The Lyman Lowdown

Show and Tell

2012-01-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

Some of these have been done for a while and some have been in the works for a while...

Jewelry Dish

A year ago, I saw this Pottery Barn jewelry dish online with only the best Mr. Darcy quote. I would have bought it then and there if it wasn't already sold out. What!? So I immediately planned to make one of my own. I couldn't figure out how to make it look exactly the same, but I like how my version turned out. I used my mom's cricut design program to arrange all the text, which was a pain in the rear end. Then I cut a stencil out of vinyl and placed it on a $1.50 plastic salad plate from Target, which was also a pain in the rear end. Then I sprayed the plate with white primer, then black, then red for the word "love." Then after drying, I peeled off all the vinyl with tweezers, which was another pain in the rear end (lots of small pieces). Then I gave the whole thing a coat of a finishing spray. Et voila! A perfectly Pride & Prejudiced dish. That I will NEVER attempt again. But I like it so much I couldn't stop looking at it for two days.

PB version:

Vinyl-ized:

My version:

Knife Block Makeover

I've seen this done many times on blogs and pinterest. My knife block was a blah blond color. In a jiffy, I sanded, sprayed it black, distressed the edges, sprayed a protectant coat, and then cut an "L" out of vinyl on my mom's cricut for the front. I love it lots. Even Daniel likes it. And that's saying a lot.

Shoe Bag

I made this easy star drawstring bag for Emersen to carry her ballet shoes back and forth to dance class. I lined it with coordinating fabric, all of which I already had in my stash. It's the perfect way to keep her shoes from getting lost in the jumble.

Clock Makeover

This clock came from my in-laws' DI pile. It was pretty boring, so I just put green scrapbook paper behind the glass which prettied it up a bit. Easy! It hangs in our bathroom now. You can't see the pattern on the paper very well in this picture, but it's pretty subtle anyway.

Entryway

Daniel has been wanting a no-shoes house for a long time. I was never too fond of the idea until recently when I really started thinking about all the stuff that gets tracked in with our shoes. Yuck! Don't think about it. We decided we needed a bench and place to store shoes if we were going to do it. Daniel wanted to build something, so I gave him some inspiration pictures, and then he went for it, adding his own unique, modern design. He used wood from his stash, so it was all free! He banned me from painting or staining it. He liked the wood grain showing through. Good job, Daniel!

We also needed a sign asking people to take off their shoes. Again, we raided Daniel's wood stash and he cut a board to size for me. My dad used his router to make a fancier edge. Then I painted it, distressed the edges, and used antiquing medium to add some age and character. I got this vinyl quote for $5 at the Oak City Days boutique a couple summers ago. It all turned out just as I envisioned. I found the black metal scroll key hanger at DI for $1.

Now we have a nice addition to the entryway which isn't as boring as . . . having nothing there, I guess! Please remove your shoes!

Emersen's New Ear

2012-01-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

In November, Emersen had plastic surgery to correct the torn tissue on her ear lobe after the horse incident last April. Sorry for the reminder...

Before:

Then:

After:

I think it's amazing what those doctors can do. We were all so pleased with the result of the surgery. When the accident happened, I really thought that she would always be missing a part of her earlobe. She still has a nice scar, but I'm sure over time it will fade and decrease significantly.

So here's a report on the surgery. The night before, I took Emersen to a pre-op prep class. The surgery was scheduled at the Primary Children's Riverton Outpatient Center. I think the class was very helpful. It made her familiar with the facility and got her excited about coming back the next day. They also gave her a hospital doll, mask and cap, and slushie. I probably benefitted the most from the class. This was my first ever experience with surgery, and I really had no clue what would be involved. I was comforted in knowing that children were their specialty and that they would take really good care of Emersen.

We were instructed to check into the hospital at 6:50 a.m. She was the second scheduled surgery of the day. I was so glad since she wasn't allowed to eat or drink after midnight. We just woke her up, gave her a blessing, and put her in the car so she didn't even have a chance to get hungry. We took Bentley to a friend's house who watched him most of the day for us so that we didn't have to worry about him too. I feel indebted to her forever for that service.

Emersen recognized the hospital as we drove into the parking lot. She was excited to be there. We checked in, got bracelets, and then Emersen got to play with toys while waiting to be called back. She was the only one there at the time. When she saw my bracelet, which was one of the those cheap pink paper ones, she wanted a pink bracelet too. The nurse was happy to oblige and said they didn't get that request very often. So Emersen had a bracelet on each arm.

They took us to an exam room where a nurse took her vitals and reviewed things with us. Emersen loved putting on her "hospital pjs" and yellow "hospital socks." I thought she looked pretty cute in those pjs too. She was so good and cooperative the whole time.

They then took us to another waiting room where she played with more toys and watched cartoons. The anesthesiologist, surgeon, and nurse all came to talk to us. Emersen picked bubble gum scented anesthesia. The doctor said he had been thinking all the evening before about how he was going to fix her ear and that it would probably be very tedious. He said it would probably take about 30 minutes. The nurse was great and talked to Emersen and said she would be with her the whole time.

When they were ready for her, Emersen wanted to take her "baby book" (American Girls doll magazine) with her and chose to ride to the operating room in this little car. She had no problem saying goodbye to us and going with the doctors. We said, "Okay, we'll see you later. Have fun." She hardly looked back at us to say, "Okay, bye, we'll see you later." I later asked the nurse how she did, and she said Emersen was just fine with everything. They looked at her baby book while getting the anesthesia and everything set up. She had no anxiety. We were told over and over all day how adorable she is.

We headed back out to the main waiting room. Daniel had been up all night working on school stuff, so he quickly fell asleep.

The surgery took longer than planned; it was at least an hour before we were called back. We first met with the surgeon. He said everything went really well and he was pleased with the result. He actually took both of us back to the recovery room immediately so that he could show us what they did to her ear. Usually they don't let parents back until the child is awake from the anesthesia. And there's a good reason. Emersen looked pretty lifeless lying there on that bed with blood all over her ear and hair. The doctor showed us that he cut out the triangular scar tissue and took some tissue from the back of her ear to fill in the gap and pulled it all together to lengthen and smooth out the bottom curve of the earlobe. Despite the stitches and blood, it did look really good. I was amazed. Her ear was dusky and bruised and swollen. The doctor said not to send her home until he looked at her ear to make sure the circulation was returning.

We went back to the waiting room to get our bags. Daniel decided to go home and sleep since Emersen was doing fine and there wasn't much point to both of us being there. Emersen did ask where he was though, so she probably would have liked to see him. I went back to the recovery room, and Emersen had just woken up. She was sitting up, and the nurse was removing some tubes and things and making her more comfortable. She said, "Hi mommy." I helped her lie back down and held her hand and talked to her. She was still trying to wake up. After a few minutes, I started feeling like I was going to pass out. I quickly found a chair and put my head down. The nurse said not to feel bad because they lose parents all the time. She offered to get me a drink and crackers as soon as we went to the post-op room, which wasn't too much longer.

Once we were taken to a post-op room, they gave Emersen an orange slushie, which she loved, and eventually a bunch of crackers when her appetite started picking up. She handled everything really well; no complaints, crying, or getting sick. She was totally pampered and probably didn't want to leave. I had to take it easy and stay in my seat most of the time. I didn't think I would be the one almost passing out. I think it had a lot to do with the smell of the blood, because every time I looked at her ear I would feel sick again.

Emersen watched "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" the whole time and barely noticed anything else. She wouldn't look at me for a single picture. Haha. Even when the doctor was examining her ear, she didn't take her eyes off the tv or respond to him. She got to pick out a little stuffed animal, and she chose the "rhino-oceros." She was also given a new sippy cup, a book of stickers, and a slinky.

We were given the okay to leave at about 11:30 a.m. We put her pjs back on, and a nurse pulled her out to our car in a wagon. She was doing really well, and we had such a great experience. I would recommend that facility and staff to anyone. When we got home, I turned on a movie for her so that she would sit and relax and hopefully take a nap. She didn't want to sit still for long. I felt like I was telling her all afternoon and evening to calm down and sit still and take it easy. Oh well. Three-year-olds know best! At least she was feeling better, I guess. The doctor told us to not let her sleep on her ear so that the blood flow wouldn't be minimized. Yeah, right. We did put a bandage on when she slept so that she didn't get blood all over, but that was only needed for a few days.

The surgery didn't seem to set her back or slow her down at all, other than being more cranky than usual. At church two days later, she wasn't really herself either. She told me she was "having a hard time," so she sat with me in primary instead of going to nursery. She also didn't like taking her pain medicine, so I let her pick what color medicine she wanted and then put a drop of food coloring in it. That seemed to make it okay. Here she is playing with her hospital stuff.

We gave her a bath the next day but put a shower cap over her ear to keep it dry. She didn't want to smile.

I don't know how many stitches she had, but the doctor took them out in two stages. She didn't really like that part but did okay. They were such small stitches that he had to pull them a little in order to snip them. Some of them hurt. Here is her ear a few days after surgery once we got most of the dried blood cleaned off. The back of her ear looks pretty funky, but at least it's the back.

And here it is after the stitches were removed.

She kept telling us that she went to the doctor and he took her stitches out and made her ear all better. She's also happy to show anyone her ear and tell them about it. No trauma here. I'm so glad it wasn't a scary experience for any of us. We are supposed to massage Vitamin E oil into her earlobe every day. It's weird how tough the skin is right now with all that scar tissue. It doesn't feel like a regular earlobe. Emersen always wants to put oil on my ear before she will let me put it on hers. It's a deal.

Recap of 2011

2012-01-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

January

Daniel's project "Sway'd" won the Fluid Adagio Competition - Mexican Riviera Cruise with the Lymans - Daniel turned 28 - Daniel's school trip to Chicago

February

Bentley started crawling - Daniel began an internship designing a website at the U - "The Foreigner" at the Orem Hale Center Theater

March

Trip to Chicago - Began potty training Emersen - Girl Scout cookies - Setup new photo organizing system with Picasa - Bought "Tangled"

April

Emersen's ear accident with the horse - Daniel's mission reunion - The Royal Wedding - Easter in Venice (Utah) - Joined Pinterest

May

Daniel graduated from the U with his bachelors degree - Ward service day - Bees game with the Lymans - Threw a baby shower for Annie - Memorial Day in Oak City - Mat, K'Lyn, and Joseph's mission farewells - Quit teaching piano lessons - "Sway'd" is built downtown

June

Bentley turned 1, started walking, and chipped his two front teeth - Daniel's family left on their missions - Father's Day - Daniel got a job at AJC architects - Bentley began getting a monthly ear infection - Cherry Hill

July

Visited the Children's Museum at the Church History Museum for Pioneer Day - Staheli Family Reunion in Enterprise - Fourth of July in Delta - Attended both 10-year high school reunions - Finished decorating Emersen's room

August

Trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado - Ward pool party - Celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary - Oak City Days - Living room mini makeover - Emersen was invited to her first birthday party - Daniel started his masters program at the U

September

Finally kicked Bentley's ear infections - General Relief Society broadcast with President Uchtdorf's memorable forget-me-not talk - Emersen turned 3 - Made a play kitchen for Emersen - Went to the State Fair - Labor day picnic - Emersen started a dance class - Went to the first Utah football game of the season - UDLA annual meeting - Trip to Idaho for Daniel's Grandpa's 80th birthday party - Went to the zoo - "Anything Goes" at Centerpoint Theater

October

Trip to Washington DC - Clogged drain in utility room and flooding - Daniel's school trip to Italy - Spent time in Oak City - Paid for a babysitter for the first time - Master bedroom makeover including new paint - Bought new camera - Halloween in Kaysville

November

Riki turned 29 - Thanksgiving in Bountiful and Oak City - Emersen's ear plastic surgery - First snow - Started going to Library storytime - Daniel built the "Crockett Rock Gallery"

December

Jarom got married and we got a new sister-in-law - Pedicures with Holly - Emersen's first dance recitals - Christmas in Oak City - "A Christmas Carol" at the Orem Hale Theater - Ward, friend, and family Christmas parties - Riki sick for three weeks and colds all around - Daniel finished his first masters program semester

Favorite movies of the year:

"Pirates of the Caribbean 4," "Morning Glory," "The King's Speech," "Downton Abbey,"

"Rio," and "X-Men: First Class"

Favorite reads:

"The Help" and "Emma"

Contagious

2012-01-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

I never ever ever get sick of watching this.

Welcome, January!

2012-01-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have never decorated for January before, but this year I decided to give it a shot. On a dime. This is what I came up with.

First, these are my mom's ice skates. I painted them turquoise for a decoration for my brother's wedding reception, and then I stole them and took them home to add to my decor. Love them! I already had this white frame. I filled it with a subway art printable from this site. The blue lantern is usually part of my summer outdoor decor and it was the right color. The clock was kind of a silly craft. It was previously a wooden Christmas mitten wreath. I didn't really like it anymore, so I had Daniel pry the wooden mittens off to use for another project. I kept the circle background part thinking it might come in handy sometime. Turns out it did! I just glued blue scrapbook paper onto the circle, inking the edges for a distressed look. The clock face is just a printout I glued in the center, but I can't find the site where I got it. It says, "Happy New Year." (Everything free so far!)

I found this little plate at TJ Maxx in their Christmas clearance for $1.50. The bird was red, but I knew I could paint it blue. And I did! Unfortunately, you can't see the silver/gray tree very well from this angle. I should have taken the picture before putting it on the shelf.

