Busy End of Summer

A lot has sure happened and time has flown. In August, Barry went on a hiking trip with his brothers to the Green River Mountains in Wyoming. He had a blast camping, hiking, and fishing, but came home very sore and tired. Quinton and I were sure glad to have him back. It's hard without Daddy around, but he had a lot of fun.

I stayed with my sister, Shari, that weekend and it was good spending time with my family as always. Jeni took a ton of pictures of Quinton to celebrate him turning nine months old. He is so cute, but mischievous too. In most of the pictures he is grinning because he's about to put a stick or a leaf in his mouth.
 

This is Quinton feeling REALLY mischevious.

Quinton really is a happy baby. Here you can see his toothy grin. He has six teeth now!

We sure love our little guy a lot. He is growing up way too fast. I've never been good at taking pictures and I'm starting to regret it because he changes so quickly.
Well, just a few days after Barry's hiking trip we packed up and headed with my parents on a very long trip up to Seattle and then on all the way to Burns Lake in British Columbia to visit my grandparents. We traveled probably over 3000 miles total and sure felt it by the end. It was worth it, though, because it was so fun to get away and see those we love.

We stayed with Steve and Tammy for a few days in Auburn, which isn't too far from Seattle. Steve took us sight-seeing one day and we got to go Pike's Market, the temple, and Snoqualmie Falls. Their kids are so good and Quinton had a fun time with his cousins.

 
At the market there's this wall outside in an alley where there are millions of pieces of chewed gum stuck to the wall. Not the most beautiful thing we saw on our vacation, but definitely noteworthy. Yuck.

Quinton getting to know his cousins Sophie and Rachel

Snoqualmie Falls

After driving the next half of our trip through Canada, we stopped at my Aunt Linda's in Prince George and went up to Burns Lake and finally got a chance to rest. We took it easy the rest of the week with my grandma and grandpa. Their house, yard, and view are so beautiful! Barry got to go fishing a couple of times with my grandpa and even though they didn't catch the salmon they wanted, they still had a good time. I got to see a lot of my cousins who were there getting ready for Kerry's wedding. It was good to finally go to my grandparents' house after all these years.

Barry went fishing with Grandpa Gardner

Here we are on the Francois Lake Ferry. It is a regular thing for people up there, but cool for those like us who only visit every once in a while. (Quinton wasn't feeling well.)

Quiton with Grandma and Grandpa Packer

It was a wonderful family trip, but we were glad to be home. Thanks to my parents for sticking it out with us in the car for so long and driving at night a lot so Quinton would sleep. Quinton picked up a few things on our trip too. He started playing peek-a-boo, waving bye-bye, and even climbed a whole bunch of stairs at grandma's. What a big boy! The day after we got back, Barry started his Master's program. He is liking it a lot so far and enjoys learning about counseling families. Quinton and I spend our days around the house, he cruises along the furniture and floor looking for stuff to put in his mouth and I chase after him.
 We did have another ultrasound and know for sure now that we are having a girl. Hooray! Only about three months left until she comes. Crazy! I'm just glad I have been feeling so good compared to last time.

Barry made an apple pie on Sunday with his mom's pie filling. It was scrumptious!

Jenks Brothers Hike 2008 - The Wind River Mountains

Barry explored the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming for his brothers hike this year.

The scenery was beautiful with the misty fog and jagged peaks. 

This awesome picture he took was even shown on the evening news.

It's a Girl!

I just thought I would post and let everyone know that we had our ultrasound today. They weren't completely sure, but it is most likely a GIRL!! We are very excited. She was keeping her legs pretty close together so we may end up being surprised with another boy, but I don't think so. I have felt a lot different this pregnancy (not as sick, actually) and I just have this motherly feeling that it is a girl. It will be fun for Quinton to have a little sister.
Quinton has been having a lot of fun lately because he learned how to pull himself up to stand. Now I have to watch him even closer so that he doesn't fall and conk his head. Barry's going on a hiking trip this weekend with his brothers and I am staying with my parents and sisters. Then the next weekend we are heading to Seattle and on up to Canada for a week. It should be a lot of fun!

Another Big Announcement...

 

We are expecting our second child! I am due January 2nd and, yes, it was planned. We are very excited for Quinton to have a younger brother or sister. 

Some other good news is that I finally got a medical transcription job. I have been working at it for about a week. I still have a lot to learn, but it will be good to be able to work part-time from home while Barry is still going to school.

