Jamaica Here We Come!!!!!!!

I just had to post today and share my good news! Jake and I decided to go to a travel show down at the South Town Expo Center today. Our intentions in going were to enter contests to hopefully win a free hotel stay or something like that and maybe get some ideas for future vacations we want to go on when we are able to. It also helped that we found a 2 for 1 coupon for the entry fee. To make a long story short..... I ended up winning the GRAND PRIZE!!!!!! (I have to give Hannah some credit for the win. She chewed on my entry form while I wasn't looking, so my ticket was all bent up when I turned it in.) We thought the trip we won to Vegas this last summer was pretty good, but this trip makes that one seem like nothing. I won a 6 day, 5 night stay at an all-inclusive resort in JAMAICA!!! It also includes free airfair, all of our food, and some water activities!!!! We have from now until next year at this time to use our winnings. I still can't believe that I won! I never used to win anything when I was single. I think being married has brought us some luck.

Here I am with my winnings.

Here is the hotel we are staying at!

5 months!

Hannah is 5 months old today! I can't believe she will be 1/2 a year in just a month. Over the past month Hannah has grown and developed so much. Here are some of the things she has been doing:

One of the biggest accomplishments is that Hannah is sleeping in her very own room. It actually was a sad day for Jake and I when she graduated from her cradle in our room. We miss having her close at night. She has adjusted amazingly well and continues to sleep through the night (most days).

Hannah has started eating baby food. I still can't decide how much she really likes it. She usually pulls some pretty crazy faces when we give it to her, but she keeps eating it. It has made diaper changing a whole new experience.

Another big event was when she got her two bottom teeth. They actually popped through a week after her 3 month mark, but now they are all the way in.

Hannah loves her toys! Some favorites are her jumper, exersaucer, Ellie (her elephant), and lately her very favorite is our laptop. Jake keeps promising her the laptop whenever we get a new one, but we will see:)

(h k,g,ki ,u n  hm.,hny  n  ,kgt gban)

 This is Hannah's contrabution to the blog.

Hannah has started babbeling a lot more. She likes to say "mama" the most. She usually says it when she is getting upset and I like to think she really is calling for me to come rescue her.

Hannah loves cuddeling and eating everything in sight.

Hannah has become a lot more cuddly especially after just waking up from a nap; these are some of our favorite times with her.

We have been so blessed with such a happy and good natured baby. Hannah always has a big smile for everyone. She has been battling her first cold over the past week and I am surprised at how happy she still is even with all the congestion and coughing.

My Sister Missionary

My little sister Megan left the MTC this last Monday and arrived in the mission field: Orlando, Florida. She sent a short email along with this picture to let us know she arrived safely. It was so fun to talk to her on the phone while she was at the airport waiting for her flight to leave. Talking to her brought back a lot of fun mission memories. In some ways I miss those days when you could spend the whole day serving and teaching others and learning the gospel, and the only big decisions to make were which street to go tracting on. I guess in some ways my life is back to the simplicity of that: serving and teaching Hannah all day and deciding what to make for dinner:) Megan is going to be such a wonderful missionary. We are so excited for this opportunity she has to teach and bless others for the next 18 months.

Thanksgiving with the Homers

It was our turn to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family this year. We had our Thanksgiving feast at Carolyn and Doug's home (my aunt and uncle). The food was so good it makes my mouth water thinking about it. We always follow up the feast with either a game of football or ultimate frizbee. This year it was frizbee.

Here is Hannah watching her parents' team lose. Somehow our team ended up with 2 pregnant ladies and one post pregnant lady (me) who is still getting back into shape:)

After the frizbee game we were ready for more yummy food. It is a tradition for all of the grandkids to build a log cabin out of pie crust and whipped cream and then eat it along with the pies.

My favorite tradition comes the day after Thanksgiving when we head down to Richfield (where my mom grew up) and search for the perfect Christmas tree in the mountains there.  Jake and I saw this Santa as we were driving through Richfield and thought it would be fun to take a picture of him with Hannah. We decided that this Santa was a little scarry looking. He needed to lose the glasses.

Hannah did pretty well hiking all over the mountain strapped to Jake in her carrier. The only mishap was when she got so excited about finding our tree that she had a blow out. Jake was a little nervous about what we might find when we unstrapped Hannah. (we brought a change of clothes for her, but not for Jake) Luckily we had bundled Hannah up in enough layers that she only blew through the first two (lucky for Jake).

Here we are with our tree before we cut it down.

Here it is after.

We had Rice Krispie treats and hot chocolate after everyone found their trees. We forgot to bring cups, so we did some improvising.

We ended the weekend festivities with the BYU vs Utah game. We went to my sister Heather's house and watched it with some of my family. Hannah and her cousins, Griffin and Weston, faithfully cheered for their Cougars.

Teeth!

My little girl is growing up way too fast! This last Tuesday (December 1st) two little teeth popped up on Hannah's bottom gum. Jake and I thought she had a little cold for the past week, but come to find out the runny nose and random tantrums were for a different reason. We thought the teething thing didn't happen for a while yet since Hannah is just over 3 months. I just hope it is a little while before she gets any more.

Hannah's Blessing

This post is a little overdue, but we were waiting to get these pictures back from my sister Rachel. Hannah was blessed on October 11th. We are so grateful for all of the family who attended. The blessing was beautiful and it was such a special day for our little family.

Four Generations

Here are some pictures my sister Rachel took of Hannah in her blessing dress a few weeks before the actual blessing.

My sister Lisa made Hannah's shoes to match her dress

Rachel also took some famliy photos.

Happy 3 Months Hannah!!

Today is Hannah's 3 month birthday. The time has gone by so fast, but at the same time I think I have forgotten what life was once like before she came along. This past month Hannah has really started interacting more with her surroundings. Whether it is with us, strangers at the store, or her stuffed animals, she has a big smile for everyone. We have been blessed with such a happy girl.

We also have been blessed with such a drooly girl. Hannah spends most of her time chewing on things. Some of her favorites are:

 Mr. Duck

her thumb and fingers

Ellie the Elephant

and her washcloth (she loves sucking the water out of it- yuck!)

Of course I have to brag about how smart Hannah is, she has already learned her first animal sound. She growls like a cougar and often she and Jake have growling contests. I think the best thing Hannah has learned over the past month is to sleep through the night (most of the time).

sometimes she uses her headband as a sleep mask

Finally, over the past month Hannah has spent plenty of time mastering her blow-outs. She has definitely gotten better at it.

We love you Hannah and feel so blessed to have you in our family!