I stuck these glittery snowflakes in some white sand I poured into a glass vase to make them stand up. I bought the snowflakes at JoAnn's after-Christmas clearance sale last year. I think they were $.25 each. I already had the vase and sand.

For final touches, I sprayed some pinecones white and gray and added a little glitter spray. I bought the silver garland at Target's Christmas clearance sale for $1.00. Total cost of my shelf decor: $4.00 plus tax!

I also decorated my dining room table with a blue tablecloth I bought a while back on clearance at Target. I don't usually keep a tablecloth on, but I love the additional color. The tray, mirror, and lantern were already part of my stash. Actually, the lantern used to be black. I think I got it at Ikea. I bought the clock at Taipan a few months ago. I painted some more pinecones in bright colors to put inside the lantern.

Not bad, eh? I love all the colors during a dreary January. It's just perfect.

December Activities

2012-01-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

I was sick with a cold, then sinus infection, then stomach bug from Thanksgiving until a week before Christmas, so we didn't do many of the things I had planned for the holiday season. I probably should have gone to a doctor and got medicine to knock it out quickly, but I'm kind of stubborn like that. However, looking back, it wasn't worth 3 weeks of sickness. We had so much going on with Daniel's finals, Emersen's dance recitals, parties, my brother's wedding, and preparing for Christmas that I just had to give up some things. Last year I wrapped all of our Christmas books and we opened a new one every night. This year I never got around to wrapping them so we only read a few of them throughout the month. I tried to keep up our countdown activities. I prepared the calendar, but some days we just didn't quite get there. We didn't see the lights at temple square, drive around looking at other Christmas lights, or make gingerbread houses. By the time I was feeling better, I didn't want to worry about squeezing everything into one week and stressing out about it. There's always next year.

Here are some highlights:

Lots of mischief from this little guy. He is becoming quite the independent soul at 18 months old. Can I also say, yay for nursery!

We put together some packages for our Grandma and Grandpa Lyman and Uncle Joseph who are serving missions right now. Emersen helped me make these cute reindeer cards (got the idea from Pinterest). We used Bentley's thumbprint too. I sometimes feel bad that I don't include Bentley in things like this, but he would probably just be more work than play.

She also colored some pictures for them. This one was for Uncle Joseph. I wasn't too happy that she decided to add these lovely "stickers" to her picture! But it was all part of a rough day with the kids anyway, so I cried and laughed about it at the same time. Then I managed to carefully peel all of the stamps off without too much damage.

We made these ornaments with pom-poms. This was probably her favorite project. She even had to hang the wreath on the tree in her bedroom.

And finally, we included in our package these little candy bars turned snowmen. I got the idea and printable from this site.

Our yummy snowman pizza smothered in olives thanks to Miss E.

Sponge curlers. She took them out sometime during the night and decided she never wanted to sleep with them in her hair again. Ever!

Bentley discovered just how comfy this chair is and climbed up to read a book. (Ladder and level in the background because I'm stenciling his wall! It's going to be fabulous if I ever finish!)

Emersen got to bring a stuffed animal to her last dance class of the month. Then they also gave her a teddy bear. She loves dance so much and especially loves her dance friends. They are so fun to watch.

Bentley got a new haircut while watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. It completely enthralls him for some reason.

I found this little necklace kit in the Target dollar bin. I gave it to Emersen and showed her the picture of the finished necklace to make. She started stringing the beads without any rhyme or reason. Part way through, she stopped and picked up the picture. She examined it closely and then took all the beads off the string and started over, making it look EXACTLY like the picture on the kit. I was impressed. When she was almost finished, she picked up the string the wrong way and all the beads fell off. She had to start over but this time she enlisted my help to do one side while she did the other. She told me exactly what color beads to use. I love watching her figure things out.

We made some Christmas sugar cookies to take to our friends. She is always very anxious to help whenever I am baking.

We had a tea party with her little dolls. Their names are Grandma, Mommy, Emersen, Sloan, Sofie, and Daddy. Daddy got home from work and brought his blue recliner to join the girls. She plays for hours in her room by herself. I love sneaking a peek and listening to her imagination at work.

We made paper snowflakes again like last year. She did a little better job cutting with the scissors this time. She got frustrated after her first one though and didn't want to do anymore by herself.

She found these Barbie playing cards that I had in the closet and loves to do all sorts of things with them. I find them all over the place.

With this being the driest December in history, it was easy to play outside.

Let's not forget the Lyman family Christmas party. The best part was skyping with Grandma and Grandpa Lyman. They are on a mission in Oakland, California. I'm sure they miss the rambunctious family gatherings. We sure missed them!

They sent some really fun presents from Chinatown. Parasols and fans, wooden lizards, rice krispie treats, scarves, karate headbands, Ghirardelli chocolates, and a fabulous pop-up book of A Christmas Carol.

We don't see Daniel's family as much as we used to. (It used to be every Sunday!) So we enjoyed visiting and playing. We also did a little program with talents and a gift exchange.

Emersen wanted to sing "I Am A Child of God" for the program, but she got really shy and held her hands in front of her face like this through the whole song. It was pretty sweet.

Now it's on to a new year!

More Fun in Oak City

2012-01-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

We were in Oak City from December 23 through January 1. Daniel had to go back to SLC for a few days of work in between though. We always enjoy the slow pace in Oak City and the comfort of my parents' home. We were there for a long time, though, and the kids were ready to return home by the end of our stay.

Funny story: The last day of our trip, Sunday, Emersen was very anxious to go home to "Mommy's house." She protested when we turned the corner to my parents' house after church. We explained that we had to change our clothes, pack our bags, eat dinner, and then we could go home. A little later, Daniel was saying the blessing on the food. When he paused in the middle, Emersen interjected, "Thank you we can go home to mommy's house." Daniel finished the prayer with all of us trying to suppress our giggles. She's honest!

But we had many fun moments during our stay:

We played with "Annie's Baby Gordon Oakley," as Emersen calls him. She's so sweet with him.

Bentley found this hat of Grandpa's and wore it off and on all week. Can you say adorable?

Grandma helped Emersen make cookies with her new apron and cookie cutters. I love this picture. Some of my fondest memories from growing up are making cookies with my grandmothers.

We watched A LOT of movies. I introduced Emersen to Enchanted, and after seeing it a couple times, she was singing the songs. "That's how you know . . . "

We played games and did puzzles and read books galore.

Bentley spent one evening dressed like this. We decided he looked like a little longshoreman, or dock worker.

I managed to catch this typical glare of his when he's deciding if he's going to disobey you.

My aunt gave me this awesome 1000-piece puzzle of London from the "Hometown Collection." I love it. I traveled to London with my aunt a while ago so we have these shared memories of it. It only took us a couple days to complete.

The kids love my mom's Christmas village, especially this skating rink that magnetically moves the skaters around in circles. They played with it like a doll set, and surprisingly my mom didn't get too stressed out about it. It sure was nice of her because they LOVED it.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for letting us invade! We all love you!

Our Christmas

2011-12-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

We spent Christmas in Oak City again this year. I think my parents were glad to have us so they weren't all by themselves. It was a wonderful time. We kept things pretty simple with regards to presents since we're on a tight budget and the kids don't really need a ton of toys anyway. And I liked it that way. I didn't feel like we got carried away trying to fulfill all their wishes, but we were still able to give meaningful gifts. I still felt like we were overloaded with gifts and goodies, even if most of them only cost a dollar. I felt that we were very blessed, and keeping things simple, I was able to more fully enjoy the season and to remember Christ's birth and life.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the town Christmas program where they portrayed the nativity scene and sang songs. At the end, Santa visited and the kids got to sit on his lap. Emersen is always excited to see him but shy when he's actually talking to her.

Eagerly waiting...

Bentley had no problem with Santa.

My sister's baby Oakley didn't know what to think at first. His expression makes me laugh!

Showing off Bentley's wounds. He pulled a Wii remote down on his eye the night before, giving him a little black eye and cut. And right before the town program, he fell out of my parent's car and nearly face planted in the gravel except that my dad caught the hood of his coat just in time. His forehead was scraped and bruised pretty good.

Before going to bed, we read the nativity story again and The Night Before Christmas. After the kids went to bed, we adults watched We're No Angels, one of our favorite holiday movies. My dad describes it as "straight-faced slapstick," which I think is a perfect description. It's a hoot.

On Christmas morning, we didn't have church until 11:00, so we had enough time to open presents and eat breakfast without being rushed. Bentley was the first to wake up at about 7:15. Daniel woke up Emersen and told her that Santa came. "Oh yeah?" was her response. "He came down the chimney?" We waited on the stairs until Grandpa got out of the shower. She wasn't quite awake yet for this picture.

The kids were pretty calm when they walked into the living room and saw the tree and presents. They just looked at everything rather matter-of-factly. We had to give them some encouragement.

Emersen really liked her doll bed and asked me to go upstairs and get her baby. She then promptly put the baby to bed while she opened more gifts. (I found this unfinished, wood bed at DI for $3! It was perfect. I didn't paint it yet, but I made the mattress and bedding with materials I already had. I think it turned out pretty cute.)

Bentley didn't really care about his tunnel (in the background of this picture). He still has only crawled through it a couple times. The first thing he opened was a set of magnetic letters and that kept him entertained for a long time. He didn't care about opening anything else for a while.

Emersen was a sweet and wonderful helper. She liked handing out presents and seeing what other people got. This feather boa came from grandma, "like Fancy Nancy!" She kept all her gifts in a pile once they were opened. She was very particular about everyone's piles. She didn't seem to mind that she didn't get what she asked Santa for. She seemed happy with her "pile."

I really enjoyed the peaceful morning. There was no rush and frenzy to open the gifts but we were able to linger and absorb the happiness of the day.

This was the best picture I could get of the two of them all dressed up for church. They didn't want to stand by each other.

Daniel got this little coat for Emersen from someone at work. It went perfectly with her Christmas dress. I love her face when she's trying not to smile. Impossible.

We spent the rest of the day playing with toys and visiting. Emersen didn't like Bentley sitting on her baby's bed.

I enjoyed a good snuggle with my little guy.

And we enjoyed visiting with Great-Grandma too. These are rare moments.

I promise Daniel was there too. He was actually the one behind the camera most of the day for a change. I should have taken a picture of him. It was another wonderful Christmas day!

Our Home for the Holidays

2011-12-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

The kids had fun helping us decorate for Christmas. I put aside my OCD and let Emersen decorate the small trees by the front door all by herself. I love what she came up with.

Bentley was mostly interested in the ladder.

We kept things a little more simple this year. Since rearranging, we didn't have a good place for the village or nativities. But we got the main things up. Notice my striped curtains? I was asked a few times if I keep them up all year. They aren't seasonal, but they do look great framing the tree.

I have never been very happy with my shelf decor, but this year actually wasn't bad!

All that work made me tired too!

Singing

2011-12-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Emersen's latest version of "I Am a Child of God."

She also loves singing Christmas songs. She has some funny lines:

"Oh what fun tissue ride" (Jingle Bells)

"You better not watch out, you better not cry" (Santa Claus is Coming to Town)

"Deck the holly . . . fa wa wa wa wa" (Deck the Halls)

"Giddyup, giddyup, letsa go look at the snow" (Sleigh Ride)

She also loves the "Asleep, asleep" part of "Away in a Manger."

On Stage

2011-12-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Emersen had her very first dance performances this month. Early in the month, she danced at the Festival of Trees. Daniel couldn't make it because he had class, so my friend Holly went with me to help with the other little munchkin. Emersen's hair doesn't hold curl from an iron, so I tried putting sponge curlers in her hair. It definitely worked, but I have to figure out how to make it not so crazy. She was pretty cute.

Emersen was so excited to wear her pink dress and dance. All the way in, she kept saying, "Let's go dance! Let's go dance!" She could hardly stand still while I tried to put on her ballet shoes and hairbow.

She was fabulous on stage. Didn't get shy or scared at all. She just danced and smiled. It was SO much fun to watch her. I think I was grinning the whole time too. Afterwards, we walked around to see the trees and gingerbread houses. Emersen kept saying that everything was her "favorite." Both kids were pretty tired by the end of the night.

Her Christmas recital was a week later at Taylorsville High School. Grandma and Grandpa Staheli were able to come watch her this time. Again, she did a great job. She knew the dance so well and smiled big. If you can't tell, she is the one on the far left at the beginning of this video.

The dance company gave all the kids medals afterwards. We are so proud of our little dancer!

Merry Christmas to All!

2011-12-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

My dad took these pictures for us with our camera in their backyard. It was a quick photo shoot, but I think the kids' personalities really showed, especially in the last one. (And I forgot to crop them.)

November News

2011-12-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

One of Bentley's favorite things to do is wear shoes, doesn't matter whose shoes they are. He is always bringing me his shoes and socks to put on for him.

Emersen came home from her grandparents' house with this new "thinking" face.

Bentley is a climber. He tries to get on top of everything. He discovered how to maneuver chairs to climb up and get what he wants. He also figured out how to climb up onto the barstools. Now nothing is safe. He also now prefers to walk up and down the stairs instead of crawling. Unless he's in a hurry.

We bought a new umbrella and Emersen played with it for days. She even takes it to nap with. She likes to pretend she's Mary Poppins, one of her current favorite movies.

These kids often play together really well. She tease each other, chase each other, make up games together, and feed off each other's silliness. They are really fun to watch.

