Living in Simple Abundance

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

Dan: Dan stays busy with Young Mens, work, and being a wonderful husband and father. He took up fly fishing last year and loves it. He enjoys going on fishing trips with his dad (Wyoming, and various parts of Utah, Idaho this coming summer). He continues to try and interest the girls in fishing - no bites yet. Pun intended. Maybe he'll have more luck with a boy?!

Sarah: Sarah spent most of the year tired (pregnant twice) and then the last three months being busier than she has been in a long time. She participated in her Stake's Musical Review, which included three months of rehearsals. She's been teaching a preschool this year and also started a children's singing group. She looks forward to a much need Christmas break and the last three months of being pregnant.

Haydan: Haydan has been enjoying second grade this year. She continues to excel at reading, writing, and developing her talent for art. She finished her first trimester of school with good grades and a glowing report from her teacher. Haydan has reached some childhood milestones this year: learning to ride her bike without training wheels and turning eight. She is looking forward to being baptized the first weekend in January. Haydan is learning to be a good big sister and has a sensitive nature. She loves animals and drawing. She is a girl after her mom's heart because her favorite thing to do is to design and decorate bedrooms both on the computer and on paper.

Quinn: Quinn continues to be a charmer and has the unique ability to make friends where ever she goes. She is making terrific progress with her writing and will hopefully be reading before kindergarten next Fall. She also learned to ride a bike this year thanks to our friend. She still loves superheroes and spends most of her time dressed in a black leotard pretending to be Black Canary or Cat Woman. Quinn has a fun imagination and rarely sits still. Most of her playing involves her jumping off of things, with a little flying, and some running. She LOVES to ride her bike and jumps at the chance to take it to the park. She is generally loved by all who meet her and an absolute joy to have in our family.

Bailey: Bailey turned two this year and has become quite the precocious little girl. She is sugar and spice, sweet and sassy. She amazes everyone with her conversational skills and has her parents alternately laughing or groaning with her behavior. She loves baby dolls, books, and, in her words, "being like a princess." She is well entrenched in the dress up phase of girl-hood. Bailey is our resident singer and can be heard singing around the house every day. She has a handful of songs she knows, but also makes up her own. Her parents are amazed at how fast she can pick up lyrics to a song. Usually it only takes a couple of times of hearing a song before she knows most of the words to it. She once told a car full of people, "Be quiet. I'm singing." Bailey's favorite book is "Wild Things," and has most of it memorized. "Everyone Poops," by Taro Gomi, is a close second.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an exciting new year!

Breakfast with Santa and Cowboy Christmas

2011-12-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

{December 3, 2011}

Last Saturday I took the girls to enjoy some Christmas activities. First we went to Haydan's school for Breakfast with Santa. It was a Polar Express Theme which means you got to come in your pajamas - always fun for kids. Before our group got to eat we were sent to the craft room where the girls got to make some snowflake ornaments.

The breakfast was exactly what I thought a two dollar breakfast would be - mediocre, but the girls didn't seem to mind!

We bought a ticket to get a picture with Santa, but the line was a mile long and we didn't feel like waiting, especially when we were going straight over to Cowboy Christmas to see the real Santa.

This Saturday always seems to be the coldest day of the year. The girls changed in the car and we headed over to Floyd Lamb (it's down the street from the school). We hung out in the car for a little bit, bundled up and headed over to see Santa.

We were the first ones there. Yea! Except for one, it wasn't the real Santa, and two, even though he was right there they weren't taking pictures yet. Santa smiled and waved at the girls for 15 minutes, then was taken away by someone for something. Grrr.

Bailey hiding from Santa.

Quinn was up for a smile but was more interested in the piles of leaves around the building where Santa was.

Haydan just looking cute.

After waiting for Santa for another 30 minutes I asked for my money back and we went to enjoy some of the other activities. Haydan was the only one who really wanted a picture, so I left it up to her. 45 minutes is a long time to wait and she was ready to go.

We went on a wagon ride around the park. It was fun, but at times a little scary. The guy was going really fast.

After the wagon ride we got in line to ride horses. (These lines moved fast.) If Dan had been there I would have asked for a turn! The girls had a lot of fun on the horses. Bailey was sad she couldn't ride one, but she did get to pet them.

This picture makes me laugh because it kind of looks like she's saying a prayer!

After the horse ride we headed over to the face paint table. My girls always love this.

I was a little frustrated by the whole Santa thing, but in the end we had fun. We went home watched Rudolph, ate carmel popcorn, and worked on Christmas gits. Not a bad Saturday after all!

Riding a Bike

2011-12-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

So far Dan and I are 0 for 2 when it comes to teaching our kids how to ride a bike. Haydan we can take some credit because we did get her started, but her grandma was the one who finished the job. And as for Quinn...my friend's husband deserves all the credit.

A couple of weekends ago my friend and I, along with Haydan, spent an afternoon checking out some craft fairs. We left the rest of the kids with her husband. Being an ambitious dad he decided to take all four kids out for a bike ride. No bike with training wheels? No problem. Somehow he taught Quinn how to ride a bike in less than ten minutes. I'm convinced he's the bike whisperer and could make millions writing a book on his methods: How to teach a kid to ride a bike in 10 minutes or less. The titles catchy and whatever he does it really works!

He sent us this picture and some video while we were out. I was excited and sad at the same time - a milestone of growing up and I missed it! Quinn absolutely loves to ride her bike and is still going strong. Her steering is still a little wobbly at times so it's best to not get too close, but otherwise she's doing great! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

Dan worked Thanksgiving weekend so we stayed home and I got to cook my first Thanksgiving dinner - ever! Dan's parent's came down late that afternoon for dinner and provided parts of the meal.

Dan had an extra long lunch that day, so we went and joined him. We ate and played games. It's always fun to see Daddy at work and in his uniform.

After we got home and put Bailey down for a nap, I gave the big girls the task of making place cards for everyone. They had a lot of fun doing this - especially using the glitter. I'm pretty sure I'll have glitter stuck to the floor for months!

The glitter that "just happened" to get on their faces, washed off a little more easily.

The place cards turned out really cute. We used mandarins as stands.

Our Thanksgiving table. Nothing fancy, but not too bad!

We also made Thanksgiving bracelets by reading the Thanksgiving story. Each color bead represents a different part of the story.

(Curious? You can check out the meanings here.)

While I was basting the turkey and the men were watching football, Lori took the girls to the park. I wish I had taken some pictures of dinner. If I can take a moment to brag: my turkey and stuffing turned out great, and even my rolls weren't too bad!

Friday, I took the girls to the park again to enjoy the beautiful weather. We also spent the day putting Thanksgiving decorations away and getting out Christmas!

