Haley: Walking, Talking, and Turning ONE!

Since we have been in Des Moines, Haley has officially turned ONE! Crazy! She also RUNS all over the house. Always busy, as usual, but now always on her feet as well. She also says these words: puppy(of course), mama, papa(that's what she says when we say daddy), baby, wow!, owie, "mo"(more), yeah, no(that one she says ALL the time...), and signs more, all done(she says her version of all done too), and milk. And yes, DANIELLE, she does drink exclusively from a sippy cup. She understands everything that we say to her. She gives us "love" and does what she is asked to as long as she wants to... She will do things that she knows is wrong, then run away really quickly while squealing, then shake her pointer finger at Laura and say "no, no, no!" She loves to play with her stacking cups and puts them inside each other until they all fit. She loves being outside in the grass and Laura constantly has to get grass stains out of her knees. but she is still a lady and earlier tonight she was walking around with her purse on her shoulder (thanks again, Gena!) and a necklace around her neck. She finally has enough hair that Laura has put barettes in her hair and even a little pony tail one time. She is tons of fun and changing so fast!

Alright, enough of that. Let's tell you about what has been happening. Well, we didn't do nearly as much for her real birthday as for her party before we left. Laura made a bunch of heart shaped cakes and everyone each got their own! Even Haley got her own cake. And we documented it. And we promise, everything you see she did on her own. We just watched and enjoyed.

She definitely got a bath after that! Even her hair was caked with frosting.

Benjamin had his official "White Coat Ceremony" where he got to sign the honorcode in front of family and friends and don his new coat! Laura was there to document the action. But the lighting was weird and Laura and Haley were towards the back so most of them didn't turn out extremely great... But it was still fun. Here are some pictures of that...

He looks good, huh?! Laura sure thinks so... We can't forget the power tie! This next one his head is right behind the flag... Ugh!

For those of you that know Laura's history, we would just like to add that one day while doing laundry when Haley was sleeping, Laura fell down the stairs... First time in this house, but this was not her first rodeo! So true to tradition, Laura documented her injuries. Notice not only the large, beautiful bruise, but the large abraision over it all down her inner, upper arm:

We also have been going to the weekly Farmer's Market here. Tons of fun! It has the farmers trying to sell their produce, people selling baked goods and honey, tons of food to eat, strange little shops to buy dog collars and necklaces with your name written on a grain of rice, and live music. We live on 7th street and the farmer's market is only a few blocks away on 5th street. So in the past we have walked with Rufus on his leash and Haley in her stroller to take in the atmosphere. There are always tons of other dogs there for Rufus and Haley to meet. But we recently learned that if you take the FREE shuttle, you also get a FREE 5 dollar voucher to anything in the market per car. So this week we were a little sneaky. We drove the opposite direction of the market and parked BOTH of our cars in the parking lot of a nearby elementary school. So we got a ride to the market with ten extra dollars in our pocket. So we had dinner too. Benjamin had a shredded BBQ Pork sandwich and Laura had a BBQ chicken sandwich and they shared the baked beans. It was awesome! We had so much fun. The only problem was that Rufus didn't get to come this week. But Laura asked and he can come on the shuttle. So we will be doing that again next week, this time with Rufus taking a ride too! Check out the beautiful great danes we see almost every week that we have gone. They are so sweet but so BIG! Look at them compared to Haley and Benjamin!

AND LOOK! OUR FIRST VIDEO ON THIS BLOG!!!!!!!

And of course, what would a blog posting be without our beloved Rufus being harassed? This time it is where Laura dressed Rufus in her clothes after she got home from church. He looks good in heels and a skirt, don't you think?!

By the way, we have been so happy to see the comments that people have made in the past, especially those from back in Rexburg. But unfortunately, we can't go on your blogs to see your little adventures because we are not invited to your private blog! Please invite us so that we can comment on yours too! We want to stay in touch! Thanks!

Benjamin, Laura, Haley, and Rufus