Missing all of you!

Love those little eyes!
1st rice cereal! July 18th, almost 4 months old!
"Were you talking to me?"
"Oh, Hi guys!"

Late 4th of July Pictures

"If you give a mouse a cookie..."

At our home, we have found life is sometimes like the book , "If you give a mouse a cookie.."

If you have someone break into your house, you will decisively say yes to buying an alarm system when the salesman comes to the door. If you buy an alarm system, you might stay in instead of going out so that you don't accidentally set the alarm off in coming or going.
If you stay in the house, you might notice the air conditioner just doesn't seem to be doing a good job of cooling anything in the 110+ weather. (to the point of whenever you go to someone else's house and it is cooler than yours, you assume they are paying through the nose for their A/C bill, when really yours is just not working.) Of course one wouldn't notice the A/C wasn't working until running through the house trying to get a husband packed for a scout camp on a Friday afternoon. When the husband goes on his way to scout camp, you realize it is 2:30pm on a Friday, and there's not likely a way to get someone to fix it before the "weekend" that has already mostly arrived.
If you call the A/C company to send a tech out, you think they are super nice for having consideration to send them within a few hours, because of the little baby situation. When the tech does get on the roof, he will tell you the A/C should never have passed inspection when you bought the house a year ago. Thinking of buying the house a year ago reminds you, that you also purchased a home warranty to cover just such a thing, and then remember the warranty expired a month ago. Then the tech will tell you that the A/C is a very old tank, which will remind you of the time you drove a tank in WWII, oh those were the days.. The tech will also tell you that he has never heard as many short circuits happening in an air conditioner quite like that before, and one could see the fear in his face as he said it. If you see the fear in his face, you will certainly think of the fear of seeing the cost for a new A/C unit, which is completely unavoidable at this point. ...
When one thinks of unavoidable, one might also think how the baby is growing up way too fast, and rolled over for the first time on the floor at the back of primary the weekend the A/C was out.
If one thinks about weekend, one remembered that there were visitors coming from out of town and the guest bedroom needed to be made ready for the following weekend. In making the bedroom ready, one will empty a box of picture frames and shelf things that hadn't quite made it to the shelves in the year since one moved, and in checking to make sure the box was truly empty, one will find a dead scorpion there.
Upon finding a scorpion one will holler and make a fuss and then not make a single peep about it when the visitors come.

We hope that this is THE END ...

Ever growing

We have so enjoyed the recent weeks with Mara as there has seem to be a lot of firsts, (not to be confused with a lot of Firths). She is almost always content and happy. It's so wonderful to be with her and spend the days together. Swaddled and ready for bed. I love that she still loves to be swaddled at night. She will often kick her feet free by morning and her hands have to be near her face, but it's fun to snuggle up to my little Bug.
She also enjoys her playmat, and this hanging hippo is one of her favorite toys.
She has been enjoying tummy time a little bit more each day and is showing how strong she is to hold herself so well.
Bath time is always a favorite, and pool time is getting more fin for her and with her.

Always in motion.

"Ya got to move it , move it!"

Mara has been so thrilled to take her baths lately. It was like the RiverDancers! Her little feet were going like crazy! She's curious enough in the camera, that sometimes she becomes quite the little poser. We've taken her out to the pool a few times, but she is not quite as mobile in the pool yet.
She seems to enjoy her new little Bumbo chair, so that she can sit up and see things, but isn't quite sure what to do once she is sitting there.


Just chillin'! We love the cool affect the nursery seems to have, even on the scorching hot days, it seems cooler in our arctic room.

3 Months old!

I can hardly believe that Mara is already 3 months old. She is such a gem. She loves to put her hand on her head when she is eating, and really loves if I tickle her head. She even will grab my finger and keep my hand by her head too. She also is starting to laugh a little. I love when she wakes up from a nap, and finds my face when I go to pick her up. The joy in her expression warms me completely. It is so amazing to be a mom!

Mara playing with her octopus as Daddy naps nearby.
Oooh!
New dress, new dazzle-y bracelet, and using my new chair.
It looks like it is naptime.

