Bridgette goes to Michigan

Our recent trip to Michigan was to attend Debbie's brother wedding.  Besides the wedding, there were many more people and places we saw.  We decided to fly so we could have more time to spend in Michigan...let's just saying flying with a 6 month old was as bad an experience as it sounds.  haha  But we made it, there and back.  Here are some highlights of our trip...

learning to play euchre with Aunt Catie

first time swimming!

 Bridgette made a new friend, Aria

 visited the Henry Ford museum

hanging out in grandpa's fishing boat

 Bridgette met her great-grandma

hanging out with grandpa and cousins

4 generations :) 

loving grandma and grandpa

Notice how there were NO wedding pictures posted...that's because we didn't take any!  We're not sure how that really happened, but that's why a photographer is hired, right?!?!  The wedding was beautiful and we are so happy to have Brittnii added to our family!

These pictures only show about half of what we did.  We had a great visit and were sad to have to leave, but Bridgette's first trip to Michigan was filled with lots of fun!

What? I haven't blogged since May???

Julyish...?

We were really excited to be able to expand our gardening desires this year now that we have our own yard!  We had some success and some failures, all to help us make our garden better next year.

 Than had a lot of success with his tomatoes and enjoyed the salsa he was able to make with them.

 Debbie picked so many green beans she was able to preserve some for later in the year.

And of course Than grilled outside as often as he could!

We had a visitor for the 4th of July, Catie came to see us again!  Besides going out to eat a few times, we didn't do much else except for hang out and enjoyed each others company.  The visit was short but sweet.

4 months old already?!?!

As parents we can't believe how quickly Bridgette is growing up!  You hear all the time to enjoy every moment because of how fast time flies, but I don't think you truly understand that until it's your own child.  Bridgette is right on track with her age.  She can roll over onto her tummy (though she HATES it and wont roll back to her back yet), she has discovered that her toes are a constant toy that she can never "drop", she'll sleep through the night for the most part, and we've started her on rice cereal.

We had family pictures taken by a friend of ours right around when Bridgette turned 4 months.

Such big changes in just 4 months!

1 day 

2 months

4 months

Moab Adventure

A couple Saturday's ago we were sitting at home trying to decide what to do for the day.  We suggested a few things and decided to drive to Moab to hike to Delicate Arch.  Debbie had never been to Moab and we thought Bridgette was old enough that she could handle the trip.  It was fun to just get away for the day and see sights we've never seen before!

Than was a trooper carrying Bridgette in her carrier for our 3 mile hike

You can see WAAAAAY down there where we parked

We made it!  :)

She fell asleep on the hike down

We decided this should be a yearly trip for our family.  It's great that this adventure could be done in just one day and to be able to see all that we saw.

A Few Visitors

The last week in February Aunt Catie and Uncle Brad came for a visit, and to meet Bridgette. Brad had never been to Utah and Catie's last visit out was for our wedding, so there hadn't been much time for sightseeing then. So we made sure to check out some local attractions during their visit. We took them to the Dinosaur Museum and Nine Mile Canyon. Mostly we just had fun spending time together and playing with Bridgette.

picking them up from the airport

We also had a visit from Grandma Rittinger! She came for 2 weeks at the end of March and we all wished it could have lasted longer! One reason for her visit was to be here for Bridgette's blessing. It was such a fun and beautiful day, and all of Than's siblings and families came too, we are so grateful to everyone for their support for Bridgette on her special day.

(Believe it or not, she DIDN'T cry during the blessing. haha)

We didn't do much sightseeing while Grandma was here, since she's familiar with Utah. We mostly spent all our days at home so she could get in as much grandma-time as possible. Most days looked just like this. :)

We can't wait for August to get here, when we'll travel to Michigan for Dan and Brittnii's wedding. Bridgette will be able to meet them, Grandpa Rittinger, and many MANY more extended family members.

Home Owners!

This post is about 2 months overdue. haha

In November 2011, we started the process of buying our house. We were told that our closing date would be December 30th. Being only about a month before Bridgette's due date, we knew we were cutting it close. Well, that date kept getting pushed back and back. We finally got to the point where we didn't know which would come first Bridgette or the house. Well, Bridgette came first and about 2 weeks later we were finally able to move in to our house.

We had lots of help from family and friends to prepare to move in and get everything moved in. It took some time to get adjusted to living in our own house, getting everything unpacked, and having a newborn. But here we are and we couldn't be happier.

The front

The back

Our 2011 Chevy Equinox. We needed a more family friendly car.

Andee LOVES having her own yard to play in!

Than working hard to clean up the back yard.

She's Here!!!

Bridgette Disney Woodward arrived on Tuesday, January 17th at 6:07pm. 6lbs 11 1/2oz. 19in. She is healthy and beautiful, we are so lucky to be her parents!

Just a few hours old :)

Bridgette is such a good baby. We've had our share of experiences already (our first night home was just a little overwhelming!), but the three of us are starting to figure out how to be a family. We love seeing her grow into her characteristics everyday. She loves to be snuggled and really is a good sleeper (so far...)!