Nine Posts for the Price of One

It's been a while since I've done a regular updating post with pics and stuff, so here come (comes? I don't know) a whole lotta pictures. Make yourself comfortable. (Seriously, do - there are 25 pictures in this post).

1. Big Crowds

If we had any doubts that Rachel is loved by a heck of a lot of people (which we didn't), Sunday would have proven us wrong. By my estimate, there were about 45 people that came on Sunday to see Rachel get blessed. (No pressure, Mike, no pressure). We had our grandparents and a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins that came from Salt Lake area, Tiff and Josh from Logan, Mindy and her family from Fruita, Colorado, Mindy's sister and hubby from Idaho, and - winners of the longest commute - our dear friends Mark and Shiloh who drove all the way from Yuma, Arizona (a 10 hour drive). Between the sealing on Saturday and the blessing on Sunday, Rachel pretty much went the whole weekend without a nap, but she's a trooper. Although she did, of course, start crying right before the blessing, but luckily they did another baby blessing right before hers so we got some food in her and she quieted down. After church we had a gathering at Mike's parents house where we consumed mass quantities of rolls and deli meat. The weekend was GREAT, but we all needed a rest afterward.

Me 'n Shiloh hanging out on Friday night.

Shiloh and her mom and Mark and Shiloh's son Garret

Rachel in her blessing dress

Rachel in her oh-so-adorable furry cape that Mike's mom made for her so she wouldn't freeze while we took pictures outside the temple.

The crowd

More crowd

We're both tired and ready to go home now


2. Love Is In The Air

I didn't know if I was allowed to share this news earlier, but I asked Mindy and she said I could.
And the news is... Mindy's engaged! Yay! His name is Jake, and he's also from Fruita. They're getting married in May and we're so happy for them.

This is Jake - he had met Rachel once before too

In other love news, Rachel got this book for Christmas from Mindy's family with pictures of them in it. Rachel is showing the answer to the book's question to the camera.

She refused to put down the book, even when Daddy carried her. We call this "sack of baby potatoes"

Mindy and her fam got to spend some time with Rach before the blessing on Sunday. I LOVE this picture.

Rachel also likes to give kisses. They're very open-mouthed and slobbery, but very good. :)

3. No Need To Unwrap
Mike won this big chocolate bar at Macey's, and we gave it to Rachel to take some funny pictures of her chomping on it.

We figured she was only sucking on the wrapper.

Until we opened it up...

This is what she managed to do through the candy bar wrapper. That's my girl.

4. Farewell Swing, We'll Miss You
The swing that Rachel has been using was a loaner from Mark and Shiloh, so we gave it back to them when they came up this weekend, and Rachel would've grown out of it soon anyway. It was sure a blessing, and both we and Rachel will surely miss it. Growing up is hard to do.

5. Chompers!
Rachel has teeth! Two of 'em, on the bottom. And boy are they sharp little guys, as the dents in my fingers and hands will testify.
Ever tried to take a picture of a baby's teeth? It's hard. This was the best one.

6. Expensive New Toy
Only the best for our little girl. We go to all monetary lengths to get her the best and most fun toys out there...

Yup, an empty milk jug. Rachel's new favorite toy. Like I said, we spare no expense.

7. Smile For The Camera

She's so photogenic.

And at six months, will even give a wave for the camera

8. Nekkid Baby
Just some no-clothes cuteness.

Who needs clothes when you have a cool lion rattle?

Mike spiked up her hair in the shower.

And 9. Repeat

If you've watched the video on the last post or on Facebook, you've already seen this picture, but I love it, so I just had to throw it on. We did a similar "Toyota Jump" for one of our wedding pictures:
I guess it's tradition.

By the way, if you haven't seen the slideshow below yet, make sure to check it out sometime. I've heard it makes people cry. In a good way. (Although you might have to come back later since you've been sitting here reading this post forever since it was a novel.)