Kurt and Julie Edwards Family

Christmas Letter

2011-12-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas to our friends near and far. This year as many of you know we added a new member to our family. Bella June was born on July 12th, she is a very happy baby who doesn’t like to sleep much, but nevertheless we still love her.

Ainzley is a fantastic big sister and loves to help get diapers, clothes or help entertain Bella. Ainzley just turned 3 . She is excited to begin Primary and attend with the big kids. She has loved nursery this last year and has enjoyed every second of it. She has gained many friends and is excited that they will be moving to primary with her.

Kurt is enjoying his job with Gonzales-Stoller Surveillance he will soon be promoted to GIS Analyst II which is pretty exciting. He is such a hard worker and always goes above and beyond what is expected of him both at work and at home we are so grateful to have such a wonderful husband and father in our home who takes such good care of all of these girls!

Julie is working for Bell Photographers, Inc. as their office manager, and is looking forward to the time when she will be a stay at home mom with her two adorable girls. But for now mom and dad are grateful to have a wonderful babysitter/preschool teacher who is teaching Ainzley SOOOO much. She is already learning her letters and gets upset that she can’t read books. She knows how to count to 12 all by herself, and is a really good memorizer.

Our home is still for sale and we are really hoping to sell it by next summer. So if you know anyone who needs a cute tiny home in Shelley please send them our way we have completely out grown it, but are still grateful for a roof over our heads and warm place to call home.

We hope that you have all had a wonderful 2011 and look forward to a new year with new goals and achievements to follow. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Love,

Kurt, Julie, Ainzley and Bella

Keep in touch with us:

Kurtandjulie.blogspot.com

Lots to update!

2011-10-15T20:52:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone so it has been awhile since we have posted so here is an update for the month of August and the beginning of September. But first off below is a picture of Kurt when he was a baby. Man can you believe how much Bella looks like him?

These are some pictures from our family outing in Island Park with Kurt's family. One night we played a murder mystery game and all dressed up in Hawaiian attire. We had a lot of fun in Island Park and Ainzley really enjoyed the 4-wheeler this is just a few of the pictures we took, there were way to many to choose from.

Uncle Kraig and Aunt Chelsey helped a ton with the girls and got good practice since they will be having a little girl in February! We are so excited for them!

Our Murder Mystery Dinner Party.

Bella's first swim :)

State Fair. We took the girls to the state fair. Ainz had a lot of fun.

And here are some pretty recent pictures of our little Bella. Love, love, love that she is smiling and interacting. Can't get enough of those chubby cheeks. Enjoy! Hopefully more to come soon.

Ainzley took swimming lessons for the first time. Thank Heavens for Dawn who helped Ainzley. She loves the water, but really didn't like that mom and dad weren't in there with her. In the end she did really well.

Photo shoot of the two girls. Bell was about 2 weeks old.

Ainzley exhausted after our ward party/campout.

Our little rock chuck we saw on our deck. Ainzley called it our "Mystery" because the first time I saw it I had no clue what it was so it was a mystery.

The Mecham Family reunion. Ainz going down the slide with Uncle Keith.

A five generation picture.

Bella's Blessing day was Aug 7th Kurt did a great job and she was beautiful. She whore the same dress that I wore on my blessing day and Ainzley on hers. It is fun to pass it down to my girls.

Well that is about all for us. We are getting excited for the upcoming holidays and in the middle of selling our house. Hopefully the next time we blog we will have a closing date and we will be moving! Keep us in your prayers.

New Baby!!!

2011-07-13T14:28:00.007-07:00

Our new little of bundle of joy is here. HER name is Bella June Edwards. She was born July 12, 2011. She weighed in at 8lbs. 6oz. and is 20 in. long. She is such a great little one. She only woke up mom twice last night. She is a good baby and is very content. Here are some pictures of our cute little one. These are some of the visitors and her first bath. We love her very much.

July 4th Weekend

2011-07-11T09:12:00.005-07:00

This fourth of July we spent the 2nd with Kurt's family and went to Lava Hot Springs. It was a lot of fun and as mentioned before Ainzley loves the water so she was in Heaven! On the morning of the 4th we went to a breakfast with my family and a bbq later that day.

Kurt's brother and his family were here from N. Dakota so we watched the fireworks up in Idaho Falls that night with the Edwards. Ainzley loves to do her own fireworks at home, but she wasn't a huge fan of the really loud big ons.

For some reason we didn't get any pictures of Ryker and Ainzley on our camera, but I know we got some with Gay's so I will have to get some from her.

Well you are now all caught up on the Edwards family which will soon be changing. The baby is due this week so our world will soon be turned upside down. It will be good, but it is crazy thinking that we will have 2 kids! So keep your eyes peeled for an update soon on the new baby.

Ainzley watching the fireworks

Rick, Gay and Sadie

Dad and Ainz

Tyson and Cherae

Going swimming at Scott and Rachael's hotel

Mom and Ainzley at 4th of July Breakfast

Swimming at Lava

Kurt and Tyson jumping off the 3rd platform! Crazy Boys!

Grandpa Rick and Ainzley

June

2011-07-11T07:11:00.005-07:00

Well, it seems we didn't take any pictures the month of May so it must have just been a typical month with work and being parents. We did do some yard work and I think toward the beginning of June we finally got our garden in. It had just been so cold.

And mom left her make-up out again oops!

From June 11th-29th we had some rough days. Ainzley was really, really sick and we spent multiple trips to the doctors office and tests at the hospital and seeing specialists. Poor little thing was so sick and it all started with a urinary tract infection that didn't clear up. So we had awful fevers for about 2 weeks (a little less about 11 days) and then we found out one of her kidneys is moderately enlarged so our doctor wanted us to go see a specialist. Which then let to more tests! It was a rough couple of weeks, but luckily she is finally feeling better. We got back for a follow up appointment with the specialist this Thursday so we will be able to find out what we need to do about her kidney, but as for now we are just grateful she is back to her normal self. It was really hard having such a sick little girl and not knowing what to do to help her! Thankfully we have lots of great family and friends who helped out with meals and other things while mom and dad focused on Ainzley! Thanks everybody!

With Ainz being sick and having to have lots of tests done we had to have some rewards for her to get her through. One was she got to go to the zoo. These are a few pictures dad took of the animals at the zoo.

The Merrill-Barnard Family FHE campout at the parents! It was great fun!!!

Afton and Ainzley on the water slide

Uncle Keith helping Ainz go down the slippery slide.

Playing at the park the next day

Keith and Brody

Good balance Ainz!

Learning to climb by herself

Kurt being a good Uncle/Dad pulling the kids

Cooper, Afton, MaKoy, Brody, Ainz, and Keegan

They were a little squished for the picture

Keith at the Chuckers game that night

Devrie and Cooper

Ainz and I at the game (don't mind the cotton in my ear I got an ear infection :( Ainzley loved the game especially the mascot it was her favorite!

Easter Weekend

2011-07-11T06:37:00.009-07:00

Ainzley had fun for Easter. We first went to the city Easter Egg hunt. She was so excited to go get some eggs, but once the siren rang she was the first out there, but didn't pick up a single egg. Then it was too late and she was a little distraught. It was sad, but luckily Great Grandma Mecham (my grandma) had an Easter Egg hunt later that day so she was able to get some eggs.

Ainzley and the Easter Bunny

She was really excited if you can't tell!

Getting eggs at Great Grandma Mechams

Grandpa Brutch and some of the grandkids

Cute little Brody.

Again more cute niece and nephew pictures :) Afton and MaKoy

Ainzley coloring eggs with daddy

Great Grandpa giving lawn mower rides

Ainzley loves the park she would spend all day everyday there if she could here are a few pictures of us at the park with Ainzley when it finally warmed up enough to go! She loves slides and swings the most.

My two best pals!

Easter Morning

Easter at the Edwards': They have a tradition of hiding stuff for big kids too. Tyson decided he would go for what was in the tree.

Ainzley got spoiled as usual from all of her Grandmas and Grandpas!

Showing off her stuff from Grandma Gay and Grandpa Rick

Dad helping her get some eggs.

Okay so we weren't all on the same page for this picture (but it is the only one that I don't absolutely hate of me so here you go)

Happy Easter!

March-April

2011-07-10T21:20:00.009-07:00

Okay so it has been a LONG time since we have posted! I know.... my dear sweet cousin was begging for some pictures and post so with her encouragement here you go. I am going to have to do a couple of them and they will be long just a fair warning!

Here is our cute little Ainzley, okay not so little she is growing up so fast! Love this picture!

