Family Home Evening and Octoberfest, Draper Style

More Cute Kenya Picks

Well these first couple of pics are of Kenya being as cute as can be. It even looks like she purposely struck a pose in the second one!

Family Home Evening

These are the Family Home Evening pics. At the Libby Farmers Market, we were asked to make a scarecrow for display at Octoberfest. We decided we wanted to make a couple of them. It was tons of fun! This was the first time I had ever made a scarecrow!


We wanted to make one that was completely off the wall and goofy...so we did! This is what Santa Clause might look like on vacation!

The other one we made was kind of a more traditional one. We also wanted to give it a theme of Montana mountain man. We would have used a real pumpkin for a head, but we are going to use all the ones that were grown as jack-o-lanterns and such.

Disco ball Alien Legacy

This is a video of something that used to scare/entertain Kenya's cousin Sam when he was about her age. It is pretty funny to see her reaction! Enjoy.





Octoberfest: Libby, Montana Farmers Market

We totally scored a new umbrella at the fest!

Kenya Patty Cakes!

Here is a short clip of Kenya doing patty cake. She does it even better when the camera is off, but now you can see some of it for yourself.

Keepin' up with Kenya

This picture was taken today! Our littler girl is growing up. We have gotten several comments lately about how she seems to be changing. She is looking more grown up and her face is changing, but she still is the prettiest baby I have ever seen! Just last night grandma noticed that Kenya is doing patty cake all by herself. When she patty cakes, she even talks saying it in her own words with a similar tune. At the beginning of this last week she has started to wave hello and goodbye too! We will try to catch these amazing feats on video, but only babies and animals won't perform for the camera.

Mmmmm... She loves food! In the next pictures she has an apple off of great grandpa's tree; as well as a lollipop she shared with me; and then sharing dinner out of the kettle with a giant spoon!



These are pictures visiting great grandpa! What a great guy. He gave Kenya $10 when we left. He was so proud of her and loved to show her off to all the nurses.






We went to a friends house and went horse back riding. It was a lot of fun. Kenya's first horse ride. Kenya's first time falling off a horse too. That is right, we fell/got bucked off. All is well though. I got some nice bruises and sore back, but Kenya seemed untouched. We watched her closely for the next 48 hours and she is doing great!

We found That....

...but not how we would have liked too. After nearly two weeks of searching I found That's body. It was lying next to an anthill. It had been quite decomposed so it was difficult to tell the cause of death. So she is no longer with us. I decided that we needed to give her a proper goodbye and immediately began making preparations for a memorial service. Here is a poster I made to remember her.


Not many people understand how special our cats are. That will be missed. Here are some photos that show a little of why we loved her so much!



Here she is loving on me. She was truly was a cuddle cat. When we first got That she was pretty skiddish. It took a couple of days for her to warm up to Lois, but took a lot longer for her to warm up to me. But once she did she never looked back. She showed the same kind of love for me as she did for Lois.

Her and This cuddled each other too! Sisters who love each other the way only a sister knows.



I made a coffin for her body, but the body was taken the night before the service! I also made a tombstone, a placard, and dug a grave.






It sucks that That is gone because now people won't quite understand why we have one cat named This. They'd say something like, "Wow! Your cat's name is This? Well that's weird!". We'd then say, "No, That's dead and she wasn't too weird." We'd then have to go on to explain that we had two cats that were sisters named This and That and so on.

Well, that's that on That!
(You don't even know how confusing it was to write correctly)

We miss That!

We came home from Spokane on Saturday last weekend to an very unpleasant surprise. No one had seen That! So, we waited and even prayed for her to come home and that she was safe. After a very hard week I think I must admit That is gone! I am so sad and have shed several tears over That. No one has seen her since either. She really meant a lot to us. It is not as cool to tell people that you have A cat named This. I am still thankful we have This, but there is something missing without That! We have walked up and down the street and even talked to a few neighbors, but no luck. I am still praying that she will find her way home one day and then I will not let her out of my sight again. Our family is down to 4 now! SO SAD!!!!
Seriously, I feel like I lost a part of my family. It has been rough!