Quinn loves riding her bike and spent the whole time at the park doing just that.

Notice something? No training wheels! More on that later.

Saturday we got the bikes out again and spent some time at Floyd Lamb, then spent the rest of the morning watching Christmas movies. It was a great weekend!

Guess what we've been doing?

2011-11-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

That's right this girl is potty training! It may not seem to unusual to some of you, but to me it is amazing she's is already doing this. It's much earlier than my other girls. I'm a big believer of not forcing the potty issue and waiting until the child is ready. But this kid was ready! For months she's been informing us when she was doing a little business. She just seemed very aware, so we decided to give it a try. She's been doing great - even with the voluminous princess dresses! She's a got a big sweet tooth, so candy is a huge motivator. We're almost ready for panties in public places. But not quite.

And, in case you were wondering, she's holding a banana. I know - eating while going to the bathroom isn't the most sanitary. But when you're two, you've got to got when you've got to go. Banana and all!

Haydan's Birthday

2011-11-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

{November 12, 2011}

Haydan's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, and by luck her dad had the day off so we were able to spend the day as a family. We started out the morning with a birthday breakfast of Haydan's choosing, lunch at her favorite restaurant - Cici's Pizza - and a special birthday dinner. We also spent the morning doing a project for school.

The birthday girl.

{no pictures of Quinn - she woke up crying and I sent her back to bed, where she miracously went back to sleep and slept till noon!}

The birthday breakfast "cake."

Haydan turned 8 this year and suddenly developed the lung power of a 100 year old. It took this girl five tries to get all the candles blown out - all three times she got to do it!

You can always count on Bailey to bring a little cheese to a party!

At Cici's I got the staff to sing Happy Birthday to Haydan. She was very embarrassed!

The birthday dessert, wearing her birthday pajamas.

Haydan requested the same birthday party theme this year that Quinn had, which made it easy on me: Pancakes and Pajamas. Originally her birthday party had been scheduled for the day of her actual birthday, but not only had four people called to say they couldn't come but Haydan also forgot to give an invitation to one of her friends. I was worried about hurt feelings so we decided to postpone until the following weekend. In the end, I'm still not sure that was a good idea. Instead of only three people being able to come on the original date, only two people came to her party. I think I was sadder than she was! We had several people not be able to make it, one no show, and one last minute cancel due to illness. The girls still seemed to have a good time. But I have to say party games go fast when there are only three participators!

I completely forgot to get a picture of the two party guests. But I did get some of opening presents. Haydan has been asking all year for a new school bag. I said no since I bought her a new one half way through last year. Lucky her - one of her gifts from her friends was a bag big enough for school!

From Mom and Dad: Twinkle Toes! She's been asking me for these for the last year.

All in all the birthday party was a bit of a bust (one guest's dad was in charge of getting the gift which meant she got a ten dollar bill in a gift bag) - though don't tell Haydan I said that! I think next year we'll bag the parties and go to Disney Land :)

Stake Musical

2011-11-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

{November 3 and 4, 2011}

From August until the first week of November my life was pretty much consumed by our Stake's musical. With rehearsals two nights a week and a run through that lasted for eight hours, this musical review was definitely a labor of love - sometimes more labor than love to tell the truth. But in the end I am so glad I participated in this. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I preformed in several numbers and was Mary Poppins in Supercalifragilistic. (And, in case you're wondering, yes, I did learn to say it backwards.) There was one number from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat that included a children's chorus. Haydan was a part of that and absolutely loved doing it. Theses are just some pictures I took, I'll be getting more from the official photographer next weekend at our cast party.

This is the group of "mature" women (that's how the distinguished us from the young girls) that I performed with along with our director (middle front) after our last performance.

My friend Cathy, who came to see me. Our last number was a group ensemble and we performed "We Go Together" from Grease. I was a pink lady - and I even danced in heels.

Songs I was in:

Be Our Guest - chorus and principal dancer

Modern Major General - chorus and dancer

Joseph's Dream - Narrator (singing part)

Supercalifragilistic - Mary Poppins

Wash That Man - Chorus and dancer

We Go Together - Chorus

Carving Pumpkins

2011-11-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

{October 31, 2011}

This year we didn't get around to carving pumpkins until Halloween day. Haydan didn't have school that day, so we spent the morning planning out pumpkins. Haydan immediately knew she wanted to do a kitty face.

{She did her own hair that day.}

I gave Bailey some paint to decorate hers with.

Quinn couldn't decide what she wanted to do, so she ended up drawing four different faces. I carved them all for her.

Scooping out the guts.

The many faces of Quinn:

The kitty turned out great and looked very cute all lit up! Haydan even carved it herself.

Halloween

2011-11-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

Halloween night brought a few changes in wardrobe. Quinn decide to go more the cat route and Bailey wanted to wear our Little Mermaid costume instead of her princess dress.

We had a quick dinner with friends from down the street and then headed out trick or treating together.

I love our neighborhood for trick or treating. The neighborhood next door goes all out and draws hundreds of people, which usually means our is nice and quiet and pretty empty. When your kids are little it's nice to be able to let them run down the street, from house to house without worrying about cars are losing them in a crowd.

Our Little Mermaid:

The girls had such a great time. Another bonus to having a nearly empty neighborhood? The neighbors still there passing out candy splurge on the good stuff. These girls were loaded down with chocolate that their parents may or may have not eaten the most of.

This was Bailey's first real trick or treating experience and she was hilarious to watch. She would run eagerly to each door. If the door seemed too scary she would beat a quick retreat (and I mean quick) and wait in the street with mom and dad. She also (purposefully or not I'm not sure) would linger at each door with her bag extended long enough that most people eventually gave her more candy. Smart kid.

Ward Halloween Party

2011-11-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

{October 29, 2011}

Clearly I did not take very many pictures at this party! Our ward party was fun with good food, games for the kids, and even a haunted house.

Every picture I had of Bailey she was making a weird pose or face.

Thankfully we happened to have some cat ears in our Halloween box, and surprisingly Quinn was okay with wearing these instead of her missing mask. It probably helped that she'd worn the mask almost every day since we got it (even to bed).

Cousins for the weekend

2011-11-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

{October 21, 2011}

The same weekend we had Quinn's birthday party I watched my sister's kids. Which meant Haydan got to miss school Friday, but also meant that we would not be going to the school festival. The consolation? I let them dress up in Halloween costumes and took them to the Bellagion.

The girls looked so cute and definitely got a lot of comments and even a couple of pictures taken.

A lady bug and zombie bride.

Cat Woman.

Sadly the cat mask was never found after this trip, so I'm guessing we lost it somewhere at the park.

