A beautiful fireplace, a Merry Christmas, and the long Arizona journey

Before I even start this blog I will post a warning: There are some darling pictures of a very cute baby girl that may make you want to have a baby girl all of your own!!!
Well, to start off this blog I need to brag about one of my favorite people ever...Jackson!! For those of you who are wondering why I am so happy with this handsome husband of mine, I'll let you in on his latest project... our fireplace!! Jackson painted and installed the random wood-burning stove that was in our garage when we moved in, and it is so wonderful. For anyone who doesn't even understand how AWESOME this is, I will tell you why I am so stoked: 1. Now it is basically free to heat our house (and for those of you who know me, you know I LOVE saving money) in this wintery wonderland Pocatello is having, and, 2. I can keep the house as warm as I want.. and trust me, it is sooo nice. If I want the house 80 degrees, no problem!! Here is a "before" and "after" picture so everyone can see the fireplace in all its glory.






I know what you're thinking.. oooh la la what a handsome fireplace!!









So since we're spending Christmas in the wonderfully warm Arizona, we decided to have our own family Christmas before we left. Adalynn was so cute. She was just in her diaper due to our sometimes outrageously warm house (what a lovely fireplace!), and so I just had to take some pictures. Adalynn LOVED the wrapping paper more than anything, which isn't really all that surprising since we just got her jammies, socks, and bigger clothes for Christmas. I know, I know, boring huh? But I figure we'll get away with a practical Christmas for as long as we can. Besides, her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family get her enough toys to last her for quite some time.










She's a super cutie, huh? And we thought we should probably take some pictures of her with her new presents
Clothes for Christmas!! It's quite obvious she's a girl, isn't it?
So anyway after our family Christmas, the next morning we left to Arizona. We ended up leaving at, like, 5:00 in the morning, and we were a little nervous about how Adalynn would do on the trip. To our surprise she did so great!! Adalynn pretty much slept almost the entire way down to Arizona and only woke up a few times to play and to eat. At one point she even decided she wanted to drive!! Since she's a little short to reach the gas and the brake, I decided I would help her out a little bit on her first drive.
I love how serious she looks in the picture..she's like, hey, dad, I'm driving. This is serious business.
Once we got to Arizona we had a lot of fun. Adalynn has started eating vegetables, which is really exciting. She's had a lot of fun with grandparents.


On Christmas Eve we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Fish's house for the Fish family party. It was so much fun Santa even showed up!! Adalynn was really funny with Santa. At first she looks at him like what the heck are you? Then Santa leans down and gives her a kiss on her forehead and she looks at Santa like how dare you even do that!! Then, obviously appalled at Santa's forwardness, she grabs Santa's beard and will NOT let go! It was pretty funny, I must admit. Atta girl!!
Finally the last thing that we did at the Fish family party was we took a five generation picture. It's pretty cool that Adalynn's great great grandparents are still alive. Yea!!
I think that's a pretty good update.. even though it only takes us to Christmas Eve... oh well, my fingers are tired.. more to come!!

Family pictures, Thanksgiving, and, oh, so much more

The month of November has come and gone, and I'm still thinking that Halloween was last week. How unbelievable. First, I have to say that the title of this blog makes the blog sound way cooler than it actually is. We lead slightly monotonous lives, I'm not even going to lie..but it is still worth reading if you don't have much else to do with your day.
So the latest exciting news of the Fish household is that the cutest one of us, Adalynn Shae, rolled over this past month!! She has actually rolled over multiple times the last couple of weeks, but it's kind of hard to get her motivated enough. Adalynn hates being on her stomach, so after she rolls over, she finds herself in a rather tricky situation. It is a little comical. Adalynn is just getting more personality every day. She has discovered the sound of her voice and so many days she fills the silence with her words such as "aaaayyaaa yaa yaa" or just "aaaaaahhhh". It's fun.
We also had family pictures taken a few weeks ago!! Yea! These are taken courtesy of my dad, and I love, love, love them!!






