Operating Heavy Machinery

Now that Nyah is one we feel she is old enough to help out with some of our home improvement projects :) ...Here she is operating a skid steer for a cement pad we are going to poor. The home improvement list seems endless...but we are cracking away at it!

And the pumpkin carving survery contest winner is.....da da da daaah Jason Poulsen

Nyahs Birthday SPOOKTACULAR!!!!

Nyah turned ONE YEAR OLD on Saturday the 25th...and we celebrated in style with a splendid costume party! :) Yes Derek is the tooth fairy! His wearing billy-bob teeth and has a bucket full of change to put under your pillow.

I made this cake...it's not perfect but I am really quite proud because I don't bake...I lost sleep over this cake...and we when we stopped by the gateway to pick up some extra gifts on our way to the party it MEEEEELTED in the car...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! :0

Here is a video of some of the other creepy cuisine at our festive feast :)

I could never have posted enough pictures to do the costumes justice here is a splice of the awesome attire.

We had a pumpkin carving contest...everyone did a really great job but my sister is an art teacher and so no one else really stood much of a chance ;) But we had a great time carving to some monster mash tunes.




Everyone freaked that I was going to burn the house down with my pyrotechnic display on the cake...relax...it's just sparklers and Nyah only turns one once :)

Nyah is a sweets-o-haulic so i expected her to be wearing more frosting than the cake when I let her go for it...but no...she daintily tasted the frosting a few times...shared a little with me and that was it? The party was a blast...and MY BABY IS ONE :)

Carving

We got together earlier this week and carved our Denver Pumpkins. It was a lot of fun...and a lot of GOO! We can't show our end result because it will spoil the contest ;) Make sure to vote for your favorite on the right!

Sizing up the competition!

I'm not quite sure what/or who Dr. Evil here is planning on carving?

Nyah on the Go... go... go... go!

First time riding in her new seat...as soon as we buckled her in she laughed out loud and was so pleased:)

This is why I feel like a 90 year lady that has been hit by a train by 8 pm...keeping up with her is CRAZY! She is into everything! But we are having a lot of fun!! ;) I always find myself thinking when I can’t see Nyah and I’m trying to get something done “really though what’s the worst thing she could be doing right now?” “it can’t kill her whatever it is” “I don’t care I’ve got to get this done I’ll take care of whatever she’s done in a minute” and usually it is some dirty or dangerous that she is up to!! It’s so funny she is so curious (about all the things I don’t want her to be!) But we really are having a lot of FUN together. Little stinker!

Walking is on the horizon...she puts her babies in the stroller and pushes them around the house. She also puts them in her old infant car seat...what a wonderful mother.

Family Pictures At Last (ok like two months ago)

I have been having anxiety about not having a family picture with Nyah ever since she was born! So about a month and a half ago we had them done! My friend Amanda took them...and I think you'd agree she did a splendid job!

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!

Here it is...our first home! I put our pumpkins that we got in Denver on the front porch so the new neighbors would know how festive and friendly we are ;). Ha! It already feels like home...despite an annoying wall that is coming down immediately :). The basement is an apartment that we are going to rent out. So if any of you are among the foreclosures we have a vacancy ;)

Well of course before you can move into a new place you have to move out of your old one :(!

That means boxes, cleaning, and heavy lifting!

Gratefully we had some help...my mom came up and worked her fingers to the bone to help out!

My sister Andrea came up and accomplished the imposable by distracting Nyah from unboxing as we boxed and put her to sleep...wow!

So thank you, thank you to Mont, Connie, Jason, Mick, Callie (for vital supplies: diet coke and chocolate ), Matt, Mom, and Andrea!

Denver or Bust

We spontaneously went to Denver with my in-laws (who are a blast to travel with) to help Jan and Andy with some major home improvements projects...and have a little fun on the side ;)


We (as in Derek, Andy, and Mont) tore out the ceiling, tore out cabinets, sheet rock...and yada yada yada...made a huge mess :) However when it's done it is going to look GREAT.

Part of the ceiling...they are walking past Jan, Connie, and I standing outside for hours holding the kids so we didn't inhale asbestos and develop cancer.

Let the fun begin...we went to a crazy impressive pumpkin patch that was 50+ acres of the most perfect pumpkins EVER. We got a little carried away and drove away with 26 huge pumpkins in the back of Monts King Ranch! HA!

Nyah of course LOVED it!

Here she is with her sweet cousin Carson, who she had a great time with...he even shared his toys :)

We found a great park and of course Nyah love, love, loved the swings. What a party can't wait to do it again. ;)

USU vs BYU (Nice try BYU)

We went to a USU hockey game last night. It was really fun! Of course we crushed BYU ;)!