A spooky doll.

And a pretty princess.

After the Bellagio went to Town Center Park.

The girls had a great time!

Pajama's and Pancakes

2011-11-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

{October 22, 2011}

I was on the Internet one day when I stumbled across the perfect theme for Quinn's birthday party: Pajamas and Pancakes. Quinn loves to wear pajamas and would stay in them all day long if I let her (and sometimes I do). When I suggested the idea to her she was all for it. Haydan liked it so much she asked for the same party theme. Perfect! Less work for me. The morning of Quinn's party we straightened her hair (per her request) and waited for the guests to arrive.

The game prizes.

(I forgot to get a picture of the goodie bags: chocolate milk and mini boxes of cereal.)

As the guests arrived I set them to work making some fruit loop necklaces.

The breakfast spread: pancakes, doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls.

The powdered doughnuts were a hit...

especially with Bailey!

Super hero Squinkies!

The lone boy party guest (others were invited). Quinn likes to tell me she's going to marry him some day. Not sure how he feels about it!

Cute girls! The kids had fun and seem to really enjoy the party games (musical chairs and a cereal tasting test), but mostly they just enjoyed playing outside together.

A special trip...

2011-10-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

{October 18, 2011}

About a month ago I scheduled a special "trip" that happened to fall on Quinn's birthday. We decided to take Haydan to school late so she could come too. The timing was perfect really. For awhile now Quinn has been telling me that she wants a brother for her birthday. Well, that's not the easiest thing to produce on demand, and unfortunately Target does not have that kind of a baby aisle. But being the ever generous parents that we are we managed to come through for her - and on her birthday no less.

We made quite the little scene in the ultrasound room: One mom, one dad, and three little girls. Two were very excited to see what new little arrival we would be getting. And the other one was more interested in playing games on the ipad. Bailey has become less than enthusiastic about having another baby. As she tells me every time I bring it up, "No. I the baby." Well at least she'll always be the baby girl.

I was telling the technician about our hope for a boy when the image appeared on the screen.

"You're in luck," she said.

We're having a BOY!!

{coming to a family near you March 17...or thereabouts}

Quinn's Birthday

2011-10-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

{October 18, 2011}

Another one gets a year older...

Quinn turned five last week and we had fun celebrating. A special breakfast, a special trip (more on that later), and a special girl.

She requested tortellini for dinner and brownies for dessert.

Posing with the dessert table.

Outside Quinn struck some Super girl poses.

Five candles and brownies and ice cream.

Bailey was excited to check out the presents.

Not so excited when I told her they were for Quinn.

Opening the card from Dad.

Super heroes! Yes! Just what she wanted. Dan also gave her a Captain America ball, and she picked out some super hero toys with the money from Grandma and Grandpa Nuttall.

The Spider Man mask that came in the card.

With the help of an iron on decal I "made" her some Super Girl jammies.

While I'm always a little sad when my kids get older, we had a fun day celebrating Quinn. She is an easy girl to celebrate. We just love her!

Picking Pumpkins

2011-10-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again: pumpkin patches, apple cider doughnuts, and even a clown making balloon figures. It's time for Fall!

Enjoying the weather

2011-10-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

{Sometime in September}

About mid September the weather finally started to cool off. We decided to take advantage of the nice weather by spending an evening at Floyd Lamb. This really is one of my favorite places in Las Vegas. The big girls love to take their bikes out there and Bailey loves to see the ducks. Dan loves to practice his fly fishing and I love the feeling of being out in nature.

You'll notice a lot of pictures of Bailey in this post. My big girls were moving too fast on their bikes to get a lot of pictures of them. Not to mention Haydan made this face every time I took a picture.

If you're wondering, "Did she see her baby playing with goose poop and instead of stopping her she took a picture?" The answer is yes. But in my defense she was using a stick. If it had been her finger I would have stopped her...after I'd taken a picture :)

I love this time of year.

Cedar City

2011-10-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

{October 1 -3, 2011}

Dan decided to take advantage of General Conference weekend (no meetings) and do some fishing up in Cedar City with his dad and one of the young men from our ward. The girls and I decided to tag along and enjoy a weekend out of town. We managed to pack a lot in a short weekend: fishing, a new hair cut for me, a trip up to the mountain, birthdays, and even family pictures.

This girl never goes anywhere without her favorite blanket close by.

Lori introduced the girls to the ukulele this weekend. Haydan actually learned how to play You are my Sunshine.

Quinn just enjoyed rocking out to her own tune.

Lori had the idea to have an early birthday celebration for Quinn and Grandpa Mac (as well as her dad's and Suzanne's anniversary). All of whom were present at the dinner and birthday celebration. Clearly I need to focus my camera and more than just my kids' faces!

The cake:

This one fancies herself a comedian.

Monday, while the men were fishing, Lori and I took the girls to see the leaves changing on the mountain. It was so beautiful. We could not believe the color.

Haydan did her own hair. She was quite proud of herself.

After the mountain we took the girls to Bullock's soda fountain for some ice cream.

This girl literally stopped traffic crossing the street she's so cute. Okay...maybe it had something to do with the orange flag. But she's still cute!

Bailey's Birthday

2011-10-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

{September 12, 2011}

We celebrated Bailey's birthday as a family on the 12th. Rick and Lori came down from Cedar to celebrate with us. We made pizza for dinner (her favorite), something we also did in Arizona thanks to my SIL's thoughtfulness. I made rainbow cupcakes for the little princess and we enjoyed a lovely party outside.

The morning of her party we made a quick stop at the dollar store while out grocery shopping. Bailey saw these birthday crowns and had to have it, and since it was the day of her birthday party I had to get it for her. Too bad the crown didn't make it into the picture and I forgot to have her wear it that night!

We also picked up some fairy wings, that she very happily paired with her crown.

Waiting for dinner to be ready.

(Notice the tongue?)

Checking out the cupcakes. When I gave Bailey her choice of desserts that was what she wanted.

Opening her gift from grandma. Lori (with some help from Haydan) made some adorable dresses and blankets for two of Bailey's dolls.

As you can see she was very happy with her gift.

(Her gift from mom and dad - a doll bed - had not arrived yet.)

Not hard to tell they're sisters.

When it came time to blow out the candle Bailey was a little nervous.

She did give it a try...

Then covered her eyes and said, "It scare me."

Nothing scary about the cupcakes though. The girls loved the rainbow colors.

Lori made two dresses for each doll, and even a matching shirt for Bailey.

Arizona

2011-10-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in September the girls and I headed down to Arizona for my nephew's baptism. I decided to stay with my friend from college in Mesa because it had been almost five years since I last saw her! We had a great trip. The girls loved playing with new friends and their cousins - swimming, dress ups, polly pockets. Little girl heaven. My friend and I had a great time staying up late, shopping and eating out. Without kids. Big girl heaven.