I know what you're thinking...my that is most possibly the cutest baby in the universe. Don't worry.. it's true! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, not
only does she roll over, she takes adorable pictures!! What a bargain.
We had a great Thanksgiving this year. For Thanksgiving we went over to my Grandma and Grandpa Dutson's house. It's always a fun time over there. There were like, oh, I don't know, 40 people or so in her house.. lots of those people being under the age of 10. It's crazy madness like no one's business, but, oh, so fun.
The day after Thanksgiving my infamous friend, Kaci, decided to drag me out of bed at 4 a.m. to go shopping on Black Friday. Actually, I'm not even going to lie, I'm glad she did.. I saved lots of money on our Christmas, and Jackson got almost all of his Christmas shopping done for me without even getting out of bed! Lucky duck.
Last, but certainly not least, our Christmas tree is beautifully sitting in our living room...okay, okay, so it's been up for like a month already, but I just love it the same. Now our tree is being joined by all our neighbors' trees, and our street is just festive like you wouldn't even believe. What a great time to be alive.

ALL ABOUT JACKSON

Okay, so sorry Hanna, it took forever and ever for me to finally respond to this tag... weird, especially when it's all about Jackson, one of my favorites!! Here goes nothing:



1. What is his name? Jackson Bret Fish.

2. Who eats more? That would be Jackson.. but he's been nice lately and saved me a teeny portion of whatever he's eating for me to enjoy!

3. Who said I love you first? Jackson.. but he only beat me by like two minutes

4. Who is taller? Again, Jackson..I'm kinda glad about that though

5. Who is smarter? Well, Jackson's the one in school.. so I'll go with him. But I have the court reporting smartness!! (okay I know that's not a real "smartness," but let's pretend.

6. Who is more sensitive? Yes, I win this one finally!! Maybe that's not a good thing though...

7.Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but sometimes Jackson will wash the clothes. I always fold though.. he hates hates hates it.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Currently me.. but it switches.

9. Who pays the bills? I do. I love paying bills!! Yea!!

10. Who cooks more? It depends on what we're making. He is definitely the steak and meat cooking man. He actually makes steak taste yummy!!

11. What meals do you cook together? Uhh... maybe dinner sometimes we'll both make

12. Who is more stubborn? He would say me, I would say him.. probably like lots of couples

13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? haha.. I would say me, he would say him.. again, probably like lots of couples

14. Who has more siblings? I have 6 and Jackson has 4 so I win there, but he has all brothers!!

15.Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'd say Jackson on this one

16. What do you like to do together? We like to play games (as long as we're not too competitive and will speak to one another afterward), bowling (I'm lucky if I get 50 points though), go on dates, watch movies, make snowmen when it snows, play with Adalynn...pretty much anything and everything!!

17. Who eats more sweets? I believe I have the world's biggest sweet tooth, so that would be me

18. Guilty pleasures? Lately I'd say it's been his soda drinking habits

19. How did you meet? Simple: We were in the same single's ward, and for FHE one night we were playing dodge ball. Someone (not me) decides that I would be a fun target to throw a dodge ball 19283 miles an hour at, and, well, he threw the ball and practically left a huge welt.. so naturally I had to go up to him after the game and meet this incredibly strong and well-aimed guy, and, well, that's pretty much it!

20. Who asked who out first? Well, I took him to eat some Mexican food first when we were just friends and not dating, but he asked me on our first real live date.

21. Who kissed who first? Again, Jackson!! But how could he resist such a delightful treat!

22. Who proposed? He did!! After first making me jump off of my roof into this freezing cold pool in February! (we were living in Arizona though, so it's not quite as dramatic as it may sound)

23. His best features? I love his beautiful eyes, his buff arms, and pretty much everything about him. Lucky me, I know!!

Now I tag: Anyone who has not had a spousal tag yet!!

I was tagged by Nicole... Woo!

