This Thanksgiving weekend we had family pictures. I am sure it was a headache to the photographer (Jamie Hammond) to get everybody to look and to smile. I love my family and it was so great to spend Thanksgiving with them. We have so much fun together! It is amazing how fast my nieces and nephew have grown in just three months. I leave AZ tonight and I wish it was already time to be back for Christmas!!

Last night my family and I went and saw the movie Enchanted. It was super cheesy and silly and I absolutely LOVED it!! I think I could watch it over and over! If you like corny chick flicks you have to go see it. I don't think it is much of a guy movie because my dad repeatedly said, " I can't believe we spent money to come see this!" Thanks dad. I had a great time.

I am finally updating our blog! We have been with out the internet for awhile so I haven't been able to post. I am visiting my family for Thanksgiving and I thought I would take the opportunity to use their internet and let you all know what is going on in our lives!

Well, really things aren't that much different since the last update. Matt has been studying hard and is looking forward to the December break! He loves learning about the law and will come home and tell me what he has learned. Suddenly the judge shows on tv are more interesting to me now. Blake and I spend most of our days at home playing and enjoying each others company. Occasionally we get the car and we will take a trip to the store or the library. I have also made some friends with the other moms in our ward and we will get together for lunch, a movie, or just to visit.

Blake had his baby blessing during conference weekend. We were so happy to have our families come for the occasion. We had fun playing games, picnicking, going to the dam, and just visiting!

Matt's mom made Blake's blessing outfit. She did a great job and Blake looked so cute.
Matt and I have decided to explore Arkansas. We haven't discovered to much yet, but we had fun hiking Pinnacle Mountain. Some of the leaves started to change and it was beautiful! We tried out Blake's baby carrier for the first time and he did great. In fact he slept the majority of the hike.
Blake reminds me of a body guard in this picture.

Here are some weird mushrooms we found

Blake was a chicken for Halloween. I don't think he liked it very much, but I sure thought he was cute.

There is a place in Little Rock called the Old Mill. Some people restored this mill and planted trees and plants all around. It was really beautifully and apparently a good place for family pictures. I think there was at least 20 or more families there getting their picture taken.

Blake has been smiling so much. I love it and one little smile makes my whole day!!

Blake loves it when his daddy comes home and plays with him.

Here we are at the famous "Big Dam Bridge." We went there for FHE. It had a pretty view of AR!

We have now lived in Arkansas for over a month! We are still getting adjusted to things but the more time goes on the more comfortable we feel. It rains here a ton and it has been really humid. However, lately the weather has turned really nice and the humidty isn't as bad. Matt is really enjoying law school and is studying really hard. I am even learning a little bit about the law! I am enjoying spending my days with Blake. Every now and then I get a little sick of the apartment, but I love being a mom. My favorite part of the day is when Matt comes home and spends some time with Blake. I love to watch him take care of him. I am so blessed to have these two guys in my life!

We went to Tennessee Labor Day Weekend to visit Matt's brother and his family. The morning after we got there ( at 6:30 am) his two nieces and one nephew one by one came into our room to help us out with Blake. They were so cute. They sang him Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and kept asking questions like "Can we push him in the swing?" or "Does he like me?" or "Why can't we touch his face?"

That Sunday afternoon we got a tour of down town Nashville. They had some really cool buildings and of course some "honky tonk" bars and clubs. We also saw the Titan stadium and I think it was the Missouri River (I could be wrong). They also took us up to this really high bridge that over looked Franklin Tennessee. The view was so beautiful. I really liked Franklin. It was so pretty and the homes there were amazingly beautiful!


I thought this was so funny the way all three of them could ride in the stroller!

This is what Blake did the majority of the trip. He slept most of the day and liked to be a night owl! We sure had a lot of fun!

We are had a lot of fun having Nicole here! Blake loves her and settled right down whenever she held him. I am so glad she is came and helped me adjust to being a mom. Unfortunatley, I almost killed her and Blake! I was taking Nicole to the airport early Monday morning and it was raining like crazy! When I took the exit towards the airport we hydro-planed and started spinning out of control off the freeway and into a ditch. My sister and I both thought the car was going to roll over but then all the sudden it felt like we hit something and the car came to a stop. I was so relieved that the car had stopped and that everyone was okay. Blake didn't even wake up. I was worried about what we hit and wondered how bad the damage was to the car. However, when I got out to look at the car there was nothing there and the car was perfectly fine! I know we were watched out for, and I am grateful for the Bishop and a Sean Call for towing us out and getting Nicole to the airport.

While she was here she gave us all haircuts. She even cut of Blake's mullet. He doesn't look so much like an old hick! (This is the before picture. I haven't taken a picture yet of his new hair style.)

He often has this worried look on his face. I hope it is not a reflection of my parenting. :)

It took me awhile to get Blake to sleep, but once he finally did he looked so cute and peaceful that I just had to take a picture. Unfortunately the flash woke him up!! I learned my lesson and I won't be taking any more pictures of him during his nap time!

Blake loves bath time! He just hates the part when he has to get out.

On August 11, 2007 at 10:28. Blake Matthew Backus was born. He weighed 6lbs. 9oz. and was 19in. long. He is named after one of Matt's really good friend Blake Cook. We love being parents and of course we think he is the cutest baby to ever be born on this earth!



Two very handsome men!

My sister-in-law Jen. Took these pictures of Blake when he was 9 days old. It was hard to keep him up on the towels, but eventually he got the hang of it.
What a sweet baby boy!