The Baxleys

Annika - 2 Weeks Old

2010-07-09T16:43:00.001-07:00

Annika Ireese Baxley

2010-07-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Annika Ireese Baxley finally arrived Tuesday June 22nd, 2010 at 6:00pm. She weighed 8lbs 2ozs and was almost 20 inches long! She had her first checkup this Tuesday and I'm thrilled to report she has already gained 3ozs and grown almost an inch.

You may be thinking "Ireese", what kind of middle name is that? Well.....Dave and I like to pass along family names and since he got to pass along a family name with Kyan Preston, it was my turn. I could never choose between my two favorite ladies my Oma -Therese and my Mom-Irene. So I thought why not combine them into Ireese and it fit!

Here I grow......

2010-04-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Watch me grow!

20 weeks

29 weeks

and 31 weeks!

Baby Baxley - It's a Girl!!!

2010-01-18T09:34:00.001-08:00

Avatar

2009-06-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

I've created my own avatar.....nough said. I know its uber geeky but I've never claimed to be that cool! It's fun. Here "I" am dancing with Jodi's avatar. We're dressed as Japanese school girls lol! I also took the liberty of giving myself vampire even though I am not in fact a vampire lol!

Working hard or hardly Working?!?

2009-06-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Working at USU has provided so many great opportunities for me. I've made great new friends and continue to develop professionally. Why just look at me professionally developing my hand-to-hand combat skills. This will be very useful if a hostile person ever visits the office. With my talent, I will be able to quickly remove them from the building! I've also been working on my Ninja fighting ability.....that's right I am a ninja. I know its hard to believe but I took the quiz on Facebook and it told me I'm a samurai. Now I realize samurai and ninja aren't the same thing but they're close enough skill wise. Now I just need to invest in a good horse and a shiny new katana (sword)!

Baltimore!

2009-05-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hi guys. Sorry I haven't been able to update as much as i anticipated this week. I'm having a great time in Baltimore and I'm excited to see DC and the world famous Baltimore Aquarium! I'll update again soon. Here are a fecw pictures from Baltimore- the harbor, little Italy, etc.... and me eating a world famous Baltimore Crab Cake which cost.......$25.00 gasp I know, food is seriously overpriced here.

Graduate....College Graduate!

2009-05-11T20:44:00.001-07:00

That's right folks, after years of hard work, I did it. On May 2, 2009 I Heidi Homan-Baxley graduated from college! Whoot, Whoot! In all honesty it was one of the best moments of my life especially since my parents were able to fly out. That really made it special and I know they were proud.
So you might be asking....Now What?!?!? Hey, I'm asking the same thing. The little bird on my shoulder is chirping for me to get a full time teaching job so I can retire in 30 years. The trouble is I love my job with Utah State University. So what's a girl to do?
Right now I'm just going to go where the wind takes me. For now I'm happy as a clam at USU. Eventually I will go and get my Masters in Education but for now I need a much deserved break!

Farm Field Day

2009-04-08T09:24:00.001-07:00

I was swept away by the amount of fun we had at Farm Field Day! Check me out running the obsticle course, I am so out of shape. As always, I celebrated my victory humbly.

Cool!

2009-03-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

I'm cool....enough said!

Epic Arm Wrestling Battle!

2009-02-26T13:05:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday some of my students challenged me to an epic arm wrestling battle. I'm sad to say I only won about two matches. Hey some of those 7th graders are strong. As you can see from the pictures I celebrated my victories humbly.

Teaching Teaching Teaching!

2009-02-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hello All! I am in fact still alive though extremely busy. I just wanted to post a few pictures from last week which was "Spirit Week" at Canyon View Middle school. The first picture is me and my mentor teacher Mrs. Benson -it was taken on Wacky Wednesday- no we don't usually dress like that! I know I look huge but its not all me, I am wearing a full ballet tutu under that polka dot shirt. Recognize it Opa?
The other pictures are just me at school! Enjoy!

Florida Flash Flood

2008-12-10T13:02:00.001-08:00

It's flash flooding here today! Neato, I love the rain. Love it, Love it, Loooooooove it! Kyan really wanted to go play in it but there was too much lightning, sad. It's a good thing we hadn't planned on going anywhere today, although Oma & Opa do have a boat we could have borrowed!

Picking Oranges and Riding Tractors

2008-12-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

Thats what we did today! Fresh Florida oranges right off the tree, Yummy! Beat that Tropicana.