Emersen still thoroughly enjoys her dance class and always talks about the other girls in her class. Her favorite dance move is the "ballerina march."

Bentley boy is quite the joyful little guy.

Emersen loves her dolls and stuffed animals and takes very good care of them. Her puppy was sick this day.

At the city library story time, she made this cute turkey necklace out of pipe cleaners and a bead. I love watching her at story time because she is so interested and involved. Much different from when I would take her last spring. She's growing up.

With daddy busy with final projects, the kids and I rented "Winnie the Pooh" and had a movie night with popcorn. Emersen loves that Pooh Bear loves honey because she does too!

One day Emersen came into the kitchen wearing these sunglasses and tapping a stick in front of her like she was blind. I'm not sure where she learned that.

We had my cousin Monica's family over for family night. The kids play great together; I don't know why we don't do it more often.

Emersen wanted me to take a picture of her with all her jewelry on.

29

2011-12-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

I turned 29 in November, and it was actually a bit melancholy. It probably had nothing to do with the birthday and just with my feelings at the time. I knew it wasn't going to be anything exciting since Daniel was so busy with school and work and actually had a night class. I woke up to Daniel and the kids telling me "happy birthday," and I received a couple cards and a little package and nice email from my in-laws. And that was it. I kept telling Emersen all day that it was my birthday, and she would say, "Oh yeah?" I guess I wanted someone to know. I kept waiting for Daniel or my parents to call. Finally that evening, there was a knock on my door. It was my new visiting teacher stopping by to wish me a happy birthday. When I opened the door, she immediately gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek and wished me a happy birthday. I almost cried. She also gave me a little bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears, which are one of my favorite treats. I was so grateful for her thoughtfulness. She is hispanic and shows affection so readily. It was just what I needed that day. My parents did call me later that night as well.

A few days later, I was talking to my mom about my feelings that day. You don't think as a grown woman that I would feel the need for attention on my birthday. But I guess it is nice to know that someone is thinking about you. Maybe it was silly to feel that way, but I'm just being honest. And maybe I should have baked myself a birthday cake.Two weeks later, Daniel and I were finally able to go on a date. We had a gift card to The New Yorker, so we dressed up fancy and enjoyed the luxurious $100 meal. Free for us. And I ate my entire slice of cheesecake guilt-free.

Turning 29 kind of made me feel old. I heard someone say once that 29 felt like a fake age because that's what people say when they don't want to admit how old they are. I thought that was funny. But here I am. Here's hoping it's a good one!

First Snowfall

2011-12-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

November said hello with a nice little snow storm. The kids were ecstatic to play in it. We weren't quite prepared with snow gear yet, so they got cold pretty fast. Of course, they didn't mind and had a blast!

Thanksgiving (Better Late Than Never)

2011-12-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

On Thanksgiving Day, we joined my mom's family in Bountiful for dinner. My entire immediate family was together, which was really fun. We also had my Grandma, several of my mom's siblings, and some cousins. I really enjoy visiting with my extended family even though it doesn't happen as often as I would like. We spent the whole afternoon and early evening at my Uncle Jon and Aunt Chris' home. The food was wonderful, the company enjoyable, and blessings evident.

We drove to Oak City that night and spent the remainder of the weekend there. We enjoyed the vacation immensely. My parents are in the process of updating their kitchen/dining area, so the guys helped them install a new sliding glass door. Look at these studs.

While that was going on, we gals placed vinyl quotes on tiles for our homes. Thanks for the project, Mom!

We also enjoyed lovely weather, so the kids were able to play outside some.

My nieces and nephews were super adorable, and they all had fun playing together for the most part. My sister's baby, Oakley, is 4 months old and nearly as big as Bentley (17 months old)! We had to take a comparison photo.

Throughout the month of November, we made a "gratitude chain." At least once a day, we wrote on a slip of paper one of our blessings and made a chain. It was a nice reminder of how blessed we are. I don't know why sometimes it's hard to remember that. I truly believe that "a thankful heart is a happy heart."

Sick of This

2011-12-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

I've been sick for two weeks, since getting back from our Thanksgiving trip. I think I have a sinus infection. So for the past two weeks, I have only done what I absolutely must. Other than that, I've passed the days resting, popping tylenol, watching every Jane Austen movie I own, and trying to keep up with the kids. Almost nothing else. Except cleaning the house.

Bentley is really active and into everything. He runs from room to room, climbs everywhere, has figured out how to push a chair over to the counter to get what he wants, and is basically just destructive. I feel like I just follow him around, cleaning up the debris. Emersen has been pretty good except that she keeps having potty accidents lately. Daniel is SO CLOSE to being done with the semester. Thank goodness. And the Kiera Knightley version of "Pride and Prejudice" is highly insufficient. I don't know if I can ever watch it again. My mistake was watching it immediately following the BBC version. Oh, Colin Firth, you delight me in my miserable, sickly state!

Well, now that there are only two weeks until Christmas, I've decided to hop off the couch and kick it into gear, whether I feel like it or not. I'm determined to enjoy this season even if I have to go through three more boxes of Kleenex. I'm pretty much done with my shopping, but it's all sitting in a pile and I have some projects yet to finish. I have insurance stuff to attend to, primary schedules to update, Christmas parties to attend, a wedding outfit to find, children and husband to feed, holiday movies to watch, photos to upload, blog to update, tot school activities to prepare, and games to play. We'll see how far I get . . .

Bentley

2011-11-22T23:11:00.001-07:00

Way back in July, I borrowed my SIL's camera with awesome portrait lens to take some one-year-old pictures of Bentley. He was teething badly at the time, so his hands were in his mouth for half the pictures. However, thanks to Daniel, we got some great smiles out of him. These were taken in our backyard. I finally got around to working a little photoshop magic on some of them, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I cannot pick even just a few favorites; I love so many. So here's a bunch. Click here if you want to see more (unedited ones included). Enjoy my darling little boy!

Life These Days

2011-11-16T22:47:00.001-07:00

Emersen is having surgery to repair her ear this Friday, and I'm a little nervous about her going under. I just keep telling myself that she'll appreciate it when she's a teenager. I'm taking her to a pre-operative prep class tomorrow so that she'll be familiar with what will happen since I don't know if we can be with her the whole time. Hopefully, she'll come out of it just fine and will heal without any problems. I need to remember to take more pictures of her ear before she goes in.
I love my new blog design. It's simple and gray. I'm slightly obsessed with gray.
We have been listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies on and off since November started. I don't want to get burned out, so it's not every day. My favorite is the Michael Buble Pandora station, but I also can't live without my Carpenters Christmas collections. The kids love the holiday movies, and I've already pulled a you-have-to-be-good-and-do-what-your-mom-says-if-you-want-Santa-to-bring-you-presents. Emersen totally gets it.
I haven't worked out regularly since September, and, miraculously, I don't really care and my clothes still fit fine. But I just decided that I should start again because I know it will boost my mood and energy, two things I could really use right now.
I just noticed that our property taxes, car and home insurance payments, car repairs and tires, E's ear surgery cost, and buying Christmas presents are all due within the same two months right now. We should probably never let that happen again. Here's hoping it all gets worked out! I guess we'll see how much faith we have! (Daniel is probably going to hate that I just revealed that.)
On the brighter side, I have been awesome at sticking to my budget lately.
My younger brother is getting married in December, and I am so grateful for Pinterest right now. My mom has recruited my sister and me to help with the open house decorations. There's so much great inspiration on the web! Oh, and I really like my soon-to-be sister-in-law. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.
I went with my friend Holly to get a pedicure and lunch last weekend. We had been trying to schedule it for months. Sitting there for an hour and a half (yes, an hour and a half!) doing absolutely nothing but listening to soothing music, being pampered, and visiting with one of my closest friends was just what I needed. I went bold and choose dark brown paint with a gold fleck effect over the top. It's so dark it almost looks black, but I actually love it. I only wish I wasn't always wearing slippers or socks right now. The other fantastic thing was that she had gift certificates, so it was free! I appreciate my friends more and more, since Daniel is so busy right now. I often wish I had someone other than my kids to talk to on these long days when Daniel is gone day and night.
Bentley has cut a few molars over the past couple of weeks and has more teeth coming. It's been a great time for all! He's actually been sleeping better and much happier this past week, so I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. He's due for another cold any time now.
I went to the temple last night for the first time in months. I have never had such a hard time getting things arranged to be able to go! And yet, I have not felt so much peace in the last few months either. I definitely needed to be there. I love leaving the temple feeling more empowered to do what I need to. It's such a blessing.
I'm easing up on my project list so that I can get some other things in order and spend more time with the kids. We're all a little stressed out right now with daddy not being home much, so I'm trying to find different ways to break up the days. BUT, I'm excited about the projects I have completed and can't wait to share. Someday...

This is Halloween!

2011-11-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Emersen was so excited to go trick-or-treating that she actually began the night before. We went to our neighbor's house to collect our mail that they held for us while we were on vacation. When they answered the door, Emersen said, "Trick or treat!" We had to tell her not yet. Hahaha. Halloween morning we ate homemade mini donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast. This was not my favorite recipe, so I'm still on the lookout.

Since Daniel's parents were gone this year, we went to his sister Marie's house in Kaysville for the evening festivities. It ended up being the perfect location for small trick-or-treaters. It's a newly built community with just one street, so up and down one time was enough for our little ones. Most of Daniel's other siblings came too. We ate yummy chili and breadsticks, got our Halloween costumes on, and took some pictures before heading out. (This was our first day with the new camera, so some pictures are better than others since we didn't know what we were doing yet. Still don't really.)

This was my second year dressing up since being married. Trying to get my groove back :).

Sleeping Beauty and Tigger. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs that fit! Saved me so much thought with October being such a busy month. How precious are these shots!? I love the different expressions in each photo.

Can you tell they're not very happy with each other right now? Funny!

She won, of course.

All the cousins and adults. Emersen was waiting so patiently when all she wanted to do was get going.

This was really the only picture we took of Daniel. He dressed up as a "world traveler," which he has been lately. (No dressing up necessary.) Emersen ran the whole time, as you can see. I could NOT get a still shot of her...

...Until she fell while running down a driveway. She face-planted and scraped her forehead and nose. After that, she was a lot more reserved and even spent some time in the wagon.

Bentley didn't care about anything but riding in the car and climbing the stairs.

When we returned to the house, Emersen was very protective of her candy. These pictures make me laugh. Renz was moving in on her stash and she wasn't having it!

The next day, she emptied her cat bag and organized her loot. Just like her mommy used to do. She's a mini me.

We had a great time and especially enjoyed great weather for a change! It was much more pleasant than braving the torrential rain of last year. Now Emersen occasionally asks if tomorrow is Halloween. These kids always make me smile.

Another Trip to OC

2011-11-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

While Daniel was in Italy, the kids and I spent some more quality time in the not-quite-as-cool-as-Italy town of Oak City with my parents. The weather was lovely most of the time, so we played outside every day.

Of course, we can't go to Oak City without one or both of the kids getting sick. (What's in the air down there?) Emersen was getting over a cold at the start of the trip, and Bentley caught it from her at the end. Their Grandpa is always so willing to take care of them in the middle of the night. We think Bentley quickly became a Grandpa's boy because of this. Emersen has lately been telling me that she's sick (when she's not) and that she needs Grandpa to make her feel better and then she'll be happy. Bentley was so worn out and not feeling well that he fell asleep in the swing.

I went to Oak City with intentions to complete a bunch of projects and other to-dos, but not much really got done. I did, however, fix up this name plate that has hung next to my parents' front door for as long as I can remember. It was originally painted white with green and red paint around the edges and "Staheli's" stenciled onto the front. It was so weather worn that you could hardly see any name at all. We should have taken a before picture. So I sanded it all down, repainted it white, distressed the edges, created some vinyl words on my mom's cricut machine, and put it all together with some polyurethane for protection. I like how it turned out. Mucho improvo!

I always appreciate my parents letting us crash when Daniel isn't around or is too busy with finals to be home much. I feel like such an amateur mom during those times, so it's nice to have some help with the kids and someone to talk to. And let's face it, who doesn't love their mother's home-cooked meals?

Italy Snapshots

2011-11-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of October, Daniel went to Italy for about ten days with his architecture class for a "field trip." They were in Milan and Turin. Besides being incredibly jealous since I've never been to Italy before, I was glad that he had the opportunity. He had a great time, though we were glad to hear that he missed us enough to come home a little earlier than planned. Believe me, I was ready! He took tons of pictures, but who knows when he'll find time to post about them. These few pictures were taken by one of his classmates, Jonathan Hickerson. (I hope he doesn't mind.) I stole them from Daniel's facebook page. But that's all I got for now!

October: A Full Month

2011-11-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

It's half way through November, and I've finally uploaded all of my pictures from October. Last month was one of the busiest months I can ever remember having; so many things going on. And we were literally only home for two weeks of it! I'm slowly catching up on the main events, but here are the tidbits:

Neighbor Halloween party. Emersen had a blast once her friends arrived, and Bentley found the perfect little spot to sit and people watch.

Making messes. But when is this NOT happening?

Our last rose of the summer. Just gorgeous.

Lunch with a fabulous high school friend, Casie, and her son Brigam. (I stole your pictures, as you can see. Thanks!) The kids were playing like they've been best friends forever and of course refused to eat their meals after too many french fries. It was a great time to catch up.

