. Ok, not a big deal, I put both of them on over her other two onsies she is already wearing, the top one reads "What baby wants baby gets". That makes 4 onesies and 0 pants.
Then I make my way upstairs to put away the laundry. Gracie doesn't miss a beat and follows me upstairs and whines while watching me put away her clothes. Don't worry, she is smarter than her momma. She quickly gets into her dirty clothes hamper and brings me a pair of sleepers and signs please. So I put the sleepers on her arms (they definitely wouldn't fit over the four onesies)! For those of you keeping a running total this makes 4 onesies, 0 pants, and 1 pair of sleepers! Surely she is done...nope. Next she spies a pair of short overalls, brings them to me and signs please. Sure, why not, now at least she will have a pair of pants, right?! After that she spies a pair of socks on the bed and snags them with a loner sock, brings them over and again signs please. Her ensemble is nearly complete with 4 onesies, 1 pair of overalls, 1 pairs of sleepers, and 1 1/2 pairs of socks. The finishing touch is a ladybug massager that fits nicely into the bib part of her overalls:) Obviously her pocket was too small. What a darling daughter I have. I did a lot of laughing amidst the picture taking! As you can see, what baby wants, baby really does get. Especially if she signs please while looking at me with those big beautiful eyes!
Some of you may be wondering, where does she get this silly dressing streak, well scroll down and look to see which parent gave her those silly genes!
P.S. This is my first post with pictures :)

I put together a little video to celebrate the day. It's not totally polished, but it's fun anyway.