Zoo Trip

My sister's zoo membership expires this month so we want to get a few more times in before it does. We went to the zoo on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun. Only downside is Wednesdays are field trip day so there are a ton of kids there.

When we first got there we had to wait for Preggers (aka Brittany) to go to the bathroom. As we waited some ducks came up to us. Kaden even touched it. The kids had fun chasing after the ducks.

An unplanned tradition is we always go to the reptiles first. That is what Kaden always says he wants to see first.

This is about the time Ryder went wild looking at everything. He had some much fun. He could walk around and go where he pleased...

Outside of the reptile place they have this little half wall that has some birds in it. Ryder wanted nothing more, but to look over this wall that was just his size.

He'd even get up on his tippy toes!

As we were walking around having a swell time we came across this fowl. We decided to make friends with it...

Even Mema tried befriending him.

He followed us for about 30 seconds, we named him Fred. He was our friend...

Until Ryder chased after him...

Sad day, all well, Ryder had fun!

This was the first trip that Ryder actually acted like he cared!

How cute is my boy???

The day was like a never ending game of musical seats (without the music).

Ryder took his turn and pushed Hunter for a little bit. What a trooper!

Does anyone else remember when the alligators (or crocs) were at the end of this little bridge thing? I remember it being so scary because you were surrounded and it looked like it could break any second. Now they have flamingos and a few other animals.

For some reason I absolutely love this picture!

It was a fun time. Afterwards Mema treated us to Olive Garden and then the kids had fun playing outside in Mema's backyard. We're hoping to get one more trip in before the membership expires.

Same ol' same ol'

Man, I have really been sucking it up lately. Let's do some updates over the last 4 months Person by Person...

Chase: He finished a semester at School and has started another one. His Major is Geography, not sure if or what he'll do with it. He really enjoys it so that makes school less of a pain. In December he hit his 1 year mark with MPS. We really love that job. It is super flexible and perfect for our family right now. Chase has started riding his bike more and is hoping to do the Tour de Mesa in April (or atleast the shorter version). He recently did training at Discount Cab and will be doing that VERY part time. He just has to work 1 shift every 30 days. So he can keep it during the year and then when summer comes and he's off from MPS he can pick up more hours at Discount Cab. If you or your Hubby apply say Chase referred you! It seems like a nice set up.

Courtney: Just living the life of the wife and mom... and loving it! I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've started an Etsy shop selling homemade greeting cards to hopefully bring in some money. Check it out sometime and feel free to make a purchase if there is something you see. I'm kind of giving it a test run right now, we'll see how it goes. It's something I love doing (cardmaking) so it's fun too! I've started watching How I Met Your Mother during nap time. It's so funny and gives me something to do to relax. I participate in a card night every other month. It is so cool how "big" it's turned out. I started it about 2 years ago. It's so much fun! I also started a Recipe Swap every month. Last month was the first and there was some good food:) Next is Bfast foods. Yum!!!

Ryder: He is no baby anymore... he's 13 months now! He had a puppy themed birthday party that was so much fun! You can read birthday posts on my DIY blog here. He's been walking for a couple of weeks and walks more and more everyday. He is so smart and is learning so much! He says bye bye everytime we put him in his car seat. He's so much fun! He's a pro sleeper now and it has made life so much better! If you are hesitant to try the cry it out method, give it a try. Sleep has been so nice!!!

Tonka & Ella: Well they are still being turkey's getting out every once in awhile, but we can't really blame them. Tonka is now neutered. We took Ella in and found out that she was starting her heat cycle so we have to wait. They love attention and going on walks.

Family: We went to Disneyland in December (Post to come someday maybe). Nothing to big is happening. We started a goal of going on 1 hike a month and take the dogs. Today was actually our second hike and it was a little intense and didn't go very far. Baby steps right? We even bought a hiking baby backpack to carry Ryder in. We try to go with the Packer's that want to come and are working up to our goal of Havasupai Summer 2013. Chase & I have really gotten into the games Dominion and Thunderstone. They are strategic card games and so much fun! If you wanna play let us know. We'd love to!

Life is great and we are having fun and enjoying our time together as a family.

Fall Break

This week has been so nice! Chase had the week off of work for Fall Break! He still had to go to class, but it was still nice. It was so nice to have him home for the week and it went by too fast. Some highlights of the week:

Monday we invited my Nephew Tristen over to play Risk. He saw it on my mom-in-law's game shelf when my surprise birthday party was over there and he made it very clear that we wanted to play it. So we had Circle K drinks and M&M's and set out on a quest for global domination! My sister made it clear that didn't know how to play and that they more just play with the guys. He liked our version though so mission accomplished. By the way... I WON:)

Tuesday we celebrated our Anniversary early and you can see my fears of this trip here. It was a nice little staycation. We went to the Radisson and pretty much just hung out at the hotel. We went to the casino for dinner. Now keep in mind we are not gambling people nor do we smoke, drink, or dress trashy... well at least we don't think we do. We felt out of place and the building reeked of smoke. Luckily you couldn't smell it in the restaurant. I felt filthy being there. Needless to say we did not go back. We went in the hot tub at night, it was relaxing.