Watching football games.

Emersen's new prized possession: her "baby book," the American Girl doll magazine. It doesn't leave her side, day and night, and has been taped back together multiple times. She will be glad to tell you which ones are her favorite: all of them. And she's even learning their names. I should have given it to her for Christmas!

Halloween decorations.

And a new camera! We have such cute models, even when they're unhappy!

Crockett Rock Gallery

2011-11-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should post about this one... A few months back I received an email from this lady that had seen the Sway'd project downtown and was very interested in meeting with me to see if I was interested in a "similar" project. We eventually arranged for me to meet her at her house up Emigration Canyon to discuss the project. At this point, I still didn't really have any idea what a "similar" project meant.

I think this was my first trip up that canyon - very beautiful! Her home is also very nice and is located on a very gently sloping site.

Upon arrival, she, Jeanne, came out with her two dogs and took me to the lot west of her house where her neighbor is building a house to explain the project. When the neighbors excavated for the house, they removed around 120 large boulders.

Jeanne explained to me that she had asked her neighbor if she could have the rocks and that she wanted me to create a design that utilized the rocks on her property to create some landscape art. She specifically said that we weren't creating landscaping, but art. I was given a copy of the site plan and pretty much set loose. I walked around the site, took a bunch of photos and wrote down some ideas before leaving.

During the next few days I formulated an idea but I wanted to go back to the site one more time to clarify a few items. After that second visit I asked my friend Liz Yonashiro to come onto the project with me to help solidify the design and create some sketches. This is what we came up with:

Jeanne liked the sketches and idea that she requested the original drawings. Her husband thought it might be fun to frame them so that when people came over to talk about the project, they could show them the original sketches.

The idea was to "lay out the boulders in a sort of sweeping pattern that draws itself from the rear/side of the home to the front and continues around the lower part of the mound in the front yard before making its way around to the top. In effect, creating a long sweep that almost folds back on itself. Maintaining this overall layout, the individual boulders could be placed in certain "groups" to create individual art pieces - creating a sort of sculpture gallery. In effect, the installation is a bunch of art pieces that are part of a large site gesture."

We formulated ideas for 15 different "groups" based off the characteristics of the rocks and the site features. Jeanne hired a contractor with an excavator to move the stones. Here are some images of the construction:

The excavator sure made it seem easy to move the massive boulders!

The construction (machine time) was just under 8 total hours to move the nearly 100 different stones into place. Jeanne absolutely loved the final product! Here is a good image of the new front yard:

And here are some other images, though, I can't wait for the Google Maps image to be updated...

Keep Calm and Be Thankful

2011-11-01T18:32:00.002-06:00

This is exactly what I needed to see today. It's been one of those days...

Emersen's Art

2011-10-12T18:28:00.000-06:00

Emersen loves drawing our family. No one taught her to draw like this; she came up with it all on her own. And those are not whiskers, they're fingers. What do you think? Priceless.

More September

2011-10-10T22:46:00.000-06:00

The insignificant but nonetheless fun moments of the month...

As part of my living room mini makeover, I sold my old rug on KSL, so we lived with blankets on the floor for a week or so. It was actually kind of fun and much easier to clean :)

We then got a new rug, and the kids promptly broke it in. Yes, my house does look like this at times. And no, I did not clean it up before going to bed that night.

Emersen was anxious to help her dad with his yard work, so she got out her tool set and got to work.

Heeheehee. (Not staged.)

While mom went to a board meeting downtown, Daniel took the kids to The Gateway to play in the water and get lunch. He's probably the coolest dad ever for letting her take a ride on this horse.

The messy face pics are endless, aren't they. I have been hesitating to give this boy anything too messy to eat by himself, and he hasn't had a chance to try his hand at utensils yet. But this spaghetti night, I gave in.

Licking the beaters.

Bentley had his monthly cold, but that meant I got lots of cuddle time with these two.

New fall clothes and dressing up like mommy. "I'm going to the store now," she tells me.

Bentley is really beginning to love books. He always brings them to me to read to him. His favorite is "Itsy Bitsy Spider." It has lots of animals in it, and he loves trying to imitate their sounds.

Taking advantage of the lingering warm weather. These kids love playing outside.

Remember September

2011-10-07T22:41:00.000-06:00

Lots of fun was had in September...

We went to Rexburg, Idaho, for Daniel's Grandpa Ted's 80th birthday party. We arrived late Friday night after a long drive in the rain and unsettled children. When we arrived at the hotel, Emersen was so excited to be sleeping at a hotel that she willingly jumped into bed. Saturday was easygoing just visiting with family. I met some of Daniel's cousins for the very first time. We drove back home that evening. The kids slept most of the way after getting worn out with all the play.

We made a quick trip up to Logan for my sister's baby blessing. Little Oakley is a cutie! Emersen loves "Annie's baby Oakley," as she always refers to him. I just wish we could see him more often. Annie's ward is a married student ward with no primary or organized nursery. Emersen was pretty good to sit through all of the classes with us, but she had to hit up the toys in the nursery room halfway through sacrament meeting. We put shoes on Bentley for the very first time since he began walking months ago. I was surprised he didn't fall more than he did with those church clunkers on. They looked great though!

We met some cousins at Hogle Zoo on a beautiful morning. This was the only time we went all summer! Emersen couldn't wait to get there and didn't want to leave. Her favorites were the elephants, giraffes, squirrel, and the "Rio birds." She still talks about going to the zoo and all the animals she saw. She loved following the boys around and doing everything they did. She also liked carrying the map and referring to it when she was ready to see something else. Bentley just chilled in the stroller the whole time, but I got him out at the end when we played in the kids' area, which he loved.

Emersen has been fascinated with temples for a while now. After going to a mission homecoming in Bountiful one Sunday, she asked to go see the temple. So we stopped and wandered around the Bountiful Temple. She often talks about wanting to go to the temple and wear a white dress.

Just Thinking

2011-10-05T17:48:00.002-06:00

Daniel and I just finished reading "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins. I read this book in a college class and loved it. I finally talked Daniel into reading it, but he didn't love it. I guess it's just not his genre. I decided that I can't ever discuss a book that I like with him again. It was funny because he would give his opinion about a character or something and I would totally disagree and it would frustrate me. Haha! Well, I still liked it. And so did my sister. I read "Emma" just before that which I loved, even though I've seen several movie versions many times. Today, I read the first chapter of "The Help" and already really like it.
About a month ago, Daniel and I saw the play "Anything Goes." The tap dancing made me really miss performing in musicals and dancing. It seems like a whole lifetime since I was involved in that stuff. During intermission, Daniel said to me, "You could do that, so why don't you?" I don't know. Maybe I'll look into another tap dance class, NOT community taught. I don't think I could devote enough time to actually being in a play though, at least not right now.
I think I have only exercised 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Daniel has been going into work early lately, and I hate having to make appointments at the gym because I have to do it a week in advance for a morning appointment! I don't like exercising at home because the kids think I am playing games with them. And I have been having fun working on projects instead. Okay, maybe I'm just lazy.
I got locked out of the house for the first time. Good and locked out. I put the kids down for naps, closed and locked all the windows and doors to turn on the air conditioning, and then went into the garage to spray paint something. What I had forgotten was that earlier that morning, I had locked the door leading from the house to the garage because Emersen kept trying to go out. Once locked, it still opens from the inside so I was able to go into the garage without noticing it was locked. I was pretty mad at myself for doing that. When I was completely frustrated, I walked over to my neighbor's house. He happened to be sitting on his front porch, home from work early. I told him what happened, that my kids were inside, and asked to borrow his phone to call Daniel. I was emotional, which I'm sure made him feel really bad for me. Daniel decided to just come home from school since he had the only other key. I sat and visited with my neighbors until he got home. The kids were still soundly napping when we got back into the house. We promptly hid a spare key outside.
The main drain from our house got clogged last week. We had flooding in our utility room, but luckily we discovered it before any damage was done. Daniel was up most of the night vacuuming water and trying to figure out what was wrong. He ended up calling a rooter guy who un-clogged it for us. $125 lesson learned: Don't flush baby wipes!
I finally had to actually pay a babysitter for the first time. Twice in the last month. We've always been lucky enough to have family or friends available. It's my new least favorite thing: getting a babysitter. I always put it off until the last minute. Geez. I wish we could figure out a date night rotation with some friends or something. That would make things easier.
Since Daniel started school with night classes, I lost all motivation to make dinner. Poor guy. I'm sure he wishes he married someone who actually likes to cook. I do manage to plan a meal for the few nights that he is home. Most of the time, anyway.
Daniel is going to Italy for a school field trip for ten days. So I'm going to hang out in Oak City while he's gone. I don't want to talk about it. I'm jealous. Unfortunately, I can't stay the whole time because of E's dance class and work responsibilities. But don't worry, I have plenty of projects to keep me busy. It might be a whole new house when he gets back. Okay, probably not.
The kids have started fighting with each other a little. Bentley likes to mess up Emersen's piles or whatever she is playing with, and then she yells at him. It's lovely. Bentley is also transitioning to one nap, which makes both of us grumpy for half the day. I will be so glad when this stage has passed.
The annual conference I put together for work was a couple weeks ago and went off without a hitch. I thus took all of last week off and didn't even read any emails relating to work. When I got reconnected, I learned that the Board has been planning another smaller seminar that is set for a week from now. Dang it. I was ready to enjoy the smaller workload that October usually offers.
On the brighter side, I've been doing lots of projects around the house including painted curtains, new pillow covers, new duvet cover, kid stuff, and rearranging. I haven't taken pictures of anything yet though. I'm also in purge mode. I don't know what got into me, but I don't want anything in my house that isn't useful or that I don't love. I want to simplify. I've discovered that I can sell things (most things anyway) to fund my projects and get things I do love. I have been refinishing a coffee table that Daniel found by a dumpster, but I sort of got stuck. I need some more inspiration before I can finish it.

General Conference

2011-10-03T16:26:00.001-06:00

This is how he watched it:

And this is how we wasted time between sessions:

Really, though, I loved every bit of it. Not only was it fun having my family here, but there were so many talks that inspired me to do better and do more. I often find myself just putting around when it comes to the gospel, not really making a lot of progress or doing as much as I should. Thank goodness we have conference very six months to get me re-focused.

Some of my favorite moments included:

~President Monson's "Hello!" I loved his story about earning $5 and then fearing it was lost in the wash. He said, "If you don't have a relationship like that with your Heavenly Father, get one." (paraphrasing) He seemed so happy and silly, and I loved it.

~Elder Carl B. Cook's story about feeling burdened and meeting the prophet in the elevator. He told Elder Cook, "It's better to look up."

~Elder Bednar's call to the young people to use their technology skills to further the family history work. He said that we are being prepared to do this work, and that we can ALL do family history. It's not just an interesting church-sponsored program; it is essential to our salvation and the salvation of those we do the work for.

~President Eyring's tender re-telling of giving a commencement address and doing his duty by being a special witness of Christ.

There were other talks that I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading them again.

Bentley at 15 Months

2011-09-27T22:35:00.083-06:00

Bentley hit his 15 month mark this month. Some of my notes:

He weighs 19 lbs. 13 oz. (2%) and is 30.5 inches tall (30%). He has been at 2% since he was 6 months old. With being sick and active, he hasn't gained much weight lately.
At his appointment, he was sick again with a sore throat and fever. With his record, he was on the edge of an ear infection, but I started him on echinacea as soon as he got sick and we avoided the inevitable! So no ear tubes for little buddy yet! (He has already had 4 ear infections this year.) I think this will be our challenge with him, at least for a little while.
He doesn't speak very much yet. His few, mostly unintelligible words include: mama, yeah, yep, thank you, uh-oh, hello. It's a big change from his blabber-mouth sister. He does understand a lot thought. He will violently nod or shake his head as a response; he points to everything; and he follows some directions.
He is becoming a climber. He likes to climb anything possible - onto E's bed, the hearth, into the tub, chairs. He also likes to sit on things. He runs all over the place and thus gets lots of bumps and bruises.
He is crazy about playing outside, especially in the sandbox. He runs when he hears the screen door open and throws a tantrum when he has to come in. He also likes to play with cars, making his own "vroom" sounds. He tries to sing too.
He has thick, stick straight, fine, light blond hair that won't lay down along the crown when it gets too long. Not even daddy's product helps. He has had many haircuts, which definitely are not his favorite thing.
He is beginning to throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way. He falls on the floor and cries, or throws himself back if you're carrying him. Oh boy!
He loves to dance with Emersen and any time he hears groovy music. No matter what he's doing, he will bounce up and down, stomp his feet, and turn in circles with a huge grin. He actually loves to do anything Emersen is doing, and they often play together really well. He does, however, mess up the things she is organizing/building, and she gets mad at him. I have had to start teaching him to stay away from her stuff, etc.
He is almost always happy and easygoing, mellow and content. Has been from birth. He is also getting really silly and likes to play games and tease.
Like his sister, he has experienced no separation anxiety or stranger fear. He waves bye from the top of the stairs when we leave.
He sleeps 11-12 hours at night, and takes 1-2 naps. He prefers a morning nap to an afternoon one. And he is starting to fight going to bed. He has always been such an angel about it before!
He also loves playing with his dad. Who doesn't? Anytime one of us is on the floor, he considers it an invitation for fun. He and Emersen get so excited when they hear daddy coming through the door at the end of the day. They run to the stairs and wait with open arms and big smiles for him.
He likes to hide things in bags, drawers, cupboards, etc. He also likes to empty all of those things.
He likes to look at books. It is so cute when he brings a book to me and turns around to sit on my lap to read to him. I love it.
He is starting to enjoy and react to movies like his sister. He has never really cared about what was on tv up until now, and still doesn't really. But he will now sit and watch and actually laugh at things.
He is a pickier eater than Emersen ever was. But he LOVES his milk. In fact, we have to try hard NOT to give it to him when he is standing by the fridge asking for it. His favorite foods right now are bananas and graham crackers.
He still only has 6 teeth. This is a pretty good picture of his two chipped front teeth.