Troy vs Arkansas State Adventures

2008-12-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Erin and I met Megan and Michael at the Troy game. It was AWEsome! We had a blast as evidenced by my pics! We stopped at a really yummy resturant and even rode a bull! It was however frickin freezing!

Erin is vertically challenged so I helped her get on the bull by becoming her own personal step stool. Karma points for me! Seeing her get off was more like watching a balancing act. In the end I had to let her piggyback off and lower her down, lol! I knew I was tall for a reason. Not to brag but I mounted that bull like a pro. I should really look into professional bull riding. I mean he didn't even buck us off once!

Raw Oysters Anyone?

2008-12-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

Tonight my mother and I enjoyed the delicacy that is raw oysters! An aquired taste no doubt. It's strange because I love the way the taste but the texture makes me gag.

4-Wheelin

2008-12-01T10:56:00.001-08:00

Kyan loves driving his 4-Wheeler and I'm ashamed to say I'm so out of shape I can hardly keep up with him. Michael suggesting tying me to it and having Kyan pull me along!

Welcome to Paradise

2008-11-30T18:44:00.001-08:00

Ahhhhhhhhh Florida, blue skies, white sand, and crystal clear water. This is the life......now where's a cabana boy with my fruity drink and complementary umbrella. Seriously though, it's colder then it looks here. I mean we're freezing in the 60's here. Haha Cedar City people. i'd better not rub it in too much since I'll be back there soon enough. Today we went to the beach. It was very very very windy. Lets have a moment of silence for Michaels UGLY hat that got blown into the ocean.......lets pray some unsuspecting sea creature doesn't find it and begain wearing it! hahahahaha I'll chalk the loss of his hat to Karma!

Florida Fun

2008-11-29T18:59:00.000-08:00

We are having a blast in Florida. I will try and update daily!

Student Teaching

2008-11-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know I have recieved my student teaching placement. Beginning Jan 5th, 2008 I will doing my student teaching at Canyon View Middle school here in Cedar City!

Work Fun

2008-11-03T13:09:00.001-08:00

Only two people from our office dressed up for Halloween, how sad! Here I am as Sarah Palin!

Halloween

2008-11-01T15:04:00.001-07:00

Halloween! We hope everyone had a great halloween! Kyan was Batman, though we could never get him to keep the mask on. Mommy went as Vice-Presidental candidate Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. All in all it was a pretty fun day!

Halloween Goodies!

2008-10-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

No Sugar-Free Halloweens for us. Thanks to Nana and PopPop who sent Kyan some money for his Halloween Treats! He was sooooooo excited to go shopping. He got a skull doorbell, a skeleton flashlight, a gummi bug and bat, and more different candies. We will go shopping for his costume this weekend and I'll put pictures up when he decides what he wants to be. Until then, We Love You Guys!

Snow Already ?!?

2008-10-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature is laughing at us. She sent snow this weekend! At first it looked like it might just miss us. I could see it over the city but then minutes later it down poured on us as you can see in the pictures. Luckily, it didn't stick for long. I'm hoping it warms back up for Halloween at least! These are almost the same views, they are just minutes apart. After the snow began, you could no longer see the city or the mountains.

Conference Season

2008-10-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back in Cedar City for the time being. Fall is conference season for us at USU Extension. I just attending the Utah Afterschool Association conference and our annual Nutrition Conference up in Logan. Northern Utah is lovely especially with the fall leaves changing color. The mountains are dotted with reds and golds, simply breathtaking. I'm posting some pictures of Utah State University and their clock tower with the large "A" that stands for Aggies. I thought it was neat.

A Day at the Park

2008-09-20T18:23:00.001-07:00

Today was beautiful so I decided to take Kyan to the park. One is his new favorite activities is what he likes to call the "river-walk." The local river is very very low right now and cuts and curves its way through our canyon park. We discovered its low and slow moving enough right now that we can not only walk beside it but also right in it! Kyan loves any opportunity to get wet and muddy.

There's a mouse in my house!