Wednesday bfast we headed over to Fountain Hills and went to Denny's a Packer favorite... and not favorite (whole nother story). I wish I would have thought about it more and planned something to do in Fountain Hills. We went swimming again and played in the little fountains they have that shoot out of the ground. Felt like a little kid:) After checking out we went to the hotel restaurant to spend out free $30 we got with our Groupon deal. We both ordered and sandwich that came with fries and a house salad and we spent like 2 bucks! Nice!! And it was so good!

Here is a picture of us outside the elevator. It was my quest to take a picture of the two of us together. Of course I do it after we have gone swimming so my hair isn't nice...
After the hotel we went to Mesa High and played Tennis. It was a lot of fun and hope we can keep it up:

Thursday baby Daxton Kent Packer was born:) Unfortunately because of time he was born and our schedule we weren't able to see him until Friday. This day is kind of a blur to me and it was only yesterday. There weren't any main things that happened, just little things like errands, I think we slept in.Chase beat me in Rack-o that we bought at a yard sale for $.50!

Friday we were going to go to the temple and then play tennis, but bad Courtney let her recommend expire! It's the first time I've needed to worry about it so I guess it just slipped my mind. Oops! So we skipped the Temple and just played tennis. We are alot better since Wednesday and it is still fun so that is good. We took a nap:) Eewww! I hate waking up from a nap all hot and sweaty. We were washing out bed sheets so I napped on the couch and our front room gets so hot in the middle of that day. It was gross! Then we went and saw baby Daxton! He is so cute:) Then me & Chase parted ways. Chase went to a guys night and played Halo with fam/ friends. He still isn't back and I can't sleep without him, hence the late night post. The girls had a craft night and My mom-in-law taught us how to make these pumpkins:) They are so cute!















Sorry, my camera isn't the best and our lighting is orangy in the living room. I would post these on my new craft blog I'm doing, but this isn't my craft so maybe Barb can be a guest poster sometime:) Anyways, I made 5 of them, plus a little ball for Ryder:) Now to find a spot to put them, or just leave them on this shelf, didn't know if it gave them enough room.

Saturday plans, not a whole lot. I'm watching My niece and nephew because their parents are in the hospital with their new bundle. Tomorrow night Gibson's are having a family dinner because Jaxon is in town! Oh, and his parents:) We are doing a soup and salad potluck and Chase & I are making chicken Cesar salad. YUM!

That's pretty much it for our break. It's been so nice having Chase home especially when Ryder wakes up in the morning, "Chase, your turn." :) I'm so lucky to have a husband that is so willing to help me with whatever I need, no matter the time of day.

2 years!

Technically our Anniversary isn't until the 30th, but we are celebrating early. We are staying the night at the Radisson at the Fort McDowell Casino. We got a deal on groupon for $89 and it includes the 1 night stay, the $10 resort fee, and $30 in food credit (probably wont get us much). Pretty coo though. And the nice part is that it is already paid for months ago so it feels like we are getting this little trip for free.

The only bummer about this trip is it will be my first night without Ryder:( I'm not really looking forward to it, but at the same time it will be nice to sleep through the night. My sister Brittany is watching him. I hope he does good for her, I am a little worried because he has been very clingy and cries a lot sometimes when I am not there.

It is hard to pack for Ryder. I don't know what he'll need because when I'm there usually I am enough for him. So I'm trying to think of anything and Everything that would help make this night better for him.

Chase and I don't have plans besides hanging out at the hotel. They have a nice pool, but it's October so not sure how that will go. They do have a hot tub (not in room). Not sure how much of the casino scene we'll do.

After check out we are hoping to go to Mesa High and play some Tennis. For some reason we've had the craving to play and on Saturday we went to a yard sale next door to Chase's mom's house and they were selling 2 tennis rackets for like 5 bucks each or something. Jackpot!

I'm determined to have at least one picture taken of the 2 of us. Last anniversary we have a few pictures, but we aren't in them together.

California Trip

A few weeks ago (Aug 6th-8th) we joined with Chase's mom and went to California to visit Stephen, Jodi, and Jaxon! It was so much fun and so relaxing! They live in Temecula California. We didn't make plans to do anything, but spend time with them. We played some games which included Risk and the females dominated the world! We also watched The Incredible Mr. Limpet. It was... interesting... ! HAhaha!

The last time Ryder & Jaxon saw each other was Ryder's baby blessing the end of March. They have changed a lot since then. Jaxon is crawling all over the place and Ryder, well Ryder likes to sit, but we are working on it.

On Monday morning they were playing together in their jammies, it was the perfect opportunity to take some pictures. They had so much fun together.

