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Aren't these the cutest leggings ever???





Besides wanting to show everyone those cute leggings (courtesy of my Auntie Denise), I decided maybe I should update what is going on in our lives. So here it is, an update on the members in the Payne household...

Casey (AKA Daddy, Dada, and Case)
- Working over 40 hours a week at Cole Chevrolet
- Taking 16 credits of Business classes at ISU
- Comes home at night and tries to study... unfortunately he usually doesn't get to start that until after 9:00 when the little princess (AKA Olivia) goes to bed.
- Entertains/plays with/chases around the little princess
- Celebrated 3 wonderful years of marriage to his wife on September 8th
- Got a beautiful new dining room table for his anniversary and dinner at Chili's
- The little extra time he has, he tries to make visits to people in the ward for his calling.
- As you can see, my poor husband runs, runs, runs, all day. He works so hard but still makes time to have fun and be a great daddy and husband.

Kristi (AKA Mommy, Mama, and Kris)
- Working only about 15 hours a week at Syringa Wireless
- Only taking 9 credits of education classes at ISU (which I LOVE...not ISU, just my classes)
- Chases/cleans up/entertains/bathes/plays with/etc the all ready named princess the majority of my days.
- LOVES that I get to chase/clean up/entertain/bathe/play with/etc the all ready named princess the majority of my days!
- Celebrated 3 wonderful years of marriage to my husband on September 8th
- Got a beautiful new dining room table for my anniversary and dinner at Chili's (can you tell we did joint gifts?)
- Looking forward to student teaching in the Spring and going to find out where I get to go in about 6 weeks!


Little princess (AKA Olivia, Liv, Livie, Olive Oil, Willis, and Lou Lou)
- Is getting TOO big TOO fast
- Now has 4 teeth (3 on bottom and 1 on top) and about 4 that are going to be making their debut very soon.
- Does not walk but RUNS every where (she gets this from her dad, I guess when he was little he ran every where too)
- Is still silly and goofy and already has a great sense of humor
- Says many words including hi, hello, Dad, Mom, Lou Lou, blue, yellow, red, Angel, Dex, flower, hot, cheese, teeth, eyes, and a couple of others that are not completely clear but we know what she is trying to say
- Still loves her books and reads them all day
- Can get herself up and down Grandma's couch... thank goodness ours is still a little too tall for her
- Knows what her head, toes, eyes, and tongue are
- Still gets babysat by Grandpa Randy while Mom is in class on Mondays and by Grandma Terri when Mom is at work.
- Climbs the stairs at church and then bangs on the door to the Nursery... man, I can't wait until she is 18 months!!
- Still has her Mommy, Daddy, Grandparents, Aunt, and Uncle wrapped around her little finger!!!



Livie "helping" Grandpa with his pontoon boat

Family Trip to Park City

We decided to take a family trip before school started so we decided to take a quick trip down to Park City. I LOVE Park City so I was so excited to go. This was actually our first family trip with Livie and we had so much fun. We stayed in some condos that were right by the outlet malls. They were a little ways away from the stuff in Park City but they were pretty nice so we didn't mind too much.

Picture of our little condo. The bedroom and bath were off to the left. And it had a king bed!! We never thought we would like a king but I think that is something we could get used to!!



Our balcony... precious daddy daughter moment :) The view from the balcony was great. There wasn't anything behind us and it was a clear shot of the Olympic park ski jumps. On Saturdays they do demos on the jumps... too bad we went Wednesday through Friday so we didn't get to see any.





For some reason, Olivia really liked this little water floaty thing. She would pull it all around and then sit in it with her books and blankie.




We went on the alpine slide while we were there. Casey had done it before but it was my first time. I think I should have liked it more... I guess I am kind of a pansy. I just really hate chair lifts so I think I was still freaked out from that while I was going down the slide. Casey had a lot of fun though!! We had to take turns since Livie couldn't go. Then we took Livie on the merry-go-round. She didn't know what to think about it but towards the end I think she was having fun.







Family picture. We don't get many of these... even if they are self-portrait style.





We went swimming each night. Olivia seemed to really like the water.









Well that was our trip. It wasn't too long but still great to get away and we had a lot of fun. School starts Tuesday so there goes the bulk of our time. Casey is taking 16 credits and still working full time at Cole Chevrolet so he will be extra busy. I only have 9 credits so it won't be too bad. Livie is now running around our house like a crazy lady, I knew she would pick up the walking thing like a champ!!!

Happy Birthday Livie!!

Well it is official, my little baby is now 1. Her birthday was Monday, July, 20th. I cannot believe it has been a entire year. She is getting so big, and quite the little personality. She is a funny little thing!! We started Livie's big day doing something she loves, weeding the garden and playing in the mud. These first two pictures are actually from about a week ago but she looked about the same on her birthday.