We had a great time visiting with family, too. With three baptisms (one to go!) this year we've had a chance to see family a lot the last few months.

Swimming with friends.

Bailey pretending to be asleep.

Swimming with cousins.

Seven times out of ten when I ask this girl to smile for me I get this:

Snuggling with Aunt Becky.

My siblings.

My family.

My camera battery died so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, but I borrowed some from my mom:

My nephew was kind enough to share his weekend with Bailey. Her birthday was on the Sunday we were there so I brought over a cake. My SIL even hung a birthday banner!

When Quinn saw this she said, "Oh...I love JT." He really is a great kid.

First Day of Preschool

2011-10-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Quinn's first day of preschool was August 31, 2011 and Quinn's preschool teacher is me!

A little anti-climatic for her, but fun for me. When Quinn didn't get into the community preschool this year I decided to do it myself. She is one of six students and while she enjoys preschool she does wish it was somewhere else. Not that she minds me as a teacher, just our house as the location.

Other than that she is doing a great job. Her handwriting is really improving and it's fun to spend time with her.

Coming Home

2011-10-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

{August 2011}

After the girls spent three days in Cedar I met Rick and Lori in St. George to do the kid exchange. We met at our favorite park so the girls could play in the water a little bit. I was happily surprised that the park had also added a carousel! I love carousels. Two rides for .50 cents. Not bad. Bailey was a little spooked of the horses, but the girls loved finding the prettiest ones.

Q-U-I-N-N

2011-10-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

{May 2011}

For the last year I have been trying to get Quinn to write her name, but she had no interest. None. She knew how to spell it, but just wasn't in to the idea of sitting down with a pen and paper.

Then in May, before Mother's Day, I was in charge of helping all the primary kids make Mother's Day cards.

While they waited to get their handprint done I asked the kids who could to write their names on their papers. Much to my surprise Quinn did just that. No help, no practice. Q-U-I-N-N.

First day of Second Grade!

2011-10-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

When I asked Haydan what she wanted in the way of new clothes for school this year, she said one word, "Fancy." Which, I discoverd as we shopped, meant sequins and glitter. It also meant acessories - she picked out two scarves and a hat. Sigh. She's growing up.

Haydan was very excited to start school this year and has had a great year so far. I was excited that Haydan was going to be riding the bus to and from school this year. She loves it and I love not having to wait a half an hour in line to pick her up. Win win.

Summer in Cedar

2011-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

After The Little Mermaid Haydan and Quinn left with their Grandma to spend a few days in Cedar. They had a great time hiking in Zion, sewing with Grandma, and being able to play in the front yard (something deprived to them in Las Vegas). Haydan even mastered riding her bike without training wheels - something her mom and dad had started and some cash from Grandma finished!

"Look at this stuff - isn't it neat?"

2011-10-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Our big end of summer adventure was to go see The Little Mermaid at Tuachan Theater. I was so excited for this all year. The original plan was for me to take the two big girls drive up for the show and drive back right after. Then I had the wonderful idea to invite Lori to go with us. She was all for it and even wanted to pay for the tickets as a birthday treat. That was a treat indeed!

Then Dan had another wonderful idea and suggested we all drive up Monday morning, get a hotel, spend the day playing and then I wouldn't have to drive back to Vegas in the middle of the night. Perfect!

We spent a fun morning swimming in the pool. This was such a nice hotel and the pool was perfect for families. Not too deep and a whole separate pool that was only a foot deep.

Snuggling in the hotel room after baths.

Tuachan is an outdoor theater located in Ivins, just outside of St. George. It is part a theater arts high school. The campus is just amazing and the theater is beautiful.

We had an amazing time! The show was spectacular. The water affects were amazing (achieved with lights and real water - the stage is designed to flood). My only regret is that I forgot to get a picture with Lori and me!

Mount Charleston

2011-09-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

{Sometime in August}

As one of our end of summer adventures I took the girls on a little outing to Mount Charleston. Though this is not the prettiest mountain I've ever seen, we definitely need to take advantage of it more.

The first hike we chose was too steep, so we just went a little of the way and I let the girls play around.

Bailey cut her fingers on a blade of grass (of all things) she was quite concerned about the bleeding, but otherwise it didn't hurt.

This is what I got when I asked her if she could smile with her eyes open. This girl lives to be contrary.

This is definitely helping the argument of evolution. Leave it to my child to be grouched shoeless in the dirt while she eats. Never mind the picnic table that was two feet away.

Sisters...so cute.

After our first failed hike I remembered a picnic area we've driven by, but never stopped at so we headed over there. It was kind of a walk down to the tables, but so pretty. Worth the walk. We had a little picnic lunch, enjoyed the cooler weather, and the girls had fun putting their toes in the trickle of water that was running by our table and climbing on fallen logs.

Look at that sky. You don't get the kind of blue in Vegas.

Walking back to the car I turned around and saw this:

Bailey likes to pretend to fall asleep. I took the "I'm asleep on my feet" hint and carried her the rest of the way to the car. All in all it was a fun morning!

Don't look let the contrite look fool you...

2011-08-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

While I was reading labels in the shampoo section at Target, Bailey was busy sampling them.

She may look sorry here, but she wasn't in the least. She was quite proud of the fact that she had washed her hair all by herself and quite upset when I took her into the bathroom and rinsed it out!

4th of July

2011-07-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

After leaving SLC I headed down to Cedar City with the girls. We met Dan there to spend 4th of July weekend with his family. His sister was down from Colorado, so it was a very full house.

Sunday we went and visited with the great grandparents.

One room - six girls. Worked out better than I thought.

Monday morning we donned our red, white, and blue and headed to main street to watch the parade. Too many fire trucks honking horns for Bailey - she told me she was ready to go home. After that stopped and the candy throwing began everyone was happy.

Little girlies waiting for the candy to come.

After the parade we walked down the park for some games. Bailey insisted on pushing her stroller ALL the way there. Cute, but very slow.

Dan decided to enter the pie eating contest.

Getting started.

Almost lost it...

Keeps in for second place!

Fishing booth

Two of our nieces entered the watermelon eating contest. They didn't win, but they did finish!

Lunch at the park. Rumor had it she had five pieces, but it was close to four.

I joined the girls (as moral support) in some Karaoke. Okay it was my idea, but I thought they would have fun. Dan was going to sing with us until he found out it was a Hannah Montana
song. Little girls have a limited "known song" list.

That night the girls had fun roasting hot dogs for dinner.

