A Long Overdue Update

Obviously, I have fallen a bit behind on the whole "blogging" endeavor; however, this will be my attempt to catch up on all of the most important experiences of the last few months! (I appreciate all of the friendly reminders - I hope to do better in the future!)

Christian has been incredibly busy diving into work after passing all of his exams - we are both extremely happy to have those tests behind us! He loves his job and really prioritizes his time well - I still get to see him more than most wives even though he is attending BYU too! I am indescribably grateful for his hard work which allows me to stay at home with little Alina!

Alina is a firecracker! She is a professional crawler and clapper now. She also climbs the stairs if you turn your back and has further developed her sense of humor. Now in a forward-facing carseat, you can hear her randomly laughing as you drive around town. She also points at anything of interest and can out-cheer even the best BYU fans - it's true Doug!

Back in August Shannon and Dave had their newest - Mackay Rasband Norton. Alina now has 15 cousins on Daddy's side.
We also took a family trip this past month to Washington to visit my extended family - my grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins. While in the Seattle area, we were able to see four football games in which four of my cousins played. It was at these games that Alina learned to clap! Soon we hope to see her making the touchdown sign!



Phillip, one of my cousins, plays for the University of Puget Sound. Alina is a die-hard Logger now... we're trying to help her remember her cougar heritage after she fell in love with the cozy school and cheered her heart out! She even has more Logger garb than BYU (we seriously need to correct this!).

Gayle, Phillip, Alina, Mo, Christian

The two other teams we followed had Jordan, Jeremy, and Brandon on their rosters. Can I just say that it is unbelievable how old I am getting! I have one cousin that's a senior and two that are juniors - I better start looking for gray hair!

Jeremy

Bridgette and Ray with Alina (Bridgette has another niece named Alina Marie!!)

Jordan Dylan

My parents were also in Washington with us - SO FUN! We got to go to Leavenworth for a couple of days and enjoy the Bavarian town. It was gorgeous and I'm excited to go back someday.


Alina dedicated new landmarks in her Great-Grandma's house - the most notable being the "Wailing Wall" so named because of a crying episode that lasted for approximately an hour. As always, it ended with victorious Grandpa and Alina passed out, fast asleep!


Grandma as well as Aunt Gayle and Sheila have to be thanked for all of their kindness! Grandma (I can't believe I'm admitting this) slept on the couch so Alina, Christian, and I could use the bedroom! She also got up every morning and made us yummy breakfasts. As if that wasn't enough, she also survived an almost sleepless night and then walked around the Puyallup Fair for half of the following day. Gayle made sure that Alina had plenty of toys to slobber on and that we all had seats in the Logger Stands. Sheila made sure we had a car seat and Pack-And-Play for Alina to sleep in as well as opened her house for noisy dinner and games. We'll have to play Hand-and-Foot again soon... I hope to win a second game! Ha! There's a fridge in the room!


Now that we're back in Utah we've been trying to get everything organized! We spent about four days in Highland watching four nieces and one nephew. Six children... I'm so grateful that they come one at a time! I can't even imagine having two right now so six is totally unfathomable at this point! They were good helpers though and it was fun to "play house" for a few days!



Mom, Dad, and Tanya came out for Conference Weekend and we fit as much as possible into those few days. Mom, Tanya, Alina, and I visited Temple Square and took out a bunch of girls for shoppping during the Priesthood session - WHAT A GREAT TRADITION! I've missed it the last couple of years! Christian and Dad fixed ALL of the drawers in the kitchen that broke due to excessive weight! What a HUGE job! I'm so appreciative that my fingers aren't getting smashed when I try to open and close them now!

After my family left we went for a visit with Great-Grandma Rasband. She held Alina and gave her kisses. It was a priceless experience - captured in pictures of course.

On Monday we got to go take some pictures at a place Shannnon found. It was... different, but we got a few good shots. Alina got to play a bit with little Jaxon!

On Tuesday, October 7th we celebrated our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! It was so fun to reminisce about the past two years and all our most memorable times together. Christian planned a romantic night and our friends, Doug and Heather, babysat. I believe in Date Night - do it!

Last night we had a New Member Activity at our house and it was really fun! Every couple made their own Halloween themed pizzas and we got to mingle quite a bit. I was so impressed with everyone's creativity! I mean - you've got to see these pizzas!

We just found out today that Jenessa and James are expecting their sixth - Congrats!

Well, I think that's it for this maraton post. Hopefully next time it will be a little less long-winded!