A Fun Video of the Girls

Sharon's Fish

One of the days that we were at our family reunion, we drove over to one of the Greer Lakes to do some fishing. Sharon really wanted to help & loved getting wet in the lake. We eventually took off her shoes, pants & shirt so she wouldn't get super muddy. Ammon caught one on his fly rod & let Sharon help scoop it up in the net. She was SO excited & ran over with the net to show me the fish she caught. She sure is our outdoorsy little girl! Great job!

A Family Photo

We had a fabulous time at our Hoggan Family Reunion over in Greer, AZ. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with a little rain most days. We had fun hanging out and relaxing with family at the gorgeous Red Setter Inn (which is part of the Greer Lodge Resort). We took a a group family picture the last full day we were there and also squeezed in some shots of our individual families. This was the best one of us with the girls. I love that we were able to capture Sharon's real smile (she was actually laughing in the picture) and even had Savannah facing forward (good luck getting two kids to smile in the same shot). They were so ready to be done at this point, so I was pleasantly surprised that we managed to get one as good as this.
I haven't had tons of time for scrapbooking lately because of my new calling as the Gospel Doctrine teacher at church, and also because Ammon has been so busy with work, his calling as the Young Men's president at church, and studying for his defense of his Masters thesis coming up on the 25th of this month. I am so ready for that deadline & will be happy to have him home & not studying all the time. Sharon is busy growing & learning new things all the time. She's a major chatter box & loves to help out and play with her sister. Savannah is totally mobile now & loves to get into the dog water & pull herself into a standing position using anything that won't move. She hasn't really figured out how to get back to the ground, yet, so once she's done standing she just starts to cry and needs help to sit back down. She hasn't taken too many tumbles, but I'm sure she'll get her fair share. We are doing well & loving our little family.

Diaper Cakes

We just got back from a family reunion, and while there, my sister and I threw a surprise baby shower for our two sisters that are both pregnant and expecting boys. I had so much fun making things for the shower & one of the items that I made for each of them was a diaper cake. I bought a box of 108 size one diapers & used 54 for each cake. The bottom layer used 27 diapers, the middle used 17 and the top used 10. Inside, I included a burp cloth, a onesie, teething ring, pacifier, pacifier clip, baby powder, and the sample pack of Johnson & Johnson baby care products. On the outside of the cakes I placed a stuffed animal on top, a smaller beanie baby on the side & a handmade wooden rattle. I think they turned out so well! The layers are held together with rubber bands & then I covered the bands with decorative paper & ribbon to keep them together a little more.

Woman of Faith

When I watch these Bible Videos from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I try to think about my own life, and how the teachings and principles portrayed apply to me. As I watched this video, I asked myself, "Would I have enough faith to be healed as this woman?" My own personal struggles aren't exactly what this woman faced in her issue of blood, but they are every bit as real and difficult. I believe that the atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to heal me, to help me feel peace, and to have the strength to accept my circumstances. I have felt the healing power of the atonement & know that I am blessed every day because of it!

Savannah's 6 month page

Sharon swims

Hair cut

For almost 2 years now I've been growing out my hair. This is a pretty great accomplishment for me, because usually once it hits my shoulders or just below, I can't stand it and get it chopped off. This time, because I had the goal to donate it, I was able to hang in there. My aunt asked who would be willing to grow out their hair in order to donate it at the next family reunion, and so, since it wasn't just me, & there was a specific goal in mind, it really wasn't bad growing it out. I liked being able to curl it & was really enjoying it long. The down sides were that Savannah tends to get a big handful and just yank, which isn't so pleasant. Also, for the most part, I would usually just wear it in a ponytail. Well, my aunt asked if she could cut hers a bit early (the reunion is next month), so I decided that if she could, then I could, too. I got it cut & was surprised that the ponytail for donation was about 12 inches long. I was worried that I wouldn't have the required 10 inches! I love my short hair. It's so easy & with minimal effort it can look fabulous! And, Savannah can't really reach it, which is a huge bonus! Here's a little before and after photo. Please excuse the no makeup, just out of the shower before picture, and the no makeup, just got it cut after picture.

Savannah is 6 months old

Savannah is six months old. What is our sweet girl up to? She can sit up on her own, started eating baby food, loves to put everything in her mouth, sleeps pretty well through the night most of the time, weighs 15 pounds 10 ounces and is 25 1/4 inches long, loves bath time with big sister, is rolling all over the place, loves to listen to music (me singing her to sleep, Ammon playing the guitar), has the cutest smile ever, just might have her daddy's nose, thinks Sharon is the best person ever, likes to snuggle into my shoulder when she's ready to go to sleep, wear's the same size diapers as Sharon (they both fit in size threes), and keeps us all smiling! Here's her laundry basket picture & a picture from a photo shoot that I did with her Sunday morning before going to church.

Sharon & Savannah Laughing

Sharon painting

Sharon had a really fun time "painting" on the porch the other day. I just gave her a brush and a cup of water.

Savannah sits up

Ruffly Skirt

Lately, I've been trying to use up some of my craft stash because it seems to have thrown up all over my craft room. I have a large box of t-shirts that I kept instead of sending to the thrift store with the idea that I could use them to make comfy clothes for the girls. Well, I finally pulled a few out to sew an adorable ruffly skirt for Sharon. I couldn't really find a tutorial for what I wanted to do, so I sort of made it up as I went along. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures, but I'll try to explain what I did.

I measured Sharon's waist, which was about 19.5 inches, and measured how long I wanted the skirt to be. For the base skirt, I cut a 23x11 inch rectangle of fabric t-shirt fabric, using the bottom, hemmed edge for the bottom of the skirt. I just added a few inches to the waist measurement & about an inch and a half to the length that I wanted.

Sew a casing at the top for the elastic. I didn't double fold the casing because the t-shirt material doesn't fray, so it's not necessary.

Ruffle your strips of fabric (which I cut in 2 1/2 inch widths & as long as the t-shirts were wide). If you have a ruffle foot for your sewing machine, you're lucky & I might have to swipe it from you. Otherwise, I just set my stitch length to as long as possible, and set the thread tension to as tight as possible, which makes the fabric ruffle as you sew it. So, ruffle each strip, overlapping the ends so that you just have one long strip of ruffled fabrics.

Sew the ruffled fabrics to the skirt base, starting with the bottom ruffle, and then the one above it, making sure that they overlap so you don't see the base skirt. There is no need to hem the top edges of the ruffles because jersey won't fray. Continue to add ruffles until you reach about an inch below the top casing seam. Sew the base skirt together along the sides to make the back seam, & you're done.

If this was too confusing, please just find a ruffle skirt tutorial that has pictures & you should be able to figure it out. I loved using the t-shirts because it cut out so much extra time & work that I would have had to spend hemming all the edges.

Sharon loves this skirt & I love it because it didn't cost me anything & it's so cute! Since the shirts were bound for the thrift store, I don't really mind if she plays outside in it & it's super comfy! I did make it just a little bit big so that she can wear it longer.

Savannah's 4 month page

Savannah's 3 month page

Savannah's 2-month page

Savannah's 1 Month page

Savannah's Blessing page

Family picture page

Savannah's Photo Shoot