He is a complete joy and irresistibly snuggly and incredibly adorable. We love him to pieces!

Forget-Me-Nots

2011-09-25T22:43:00.013-06:00

Like probably everyone else on the planet, I loved President Uchtdorf's talk at the General Relief Society Broadcast. It was perfect. On my drive to the stake center, I was really hoping he was going to talk because he always says just the right things in just the right way.

(Images from Pin Worthy and A Feathered Nest.)

A Yard Update

2011-09-22T22:15:00.007-06:00

When we moved in 3 years ago, this whole side of the house was just grass.

Look at it now! First, the garden boxes were added, and then the trampoline was put in the ground as well as some plants.

We debated between a flagstone pathway around the tramp and leading to the rest of the back yard (which would be super cute) or just grass (which would need an amended sprinkler system). By default and lack of funding, we decided on grass. It has taken at least a year to fill back in and still has a little more to go. The good thing is that the kids don't track dirt onto the trampoline, which tends to get dirtier since it is ground level.

I love those bluebeard shrubs that have really taken off. What you can barely see are two little boxwood shrubs that were completely dwarfed this summer. The poor things have been transplanted in different places. I think I've decided there's no good place for them in our yard. Anyone want them?

We've enjoyed a lot of wonderful veggies from our garden again this summer. We've had the usual lettuce, spinach, peas, herbs, tomatoes. New this year, we grew raspberries, strawberries, and pumpkins. We've steamed carrots and green beans so many times. Emersen eats all of the cherry tomatoes before they ever make it into the house. I've made zucchini bread, soup, pizza, and more. And I've eaten a cucumber almost every day these past couple weeks.

Emersen definitely enjoyed the corn, although we never get very much of it.

And I can't wait to pick these babies to carve or adorn the front porch.

The rest of the yard, however, is another story. It seems to always be one step forward and two steps back . . .

More of Emersen

2011-09-21T14:33:00.006-06:00

Emersen had her 3-year doctor checkup this week. She decided to average out after 3 years of being small. She weighs 29.25 lbs (35%) and is 37 inches tall (49%). She is healthy, happy, and smart. She was really cute answering all of the doctor's questions and just sat and drew different shapes while the doc listened to her insides. She was great the whole time and didn't have to get any shots. Yay! I already wrote a lot about her a month ago. Here's a little more:

Her Rapunzel barbie is her new best friend. She goes everywhere with Emersen and sleeps in her bed. She likes to comb her hair and sing the "Healing Incantation."
Her new favorite movie is "Rio." She likes to sing the songs and dance along with the club scene. "I wanna party, I wanna Samba..."
She loves baby carrots with ranch every day and asks for pancakes every morning (but doesn't always get them).
She likes to draw her family. I love that the arms are often above the mouth; they look like whiskers.

She will often go in her room, shut the door, and just play by herself. I think she doesn't like Bentley messing up her toys or taking things that she wants.
And, at other times, they play really well together. She likes to push him on the swing or on the little scooter cars outside. I love to see this going on.

She talks non-stop and has discovered the words, "Why?" and "Fine!" Sometimes in the car, we try to get her to play the quiet game. Never works. I recently ran across a video of her when she was 15 months old just blabbering away. I guess some things never change.
Some of my favorite phrases right now: "You think so, mommy?" "Guess we're all done now" "I wake up this morning days" "Red means stop; green means go!"
When she cries, we cheer her up by telling her that her eyes and nose are red and her face is wet. She dries her face and says, "Look, my face is all clean now."
She cannot wait to go to school. The bus stops in front of our neighbors, and every morning she tells me, "I need to get my shoes and ride the school bus with all my kids today." Too bad she has 3 more years before she'll get to ride. So I do "school" with her at home. I have found a lot of great stuff online. The first packet I prepared for her was a breeze, so I've had to adapt a little. She loves tracing letters and doing the different activities. She especially loves her little desk and Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center. It's perfect.

I was dancing silly for the kids trying to entertain them while preparing dinner. I said, "Is mom being stupid?" Emersen said, "That's not nice, mommy. Just be stupendous. That means great." (Thank you, Fancy Nancy.)
I often talk to her about something I'm trying to figure out. She pays attention to what I'm saying and always expresses her agreement. It makes me laugh. She's also a great helper.
She often gives me hugs and tells me she loves me. I layed down on the couch the other day and told her I was going to take a nap. She wanted to climb up and lay by me too. I told her no. Then she said, "But, Mommy, I love you." Well, okay then. I let her get up. How could I resist?

Turning 3

2011-09-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

I can't believe this little miss is 3 now! Where does the time go? We actually pretended her birthday was a couple days earlier so that Daniel could participate. (On her real birthday he would have been gone from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.) And my parents were in town too, so we had more to party with. It was probably the most fun birthday we've had in this house yet!

We prepared her over the week before telling her that her birthday was coming. This year, she knew what we were talking about. In fact, Sunday night, we told her that after she went to bed and woke up it would be her birthday. And she was actually more than willing to go right to bed!

Beginning at about 10 p.m. that night, I started decorating her cake. We had been to Logan and back that day for my sister's baby blessing, so I didn't have time before. Any time I asked E what she wanted for her birthday or what kind of cake she wanted or whatever, she just started naming princesses. So I made her a Rapunzel cake because I had already bought a Rapunzel barbie doll to give her. Making the skirt of the dress took a lot of patch work, but it worked out okay. I didn't have the energy to worry about perfection. I finished the cake and cleaning up at about 12:30 a.m. My dad stayed up with me until just before 11:00 to make sure my frosting-squeezing arm wasn't going to fall off.

She might be a little sloppy and amateurish, but at least Emersen knew who she was. When she saw the cake, she said, "It's Rapunzel!" and climbed up to look closer. Later, she told me, "I'm going to go look at Rapunzel again," and she would sit on the counter by her just admiring her cake. She almost couldn't wait until evening to dig in.

After she went to bed Sunday night, we filled her bedroom with balloons for her to wake up to. She thought that was fun, but Bentley really thought it was fun and would just walk around and around kicking all of the balloons and laughing.

Emersen is always asking to eat pancakes, so we decided to have a feast for breakfast. We had pancakes, eggs, bacon, and strawberries. It was delish!

After eating, we lured Emersen downstairs to find her main birthday present. It felt like Christmas - waking up late, big breakfast, staying in pajamas, and playing with presents. It was wonderful. Daniel and I made this play kitchen out of a cabinet that my brother- and sister-in-law gave us. Emersen is always carrying around her toy dishes, setting them out tea-party style, and pretending to make cupcakes and such. I had been planning on making a kitchen for her all summer, but we didn't actually get around to it until a week before her birthday! I absolutely love how it turned out (you can bet I'll be blogging about this little project later). I set it up with play dishes and food that I got at Kid to Kid and Ikea, along with her own princess dishes and table. My mom kept telling me, "You'll be picking up dishes for days." Yep. (I just noticed the curtains over the window fell down in this pic. Oops.)

When Emersen saw the kitchen, she got a big grin and said, "It's my birthday present!" She started playing right away. Bentley was just as excited about the new toys. But Emersen didn't necessarily want to share yet. She kept saying over and over, "It's my birthday!" and couldn't stop grinning. It was the best.

Daniel had to leave mid-morning for school, but Grandma and Grandpa treated the rest of us to a day at the State Fair. It was gorgeous weather and super fun. We watched the sea lion show...

test-drove wiggly bikes...

fed goats...

ate pizza and gyros...

and took a pony ride. She wasn't sure about this at first (even though she LOVES horses), but once she saw other kids riding, she was game.

When we all got home that night, we ate dinner and had birthday cake. Emersen sang the "Happy Birthday" song along with us. She's been practicing a lot lately. Daniel accidentally put trick candles on the cake, so Emersen had to keep blowing them out.

Grandma made her a little temple pictures flip book and her "first reading book," which included simple sentences and pictures of Emersen and our family. She has read it every day since. She seemed to love every single gift she received.

She was such a sweetheart and it was such a perfect day. I can't believe she is so grown up already! Life just gets better and better. And blog posts don't get much longer than that!

My Mess

2011-09-09T22:14:00.039-06:00

This is one of the reasons I feel out-of-control lately: my overflowing project table/box/corner/room.

I'd like to get this area under control so that my home feels more organized once again. Many of these things were stashed in different locations, but I pulled everything out of my closets and other rooms and gathered them all together so that I could actually see what I needed to do. Since taking the above picture, I have also thrown out the box because I still couldn't see what I had. I decided if everything was out in the open, I would be more motivated to take care of it. I also nixed some projects and re-donated items that I didn't feel like doing anymore.

Many of these projects were initiated or dreamed-up years ago when we first moved into our house, but you know how it is . . . something (or someone) new always comes up. Some are small projects, like kid activities, mending or refashioning clothing, simple paint jobs, pillow covers. Others are more time-consuming like a picnic blanket, duvet cover, entry signage, play kitchen, stenciled rug. Now can you see why it takes me a YEAR to "finish" a room!? I've got to get to work.

So here we go. Game on.

A No-Labor Day

2011-09-07T22:04:00.000-06:00

We had a low-key Labor Day this year. Often in the past we have gone to Fish Lake with my family, but we've already been doing a lot of traveling and have a lot coming up, so we decided to stick around home. We went for a picnic lunch at the Veterans Memorial Park near our home. It was great weather, not too hot. Emersen headed straight for the playground when we arrived. She yelled, "Hi, kids!" when she got near. I honestly can't believe how friendly and outgoing that little girl is. She LOVES playing with other kids, no matter if she knows them or not. However, they are rarely as friendly back to her. (I can see myself crying over it if it continues into grade school, her wanting to play with them and them not acknowledging her.) She talks to everyone and anyone with no qualms. She definitely doesn't take after her mother. After talking to someone, she often turns to me and says, "I talked to her," proud of herself. It's pretty darn cute.

Anyway...we had a nice little picnic. Bentley just wanted to eat the cookies though. He wouldn't stop. As soon as one was finished, he would reach for another and stuff it in his mouth. I soon had to move them away.

Daniel is always such a great dad to humor his children.

Hope your Labor Day was relaxing too!

She's A Dancer

2011-09-06T22:03:00.065-06:00

Yes, she is! Emersen has been mad about dancing for a long time now. When I ask her what is her favorite thing, she always says "dancing and singing." She's got some pretty funky moves too. Someday I'll get around to uploading some videos. So we decided to enroll her in a dance class. She doesn't turn 3 until mid-September, but they let her in anyway. Ever since we mentioned the idea to her, she has been really excited to "go to dance class, like Sloan" (her friend). She asks about it every day. I let her pick out her outfit, and I can't believe how cute she looks in a leotard! My mom put me in ballet when I was 3, and Emersen reminds me of some of the pictures I've seen of myself.

As soon as we walked in the door to the studio, she said hi to the other girls and said, "We going to dance class!" She was so excited. She actually had a substitute teacher her first class. And there were four other girls in the class. One of the girls was running around in circles, so Emersen decided to join her. The teacher was trying to take role and kept asking the girls to stop running. I told Emersen to stop and pay attention, but then I decided I was probably being an annoying parent, so I left and decided to just let the teacher do her thing. Parents are only allowed to watch on the last class of each month, but she let me in to take a quick picture. I'll have to take more in a couple weeks.

I did peek through the door a few times and watch through the mirror. Emersen seemed to be doing just fine. I did hear through the door the teacher telling Emersen to "just worry about [her]self." That made me laugh because I could only imagine that Emersen was trying to tell someone else to stand on their "x."

When they were finished, I asked the teacher how Emersen did. She said that E wanted to repeat everything she said and didn't always stay with the class, but that she did fine for her first class as a 3-year-old. Emersen didn't get a piece of candy like some of the other girls because of that, and afterwards one of the mothers told me that her regular teacher doesn't give out candy and seems much more gentle with the girls. I wasn't concerned about her not getting candy though.

This is the first class of any kind that I have ever signed her up for. It made me feel really grown up as a mom for some reason! She kept telling me how much fun dance class was and showed me what they learned. They learned stretches, splits, toe touches, wolf ears (?), bar exercises, and chasse. She always talks about it. I think she'll really enjoy it. I can't wait to watch her for an entire class.

Football Season Begins

2011-09-05T21:51:00.005-06:00

College football is one of the best things about Fall. Daniel and I try to go to one home game a year. Daniel actually got a great deal on tickets this time for faculty and staff (because of his internship with the U). So we went to the home opener. The Utes have joined the Pac 12, so it will be interesting to see them play new teams. As I mentioned before, this whole Fall thing sort of snuck up on me, so I didn't know much about this year's team before the game.

We dropped the kids off with some neighbors and then rode Trax up to the stadium. Don't worry, the kids were still all decked out in their red gear. (Sorry, mom and dad.) Everywhere Emersen went that day, she told people that she had her "U" shirt on and would point to the "U."