10 Years ago I was:
11 years old.. haha.. and in 5th grade.. boy that's young. I liked to play and I liked friends and I always told myself I would never get married young.. that obviously worked out well... Life appears to have been pretty simple back then

5 things on my to do list:
1. Figure out what to do with like 10 pounds of plums...plums anyone??
2. Also figure out to do with a box of apples.. apples anyone?? .. oh brother...
3. Start decorating our Christmas tree!! Why so early? Because I really want to
4. Clean my house...YES!!
5. Work on transcripts...hmmm.. notice how that's last when it probably should be first


5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Ice-cream
2. Candy corn
3. Chocolate
4. Those candy hearts that come out for Valentine's day
5. Ice-cream again...oh drat, it appears these are all very sugary

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
1. pay off my house. no...buy a new house with a HUGE kitchen!! Woo!
2. Finish buying year supply stuff...haha.. boy have I gotten old and mature or what?
3. Buy a truck for Jackson
4. Go to Russia to see my brother when his mission's over
5. Have a HUGE saving's account...that would just rock

5 places I have lived:
1. Boise, Idaho
2. Idaho Falls, Idaho
3. Rexburg, Idaho
4. Tempe, Arizona
5. Pocatello, Idaho...boy a lot of Idaho

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Waitress at Chuck-a-Rama
2. Teller at First Credit Union..I think is what it's called.. something credit union
3. Court Reporter
....ummm that's it
Lies! 4. Wife
5. Mom


Now I tag:
MANDI (Terry), CAYLA (Fish), KACI (Watkins)

Always a party with us...

Well, it's just that time to update the whole blog-o-sphere again. What a joy! Life has been so great lately.. we are very lucky that we are so blessed. I had to go back to work about a month ago, but it's actually been okay. We've had very little time in court, so I'm actually getting to spend most of my days at home!! Yea!! When both Jackson and I are gone, we drop Adalynn off to play at our friends' house. They have a little girl, Kadance, who is about one year old, and she is a doll! It's cute to see the "hugs" Kadance gives Adalynn. She is so sweet.
My brother, Cody, went off the Marine's boot camp thing, and my parents got a letter from him the other day, so that was exciting. He's pretty funny, and he's definitely more optimistic than I think I would be. For example, in his letter he writes something to the effect of: The food here is actually okay.. just produced in mass quantities and we always have the same thing. For example: Every day for breakfast we have (1) Pancakes, (2) Waffles, or (3) French Toast. The only unfortunate thing is that we can never tell which is which...
Jackson is busy, busy in school. He's having this inner battle between the schoolwork that he has to get done and his great love for the outdoors where he would rather be out hunting or fishing or something of the sort. What a rough life having so many enjoyable hobbies!!
Adalynn is so much fun, and I find her quite hilarious. We have started feeding her cereal and letting her taste different foods. I'll be honest, the reason I hold things up for her to lick and taste is pretty much just so I can see the reaction on her face. It's pretty much the funniest thing ever! She's starting to get the concept of eating cereal...but, oh my, it (the cereal) gets EVERYWHERE!!




Here is her first experience in a high chair...the "before" picture.










Then she's trying to figure out if she likes this whole eating thing...













Yea!! Success!!
Adalynn has also been working on rolling over. She gets so close, but then she just gets too tired, or too comfortable, or just decides that rolling over is a lame idea

And, finally, last but not least, Halloween!! We had a great Halloween.. I'll admit it, Jackson and I totally forgot to buy Halloween candy, and so at about 5:00 p.m. as the first trick-or-treaters come to our house, what do we do? Instead of going and telling them, hey, sorry, we forgot candy, we're like, ahh! hide! don't say anything! turn off all the lights! like we're terrified of these little 5-year-old princesses and batmans. Oh well. I suppose that just exhibits our lack of coolness. Adalynn and I joined Ruth and Karver at the Halloween party at the Institute. Oh, man, Adalynn loved it!! She is a little party baby! After the Institute party we all came back to our house and watched Ninja Turtles! Yes! I think Adalynn liked Halloween. She was a little ladybug. I liked the costume because it was different than all the pumpkin and bear costumes I had seen, and also she can now wear her costume as pajamas. I love dual purpose money-saving ideas.