Look Ryder, that is a frog... a frog goes ribbit, ribbit!

Funny thing about this picture is that we did not pose them. Ryder put his arm around Jax all by himself. So cute:)

We also had time to stop by and visit Chase's Dad near Palm Springs. It was so great seeing him. He fed us lunch, it's amazing how delicious a sandwich can be!

6 month check up!

On Monday Ryder turned 6 months! Can you believe it??? Neither can we. It has gone so fast. I know everyone warns you that it will but you don't really understand until it happens to your own.

Today we went to his check up and he is doing great! His head is 45cm (75 percentile), Height is 26 inches (50 percentile) and 18.5 lbs (50-75 percentile). Dr. said everything looked good and kept commenting that Ryder was really strong. He even made the comment that Ryder will probably walk early. Lets hope not, I'm not ready to chase him around. Haha.

He doesn't really look like he is interested in crawling yet. He loves sitting! He also, loves to eat. Veggies he has had so far; carrot, avacado, greenbean, and potato. Fruits are banana, peach, and apple. His favorites are banana and apple and carrots! He does so good and when it's one he likes he doesn't make that big of a mess. So far he has only had the real stuff. It is so EASY to make! I would recommend it. I know he'll have the jarred stuff eventually, but it's nice to make as much as I can.

Last weekend we went to Show Low and visited with Gma & Papa. It was nice and cool! they loved having Ryder visit them.

We also attended our ward campout. It was a lot of fun! We were so glad we went. There were about 11 families that came. They did a little program and families did some skits and whatnot. It was fun being with the ward members in a different enviroment. We had a little car trouble but it ended up being fine. It was our idling fan. And the same thing was making our a/c not work so great. So now our car is in tip top shape... I hope!

this weekend we are going to California to visit Stephen, Jodie and Jaxon! We are also going to stop and see Chase's dad. We are so excited it has been so long since we have seen any of them. Jaxon is getting so big! We can't wait!

I have a shopping trip (more like day) I want to blog about, but I'm kinda not in the mood to do the whole picture loading thing. Our computer takes forever!!! I'm hoping that with all the money I'm saving using coupons that we can afford a new computer.

Summer Days

Chase and I are so spoiled! Now that I am a stay at home mom and Chase works with MPS we have summer off to do whatever we please! And whatever we please seems to be nothing, it is nice!

We have recently made some family and personal goals. It was a lot of fun and it is still fun to see our lists hung up around the house. Ryder even has a list of goals and they are where he can see them almost every time he gets his diaper changed. (yes, we are changing table people!)

A lot of our goals are the traditional ones, get in shape, get straight As, do better at reading scriptures & prayer, FHE, etc. But they are always ones that need improved. So far we are doing pretty good, but we can't start slacking!

Ryder will be 6 months old next Monday can you believe it?!?! Time really does fly. Sometimes I forget how big he's getting, I still think of him as being my little baby. He is sitting! I can't believe how fast he picked up on it. It seemed like over night he went from being wobbley to being a sitting pro! I tried doing a post of a video with him sitting but it would take forever to load and so I gave up. I'll try facebook...

He is enjoying solids and can't get enough. We've only done veggies (carrot, avacado, green beans, and potato) so far but are going to try a fruit tonight (peach).
I am giving up on potatoes for awhile though. I think he had trouble digesting them. In the middle of the night after he had them he was crying and looking as if he was having trouble pooping. (Sorry if this is TMI).

Ryder loves making noise! It is so much fun to hear all the sounds he comes up with. He's teething and as you all know, it is not fun. He has 3 that I can see coming in on the bottom and 1 on top.

Catching up!

So... where to begin???

How about with the most exciting part of our lives? We are now 18 1/2 weeks pregnant and so so SO excited! We found out it's going to be a baby boy! His name will be Ryder Nelson Gibson! Cute right? We are so excited and trying to plan for his arrival! We bought the crib, changing table, matress, and a glider. I think I'm starting to feel him move but still sometimes unsure. but with it being the same feeling so much, it has to be it! It just feels different then what I expected. We are learning so much about pregnancy and kids! What other news??

Courtney is back to work at Lifetouch working full time. Chase is going to school full time and working at Dominos part time. And looking for a second job to bring in some extra bucks! (If you know of anything let him know!)

Recap, Sea world was fun. We got to meet Bryan's now Fiance and baby girl. We love them and can't wait for them to be apart of our family.

We also went to Tennesse for the Cannon Family reunion! Courtney's first time flying! She is still having mixed feelings about it. hehehe. It was alot of fun to be with family members we don't see that often.

This weekend we are going to Grandma & Papa's house in Show Low. Hopefully it will be cooler!

I'm probably going to need to wear maternity clothes soon, so that is kinda fun! I already bought 2 shirts. One fits the other is still a tad long. Hopefully going to get some pants this weekend. Along with Chase some new shoes:)