Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn this little family will be hightailing it to Cali - Redding, specifically. Bry's parents are living there now and it's due time for a visit. They have been in Crescent City, CA for the last several years but Barry (Bryan's dad) has had a great work opportunity open up in Redding so they jumped right on it. It's definitely less of a haul to get to their new place than Crescent City was, so the road trip shouldn't be too bad. We are looking forward to a break from UT, work, life in general for a little bit. Bry and Ellinor will most likely live in the pool - I'm hoping to brave my bathing suit at least a couple of times to enjoy the water. Fingers crossed that I can get over myself pretty quickly. Haha.
We will also get to visit with our lovely sister Lexi for a few days before she heads off into the mission field - she has been asked to serve in Tampa, FL. We will miss her bunches and bunches, but are so proud of her decision to serve the Lord. Go Lexi!
I'm not sure what all we will be doing during our time in the land of sun and fun, but it sure beats sitting around the house watching day time TV. ;) Ellinor will enjoy some quality time with her grandparents, which is always nice, and I won't mind the extra hands with her. Have I mentioned she's crazy lately?! LOL. I plan on taking plenty of pics to share our adventures, so please hold me to it. I need to document our life more thoroughly as it flies by quicker by the day.
Last night Ellinor and I enjoyed some bonding time over nail polish and cotton balls. She was mostly fascinated with rubbing dry cotton balls all over herself and dropping the nail polish bottles one-by-one into their bag, but I enjoyed having some girly time with her. Loving that we can be more interactive with each other these days as she gets bigger. Having a daughter sure is lovely!
Anyhoo - I'll update again after our trip, unless something amazing happens during it that I just to have share at that moment. You never know what this little girl will be up to. :)
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Ellinor!
Have I mentioned I love my baby girl?! Yes, I know. It may be annoying to some that us mothers are always talking about how amazing our babies are. But, it's just too hard not to!
Ellinor is growing up way too fast for my liking. I know that's how this goes, but it's difficult to watch your baby slowly need you less and less. Ellinor's independence these days is both amazingly wonderful and frustrating. Haha. I love that she can do so much on her own now and watching her discover these new skills is really fun. But with her climbing, running, reaching and new mental capacities comes a lot more hard work for mom and dad. For instance, yesterday I found her on top of the toilet in our master bath. Not just on the toilet seat, but standing up on the back of the tank reaching into our medicine cabinet. Yes, I about had a heart attack. I was imagining her falling backwards and breaking her little head right open. Needless to say bathroom doors have to be monitored at all times, even more so than before. Crazy baby!
Ellinor loves to walk up and down the stairs - attempting to do so on her own has lead to a few stumbles. Since Bry and I will let her walk them while holding our hands she has seemingly decided that scooting down the stairs is no longer for her. She hasn't quite put it together that without our hands to hold, walking down the stairs is still a bit dangerous. Poor girl just wants to be grown up already.
We took her for her 18 month check up this week and she has finally reached 20 pounds! That puts her on the growth chart at 3% for the first time ever. Pretty exciting. She is nice and healthy, developing perfectly and loving life. I am often in awe at how friendly and outgoing she is. I am friendly and outgoing once I already know you. Haha. So, she definitely does not get her extrovert qualities from me.
Ellinor loves to run outside for as long as we'll let her. She doesn't poop out nearly as quickly as she used to. She is finally starting to eat more variety now that she's using a fork for every meal. The fork must have some magical qualities because all of the sudden she is ok with those green beans on her plate. Too funny. Daddy's iPad is her favorite toy, much to his chagrin at times, and she works that thing better than me by far. Her new obsession is playing the racing game on the computer with Bryan. She will just lay there on him and watch him race, occasionally playing with the controls herself. She will come running down the hallway with the game control in her hand and lead Bryan to the office. Too cute.
Mimicking happens 24 hours a day. Everything I do, she must do. It's hilarious watching her try to copy our funny faces. She runs about the house wearing our shoes, getting into my jewelry case and dragging my purse along with her. She has decided that she loves to "sweep," and the pantry door is no longer hard for her to access. So I will find her pulling out the broom and pushing it along the kitchen floor. She is also quite fond of grabbing hand towels and wiping down all the furniture. :) Bry says I must clean too much, but I think she just loves cleaning as much as I do already. Haha.
Anyway, I could go on and on about the fun that is Ellinor. This Sunday she goes to nursery for the first time. I am anxious about leaving her, though I'm positive she will absolutely love playing with all the other kids. Probably won't miss me at all, but I'm already having slight panic attacks. I am looking forward to enjoying church a little bit more as I will actually be able to enjoy the lessons. ;) So, we will see how it goes!!