The first quarter of the game was exciting, but the rest was just okay. We had a great time just being there anyway.

My favorite part - kick-off!

Now that's showing some team spirit! (If only I had a good camera.)

Go Utes!

Back to School

2011-09-03T19:04:00.001-06:00

Two weeks down...

Daniel started two masters programs this semester: Architecture and Real Estate Development. He doesn't do anything half way, does he? For some reason, the start of school really snuck up on us this time. I didn't have much time to gear myself up for a little more single parenting, so we just jumped right in. He is also trying to work part-time to get his internship hours in. He has afternoon classes three days a week, night classes Tuesday through Thursday, works and does school projects the rest of the time, and hopefully can enjoy us on the weekends. He'll be one busy man. As usual. He also is going on a field trip to Italy for 10 days in October with one of his classes. In addition, we've talked about the possibility of doing an internship next summer out-of-state, or if Daniel gets his way, out of the country. I'm up for an adventure as long as it isn't permanent. We'll see what the next 2 years brings.

Bentley was sick with a cold and his 3rd ear infection of the summer for that first week that Daniel was gone. Great way to start out, huh? With a lot of prayer and pretense at having patience, we actually survived the week pretty well. I just didn't plan much and didn't worry about getting much done. I realized how glad I am that I quit teaching piano lessons because that has really lessened my stress levels and I can just focus on my kids.

(He got stuck in this bumbo and just sat there for a while because he couldn't get out. He wasn't fussing, so I didn't help him. He looks a little forlorn, not feeling well and all.)

The second week, however, seemed a lot busier. I had something on my agenda every day. When I started having kids, I decided that I was NOT going to overbook myself. So I only allow one thing per day on my calendar, with few exceptions. That may not sound "busy" to anyone else, but it's as busy as I want to be.

Monday: I did my usual cleaning routine. My parents also came up that day to help me solve some car issues. I don't know what we'd do without our parents' knowledge of such things! It was a pleasant change to have company.

Tuesday: Some friends and I had a play date at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was "Two Buck Tuesdays," so it was CROWDED. Not very pleasant at all. And Emersen wasn't really that into it anyway. She just wanted to play the computer games. Bentley was still trying to get better, so he was content to sit in the stroller most of the time. And it was naptime too - bad timing. E had a few meltdowns when it came time to move on. I also had a primary presidency meeting that night.

Wednesday: We ran errands. We particularly had to buy a dance outfit for Emersen. This was actually one of the more pleasant shopping trips with the kids. It was fun trying on ballet shoes with Emersen, although she preferred the tap shoes. Everywhere we went, she told people that she was going to a dance class and needed dance clothes. Of course, she had to wear her dance stuff once we got home, but she was good to take it off to eat lunch so it wouldn't get dirty.

Thursday: I had a board meeting downtown for work, as well as a lot of other work responsibilities throughout the week (getting ready for our annual conference). I took the kids and switched cars with Daniel so that he could watch them for me during his lunch break. He took them to The Gateway to play in the water and eat lunch. That night, we dropped them off at a neighbor's house and went to the first home Utah football game.

Friday: Emersen had her first dance class. She was super excited until just before we were ready to go and then she didn't want to go anymore because she had found something new to play with. What!?! But she was excited when we got there and loved it. More on that subject later.

Thank goodness not every week will be like that. But then again, maybe it will. This coming week I'm focusing on planning a birthday. I'll soon have a 3-year-old. Yikes!

August . . . and Cherry Hill

2011-08-30T23:13:00.078-06:00

Not much exciting stuff happened in August that I haven't blogged about already. It was a busy month for us with our trip to Colorado, ward activities, Daniel starting school again, my work meetings, going to Oak City, sick kids, and making some changes in our house. We basically just tried to enjoy the summer that was left, and each other.

Grandpa gave Emersen some sparklers while we were gone to Colorado.

Bentley has discovered just how much he loves to be outside. Anytime he hears the sliding door open, he "runs" over. He and Emersen will play for hours in the sandbox. I'm glad we have such a kid-friendly yard.

(He really does love it, but he had just fallen over when I took this pic. And I think his sad face is so cute!)

B is also turning into a climber. Yikes! He also likes to sit on things.

We went to the ward pool party and the kids had a great time, even though they froze once they got out. B's teeth were chattering in this picture. Early in the evening, he was wading in the shallow end when he lost his balance and tipped over. He couldn't quite get himself turned over to stand back up and the lifeguard jumped in after him. I was impressed how fast he got there, and slightly embarrassed that he had to. I really wasn't very far away and was watching B the whole time, so I got there at the same time as the lifeguard. Of course he was just fine. But I'm really glad to know that he was paying attention to my kids! Things can happen so quick.

Daniel also threw together an Elders Quorum BBQ. It was fun to visit more with the other families in a non-church setting. E had a great time playing with the other kids, and B just wandered around. I kept losing track of him. Bentley loved the food and couldn't get enough chicken and watermelon. When I wasn't watching, he would stick a whole chunk of steak in his mouth and I had to keep pulling it out. He loves to eat. So why is he still so skinny?!?

Since Daniel's parents left on their mission, we don't see his siblings as much. So we planned a Sunday dinner to celebrate Dad's birthday and just to get together. Everyone was able to make it! The kids love playing with their cousins, and we're glad that they can be so close to them.

Daniel's mom gave us all season passes to Cherry Hill, and we definitely took advantage. We went a lot in the beginning, but then our Fridays got busy and the outings tapered off. The kids seem to be little fish and love being in the water. Here are some pictures from throughout the summer. Emersen's favorite is the lazy river. She just hangs onto her tube and kicks around by herself. Thanks, Mom, for the treat!

Celebrating Four Years!

2011-08-27T21:05:00.001-06:00

Daniel and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary this week. It's amazing to me to look back on so few years and see how much has occurred. It's been the best four years of my life . . . so far! I felt then, and still do, how lucky I am that Daniel chose me. I've always felt like he is more than I deserve. He treats me like a queen and works so hard for himself and our little family.

We've never been big present people when it comes to anniversaries and such, so I was blown away by his gifts to me. In the morning, I found some roses in our bathroom and this big display in the kitchen of flowers, myriads of fruit, some magazines, and books. (The fourth year theme is fruit and flowers.) They were the perfect things to get me through a few days of him being gone all day and night. I indulged in delicious fruit for days and lounged on the sofa with my magazines without feeling guilty for not doing something more productive. It was just what I needed.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! Happy Anniversary, Daniel!

Oak City Days 2011

2011-08-24T20:25:00.001-06:00

Of course we ventured to Oak City again for Oak City Days. We wouldn't miss it! We arrived just in time for the parade on Friday night. Here's my family. My sister brought her new little baby, which I was so excited about. This was the first time we got to meet him. And I can't believe I didn't take a picture of him! Next time, for sure.

I can't believe this little guy was just an itty bitty 2-month old last year for the festivities!

Do you like our sweet little post office? I didn't even know people actually had mail delivered to their house until I moved away to college. (just kidding, I'm not that ignorant.)

My dad, who is the Mayor, again invited Emersen to join the city council float. She was in charge of throwing the candy. And boy, did she take her job seriously! My dad said she was very particular about making sure all of the kids got candy. She was so focused on her task that even when she saw us waving and cheering for her, she didn't even crack a smile or wave back. She just threw candy to us. She makes me laugh.

We loved this marching O.C. "Drill Team." Very clever.

And the cute little princesses.

Bentley was scared of the loud fire trucks.

After the parade, we hit the ice cream social and just played around at the park. Later that night, Daniel again partnered up with his SIL, Sadie, for the Rook Tournament. They played until after midnight, but won 2nd Place. Woohoo!

Emersen spent the next morning helping her grandpa around town. We hardly saw her until lunch time. But she did bring me this lovely dandelion she picked and wanted me to take a picture of her.

There are lots of activities on Saturday morning. Sometimes Daniel runs in the 5K. But this year, we just relaxed at my parents' house until heading over to the town hall for lunch. If you think this line is long, you're wrong. This is only about 1/4 of it. But believe me, the lunch is worth the wait.

Well, maybe not for these two. It is a long wait for little people. Emersen was just getting over a cold, and Bentley was just beginning, so he was pretty mellow and content to sit in the stroller most of the time we were out.

My family eating lunch: firepit-roasted beef and pork, corn on the cob, tomatoes and cucumbers, baked potatoes and gravy, rolls, and cupcakes. Delish!

Emersen gulped down her cupcake first thing.

After eating, we wandered through the booths. The kids got suckers from Sadie's booth. They were thoroughly enjoyed. (I just want to nibble on those cheeks when I see this picture!)

My mom and I bought these super cute pin cushions. So creative and fun!

B and I headed back to the house for naps, while Daniel stayed and played with E at the park and with his family. I heard she had a ball with the inflatable bounce house. They played for hours. That evening we skipped the hamburgers at the park and cooked our own instead. We then just relaxed and visited the evening away. Bentley was feeling worse and worse as the day progressed, so he just wanted to lay on his daddy.

The kids were exhausted so we didn't even try to go to the dance that night. We just put them to bed. Bentley then had a rough night being sick and feverish. My sweet dad offered to take care of him and probably held him the whole night. He said they "spent quality time together," and he probably actually enjoyed it. I don't know how my dad turned around and taught the Sunday School lesson the next morning. I would have been completely burned. We stayed in Oak City until after nap time that Sunday and then headed home so that Daniel could get ready for beginning a new semester the next day.

It's always a wonderful weekend that can't be missed. I haven't missed one since my family moved to Oak City 21 years ago. My participation has definitely changed over the years; I used to run in the kid races, play mud volleyball, played in the Rook tournament once, swim in the creek, scope out the boys, and dress in my new school clothes for the dance. But no matter what, it's always great. So every third weekend in August, you're invited!

Emersen's "Temple Castle"

2011-08-22T19:02:00.001-06:00

She was pretty proud of it! I think it's awesome.

What's Black and White and Purple All Over? Emersen's Room!

2011-08-20T16:21:00.000-06:00

Another room I recently "finished" was Emersen's room. She's been in this room for over a year, but I've been working on it very slowly. So until I have another idea, it's pretty much done. (As done as done ever is.) Hooray! Maybe the black and white color scheme isn't young enough for a 2-3 year old, but I love it anyway. The other reason I used this color scheme was because I already had things from my old black-and-white office and the purple from her nursery. I'm all about re-using stuff. Here's the tour:

We re-painted this room before moving Emersen in because it was pretty scuffed up. There was leftover paint in the garage from the previous owners. I wanted to just paint it the same light tan as the rest of the house, but I think we used the wrong one and it was too dark. So we went to the Home Depot oops paint section again and found a similar color for $5! Perfect! It ended up being a little more gray than tan, which I actually love and is perfect for the color scheme.

The curtains were from Target from when I originally did the office in this room. I bought one panel of each and cut them in half. I used the extra material from the white curtains to make an accent pillow for her bed.

This bench started out as a cheap upright shelf that I bought about 8 years ago. I saw the idea to turn it into a bench in some magazine. So I lovingly enlisted Daniel's help to redo the end pieces, we tipped it on its side, and attached some decorative feet. My dad bought these feet for a project he was working on but then didn't end up using them. Thanks, Dad! They were actually taller, but we trimmed off a portion. The whole thing then got a coat of fresh white paint. I made a simple cushion with leftover foam and black-and-white polka dot fabric. (Polka dots again!) It turned out pretty cute I think.

I found a bunch of bird-themed iron things (that are elsewhere in the room) on sale at JoAnn's last summer that I wanted to incorporate into E's room. I love the bird motif. Again, I bought these frames at least five years ago and they had simple floral photos in them. It was actually a bit of a process to trade out the pictures. I had to basically rip apart the backs of the frames. Geez! Anyway, this whole project was free-99. I printed off some purple scrapbook backgrounds off my computer, pasted on a cutout bird silhouette, made a zig zag sewing stitch down one side, and glued on a flower and center from my collection of miscellaneous scraps. Because of the heavy matting, there is a gap between the glass and paper so it can have a 3-D effect. This project was so simple, but I love how it turned out and it really ties the whole room together.

This vinyl tree was a gift from my mom for Emersen's 2nd birthday. She had one of her friends create it just for us. It was the perfect gift because I wanted one but didn't want to pay a fortune for it. E was so excited when she first saw it too. This is E's doll/stuffed animal corner. The hanging metal basket thing (I don't know what it's called) was one of the aforementioned purchases from JoAnn's. It has little birds on it. I spray painted it white and hung it so that it looks like it's hanging from the tree.

This black shelf came from DI and was spray painted black. I was looking for an old window frame for this vignette and magically happened upon this window in my in-laws' send-to-charity pile. It looks blue in this photo, but it's really more purple. I just cleaned it up a bit, but it was already distressed so I didn't really do anything else to it. The plate was in E's nursery before. The white frame was given to me by an old roommate who knew I loved collecting picture frames (at the time, not now). This picture of Emersen is perfect happiness. The little ceramic bird came from Home Goods (I think).

It took me a long time to find a black-and-white quilt that I liked for her bed. This one came from Home Goods, and the geometric design is a nice contrast to the floral curtains. Her sheets are lavender. The headboard was a $5 yard sale find that we painted black. I made the purple pillows when she was in the nursery. And those are little birds on the wall, if you can't tell.