Kent is an official missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He actually will fly out for Albania tomorrow July 12th. This picture was taken after Kent was set apart.

What a handsome guy, and such a great example!

Ainzley showing off her Easter dress a week early (we had her wear it to Kent's farewell talk because we were having family pictures that day).

Our most recent family photo.

Uncle Kent and Ainz

Me and my brothers, wow how time flies that is all I have to say! It just seems like we were all little and now Kev is married, Kent is on a mission and I am going to have 2 kids???? WOW!

Our whole family. My camera didn't get the best picture (we set up 3 to try to get a decent one of everyone... ha ha ha), but at least you can see us all!

A family friend wedding Kelly was a beautiful bride. Gotta love Ainzley's cheesy smile!

Again Ainzley's cheesy smile with my and my friend Heidi.

My beautiful mom at the wedding

Kurt was having fun taking pictures :)

They had a chocolate fountain!

I love Kurt's face in this picture! It is so funny!

During conference I decided to be brave and let Ainzley paint my finger nails. She had a blast and I did end up repainting, but hey was entertaining.

Ainzley found mom's make up....

Ainzley and her new princess comforter. She love, love, loves Bell, if you can't tell!

Kurt was so sweet on Saint Patrick's Day he got up and made us green french toast and syrup it was delicious! And Ainzley that it was so funny that it was all green! He also had a pot luck at his work and made Green Chicken Alfredo it was great!

And finding more things to get into...lipstick!

Okay the rest of the pictures are from a vacation we took to Island Park in March. It was blast we had lots of fun with just our little family plus we had a few visitors too. We went for a few snowmobile rides, fed the ducks, fish, and muskrats at Big Springs, went sledding, swimming, played games and just had lots of fun.

Ainzley feeding the fishes and the little birds that liked to come eat the bread. Even right off of our arms.

Family photo

Love to hear this girl laugh!

Ainzley crashing on the sled, but she loved it! It was a little cold that day though!

More sledding....

Another day of feeding the animals.

Ainzley loves swimming and she has no fear. Kurt and I both really enjoy the water so it makes it fun.

Our little pink marshmallow!

Mom and Ainz

Dad and Ainz

One of Ainzley's favorite pals Uncle Keith.

February Fun and its a....

2011-02-17T19:59:00.006-07:00

Well, so far it has been a good month. Kurt made Valentine's Day a very special day for both Ainzley and I. We woke up to a heart attacked living room with over 200 hearts! Then Ainzley saw her princess backpack we got her for valentines and said, "Oh my doodness" it was super cute. She loved it because it has Belle on it and that is her most favorite princess at the moment. Kurt also won a bunch of gift certificates from KLCE, but he didn't tell me about them so when we met for dinner after work he had flowers for Ainzley and I and 1/2 dozen cupcakes from The Love Bite and 1 dozen cookies from Geraldine's bakery. Needless to say we had a lot to share with our families! What a sweet husband I have. Below are some of our favorite pictures from February. Ainzley in her little heart dress on v-day and then the other are just a day of fun at home with one of her favorite toys.

We had a doctors appointment today and all is well with the baby. We decided not to find out the sex of the baby so you will all just have to wait till July :) to find out if we are having pink or blue.

Beautiful Flowers

My heart attacked living room

Our little girl getting WAY too big!

Showing off her backpack.

Kissing her favorite teddy!

Love our little Ainz!

I love this picture because it is her TRUE smile, we don't catch that very often on camera.

2010-12-28T10:46:00.001-07:00

We just wanted to post our Christmas Letter that we sent out. We try to get them out to as many as we can, but know in reality it is never enough with our HUGE families. Enjoy.

To our Friends and Family:

Well, it is December again and time for the fun Christmas cards. We have had a pretty good year. Not super eventful, but it has been good. One piece of exciting news is that Kurt’s job contract was renewed and he will be able to have a full-time job secured for the next 5 years. We also want to sell our home and get into something a little bigger. We put it on the market during the summer and had a few lookers, so we will put it up again soon and hope and pray that it will sell.

Kurt is currently the Sunday School President in our ward and I am the secretary in the Primary. Our Stake did a re-alignment so it has been fun to get to know the new people in our ward and make new friends. Ainzley is going to nursery all by herself FINALLY, which has been so nice.

Ainzley is now 2 and is talking up a storm. Her favorite movie right now is Toy Story 3. She calls it the “Piggy Movie” because she loves Hamm and just pigs in general, and we have no idea why. She also has a new love of horses since October when her Uncle Kraig gave her a cute stuffed horse and she absolutely loves it! Ainzley also likes to cook both real and pretend. She loves to read books and likes to “give lessons.” She is funny she will get the scriptures or one of our books with pictures of Jesus and will give us a lesson. What a blessing a little child is and the reminder of our Savior she brings us every day. She also likes to say prayers and make Jesus happy. After each prayer she always says “Jesus happy.”

At this time of year as we remember the birth of our Savior we just want to share our testimony with each of you that we know that Jesus is the Christ. That He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem so many years ago. He then lived and taught and died for each one of us. And we love the saying and believe that “Wise men still follow Him.” We are grateful for a modern-day prophet who leads and guides us also. We have been blessed in so many ways and are so grateful for the gospel in our lives. We know that the Savior is always near us if we choose to let him into our lives. We look forward to the next year with all the upcoming changes.

Speaking of change… as of July 13^th (or so the doctor says) will be a family of 4! That is right baby number two will be here this summer. Thanks to all of our friends and family who love and support us in all that we do. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,

Kurt, Julie and Ainzley Edwards

Forever....

2010-12-12T17:07:00.006-07:00

Well, I know it has been so long since we have posted. It is just the last thing on my list to do in our busy lives, but today I wanted to just sit down and at least post about Ainzley's second birthday. She was so fun. She is in love with the movie Toy Story 3 and specifically Hamm she calls it the show the "Piggy show." So for her birthday we made piggy cake and she loved it. It made me happy.

We had a party with my side of the family on the 24th and we celebrated with Kurt's family on the 25th. We had a great thanksgiving holiday and had a lot of fun watching Ainzley enjoy her birthday and being spoiled and pampered by all our great family.

Things are going well for us. Kurt's job contract got extended and we are excited that he will be able to have a full-time job secured for the next 5 years. Now we are just hoping to sell our home sometime so that we could get into something a little bigger. We love our little house, but feel that we have out grown it a little.

We are really looking forward to Christmas and how excited Ainzley is. She has been really good not to touch the presents under the tree and been such a fun little girl. For those who haven't seen Ainzley recently she is really talking up a storm. At her last doctors appointment he asked how many words she can say and I couldn't tell him she pretty much can completely communicate with us and she speaks in sentences (not grammatically correct of coarse, but she is a hoot to talk with). We love her so much, even if sometimes the terrible two shines out in her. Hope you enjoy these pictures. Sorry it has been so long since we have posted.

Ainzley blowing out her candles with Uncle Ty

Oh Uncle Kraig!

Ainzley putting on her "lipstick"

Aunt Chelsey helping Ainzley with her new Barbie and horse from Uncle Kraig and Aunt Chelsey

New clothes

Boots! She has been wanting boots! In fact if you ask her what she wants Santa to bring the answer is still BOOTS...

Gotta love that smile and piggy tails :)

Pushing her new shopping cart she LOVES it!

Opening presents

New coloring book she loves all the animals in it...

Holding her piggy cake, I love her smile.

Getting ready to go to church. Ainzley has been such a big girl, she has started going to nursery without much of a problem! It makes church a lot easier.

True personality in her cute new PJ's from Grandma Sonja.

Last of all one of our newest family pictures taken by Chelsey's sister she did a great job and we are excited to have them! Hope you are all enjoying your holiday season. Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone :)

2010-10-18T07:30:00.003-07:00

Okay so I know we haven't posted forever! And we have so many pictures of things we have done over the summer and fall, but no time right now. Just wanted to post a picture of our cute little girl as we head out this morning. Hope you all have a great day!

3 years to Forever

2010-08-04T19:40:00.003-07:00

To my wonderful, sweet husband who I have been married to for 3 years! My top three reasons why I love Kurt 1. He always stays positive 2. He works hard to provide for Ainzley and I 3. He is my best friend

I love you Kurt! Thanks for a great three years!

Also a shout to Kurt's parents who have been married for 32 years today!

4th of July and more....

2010-07-05T13:10:00.006-07:00

Wow! It has been way to long since we have posted. This post is full of pictures! We haven't posted for a long time, but here we go. These first few pictures are some that I took of Ainzley for her 18 month pictures. She was being pretty good and cute.