Quinn (and Violet's) favorite game: cleaning rocks with toothbrushes. Very sanitary.

Roasting marshmallows is very serious business.

When you have 13 people and one shower:

Then the laundry room sink works in a pinch!

A weekend of cousins - my girls couldn't of been happier!

Utah

2011-07-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

{June 28 - July 2}

The girls and I went up to Utah for my niece's baptism. Since we had to split our time between Salt Lake and Cedar for a separate family thing, I went up a few days early so the girls could have a more time with cousins and I could have my sister to myself .

We had such a great time. Thursday afternoon I took the girls to a park to play. It was so nice to see some play equipment like the kind they had when I was a kid. The girls loved this merry-go-round and spent the whole time on it. Of course that may have had something to do with everything else being in the sun and too hot to play on!

Wondering how I got such clear pictures on a spinning merry-go-round? By sitting in the middle! I couldn't resist taking a ride, too. I didn't last as long as they did. Is being susceptible to dizziness part of getting old?

Thursday night we met Katie for dinner in Park City where she teaches voice lessons at a conservatory. I was sooo tempted to get out and do some sight seeing and window shopping, but with five girls in tow I decided to head back to Salt Lake instead.

Friday Katie and I took the girls swimming at her old apartment pool (anyone else singing Bare Naked Ladies?). The girls had

a great time, although the water was a little cold.

Friday night my parents got to town and we met them for dinner at my cousin's house. It was so fun to get to visit with my cousin and her family and see my parents. My cousin lives just north of the Salt Lake temple in this beautiful neighborhood - lots of trees and a little man - made stream and walk way down the middle of the street. As we got closer to her home Bailey looked out the windows at all the tall buildings of downtown Salt Lake and said, "temple, temple." It was really sweet.

Cousin's son - one of the smartest kids you'll meet (and funniest).

Bailey enjoying a cream filled cookie dessert.

The girls must have sat for an hour ~~torturing~~ playing with this snail. They were fascinated by it.

Snail desperately wishing he didn't have the speed of a, well, snail.

Grandpa and his seven granddaughters. Quite a bragging point for him apparently.

Saturday morning before the baptism we met my brother and his family and Chad at a park for breakfast and kickball! What a fun idea. I haven't played kickball since elementary school. We had a great time. I even got Haydan to play.

After the baptism there was a family luncheon. I always love to see my cousins when I am

in Utah. Here are all of our kids:

Second Cousins

And here are all of my Utah cousins - plus my parents and my aunt and uncle. And siblings of course!

When Dan asked Quinn what he favorite part of the trip was she said, "Playing with Uncle Chad."

She kind of loves him.

Carlsbad State Beach 2011

2011-07-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

{June 10 - 16}

I had so many pictures I decided to do this more "beach at a glance."

We had a great time. It was still too cold most days and I'm happy that the consensus was to go at a later date next year.

First day: exploring

Saturday: our first full day at the beach - I spent the morning grocery shopping with Bailey, so no pictures. I did hit the beach with the girls later that day while Bailey napped.

Sunday: San Diego Temple and Mormon Battalion Museum.

Mormon Battalion Museum: one word. AMAZING. This was such a great tour and well worth the visit. I learned so many things about the Battalion that I never new. Did you know that members of Battalion were responsible for completing Sutter's Fort and building the first wagon trail through the Sierra Nevadas? Neither did I.

The girls loved the tour, too. The portraits talked, "Just like Harry Potter," Haydan said.

Quinn managed to steal the show at one point. When the guide pointed to a picture of the Savior and explained that the Saints were willing to move to an unsettled West because of faith, Quinn shouted out, "I feel the Holy Ghost RIGHT now!"

After the museum we headed to Heritage Park. Cute houses (one day to be converted to B&B's), but that's all. See Quinn's beach crush? Yeah, he's 15.

After Heritage Park we went with our friends to La Jolla to see the seal beach. Very cool. You can go down on the beach with the seals right there.

Monday: Balboa Park and Science Museum with Rick and Lori.

(If you're ever going ask me about the cool trick I discovered. Not even the workers knew about it.)

Tuesday: Playing at the beach. The girls loved it and ventured further out into the water. Collected shells, caught sand crabs, built sand castles, buried little girls.

Wednesday: More of the same. We follow Aunt Mary's method of beach naps: strip, dunk, sleep. It works like a charm, though Bailey doesn't particularly like the dunk part. The sleep part was great - she slept for three hours every day!

Already planning for next year!

*I am aware of the repeat pictures...now...

First Grade and the Last Day of School

2011-06-25T22:11:00.001-07:00

Haydan had a wonderful first grade year. She started the year barely reading and finished it reading chapter books.

{first day of school}

{Last day of school}

We are so proud of her accomplishments.

{School picture}

{Class picture}

Haydan earned straight A's the entire year!

And earned a Citizenship award the last trimester.

One of Haydan's greatest achievements for the year was getting her picture on the back cover of the yearbook. Everyone in the whole school was given the task to design the cover of the yearbook. One finalist was chosen from each grade. The winning picture was put on the front cover and the alternate pictures were put on the back. Haydan was thrilled when her picture was chosen out of the whole first grade!!

{her picture is the top left}

On the last day of school families were invited for the last hour of the day for root beer floats. Haydan loved showing off for her sisters and me.

One of Haydan's favorite friends from her class, Delisha.

Thank goodness for tall friends!

{Love this!}

We are amazed at how much she has grown this year.

Something she manages to do every year, despite my asking her to stop.

Quinn-isms

2011-06-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

Getting dressed after a swim at G&G Perry's:

Quinn: I wish I had a tiny bra to cover up my tiny boobies.

Me: (???) Right. I'll keep an eye out for one.

Last year at her birthday dinner:

Me: Quinn, can you stop eating so we can say the prayer?

Quinn: Just a minute - I'm licking the nutrition off my fingers.

Driving home from the dump, when Quinn burst out (and by burst I mean yelled):

Quinn: I'm never going to get stretch marks. EVER!

Me: (after I smothered my laughter) What are stretch marks?

Quinn: I don't know, but they have a cream on TV to get rid of them.

Quinn came down stairs the other morning wearing a tankini swimsuit (don't worry grandma - it's modest!).

Quinn: Mom - look! I'm wearing my zucchini!

Quinn: Mom? Can I watch Batman on the weed?

Me: The weed?

Quinn: Yeah, the weed.

Me: What's the weed?

Quinn: You know, the weed on TV.

Me: Oh! The Wii!

Quinn: That's what I said, the weed.

Driving down the freeway past the Stratosphere:

Haydan: Did you know they have rides up there? I'm never going on that!