2008-09-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, we have a mouse in my house. A tiny cute gray mouse that for some reason terrfies me. I consider myself pretty brave. I'm not afraid of snakes (like Oma hahaha) or spiders (like David hahaha). Up until now I was only terrfied of two things, sharks and UFO's but now I have a third.
I was heading to the bathroom yesterday, when I opened the door there he/she was staring at me in all it's cuteness. I immediatly froze and my heart skipped a beat. It quickly scurried off. We cornered it later in Dave's "man room". We had it pinned in a corner. Dave was going to herd in towards me and I was going to catch it in a bucket. At least that was the plan. I got one glimpse of the thing and got almost hysterical. I kept saying "I can't do this, I can't catch him". I convinced Dave he needed to trade me places. In the brief 5 seconds it took for us to switch places the mouse zipped out of the corner and at this time is M.I.A. I have set up humane traps ( the ones they go in and the lid shuts) and am hoping I can catch him and release him outside if I can keep Kyan from eating the crackers with peanut butter in the traps. He thinks they are snacks for him I've left all over the house. Somebody send me a cat or a boa constrictor!

Rainy Days

2008-09-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it looks like it might just rain here and I am crossing my fingers in hopeful anticpation. I love the rain especially here in Utah. I eagerly await the sight of the huge dark thunderheads rolling over the mountain like a child awaiting Christmas. It's especially neat in out little valley. The massive clouds come rolling over the mountain and then seem to hang low idly just close enough you think you could reach up and touch them. Often the sun hits this valleyt just right and a rainbow appears. Love it, Love it, Love it.
Of course, if any of you have been to FL, you know there's no comparision. FL rain is the best. Soft, misty and just warm enough you can stand outside in it seemingly for hours. It smells sweet and spicy at the same time and if you catch the breeze just right you can detect just a hint of the gulf.
In summary I Love the Rain!!!

My futures' so bright we gotta wear shades!

2008-09-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is just me goofing off at work with my co-workers Kris and Alyssa. This was such a cute picture that I couldn't resist putting it up!
Well, at least I thought it was cute until I noticed my endless cleavage, grrrrrrrrrr. My blessing, my curse. I really was wearing a modest shirt, honestly!

Hello Family!

2008-09-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Oma, Opa, Mom, Dad, and Boopie!
Here are the long awaited pictures of Kyan and his new bicycle.
As you can see he loves it. Usually I make him wear a helmet but he didn't want to wear one in his pictures.

Kyan, Kyan, Kyan!

2008-09-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

This was Kyan's first week of pre-school and he is loving it! I literally have to drag him from pre-school because he loves it so much and would rather stay there all day then come home. This week they studied the letter A and tried the various kinds of apples for a snack. He was quick to tell me the golden apples are his favorite. He said the red ones were okay and the green ones were too sour. What a smarty pants!
I have applied at the local charter school for Kyan's kindergarten next year. I know it seems early but can you believe there kindergarten is already two-thirds full. It's a very good school and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Kyan gets in!

Labor Day Fun

2008-09-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

This Labor Day I was in the local parade as a USDA mascot "Power Panther" pictures to come soon. It was very hot in that costume but a lot of fun. Seeing the local children's eyes light up when they saw me coming down the street made it totally worth it. Plus I could make the biggest fool out of myself and no one knew because of my mask, it was a good outlet!
We also took Kyan to the Fair. It was fun but $20.00 worth of tickets doesn't get you many rides. Kyan had a blast though and after an hour we were ready to go anyway. Now it's sparkler time!

Our Family Pictures

2008-08-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well this is us. It's hard to believe all of this begin on a band bus, but thats another story.
As you can see Kyan is a perfect blend of Dave and I but if you ask me, he looks a little bit more like my side of the family. I see so much of Michael in him.

Where we are.....

2008-03-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well for those of you who don't know.....David and I got married in May of 2001 and moved to Cedar City, Utah. Why Utah? Why not Utah? Actually Dave's family was here and Cedar City is also the location of the world renowned Southern Utah University. We finally became residents in May of 2003 and I was able to begin taking classes in the fall. I will graduate in Dec of this year with a bachelors degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. Which is just a fancy way of saying Home Economics. I can't wait to get into the classroom and begin teaching.
David will go back to school this summer to pursue his bachelors degree in Journalism and Creative Writing.
In July of 2004 we welcomed our first child, a boy, Kyan Preston Baxley. He is such a joy but a lot of work. We now understand why our parents were the way they were. We are loving it though! Kyan will turn 4 in July and we realize now as parents time is flying by.
We aren't sure where we will end up after I graduate but life is an adventure and we are looking foward to seeing where it will take us.