The Yates Family

Just a few pics that brighten my day!

2011-04-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Out of the house!

2011-02-25T16:21:00.001-08:00

Jenna and I were so excited to get out of the house on Thursday. We went and rode on the Front Runner train with some of my family. Altogether I think there were 11 of us. We got off in Ogden and rode the FREE trolley to the Childrens Treehouse Museum. It was awesome! I will suggest however, that if there is a school group there wait until they leave to wander around. At first it was a little chaotic! But once they left, all was quiet and peaceful until a little two year old with a lot of attitude wanted to run. But the great thing about this place is that you can touch EVERYTHING!! It's perfect for those little hands that love to explore! Jenna particularly LOVED all the toy horses they had to play with or the areas where she could draw/paint on something. So enjoy some pics of our fun!

Yes, that is how she smiled, with her EYES CLOSED!! Ha ha! What a silly girl!

Probably my favorite pic all day. A monkey in a cage!

Holiday Cards!

2010-11-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, so technically I have never ever sent out Holiday cards with our picture on them. I've always wanted to but ran out of time. I think they are the perfect way to say Merry Christmas to your family and friends. Well this year, I am actually going to make these magnificient cards and send them out! I am committed to doing this. I'm going to be using Shutterfly.com to make these cards. I am really excited because they have the cutest designs to choose from. I've never made cards through them before but I have made photo books in the past and they are absolutely adorable and super easy to make! I even have a great family picture of us in the fall leaves that I am going to use. It's going to be great, just wait and see! Oh, and I'm also working on one of my new favorite projects, photo calendars. I'm making a few for Christmas presents and can't wait to see the end result. If you are interested in making calendars or cards you can go to the following websites:

Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards · Calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

LAKE POWELL!!!

2010-10-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake Powell this past week and stayed in a house boat. It was lots of fun and just a slight bit chilly!! BRRRR!!!! Jenna loved the sand and water and continued to play out there no matter how cold it was!

Updates

2010-09-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

I guess it's about time that I update this old thing!! I've decided to just post some pics of some things over the past couple months. For Labor Day we went to the cabin and it was wonderful. A much needed time off for our little family!! Kaleb is still in school and teaching. I'm just the same as ever, creating more and more goals for myself and feeling pretty good when I achieve one of them :) My lastest goal/idea is going back to school when Kaleb is finished. I'm feeling the desire to go but I want to make sure it's what I'm supposed to do first. Regardless of what happens, I'm excited for the future! Jenna, well she's 2 and I don't think I need to say more. But she is talking a lot more and with that comes less temper tantrums (NOTE: I did not say no more tantrums!!) On a side note, I CANNOT wait for Fall. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Fall. I never really used to but it brings back lots of wonderful memories, mostly of Kaleb :) So when I see/feel the weather changing, I just sit back, put on a sweater and sigh!

If it looks like she took dirt and rubbed it all over her face, it's because she did. She loves dirt.

My brothers and sisters were able to come camping with us and we had such a great time going for rides, etc...

Jenna's birthday was really fun. I did a beach theme and tried out my cake decorating skills again. I think it's proof that I am not supposed to make cakes for a profession. I will probably just keep trying and trying and never make anything spectacular but it's fun to try, right?

This is what Jenna was doing secretly while I was making the cake. Yes, it's green food coloring and believe me, doesn't come off of everything easily!! So she was stained green for her birthday!!!

Two Years Ago Today....

2010-07-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Some of my most fav. pics of all time! She can have quite the attitude sometimes but I love all of her, including her sass!! I am so excited to see what this next year will bring!

SPRING TIME!!!!

2010-04-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Kaleb & I enjoying some food!

This is not an uncommon look at our house. She loves to ride her bike in or outdoors!

We are so excited at our house for warm weather!! Jenna absolutely loves it outdoors and always throws a fit when we come in. So to solve this little problem, we just open our patio doors and she roams the back deck. We took down the gate from inside and put it on the stairs of the deck so she can't escape. She just loves coming out/in whenever she chooses! With the warm weather I've had about a million ideas of what I need to be doing right now. I'm feeling so motivated. But I've decided that I need to slow it down and do things one at a time. I just realized that life is like pie. If you eat the whole thing all at once, you're gonna be sick. But if you eat it slice by slice, you'll savor it and keep wanting more!! That definitely describes my life right now!!