This white bookseller's table was one of my favorite purchases about five years ago. I love the shape. The cute lamp was originally in E's nursery. I found the black jewelry box at Home Goods to hold her necklaces and bracelets. To hold her other treasures, I covered a shoebox with an attached lid with black-and-white wrapping paper I found in the Target dollar section. I then added a purple ribbon accent. I know it won't last long, but it has worked perfectly so far.

This tulip photo was another of my favorite purchases from years ago. Tulips are my favorite flower. Since moving into this house, I have never found the perfect place for it until now. The other purple accents in the room bring out the purple in the tulips. You can't see it, but the easel holding the Peter Rabbit book as more birds on it, which I also sprayed white.

My mom made this temple picture for Emersen last Christmas. Every child needs a picture of the temple in their room. And this little bird was found at Taipain Trading, but it wasn't the right colors, so again, I painted it white.

The coat hooks were my final JoAnn's bird-themed find (again painted white). This dresser was another $5 yard sale purchase which we painted black. I'd love to change the knobs for something fun if I could find the perfect ones.

I made this hair clip holder from an old frame. I painted the frame black then attached some batting and fabric (which resembles the floral curtain material) to the back panel. It was Daniel's idea to place the ribbon in this off-centered manner. He likes to change things up a bit. It was another easy project.

I even attempted some organization in her closet. The dress-ups box, Sunday box, and keepsakes boxes are all just cardboard boxes/shoe boxes covered in the same wrapping paper. Her shoes are stored in the white basket.

I got the idea for a Sunday box from my SIL, Sadie. It has really helped to have things dedicated to Sunday so that they stay novel for sacrament meeting entertainment. Emersen's likes picking out what she wants to take each week.

That was a really long, detailed tour. I have to say that I'm proud of how little money I spent on this room. (Daniel probably is too.) The majority of my expenses went towards the bedding. It's so much fun to see all of these things come together after a year. Let's hope it stays this way for a while.

Unsupervised Children

2011-08-17T17:41:00.000-06:00

This is what happens.

He wasn't so happy about it at the time.

My Inner Artist: The Play Room is Finished!

2011-08-16T16:17:00.002-06:00

It has taken over a year-and-a-half to really complete our under-the-stairs play room. What can I say, I'm slow. You may recall Daniel framed, drywalled, and painted the whole thing from scratch. Who doesn't love a handy hubby? Well, it's been solid sky blue until this past month when I finally decided to kick it in gear and "get 'er done." I gathered ideas from the web (where else?) and some free printables. I love how it all turned out! Let me explain. Not because you care, but because I document. It's just something I do. Unfortunately, my photos aren't great. Partly because I had to use the flash, and partly because my camera's not great.

First of all, the flooring came from Costco. We bought and put it in over a year ago, so I don't remember anything about it. And the blue wall color was an oops paint that Daniel's friend who work in the paint department at Home Depot mixed up for us for $5! Nice to know someone in the business.

This wall art was easy peasy. I bought the 11x14 canvas at Walmart for el cheapo. I painted the edges with watered-down yellow acrylic paint. I was going for a more messy watercolor effect than I actually got though. Then I just printed out these free images I found on the web and used spray adhesive to attach them to the canvas. I had to attach some hanging hooks to the back of the canvas. The first day they were up, the kids kept pulling them down. Emersen "love[d] [her] ABC's." But they haven't bothered them much since. And they were cheap anyway, so it's nothing I can't fix easily. (I can't remember yet where I got the chairs and alphabet printables, but here's the link for the other one.)

This corner is so dark, so I wanted to brighten it up a bit. I hand painted the tree trunk (don't judge) and then affixed these sticker circles I got at JoAnn's. The top of my tree is a bit weird, and there weren't enough circles. So I'm waiting for another coupon to go get more and make the tree bigger.

I made this vinyl on my mom's cricut machine. It was super easy, even though I installed it a little off-center. I didn't take a close-up of the rainbow picture on the right side, but here is the link. I think it would be fun to make one with real buttons. And I want a different frame that I can paint a bright color, but this was what I had.

This basket of books and puzzles was a $2 DI find. Woot! I'm also still looking for the link to this cute "Home is where my books are" printable.

This is my favorite part. I found this foam clock in the Target dollar section last summer. Inspired by this picture, I taped off some sun rays and painted them with acrylic paint and added some clouds. I love the bold brightness. And it was so easy.

The last touch was these pillows. I imagine my kids lounging in here reading books, so I wanted some bright pillows for the purpose. I found this adorable fabric at JoAnn's (I have a thing for polka-dots) and just made simple envelope covers for old pillows I already had.

I think they like it.

I still have one more small blank wall that I want to do something with, but haven't found the perfect solution yet. I also might add a curtain to the doorway. Not sure yet. But I love the cheeriness all the art adds. Now it feels like a real playroom. Even I like spending time in there now. My goal was bright and simple.

What do you think? Do you wanna come play?

"Let's Play Puzzle"

2011-08-15T15:30:00.002-06:00

This little miss rocks at putting puzzles together. It's almost like she has a photographic memory. She does puzzles all day long. She did this one all by herself the very first time.

Beautiful Colorado

2011-08-13T16:13:00.002-06:00

Last weekend, I had a business meeting at the Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, Colorado. I know, tough. We dropped the kids off with my parents and hit the road. It was about a 7-hour drive to Avon (which is near Vail), but we stopped a few times for food and stretching. I don't typically like car trips - I'd much rather fly somewhere - but this trip made me think that I could maybe do more road trips in the future. It wasn't so bad. It was especially fun to have Daniel all to myself for that entire time.

One of our stretching stops was at Thompson Springs in Eastern Utah. The landscape looked a whole lot like Radiator Springs from Cars. I just had to take a picture.

We arrived at the Beaver Creek resort and checked into our beautiful Hyatt hotel. The resort itself was huge, and there were many different hotels as part of it. I don't have much experience with ski resorts, so I didn't know what it would be like. These are the views from our balcony. It overlooked the "village" shopping area and ice rink. It was so gorgeous in those mountains, much like Park City.

That night, we just explored the village. The weather was great. It was cooler than home, and we did need sweaters once the sun went down. We ate dinner at the Beaver Creek Chophouse. Daniel had a shrimp skewer, and I had a tomato and mozzarella salad with crab artichoke dip. Yum! The restaurant was right by a creek, so it was freezing sitting outside! They offered us fleece jackets. After dinner and more exploring, we sat in the outdoor hot tub for a while. It was a perfect evening.

We didn't want to set an alarm for the next morning since I didn't have a meeting until noon. I thought even if I slept in until 8 a.m. that would be wonderful. We woke up to housekeeping knocking on our door at 9:20! (That's late for us.) So we hurried and got ready and went out to go for a hike. It was just more gorgeousness. Before going back to the hotel, we bought crepes for a late breakfast. Mine had bananas and nutella. Mmmm.

(This is a view of the resort from the mountain.)

My meeting was from 12:30 until 5:00 that day, including lunch. There were four of our board members from Utah in attendance, so it was nice to know someone. That night, everyone from the meeting and their guests met for dinner at the Saddleridge Steakhouse. Once we got there, we had to wait for everyone before eating, so we walked around the museum and outdoor patio. There were a lot of neat things - old books, old photos of native americans, and other western gear. The Steakhouse was just one part of the property that included condos and other facilities.

The dinner was great with an especially yummy salad that consisted of mixed greens, corn, avocado, sweet potato shavings, and a delicious dressing. We visited with a couple from Detroit who had a lot of interesting things to say about their city. With all the problems in the world, it made me grateful to live in Utah. Daniel and I always enjoy meeting people from across the country at these events. It is always very educational and enjoyable. We Utahns were probably the only non-drinkers. Someone said to me, "I don't know how you do this without some alcohol." Hm.

I had meetings the next morning from 8:30 until 11:30, and then we headed back home. The meetings were long, but very helpful for my job. Daniel tried to do some work while I was busy, but he said the beautiful location was too distracting. He keeps telling me that I should never quit this job because he really enjoys the free trips. So we'll see how long I keep at it.

We weren't on the road very long when we decided to stop for lunch. We randomly chose Eagle, Colorado. It was the cutest little town (though I know we only saw the touristy portion of it). All of the buildings and sidewalks were well taken care of with window boxes and planters and beautiful flowers. It was quiet and calm and completely charming. I told Daniel that I was pretty sure I could live there. I made him drive down Main Street twice.

We ate lunch at the Red Rock Cafe. They had delicious deli sandwiches. I made Daniel sit in this chair made from a ski lift that was next to the cafe so I could take a picture.

I took some pictures along the drive. The canyons were very cool to drive through.

Someone at the dinner said that Colorado must have chosen their state borders because as soon as you cross into New Mexico or Utah, the landscape gets pretty drab. Seems true to me. This picture was taken just after crossing the state line.

It was a great weekend getaway, even if the drive home seemed longer than the drive there. We were so restless and ready to get out of the car. Thanks to my parents for watching the kids too! They are always so accommodating.

Miss Sassypants

2011-08-12T11:42:00.001-06:00

Emersen will be 3 years old next month, but I've been wanting for a while to write down so many things about her. There's no way I will remember it all. She has turned into a little girl over the past year; she is a toddler no more. Like any 2-3 year old, she is a challenge as well as a delight. I recently heard someone say that we will know our children as adults for much longer than we will know them as children, so we should really enjoy getting to know them as children. I loved that thought. I wish my memory wasn't so horrible, and I know I will eventually forget many things if I don't write them down.

I once told Emersen that she was being "Miss Sassypants." Her reply: "I no sassypants." Then, "No, you're sassypants." This little miss has some serious attitude. I'm not sure where she gets it. She can be pretty fiesty, yelling and talking back. We're working on that because it drives me nuts. When she's mad, she'll emphasize her point by saying, "Ever!" (She got that from Tangled.)

She has been potty-trained for a few months. It was a bit of a process for us (about 2 months). She started out great and then decided she didn't want to do it anymore. After almost giving up, I searched for a new method. And it worked! That's not to say she never has accidents...
She is still a daddy's girl, but does need her mommy sometimes. Especially if dad gets after her. She bursts into tears if he just says, "Hey!" She doesn't like him getting mad at her. But she loves to wrestle with him.
She is incredibly dramatic. She can summon tears instantly, throws herself on her bed, and often needs a "band-aid." She says, "I wanna hold you," when she needs a hug. She is also very sensitive to when I need a hug.
She has an opinion about what she wears and likes to choose her own outfits. She usually does a great job. She is very particular about things "matching." She also likes her hair done in specific ways. She calls her hairdos by princess names, i.e., "Cinderella hair" or most often, "Belle hair." Sometimes those names just denote anything other than the normal ponytail. She then loves to look at herself in the mirror and say, "I'm soooo pretty."

It goes without saying that she also likes to dress up. Her cousins gave her several of their old princess dresses and she has other tutus, shoes, purses, hats, jewelry, and things. She gets all dressed up and then comes out and stands in a cute pose until you tell her that she's pretty. "Thank you, mommy, me too," she says.

She runs away from spiders and bees and says she's "scared." But she's not afraid of stepping on ants or playing with potato bugs.
She likes to watch Super Why, The Cat in the Hat, Baby MacDonald, princess shows, and Toy Story. Her favorite books right now are Fancy Nancy, The Little Engine That Could, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. She takes Fancy Nancy with her everywhere and even sleeps with it. She calls it "Fancy fancy."
She loves to do puzzles and color and is getting really good at both. She loves being outside. She loves to help in the garden and pick veggies. She loves playing in the water and pool. She loves to help with laundry. She loves to sleep in her sleeping bag and take naps on mommy's bed.
She is not, and never has been, shy. She waves and says hi to kids and people she doesn't know. She chats with cashiers at stores we go to. She loves playing with anyone. She's not afraid to join right in.
She has become very conversational, speaking in complete sentences. It is so fun to hear what she has to say. It's also funny to hear her trying to figure out verbs, like she'll say, "I are so hungry." Of course, everything we say comes back to us too. Some of the things she says: "Be nice to Bentley/Emersen, okay?" "Don't talk to me like that" "Oh my gosh!" "I LOVE it." "I'm sorry I hurt you" "Good job, Mommy, I'm so proud of you!" "Chew like a bunny" "Thanks for helping me!"
She LOVES to dance and sing. She is constantly singing, making up songs or singing her favorites. She always has great new dance moves too.
Her ear is always looking better. Because it didn't really fill in like the doctor thought it would, we will probably do some reconstructive surgery later this year (since we've already paid her deductible) to smooth it out. Here is what it looks like now.

She can count to 20, knows her colors, most of her shapes, and has known her ABC's and sounds for a while now. She has a great memory and learns really fast. She loves hidden object pictures and new books. She is so smart.
She is really interested in people's names right now. She'll point at someone and say, "Name?" At Wal-Mart, she asked if the lady behind the desk was named Sally. I think she got that from the little blond girl in The Cat in the Hat.
She loves being silly and making Bentley laugh. She's a great helper when I need her to entertain him or hold his hands and sing to him while changing his messy diapers. Whenever he wakes up, she runs to him and says, "Oh Bentley! Good morning! You wake up?" and gives him hug after hug. She loves playing with him.
She has never-ending energy. I wish I could bottle it. Just a teaspoon would get me through a day! We have to insist on naps and bedtime or she would just play and play.

