Murder Mystery

We attended a murder mystery at the

Salty Sea Dog in Port Royal (aka the Howell's house).

It was so much fun.

It was a pirate theme and I got to dress up as Thumbless Jacky.

A seasoned pirate who would lie, cheat,

and pretty much do anything to get what

she thought she deserved...and yes if you

can't tell from my name I was thumbless. And thanks

to that I spilled my drink!

Jimmy was dressed up as a gay painter,

I mean Sealegs Sam.

He was a lowly merchant sailor who was in love

with the Governor's daughter Breathless Betty.

He was actually an ex-pirate in diguise and it

turns out he was also the

MURDERER!

Jimmy (AKA Sealegs Sam)

Holly (AKA Breathless Betty),

K (AKA Captain Red Beard)

Madeline (AKA Baby Scalliwag)

Nate (AKA Commodore Clearing)

Emily (AKA One Eyed Wanda),

K (AKA Captain Red Beard)

Curtis (AKA Merciless Morgan, the dead man),

Rusty (AKA Mad Rose)

Missy (AKA Thumbless Jacky),

Jimmy (AKA Sealegs Sam)

Dan (AKA Governor Napier)

Somehow little miss Mindy didn't get her picture taken

sooo....I will wait for her to send me one and then

post it on here. She was the sneaky and

ever so secretive Gurglin' Uma Scar.

Thanks Rusty and Curtis! We had so much fun!

Nothing melts my heart more than this little drooly smile!

4 Months!

Madeline is 4 months old!
Where did the time go??

I can't believe how quickly she is growing.
I have to admit that I am loving this stage of
her life. It has been so fun to watch
her discover new things.
Today she discovered her toes.

She loves to sit up and watch everything.
It amazes me how alert she is to the things
that are going on around her.
She loves new surroundings and gets bored
if we stay in the house too long.

Lately she has been enthralled with the dogs.
She thinks they are so funny and will randomly
start to laugh at them.

She is such a joy. We feel so blessed
to be her parents.

She had her 4 month appointment on Tuesday.

She is now 14 pounds 4 oz.

and is 25 1/2 inches long.

She's in the 90th percentile for height.

Along with her 4 month check-up came

the addition of cereal....

Madeline's First Camping Trip

We really wanted to go camping one last time before leaving

Alabama so a quick last minute trip was put together and we

had so much fun. We ended up heading back to Blue Springs and

the weather was absolutely perfect.

We were really excited to see how Madeline would like camping.

She really seemed to love it. We took her for several walks in

her stroller and she would just hang out and look around at everything.

I think her most favorite thing was the fire.

She tried to keep herself awake a lot longer than usual just

to stare at it. I was kind of worried because it cooled down at night

and I didn't know how she would sleep but it was just like she was

at home in her own bed and the next

morning she woke up so happy. We will definitley

be taking her on many more camping trips.

The pups of course had a great time and were actually

really good. They love to get out of the house and spend

the days outside with us.

Jimmy has this new addiction to marshmallows, I think he ate

at least twenty if not more. He made me an awesome

smore (he even melted the chocolate over the fire!).

Katie and Ryan made some awesome cherry peach cobbler...yum!

Of course the camping trip wouldn't have been complete

without lighting an ant hill on fire and of course you

have to throw in a few firecrackers.

Just before heading home the brave ones jumped into the springs....I wasn't one of them.

Or they were forced into the springs....

Ahhh, we love camping. We're so thankful for awesome friends

who will hang out with us and do fun things...even when

they are in the middle of moving their entire house,

sick with a head cold, or have to be somewhere

early the next day.

Thanks everyone!

Curtis & Rusty Howell

Mindy & Nathan Salisbury

Katie & Ryan Whipple

Pretty Dress & Football

Football season has officially been in session around our house. For those of you who don't know it yet, Jimmy is a sports fanatic! He is always watching some kind of sport but football is the sport of sports, especially Utah football. The Utes pulled off a win and are still undefeated, hence the happy husband.



I have been waiting for this dress to fit Madeline and it finally does! I think it is so pretty! Thank you Silks!









We had stake conference this weekend and it was really good. I am thankful for the gospel. I am so thankful that we have it as a base for everything we do. I can't imagine facing life's challenges without it. I can't imagine raising a child without it. We are so blessed.

Travel Plans

We are getting ready for our big move. Only about a month left in sweet home Alabama. A few of you have asked about our travel plans so I figured I should share them.

We are leaving Alabama on October 17th and we're heading to Fort Collins, Colorado to visit Jimmy's sister and then it's off to St. George for a few days. We figure we will end up in Salt Lake on the 26th of October and hang around there until November 7th or 8th. We'll drive back to St. George on our way to Los Angeles and fly out of Los Angeles to Hawaii on November 11th.

We are so excited!! They have already taken the first shipment of our stuff. I can't believe it's happening so soon! Yahoo!!

This Week....

I have been hearing about Ech lake and the alligator that lives out there for quite some time. We decided to drive out there and check everything out for ourselves. It was really fun. Jimmy made a fire with his newly acquired survival skills and roasted about twenty marshmallows. I ate one. We even took Boo and Ashes even though the sign said "No Pets." We saw more than just one alligator...at least three or even four. It was kind of creepy but fun at the same time. Oh and don't forget the headless carcas of some animal floating nearby. The pups enjoyed the outing and so did we. Looking at this picture one might think, "Why does mom have a jacket on and baby has practically nothing?" Don't worry it was burning hot. I just have issues and like to sweat to death for some reason. Call me crazy.