Quinn: I want to! I'll wear my cape and everyone will see it flying out behind me and know that I am Supergirl!

At Haydan's dance recital, seeing a girl wearing a dress covered in rainbow sequins:

Quinn: Mom! Did you see that dress? Now that's what I'm talking about!

Hiking

2011-06-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

{May 21, 2011}

I was "unofficially" asked to be the "unofficial" ward activities leader at the beginning of the year. Which basically means I was asked if I would just try and organize a monthly activity for ward members to participate in if the wanted to.

So for May I put together a family hike up on Mount Charleston. The weather was beautiful.

But as you can see there was still some snow! I hadn't planned on that. Haydan wasn't feeling well so early on in the hike she needed to sit down and rest. Bailey and I stayed behind with her, while Quinn forged ahead with the rest of the group.

The hike was short due to the snow, but overall it was a nice way to spend the morning of my birthday.

The night before I'd had a girls' night out with my friend, which was fabulous - not only was I treated to hours on uninterrupted adult girl conversation, but she treated me to dinner, too!

Saturday Dan and I went out to dinner and a movie, and surprised me with a fancy new blender. I felt very spoiled :)

*I forgot my camera, so these beautiful pictures were provided by Mark Snavely!

Summerlin Kids Mix

2011-05-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

{May 14, 2011}

When I heard on the radio that Spiderman and Thor would be making appearances at the Summerlin Kid Mix, I knew we had to go. Quinn was so excited to meet real superheroes.

She wanted to wear her Supergirl dress and insisted on wearing her Supergirl boots because "they will want to see them."

Making their way to Spiderman.

Bailey did not find Spiderman's presence to be all that reassuring.

The days leading up to the Kid Mix Quinn told me how when she saw Spiderman and Thor she was going to run up and tickle them as a surprise. But meeting them in real life proved a little more intimidating. She wouldn't go near them without dad holding her.

She was still all smiles, though.

The event was fun. Lots of free things for the kids like balloons.

I was really impressed with the woman's skills when she busted out a Spiderman balloon .

Face painting - of course. My kids never miss a chance to get their face painted. They get more daring every time.

Thor.

The blue tiger.

Bailey didn't get her face painted, but she really loved the stickers she got!

Unexpected

2011-05-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

My pregnancy ended as unexpectedly as it began.

When I found myself staring at those two little pink lines at the beginning of March, all I could do was laugh...and shake my head in disbelief. Call it karma, kismet, or one of those "clearly-God-has-a-sense-of humor" moments, whatever, the message is the same: spend three months telling friends and your husband that you are not ready for a fourth child and you're bound to get pregnant.

I had it all planned out - how I would announce it, what I would say. I had a small hope that the new first trimester ultrasounds would reveal the gender, and we could announce that, too.

{flowers from Dan}

I was so sure it was a boy. I didn't have a single bit of nausea, just a constant, never ending hunger - the reason behind my ten pounds in one month weight gain - and breakouts. Things I've never had with a pregnancy before.

It was surprising having it happen unplanned. But I loved the symmetry of it: our first and our last - a November surprise. At least we were consistent in our unplanned moments.

We sat the girls down early on (earlier than usual) to tell them the news. I was hoping for the "sympathy vote" in the event I became ill - maybe knowing why mom was sick would make for happier helpers around the house. Or so I hoped at least.

The girls were so excited. Haydan instantly began speculating as to when it would be born - May, June... November. November 30th was my due date.

Quinn told us she had the perfect name - "Oopsie!"

Dan and I instantly started laughing, and I told Quinn that the name was more appropriate than she knew. She was a little insulted by our laughter and informed us that, "Oopsie was the name of a Care Bear with no tummy patch." I knew that, though, they had just watched the movie.

Her second suggestion (a certain uncle will be interested to know) was "Giovanni." We told her we'd put in on the list.

I started spotting on Friday, April 29th. I wasn't concerned - watchful, but not worried. It was light and I had a little spotting with Bailey. Plus, according to the Internet 70% of women have some bleeding during a pregnancy. I wasn't even worried when two days later I started bleeding lightly. I hadn't had a single cramp and wasn't that the main indicator that you were having a miscarriage? As soon as the doctor's office opened Monday I called to make an appointment. 2:30 was the earliest they could see me. In my mind the worst case scenario was bed rest, so I set to work cleaning the house. Not very far into it I started to not feel well, and went back to bed. The bleeding was heavier and I'd started to cramp, but still I wasn't worried. I had this feeling that everything would be alright.

Bailey came and got in bed with me. In fact she spent the whole morning there, snuggled up beside me with her blanket and baby doll...when she wasn't jumping around or looking at books.

I slept off and on, and finally hauled myself out of bed to eat something around 1:00. I had little appetite, but felt I should eat something anyway. A good thing, too, because it was the last thing I had to eat until 9:00 that night.

I stayed down in the living room, waiting for Dan to come home. That was when the real cramping started - the "I feel like I'm in labor" cramping. When Dan walked in the door and saw my face he asked if he needed to come with me to the doctor's. We hurried and made arrangements for the kids and headed out the door.

{flowers from a friend}

It wasn't until I saw the sonogram that I knew it was over. The second I saw the image on the screen I could tell there was nothing there. Even when the doctor was telling me it was an "inevitable miscarriage," I had some small hope that the baby was still alive. I just saw its beating heart three weeks before. Could it really be over just like that?

The doctor and nurses gave us some time alone in the room while they handled the arrangements for the D&C. We were going straight to the hospital from the doctor's office - wrapping our heads around what was happening and calling Dan's parents to come and stay with the girls.

The hospital, though long, was painless. I arrived, was prepped - given a gown, cocooned in warm blankets, asked all those medical questions they have to ask. Then I was off to the surgery room. Talking about Osama bin Laden's death with my doctor before I faded off to sleep.

At home that night, I lay in bed with my hand on my stomach thinking of emptiness, wondering at the strangeness of growing life one day and having it gone the next - crying the tears we cry when we lose something we wanted. I've rearranged my thoughts for now - no more baby bump in a swimsuit this summer, no more baby for Christmas. And, yet, still that feeling that everything will be all right.

Before I was wheeled to surgery Dan recounted a conversation between Haydan and Quinn. While I checked in at the hospital, he collected the girls. First picking up Haydan, telling her what happened, then picking up Bailey and Quinn. Quinn wondered where I was, and when hearing that I was at the hospital asked if I'd had the baby and was it a boy. "No," Haydan said.

So she asked if it was girl.

"No," Haydan said again, "the baby died."

Quinn paused a moment then said, "That's alright. We'll have another one."

And she's right. It's alright. We'll have another one.