Next Holiday

2010-01-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

Okay. So the next Holiday that is coming up is Valentine's Day. It's never been a huge holiday in my house but thinking about all of the things I love, I decided to write some of them down. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of things but here's a start at least! Oh and I had to include a picture of Jenna!

I LOVE:

getting some little message throughout the day from Kaleb saying he's thinking about me.

watching Jenna laugh at something because she sees me laughing.

getting movie tickets for gifts. Seriously is there anything better?

Reading through my journal at all the good times!

A long, hot, bubble bath!

window shopping!

friends that take the time to make you feel special.

a good book.

NEW MOON!!! Oh and some snow!

2009-11-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

I love these pictures of Jenna!! She was so excited to come out and play in the snow. Before we had time to get her in her snow stuff and actually play, she would walk out into the snow with her regular clothes and shoes on. She's getting HUGE and I can't even believe everything she's learning. We took away her binky for good and so far she's been great. I feel bad at the timing though because she's getting her molars in!!

Now about New Moon. I am SO excited I can barely contain myself. I know I'm a little bit of a nerd but when you do the same things every day, you have to get excited about something. And what better than Twilight? I mean seriously it rocks. A friend at Kaleb's school actually got me tickets for the 5:15 p.m. showing today. That's even earlier than the midnight addicts!! I feel so privileged :) So until the actual showing I will be going stir crazy!!!!

Summer is fading :(

2009-08-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that summer is on the downhill slope. I just don't feel that I've done every summery thing that I've wanted to do. So in the next little while I better get taken to a drive inn movie!! I thought that I would post some pictures of my summer so far!

My beautiful birthday flowers!!

GEORGE STRAIT!! KING OF COUNTRY!!

FOURTH OF JULY

Happy Late B-Day to Jenna!!

2009-08-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

I will have to find my camera cords and post some other really great pictures!! I cannot believe that Jenna is already one and "almost walking". She really has been such a good girl from the beginning. Even during her nap time at church she's getting better!! I remember how frustrated I was last year because I didn't think she was coming fast enough. She's been a huge blessing in my life that I never knew I needed so much. Lately she's been doing a lot of really funny things and showing her personality more and more. One of the best things I think I saw her do was she put a shirt on her head and crawled all over the house. If it fell down she would pick it back up and try again. It made me laugh so hard. I love her big brown eyes and the way she always smiles at me. Kaleb always tells her that "mom is crazy" but at least she likes being crazy with me :) Kaleb is back in school now and staying pretty busy. As for myself, I am picking out the color scheme that I want to paint my upstairs. I feel the need for a change and I am gearing up!!!

Wedding & Anniversaries!!

2009-06-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

So it's been a crazy time around our house. My little sister got married on June 6th and boy are weddings lots of work!! Today is Kaleb and my anniversary. We've been married three years now and I am very pleased to say that I love him even more than I did this day three years ago! I can't imagine what my life would be like without him or my sweet little Jenna. So enjoy a view good pictures of the wedding!! (Kaleb was practicing his skills as a photographer!) What a good month!

End of March

2009-03-30T21:50:00.001-07:00

So I figured that it was finally time to write in here again. We've just been so busy!! This past weekend we took a little trip to visit Kaleb's sister, Lindsey. It was very, very cold but a lot of fun. Kaleb, Lindsey and a bunch of other family went to the Hill Climbs in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They go ever year and stand on the hill waiting to catch snowmobiles that come tumbling down when the riders try to make it to the top. I, as usual, did not want to go on the hill and instead went shopping :) Since I don't have a picture yet of what I bought (I have to put it all together first) I decided to put this picture on of Jenna. We just love how she crossed her legs in the picture. She's getting so big! The new thing this month is pushing her mom away when she's had enough of her! She also is a big flirt with all the boys. Already tilting her head and batting those beautiful eyes!

