Zoo Trip

 Anna borrowed this awesome stroller that sits two kids side by side. Boyd was so excited to have a friend sitting next to him. He would point at Lincoln, look at me, babble something with a smile on his face. This was in the parking lot getting ready to go inside. They look ready for adventure.

 We stopped at the stingray exhibit for some real fun....definitely worth $2. Boyd and Lincoln just splashed in the water laughing and squealing with delight as stingrays swam past their fingers. We got splashed a couple times...or should I say soaked. We had to take Boyd and Lincoln's shirts off to dry and have them wear their jackets until their shirts dried. It was really fun. It was hard to get a good picture because there was water around and two little Boys that would dive in if given the chance.

 It was fun when the animals got really close to us. This cow actually tasted the stroller bar. The boys thought that was pretty funny. I thought the slobber left behind was disgusting.

 For lunch we let Boyd and Lincoln sit at a kid table. They thought that was great and after drumming the table and laughing at it, we ate our packed lunches. The ducks sure enjoyed the crumbs we dropped.

 Here we are at the petting zoo. Boyd found out the goats don't eat sticks or their brushes. He really thought the beards on the goats were funny and tried to pull a few.

 Here is Boyd going in for the tug.

 We decided Boyd needed to experience the carousel. He loved looking around. His facial expression didn't change much from what it is in the pictures. This was towards the end of our day and he was pretty tired.

 Yep, still looking excited here.

Lincoln fell asleep and Boyd sat back to relax on the way out. Occasionally he'd put his feet up on the bar. It was a good day.

It's been a while....

This is my sweet baby. He is looking more and more like a little boy. We went to the desert in March with Jacob's family. Love it.

Boyd is definitely a daddy's boy. He will stand on a stool, looking out the window as he waits for Jacob to come home from work. I always know when Jacob comes because Boyd will start breathing really fast and screech with excitement.  

You will not believe where I am in this picture... I'm at a MaryKay convention...Yes, I started selling MaryKay. Never thought I'd do it...but here I am. I've met some wonderful people. Getting a 50% discount on my MaryKay is a nice benefit as well. 

This is Jacob and the scouts at the mountain man rendezvous.

Our Family Picture. Not the best it could be, but love it!

2010

This year has been full of blessings for our family. On March 15^th, exactly on my due date, Jacob Boyd Shepherd was born. He was 8lbs and 14 ounces. I won't tell you how much weight I gained during my pregnancy. Let me just say, I thought the more I ate the faster my baby would grow. I was quite disappointed when I couldn't fit into my prepregnancy jeans a week after giving birth. I was quite disappointed when I couldn't fit into my jeans several months after giving birth. Actually, I had to keep wearing my maternity clothes for quite a while. Boyd has brought so much happiness and joy into our lives. He is so precious and so, so cute.

I stopped working at the dental office in February because I grew out of all my scrubs, and I really hated working when I was pregnant. It was hard enough going to work when I didn't sleep the night before, but seeing some of the things we pulled out of people's mouths really made me want to vomit. A half chewed hot dog? Come on. Anyway, I decided to stay home and eat my way into labor.

Over the summer, Jacob graduated from ASU with his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering!! I thought that day would never come. He was offered a job at Goodrich in September and loves it! We lived through the summer without any income and learned that we could live without the Internet and make good dinners with our food storage....thanks to me. I'm a great cook.

Jacob and I are busy serving in our ward. Jacob is the 1^st counselor in the Young Mens Presidency and varsity scout leader. I'm quite busy serving as the 2^nd counselor in the Young Womens Presidency and as the ward camp director. I was recently called to be the stake assistant camp director for next year's camp... a calling I secretly wanted. In the summer, Jacob and Boyd both came to girls camp with me. It was fantastic.

Jacob and I are farmers. We raise chickens, rabbits and, undesirably, several cats as well. The cats come and go as they please and use our yard as their litter box. This makes us very, very angry. Our neighbor feeds these stray cats and they told all their feline friends. Now, the entire population of cats live around our house! Lucky us.

It's been a year since we moved near the Temple. We love our ward and our callings! We love this home we live in. I love a few of our animals and love our garden. We love living so close to both our families. We have been so blessed!!! Merry Christmas!!

It's been a while...

Our baby Boyd is growing so fast!! We just got over being sick at our house. I laid on the floor as Boyd had the house to himself. When Jacob got home from work all our CDs were spread over the floor and magazines and ads were torn up and spread everywhere. I watched Boyd do all this and really didn't care to stop him. I feel great now and our house is back in order.

He's getting so BiG!

Boyd is such a fun little guy. I can't believe how quickly he is growing.

Our Garden

After a few set backs, our garden is finally growing. It was hard to find time to get it planted and when we did, the chickens got in and tore up half of it. They ate almost all the leaves off our tomato and pepper plant. We replanted a section and now things are growing rapidly... especially our zucchini plants. We've already picked 3 zucchinis and they were HUGE!! We're still waiting for everything else to mature and start producing. Heather can't wait for the okra to come on. I'm real impressed with the potatoes that I planted. He had a few in the house that started growing eyes so I cut them up and buried them. Now there are 10-12 plants thriving. I can't wait until harvest time.

Now we keep the chickens safe behind bars.

I love baby noises!