Picture Day!

I took Peanut in for her pictures today in her Blessing dress that Grandma Jo had made for her. Its a beautiful white dress and fits her perfectly. The problem was that the A/C was not working at Sears, so we had to have a fan blowing on her. She was mighty grumpy that they didn't realize "Her Royal Highness" was in the store. We only got a couple smiles. Here they are!! This picture shows that she has a mischievous side, doesn't it?
This was the very first shot, before it got too hot. Good smile!
This one looks a little funny because my hand is under her dress holding her up.
By this point, she had it. Still, she's a keeper!!

Bar-B-Que!

Teresa and Skip (Judy's Aunt and Uncle) were wonderful and had a BBQ at their house at the end of the long week of visits. We didn't get many pictures, and missed getting a lot of faces, but we had a wonderful time chatting and visiting with family and more friends. By the time we got back into town on Sunday, we were exhausted, but enjoyed seeing so many people and grateful for the chance we had to be home again. Great Aunt Teresa and Jacie. She has always been a wonderful person to me...encouraging me when I thought I couldn't do it, and introduced me to the great outdoors. She has truly been an inspiration in my life, and I'm glad she will be able to be one in Jacie's life as well.
The group! This is all that was left at 11 PM, after the BBQ. Most others had gone home a long time before, but this little lively bunch chatted it up until the last minute. From left, Teresa, Judy, Shandell (on the lap), Janet (Judy's sister), Jacie (on the lap), Lisa (Judy's cousin), Spencer, McCarty. On the floor, Faith and Challis (all Janet's kids).
Jacie passed out from too much partying with Challis, her other mother. Challis held her far more than any other person, and rode over to Boise from Idaho Falls with me. She rode in the back and entertained Princess Fussybutt when the going got rough. Challis is one great kid.

Papa and Grandma Wood

Later in the week, Jacie met up with Papa and Grandma Wood! We visited for awhile, ate lunch at a chinese place and then had some pictures taken. All in all, it was a busy day, but very nice. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of Darlene, and not one of Jacie's butt, but you take what you can get.

Blessing Day

The day finally arrived for Jacie to be blessed! The whole reason to go home--so we could share with our family this special day. 102 people later, we sat packed in the chapel as she was blessed and named. Can anyone say tears in abundance? The day went off without a hitch and we loved seeing so many good friends and family. Jacie, of course, looked beautiful in the blessing dress Grandma Jo had made for her. Thankfully she didn't poop in the dress like she pooped the week before in church (different outfit)--all the way up the back AND front, but she did promptly spit up all over it as soon as I got her into it. Family shot! It is always windy in SE Idaho, and you can see my hair flying all over the place but Peanut looks good!
She was absolutely beautiful on this day, and cried only a little.
This picture is of Great Grandma Leonard. Very precious!
Four generations! Grandma Webster, Nana (Ryan's Mom), Ryan, and Jacie.
Just a few of the nieces and nephews. From the left, Casey, Hayley, Jacie, Deryk, Tycen, Jaycen. I'm sure I misspelled a couple of those names, but look how cute they all are! In total, there are 13 cousins on the Leonard side and 15 on the Wood (Judy's) side, with a couple on the way. Whew!

First Visit to Idaho

Jacie had her first plane ride and first trip to Utah and Idaho! She did famously on the flights. One lady told me on the return trip that she was an angel, and a very good traveler. She really did travel well in the plane, and for the most part the car, too. She got a little ticked off a time or two in the car, but would be happy if I sat in the back seat next to her so she could look at me every now and then. I think she was objecting to being turned backwards and left out of the conversation.

She saw lots of family and a few of our friends while there. I think she got her fill of being held, passed around, poked at, prodded and just looked at. We enjoyed seeing friends and family while we were home. We miss all of them so much living in Michigan.
This picture is the first night we were there. Aunt Lynette (Ryan's sister) rocked her to sleep and her own daughter Casey decided she needed some of that rockin', too, so she climbed on board.
Lynette, Hayley, and Casey with Jacie. Lookin' good, ladies!!
Aunt Tricia (Judy's sister just in case you don't see the resemblance) was her first visitor in Michigan, and this shot is on her first visit to Aunt Tricia's house.

Busy Day

Jacie went to her first carnival and parade! She hated it. She cried at the parade, she screamed at the carnival. Oh well, maybe next year we can try again. In our little town of Swartz Creek, they have what’s called ‘Home Town Days’ every year. Basically it is a little county fair on one of the main streets. Ryan and I have only been once, and that was to get a funnel cake which they didn’t sell. We got Elephant ears instead (they are gigantic scones, basically). This year we got another elephant ear and discovered that there is a whole lot more to this little carnival—petting zoo, helicopter rides, an expo tent, pony rides and those carnie games that cost $100 just to win some dumb stuffed animal that will fall apart when you get it home. It was fun, though!Not so great a photo of the Mama, but we sure have a cute Baby Girl! This picture was after the screaming fit--way after. We think that it was just way too hot for her; she didn't like being in the stroller. Once I took her out and held her, she calmed down, but did that hiccup/sigh thing babies do after a really hard cry for about 10 minutes. I felt so bad. I wanted to take her on the Merry-Go-Round, but after the screaming jag, we didn't want to push our luck. Good thing, too, because as soon as we got to the car, it began to rain.

Some of our friends were dancing at the local Relay for Life (cancer walk), so we went to watch. At the end of the dance, they had a time where they invited everyone to dance with them. Ryan didn’t go into the group, but he danced with his little Peanut anyway. She enjoyed that a whole lot more than the carnival!

She's lost a lot her her hair. In fact, she's lost most of it on one side of her head, part of the back of her head and then the other side still has the hair. Oh, and she still has that mullet thing in the back and longer strands on top. Kinda funny looking, but nobody seems to mind.

Good Old Kirksville, MO!

We went to Missouri for Memorial Day weekend to see some friends of ours. We had a wonderful time and learned that Baby Girl loves a crowd. She watched everything the other kids did, and could even sleep through all the noise. She loved all the attention, too! In fact, Ryan was calling her Peanut while we were there (just one of the many names for her) and it stuck. She was Peanut to everyone the entire time we were there. It was so much fun to be back in our "other" home and with our very good friends the Davis Family. Now, if we could just build up that brood she would love to have around her...
This little guy holding her is Bowen. He is 7 years old and was totally infatuated with her! He has a little brother Hayden that is 10 months old, but would rather hang with Jacie. He was always checking on "peanut" as he called her, and even would pray for her at meals and stuff. Very cute!
This isn't a very good picture, but this is Hayden, Jacie's other boyfriend. He is a real chunker and so cute.
Dad and Daughter needed some rest while in Missouri and thankfully they got a little. They slept like this for a long time. If you look close, you can see her little toes peeking out of the blanket. She learned this weekend that she likes her Daddy again. I think it was because she had a lot of time with him.
Nap Time! She was such a great sleeper, even when there was a ton of stuff going on!

The Urban Sombrero

This is how much Jacie likes her new hat. With the upcoming summer season, this fair skinned little lady needs to be covered up. So far, it hasn’t worked out so well. In fact, the first day she wore it outside and was out in the sun at all, she got a sunburn across her lower lip and cheeks because the hat didn’t do its job correctly. Thankfully we were only outside about 5 minutes.Hey, my pants are falling off!Why do they do this to me?

If I must, I must...