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| Ellinor decided to wear only one sandal all day |
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| Shopping at Macey's - this only prevented a breakdown for about 3 minutes |
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| Knocking on the door at the doctor's office |
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| Crying for Dad to come play the racing game |
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
August Already!
I feel like a slacker because it's been awhile since I've written anything. While I do not assume to have let anyone down, this IS my journal...so I should probably get more on the ball. My darling Ellinor sprouts 12 more feet everyday and might as well be 20 years old. Her saucy attitude, endless supply of energy and boisterous play keep Bry and I rather busy. She really is just precious.
We have had a whirlwind of the last couple weeks. My dear, wonderful Great-Grandma Sevy passed away two weeks ago. She was a darling woman and will be missed sorely by all of her family and friends in this world - and that is quite the number of people. She lived in Panguitch, UT (where I still have numerous family members) so the funeral was held there the following week. My mom flew into town on the Friday after grandma passed and she, Becca, Ellinor and I trekked down to Panguitch to attend the funeral services. It was a privilege to be there to celebrate Grandma's life with everyone. The main theme that stuck out in remembrances of her was her great integrity and faith. While it is heartbreaking to no longer have her to visit in the summers, the peace that is found in the Gospel teachings about our purpose on earth is immeasurable. I will miss Grandma but I know that I will be seeing her again. For now she is enjoying her well earned paradise.
The one upside about a funeral is the great gathering of family. Family is so important in this life, but sometimes we get so caught up in the stresses and cares of it that we don't make as much time for them. I'm grateful for any time that I get to spend with extended family - when it comes right down to it, family is all we have in this world. And family is all we take with us for eternity.
Us girls shared a motel room together in town for the night we planned to stay. I woke up at about 6:30 am the morning of the funeral - it was way too early as I hadn't slept at all - to get ready for family breakfast and then the services. I took my clothes into the bathroom with me to get showered and placed them on the back of the toilet - there was not counter space or any other locale to place them. Whether it was my blurry vision, a sloped toilet back or sheer bad luck that led to it I don't know - but my camisole fell right into the toilet! Ugh! Luckily the toilet was clean but it was the only camisole I had to wear. In a cheap motel with no laundry services for the rooms I was in a pickle. I dug the cami out, wrung as much toilet water out as I could, and began to take the blow dryer to it. I dried as much as I could until I couldn't put off getting ready any longer. But the cami was still drenched! Oy! Between Becca, Andrew and I we were able to get the darn thing relatively dry by the time we had to meet at the church - but it was not so thrilling to wear a toilet dunked clothing item all day. Next time I bring more than one outfit. :)
Mom, Aunt Allison, Aunt Colleen and Abby caravanned back to Eagle Mountain with myself and Ellinor that evening after the funeral. Allison and Colleen wanted to go ahead and spend a couple of days in the northern half of the state. Might as well make a go of it while in town. It was fun having company here. This was Allison's first time getting to meet Ellinor, which was definitely over due. We spent some time running around to a few of our favorite places - Gygi's, Day Murray Music, and Colleen and Becca hit up a taffy store in down town. The rest of the time was spent hanging out and cheering on the Olympics. Gotta love the games!!
I probably should have documented all this with my camera - epic fail on my end. I know there were plenty of pictures snapped in Panguitch, so I may be off the hook there. But in my neck of the woods I totally bombed on the picture taking. Next time around! Although, let's hope we get together for something other than a funeral.
This last Sunday I was asked to teach the Relief Society lesson. As the Family History Coordinator for the ward, I have the privilege of introducing the family history resources of the church to our ward members. It really is a fun calling. I was prepared to give a nice presentation on the websites available to us - Family Search and New Family Search - and demonstrate indexing. Of course, this all requires a laptop/projector/screen set up and steady internet connection. I've given this presentation quite a few times in the church building and never had a hiccup. So, once the amen was said at the end of Sunday School Bry jumped into action to set everything up for me - he is my traveling tech support. I LOVE him! :) Anyhoo - everything was set up, announcements were made, opening song was sung and it was my turn. Alas - no internet connection!! Needless to say I was panicked! The entire lesson required internet access, which I completely took for granted. I had nothing else - no back up and 30 minutes of empty time to fill. It's a good thing I was in the church building so I was more motivated to curb the unpleasant words that were popping up in my mind. Hahaha. I was able to clumsily talk and try to fill the time for awhile, and right when I reached a point of disparity that I had not experienced until then Bry looked at me with a smile and announced that the internet was working. He had roped the Bishop into letting Bry in the attack to restart the whole router extravaganza. And it worked!! I was able to do a quick run through of the sites for the last 10 minutes and not die instead. So thankful so my wonderful hubby, a completely understanding and kind relief society presidency and the generous forgiveness of my relief society sisters for such a botched lesson.