Ainzley with food all over her face

Ainzley loves hats and likes to puts on, not only hers, but everyone hats. Although she does keep them on long.

We also had an opportunity to go to the zoo. Ainz was kind of tired, but she did okay.

At the petting zoo... Ainz didn't really know what to think about it.

Our little family
(Ainz has kind of a funny smile)

Riding the toys at the mall

Fireworks with Grandma and Grandpa Merrill
This is Gabby our cute little niece.

Ainzley really likes sparklers and she probably could have caught herself on fire if we would have let her loose with it.

Uncle Keith is so fun!

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa Edwards' with the pony

Aunt Sadie and Ainz

Our little patriotic girl, I really wished her eyes would have been open.

Oh pretty girl with her curly hair.

Fun family pictures.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

Graduation

2010-05-10T14:28:00.006-07:00

Last year at about this time this was our little family....

This is our little family as of May 8th, We both have our Bachelor's degrees!

We are so excited that Kurt has graduated and was able to walk with his twin brother. They have both worked very hard and we are all proud of Kurt and Kraig for their hard work and dedication to school and to providing for their families. Here are some of the pictures from Saturday. Ainzley was pretty tired and worn out since we just kept going all day long with everything we had going.
Our family at graduation

The twins showing off their diplomas

Kurt and his awesome parents who have been such a great support.

Kurt and his little sister Sadie

Visiting after the ceremony.

Julie's parents and little brother Keith.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

Easter

2010-04-08T20:08:00.003-07:00

We went to Logan for Easter to spend time with Kurt's grandma. We woke up Saturday morning to snow and terrible snow, but we took the trek anyway. Once we got there the weather wasn't too bad just a little cold. Ainzley was the only little kid so we decided to have a small Easter Egg Hunt for her, once we showed her what she was looking for she found the rest all by herself it was cute. Grandma Gay surprised her with a cute Easter Dress and she had lots of fun wearing it and putting on her fake jewelry from her Great Grandma Larson.

Conference was really great and I can't wait to read the talks again when the Ensign comes out. I am so grateful for a modern-day prophet and apostles who teach us what our Heavenly Father and Savior want us to know and do. All in all it was a great weekend, now we are headed into another busy weekend with Kevin and DaNae's wedding on Saturday so hopefully we will have some more fun pictures to post.

Ainz just playing being a silly girl

Showing off one of the new songs she knows, "Roll Your Hands"

Mom and Ainz

Dad and his little girl

See my eggs mom!

Showing off her new dress and jewelry

THE BIG TEDDY BEAR

2010-03-29T20:11:00.004-07:00

Just some fun pictures of our cute little toddler.

Ainzley loves cheese!

Wow what is he doing on my lap?

Grandma and Grandpa Edwards' with their two grandkids

Our little cutie

2010-03-02T14:43:00.003-07:00

Ainzley loves to wear sunglasses even if it is only for a few minutes. We found these super cheap after Valentines Day and they work perfect.

This is how Ainzley says please. She smiles and shakes her whole body you would have to see it to believe it, but it is so funny and cute. She won't even try to say the word just smile.

The many faces of Ainzley and sewing project

2010-02-10T19:39:00.007-07:00

Well first off here is what I made for Ainzley for Valentines Day. I was way excited how it turned out. I pretty much sewed the whole thing by myself except for the placket at the top. Thanks to a good mom, mother-in-law, and grandmas for your advice and help.

Back of the dress

Front of the dress

The rest are just pictures of our crazy little girl! She is really fun and really frustrating at times, but all and all we love her.

Ainzley figured out how to open yogurt and she has gotten it all over our carpets and her face before we realized.

She is a very good sleeper now. It is a little hard to believe it is true, but she wants to go to bed at 7 pm and wake up about 6 am it is a great thing.

Ainz wearing her Mr. Potato Head Santa face.

Just chilling with dad on the couch eating breakfast.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

The Best Couponing Trip Ever!

2010-01-29T22:59:00.006-07:00

Well it's nice being back to the blogging world. It has been a little to long. Earlier this month Julie went to a friend's bridal shower and left the lovely little tornado with dad. She was not happy. When mom leaves at night the world comes to an end. She cried for about 50 min straight and then decided to lay down behind dad and this is how he found her. (Picture 2). She is growing up so much. She has now been going to sleep pretty much on her own and sleeps through the night. (Yes, I know a lot of you that are reading this have kids that have been doing this since they were born. Yes, we were jealous and are looking forward to the easier night time routine). Ainzley has also stopped using a bottle and now drinks from a big girl sippy cup. (It has flowers on it! :) She is starting to talk a little more and now can say the words mama, dada, grama, boo (she likes to scare you, she gets it from her dad), makes pig snorts, growls like a tiger, and imitates and Indian. She is so cute and we love that she is part of our family.

We have been able to go couponing a few time lately and have done pretty well. We have gotten some great deals at Walgreens , Fred Myer and Smith's. This picture shows what we were able to get at Walgreens. It took 12 purchases and going back and forth between two Walgreens locations but we did it.

What would you guess all of this would cost?

Regular Price:
$261.68

What we Paid:
$72.05

That's a total savings of 73%!!!

We ended up with:

2 Nivea Shower Gel
3 Colgate Toothpaste
4 Tubs of Almonds
2 Quaker Quakes Rice Cake Snacks
3 Things of Deodorant
4 Carmels
4 Bags of Tostitos Chips
4 Jars of Tostitos Salsa
3 Box of Theraflu
3 Boxes of Lipton Tea (We had to buy to get the deal, Julie gave away at work)
2 Neosporin Lip Balm
2 Jergen's Body Lotion
4 Dawn Dish Soap
2 Cans of Cambel's Chunky Soup
2 John Frieda Hair Care
2 Curel Body Lotions
4 2-Liter Diet Pepsi
4 12-pack Diet Pepsi
2 Vick's Dayquil
2 Vick's Nyquil
2 Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste

If you thought that was good just wait and see this deal. This was the best I think we have ever done. We hit Smith's, Albertsons, and Fred Myer. Here is what we got for free.

And this is everything that we bought.

How much do you think this would have cost?

Regular Price:
$330.60

What We Paid:
$82.10

That is a total savings of 75%!!!

This is what we ended up with:

8 Laundry Detergents
8 Packages of Cheese Singles
8 Packages of Shredded Cheese
20 Cans of Tuna
4 Boxes of Quaker Oatmeal
1 Box of Quaker Pancake Mix
6 Cups of Fruit
20 Sobe Life Water
6 Boxes of Grape Nuts Cereal
4 Boxes of Finish Dish Detergent
4 Boxes of Capri Sun Juice Drink
3 Boxes of Kleenex
4 Boxes of Fiber One Granola Bars
3 Bottles of Mustard
8 Cans of Hormel Chili
6 Boxes of Toaster Strudels
1 Crest Pro Health Mouthwash
3 Bags of Green Giant Frozen Vegetables
6 Boxes of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2 Boxes of Ritz Crackers
20 Bags of Quaker Quakes Rice Cakes
2 Bags of Goldfish Crackers
2 Ice Scrappers

Julie and I have so much fun couponing. It is the best game that we have ever played. It gives us such a thrill to go and get all the deals that we have been able to get. The Lord has blessed us time and time again by couponing. We feel so grateful to have been able to stretch our finances at this time in our lives when funds seem to be a little tight.

Oh and P.S. just because we are curious if you read this will you just post a quick message :) We like to see how many of our friends and family get to see our blog. Thanks

Christmas time

2010-01-01T10:58:00.011-07:00

Well, it has been awhile since we have posted, but it has been super busy with all the Christmas and birthday parties. December has been lots of fun and we have been very blessed. We are first and for most grateful for this Christmas season to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the special blessing He is in our lives. Kurt and I have been so blessed from our Heavenly Father and we are so grateful for the wonderful lives we have.

We tried to put these in chronological order, but instead it is backwards.

Ainzley liked to kiss Brody's piggy bank

Ainz playing with daddy's gift.

Keith, Kevin, and DaNea

Ainzley and Daddy with the shoe bank

Christmas potato head

Uncle Kent helping Ainzley open a present

Most of the group showing off our hats (Garrett, Keegan, and Gaby missing)

All the grand-kids with their hats. Ainzley doesn't like hats or pictures much can you tell! Ha ha ha

Playing Guestures

Dan and Shalay sharing their talent.