After a nice bath, Livie got to go on a cowgirl ride in the hamper. Her daddy is so good to drag her and Dexter around!!

We had a birthday party for Livie a little later that evening. It was a lot of fun, a lot of our family was able to come. My parents were kind enough to let us have it over there.

Livie and her grandma at her birthday party.


Livie opening her presents. She got a couple of stuffed animals that she LOVES. If you know my daughter, you know she is a sucker of soft things and these stuffed animals are so soft, she just kept hugging and hugging them. It was pretty cute.



This was the toy Liv got from Mommy and Daddy. It changes so you can push it around or you can make it into a little toy that you can ride. She loves pushing things around and she loves the toy because of that. I guess I didn't get any pictures of her pushing it. Oh well, I got some cute video.


Abby and Livie trying out Liv's new toys. Olivia would let Abby ride of the little worm but if someone put Abby on the lion, WATCH OUT!! She did not like that too much.


Doesn't she look so cute with her little backpack on??


Miss Birthday girl's cake. She LOVES puppies so I decided to make her a cute little puppy cake. My mom, sister-in-law KJ, and I decorated it and it was a lot of fun. I think it turned out pretty cute!!


We really tried working on having her blow out her own candle but whenever we practiced, she would just try to grab the flame. So Mommy ended up blowing it out...oh well, maybe next year.


Patiently waiting for her cupcake.





So there you go, a nice recap of her first birthday. I was kind of sad she is one... I seriously almost cried three or four times because of it. She is just so big. But she is also so fun. I always think no way, she can't be one, I just had her and then I think... have we really only had her a year?? I swear she has been with us for forever!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!!!

Catch up

It seems like I have not blogged in awhile. Things are pretty much the same here. Casey took his final for summer school on Monday so that is nice to be done with. And he was pretty excited because today his birthday and father's day present finally came...



...we got him a laptop!! He has been complaining about his for awhile now so I broke down and got him one. It worked out well that I could combine father's day and birthday (his birthday was the 23rd). Of course I could not buy the right one so I just gave him the money so he HAD to buy one. Who knew shopping for a laptop could be so much fun for somebody?? He was like a little boy in a candy shop looking at all those laptops!!

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I took Livie to the zoo. I had not been to the Pocatello zoo for so long, and I was kind of surprised, it was kind of nice. Yes, the animals are are from around here but it was still fun. I thought Liv would be so excited to see all the animals because she is a HUGE dog/horse/cat/any other animal fan, but she could have cared less. The two animals that sparked some interest for her was the mountain goats and the bears. She was really waving at the bears, it was pretty cute. Same with the big slide at the zoo, I thought she would really like it but, eh...as you can see.




Before we went to the zoo, we had a little picnic at Ross Park. My dad was able to come down from his office to join us. Of course, he had to take his little 'Olive Oil' to the swings. She loves her grandparents. And I think they kinda like her too!



And I had to put this picture on, too. A guy from Casey's work asked if we wanted this pony because his kids had outgrown it. Heck YES we wanted it!! So now we have this cute pony sitting in our living room and our little cowgirl absolutely loves it! Every morning she now says hi to Dexter first (of course, she loves that dog, he gets more loves and kisses than me) and then says hi to the pony. And you gotta love the hat, right? That was something she got a couple months ago when she happened to stop into Vickers Western with her Grandma and Grandpa Thompson ("she had to have it Kris...she wanted that hat and it looked so cute we had to get it!"). Anyways, it makes a good picture.



Olivia is now walking a bit, if we make her. She can walk across the room if we stand her up and tell her to walk but otherwise she still likes to get around with her awkward crawl. So I am sure pretty soon she will be running laps around our house. She is also talking a bit, she says uh-oh, hi, dad, Dexs (for Dexter, comes out Dek), and everyonce in awhile mom. And we have a pretty important date coming up...our little Olivia will be turning ONE on the 20th!! CRAZY!! I cannot believe it.

As for me, I have about 3 weeks left working for Clear Talk. They are merging with Syringa Wireless so as of July 25th, I will be working for them. Only one other person from my Pocatello store will be working with me at Syringa so it will be interesting. Kinda weird, hopefully good though. Well, that sums us up at the moment...Happy 4th of July everyone!!

This makes me happy

• listening to the rain against the roof

• watching my daughter, when she doesn't know I am watching, looking through her books

• the sound of my daughter's sweet laughter

• a wonderful husband that loves his family more than anything and is a wonderful daddy
  

• when my little puppy comes and snuggles against me

• wonderful parents that have always supported me and are amazing grandparents
  

• serving in my ward's Primary

• that I only have a year left of school

• that Casey only has a year left of school

• when Livie will crawl over to me just to sit on my lap or give me a love

• watching Olivia and Dexter play together

• that veggies are growing in our garden

• that the downstairs bathroom will be done soon
  

• knowing that I have an eternal family