Easter

2011-05-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

{April 20, 2011}

The ward Easter Egg hunt and dinner was held at one of the neighborhood parks. Dan was working so I went solo with the kids. It was well attended so there were a lot of people there, which loosely translated to me not seeing my oldest two for most of the night and just hoping they were around. This was the one time I saw Quinn during the Easter Egg hunt, and the last time I saw her until well after dinner. Needless to say she had a wonderful time running around crazy with all the other kids. She ended the night on the lap of one of our babysitters.

This was Bailey's second Easter Egg Hunt this year, so she was well aware of what was hidden in those eggs.

She was more focused on eating the candy than actually finding eggs. Not the biggest haul for her, but that's okay with me. If I let her this kid would live off candy, so a few eggs was perfect.

Haydan did accommodate me with one picture. She spent the whole evening with a friend from her primary class, though she did turn up for food at some point. Which did lead to an incident that had me blushing - and it takes a lot for me to be embarrassed! Even though I had no idea of Quinn's exact whereabouts, I figured I should get her some food along with Haydan and myself. So as I approached the end of the food line, juggling three plates, I decided to put one down while I got a drink of water. Thinking there were lids on all the drink containers I set my plate on top of one. Only there wasn't a lid on it and my full plate of food went crashing into my friend's homemade root beer! I was so embarrassed. I warned a couple of people away from the container and went to put my surviving plates down and tell my friend what happened. I was horrified when I noticed a couple of people getting something to drink out of the container before my friend's husband finally went and took it off the table. Oops! Though I was so embarrassed I blushed, I still couldn't help laughing! I mean, who drops their food into the drink?

{April 23, 2011}

Easter baskets happen at our house the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Usually I have something special planned, a fun breakfast, a family Easter egg hunt, but this year with Dan temporarily working nights I never got anything organized. Instead I took the kids to the library and park to play until Dan woke up. Once he was up I called and had him set out the Easter baskets. I told the kids someone had made a special delivery and it was time to go home. It's amazing how kids never seem to question Easter bunny logistics.

The baskets.

The big girls each got their own Book of Mormon to take to church and a journal, a dollar store toy and craft and a wii game I got on mega clearance. For Bailey I was looking for tub toys, and found the perfect thing at Walmart: a baby that could go in the bath. I usually don't shop Walmart, but it came through with a super cheap toy for me this time!

Inspecting the loot.

Once again doing things out of order: Saturday night we dyed Easter eggs finally. I decided to do something different this year and we blew the eggs before dying them. Dan is the only one who likes hard boiled eggs and he usually has to eat them all after Easter. So this year I decided to spare him, and make eggs that would last for a lot longer.

Blowing out some water.

It worked great. The eggs do float, so there is a little more rotating to get all sides.

My mom sent stickers along with a card in the mail. This girls sat right down and covered themselves - and my floor!

The finished product.

Easter was pretty low key for us this year. No family, no plans with friends. I didn't even make it to the store Saturday to get something for dinner, so we had left overs. Not what I had in mind, but it was a really relaxing, enjoyable day. Maybe we'll do the same thing next year.

Spring Break

2011-05-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

{April 18, 2011}

We started our spring break by heading to St. George with Dan's parents to hike. Before we headed to the trail head we stopped and let the girls play in the sand dunes.

Bailey - taking her shoes off.

She absolutely loved the sand. Not just walking in it, but jumping in it, rolling it, and lying in it.

Haydan spent most of her time buried in it.

Grandma helping to get sand out of the eyes.

I'm not sure if they were looking at something, or it they were just looking at the sand. But it was so cute to see them lying there side by side.

While Haydan and Quinn were inspecting the sand, Quinn was doing what she usually does: find another group of kids and ingratiate herself into the group. Quinn lives by the "there are no strangers only friends I haven't met yet" philosophy. It isn't always successful.

But sometimes it works.

Changing the diaper full of sand.

After the sand dunes we headed to the trail head.

It was very reminiscent of Red Rock, but did have some different flowers. It was really a beautiful day. Bailey fell asleep on my shoulder about ten minutes into the hike, so I headed back to the car so she could get a little nap. The rest of the group pushed on and made their way to some lava tubes. The girls were a little nervous. Grandma (referring to the shirt Quinn was wearing) told Quinn if girls are going to save the world they can't be afraid of lava tubes. To which Quinn replied, "But I'm only a little girl. I can't save the world until I'm a teenager!"
Apparently even superheroes need time to grow up.

Eventually they were able to coax the girls down and into the tubes. They didn't go in too far, but the girls thought the entrance was cool enough for this time around.

When I took this picture I thought Quinn was asleep. Apparently she was just resting.

After hiking we headed over to our favorite park so the girls could wash off, I mean play, in the water.

Ouch!

2011-04-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Quinn had a friend over to play. They were upstairs playing in Quinn's room with Bailey. They are both loud girls and together they make quite a racket. So when Haydan told me she thought she heard Bailey crying, I was sure it was just the girls playing. Haydan was not convinced and decided to go investigate. The next thing I know Haydan is screaming that Bailey had blood all over her face. I ran to the stairs and sure enough there was Bailey, trying to make her way down with blood smeared all over her face. I rushed up the stairs picked her up and started trying to figure out just what was bleeding. After a moment I could tell it wasn't her face, and realized it was coming from her ear. I took her into the bathroom to try and get her cleaned up. Meanwhile, Dan had gone into Quinn's room to find out what had happened. While Haydan is (literally) running around screaming that Bailey is going to die (NOT good in an emergency situation!), Dan is questioning Quinn and her friend. Ever tried to get information out of two four year olds who think they are in trouble? Not the easiest thing.

Neither one of them was being real forthcoming about how Bailey got hurt. But once I walked in with Bailey her tattle tell abilities became very useful. She instantly pointed at Amanda, said Amanda's name and launched into what I could only guess was her version of what happened. Eventually we were able to put together that Amanda had put Bailey into a tall wicker basket that I have in Quinn's room to hold dress ups. Not wanting to be in the basket, Bailey tried to climb out. Instead the basket tipped over and Bailey hit her ear on the corner of the dresser drawer that was pulled out. The drawer actually pierced her ear and even scratched her head behind her ear.

It's hard to get an idea from this picture how bruised and swollen her ear was, and she wouldn't let me fold her ear over to get a picture of the back of it - too painful. We couldn't believe how lucky we were that she didn't hit her eye or some other part of her face.

At Haydan (and Dan's) insistence I took Bailey to the emergency room. Haydan insisted on coming with me. She was hysterical throughout the whole ordeal and would not calm down until I said I would take Bailey to the hospital. I've never seen her carry on that way before. The ER was crowded, and I didn't think there was much they could do, so we didn't stay. We stopped by the grocery store and bought some topical pain reliever and a doughnut for the injured physically and the injured psychically. They were both quite happy after that!

