Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went down to Arizona to visit my mom's extended family. We had a HUGE dinner that everyone contributed to at my aunt Lol's; she has a beautiful spacious house in Globe, AZ where we all gather for these big events. Thanks Lol for a great Thanksgiving!

This is my beautiful cousin Summer that just turned 16. We had a "Leonard Ladies" party on Thursday night where we discussed the boys in Summer life, rules of dating, driving, etc., etc. So fun.
Here are all of the ladies of the Leonard family wearing their funky headbands that I made for them. (pattern is from Heather Bailey--so cute and easy!)

I forgot my camera on our trip to Tucson where we took a FIVE generation picture from Hazel up to her great-great grandmother. So I will post those pics as soon as I get them from my mom!

New Chew Toys

So, our lives pretty much revolve around this cute little girl. She started sucking on her toes quite a while ago. I noticed that her socks and shoes were often WET and then realized what was going on. Welp, they're attached and always close by, so I don't mind!

Some cute pics with Dad

Time for another update! I'm starting back in November...these are just some cute shots I got with Hazel and David. When she starts to get tired, she will sometimes grab your face (if it's close to hers) and rub her nose and forehead up against yours. I think that's what she's doing in this shot. It's cute, but sometimes those little nails can really dig in!
I just love the expression on Hazel's face here.

David's job is going really well. He and his father are both commercial real estate brokers for NAI Utah and are focusing on the Ogden area. They say that in commercial real estate it usually takes about two years for you to make money, but they have been coming home every day with new contacts, new listings, and great deals going on. The best part about it is that David absolutely LOVES his job and has so much fun doing it. I'm so proud of him!

She's sitting up...almost

Hazel is now rolling over all the time from her belly to her back. She holds her upper body up pretty well and my neighbor let me borrow this little seat for babies (I forget what they're called) and they're amazing! Hazel sat up in it just fine and hung out on the washer while I did dishes. What a great invention. (so you get a sneak peak at my kitchen that we're painting--well you can see the tape on the windows at least. I'm not showing anything until we've made more progress!)

Happy Halloween!

The Field Mouse, and the Fairy
Bradley as a mime!
And here's Little Bunny Foo Foo
By this point, her little nose was almost rubbed off
I don't know if she was mad that we were leaving or if it was her hat that was wrinkling her brow.

Happy Halloween to all! This Halloween has been the best we've had in a long time just because we got to dress Hazel up as a little bunny and she's not old enough yet to protest. So, this year Hazel was Little Bunny Foo Foo, David was a field mouse, and I was the fairy (don't you remember Little Bunny Foo Foo hopping through the forest? My mom has me singing it on tape when I was four years old). Our little bunny lasted for about 30 minutes until she rubbed her nose off and passed out in her car seat. She woke up as we left and gave us some cute smiles. Some of the pics are from the Phipps family party, and the rest (with Hazel dressed up) are from our ward party.

It's fall and it's so beautiful! I love this weather and happy time of year.

Janelle

The joy of our lives

Hazel turned four months old on October 1st! She can now hold her head up very well when she's on her tummy, and today she rolled over onto her back for the first time! She smiles, giggles, whines, and is starting to reach for her toys. I love her more than words. That's the update!

The Phipps

A Trip to L.A.

Grandpa George, Grandma Carmen, Dad, Hazel and Janelle

I love this lady!!

On the 30th of September, my great uncle Raiford passed away after 98 years of life. He was a great man and leader of the Dorsey family. It's interesting, he was the oldest of the Dorsey children (I believe seven survived out of thirteen) and the only one still living besides my grandfather, George, who is the youngest! Raiford helped build the city of Montrose, CA as the owner of "Dorsey's" a popular department store years ago. He had many life-long friends who attended the funeral held on Thursday, including the man who was the voice of Donald Duck for twenty years! I was lucky enough to be there and celebrate Raifords long and wonderful life.

It was also a great chance for Hazel to meet her great grandparents on the Dorsey side: George and Carmen. She warmed up to Grandma right away (who wouldn't?) who held her often while I tried to capture each moment and movement in a picture. We walked to dinner at a nearby restaurant, played a mean game of hearts, and enjoyed our memories of Raiford. It was a great trip.

Martin's Cove

Time to catch up! We've slipped behind in our family updates. In the middle of September, David received a new calling: he was called to be our stake's Trek Boss for the youth's trek at Martin's Cove next summer! I couldn't think of a more perfect calling for my husband. He already works with the youth of our ward as their Sunday School teacher (we have so few youth that they are all combined into one class) and now he gets to plan one of the most spiritual and FUN events that the youth get to participate in next year. We are thrilled for this great opportunity and immense responsibility.