Ainzley being silly

Grandpa Merrill with Ainzley and Gaby

Russ and Dev and the boys

Listening to Colin teach us about his work research on the brain.

Sadie with her new CTR ring

Ainzley opening her new blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Edwards

Edwards family Ainzley carrying her puppy from Aunt Sandra

Rick and Gay opening their gifts

Enjoying her morning bottle after opening gifts at home.

Ainzley loved her ball popper!

It plays music and she loves to dance to it.

Visiting baby Ryker

Opening gifts at the Parry and Sonia Merrill Christmas party

The little kids doing the Nativity

Our little Angel ha ha ha sometimes!

Kurt, Ainzley, Keith, Kevin, and DeNea

Ainzley and her new toy at the Larson Christmas Party

Kraig and Chelsey and others

The Larson Party

Grandma and Grandpa Edwards

All and all it was a great Christmas and Ainzley is pretty worn out. I forgot the camera at our Mecham party so I don't have any pictures from the, but it was fun too! Happy New Year to everyone!

Late Birthday Post

2009-12-06T21:00:00.008-07:00

Well, for those who have been waiting for birthday pictures sorry we are so slow! Life is so busy! Well as most of you know Ainzley turned 1 on the 25th of November and we can't believe it has already been a year! She is a lot of fun, but is starting to show us quite the attitude lately, as you will see in some of the pictures below. For the most part she is a fun loving little girl. We are very grateful to have her in our lives even if sometimes she throws temper tantrums. Thanks to all who love and support us!

Ainzley showing off her outfits she got from Great Grandma Barnard

Ainzley with Uncle Kraig and Aunt Chelsey

Our little birthday girl

Clothes from Uncle Kraig and Aunt Chelsey

Opening presents

More gifts, what a blessed little girl.

Aunt Sadie and Ainzley

She didn't even touch her cake, oh well we tried!

Opening presents at Grandma Merrill's

Ainzley's cute little bow hanger frame! Thanks so much it works great Annie!

Ainzley in her new out fit from Great Grandma Larson

Okay so the rest of the pictures are from today. Ainzley looked so pretty in her new Christmas dress and her hair all done up in front of the Christmas tree, but she wasn't very happy about showing off her pretty smile, that we all know is in there, but here are some attempts.

Not to happy!

We are getting a little better :)

Or she can just do her new trick. GROSS AINZLEY!!!

Mom and Ainzley

Halloween and Couponing like CRAZY!

2009-11-12T21:11:00.007-07:00

Well to start off Halloween morning we weren't sure if Ainzley should be a Clown or a Tiger. As we tried the costumes on this is the reaction we got. Oh and don't worry she screamed with the Clown too, but I just happened to catch her in a brief good moment.

Luckily that night she was a lot happier.

Ainzley and Aunt Sadie.

Daddy and Ainzley

Trick or Treating with my little cousins in Idaho Falls.

Mom and Ainz.

Love this little tiger. She can even growl at you :)

Hold her candy.

What mom?

My cute little cousins: Conner, Ean, and Ryan

So after Halloween we ran into a couponing deal. At Hancock Fabrics. Where we were able to get 5 costumes for $10.49 with free shipping. That is right the costumes were only $1.99 a piece and the are high quality. We got a Ladybug, Lion, Bear, Frog Toddler and Frog infant. They are super cute and even though Ainzley can't use them someday our other kids will and they were an awesome deal. Here is a preview.

Okay and now some great money saving news!!! This week Kurt and I are about all shopped out for awhile because we have been hitting couponing hard, plus I decided to plan out my meals for 3 weeks and buy all of the groceries so that we won't be tempted to go out to dinner or not have a plan and not eat until like 9 PM!!! Ha ha ha.... so anyway, here are some awesome deals we found last week.

Okay here is Wal-Mart.
Originally- $36.28.
Saved-$22.10, which is 39% savings.
Spent- $14.18

With the holidays it will be nice to have the cake mixes and marsh mellows on hand for making things. And we were in desperate need of pasta. By the way the whole case of tomatoe sauce was completely free! So Wal-Mart was pretty good, but below are even better deals!

Target
Originally-$30.21
Saved- $28.95
Spent $1.26 after taxes!
THAT IS A 96% SAVINGS!!!

WalGreens

After going to 3 different stores here is what we ended up with.

Originally- $61.75
Saved- $49.41, 80% Savings
Spent out of pocket- $12.34 and received $16 in Register Rewards (which can be used to get products, so in essence we made money on the deal or we "made product)

With those Register Rewards we turned around and got 4 packages of Huggies diapers 2 things of Christmas wrapping paper, and a can of pumpkin for only $13.04 with tax. That is almost the cost of just one package of diapers!!!

Okay and just a few more.... along with these candles we also got a Halloween shirt, Halloween candy bucket, and a bag of candy. Those items are reflected in the price.

Target

Originally- $46.50
Saved- $34.86
Spent- $11.64, 79% savings, but WAIT we are not done we then received 2-$10 Target gifts cards. So that makes it like spending $1.64, taking that to a 96% savings... oh and wait we are not done yet. We were also able to turn in a mail in rebate for $15!!! Making us money! So all these products ending up being free plus making us money!!!

ALBERTSON'S-

A few deals we didn't take pictures at was Albertson's. To sum it up we purchased all sorts of things including some fresh produce, meat, broth, salad dressings, cookies, flour, soups, and mayo, just to give you an idea.

Originally (with sale prices)- $ 86.23
Saved- $46.15
Spent $40.08

BUT get this with sales and coupons we saved according to our receipts $104.42!!!

K-MART-

5 things of 64 oz. Snuggle fabric softener for $0.90
Yep that is right we only paid the tax!

Oh and just wait we have some stuff up our sleeve for tomorrow! Man thanks to all the coupon bloggers out there who share the info!

More pictures and Pumpkin Walk

2009-10-26T20:16:00.007-07:00

Tonight we went to the pumpkin walk with Grandma and Grandpa Edwards and Aunt Sadie. It was great fun!

And here is our wonderful little 11 month old!

Baby Ryker

2009-10-26T13:39:00.006-07:00

Well, as some of you know our little nephew Ryker was born on Oct. 22nd 8 weeks early, weighing 2 lbs 11 oz and 15 in long. He is doing really well and is off the ventilator, but mom (Rachael) is still struggling. Please keep both of them in your prayers.

As for our little family we are doing well. Just getting ready to register Kurt for another semester of school and really wishing we could push a huge credit load and get him graduated next semester, but that would be about 20-23 credits and wouldn't leave time for work.

Ainzley turned 11 months yesterday and we just can't believe how big she is getting. Here is a list of 11 of Ainzley's favorite things to do right now:

1. Find the toilet paper and pull a bunch off and rip it to shreds along with eating some!
2. Get into Kurt's books in our bedroom and while I tell her no she throws it at me and laughs as she runs away. What a stinker!
3. Grrrs.. like a tiger
4. Plays with her hair to go to sleep, or mom's hair.
5. Pulls out any pony tail, beret, or headband I even attempt to put in!
6. Calls both mom and dad "Mo Mo."
7. Walks/runs like pro.
8. Throws the silverware in the garbage can.
9. Loves to give hugs and kisses to teddy bears or baby dolls.
10. Dances every time she hears music with her hands up in the air and her little knees bouncing up and down.
11. Working on getting her teeth. She has 4 on the bottom and 1 just breaking through on the top! What a funny way for teeth to come in!

We love our little Ainzley, and can't believe she is almost 1! Wow that year went fast!!! She was taking a nap, but I wanted to post a picture of her. I will try to get another one tonight and add to it.

Zoo

2009-10-09T20:23:00.006-07:00

Well as usual we have been staying really busy. We did have the opportunity to go to the zoo on the customer appreciation day and it was fun to see Ainzley react to the animals. Sometimes she really liked them other times she could care less.

Ainzley and the Flamingos

This monkey came right up to the window it was cute!

And Ainzley wanted NOTHING to do with this monkey!

Well, she did until dad held her up!

Daddy showing off his love for animals.

She did not want to be on the tiger.

Dad and his little girl.

Grandpa and Grandma Edwards with Ainz

Our little family at the zoo.

We also went down to Pleasent Grove and back in one day for Kurt's mission reunion. Ainzley was such an angel! Kurt and I on the other hand were VERY VERY annoyed with the Utah traffic. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get from Kaysville to Pleasent Grove!

So we are still not sure what Ainzley will be for Halloween, but isn't this cute! And what is even better is you say "Ainzley, what does a tiger say?" and she replies "grrrrr..." It is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Whirlwind Weeks

2009-09-21T19:35:00.007-07:00

Mmmmm... Ice cream!

