Life with the Conleys

This year we went to Emmett for Thanksgiving. Josh took a few extra days off work so we had a full week with my family. Most of our days were spent hanging out and playing volleyball, but on Wednesday Josh went elk hunting with my Dad. They got one pretty quickly and since Josh helped on the hunt my parents were kind enough to give us some of the meat. I'm really excited to have some elk in the freezer. While the men were hunting my Mom and I were baking in preparation for the annual Walker family Thanksgiving. My Mom's family has a divide and conquer approach; with each family bringing part of the dinner. We were to bring dessert and rolls. Our dessert offerings included pumpkin bars, 2 lemon meringue pies, 2 chocolate peanut butter pies, 2 apple pies, and cherry cheesecake bars. YUM! During our stay Eli had his first 4-wheeler ride. He seemed to enjoy it even though it was a little cold. Eli's coat didn't seem warm enough for riding so he is wearing his grandp...

Eli celebrated his half birthday a few weeks ago. He had an exciting day going to the doctor's office and getting another round of vaccines. Ok, maybe exciting is the wrong word. Traumatic or terrible would be more appropriate. At his check he weighed 18 lbs 1.5 oz (65%) and was 26 3/4" tall (95%). It's hard for me to believe how big he is getting. The picture below was taken the day after his half birthday. At the time he would still topple over occasionally while sitting but in the last few weeks he has pretty much figured it out. Josh and I are enjoying his relative immobility. He rolls around but still can't go much further than a few feet. Hopefully we will have a few more weeks before he starts crawling. He isn't showing any signs of imminent crawling but he changes so quickly that it could happen sooner than I think. In other news, I started playing in a volleyball league last week. Super excited to be playing again. And yesterday I met with a Realt...

After five days in Albuquerque we jetted off to L.A to spend five days with Josh's parents, grandparents, and sister. We played on the beach, went to the LA temple, ate good food, went on a date (A DATE!), and visited friends. Eli's first time with his toes in the sand Before getting his toes wet. Staring down his destiny. After. He was not a fan of the cold water. The Pants, Eli, and Nana Nana gave Eli a pretty sweet alligator hat.  Saying goodbye to his great grandparents. Until next time. Love you great grandma & great papa!

The Mendenhall family gathered in Albuquerque for a reunion. There were 13 of us in total (8 adults, 5 kids) all under one roof. It was a bit chaotic but it was great to have the whole family together. Our flight to Albuquerque left at 6:35am. Our plan was to leave for the airport at 5am to ensure we had enough time and wouldn't have to rush through the airport. At 5:07am I hear Josh say, "We slept in!" We somehow slept through three, yes THREE, alarms. Missing our flight would not have been the ideal way to begin our vacation so we jumped out of bed and left as soon as we could. On the way to the airport I thought we would still make it on the flight without any problem but the airport was packed. We were trekking to the end of a massive security checkpoint line and commiserating about how there was no way we were going to make our flight when a woman in the line got my attention. She called me over and mentioned that there was a family lane that we could use. Halleluj...

Eli is 4 months old today. He is 27" long (97th percentile) and weighs 16 lbs 1 oz (80th percentile). Hard to believe that in four months he gained over 7 pounds and grown 7 inches. Since most of the pictures I take of Eli are on my phone and are rarely viewed by anyone other than myself, I thought I would share some of them to commemorate 4 months of baby life. (Thanks to Josh for showing me how to get the pictures from my phone to the computer) The pictures are in backward chronological order, so he gets younger as they progress. Face Time Mmm, delicious! Big smiles Trying to sit up, but not doing so well Stern face With his great uncle David Picnic with daddy Starting to get better at tummy time! Handsome boys Late night smiles  First stroller ride without his carseat. Taking a walk in the baby carrier and sporting his hat for the first time. The shirt says it all! Eli is the first nephew on Josh's side o...