Camping by Mark

Mara wakes up to the fresh cool air at Sharp Creek Campground, 20 miles out of Payson, Arizona(1 1/2 north of Phoenix). We had a fun trip taking Mara camping for the first time. She did well and it was nice to get out of the heat.

Mo tagged along and did okay until 3 in the morning when some animal out in the woods and people coming to the bathrooms near our campsite got him barking. I had to get out of the warm sleeping bag and walk him to the Blazer to get him to quiet down. He was in heaven of course, wandering around with all the new scents and places to explore that wasn't trapped in like his backyard home.
After taking it easy and resting for the morning, enjoying the 70's temperature. We headed east on the highway up to an area called the Mogollan Rim(? on spelling). It is a literal rim of rocks along the mountains that drops down from the higher plateau to the mountains below. The road climbed several thousand feet quickly to put us on top. We enjoyed a stop at a lake and took a hike. Unfortunately it wasn't a very secret fishing spot and was packed with tons of fishermen who weren't very clean so there was trash all over. Other than that it was a beautiful location.
There are a system of trails running along the rim that you can hike the whole way or between scenic view parking lots. On our way back from the lake we stopped and Mo and I took a walk for about a mile. I got video of Mo walking to the edge of these rocks. What you can't tell from this picture is the wind is blowing about 30-40 miles an hour into us so it was an eery feeling trying to walk out on the rocks having a hard time keeping your balance because of the wind.


View through the trees of the lake at the west end. The lake must have continued a little bit more around a corner, because while we were stopped there must have been 15-20 boats or canoes that came towards us from this direction.
I did some quick math counting the rings on this tree. It had to have been at least a hundred years old.

We stopped to take pictures several times, each time Mo would zoom in and out of the picture pursuing some scent or chasing chipmunks as far as the leash would allow.
Obviously coming back into the valley we quickly forgot about jackets and stored them away only to dream of cooler days again if we survive the heat of summer.
I decided to scrub off the carbon deposits on the underside of the dishes, very focused work, hence the stupid grin.
Mo during one of the few times he stopped the whole hike, must have been an animal he was watching off to the side . Before we took this picture Mo thought he would try to climb down the rock behind us(about an 8 foot drop). He slowly studied it and was trying to grip the rock and started sliding. Luckily he had me on belay and the rope stopped him semi dangling in the air as I pulled him back up by the harness.


Momma Stacy and Mara, taking a rest and wondering why I am taking a picture of them.

Completeness

There was a part of my life puzzle that was missing until just recently. I had no idea how much I had wished, longed, hoped, and prayed for a day to bless our new baby and celebrate the miracle her life brings us each day. My heart rejoices to have her near and watch her grow. I had only ever hoped there could be such joy as we have discovered having Mara in our lives. There was such amazing feelings that poured over and through us on her blessing day. It was completely amazing. Thank you to all of you that could be there. We missed those of you who were not there, but felt your hearts with us. Thank you for your help in making the day possible and such a success.Getting ready to go.
Everybody
Little Angel. I find it significant to say that the dress was made by my mom from the remaining fabric from my wedding dress. There was only one remnant piece big enough for her dress, but it was exactly the right size to make it. It was really special.
We are grateful for the priesthood!
Our little family.

baby grows

Watching

Each day we seem to count our blessings with Mara in our lives. She is just so delightful. We recently observed her diligently watching the fish in the swing mobile. She is starting to trigger the music in her bouncer when she kicks her feet, primarily the right foot, and then it plays a song for her when she does. She is so animated about it too! It really makes each day so great with her in our lives.

Expressions

It is soo much fun to watch Mara watch things. She is getting more interactive everyday. She has started to figure out a few things, like when she kicks or moves in her bouncer chair, it triggers music. She smiles and then kicks more. She is very entertaining.
One of her beautiful smiles.

8 weeks

One of my favorite times of day, to feel her cuddle up so little and go to sleep.
"I am super strong!"
Smiling more these days.

"So smart!"