This last week has been so busy. It began on labor day, we went to the state fair and walked around while it was still kind of cool. Ainzley was able to enjoy ice cream and we were able show her all the animals in the petting zoo. She really liked the animals but was a little scared of petting the animals in the petting zoo. We will really have to work hard to teach her the meaning of petting zoos. We will be ready for next year. Later, while we went to the Shelley Vs. Snake River football game. Grandpa Edwards was sick as could be and had to leave early from the game. That meant he was really sick. Well, by the time we got home Julie was not feeling very good at all. Earlier that day Julie's mom went to Utah to pick and bring home tomatoes to use in canning of many assorted projects (spaghetti sauce, salsa, chili sauce, and tomato s oup). Julie didn't feel well Saturday morning either. She started to feel a little better Saturday afternoon but Kurt became sick. He was up all night throwing up and feeling sick.

Uncle Keith and Ainzley at the parade

UH... UH... maybe from a distance

I don't think so DAD!

Ainzley and the Animals

Long story short Ainzley never got sick and the tomatoes never were canned that weekend. Monday came along and we started to process the tomatoes. A full night of boiling and peeling tomatoes. Tuesday night came the salsa and the spaghetti sauce. Another all night with huge pots of boiling sauces. Wednesday Sadie ( Kurt's sister) competed in Miss Russet. She did great and we were all proud of her. She took the title Spirit of Shelley. It was a fun evening. Thursday was more boiling and peeling. Friday huge amounts of sauces. We doubled all the recipes and sometimes found out with centimeters from boiling over that maybe we should have done it in two separate pots. Then Friday night we stayed up until 1 am to bottle all of our sauces, soups, and other things. Needless to say if we see a raw or cooked tomato anytime soon it will be too soon.

Saturday brought with it one of the greatest holidays in the world..... "SPUD DAY"! Kurt's family has a big lunch on spud day and his extended family comes from Utah to celebrate. This year was Ainzley's first spud day and she loved the parade. She even got in on the candy catching and mom and grandpa edwards (still to be determined) caught her a spuddy buddy. We had some of our nephews with us and we were able to get some cute pictures. After the Edwards family luncheon all the cousins went to the demolition derby. This was fun for many reasons. 1)crashing cars 2)Flying mud 3) fires 4)more crashing cars 5) winning prizes 6)people watching (I mean have you ever just people watched especially at a demolition derby? Redneck, hick, classy, and everywhere in between). Ainzley was hungry and tired by the beginning of the last heat so we had to leave before seeing the winner. Oh well things you do as a parent!
Sadie on the Miss Russet Float

Grandma Edwards and Ainzley at Spud Day parade
The Edwards Clan

The Barnard-Merrill Clan

Ainzley and her cousins watching the parade

Brody, Keegan, Cooper, Kurt and Ainzley

Ainzley's new favorite way to sleep

Daddy and his little girl

Angel or Demon... You decide :)

2009-08-28T13:44:00.006-07:00

Well, for those who follow the blog and/or are far away sorry it has taken us awhile again to update. We had computer issues aren't those just fun!!! Not really. Anyway, since the last time we updated I got a job. Yippee! I am working as a Special Education Aide at the high school here in Shelley. I had a rough start because I didn't really know my role, but things are looking up. Although it makes me want to be a teacher for some odd reason! Ha ha ha... Anyway, that is good. We also found out that we will have a little nephew coming our way in December. Scott and Rachael found out they are having a boy and we are super excited for them. Ainzley is on the move. She crawls and scales the walls and is super close to just running all over the place. As you will see below Ainzley is always into everything in my house! So pretty much our house is a disaster area 24-7!!! She has also been teething and has been a little grouchy, her top two teeth are super close to popping through. Kurt also went to Sandpoint, Idaho for his work for a full week, that was a tough week by myself! I don't know how single mom's handle it! But we got him home and things are better. Although life never slows down, Kurt started school this week and found out it is going to be a heavy class load, with lots of labs and reading and homework! We also have been keeping up on our garden. So far I have canned 23 1/2 quarts of beans and that is just from our bush beans, we also planted a pretty large row of pole beans so hopefully we will have a lot for the winter! We also have lots of zucchini. I really love the benefits of having a garden! Anyway, that is us, enjoy the pictures!

It was really funny to see her crawl in the cabinet! Kurt and I were just trying to make dinner and do some dishes and didn't really see that she was doing when we looked down and found her In the cabinet.

As you can see Ainzley has learned how to get into everything!

What mom?

We went and helped Grandma Merrill with some green beans. We found out that green beans really feel good to little teething girls.

She had her feet in the sink and eating green beans! It was super cute.

Helping mommy!

Love this little outfit! To bad the shorts don't fit very well!

Our awesome garden.

Ainzley loves water! One night we were out working in the garden and had the hose out. Ainzley started playing with the hose and got me and herself all wet it was pretty funny! She even put the hose in her face.

Ainzley also loves books! I love these pictures of her daddy reading to her.

Ainzley scaling the wall and trying on mom's shoes.

And of coarse we get a few bonks to the head now and then.

Watermelon and Wedding

2009-07-31T20:34:00.006-07:00

Last weekend we had lots of Kurt's family here because Kurt's twin Kraig got married to our new sister in-law Chelsey. It was a busy, busy day, but we were so excited to be able to share with Kraig and Chelsey their excitement. You can see that they are very in love and we are so excited to have Chelsey in our lives.

This weekend we are spending time with my Mecham Family. We have a big reunion down in Firth tomorrow, but other than a lunch we are pretty much just hanging out and trying to somewhat recover from a busy summer and there is still more to come! Enjoy the pictures!

Kraig and Chelsey coming out of the temple

I was lucky enough to be able to follow them around after and get some great pictures. The posing was all their photographer not me, I can't take the credit.

Ainzley, Uncle Kraig, and Aunt Chelsey

Grandma, Grandpa and Ainzley (they don't like her at all can you tell :) )

Grandpa and Ainzley

Mom and Ainzley: She was such a trooper for such a long day! We sure love our little girl.

Our little family

Some more of Kraig and Chelsey

What a beautiful bride

The girls in the Edwards' family. Now the girls out number the boys! I don't think Gay ever thought that day would come!

Our cute little girl enjoying some watermelon on a hot summer day.

She knows how to smile for the camera.

LOVE THIS ONE!

Also just a few updates on Ainzley. She can officially crawl, but really enjoys walking more. But we are excited that she is learning to do both. She also has two front bottom teeth. She is still as loving as ever and keeps mom and dad VERY busy!

We Are Still Alive

2009-07-21T12:50:00.006-07:00

Yes, the Edwards family is still alive. We have recently had many issues with our blog. At first the computer would kick us off the site 5 out of 6 times. Then when we went to add pictures the blog wouldn't let us add pictures. It was all very frustrating. But I think all is good now. We haven't had that many problems with it recently so hopefully it is all fixed by now.

This last month has gone by so fast. I can't believe that summer vacation is coming to a close just around the corner. That means back to school for Kurt, while Julie stays home with Ainzley unless she is lucky enough to get one of the 50 jobs she has applied for. Yeah great economy for a newly graduated college student to find a job. J/K

Some big news this last month was that Julie's younger brother Kevin returned after serving a full time mission in the Thailand Bangkok mission. He is a great guy and we have enjoyed spending time with him and helping him get his school plans in order. Also, Ainzley is on the verge of full mobility. She refuses to crawl but has taken steps all on her own. One moment she will just be sitting and the next she will have stood up and taken a step or two before falling on her bum. She has been so fun to watch grow and learn. She keeps her mom very busy throughout the day. We also have been blessed to see lots of family and have a brand new baby niece Afton! Below are pictures from the last month or so just to catch everyone up!

4th of July Firework show in Idaho Falls

Kraig and Chelsey they are getting married this Saturday!

Our little family at the fireworks. I am starting to learn how to make bows and I made this one for her!

The Edwards Clan everyone except Tyson who is on his mission in Africa.

Aunt Rachael and Ainzley

My cute little cousins waiting for Kevin! Kelsey did a great job on her signs and was willing to let everyone hold them! Good job Kels!

Uncle Keith and Ainzley! Kevin's plane wasn't scheduled to come in until 10:03 pm so it was a very late night and Ainzley was very tired.

And he is home! He got to return with Elder Ashbocker (sorry if it is spelled wrong) they were in the MTC together and returned at the same time.