A little late.... sorry.

Here are the rest of the pictures from August. Below is Kenya with Liv Norris. We took my sister to the airport in Spokane and hung out with Jon and Ronae for a few days. It was lots of fun. I can't believe the difference in just six weeks. Liv is almost exactly 6 weeks younger than Kenya and yet there were so many differences between them. Liv, is a sweet adorable baby!

This one is at the Spokane Temple. This is where Robert and I were sealed. Kira babysat while Robert and I got to go through a session. Thanks again!
Kenya was sleeping as we enjoyed the temple grounds. What a beauty she is!!

Kenya has began making this face a little more than a week ago. It is so cute!! We think it came from Uncle Chris making noises with his mouth and her trying to copy him.


Grandpa was playing with Kenya at the lake. These are some really cool floating docks just above the Libby Dam on the Koocanusa. We went there because it was Chris's birthday. He caught a lot of fish that evening.


Here is Kenya on all fours getting ready to crawl. What a girl!!
This is the video of her army crawling. She has done it quite a bit since then too!



As of today Kenya is 12lbs 6oz and 24 inches long!

Coming Soon

Well, last night I was able to catch Kenya army crawling on our camera. I will wait until later tonight to upload it, but she is offically on the move. Last Friday is when I will offically call her an army crawler, however she has been doing it every so often or a month or so. My girl is growing up. I will post pictures of our trip to Spokane this last week too.

Look what we have done.

We have moved! We are in Montana with my parents while Robert is looking for a job. We are loving life here. We moved our stuff here on July 31, and spent a week vacationing. It was tons of fun. Then we went back to Rexburg or a week while Robert finished working at FedEx Ground. Now we are staying at my parents and enjoying the family. We have been to 3 different lakes and the creek that runs through the back of the property. Everyday I look outside and just enjoy the green and beauty! Robert, is looking for a job just about anywhere and my parents were kind enough to take us in and put up with us. No, really I think we have all been enjoyig it.
Kenya has really put up with a lot. She hasn't really had a home since we moved out at the end of July. We were somewhere different every week. She was/is a real trooper! And amongst the midst of all this she has continued to develope. She now sits completely on her own when set sitting up. She started doind that when we were staying the Hagen's in RExburg. I think it was Tuesday, Aug 10 she started that. She is definately teething now. A few days of fussiness and nothing up ice (or Otter pops) will make her happy. She loves the outdoors. Each time we want to go to the lake or somthing I stop and think, if she is fussy should I take her? I end up going because I want to go and she does not complain a bit! As you can see in the picture below. This is at Howard Lake just on Wednesday. Kenya has also gotten up on to all fours and stayed there for a few seconds a couple of times this week. It sure has been a long time coming, but she will crawl.

Familt shot a Howards Lake! Kenya just dips her toes in. The water was just a slightly too cold. We will get her in one of these days when it is just too hot! (Like yesterday!)

What a trooper. This is in the car on our way back to Montana last week! She has an amazing smile! I love those dimples.


These two are at the Hagen's house in Rexburg! THANKS AGAIN!!! We sure had a fun time with them! Kenya really enjoyed that carrot! What a great teether it was too!

Just things that Kenya is enjoying right now!
Grandpa's quack quack!! and his beard.
Aunt Kira's mouth movements!
Grandma's peaches or anyother fruit she has to share.
Uncle Chris's time. (He plays a lot with her and she really has taken a liking to him).
Daddy's name. The other day she said dada. (Not knowing what it was, but she repeated it after Robert said is over and over.)
FOOD!!! ANYTHING THAT I WILL LET HER EAT!!!
Keep growing baby, we all love you!

Extry! Extry! Kenya outgrows cousin Harmon*

For all you nay-sayers and worry warts, Kenya is now 2 feet long and weighs 11lbs 4oz! Still growin' healthy and strong! As a matter of fact here are some pictures to show just how grown up she is! Enjoy! She gains about a pound and just under an inch each month.


















*=Harmon's birth height and weight

Posted by Robert