Picture Slideshow, a couple months behind!

Since I haven't written on here for about a month and a half, I thought that the best way to sum up the last couple months is through pictures. Thankfully, we bought a laptop for me to use! Now I can actually do some updating while Wes is gone long hours at school. The sad thing is that we don't have any quality pictures from our digital camera, but at least we took some with our phones. So without further ado, here is a cell phone picture slide show of mostly Evie, and a couple of Wes. 

Wes and I celebrated our two year anniversary on August 8th! Clearly this first picture was not taken with a cell phone. To celebrate, Wes surprised me and took me to the Invited Inn in Midway. It was so much fun! We ate at the Zermatt restaurant next door- a delicious, high class buffet. He also arranged for my mom to take care of Evie, so we had a great evening to ourselves.

Here I am in the front of the cozy little bed and breakfast.

 Wes inside of our room.

The view from our balcony was awesome! It was such nice weather. 

 But yes, I still got a little chilled at night, and we 

did take advantage of this fireplace and jetted tub.

Now I know how Evie feels sleeping under a mesh netting. 

 It was an awesome evening and another great surprise from my wonderful husband. He never takes any shortcuts, he always wants to give me the best. I'm sure that he would try to do more if I let him...but one of us needs to worry about the bank account :).

This handsome man had another birthday just three days after our anniversary on August 11th! It's pretty pathetic, but I only have a picture of the ice cream cake I made him for his birthday. We had a fun celebration at my parent's house and Wes received a lot of great presents!

The cake. I promise it looked better without the candles.

I could really go for some for some of this right now!

Wes' sister Jennica was married August 21 and her colors were teal and mustard, so I made Evie a little teal dress. She looked so cute in it! If we ever see some wedding pictures, I'll try to post them on here. Jenni was a beautiful bride and the whole day went so well! We are so happy that she's happily married to a great guy!

Evie finally got her one year shots at the beginning of September. I'll tell you what, it was miserable. She just gave me that look of "Mom, why are you doing this to me?" I am grateful for immunizations and modern medicine, but it still pains me watching her go through that. Especially considering how much I hate needles.

I decided to get her a smiley face cookie from Provo Bakery to make her feel a little better, but she just ended up getting it all over and falling asleep in the car anyway. But doesn't she look cute? 

After she woke up, we went to get Wes from school and she could barely walk! She just sat there and cried. I'm surprised that we even got this little smile out of her! These are the flowers in front of the ASB at BYU. They are absolutely gorgeous.

 

For Labor Day weekend we went up with Wes' family to Oakley, Idaho. Our sister-in-law's, (Haley- Wes' brother Graden's wife) parents have a house up there where her dad grew up. The Matthews were so kind to let us stay with them and enjoy the small town. The only pictures we managed to take were at the Rodeo we went to, and of Evie in a cowboy hat. But Wes was able to feel like a true farmer as he picked potatoes out of the ground to bring home for us to eat.

 Pajamas and a cowboy hat. It doesn't get more stylish than that.

I think there's a cowboy out there somewhere. 

 Evie just found other kids' toys and played in the dirt the whole time. It was pretty cute.

A couple weekends later we decided to go camping with Wes' family on our property in Indianola. We randomly bought this acre of land at the end of July, and thought that we may as well get our money out of it. I don't think that will happen though until we go at least 100 times :).  This is one view of the land- we are the proud owners of that great fire pit that you see. 

 This picture is from the first time we went up there. Do you think Evie is ready to drive yet?

 I thought that it might be cold at night when we went, so I searched high and low for anything warm I could find for Evie. This hat and glove set fit her perfectly. She was so intrigued by the mittens.

 I even tried on a Halloween costume I bought from Old Navy last year for $2. She looked like a pretty cute bug, but the costume is 2T/3T if you're thinking it looks a little big. I opted not to bring it with us.

 Wes brought his motorcycle up there with us and Evie LOVED the ride! She now says "daddy" and makes v'room v'room noises every time she see a motorcycle.

For some odd reason, I haven't wanted to give Evie utensils yet when she ate. I just thought it was easy enough to feed her myself. Feeling spontaneous (I know, it's really going out on a limb), I decided one day to give it a try. She ate like a champ! She was poking her fork into her eggs like she had been doing it for years!

As you can see by the pictures below, Evie is WAY advanced :).

And then she had had enough of this fork business, so finger food it was. 

 Finally, she put the bowl up to her face to get the rest out. Clever thinking girl.

 And of course, a victory dance at the end to celebrate her accomplishment!

Lately we have been going to see Wes' Grandpa Gibby at his home. He is 95 years old and is in great shape! His wife was recently diagnosed with cancer, so she is now in a home, and that leaves grandpa all alone. It is so fun for us to go over there and spend time with him and hear about some of his life stories. Evie enjoys being over there too as she finds many interesting books on the shelf.