Meeting Ainzley for the first time!

Hugging mom

The crowd of lots of friends and family

The Barnard Brothers

And our new little niece Afton, born July 13th.

Well that is all for now. We have a big weekend of wedding stuff so hopefully we can post a little sooner next time.

Whopping Wallace

2009-06-14T20:42:00.013-07:00

This past week Kurt and I had the opportunity to go to the whopping town of Wallace, Idaho. Kurt had to go for work and Ainzley and I got to tag along as chaperons. We were in a town of about 900. The town is very historic it was established in the late 1800's as a mining town and has many of the original buildings from early 1900's because there was a huge fire that tore through the town. Well, it is a different atmosphere than here in Southeast Idaho, but the people were very nice. Ainzley and I walked the town a lot while we were there while dad was at work. They still have the mining town atmosphere bars, bars, and more bars... I think there were 9-10 bars for this small little town 1/4 the size of Shelley. Oh and needless to say they have an Oasis Bordero Museum or a brothel museum. Oh and did we tell you this brothel was active until 1988!!! We were told at one time back in the day (early 1900's) every building that had a second story ran a brothel on the second floor. We had the opportunity to visit an old mine and tour inside, we were 900 feet underground (pictures below). I also took the opportunity to take some pictures of Ainzley for her 6 months pictures! The buildings are very old and very fun to take pictures around. Hope you enjoy.

At one time Wallace was identified as "The Center of the Universe" of course this was due to errors and is no longer considered such...

OKAY WARNING CUTE BABY PICTURES AHEAD!!! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO OOOH AND AWWW DON'T LOOK. HA HA HA JUST KIDDING LOOK AT ALL OF THEM IF WE DO SAY SO OURSELVES SHE IS THE CUTEST THING EVER!

In front of the Carnegie Library

Our little family at the outdoor museum.

Our little logger

What to even say she is a natural at smiling. Really I didn't have to work hard at all to get any of these pictures. She just smiled! Oh and everyday we went out walking no kidding someone would say "oh she is so cute!" or "wow she just made my day" I am so glad we have such a wonderful little girl.

Dad and Ainz when we were Geocaching!

Her nose was a little runny due to teething. Which actually did cause a little havoc on our trip home. Who can blame her though 9 hours in the car and teething! Let's just say we were ALL ready to get out of the car.

At lunch with mom.

In the train car.

Trouble maker?

Love this picture!

And this one!

Her little chubby toes

After picture taking she was worn out!

These are some of Kurt's favorites in front of this old car.

She had to sleep in 2 chairs pushed together, for the most part she did okay.

This was the ally by our hotel. If you didn't know what year this photo was taken, what year do you think this picture would be in? The old little town was cool and Kurt and I really enjoyed learning about a different way of life. I also recently just studied about Wallace in my Idaho History Class last semester so it made everything even more interesting to me.

Dad and Ainz at the outdoor museum.

Our little miner

These pictures were from our evening walk to look at the old houses. Annie we found the cutest little houses with a huge wrap around white porch and we thought of you. Didn't you say you wanted a house with a cute wrap around porch someday? Some of the houses were from the late 1800's they were amazing! And well taken care of.

This is a really cool old church built in 1910. It has awesome detail. There are like 7 other old churches there also.

We found this on one of the streets. Dad is the miner and Ainz the lantern! Our little ray of sunshine!

Outside the gold mine we toured.

Panning for gold and other gems after our tour.

Old tools that the miners left after blowing closed their mine. It was discovered 100 years later by the current owner who now gives tours from this old mine.

Our little family 900 feet into the ground.

COOL STUFF FROM THE MINE.

Rusted copper mark that looks like a skull

Smithsonite a rare color form of it.

Other mines...

This is one we just saw driving around.

The famous Sunshine Mine.

Overall we had a great mini family vacation. It was awesome to be with Kurt and we loved learning about the history of Idaho.

P.S. Uncle Kevin gets home from his mission in 26 DAYS!!!

Hanging out with mom and teething...

2009-05-28T14:37:00.005-07:00

Today I just couldn't resist showing off Ainzley's new shoes her Grandma Merrill bought her. They are so stinking cute! Also Ainzley is teething and has been for a couple months, but the dang things won't poke through. Anyway, we have these long round ice cubes she loves to hold and suck on. It is pretty cute. We love our little girl!

Mom and Ainzeley

Cute little shoes, light blue with daisys

Shoes again... :)

What mom?

This one was one of my favorites.

Holding her ice cube all by herself.

Sun, Sports, and Smiles :)

2009-05-21T21:49:00.006-07:00

This past weekend we were able to get our nasty rose beds cleaned up. Here are some before and after pictures of all of the hard work which was mostly done by Kurt! He is such an awesome husband and takes such great care of Ainzley and I! Love ya honey!

Kurt working hard on the rose bed.

AFTER!!!

Our little family and a preview of my hair cut.

My cute little mom or shall we say "Grandma Merrill :)"

We also got a chance to go to Keith's baseball game. Way to go Keith he is an awesome little sports star!

Mommy and Ainzley oh and for everyone who wanted to see my hair cut there ya go.

Okay and now for the show case of our beautiful little girl. Ainzley will be 6 months on the 25th and so I was playing around taking some pictures today. I loved the little outfit and the braclet and cute clip in her hair. I don't know about you, but we sure think she is adorable, but we might be a little biased. Here is just a small sample of the pictures I took. :)

Ainzley and daddy at the baseball game.

Ainzley thinking she needs to crawl... okay we really just sat her down and that is how she landed so I had to take a picture. She isn't crawling, but she is rolling A LOT!

For Those Who Don't Believe in Coupons

2009-05-12T20:28:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone! So lately, thanks to Kurt's mom we have been able to learn how to do what is now called "couponing." As we have told others about it, some kind of blow it off. Well after our shopping today we just had to share our "belief" in couponing with everyone. Today Kurt and I went shopping and spent $29.62 on 36 items. Which is an average of $0.82 an item. The best part is guess how much we saved!!! Are you ready... drum roll please... $109.01! No one can tell me that couponing is not worth it. Above is a picture of all the items we got from shopping today. They are awesome brand name items that we not only needed, but will help us build our food storage also. Here are just a few of the great deals:

Cereal-$.50

Kraft Dressing- $.25

Formula- $.82

Dish Soap- $. 50

Velveeta- $.75

Ritz Crakers- $.88

Wheat Thins- $.99

Triscuit- $.99

And other great deals...

We also had a good Mother's Day. We went to Logan to Kurt's grandma's and got to spend time with his family and talk to Tyson. We also got to see my family later Sunday night and got to talk to Kevin. Both of the missionaries are doing great. Kurt and Ainzley gave me these beautiful flowers and some awesome hair products since I recently chopped my hair off. Sorry we don't have very many pictures we forgot our camera!

Oh how she grows!

2009-04-20T10:46:00.008-07:00

Well things are good here. We are so blessed with our beautiful little girl and we love her so much. She is always happy and smiling and flirting with everyone she sees! Kurt and I both look at her and can't believe how much she has grown and how fast the time has gone. We have enjoyed every stage, from tiny newborn to our giggly little girl today. Here is a glimpse at the last 5 months.

Our First Family picture

Ainzley just hours old!

One month old on Christmas Day.

Two months old January

Three months. Look at that tounge! Now she loves to blow spit bubbles.

Four months March. We love this little outfit. Thanks so much Marci for all the cute clothes!

And now almost Five months. This is Ainzley when Kurt and I were trimming trees.

Just smiling for her dad.

Right before our walk to the post office! We just love this girl.

And this is her crazy hair we love that it is starting to ge a little longer.

Have a great day!

Hopping Happenings!

2009-04-12T21:15:00.008-07:00

Well we realized that we haven't posted for almost a month! Sorry everyone! As you will see it has been pretty busy around here. First of all Julie graduated from college with a BS Communication degree. It has been a rough semester, but she did and and it was a lot of fun to attend convocation and commencement. We also had a lot of family support. Without our families there is no way we could have finished up so thanks to everyone for all your love and support!

This weekend has been a weekend of celebration with graduation on Thursday night and Friday morning and then all of the Easter fun on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went to the Mecham Family Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ. We had a blast with all the little kids and Julie and I were able to hide the eggs. Sunday we went down to Merrills to hang out. We were able to find two adorable dresses for Ainzley and she was able to wear one to the graduation and one for easter. She is getting so big and each day she is just so much fun to be around. We love her lots!