Doctor Appointment

2009-01-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I took Jenna to her six month check up. Among other things, she got shots. Yuck! I feel so bad for her because I had to do all that too once upon a time. She actually did quite well this time. She's 27 1/4 inches long (still in the 95th percentile go figure!) and she's 14 lbs (just a little below the 25th percentile). One of the things that I asked the doctor about was this bruise that is on Jenna's right leg just below her hip. I couldn't figure out what was causing it. The other odd thing was that it wasn't fading or changing size. Apparently she has a Mongolian Spot. I guess back in the day, people got accused of child abuse because it does very much look like a bruise. Also, it is apparently prevalent among Mongolians, Asians, African-Americans and Native Americans. The doctor asked if there was anyone closely related that had that in their blood. Honestly, I think Kaleb and I might both have some Native American somewhere down the line but I wouldn't have thought it would produce something like that in Jenna! So, needless to say it should fade and disappear within a few years and is proof that I am not abusing my child! Other than that concern, she's doing great!

The 6 month mark!

2009-01-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

Jenna has finally turned 6 months old and as recommended by the doctor, I've started feeding her some "solid food". Not sure if you can really count rice cereal as a solid food but it's definitely a start to some good stuff! She didn't seem to mind the food. She's still not sure how to exactly swallow it but she definitely doesn't spit it out or make weird faces. She's very easily distracted by her dad while she eats.

Christmas Morning!

2009-01-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Jenna woke up at 7:00 and for once didn't go back to sleep after breakfast! Towards the end of opening presents she just couldn't make it. From there we went to my mom's house and tried on the new hat that she got. She was very mad at me for putting it on her. It was a good day for our first family Christmas since Jenna was born. We enjoyed the spirit that accompanies Christmas.

Jenna and Kaleb

2008-12-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a really long time since I've been on here, so I thought that I would post some pictures of Kaleb and Jenna. Most of these were taken on December 29th, 2008, right after Jenna's bath. Rub-a-dub-dub!! The exception would be Kaleb and Jenna falling asleep on the couch watching a movie.

Jenna is such an angel in our lives. We couldn't ask for a better daughter. Right now our favorite things that she does includes: putting her hands over her eyes when she's tired, laughing when we do something weird, her big smiles when she's supposed to be sleeping but thinks we're coming to save her and putting her feet clear up in the air. The other day she actually said mama (of course it probably wasn't meaningful) and she did a head stand. I walked in the room to see her on her head with her feet almost straight up in the air. We have a little gymnast!

More Pictures

2008-09-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

I know that everyone wants to see more pictures so here they are. Some of these are of Jenna's Blessing. She was blessed on September 7, 2008. It was such a neat experience and a lot of her family was there. She looked so pretty. Just like a little princess. We had family over to the house for a light luncheon afterwards. Kaleb did such a great job. We are so lucky to have this angel in our life.

Baby Jenna

2008-09-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

Jenna Lee Yates was finally born on July 20, 2008 at 5:55 PM. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. We were so thrilled to have our little girl finally here. Since then she has grown a bunch! We measured her and so far she's 3 inches longer! She's going to pass Kaleb and I up.

Train Day!!!

2008-06-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

June 7th, 2008 Saturday

We decided to tag along and go on the new Front Runner Train that takes you to Ogden. It was so much fun to ride Trax and then get on the new train. Kaleb's parents, sisters (Chantelle, Kindra and Natalie) and niece and nephew (Kambria and Kaden) came too making it doubly fun! It's always nice to take a break from the chores and just get away!!

2008-06-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

After we got off the Front Runner Train, we found these old trains that were tons of fun to play on and take pictures.

Joe's Valley

2008-05-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to go to Joe's Valley over Memorial Day. It was lots of fun and we enjoyed just spending time with each other. I think Jason got the first fish and it's a tie between Josie and Kaleb for the biggest fish!

2008-05-30T15:15:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm.... Hot Dogs.....

2008-05-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

Jeremy got a nice burn mark on his finger for his fancy cooking!

Some good ol' fashion campsite cookin'!!

This was taken on the first day we went fishing. It is at the Reservoir out on the boat. Just a reminder that I do not like to troll.....