 

 Even though BYU is majorly stinking it up this year, we decided to go to a game with my brother Kenny. It was way nice of him to invite us, and to subsidize the expensive tickets he bought for us. The Cougars lost, no surprises there, but we actually had a great time still! There were cold waters and candy under our seats, along with a free large drink redeemable at the stadium. During half time, we went to the tent behind the stadium to enjoy hot dogs, ice cream, fruit, and popcorn. For the third quarter, we were brought ice cream right to our seats! Food really does take your mind off a bad team.

For all of you real Cougar Club members out there: I know this is a normal thing for you and this kind of treatment happens every game. But thank you for letting us poor people be a part of the rich kid club for a day. It was quite enjoyable.

We got a kick out of this. Evie, all by herself, put the iPad in the bumbo. Such a thinker she is. 

Evie is walking down the stairs so well these days! Without help though, she also tumbles down stairs (particularly at my parents house) very nicely. No worries though, it's not a habit.

Wes and I bought the all-in-one Trafalga/Seven Peaks/Utah Flash/Utah Owls pass and we finally used in for the first time on October 2nd. We went mini-golfing at Trafalga and had a great time! I know that there aren't great pictures of us having fun, but who needs to see Lisa and Wes when you can see Evie. She thought that the golf clubs were pretty neat, and she carried hers around the whole time!

 

 Lastly, but not least: Evie also knows that both the Church, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, are true. She was captivated by the singing during conference. We were captivated by the messages. I love conference, I love the Prophet and Apostles, and I love the church! Now it's time to go and do and be a better person!

L

 I have a feeling that the next time I update, it won't be nearly this long...because I won't wait nearly this long! That's the goal anyway. And we all know how good I've been at my goal with this blog. But we can all use improvement in something, right?

Evie's 1 year photo shoot

At least now I have an awesome excuse of why it is hard for me to blog. We sold our beloved iMac a few weeks ago. It was a sad day, but good because we were being financially responsible. Since Wes got into the ISYS program at BYU, he needed a new laptop, so after the sale of the iMac, we didn't have to pay anything out of pocket for the new Macbook! However, now he takes our only computer with him to school everyday, so I am left without a way to blog. Nap time was always ideal, but now it will have to be late nights...or early mornings. Life is hard :).

But really life is so good. Evie is just the cutest baby of all time. And it's not just her good looks :), her personality is contagious! She is so happy and inquisitive; and destructive....which isn't as contagious, but we still love her!

Here are some of my favorites from her 1-year photo shoot that my friend Ashley took for me. Isn't she a great photographer?! And isn't Evie a cutie pie?!

Like I said, inquisitive

Okay, this is the last of the serious ones..but doesn't she look so pretty? I just love that darling bench!

Here are some pictures that bring out her personality a little more!

 And finally, this is how she plays peek-a-boo!

I really am still going to post pictures from her birthday if I can ever get them from my brother's computer. And catch up on everything else! But for now, I am overly tired and need to go to bed. Hope y'all enjoyed our Evie!

Catching Up

It is ridiculous how long it has been since I've posted! The truth is that I have been waiting to get Evie's birthday pictures so that I can do things in order. My sisters took pictures, but I just don't have them yet. All I have to do is go to my parents house and put them on a flash drive...but I so easily forget every time I am there!
I feel awful for slacking on my goal of being consistent for 6 months. I guess I will just have to extend it another month (and then I can be as inconsistent as I want :). No, that's not the goal- but I won't feel as bad when I don't have a concrete goal. Which is why I don't like to set goals. Wow, I am just sounding like a greater person every second. Goals are good, and I'm going to be better at setting them. At least that's the goal :).

Instead of waiting for the pictures of Ev's birthday, I will just post one now and then do the rest later. That is a good way to ease my mind of disorder. 

So, without further delay....here she is in all of her glory. She loved her cake and basically downed the whole thing. She along with her chair.

If anyone is wondering why her Uncle Jared and David are asleep, we had Evie's party after the Freedom Festival Parade. Most people in our family don't get very much sleep on the eve of the parade. It is such a fun tradition that we have in our family. Since we grew up on University Avenue in Provo, the parade always went right past our house. We would stay up all night saving seats for our family and friends. When that wouldn't work, we would turn on the sprinklers to save our seats for us (or to steal them back). He he, we're such rebels.

Speaking of the parade, a man from the Salt Lake Tribune took this awesome photo of Evie. It was online the next day. Look at her, walking like a big girl on her birthday! 

My baby is a firecracker! This picture makes me so happy! The 4th and the days around it were so fun this year. My sister Allison came into town, so that was fun to see her family again.

