San Francisco for the 4th of July!!!

For the 4th of July we went up to San Francisco to celebrate. We had such a fun time driving around the city and seeing all the sights. We drove through union square, chinatown, and finally found somewhere to park by Fisherman's Wharf and pier 39. It was crazy busy because fireworks in all the surrounding cities had been canceled so EVERYONE was in San Francisco it seemed. Funny thing is, when I picture going to fireworks, I picture it being hot. So Mckell and I dressed cool for the occasion against Courtland's warning and had to end up finding warmer clothing. It was pretty cold and kind of a funny sight I thought seeing people dressed in boots, scarves, gloves, coats, all wrapped in blankets to watch the fireworks.

We went on a boat ride- Mckell was clapping, she thought it was pretty fun.

San Francisco in the background

Snuggling with daddy, getting a bit chilli

Going under the golden gate bridge

We went around the famous alcatraz jail

At the beach- funny thing about California, everyone always talks about the beach life... but the water is freezing! So when CAN you go to the beach and swim??? It's July?

Of course we had to go to Ghirardelli Square- delicious!

Out on pier 39, sea-lions

Snuggling in the cold, waiting for the fireworks to begin

Mckell loved the fireworks- she was mesmerized the entire time and would clap every once in a while- so cute!

Still can't really see a distinct color to Mckell's eyes?

Mckell turned 9 months... a bit ago

Mckell turned 9 months old June 15th and here are her stats from the doctors:

weight 16.7lbs 9.69%

lenght 27.75" 53.26%

head 16.53" 34.96%

The doctor said she was doing great and right on track!

I really can't believe how fast time flies by with this little one. She's already changed and grown so much. I can see her fun personality coming out more and more everyday and I just love it. As far as babies go, I truly have been blessed with this angel, literally! She is just about the easiest baby- as I am told often. She's been sleeping through the night since she was a couple weeks old, never spits up (can count on one hand how many times), self entertained herself while Courtland and I had a really hard semester, hardly cries or fusses, has only had one set of ear infections and pink eye (probably due to travel), and is just a happy girl.

She started army crawling at about 7 months old and now speed army crawls. She can get up on all four, but I'm thinking she's going to skip the whole crawling thing because she's content army crawling. She's pulling herself up to things and is getting pretty stable on her little legs. She's definitely in the busy stage and is into EVERYTHING so I have to keep a close eye on her. Just the other day I found the remnants of a ladybug in her mouth, YUM! She's been such a little trooper this summer, us dragging her all over the place. We just love our baby girl so much and can't get enough of her!

trying to get into the cookies

I love this face she does- she gets it from me! haha

Swimming at grandma Critchlows

crawling and climbing onto everything

grandpa Rabe stepping on her making her giggle

Mckell's first word was mamma- of course! ha I've been coaching her since she was born practically! She still isn't quite saying dada but I think it will be soon. She loves clapping her little hands and is starting to give high fives. She has had one bottom tooth for a couple weeks now, but it is only half way out with no signs of any other teeth. She LOVES when you read her stories and she insists on turning the pages. She has also just started waving to people and is very friendly if you smile at her. Mckell HATES mean tones or if you raise your voice around her, so when watching exciting sports games, we have to keep the excitement down! ha

Strangers always comment about how happy she is and ask if she's always that good- answer YES. They always comment about her eyebrows and eyes (I've never noticed a baby's eyebrows but apparently a lot of people look at them and Mckell has good ones?). I'm still not positive what color to call her eyes, they are just super dark. Most days they look really dark brown with a dark blue ring around the outside. And another thing people say is how expressive she is, I don't have anything else to compare to so it's fun to hear what other people think and notice about your child.

Anyway, sorry for the Mckell overload info- just jotting down my thoughts for the books!

what happens when grandpa 'papa' Rabe watches Mckell...

He gives her whatever she wants, lets her make messes, and waits for mama to come clean up afterwords...

My dad gave Mckell some licorice and she went to town with it as you can see!

Thanks Dad! Mckell definitely needed a tub after. (oh and love my mom in the background just laughing it up!) We all had a good laugh.

