Woah...long time no post (hence the horrendously long post)

So, life happens. We've been busy enjoying our summer and our super busy little one who has taken tons of "steps" today.
So several things have happened recently. I got my new wedding ring:

So a prong on my wedding ring broke almost 2 years ago and it broke in such a way that I would have to get the whole ring re-done which would have cost A LOT. Plus it isn't my original wedding ring (LONG STORY) so I was trying to decide what to do. Anyway, I decided to sell my diamond and get a new ring. I found this ring and loved it so I guess everything works out. Anyone know anyone who wants to buy a diamond at a great price?
Another great thing is my best friend from childhood/high school came and visited this past week. Richard was AMAZING and watched Abi a ton so Rebekah and I could go out and play. We went shopping and went out to eat and looked through old year books and had a great time catching up. I'm so grateful that you came and visited me Rebekah! I had so much fun and I'm so glad we got to hang out!
Abi loved playing with RebekahNow for the Abi Update:
Abi has now started to drink whole milk--well kind of. She finds it really weird. She looks at it every time she drinks it with the weirdest look on her face. She LOVES pasta and we eat it almost every day for lunch--which usually requires a bath. She rubs more pasta sauce on her face, eyes, hair, & ears than any other food. But she also eats it better than anything else. Who knows. She still loves peaches and she eats a whole packet of fruit & cream oatmeal for breakfast.
She loves to cuddle her stuffed animals and she seems to cuddle with us more often too. She knows what the word kisses means and if she is in the mood, she'll give you a few. I LOVE IT! So does Richard of course.
Her first 5 words are (in the order of usage): Da da, hi, bye, Abigail & uh-oh. Notice none of these are mommy or mama. Daddy was amongst those first words but I can't remember when it appeared. The last few days she's started to mumble some "ma's" while crying. I think it is just jibber-jabber. Speaking of Jibber-jabber, Abi can talk your ear off already. She has lots of things to say. She also likes to sing really, really loud in church.
She likes bubbles but she loves it when Daddy "prances" through them on the grass. She laughed hysterically the other night when Daddy did this. He's going to love that I told everyone about him prancing. :)
Abi has 7 teeth now and I'm sure she'll start teething again soon. It's about that time again I think.
She really likes to play soccer. I'll hold one of her hands and we'll go around kicking a ball. She LOVES it! She also loves it when we push the ball around while we're on our hands and knees and I chase after her.
She is great at going up and down stairs and she thinks that all stairs are toys specifically for her. She loves reading books and she really loves to turn the pages.
She smacks her lips when she eats (Grandma Tregaskis loves this about her). It is hilarious.
Her hair is long enough to put these little clippies in but not long enough to keep them in for any length of time. Soon enough... although there is plenty of hair in the back. Maybe mullets will come back in style again....please no.... She is our happy-go-lucky social bug and she is sooo much fun!

She got to eat chocolate cake a few weeks ago. I love the look on her face in the first picture. It's as if she's asking: "Can I really eat this?"

Chocolate cake was great fun...however, she tried to share with the curtains, which didn't go over so well. We ended up putting up new blinds because the curtains were ruined.

We went up the canyon several weeks ago with the Maxwells. Abi & Molly seemed to sense that something fun was going to happen.

Abi had tons of fun crawling in the dirt, eating it, and walking with daddy along the trails. Abi had her first marshmallow while sitting on Daddy's lap. Bad idea. Daddy couldn't handle the stickness that Abi so lovingly spread on his arms so he placed her on the ground. However, marshmallow hands on dirt & soot don't go over real well. At least this picture is good pay back.