So, he was called on a wednesday and we were encouraged to attend a training seminar at Martin's Cove that weekend! So we packed our clothes and sleeping bags and headed off to Wyoming for our first real "trek" and camping trip with Hazel. Needless to say, it was an testimony-building experience. To walk where the Martin handcart company walked; where they lost so much and yet we were there to gain so much from that event. What a legacy of faith they have left for us!

Everyone kept asking us if Hazel was a "real baby." That totally confused me until someone told me that a lot of people will come to Martin's Cove and re-enact the trek with baby dolls, etc. That made more sense. Yes, she is real and she did great. David had her in our little "baby pack" on his chest the entire walk. I was the only one who really struggled because of the outhouses that lined the walk. Anyone who really knows me knows that I'd rather sprain my ankle than enter an outhouse. Seeing how that will be my only option then entire week at trek next summer, I'd better start praying now for a timely sprain, or some kind of plumbing miracle to occur at Martin's Cove providing flushing toilets by August!

We had an amazing trip and recommend it to everyone.

We walked most of the way with the Phillips from our stake (here's a great shot from the back!)

The many faces of Hazel Jayne

This is her "sass" coming out.

Just chillin'...
A smile...
And a sweet pose for the camera.

Boy do we have our hands full.

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was full of hard work for us! We decided to take advantage of the holiday and start painting our kitchen. I'll post before and after pics once we're done. I must say, however, that it already looks so much better! Our kitchen was painted a muddy brown color with stenciled leaves all over the window frames, doorways, and cabinets (and you should have seen the curtains they left...let's just say that they made you want to bring your gun and go hunting). Sadly, we can't paint the cabinets yet because we have to strip them first. They have been painted over so many times that several of the doors won't close or open. Ahh, the joys of living in a good old "fixer-upper" house! We have primed everything, so the whole room is bright white, and it feels so much brighter. We haven't picked our wall color quite yet, but as I said before, pictures will come!

We did sneak away on Saturday for a trip to the park (in the picture). We thought it might be cool to walk down to the ducks and geese and feed them some bread with Hazel, but she ended up falling asleep, so David and I fed them and still had a good time. Beautiful weather!

Love, the Phipps

Hiking in Ogden

Last weekend we decided to go hiking as a family up in the Ogden area with David's family. Hazel enjoyed a comfy ride with her dad and slept the whole trip.

Finally, we caught a smile!!

Somehow every time we whip out the camera when Hazel is smiling, she stops! So here are a few that we caught on film. She's so stinkin' cute. (Is it bad that every entry is about her???)

These are from the second and final day of graduation.

Janelle is a College Graduate!

Janelle and her future career

Hello family and friends, we have some fun updates today. First of all, Janelle graduated from Brigham Young University on August 17th! It was an exciting day as we all gathered together at the Marriott Center for the special event. She received her BA in English amongst over 2,000 other graduates. The best part is when people ask her what she will do now... How great it is to now that her full time job is simply being with her daughter (and that is definitely full time). Well, and start working on that best-selling novel she'll write one day...

A Very Special Day

On August 5 we blessed our sweet baby girl. My aunt and uncle, Becky and Derek were in town for the week with their eight kids as well as our dear friends, the Petts, who were visiting from Georgia. My mom made Hazel's dress and Vicki (David's mother) embroidered an "H" on the front of it. She looked like an angel and slept through most of the day!

Hazel's First Movie: Harry Potter IV

Last month we saw the fourth Harry Potter movie with both of our families, including my Dad who was in town from Oregon. We are all big fans, thus the nerdy glasses that we sported the ENTIRE movie. We even had a pair for Hazel who did very well during the entire movie (which was super loud). It was a great day.

Fourth of July

We've been a little behind on our updates! For the 4th of July, we visited our "second home" at David's parents in Liberty, Utah. Liberty is in the Ogden Valley and on the 4th they hold the Liberty Days with fun events such as the greased pig contest, rooster contest, softball, barbeque, etc. It was a blast, especially since it was our first time taking Hazel out to such a public event. She did great! We have pictures of her in a 4th of July headband made by her Gram (She got a little fussy towards the end of pictures!)

Hazel's Blessing

We are happy to announce the blessing of Hazel Jayne Phipps on August 5, 2007. All who can make it are invited to come and share this exciting event with us at the Sugar House Stake Center at 1621 S 110 E, Salt Lake City at 1pm. We are so privileged to have such a beautiful and healthy little girl.

Love,

David and Janelle Phipps