Nyah is a blue-blooded Aggie even if she may appear somewhat frightened in the photograph. :)

She made a fast recovery when the lady behind her gave her some of her pretzel...the kids next to us gave her some licorice...then a passer-byer gave her this cupcake. The cupcake got EVERYWHERE all over her, me, the floor...she was in heaven though!! :)

Theologie

Nyah and Jayci are very religious. Here they are embracing Buddhist culture by getting up close and personal with Buddha himself.

Swingers

This is Nyah and her friend Jayci we walked to this really great park and they had these swings. It's weird because I have looked everywhere for these baby swings and no parks have them? So I have to swing with Nyah on my lap. Not today! Today Nyah declared her independence :)! She laughed out loud...kicked her legs...and screamed with delight! I was really tempted to give her an under-dog :) ...maybe next summer.

Everywhere we go people ask us if these two are sisters? cousins? It is strange that the worlds two cutest babies happened to meet? :) But here they are.

Test Flight

Grandpa Mont has been thinking about buying this plane so he and Derek took it to Cali last week on business. Nyah and I tagged along for the ride to do a little shopping. :)

It got a little hairy going over Yosemite but Nyah didn't mind a bit...in fact it rocked her to sleep. When we landed Nyah and I got a car and headed for an outlet mall in Tulare...we met back up at the airport but the weather was too stormy to fly so we had to stay the night. What an adventure! The views were incredible, the shopping was great, and the company even better! :)

Rodger that Grandpa...we are coming in for a landing.

Last Night On The Lake

We went out for probably our last boating trip of the season the other night with our friends Jocelyn and Dasheek. The water was soooooooo cold even in a wetsuit I felt like I was in a glass of ice water. Still fun though...I'm super bummed to see it end. :(

Nyah's First Haircut

This is the pre-haircut photo she had some scraggly locks that needed to come off because they were making her look a little orphan :)

Our cousin Tina performed the haircut, she did a great job...Nyah loved it! She just sat in the little booster seat and grinned the whole time! Maybe she liked the fish on her cape?

This is the final product...WOW! What a looker! :)

Man Eating Ducks (Really!)

Nyah and I take a morning walk together everyday sometimes we go shopping, or become one with nature :)...the other day we were walking past this river that has ducks in it. Being such a GREAT mom I came prepared with some bread to feed them. As soon as they saw us they came running...I threw them some bread and they started attacking us LITERALLY ( I am not exaggerating). They were biting Nyah's fingers and my feet...they bit my cell phone...these were killer ducks! I was honestly a little scared...I had to save just enough bread for our get-a-way! I threw it as far as I could and then Nyah and I made a run for it!! I looked over my shoulder and sure enough they were in HOT pursuit...we made it out with only minimal emotional damage :)

More Goodbyes

My little brother Trevor was called to the Minneapolis Minnesota mission and we took him to the MTC last Wednesday. It was pretty sad to say goodbye for two years...but he will make such a great missionary!

He is so prepared and is just an all-around good guy. Good luck Trev! We'll miss you!

"I Hate goodbyes" :(

Here is Derek's last few seconds with his true love...his motorcycle! We decided I would have a hard time replacing him if I was a single mother...so it had to go. :) There have been so many fatal motorcycle accidents lately, it just isn't worth the risk now that we are parents. But it didn't make it any less difficult for him :(! Derek has wanted a bike since he was ye-high...when we were driving home with it in the back of his truck he kept looking at it in the rear view mirror...(like I can't believe I actually got one) all the way home from Salt Lake. Now it's gone...but we get to keep him! What a great MAN! :)

Ride with a view

We rented a convert able mustang for the weekend because we got it for $10 :) It was way hilarious and a little embarrassing...I tried to get Derek to pop his collar when we drove around just to make it official, but he refused! :)

Nyah LOVED it she could finally see out, and see everything...Her hair was standing straight up and blowing in the wind...she kept squealing and doing patty cake. :) Quite a lot of entertainment for $10 on a chill weekend.

On the MOVE :)

Nyah has been crawling for a long time now...here is a video from her first days on the move!

Grandpa's Fair and Rodeo

Grandpa Poulsen is the Chairmen for the Cache County Fair and Rodeo. We go every year and have a great time. This was Nyah's first year...and she loved it.

Thursday night at the rodeo a hurricane rolled in and soaked everyone...it was crazy how much water there was!! We had enormous umbrellas though, which made us the only dry spectators. Friday night during the national anthem you could have heard a pin drop until Nyah started singing along very loud :) ...the crowd around us thought it was hilarious! I'm absolutely convinced she has a music career in her future! :)

Nyah loved meeting all the animals...she comes on a little strong though and tries to attack them in her excitement. Below is a video of a splice of the action :)