Evie watching the parade from her cousin Addy's princess chair

Here are some pictures from the balloon fest this year. It's too bad that none of the balloons made it into the air the day we went to see them! That sort of made the 6:00 a.m. trip to Fox field not worth it.

The Coke bottle was the closest to making it anywhere, but quickly fell after it got to this point

All the people that had parked themselves under it after it got up, had to make a run for it when it fell down again!

My niece Natalie and me watching the balloons

Spencer and Evie- anxiously waiting for something that would not happen

I love the 4th, I love our country. I feel so grateful that we are in a promised land and we are privileged to enjoy our freedom. This land really is choice above all other lands. Yay for America!!

Evie says...

Have a happy day!!

Really, I just cannot get enough of this girl! She is so much fun, so happy and so cute! In case anyone was wondering, this is her new car seat that she really enjoyed lounging in before we finally put it in the car (yesterday!). I think she likes to face forward like the big people and it is a lot easier for us to take care of her needs. I can't believe she's already one (her birthday was on July 5th)! Don't worry, I'll be posting a bunch of birthday pics...once I can get my hands on some. Our camera was out of commission that day :(.

I just thought that this picture could bring a smile to more faces than just mine. So, be happy- just like Evie!

YAY for WES!!!

After a year of waiting due to two pre-requisite classes, today Wes found out that he was accepted into the Information Systems program at BYU! I'm so excited, he's ecstatic, and life couldn't be better. 

Just so you know how prestigious this program is, below is part of the notice of acceptance he received: 

 

Our undergraduate program was recently cited by TechRepublic as being one of the top 10 IT undergraduate programs in the nation and we are thrilled that you have chosen to be part of the BSIS program to help further your study in information systems. You will be challenged and stretched as you experience the ISYS Core and other required coursework. We welcome you and look forward to working with you closely in the coming years.
 

I know it will be challenging for him, but I also know he can do anything he puts his mind to. We are just so blessed and finally have a clear direction! Happy Day for the Ostlers :).

Swing Swing

My sister Allison was nice enough to let us use their swing when Evie was born. She liked it okay at best, but would start crying if I left the room. It had been about 3 months since she had been in it at all, so I decided to move it the our living room, planning to take it to our storage shed. About a week ago, to my surprise, she started playing with it, swinging it back and forth and trying to press the music buttons. So I put her in it. This time she LOVED it! I couldn't believe it; what she was once crying to get out of, she was crying to get into. 

On Monday I put her in it for a long while and finally she seemed ready to get out, or so I thought. I left Evie in the living room to play while I went to the back room to vacuum. Here is a picture of the beloved swing as I left it. 

Evie was being abnormally quite, so I thought something might be wrong. No, nothing was wrong. She was having the time of her life. This is what the scene looked like as I entered back into the living room. She had managed to climb back into her swing, lock the tray back into position, and was swinging herself by holding onto the bar and moving back and forth. I really need to keep my eye on her! 

I took her out to see the process of how she did it. It was fun to watch, but now she thinks it's a game! At least it makes her happy, which makes me happy. I just love this girl! 

Look mom, I did it again!

How could life get any better?

Idaho

The reason why I haven't blogged for a while is because I went up to Idaho and visited my sister Allison for a week. Wes went to down to Zions with the YM, and I really didn't want to be home by myself, so I thought it the perfect opportunity for Evie to spend some time with her cousins! Allison's youngest Brielle is exactly one month younger than Evie. They aren't exactly in the 'playing' stage yet, but they can co-exist next to each other. Allison just sent me some pictures from when I was up there. Unfortunately they are all on the same day, but that's okay- they're cute still!

Evie doesn't know how to smile for a camera.....

but she sure knows how to take away toys.

On Thursday night we went to the Rodeo with some of Reid's cousins. Here I am with Evie on the benches watching the cowboys rope the cows. 

She was such a wiggle worm that evening! She started to cry because she wanted to play around, so I took her over to the petting zoo where we spent the rest of the evening on a bail of hay. I didn't sit on the hay, but Evs had a great time. She seriously loved every minute of it- especially when the sheep would come and sniff her. 

Here she is feeding the sheep, or at least trying :).

With Cousin Brielle. Aren't they so cute together? 

Even though they're only a month apart, Evie is so much larger.

She really didn't want to leave, but it became necessary as her diaper had leaked through to her jeans. 

Oh the joys of parenthood. 

While I was up there we also went shopping a bunch, made cute bows for our babies, watched good movies, painted toenails (thanks for the pretty toes), and ate lots of yummy food. It was fun to visit my family up in Idaho, but we were also happy to see daddy Wes again when we got home! Thanks for the fun trip Allison!