Bridgette's Favorite Things

At 9 1/2 months old, Bridgette definitely has some favorite things...

 Bridgette would spend hours standing in front of this mirror if we let her.  She loves talking to the "other baby" and gets so animated that she has managed to break the mirror off the door a few times.

 We try to skype with Grandma and Grandpa Rittinger as often as possible.  Bridgette will show them how she plays with her toys and then crawls to the couch to pull herself up to see them.

We are a little sad with cooler weather coming in because Bridgette LOVES to be outside.  Most days we go for walks and sit in the grass and play.

Some other favorites not shown include:  

Bath time!  Some days I'm tempted to give her 3 baths in one day because I know it is one absolute thing that will make her happier.

Baby Einstein!  We usually let her watch baby einstein when she gets done with lunch and dinner.  She never stops smiling the entire time she watches it.  

Andee dog!  Bridgette is constantly looking for Andee, her toys, or her food.  And when Andee notices she is getting attention, she'll play right into it.  Andee can get her to laugh more than anyone else.

We are so proud of our little girl and can't believe how she's grown!  She has cut 5 teeth in just over a month and has been handling it very well.  She keeps us on our toes by crawling everywhere and getting into everything! 

We ❤ Fall

We've had a lot of fun so far this fall.  It's our favorite time of year, when things start cooling down and slowing down.  

In early October, I was able to quit my job with JCPenney and now I stay home with Bridgette, this has been a nice blessing for our family!  Than is now working during the day at the Parkdale Health and Rehab Center here in Price as the Marketing Director.  He is really enjoying working for Parkdale and his time working with the community to help get Parkdale's name out in the community.  He is still working nights at the sleep lab so we take time to enjoy every minute the three of us have together!

Bridgette's first time playing in the leaves 

   Trick or Treating at Parkdale

Than got another deer this year and we have a freezer full of meat!

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, being able to decorate our home and have extra time with family. 

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.