We're so lucky to have such a sweet, smart, pretty, fun little girl in our family.

"Let's Play Jump"

2011-08-08T16:09:00.002-06:00

Check out this mid-action shot. Bentley sure puts up with a lot from his sister.

July Sped By

2011-08-05T15:44:00.002-06:00

With the holidays and travelling and sicknesses, I don't know what happened to July. I didn't even take many pictures. Here are just a few...

Yogurt painting (NOT initiated by mom).

No more crawling for this little guy.

Discovering roly-poly bugs. I was impressed that she lured it onto her stick.

A messy table. So many projects and must-dos. So little time.

A snack picnic. I love that Bentley dumped out his goldfish and tried to steal Emersen's. She deserves all the grief he gives her.

Playing outside and trying to take care of the yard. This grass grows into our yard from the field behind us. It's just a little long...

Emersen went to Logan with her grandparents to see her new little cousin, Oakley, when he was born. She wasn't allowed in the maternity area, so she only saw him from the window. She had a great time sleeping in a hotel and visiting the Logan Temple.

Now that July is over, I feel like the summer is pretty much gone. I hate that pessimistic attitude, but I feel it nonetheless. Sorry. There are so many things I still want to do!

Baby Boy

2011-08-03T18:05:00.000-06:00

My sister's baby was born last week. They named him Gordon Oakley Kunz. Don't you just want to nuzzle those chubby cheeks!?! I can't wait to officially meet him.

A Little Princess

2011-08-02T15:42:00.001-06:00

Emersen was invited to her first birthday party! Her friend in our ward, Sloan, turned 4 yesterday and had a Rapunzel party. Emersen carried around the invitation for a week, constantly talking about going to Sloan's birthday party. She chose to wear her Sleeping Beauty dress for the occasion. (Thank goodness her cousins Libby and Maddey gave her these princess dresses since they outgrew them. She wears them all the time.) I put her hair up and let her wear one of my old tiaras. She looked so grown up with her hair done like that. She loved her "Belle hair," as she calls all of her fancy hairstyles.

She had a great time at the party and hopefully was a good girl. She said she loved playing with "Sloan and the kids" and eating cake and ice cream. Our little princess is sure growing up fast!

A Rough Two Weeks

2011-08-01T14:23:00.003-06:00

Bentley has been having a hard time lately. It started two weekends ago. He came down with a 102+ fever for a few days. When that was gone, he broke out into a full-body splotchy rash. I figured it was Roseola (Emersen had it when she was just older than him), so I didn't worry about taking him to the doctor or anything. His fever was gone, and he seemed much better. He was still a little off-balance for a while though since being sick.

The next day, Wednesday, he just lost his balance, fell forward, and smacked the top of his mouth on our granite hearth. I saw it all happen and knew immediately that it was going to be bad. I picked him up; he was obviously crying really hard and bleeding. I rushed him to the bathroom and tried to give him a cold washcloth to suck on. He didn't want anything near his mouth and wouldn't let me see. I couldn't tell how bad it was. He would also gag on the blood in his mouth. I may or may not have freaked out a little. I called Daniel for advice. He could tell that I was upset, so he got off work early and came home. After a few more minutes, I was finally able to get Bentley to calm down and the bleeding seemed to have mostly stopped. I couldn't see that there was anything seriously wrong with his mouth. But his two front top teeth were chipped pretty good. My first thoughts were that he would have chipped teeth until he was 6 years old! I'm so vain. By the time Daniel got home, we were all just fine. Overreaction on my part. Both Bentley and I were still a little tender for a while. We were lucky to escape such an episode with Emersen. I always dreaded the day one of the my kids got hurt on that hard hearth. It was inevitable.

The next day, Thursday, Bentley fell down the stairs for the first time. I didn't see it; I just heard the tumble and subsequent crying. He has been going up and down the stairs just fine for a while now, so I never worry about him anymore. But like I said, he had been a little off-balance for a few days. He got a nice bump and bruise on his forehead from that.

For days after that, Bentley just kept getting hurt. His equilibrium was off. He would just lose his balance, tumble while climbing, and was trying to walk faster than he was able. He also just seemed irritated and not feeling well. He woke up from every nap and sleep crying. He often wanted to be held. And he wouldn't sleep an entire night through. It was completely frustrating and tiring.

After many days of this, I debated about taking him to the doctor. He has always been such a happy guy, and the only other times he's been like this was because of ear infections. But he didn't have a fever, he hadn't been sick with a cold, no other symptoms, he wasn't really pulling at his ears, though occasionally he would finger one. Finally by the next Wednesday, we decided to just take him in and make sure nothing was wrong with him. Surely enough, he had an ear infection. This was his third in six months! The doctor also looked at his teeth and said that his injuries just looked superficial, that there didn't appear to be any damage besides the chipped teeth.

So we've been doing the whole medicine thing again. Unfortunately, he is still not completely himself yet. He fell down the stairs again, gaining another bump by his eyebrow. He often wakes up crying. He has finally slept through the night the last two nights, though he wakes up at 6:30 a.m. (Two weeks of not sleeping the whole night has really affected me!) He still follows me like a puppy dog and doesn't want me out of his sight and often wants to be held. He seems more tired. He is hoarse from all the crying. I can't really tell if his teeth are still tender. He does let me look at them, though, and they seem fine. And he's still playing with his ear a little. I sure hope he is getting better because I can't handle this much longer!

I JUST WANT MY HAPPY BABY BOY BACK!!!

Pioneer Day

2011-07-26T17:04:00.062-06:00

We celebrated Pioneer Day on Saturday since the 24th was Sunday and Daniel wasn't going to get Monday off. We went downtown to the Church History Museum. They have a wonderful Latin America Book of Mormon children's exhibit going on right now. It was interactive just like the Gateway Children's Museum. Only FREE! Emersen loved every bit of it. Bentley got in a little fun too, but mostly just walked around looking.

Emersen insisted on pushing the stroller. By herself.

Nephi's ship, complete with fish and fishing rods.

These little screens had several different games. Her favorite was the hidden objects game.

I thought these "paper doll" scenes were really neat.

Emersen liked picking up the chickens and putting eggs under them. The chickens clucked every time she picked them up.

Here's the garden and veggies...

So that you can make dinner for the missionaries! Of course, all the food was latin-themed (tacos, peppers, etc.). Emersen spent a lot of time here.

But the big hit of the day was the dancing. Boy, how she danced! And danced. And danced. I eventually sat down for a while. There were these colorful skirts for the girls and vests for the boys. Bentley wasn't sure about his vest. He just stared at himself in the mirror.

The two video screens you can see in the mirror had a man or woman doing a latin dance so that you could follow along. Emersen didn't stop grinning. She loved "swishing the skirt."

Then we found a skirt that was more her size, and she went to town! This is the perfect picture.

They also played with this quilting exhibit for a few minutes.

When we left the museum, Emersen insisted on going across the street to see the "temple castle." So while Daniel moved the car, the kids and I relaxed on the lawn in temple square.

When Daniel rejoined us, we walked around for a little bit. A worker gentleman gave Emersen a pass-a-long card with a picture of the temple on it. She held it up to the real temple and said, "Look, it matches." She always makes us smile. We got lunch at the Nauvoo Cafe and then went across the street to Deseret Book to get some "pioneer candy sticks."

We headed home for naps, and then my parents decided to drive up to spend the evening with us. Jarom and his girlfriend, Breann, also came. We picked up some KFC family meals and went to Murray Park. Daniel and I started this tradition for Pioneer Day when we were engaged. So we spent a very pleasant evening relaxing on the lawn.

We had to laugh at Bentley carrying around this frisbee and jug of root beer. He's a little goofy sometimes.

I felt like it was a perfect summer family day. Those days spent doing nothing but enjoying my family are my most favorite and make me the happiest. I wish we could spend every day like that.

Staheli Family Reunion

2011-07-19T21:06:00.115-06:00

I made a spontaneous decision on Friday morning to drive down to Enterprise (near St. George) that afternoon for the Staheli family reunion the following day. This is my dad's family, and most of them live in Southern Utah. I usually only see them once a year, so I didn't want to miss out this time. After an "are you kidding me?", Daniel was very supportive of my last-minute decision. We packed a change of clothes, all of the snacks in our house, some kid activities, and diapers, and left Salt Lake just after 2 p.m.

Leaving at nap time, I was hopeful the kids would sleep for a while. Unfortunately, there was construction, etc., on the freeway, so they woke up after only an hour. They didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the drive! The kids were going crazy, so we stopped in Fillmore for a stretch and food. We stopped again in Cedar City for fuel, and then we arrived at my Grandparents' home at about 7:30 p.m. My parents and brother Jarom also came down that evening and met us there. We just spent the evening visiting. My dad set up a tent in the backyard, and Jarom, Emersen, and he slept there that night. Emersen was so excited about sleeping outside with Grandpa that she came and asked for her pjs, told me it was nighttime, and said she was going to bed. Quite unusual for her. I loved it when she took her pjs to my Grandpa, who was sitting in his recliner, and asked him to help her put them on. It was so cute to watch him lean over the arm rest, frail as he is, and try to tug her pants up over her heels, afraid he was going to knock her over. Emersen loved seeing her Great-Grandparents and talked a lot about going to her "Great-Grandma's House."

No one got up until about 9 a.m. the next morning. Also unusual for us. We just lounged around the house until about noon before heading up to the ranch for the reunion. Emersen had fun throwing a ball over this bridge and then crossing to get it. Again and again. I love this picture of her because I have so many of myself when I was younger on this same bridge. It's one of my favorite things about my grandparents' yard. The daisies too. Looking around the house, I saw so many pieces of furniture I wanted to inherit. So I told them just that. Being at my Grandparents' house just feels like home to me.

The reunion was at the Gardner Ranch (my Uncle-in-law's family) in the canyon between Enterprise and St. George. I know I have been there before, but I have no memories of it. There was a lot of family; my dad has 9 siblings.

We had such a great time catching up. Here is my cute Grandma, with Marin and Aunt Yvonne. We all sat and visited for hours before even eating. We keep trying to convince Marin to move up to Salt Lake or Orem.

Emersen met some new cousins to play with (second cousins, I guess). They shared snacks, made play-doh animals, and played on the swing set.

My cousin has these two little ponies and a covered wagon. Emersen couldn't wait for her turn to go for a ride. She couldn't stop smiling.

Bentley mostly just went from person to person, snack to snack. He refused to take a nap the entire afternoon and evening that we were there. He played a little with Christian, who is about one month younger. Christian is actually my first cousin.

Emersen was also excited about this pool, even though it was freezing! She just loves water, anything she can find. Daniel is seriously the best father. He is always so willing to do things with her. They went for rides in the kayak and the paddle boat.

One of my favorite parts of the reunion were the skits and stories about some of our ancestors. I just think my family is funny. After the skits, each of the siblings (my dad and his siblings) had to make up a multiple choice question about themselves and everyone else had to guess the answer. Every question had a story behind it, which was the best part. For example, my dad's question was, Q: "What skill did Mike develop that came in handy later as a boy scout?" A: Fire starting. I guess my dad could start a fire with anything and almost burned down a barn once. He said my grandma finally just cut the pockets out of his pants so that he couldn't carry around matches any more. Awesome. I seriously loved all the stories.

We had to leave much too early. We had to be back for church the next day, so it was just a quick trip. But I'm really glad that we just bit it and drove down, even though it was so far away. Again, the kids only slept for about an hour and a half on the way back to Salt Lake. I thought they would be so tired! So we had to stop in Fillmore again for fuel and a kid break. One of the gas stations had a playground right next to it. There were a bunch of other kids already there, so Emersen joined right in while the rest of us relaxed on the grass for a few minutes. No one was ready to get back in the car, and Emersen screamed that she wanted to go to Grandma's house. But we eventually made it home safe and sound, though extremely tired. As Daniel often says, "When it's for family, it doesn't matter."

Ten Years

2011-07-12T20:29:00.002-06:00

Daniel and I both had our ten-year high school reunions this past month. That was the fastest ten years of my life! My good friend Casie organized our reunion, so even though I couldn't make up my mind about whether to go, I thought I should support her and all of her hard work. I also knew I would probably regret not going. We went to the adults only dinner at The Gathering Place in Delta. It was fun to catch up with some people I haven't seen in a long time. But there were A LOT of people missing too that I would have liked to see. My graduating class had just over 200 people.

We sat at a table with Josh and Casie Dekker (both were good friends of mine) and Brady Johnson and his wife, Crystal. It was just like old times visiting with all of them.

After eating, we all went upstairs to the old dance hall to take group pictures. I had never been up there before, and WOW, it was bizarre. Nearly every inch was decorated with cut mirrors in different designs. There was a disco ball with the Salt Lake Temple on top of it, as well as other strange decorations and symbols. Who knows what all that was about?

Here is the whole group, including spouses.

And one of just the people from my class.

We went to Daniel's reunion the next weekend, but we didn't take any pictures. It was held at Davis High School and catered by Costa Vida. Daniel had volunteered to help with check-in and money collection, so we sat at the entrance. It was fun to see how well-liked he was (not that I ever doubted that), and he knew a lot of the people (not surprising). It was another low-key event; we just ate and visited. Daniel's graduating class had about 750 people.

One of the class officers that spoke talked about how it's fun to reminisce about what we did in high school, but he said that it's even more fun to think about all the things we've done since high school. Ten years provides a lot of opportunities. So I've been thinking about that...