Leighton is growing up. He is...

Wearing Dad's clothes...

Watching football with Dad...

Making friends with his sister...

Fixing things around the house....

Baking...

Jogging...

Talking on the phone...

Using my debit card...

Using the potty...

Learning how to use my make-up.

And to think that he is not even two yet...

My first tag- Crazy 8's

RULES1. Post rules on your Blog
2. Answer the six "8" items
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 FAVORITE SHOWS
Sadly, it's true. We don't have cable or an antenna, and I don't know when I would watch TV anyway. So I don't have one favorite show. Pathetic and boring, I know.

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Took the kids to a park without throwing up (Last trip I found out that I had a stomach virus by vomiting at the playground. Fun fun.)
2.Stalked the recycling truck with Leighton (He loves big trucks so each Tuesday and Friday we watch the garbage trucks come.)
3. Tried to contact a long lost friend
4. Decided I must get my haircut immediately because I haven't had a haircut since we moved here in July (which will happen this evening.)
5. Packed our first box for our (hopefully last) move in December!!!
6. Scheduled a time for us to sign our closing papers for our house.
7. Scheduled a doctor's appointment for Jonathan (He has a monster cough/cold)
8. Spent time with my wonderful husband, though it wasn't much because he was just taking a sick day from work and he slept most of the day.

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO (Maybe some of these should be on my wishlist)
1. Family coming for Christmas
2. Leighton being potty-trained
3. Losing weight
4. Having 2 cars
5. Feeling "in control" with 2 children
6. Being prepared and organized
7. Not moving for a few years
8. Continual weather with highs below 80 degrees (Nope, not here yet)

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS (I wish I had cheaper taste.)
1.Cheesecake Factory
2. Chili's
3. P.F. Chang's
4. La Cabana
5. Tucanos
6. Shoots
7. Outback
8. Macaroni Grill

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
1. A photography book or class
2. A great family picture or two
3. A date night without the kids
4. Some clothes, especially some cute long shorts
5. A gluten-free cake on my birthday or any day
6. A vacation to see the Pacific for the first time
7. Patience in every circumstance
8. To live up to the expectations I have for myself


8 PEOPLE TO TAG- If you don't feel up to it, you won't hurt my feelings. Just thought it was fun.
1. Shayla
2. Sarah F
3. Deanna
4. Ane
5. Shannyn
6. Jen
7.Sarah R
8.Jacque

Savannah is 6 months!

Amazingly, six months have passed since we became parents to our sweet little Savannah. A lot has happened since then but it feels like we are just getting to know her. She is very patient with us as we try to take care of our two little ones under 2. Basically, Leighton gets most of the attention these days, but Savannah doesn't complain. She is now rolling for a method of transportation. She loves toys more than any baby I've ever seen. She will be content for hours with a toy as long as she doesn't drop it. She loves shoes too. It is extremely gross, but no matter how far away our shoes are, if they are in the same room, she will get them and try to chew on them. She is almost eighteen pounds now, which makes her very heavy in her baby carrier. Very soon we will need to get her a new carseat. She just started eating baby cereal and is loving it. Above are a few pictures of her first real meal.

Halloween

Well, Halloween was fun. I got some cheap costumes off ebay. Savannah was a giraffe and Leighton was a zebra. Unfortunately, even with nothing on under the costumes, the kids were too hot to wear them to our ward Halloween party. But Halloween was a bit cooler and we were able to go trick-or-treating. This was Leighton's first real experience with it, and we'll just say that "candy" is more recently a major word in his vocabulary. According to Jonathan, Leighton got an intense sweet tooth from me. Well, it was fun anyway.

Find some really cute tutus at thenaulutribe.blogspot.com.

No, we haven't disappeared into the desert of AZ...

...I am just not very good at keeping up with blogging.

The past twenty-three years of my life have been constant change. I first moved at 5 days old, and Jonathan and I are now preparing for our 4th move in our short three years of marriage. I couldn't tell you how many times I moved in between. Beyond just moving, life is busier everyday. I love the following quote because I am one of those people that keeps believing that someday things will slow down, life won't be as busy, though it never does.

"Time never stands still; it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes.
This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now." President Thomas S. Monson-General Conference October 2008

I am trying to find joy in the journey though I feel like I never get everything done, including keeping up with blogging.

So here is the latest news on the Raders...

We just made an offer on a house in Queen Creek, Arizona. Here is a picture, though it isn't a very good one. We should hear back about it sometime this week. We have been blessed to come to one of the only areas where we could buy a home right now. We'll see how it goes. We hope to be moved before Christmas.

We absolutely love Arizona; don't get me wrong. But being from the Appalachian mountains, I generally use the changing of temperatures and leaves to distinguish the change of the seasons. Yes, it is still pretty warm here, but who can say that they can wear shorts the week of Halloween and feel comfortable. It has been hard to get into fall festivities though. To try to improve the situation, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch on Friday night. It was fun, but my pictures aren't great. Jonathan and I were too busy trading off babies to have patience with good pictures.

And here are a few other cute pictures to catch up...

The summer continued...

(Thanks to all those who posted comments on my last and first post. It gives me encouragement to keep this up.) And I apologize in advance for all the pictures. I just have so many to choose from.

Well, the waiting continued. We thought we would know where Jonathan would be teaching seminary by May 20th at his New Personnel Orientation. No such luck. But at that point we were just happy to be hired.

So around the 5th of June we recieved the call and were told that we would be in the Phoenix Valley area in Mesa or Gilbert, Arizona. We were elated, though we were sad to leave Provo, my job, and all our friends there. I immediately thought of Brother Ringer, the HR rep, asking us in our interview if we could handle the heat of Arizona. Maybe he knew something we didn't.

We traveled down to Arizona to find a place to live. This happened to be Jonathan's first trip to Arizona. Because we didn't know where Jonathan would be teaching yet since there are many seminaries in this area, we decided to rent for a while. We decided on a townhome community in Mesa in a central location. He is now teaching at Red Mountain High School Seminary which is less than four miles away. We are planning on buying a house in Queen Creek, AZ, a smaller outlying town, in December. We decided that we are extremely blessed to be placed in this area. We really like Arizona even though it is so hot. While in Utah in June it snowed on the mountains. Then we came here to visit that same month it was 113 degrees. Thank goodness for AC.

Well, our last big hurrah in Provo was the 4th of July. Here are a few pictures.

Leighton was scared to death of the fireworks. He kept burying his head into our chests as we held him. But at the end he got really excited and clapped his hands. I love the 4th, the wearing of patriotic colors, the flag-waving, the parades, and especially the fireworks.

Right before we left we celebrated my sister's 18th birthday because we were moving away from her 10 days before. We made Blair a turtle cheesecake, a family favorite. Leighton was covered in caramel. Leighton misses his "Aunt Bear" very much. He often pretends that he is talking to her on the phone.

The kids are growing fast. Here are a few pictures of them. Savannah is rolling over and loves to "talk" to us. She definetely knows when she doesn't recognize someone. She happens to be one of the most relaxed children I have ever seen. She is happy and loving and especially loves her brother. Leighton now knows his colors, the concept of "2", and is talking in sentences. He is full of energy, and I find that my hands are as full as ever. And he is very sweet. He is learning to pray and he loves to have group hugs. We live somewhat near the Phoenix airport, and we always see planes going in and out. He can spot them so far away. He is pure boy. He loves planes, bulldozers, trucks, and buses.

I love this picture. Leighton is "reading" his little Book of Mormon to Savannah. She looks to be thinking hard about it.