Pictures with Santa

My sister Kala works at the Harley Davidson store in Chandler on weekends and some weeknights. They had free Santa Pictures on the weekend of the 19th so Keely and Mikey brought their kids and I brought Shelby. Alec joined us as well. It was a lot of fun and Santa was amazing.

Makellen with Santa

Kannin with Santa. Look at those eyes!

Shelby's turn. Here she is pulling Santa's (real) beard....ouch. He was so nice to her!

When Santa stopped her from pulling his beard and he put her on his lap she starting crying...loud. She is developing quite a temper.

Kala calming her down and playing with her.

We tried again and she did great. Here is a great picture with Santa!

Cereal? No thanks....

We are introducing solids into Shelby's diet. So far, she is not a fan. Dustin likes to give her soy sauce (when we eat sushi) and she sucked on an orange slice once, but other than that she doesn't like anything. We will keep trying and she will learn to love food - just like her mom. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to Oceanside, CA for Thanksgiving and spent the weekend with Dustin's family. We stayed in a beautiful beach house and had a room overlooking the ocean. We walked out the door and took a few steps and we were literally on the beach. It was awesome!

Dustin's family is wonderful; I love them and loved spending time with them. We celebrated his grandparent's 50th anniversary, ate a lot of food, spent time on the beach, watched movies, relaxed, visited, and just had a great time. We missed our immediate families and hope they had a great Thanksgiving. I love this holiday - we have so much to be thankful for.

First pit stop. Dustin - you are hot stuff!

Another road trip!

Family picture by the beach

Dustin and Shelby

Hanging with cousins! Shelby had so much fun with all her cousins.

Ultimate Frisbee on the beach

Shelby playing in the sand. She puts everything in her mouth so I knew she would try to eat it. I figured she wouldn't like it and would stop. I was wrong - she loved it and got so mad when I stopped her from eating it.

Cute face

Geo-caching. Trying to find the treasure in the rocks. Jera and Shelby.

Shelby with Grandma and Grandpa Pennington

Nu Skin Trip

Jera and I took a trip to Utah the weekend of Nov. 21 to learn about Nu Skin. It was a great trip! We are really excited about this business opportunity! Jera's friend made over $7000 in his third month since signing up. We can't wait to get started.

While we were there we were also able to visit some family. We saw Aunt Chris, Heather, and Loriann and hung out at the mall. Then we went stayed at Jera's Aunt Barbara's house. It was so nice seeing everyone.

Shelby was great. This was after the 12 hour trip back home on Sunday.

Shelby was relieved to get out of her car seat.

What??? Read the sign....:)

(Home of the Ho-Made pies)

Jera and Shelby

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day on 11/11!

My CEO sent an email with the following text and I thought it was a great reminder of a day I often treat as any other day.

"November 11 is the anniversary of the armistice that was signed by the Allies and the Germans in 1918, ending World War I after four years of conflict. At 11:00 AM on Monday, November 11, 1918, all firing ceased, and impromptu celebrations began around the world.

Each year since, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause to remember the veterans and soldiers who have served, and who continue to serve.."

Dustin's boot camp graduation photo. He served in Iraq. Thank you Dustin.. and all those who help protect our freedom.

Big Weekend for Shelby

Shelby turned 6 months old on Friday! Time is going by so fast. This weekend she proved she is growing up quickly. Saturday I saw her roll over from her back to her stomach for the first time. She is also sitting up on her own now. Today Dustin watched her and said she rolled under the coffee table and couch - she has obviously got the hang of it now. I guess we won't be leaving her on the couch anymore.

Sitting up on her own!

We had a yard sale at Jera's house. Good morning!

We got to spend the weekend with Jera and we had a lot of fun.

First nephew!

My sister Keely had her baby boy on 11/6! Kannin Ray was 8 lbs. 1 oz. I got to babysit Makellen while they were at the hospital. We couldn't visit them because they wouldn't allow little kids (flu season I guess). We were so excited when they came home Saturday afternoon. Congratulations Mikey and Keely!

Shelby, Kannin, and Kala

Mom and Dad with Makellen, Kannin, and Shelby

Opening his eyes! He sleeps a lot.

Rolling over

Shelby can roll over now! She hasn't figured out how to roll over from her back to her stomach, but she has mastered her stomach to her back!

Girls Trip to Flagstaff

Last weekend Kala, Shelby and I took a road trip to Flagstaff. First we drove around the NAU campus. It has changed so much since we went to school there. We loved that school! Good memories. Then we went shopping (NAU bookstore, downtown, and Target) and ate at Crystal Creek. We stayed the night and went to the mountain Sunday morning. The leaves were beautiful! It was a wonderful weekend!

Shelby getting ready for bed.
Shelby and me at the top of the mountain.

Kala, Shelby, and me
Kala and Shelby
Playing in (and eating) the leaves
On the way home!
We sat on the 17 (between the outlet stores and Happy Valley Rd) for an hour and a half. Shelby pooped her pants and it was all over. The last part of the trip wasn't fun...but the rest of the weekend was wonderful!

Rogers Family Camping Trip

Each year our family goes camping. We have had great memories (dutch-oven cooking, games, smores and peach cobbler, rain storms, trucks stuck in the mud or not starting, etc.). This year was just as wonderful - Shelby had a great first camping trip! There was a controlled burn nearby, so it was really smoky, but still beautiful. The nights were chilly and the days were gorgeous. We had a lasso golf tournament and Alec won - he got lucky (ha ha). It was a great camping trip! Can't wait until next year. (Dustin had to work - we missed him.)

Back Yard

One of the joys of owning a house is having a back yard for Maya (and eventually Shelby will play in it too). Dustin has been working hard on getting grass in the back yard. I thought he was crazy to try to get anything to grow in this extreme heat, but he succeeded and it looks great! I love looking out the kitchen window and seeing our cute little yard. Good job Dustin. I'm sure Maya loves it too!

Yes, I know Maya isn't playing in the yard (but you can see the green grass in the background). She wanted to come back in and eat so this is the best shot I got. I'm sure she is smiling on the inside :)

Sick

It's been a rough week for little Shelby. She caught whatever bug is going around. This is the first time she has gotten sick so it was a new experience. We waited a few days, thinking it would get better, but after she continued throwing up we took her to the doctor. They didn't know exactly what it was, but it isn't anything serious. Hope she feels better soon.

First Haircut

Dustin gave Shelby her first haircut on 8/30/09. So long "old-man hair"!

Here is the before shot.....
Here come the clippers.
What is going on?
Stay still....
All done. So pretty (even though you can't see it...trust me).

White Wedding

Jaysen White (Dustin's best friend) got married 8/22/09. Dustin wouldn't have missed it and really enjoyed hanging out with Jaysen Friday and Saturday. The wedding was outside and the weather was perfect. Dustin was in the wedding party. Heather and Jaysen worked really hard getting everything ready and it was a pleasure helping them. It was a beautiful wedding! Congratulations to Jaysen and Heather!