Happy Birthday! Zora turned 1 today!

To start off the day, John and I surprised Zora by going into her room and singing “Happy Birthday” to her. She was a little overwhelmed, but she enjoyed the attention. Then she opened some presents before John left. After John got home, Zora finished opening her gifts. She got clothes, books, and a toy mobile phone that she couldn’t put down. After gifts she had help blowing out her candle and she loved eating cake for the 1st time, but we didn’t because it was a nutritious cake. John resorted to ice cream. To end the day, Zora danced around the room while John played “Yankee Doodle” on the piano.
Zora and her presents!
Zora with her Disney push car (she got this a little early)
Zora and her first piece of cake!

Not quite a year yet!

Only 1 month until Zora's birthday. She's been pretty busy since she started walking. Here's what she's been up to... She went swimming in our backyard with her Elmo sprinkler.
She loves to climb up and down stairs or play with the kitty.
Here she's eating spaghetti! YUM!
This is explains itself and yes the kitten helped!
Here's her 11 month picture with a bruise. She collided with the sidewalk while trying out her new shoes.

Quick Update!

So John's been very very busy this semester with Medical school. He is currently taking 40 credits and he just took his first batch of tests. Zora is running now and boy is she trouble. We have a lot of fun with her, though! She has a lot of personality and is such a tease. She likes to imitate me by shaking her head when I tell her "no" and waving her finger at me. She is also best buds with our kitten which is way too patient to put up with her. Just today, Zora steamrolled our kitten and the cat just laid there without fussing. They get in a lot of mischielf together, but they sure entertain one another. Zora started off by saying several words, but now the only word that she consistenly says is "key" for kitty. She gets away with a lot more than she should. Her Daddy is a sucker for her. But she loves her Daddy. I don't exist when John's in the room.
The latest news for those who don't know is that I'm expecting again. I'm almost 10 weeks along and we can't wait to find out the gender. John's pretty sure it's a boy. I hope Zora gets a little sister to play with. For a while I was dealing with some pretty miseralbe migraines that wouldn't go away. After a week and a half of not being able to do anything because of the pain, I finally got in to see my doctor (a D.O.-what John is studying) and she did some manipulations on my back and neck and and I was cured. I haven't had a migraine since and I didn't even have to take any medicine. That was a great blessing because it's a lot harder to deal with not feeling well with an active daughter. Zora was so neglected for those few days but we all survived and feeling great now.
For Labor day we went to Ellensbury for our first Rodeo. John and I enjoyed the cow milking competition. I plan to put the video on soon. Then on Saturday, we met Larry D, Dad, and Michelle in Seattle for the BYU vs. Washington game. What a game! That was lots of fun!

10 months old on August 9th

She got the ball at Walmart and has had so much fun with it! Even in the store she couldn't settle down because she was so excited to have a ball. John buys her balls, and Sarah buys her books. I think those might be her favorite two kinds of toys!

Recap of Events

The reason we haven't updated our blog for so long is because we've been packing, moving, visiting family, unpacking, and attending family reunions. I'm sorry its taken so long. For those who don't know. John has started Medical School and we're in Yakima, Washington. Zora had a lot of fun seeing everyone at the family get togethers, but unfortunately we forgot the camera for most of the activities. Here's what we do have...

These are of John and Zora swimming in the pool in Stockton, CA before we moved:


This is our new friend we made at Grandpa Dickinson's home. John's dad insisted that we get a picture before we left so he could prove how rad he is! Zora loved Jar Jar. She smiled at him all the time when we walked in the room, but it scared John and I most of the time.

Here's John and Zora at their first official minor league baseball game. The Yakima Bears played against the Boise Hawks. We got free tickets from John's medical school. We didn't stay the whole time because Zora was a handful.

These are pretty self explanatory. Zora loves rasberries!!!



This is a sad picture of Zora's huge bruise on her forehead after falling and smacking her head on the edge of the dresser. I felt so bad for her.
This second photo is the only one I have gotten so far that shows her two bottom teeth.

All of a sudden she started walking all over the place!

July 13th was a Big Day!

To start off, Zora had been up a lot during the night and I was about to take her in to see the doctor. That's when John informed me that her second bottom tooth had come in. No wonder she had been crying so much.

Then after church, we noticed that she was standing up a lot better on her own so we tried to get her to walk to her Daddy, but she fell down. Later, A.J. bribed her with his phone to walk and she took her first 2 steps before falling. Since that she has been getting braver and taking a few more steps. Here's a video a little later in the day. She was pretty worn out, so it's not her best walking.


Peter, Cilla, their kids, Heidi, & Lucy also came over to visit. The adults started playing a game and forgot to check on the kids for a while. This is what we discovered a while later...


That's shaving cream and gel that Eden and Dallin sprayed all over the bathtub. I'm disappointed that they didn't invite me. It looked like a lot of fun. And luckily it didn't get anywhere else!