Bowling with the Astill's

Mckell and I went bowling and to lunch with Courtland's family (Courtland was already in San Jose). We had a lot of fun, and they are sure cute with Mckell. Thanks Astill family!

Prepare for the 7 or so post update, finally caught back up

Well Mckell and I are back in Utah, at my parent's for a few days, before we continue on to San Jose, California. Courtland drove out Sunday to our temporary apartment for 8 weeks while he's doing an internship with PriceWaterhouseCooper.

Mckell and I are flying out this Wednesday, June 23 to San Jose. Then we will be flying back to Utah on July 10th and Mckell gets to go stay with Grandma and Grandpa Astill for part of the time while I go to Lake Powell with my family. We will be flying back to San Jose July 22th to spend a little more time with daddy, and back again to Utah on August 5th (partly because my mom got us 3 row tickets to JOSH TURNER). Daddy will drive back to Utah on the 14th and we'll move back down to Provo to get ready for school to start back up on the 30th. Can you say crazy, busy, super fun packed summer! Anyway all the dates are now official so friends and family can know when and where we'll be so we can plan some get togethers.

the drive home from Tennessee

We drove all day Wednesday, stopped at a hotel for a few hours, and continued on Thursday. In the middle of nowhere Missiouri, we popped a tire and had to find a tire shop. Surprisingly, they didn't way over price the new tires (we ended up needing 2 tires) and a few hours later we were back on the road.

Wrapping up our Tennessee adventure!

Out at the rope swing, just before Courtland and I hit the road for our 25 hour drive!

Out of the 3 summers we've done apx- this has been by far my favorite! It helps that I had family close by who sure showed us to a GOOD time. But besides that, it is just gorgeous out there in the country. Every where is so green and there are tons of lakes. I kept telling Courtland if we have to end up out of Utah- lets move to Tennesse with a house right on the lake. There were tons of homes all around lakes that were glass all day long. The people out there just aren't really into water sports, they just fish, so we would have good water all day- a rare thing in Utah.

I'm usually WAY past ready to go home from summer sales but I was wanting to stay this year. Granted Courtland only did half the summer of sales- the other half he's doing an internship, but I think I could have been out there for the long haul. Courtland did really well too, his best summer yet! Thanks for working so hard Courtland- you sure take care of us and I hope I can find ways to pay you back, especially since you've let me do SO many fun things already this summer!

CMA Fest 2010!!!!!

Continueing with my amazingly fun packed summer... I got to go to country fest AGAIN this year since I was living out in Tennessee! And the line up this year was awesome!

Thursday night: Jason Aldean, Danny Gokey, Alan Jackson, Lady antebellum, Tim McGraw, Carrie underwood

Friday night: Julianne Hough, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Josh Turner, Keith Urban

Saturday night: Easton Corbin, Billy Currington, Randy Houser, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Zac Brown Band

Sunday night(even though we didn't go): Trace Adkins, Justin Moore, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton

There are even big stars playing during the day- this fest is an all out country weekend and I love it! I hope I can go EVERY year! This year Blake and Taryn were in town as well looking for a place to live(they're moving out to for school in July) and my mom so it was a party! We really wish Jill could have come- maybe next year!

Ben was so sweet to watch all the kids by himself Thursday night and then Blake helped him Friday and Saturday- We sure owe you guys!! And Ben this is what you get when you take pictures on my camera that I don't know about- they get posted on the blog and internet forever! haha

We went downtown to the concerts during the day Friday- It was way hot and the kids were sweating!

leaving for night two- friday

We had great seats- thanks to Ben and Kendra's hard work in finding the tickets! Thank you, thank you!

Carrie Underwood

Josh Turner

Keith Urban

day three- saturday (ps. notice my new cowboy boots I splurged on! I LOVE them and couldn't resist the temptation of REAL boots from Nashville!)

My mom was by far the best dancer and biggest fan- she was always first to stand and dancing the whole time!

What a super fun weekend... maybe we'll have to make it a tradition since Taryn and Kendra both live close, Jill within driving distance, and my mom and me big enough fans to splurge to come every year! Girls everyone plan on next year for sure!