Me and Madeline were able to go to the Chinook simulators with Jimmy. It was really fun! I even got to fly a little bit. I know my husband is awesome and super smart and wonderful and all of that good stuff, but seeing what he does everyday makes me just want to tell all of you that my husband is freaking awesome! It's amazing all of the stuff he has to know and do to fly that thing. I'm glad I got to go and get a little glimpse of it. I'm seriously even more amazed at his awesomeness.

We went to the Army Soldier Show tonight. We didn't stay long. It was really good but way too loud for our little Madeline. It was really the first time that she had been anywhere really loud with flashing lights and well, it scared her. We experienced fear tonight. We have never seen her scared and at one point she had a pure look of terror on her face followed by a loud AAAAHHHH! Needless to say we headed for home. Poor girl. She was super happy when we got home and even happier when she got her bath. She has started blowing some major slobber bubbles. I love it! She has always been fun but I am loving right now. It is so fun to watch her discover new things. She has started cuddling with this little blanket and right before she falls asleep she will rub it up and down her face, so cute!

Jimmy is Home!!!

I went to pick Jimmy up on Sunday and couldn't find him anywhere. There was this other guy that looked kind of like him so I brought him home instead. He even sounds like Jimmy...weird. They kind of look alike don't you think?



No, Jimmy made it home safe and sound with a big addition....look at that mustache! It lasted for a day once he was home...I'm not a big fan. We are so glad he is home. He's doing really well, tired but alive and happy. We love you sweetie! Welcome Home!

Madeline Laughs

While Jimmy was gone Madeline learned how to laugh, roll over, hold things in her hands, splash hard in the tub, lay on her tummy and hold her head up really well, and stand and put weight on her legs.

I feel really bad that the internet went out and I didn't get to post more pictures of her and stuff...so here are a few catch ups.

This is a video of her laughing. I think she is the cutest.

This would only happen to me....

Before Jimmy left I prepared myself to kill my spiders and cockroaches but I didn't prepare myself for dead frogs or giant spiders...

My friend Mindy came to my house and when she was leaving I noticed something sticking out of the door (where the hinges are at). I couldn't figure out what in the world it was. My first thought was that it was a gigantic spider that had been squished in the door jam. I went outside to take a look from that direction only to find a frog squished flat in my door jam. Seriously! I had to look twice and then three times. I thought I was going to throw up. It was so disgusting! The legs were sticking inside my house and out the other side. It was soooo gross! How in the world did a frog manage to get in my door jam and get squished? Beats me! Thankfully Nate was with Mindy and he was kind enough to scrape the pitiful thing out. It was gross...I should have taken a picture just to prove it but I didn't. Trust me, GROSS!

Giant spider....

I went to go in my house and noticed a giant spider on my doorbell....or near it anyway. I panicked and tried to get in the other door but the key wouldn't unlock the dead bolt so I quickly snuck by the creepy thing and went straight for the spider spray. I went around the house, took a picture for proof and started to spray. The second I sprayed it, the spider got BIGGER! It was huge with orange legs! I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't stop myself from spraying the nasty little critter....so this is what you get to see. My dead giant spider...and I only used about a half of a can of spray. Argh!





In total, while Jimmy was gone I think I killed a total of 12 spiders, 1 cockroach, some ants, and apparently a frog. Disgusting.

Internet Sminternet

My internet isn't working! I'm at the Library. Crummy internet.

Boo Hoo

I know you are probably tired of hearing this, but...I miss Jimmy. I have done a pretty good job at keeping my composure but I think tonight I am going to have myself a good cry. I know he'll be home before I know it, and that I am probably pathetic but I miss him. I miss him and my heart hurts. Silly as it may sound, this has been a good preparation for me. It has shown me just how unprepared I am for a deployment. I need to buck up and be stronger. It's just so hard not to miss him and wish he was here when he is so wonderful and makes me so happy. Sigh.

Madeline is still having a hard time. My mom came up with the idea of getting one of those build a bears with the recording in them and have Jimmy record something for her to listen to. It makes me even feel more sad that she misses him too.






Okay, okay enough boo hoo. Tonight some friends came over and watched a movie with me. Thank you Mindy, Katie, and Holly! It was soooo good to have you over. Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit and taking my mind off of my missing hubby. For anyone who wants to, we're watching Mrs. Pettigrew something tomorrow at 7 at my house...come on over!

Today Madeline was so fussy so I took her for a ride in the car to the movie store and on the way back she fell asleep, like this...



I thought it was so funny. Her cute little hand stayed like that for such a long time. Poor girl, she gets herself so worked up and tired. I just love her to pieces.



I have had some questions about these here trunks. No I didn't make them, Nikki did. However, the directions on how to make them were left behind. And...if you hurry and make them you can use mine for models. (As in before October 2nd) Just let me know. I just recentlly refinished them and think that they look pretty great...if I do say so myself.



By the way, my wall patch up passed the test! Muuuhahaha (my evil laugh).