Gracie's 18 months!

Who doesn't want to see more pictures of the cutest baby ever?! O.K. So I may be a little biased but...I'm a proud mommy. So we had some free pictures coming from Kiddie Kandids and they had to be done before July 31, and Gracie was turning 18 months, so what other excuse did I need to get pictures right? Believe it or not she cried through the whole sitting, but we still ended up with some cute ones!


You have no idea (well some of you may) how hard it is to get an 18 month old to just hold the flower, don't look at it, don't eat it, don't smell it, don't throw it etc. But we finally snapped it really quick and ended up with this darling picture. (It's my favorite one!)



Then we decided looking at the flower was actually pretty darn cute! So...
When Gracie is having a bit of a tantrum,(I know it's impossible to even think of) I can usually get her to calm down by telling her to fold her arms and be reverent. Consequently, we ended up with these two pictures. She even decided to be extra cute in the last one. It's not the BEST picture ever but I couldn't resist how innocent and sweet she looks with her shoulders raised and that cute little impish grin!
AAAH! Love that girl!!

My introduction to the blogging world

O.K., O.K I am now officially a blogger. My friends have been nagging me for months to start a blog and I have been rebelling. I didn't have time, I didn't know how...I had every excuse in the book. Then, my sister Tracie started in on me and resistance was futile. So here it is...The Randall Blog. I will preemptively state that I am not responsible for how long it goes without updates, I'm still working on keeping a steady journal. Since this is so long overdue, I thought I'd start with 2008 in pictures. And since I'm certain noone wants to see me over and over, most of the pictures will be of our adorable daughter Gracie, with Monti and I mixed in here and there. Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is our favorite time of year, so I had to start here even though it's technically not part of 2008.
Gracie was literally the star of the show! She played the Star of Bethlehem in our family's nativity play.
Santa freaked her out a little, so mommy stayed close by to help out.
Gracie is not a morning person!! Christmas morning was no exception.
Later in the day, she crashed. She always like to snuggle and her good friend Maya is always happy to help!

Happy New Year!

Karaoke with daddy on New Year's Eve.
Banging pots to ring in the New Year!

Higher and Higher

Playing with daddy is one of Gracie's favorite things in the world!

Birthday Princess

Blowing out the candles on her first birthday cake.
She LOVED the presents!

Let them eat cake!

She started out clean...
...but with Gracie it never lasts long.

I think she enjoyed it!

Good buddies

Gracie loves to read to Maya.

So sick!

In early May Gracie got a really nasty case of the flu that lasted for about a week.
After losing about 4 lbs. and getting severely dehydrated, she was admitted to the hospital. She hated it! That makes 3 of us!

Doing chores

She's always such a big help with the laundry!

A sad month

Monti lost both of his grandparents on his dad's side within a month of each other. Gratefully we were able to make the trip to Monticello, UT for both funerals. They will be missed!

Summertime fun!

We love to go swimming at Auntie Tracie's house. The heat never seems to bother Gracie. She'd be outside all day long if I'd let her!