She started eating some rice cereal and is still trying to get used to it, but she is funny to watch. You can always tell when she is done because she starts "blowing bubbles" or shall we say blowing cereal all over mom and dad. Another one of her favorite things to do is blow spit bubbles and talk. She hasn't rolled over yet, but she is super close.

So here are some pictures from the past few weeks including a trip to Boise, Easter, graduation and more...

Our little family at graduation
Ainzley and her Easter basket and her Easter Dress
Ainzley when she first sees her Easter Basket. Okay so really she is smiling at her daddy, but it makes for a good picture!
Happy with her Easter toy!
Edwards at the graduation
Julie's family at the graduation on Friday. Yippee!
All those who came to convocation on Thursday (minus Kurt who is taking the pictures) Mommy and Ainzley
Our little family again.
Rice cereal YUM!
Tyler and Chealsee (sorry if that is spelled wrong) Friends of Julie's we were able to visit in Boise.
Ainzley and Kurt's Uncle Terry
Julie and her friend Heidi also in Boise

Happy St. Patricks Day and more...

2009-03-16T17:56:00.006-07:00

Well just wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patricks Day! Thanks for the bow Vandy!
Also I have been taking a photojournalism class and had to take some pictures so I thought I would show some of the stuff I have done.

First Kurt was so sweet and brought me home flowers on Friday after a terrible day at school! Thank hunny I love you!

This picture I had to have the background clear and the foreground blurry.

This was just the opposite foreground clear, back blury.

The next pictures had to be just window light. I had a lot of fun with these and Ainzley was being really cute.

A Hand Full of Firsts

2009-03-08T19:58:00.008-07:00

A list of Ainzley's "first" from the weekend:

First stroller ride
First time in Salt Lake City
First time at a hotel
First time swimming
First time being sick
First time for a 3 hour car ride
First time going to the ER!

Well, this week has been really interesting and a lot of "firsts" for Ainzley. This weekend we went to SLC with my family for a wedding. The wedding was early so we went down friday night and stayed in a hotel. Before we even headed down there were a few trials. Starting with our little girl being sick. Ainzley is not feeling well at all. She has been coughing so much that she starts to throw up and now she has a runny nose with it all. This is the first time she has been sick and it brings on a whole new meaning to being parents. We feel so bad that our little girl is so miserable. It got so bad Saturday night after we got back that we ended up taking her to the ER. Luckily everything is okay, but we just wanted to make sure that she wasn't dehydrated or anything since she kept throwing up. Sad thing is though, there is nothing we can give her it all just has to run its course. We hate having our cute little girl be so sick and miserable! While in Salt Lake we were able to enjoy spending time with Brutch, Mom, and Keith. We went to dinner and then went swimming at the pool. This was Ainzley's first time and she really loved the water. We thought she looked really cute, plus the humid atmosphere helped with her cold. It was so cute too, I went and sat on the side of the hot tub and put my legs in while she was sitting on my lap. I just splashed some of the water on her little legs and she fell asleep in my arms. I just love my cute little girl! We have had fun, but it has been a super challenging weekend. Oh and P.S. only 4 weeks and 4 days till graduation! I can't wait!

Kurt, Me, Brutch, Mom, Keith Garrett, and Gaby

She really liked the stroller.

Dad pushing the stroller.

Grandma Merrill (my mom) couldn't help but take this picture showing her cute little thighs.

Our cute little niece Gaby.

Mommy and Ainzley! Good picture taking dad.

Way to smile Keith!

Our little family outside the temple. After a long night of no sleep and lots of throwing up I think we look pretty good :) ha ha ha

We put her in her carseat to go to the temple and this is what she did! It was so cute we couldn't help but take a picture. It was like "Please don't put me in there!"

Falling asleep at the hot tub!

Keith and Brutch enjoying the pool!

Oh I love my daddy!

Ainzley and dad in the pool.

Ainzley and mom getting ready to go swimming.

We have had to use mittens to help her to stop scratching her face up! If you look close you can see how much she has scratched her face.

Ainzley and daddy sleeping!

Our Little Angel

2009-02-24T22:22:00.005-07:00

Ainzley is so cute we just can't stop taking pictures of her so enjoy.

This is her in a little snow suit thing we were given by a family friend.

I just love this outfit! We just got it from one of my aunt and uncles!

She is starting to smile, talk, and coo a lot! We love it!

And of course sleep :)

Kurt also finished some awesome puzzles this month.

Ainzley's Valentine's Day outfit! Thanks Vandy for the bows!

She loves her hands!

All and all we just love this sweet little angel!!!

A video FINALLY!

2009-02-15T19:09:00.003-07:00

Kurt took this video sometime last week. She finally found her thumb. She doesn't suck on it very often, but she really does like playing with her hands a lot.

February Crazyness

2009-02-08T17:15:00.008-07:00

Well, there is not much to say, but we wanted to post some new pictures of Ainzley. We also are going to try to post some video soon, but we don't have the right cord yet. Anyway, Kurt and I are just pushing forward with school. We are both very busy, but it is wonderful to be able to come home to our sweet little baby girl. Being a parent is the best feeling in the whole world. We love her so much! Oh also we are wondering who she looks like more Kurt or Julie so please vote we are curious to see what people think! Thanks!

A Few of Kevin's Mission Pictures

2009-01-22T16:28:00.003-07:00

Hey for any of you who know Kevin he is doing great on his mission and loving Thailand! Here are a few pictures he sent this week.

Blessing Day and More!

2009-01-18T18:59:00.009-07:00

Since the last post Julie and I have had some new things in life start. First Julie started her last semester of school and will soon be getting her very own communications (emphisis in PR) degree to use as she sees fit. I am very proud of her and can't wait to see my hunny graduate on April 10, 2009. I have also started school. I love all of my classes except spanish and enjoy the fact that I have all my classes in Idaho Falls (No Pocatello). We had the great oppurtunity of blessing our little bundle of joy. I was able to bless her and it was an amazing feeling. Ainzley looked like a little angel. Ainzley's dress was the same dress that Julie was blessed in. It was neat that they were able to share that. We have loved seeing Ainzley in all her outfits and love dressing her up. She is gaining wieght and is now 11lbs 4oz and 22 inches long. We love her so much.

Ainzley loves her baths.

Mom and Ainzley before church.

Ainzley in her blessing dress.

Ainzley's First Christmas

2008-12-29T14:27:00.014-07:00

Well, Christmas had a whole new feel to it this year since we now have three in our little family. Luckily Ainzley is small enough she doesn't need much right now, but it was still fun to get her a few gifts. She also got spoiled from her grandparents on both sides. She got lots of fun toys and rattles. Her favorite toy right now is a little cute seahorse that plays lullaby's. Okay... maybe she doesn't have a favorite, but mom and dad sure do because it helps her sleep at night at little better. Kurt and I were also very spoiled and got a lot of great gifts. Ranging from clothes, shoes, games, DVDs, etc. We are so grateful for all the kind and thoughtful gifts we received. I will be starting school on Jan. 8th I think and I am not looking forward to it, but I have to get it done. Kurt starts again the week after I do. Other than that Kurt is working and I am home enjoying our little girl and trying to get a schedule down. :) Here are some pictures from Christmas and a few other cute ones of Ainzley.

Loving Baby Life

2008-12-14T16:16:00.012-07:00

Well, as many of you know when you have a new baby all you want to do is take pictures of him or her. And Kurt and I aren't any different. We love taking pictures of our precious little angel. Ainzley has been doing so well. She likes to eat A LOT!!! She has been a good sport too as both dad and mom have tried to get Christmas shopping done, celebrate mom's birthday, and attend family Christmas parties. We have been pretty busy, but that is to be expected for this time of year. Well this will be mostly a post of pictures. ENJOY! We sure do :) Oh yeah and Ainzley also got her picture taken with Santa (AKA Grandpa Merrill).

Uncle Kent and Uncle Keith enjoying their niece. Uncle Keith and Ainzley

Ally holding Ainzley. Ally is my cousin Michelle's little girl.Dad and Ainzley getting ready to go get family pictures.

Spreading Christmas Cheer with the Family

2008-12-12T13:27:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Home Sweet Home

2008-11-30T16:02:00.013-07:00

Well, we were able to come home from the hospital on Thursday. It was a day earlier than expected, but the doctor thought that both mom and baby were doing well enough to go home. We were able to enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner with Kurt's family. In fact it was fun to surprise them because they didn't know the baby and I were coming along. Ainzley is a very loved baby. She has already been visited by lots of family and friends and is loved by them all.