Woo woo!! What a cutie pie!!

Sometimes I wish babies could just blow their own noses

Well, I am not very good at remembering that I have a blog and should update it from time to time. Oh well.. Adalynn is doing so great! She is growing so huge and she loves to eat!! Yea!! We took her to the doctor for her 4-month checkup, and she's in the 75th percentile for everything (her height, weight, and head size). She's now 25 inches long and weighs 14 lbs 9 oz!! Woo hoo!!.. The only bad thing is she is getting really heavy to have to hold her for any period of time longer than about 10 minutes...bummer. I suppose that just means I'll have to start working on these massive biceps of mine again...

I feel so bad for Adalynn though because the last day or two she's been sneezing like crazy and keeps getting really congested. She has a hard time breathing out of her nose, so we have to keep using our bulb syringe to help clear her nose out and of course she hates it so she just screams and screams and screams. Then I think, boy, it sure would be nice if babies could just blow their own noses. But, well, if they could do that, then what fun would that be?

The other important update I guess is that I had to go back to work last week. I was sad, but then I kept thinking two things: first, I got to stay at home for 4 months before I even had to go back, and, two, I am so blessed to have a job that keeps me at home for a great majority of my work. What a good deal!

I had to add this "stretching" picture, because Adalynn loves to stretch. It is not unusual for her to spend a good 10-30 minutes stretching before she wakes up, or in the middle of eating, or just because she feels like stretching. It's so funny. I love it!


A baby burrito!

Domestic..ism and Manly Man

Well, this week has been an interesting one. I am learning to be more and more domestic every day it seems... This last weekend I learned how to make applesauce, and, boy, let me tell you, it is DELICIOUS!! I also decided it's a good food storage item, and so I'm making applesauce in "bulk" so that I will have plenty and plenty more for Adalynn to eat in case times get rough.. I know everyone's thinking about how genious of an idea this is. The second domesticism thing going on around our house is the use of my food dryer I got for Christman from Jackson's dad. It is way neat.. I must say that I am great at making dried apples, but not so great at making fruit leather. Oh my. Oh my. If you want to eat something that will make you sick, well then, Sheila's fruit leather is the thing for you!

So onto the second part of the title: Manly man. This refers to my dear hubby, Jackson.. of course! So why is this hunk such a manly man? Reason one: When he is in his hunting outfit thingamabob, well, even a whimpy non-muscular person can look manly..Luckily Jackson is not whimpy and somewhat muscular, so the outfit is just an accentuation (see above picture)!! Reason two comes with a little story: So about two nights ago, I was up feeding Adalynn at 3:00 a.m. After I am done feeding her, I go into the bathroom where I discover a GIGANTIC ENORMOUS TERRIFYING spider sitting in the tub hanging out. Of course I freak out, and well I go to our room and wake up Jackson. Now, how many of your husbands love being woken up at 3:00 in the morning to kill a spider? Well, mine apparently doesn't mind! He just got his "spider killing shoe" and saved the day (or technically night)!! Hooray!!

Adalynn's slide show

I decided to do a slide show of the first three months or so of Adalynn's life. There were a couple of reasons I decided to do this: 1. We have the cutest baby in the universe and this is the proof. 2. This is so our far, far away friends and family who have never seen Adalynn can see her! Pure genius!

The Beginning

Well, I admit it... I finally gave into peer pressure and got our family a blog. It truly is a momentous occassion for our us!...or at least for me. Where to start? Well, the fall season/semester has started for Jackson, and I'm beginning to understand why some wives don't positively love hunting season... Jackson is gone all the time looking for these cute animals to put in our freezer! It's very sad, but he loves loves loves hunting, so what the heck? Lucky for him he just has such a nice wife! Since he's gone every weekend I have to say that I am so happy that I have Adalynn to hang out with! Fortunately, she's pretty much the most adorable thing on the planet...plus she's getting so huge! She's officially three months old now, and I honestly can't even believe how fast she's growing! What can I say...the girl loves to eat.