Changed my blog address...

Well, apparently I have used up all of my free space on this blog, and since I am too cheap to pay a monthly fee for more storage, I have changed my blog address to:

http://samandmelissabates1.blogspot.com/

(same address, just with a "1" at the end).

I figure this will not only save money, but if I somehow accidentally erase a bunch of pictures, the last 4 years of pictures will still be right here on this old blog :)

Sorry if it inconveniences you to switch my address,
*Melissa

Anything For a Banana (and some suhweeet dance moves)

Every morning when Jenna wakes up in the morning, she immediately leads me (by pointing and grunting) straight to the banana bowl. This girl LOVES her bananas. She begs for them all throughout the day and will do just about anything for one. 

Happy Halloween!

Sam made our Halloween a hit, creating this "Strong Baby" costume. We trick or treated through Pearlridge Mall (which looks empty here, but it was packed - hundreds and hundreds of people), and Jenna had people cracking up the whole night. One of the best parts of Halloween was this morning, when we laid the fake legs on the ground out the door way of the storage room in Sam's office, making it look like there was a dead body when his secretary showed up for work. We were hiding behind the door and witnessed her freak out when she arrived. 

I had a zipper glued to my face that made it look like I was an alien in disguise, but with the humidity my face paint was almost dripping off.

We stopped every few feet for people asking to take a picture. Poor Jenna just wanted to be in bed, she was yawning the whole night :)  

I Love Daddy

Jenna Walks!

A Few Favorites

No matter where Jenna goes, she is almost always carrying along something. It is always changing, but she usually picks something to carry and hangs onto it for a few hours, whether it be a stuffed animal, a leaf at the park, a spoon, her blankie, or a post it note. 

Jenna loves mirrors. Lately she has been talking to herself plenty in front of them.

She loves pushing this little car around the house. It plays barbie music, so she likes to dance (shake her bum) while she pushes.

Books are her all time favorite. She spends a lot of her time having me read to her or just looking through them carefully. I love how when I sit down next to her to read, she comes over and plops herself on my lap and hands me a book to read to her. 

Sleeping

Every night before Sam and I go to bed, we sneak in Jenna's room to get one last peek at our little girl. Lately I have been so overwhelmed with the feeling that time is flying by. Every night she takes up more and more of her crib. Jenna is a living testimony to me that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me, and knows what is best for me. I am so grateful for He trusted Sam and I to raise this sweet girl.    

Lately...

Our little baby bird :) A beautiful Sunday picnic at the temple. 

Jenna gets aggressive if you hold back fruit or bread from her. She didn't start eating food until 10 months old, but once she started, it didn't take long to realize what she had been missing out on.

Jenna loves hearing Sam play the ukulele. When he is it work she will stand under the shelf where we keep the ukulele, pointing at it, trying to talk me into taking it down for her. 

Jenna loves being around other kids. Here she saw some behind the rocks in a water cave, and was squealing over and over again, trying to get their attention.

One year old

 Our little girl turned one. That is so crazy to me, to think a whole year has gone by.  Yet at the same time, it is just as crazy to think that she has only been with us for one year.  Life has never been so good as it is with little Jenna! We love her so much.

She loves: playing on the playground, cuddling in bed in the morning, mangoes and raspberries, swimming in the ocean, sticking her fingers in our mouth, going up and down stairs, playing in the bath tub, being outside, her pacifier, bread, looking in the mirror, being chased, reading books, dogs and birds, eating sand, visiting Dad at work, and helping Mom cook. 

Nana and Papa came to visit for her birthday. We started out early with raspberries for breakfast (her favorite) and presents. She got stacking toys and clothes from Nana and Papa, skirts and a dancing CD from Grandma and Grandpa, a stuffed whale and dolphin from Aunt Ashley, the cutest dress ever from Aunt Brooke, and hand puppets from Mom and Dad. 

Then we spent the afternoon doing what Jenna loves most - swimming in the ocean. It rained almost all day, but as long as we were in the water we weren't too cold.    

We had Impossible's Pizza for dinner and Jenna went to town on the crusts. If Sam even tried to touch her crust she would freak. 

We ended the night with birthday cake. Jenna was so cute when we sang to her. She looked around from person to person, and when she realized we were all singing to her she got the biggest grin on the face. I was certain she would love eating cake for the first time, but even when Sam tried putting it right in her mouth she wanted nothing to do with it. She just played in the frosting for a bit and then she was done.

What a wonderful year it has been! We love you, Jenna.  

Jenna loves swimming...

... almost as much as she loves eating sand. It worried me the first time she shoved a handful in, but she's being eating sand in large amounts for about 6 months now and is doing just fine.

Utah!

One of the best parts of the whole trip was getting to stop in Utah on the way over for a few days. We spent 2 days in Ogden with our sweet friends that we have missed so much. It was a blast, and so good to see everyone again. 

We met up with Dave and Melissa and Rachel and Richard at Cafe Rio, and then headed to the park to meet up with everyone else for some BBQ. There was a fun splash pad and playground for all the kids. It was neat to see everyone with their little kids, because for the first few years there wasn't a single one of us who were parents. We had such a good time catching up and it felt as if we had never left. Thanks to Rachel and Peggy for organizing it all.

We spent the night at Rachel and Richard's new house. We stayed up late talking and eating ice cream, and could have hung out all night if we weren't so jet lagged. The next morning and went to church the next day with Dave and Melissa. Dave and Sam have really matured over the past couple of years. They spent sacrament meeting drawing dragons with laser eyes and helicopters bombing each other. They would pass the paper back and forth, making attacks on each others' drawings. 

Sunday afternoon we had a picnic at Dave and Melissa's house. Their backyard is a dream. Jenna loved the swing, and we loved getting more talking and laughing in with our best friends.

Sunday afternoon we drove down to Provo and spent two days with Sam's parents and Matt and Jill's family. Matt and Jill's kids are so sweet and say the funniest things. We had such a good time getting to see them and had fun swimming, bowling, and playing miniature golf.  

Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald (Final Swiss post!)

We started out the day taking the train the Lauterbrunnen, the little town with waterfalls in every direction. 

Sheep scattered the hillside - picture perfect :)

In addition to the waterfalls, the town is charming. Wooden homes speckled across the hillside and red flowers everywhere.

After walking around town for a bit we hiked up behind one of the biggest waterfalls. 

After lunch we headed up to the resort town of Murren, where the view was amazing. 

We then hiked an hour down to a little town called Gimmelwald. I head read a lot about this town and it intrigued me. The town only has about 400 residents and they are almost all related. The town is on a very, very steep hillside, that they somehow farm alfalfa on during the summer months. 

We stopped at a little family-run (of course, everyone was family here) restaurant for an apple torte, one of the best desserts we've ever had.

What a view - right against the mountains. I loved this little town.

...and ended the day having fun on an AWESOME slide before heading back home via cable car and train. This slide was the best - you went super fast and it shot you out at the end.