The first few nights have been challenging. Ainzley is trying to get used to her new home, and mom and dad are trying to get used to taking care of a baby and learning baby talk or shall I say baby cry. For the most part she has done really well, but we are still trying to get into a schedule.

Yesterday and today Kurt and I were able to decorate for Christmas inside. Kurt really wants to get the outside stuff done, but for now we were able to do the inside. The outside will be done soon though.

Other than that we are just enjoying our little girl and taking lots of pictures! We love her so much and wouldn't trade her for anything.

A Little Precious Gift to be Thankful For

2008-11-25T21:57:00.008-07:00

Ainzley Gaylin Edwards

7lbs 10oz

21 inches long

Born Nov. 25th at 5:44pm

Here she is......(in all her perfection)

Baby and Mom are doing great. We did have to have a C-Section but everything is going well. All high spirits in the Edwards Room.

Guess What!!!

2008-11-21T22:20:00.006-07:00

NO BABY YET! Julie wants me to make sure that you all know that I (Kurt) wrote this post. I have just wanted to say this for so long I finally broke down and said it. I hope that you all understand. The Due Date countdown clock has been removed not because we had the baby but because it started to count upwards after we hit the due date on Nov. 19th. I removed it because Julie was getting more and more depressed (ha ha JK) with every day that was added. We have tried EVERYTHING to get this baby to come to no avail. She is one stubborn baby. Julie and I are walking more and more lately. Yesterday we walked three miles on the nature path. Here are some pics of our adventures it was really windy and we almost got blown away. We also walk to the grocery store every time we need something. So far 3 times this week. I have started parking further away from the entrance to stores to get Julie to walk. Heavenly Father must have told our little girl that we needed extra exercise and it was her job to get us to do it. She is already performing her life's work. Tomorrow we are going to a family Thanksgiving Dinner in Blackfoot. I think we will walk. :) Ha ha no way!!!

Another Baby Shower!!

2008-11-08T19:13:00.012-07:00

Yesterday was another baby shower. This time it was the ladies of our ward and also ladies from the ward we both grew up in. Julie said that it was a lot of fun and that she was happy to have seen them there. We were able to receive nice gifts from everyone. Thanks for all the hard work that Grandma Edwards, Aunt Sadie, and Aunt Rachael put into throwing the shower. I hear that the refreshments were great. (Okay they were good. I was able to taste a few of the leftovers.) Here are some pics of the fantastic gifts that we received.

Car seat cover made by Grandma Edwards.

Well we are now all ready for her to make her grand entrance. It will be a great day when she decides it is finally time to meet her parents. It is killing me not knowing when she will come. Until, that great post, Julie and I will enjoy the time we have left to just the two of us.

Halloween and Beyond!!

2008-11-02T14:42:00.021-07:00

It's funny how things can be so quiet for a couple of weeks and then in one weekend so many fun events can happen. This last Friday for Halloween we sat at home wondering what to do. Julie doesn't like scary movies but she said that I could find one on t.v, and she would watch it with me. This was a big sacrifice for her, maybe she just wanted to go into labor early, who knows. So we started to watch a scary movie and then began to make sugar cookies. The sugar cookies were so much fun. Julie prepared the dough earlier in the day so we used her mom's cookie cutters and made some cute pumpkins, bats, and ghosts. Then we colored the frosting with food coloring. I was in charge of mixing the food coloring and if I do say so myself I was pretty good at mixing the colors. After making the cookies and frosting them our cool neighbors came over and asked if we wanted to come over and watch a scary movie with them. It was so much fun. We watched the movie Skin Walkers. It was fun to do something with our neighbors, they are so nice. As for the number of trick-or-treaters if I did my calculations correctly we ended up with ONE. It is sad how the door to door trick-or-treating tradition has died.

Saturday morning Julie had a baby shower to go to. She seemed to have a blast and received oodles of cute, fun gifts. As you can see our little girl won't have to be afraid of going cold. She received a blanket from every grandmother. They are all beautiful. Other gifts included a diaper cake (very cute), a diaper box, head band, a pink and purple bouncer, medicine, and other fun and useful gifts. Also Julie and I have chosen what she is coming home in. We thought this was cute. After the baby shower Julie and I worked on getting our little girl's room ready. Also she decided to get her bag ready in case we need to run to the hospital soon. (Vandy, as you requested :) the outfit she is coming home in is posted below).

Julie went to the doctor on Friday and found out that her body is preparing to deliver this baby. She is possibly dilating to a one or a two. Friday night Julie started having contractions that were spaced about 4-7 min apart but only lasted for 5 or 6 contractions then stoped. It was a little nerve racking thinking it could happen. I don't know if anyone is ever ready for the baby until after the baby's arrival.

Saturday night Julie and I were able to have fun with both our parents and Julie's grandparents(Mecham). We went the the Bingham Memorial Hospital Harvest Moon Gala. It was a lot of fun. Julie was able to get some tickets from work and so we were able to have a fun night on the town. We hoped Kraig and his date could attend but she had some family in town and was not able to come. The night was full of food, dancing, and silent auctioning. I tried to talk Julie into biding on the Carribean Cruise but she said for some reason that we couldn't afford it. It was auctioned off for 2400 dollars. The dinner was good at the gala and we all had fun. It was fun for Julie and I to see our parents having fun dancing the night away. Here are some pics and video from the night.

In over our HEADS!!!

2008-10-12T15:53:00.018-07:00

Well, I thought that when we did apples and green beans that canning was pretty much over for us, but we weren't! So yesterday we started out the day helping my mom and Keith pick apples at a friends house here in Shelley. Keith (my little brother) was a lot of great help. We ended up picking 5 potato boxes and 3 buckets full of apples in 2 hours. Keith and Kurt climbed into the trees, my mom on the latter and I stood below Keith as he threw apples down to me. It was a little chilly, but nothing compared to later in the afternoon!

After we picked the apples we decided we would go and pick pears and plums at Kurt's parents house. Kurt really said he likes plum jam (I have never had it) so since we knew it was getting so cold we thought we better go pick things. Unfortunately when we got there it started snowing like crazy. So here are Kurt and I out in the snow picking thousands of plums! Literally we picked a full box full of plums and 8 grocery bags! There were still a few plums left on the tree! Kurt and I brought home a full box and 3 bags thinking that it would take a lot more to make jam than it did. More on that in a minute.

So after picking plums we took them in the house and went to pick pears. We had to switch gloves because our gloves were so wet we were squeezing water out of the gloves and our hands were freezing. I wish we would have had our camera to show you how crazy the snow was! Anyway, so then Kurt went and picked pears on the ladder. Luckily, Kraig (Kurt's brother) picked half the bucket before we went back there. Thanks for the help Kraig!

So with our hands overly full we headed home. First we started by freezing our crook neck squash and potatoes. This took a a good 2 hours. Thank heavens Kurt and I were able to do it together we ended up cutting up 11 quarts of potatoes. I will give you a full list of all the stuff we have done this year in a minute, but first the plum story.

So at 8 pm Kurt and I started the plum jam! I had heard this was going to be easy so I didn't think much of starting that late! Oh boy I was wrong! As we started to pit them plums we found they aren't that easy to PIT!!! At one point we would just squeeze the plums in our hand and get the pit. Our hands were a mess and stained yellow! After pitting only 1/3 of the box it was a full 6 to 7 quarts of plums (only 1/3 of our box :( so sad). Then we realized that, that amount of plums makes 4 batches of jam, and we had only bought 4 boxes of pectin. So we began the cooking process. During the middle of it all, my math smart husband realized that we weren't going to have enough jars! So he made a run up to his mom's and luckily she had a few more jars we could use (he also figured out that if we made all our plums into jam we would be making 162 1/2 pints). It was a long, long night. After cooking the jam with all the special directions, we had to bottle it, and seal it! We got done with it all at about 11 pm or 11:30 pm. We have lots of pictures to show our adventures from yesterday. All and all here is our list of all the produce we have done this fall:

16 quarts of Crook Neck
4 quarts of cabbage
11 quarts of potatoes
19 quarts of peaches
34 quarts apples
24 quarts of green beans
26- 1/2 pints plum jam
7 pints of plum jam

We are also going to bag our spaghetti squash and freeze it and we will probably have a good 10 quarts of that. So as you see our freezer is full our cabinets are full and hopefully it will all help in the winter with both Kurt and I in school and a baby. We still have a ton of plums to do something with we thought about trying to bottle a few so that we could use them for the baby, but if anyone in the area that looks at our blog wants some plums let us know. It was a crazy Saturday and we were both really really tired.