Perhaps I was getting a big head about how smoothly I could fulfill my calling up to this point and Heavenly Father was seeing to it. Needless to say I was humbled. ;)
We have had a whirlwind of the last couple weeks. My dear, wonderful Great-Grandma Sevy passed away two weeks ago. She was a darling woman and will be missed sorely by all of her family and friends in this world - and that is quite the number of people. She lived in Panguitch, UT (where I still have numerous family members) so the funeral was held there the following week. My mom flew into town on the Friday after grandma passed and she, Becca, Ellinor and I trekked down to Panguitch to attend the funeral services. It was a privilege to be there to celebrate Grandma's life with everyone. The main theme that stuck out in remembrances of her was her great integrity and faith. While it is heartbreaking to no longer have her to visit in the summers, the peace that is found in the Gospel teachings about our purpose on earth is immeasurable. I will miss Grandma but I know that I will be seeing her again. For now she is enjoying her well earned paradise.
The one upside about a funeral is the great gathering of family. Family is so important in this life, but sometimes we get so caught up in the stresses and cares of it that we don't make as much time for them. I'm grateful for any time that I get to spend with extended family - when it comes right down to it, family is all we have in this world. And family is all we take with us for eternity.
Us girls shared a motel room together in town for the night we planned to stay. I woke up at about 6:30 am the morning of the funeral - it was way too early as I hadn't slept at all - to get ready for family breakfast and then the services. I took my clothes into the bathroom with me to get showered and placed them on the back of the toilet - there was not counter space or any other locale to place them. Whether it was my blurry vision, a sloped toilet back or sheer bad luck that led to it I don't know - but my camisole fell right into the toilet! Ugh! Luckily the toilet was clean but it was the only camisole I had to wear. In a cheap motel with no laundry services for the rooms I was in a pickle. I dug the cami out, wrung as much toilet water out as I could, and began to take the blow dryer to it. I dried as much as I could until I couldn't put off getting ready any longer. But the cami was still drenched! Oy! Between Becca, Andrew and I we were able to get the darn thing relatively dry by the time we had to meet at the church - but it was not so thrilling to wear a toilet dunked clothing item all day. Next time I bring more than one outfit. :)
Mom, Aunt Allison, Aunt Colleen and Abby caravanned back to Eagle Mountain with myself and Ellinor that evening after the funeral. Allison and Colleen wanted to go ahead and spend a couple of days in the northern half of the state. Might as well make a go of it while in town. It was fun having company here. This was Allison's first time getting to meet Ellinor, which was definitely over due. We spent some time running around to a few of our favorite places - Gygi's, Day Murray Music, and Colleen and Becca hit up a taffy store in down town. The rest of the time was spent hanging out and cheering on the Olympics. Gotta love the games!!
I probably should have documented all this with my camera - epic fail on my end. I know there were plenty of pictures snapped in Panguitch, so I may be off the hook there. But in my neck of the woods I totally bombed on the picture taking. Next time around! Although, let's hope we get together for something other than a funeral.
This last Sunday I was asked to teach the Relief Society lesson. As the Family History Coordinator for the ward, I have the privilege of introducing the family history resources of the church to our ward members. It really is a fun calling. I was prepared to give a nice presentation on the websites available to us - Family Search and New Family Search - and demonstrate indexing. Of course, this all requires a laptop/projector/screen set up and steady internet connection. I've given this presentation quite a few times in the church building and never had a hiccup. So, once the amen was said at the end of Sunday School Bry jumped into action to set everything up for me - he is my traveling tech support. I LOVE him! :) Anyhoo - everything was set up, announcements were made, opening song was sung and it was my turn. Alas - no internet connection!! Needless to say I was panicked! The entire lesson required internet access, which I completely took for granted. I had nothing else - no back up and 30 minutes of empty time to fill. It's a good thing I was in the church building so I was more motivated to curb the unpleasant words that were popping up in my mind. Hahaha. I was able to clumsily talk and try to fill the time for awhile, and right when I reached a point of disparity that I had not experienced until then Bry looked at me with a smile and announced that the internet was working. He had roped the Bishop into letting Bry in the attack to restart the whole router extravaganza. And it worked!! I was able to do a quick run through of the sites for the last 10 minutes and not die instead. So thankful so my wonderful hubby, a completely understanding and kind relief society presidency and the generous forgiveness of my relief society sisters for such a botched lesson.
Perhaps I was getting a big head about how smoothly I could fulfill my calling up to this point and Heavenly Father was seeing to it. Needless to say I was humbled. ;)
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