We had a fun 4th of July with Barry's family in Blackfoot at the Jenks' reunion. We played horseshoes and basketball, saw some fireworks, ate good food, and Quinton got his first experience playing in some water outside. He really liked it! He slept really well for his first time camping, which made Mom and Dad very happy.

He is such a cutie when he is sleeping. He almost always leaves a pool of drool behind. 

You can see his 2 little bottom teeth in this picture and this past week has had 3 more coming in on top! The poor little guy woke up this morning with a bit of a cold as well, so hopefully he feels better soon.

One of Quinton's absolute favorite things to do now is brush his teeth. He usually cries when we take away his toothbrush!

Warming Up

It finally began to warm up (much to my dismay), but it has been raining quite a bit. Either way, we've been enjoying being out of school so far. We both graduated in May with our bachelor's degrees. Hooray! Barry does have more school left with his Master's and possible Doctorate programs in the future, but we're very happy to be moving on to the next phase of our lives. Barry is now a PSR worker at A to Z and he's getting the hang of working one on one with the kids rather than in groups. He starts full time this week. It's a good promotion for him and will teach him a lot.

Gage, Quinton, Elisha

On Memorial Day we got to see Jared, Amy and Gage as they stopped to visit Sarah and Josh in Rexburg. It was a lot of fun to see them and all the little boy cousins being crazy together.

Barry turned a quarter of a century old on the 17th! We had a lot of fun celebrating his 25th birthday in Rigby with family. Heather even made him a German chocolate cake (a first for her). We had fun playing bocce ball and going one on one against our spouses at tether ball. Of course Barry went fishing as well, but is still looking to get some good catches.

We were really excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Gardner last month. They came down all the way from Canada and not only did they meet Quinton for the first time, but Barry as well.

Quinton is growing so fast. He now has 1 1/2 teeth and can sit up when he's in the mood to do so. We went on our first outing to the park yesterday and it was sure a lot of fun. Quinton loves being outside.

Brrr

It is really cold today. We woke up to snow. Again. It's really not a surprise anymore, even though it's April.

For conference weekend we went to Oakley and spent some time with Barry's family. It was really good to see Bryant's, Nancy's, and Carmen's families as well as the regular Oakley crew. The trip was great and ended with a bang when Quinton's diaper leaked all over Grandma and Grandpa. He has good timing, that's for sure.

Quinton wrestling with Alec

A few days later we got to see Steve and Tammy and the kids when they stopped by for a day. It was standing room only to have everyone at our house for a while, but it was a lot of fun!

-Steve, Quinton, Grandma, Sophie, Mackayla-

Ben and Quinton

Barry's been trying his hand at fishing for the season, but still hasn't had too much luck. Hopefully some reservoirs thaw out soon for him. He still has fun enjoying the outdoors when he goes.

On Friday I was quite surprised when we went up to Rexburg and there was a party waiting for me at Shari's house to celebrate my birthday. It was really nice of them. I have the best family!

Barry made me a fabulous cake on my birthday.

A Family Update

Quinton is as cute as ever. He can now roll over, giggle, spit bubbles, suck on his thumb, and eat rice cereal! He loves playing with his toys and even has to fight Barry for them sometimes. We're still working on the sleeping through the night thing, but we are close to getting a full night's rest.

The good news of the semester: Barry got accepted into graduate school! So we'll definitely be in Pocatello for at least 2 1/2 more years. We're really excited to graduate and finally be done with school.

First Solids

We were all very excited for Quinton to try out something besides milk. Here he is trying out his new high chair.

He's ready!

Well, maybe.

So maybe it doesn't taste so good, but he got the hang of it!

Mostly he'd rather eat his thumb.

Quinton's Blessing

Quinton is doing really well. He is growing so fast! We had his blessing a few weeks ago and were really pleased at the turnout. My parents, Jeni, and Shari were able to come as well as Barry's parents, Michael, and Sarah along with quite a few of Barry's cousins. Grandma Packer made a cute cake for Quinton!

It's our last semester before we get our bachelor's degrees here at ISU. Barry is applying right now to the graduate program here, so we'll be in Pocatello for a couple more years. The nice thing about staying here is that we do have our own little house, a good ward, and a lot of great friends. I'm still adjusting to life as a new mom, but I'm loving it so much. Quinton is so adorable and his little smiles keep me going. He's just discovered his hands and keeps them in his mouth as much as possible. Barry is doing really well at A to Z Family Services and we're excited for May when he'll get promoted to a PSR worker when he gets to work with the kids one on one.