Happy Halloween!

As first-time Halloween parents we were pretty excited to doll up our little girl.  Truly, with the craziness of the move we couldn't have done it without help.  Just before we left Denver, a sweet work friend of mine, Alice, surprised us with a super-cute lady bug costume!  Now my only task was to figure out a 'family theme' around the lady bug.  The only thing I could come up with was for Geoff to dress up like a "BUG" and I would dress as a "LADY".

We got our costumes ready for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat, but the event was pretty much all outside at a park and it was almost freezing weather.  There was one small building where people could escape to for warmth, that's where Geoff and Hylie hung out while I passed out candy, so people never really saw us together, so our costumes never truly worked.  But no matter!  There's always next year!  But one thing's for sure, Hylie definitely looked cute!

 

We certainly look forward to more Halloween's which will be filled with Pumpkin Patches, Pumpkin Carving, Costumes, and little fingers helping me make cookies instead of me hurriedly doing so during nap time.

Bread! Glorious, Bread!

For our wedding, Grandma Furin was extremely generous and gave us a bread maker and wheat grinder.  We were so excited to experience the delightful loaves that would come from such gifts.  I had attempted to make bread prior to the bread maker entering our lives with some success, but it seemed Denver's altitude had too much influence on the outcome.  The bread maker proved to bring a great deal of improvement to my baked goods, showing much success on regular, white bread but when I would make wheat bread, each loaf came out different--some remarkably well and others...let's just put it this way, one brother in our Denver Ward had a taste of one of the loaves I made which didn't rise as much as past loaves had.  He lifted a piece and declared, "Why, this is pioneer bread!"  After Geoff and I asked what he meant he proudly explained, "This is the type of bread they would throw at the Indians!"  Ugh.  I was definitely wanting more consistency with my bread experiences.  So I begged a sister in our ward who was notorious for her amazing baked goods.  At first she brushed me off, but my persistent begging finally convinced her that I wanted to know how to bake bread in high altitude.  Finally, an appointment was set.  She gave me the list of ingredients to get, one of which was "Dough Enhancer".  I went from store to store looking for this product with no success.  Finally, I asked her where she finds hers.  "Utah," was her reply.  By this time I was 6 months pregnant and had no plans of traveling anywhere.  But luckily, Dean and Andrea did (Andrea's way more brave than I am to travel prego).  So they were kind enough to pick up some Dough Enhancer for me while they were visiting family.  We set another appointment which was postponed due to Hylie's birth.  Another appointment set, but the sweet sister got sick.  Then Geoff and I realized we were moving, so after all the efforts, I never learned how to make perfect bread in the Mile-High City.  But no worries, because now that we're in Chicago, we experience beautiful bread like this:

I cannot tell you how I squealed with delight when I opened up the machine after our first attempt of making wheat bread in Chicago.  I think I'm going to like living here.  :)

Hylie's Blessing Day

Hylie was blessed on our first Sunday in Chicago.  We wanted to have her blessing at a time when family would be present and since Mom and Dad Woodhouse were troopers and helped us move, they were with us for the occasion.  To make things even better, my parents and Janna drove over from Pittsburgh as well--so Hylie was spoiled and had both sets of Grandparents with her.  Grant and Rachel hosted the Pittsburgh travelers and made the drive over to Niles to help us move, feed us some yummy food, and be there for her blessing.  What a treat to be surrounded by family!  We are truly grateful to be here in Chicago and have already spent some more time with Grant, Rachel and Eli.

The day of Hylie's blessing was pretty rainy, so we took pictures inside where the lighting wasn't that great because we still weren't anywhere near being situated from the move!

Dad and Grant were able to stand in on the blessing

Grammy and Pappy getting in a few more squeezes before they headed to the airport

Rachel, Eli and Grant with Hylie

Grandma and Grandpa Nelson and Aunt Janna with Hylie

Grandma Nelson made Hylie's blessing dress and the beautiful blessing blanket

Hylie enjoying being held by Aunt Janna

If I look tired it's because I was exhausted from the move.  I don't know how we could have made it without all the help we received from friends and family!

Geoff pronounced a beautiful blessing on Hylie.  We already feel so incredibly blessed to have this lovely daughter in our lives.  We can only hope and pray to return to her the happiness she brings us.

Hylie at Two Months

Shortly after we moved to Chicago, look who celebrated her two-month mark:

At her check-up, she weighed in at 14 lbs. 3 oz. and was 24" long.  She's at the top of the charts for height and a little OVER the charts for her weight!  She also got her first vaccination shots...I do believe Mom cried more than Hylie.

A Visit with Nana

On our way to Chicago we were very excited to visit with Geoff's grandmother, Nana (Muriel Redmond) in St. Joe, Missouri.  Hylie is her first great-grandchild, so we were thrilled to give them the chance to meet each other.

When we first arrived, Hylie and Nana didn't waste any time getting acquainted

I love how Hylie's now able to really start focusing on people's faces.  She truly was checking Nana out the entire time she was being held.

Geoff's Aunt Margie and Uncle Howard were also able to join us for the occasion

We had to get a four generation photo

Visiting with Nana was such a treat for us and we think she enjoyed it as well.  When we went down to dinner, Nana went to every table and announced that a very special guest was with us, her first great-grandchild.  We love you Nana and were so grateful for the visit!

Movin' On Out!

I've decided no matter how much packing you do, there is always more packing that needs to be done.  But I'm glad that we're moved and most things made it to Chicago intact.

Geoff's parents were oh-so-wonderful and flew in to Denver to help us wrap things up with packing, load the truck, then drove with us to Chicago, and helped us unload everything as well!  We truly could not have done it without their help.

Loading our 23 foot Penske Truck

Grammy Woodhouse getting in some quality time with Hylie

Smiling with Pappy Woodhouse

Hylie got a couple of workouts in with Pappy.

Our almost-empty house...

The almost-full truck!

Geoff ready to hit the road

Unfortunately, the move didn't occur without any 'incidents'.  Geoff missed a step while carrying my butterfly chair and his ankle was badly sprained.

Geoff and I certainly packed up a lot of memories from Denver.  That's where we met, fell in love, got engaged, started our married life, and where our beautiful daughter was born.  How we love all our good friends and wonderful times, but we are excited to see what Chicago has in store.

Garden of the Gods

Once Geoff and I knew we were moving to Chicago, I put together a 'Bucket List' of things I would like us to do in Colorado before we left.  Being that we were busy packing and taking care of Hylie, we got one item done on our list!  Ha ha!  It was a very wonderful item, so I'll take it!

Just south of us in Colorado Springs is a beautiful park called "Garden of the Gods".  I call it my mini-Zion because the amazing red rocks remind me of Zion National Park in southern Utah.

One of the famous rocks here is called 'Kissing Camels', so Geoff and I had to try our spin at reenacting it.

Part of the trip Hylie did a little bit of this:

But she also did a lot of this:

This is one of my favorite views of the park

Geoff was also a trooper and strapped Hylie in to go on a hike to see the "Siamese Twin" rock formation.  He made the comment that he now knows what it was like for me to be pregnant.  I'm not sure that carrier truly does the job of mimicking pregnancy...