Bailey's ear healed quickly, but I'm not sure Haydan did. Last week Quinn managed to pull the grill down on top of her. Luckily, it wasn't on and she came out of it with only a brief bloody lip and some bruises, but Haydan was hysterical again. At least I know that deep down she loves her sisters!

Bailey

2011-04-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Bailey is really quite the character. She either has us laughing or moaning in exasperation! When she isn't playing with her baby dolls she's emptying out cupboards or dumping her sisters' abandoned cups of water on the floor. She is almost impossible to discipline - and it's not because she's so cute (okay maybe that's a little of the reason!). When you tell her no, she just smiles and does it again. She is completely unfazed, even by Dan's sternest voice.

Bailey is an absolute parrot, and repeats everything she hears. My girls have all been early talkers, but Bailey takes it to a whole new level. She says many complete sentences, and has a scary knack for names. She knows Haydan and Quinn's friends' names, the names of the kids in nursery, princess names, superhero names, my friend's names. She hears someones name once and will remember it!

Bailey loves to sing, and often can be heard singing around the house. She usually makes up her own tune, but currently has been singing "Twinkle Little Star." Of course, I'm not sure what she loves more - the singing, or the attention she gets from singing! She is a bit of an attention junky. She'll do anything for a laugh - funny faces, dancing, singing.

Bailey still loves babies. She is fascinated by the real ones, and never goes anywhere without a fake one. LOVES them! She is my most maternal child. She is very concerned when her sisters are upset, and is always quick to soothe her doll that cries until it's cries turn into giggles. It's really sweet.

Oddly, she's my only child who hits, though. My other girls never did that. But Bailey is a hitter. Usually when she's mad, but sometimes just for fun! Bailey is also really good at tattling. She will tattle on ANYONE she thinks has wronged her. It's really quite funny. She'll tell me who it was, what they did, and how she feels about it. It usually goes something like this:

"Mom! Haydan... (unintelligible gibberish)... book. Mean!"

Which is to be interpreted as: "Mom, Haydan took (or has) my book. She's mean!"

But she'll tell on anyone: me, Dan, even her grandparents. You tell her no, and everyone will hear about it! She is also perfecting her sad face and fake cry in hopes of getting what she wants. She's really good at it, too!

{She loves for me to put these butterfly clips in her hair!}

We just love her!

Hair

2011-04-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

As babies my girls have all had some intersting bed head moments. Cute, really.

But Bailey's hair has taken it to a whole new level. While Haydan and Quinn's were just tosseled and sticking up. Bailey's is...well, take a look:

Cute in the front.

Crazy in the back!

Her hair is an absolute rat's nest when she wakes up. I'm not sure why, but it is like this EVERY morning!

Straight A's

2011-04-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Haydan received straight A's for her second trimester of school. Dan and I are so proud of her!

Persuasion

2011-04-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

{March 26, 2011}

When I found out that a dear friend of mine was going to be starring in BYU's production on Persuasion, I knew I had to be there. I LOVE this girl! I've known her since she was four years old, and she is truly a remarkable person.

Here she is sitting at the piano as Anne Elliot.

{photo "borrowed" from the BYU website!}

The day before the play we met one of my favorite families (family of the star) for lunch at the Cougar Eat. I love these girls! Even better - my girls love them, too.

I wish I had planned this weekend better. I would have loved to spend more time with them and everyone else I saw.

It was snowing in Provo that day, so after lunch we nixed our trip to the MOA (too cold and too late for all the things I'd planned) and headed straight for the Special Collections at the library so I could look at something for my mom.

After the library we made a quick stop at Ikea and then headed to my sister's house in SLC. She made us a delicious dinner and the girls enjoyed their cousins' toys, but missed their cousins who were in Idaho with their dad.

Saturday morning Dan took off fishing, and I took my sister as my date to the play. I was really grateful for Chad who came back from Idaho and took my older girls for the day (they would have been so disappointed to not see their cousins), and my cousin Melissa, who watched Bailey for me.

After the play we headed to my Aunt and Uncles house for a family party. It was so good to see everyone there. I almost got to visit with everyone. My hunger and my baby kept me confined to the kitchen table much of the time I was there, so I didn't make it to everyone. But I appreciate everyone getting together for me!

The play was wonderful. This is the first time I've seen Anna act, and it was remarkable to see her transformed into this different person. She was breathtaking!

St. Patricks Day

2011-04-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

{March 17, 2011}

A few days before St. Patrick's day Haydan headed out into the backyard to set some leprechaun traps. I'm not sure where she got the idea, but she was very thoughtful in her preparation. This is the first trap she set. An attractive setting, and some bird seed to lure them in (she said she wasn't sure what they ate!).

She is so cute! Even with her hair all straggly in her face :)

The leprechauns forgot to go out the night before and buy gold coins, but, thankfully, one of them was up early and caused some mischief throughout the house.

Bikes on chairs, chairs on kitchen tables.

Pillows topsy turvy.

Roosters wearing hats.

Even green confetti showing everywhere they went.

Before Haydan left for school, we checked her traps. This one ended up in the tree!

The day before Haydan started to doubt her bird seed trap and constructed another one. This time she taped some coins just past the trapdoor. Those sneaky little leprechauns took the money and put a log through her trapdoor!

Haydan REALLY gets into spirit days at school. I really should have been taking pictures of her on all the dress up days (usually there just isn't time for posing!). She insisted that everything she was wearing had to be green. Right down to her green gingham pioneer skirt!

Brother and Dodge Ball

2011-04-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

I was really excited when my brother emailed and asked if he could stay with me while he was in Vegas for the NCAA Basketball tournament. Though we didn't have him long, it was so much fun to get to visit with him. I've never had my brother all to myself and I loved getting to talk over breakfast and watch him engage my girls. Bailey was shy of him the whole time he was here, but he'll be happy to know that she's talked about him ever since! At least once week she talks about Travis. It's so cute.

Because we always like to show our guests a good time we took my brother to watch Dan in the "Shoots and Ladders Dodge Ball Tournament." In other words, Cops vs. Firefighters. It was fun to watch and I appreciated my brother coming along so we could spend more time with him before he took off for all the games.

{I'm not sure why Haydan is soooo overexposed in this shot! She looks terrible!}

{Better exposure here. See how much fun she's having? The free candy bars helped later!}

Waiting for his round.

Teams were made up of squads. Dan's squad called themselves "The Untouchaballs," and gave themselves mafia names.

Lining up.

Dan's team didn't fare as well as he'd hoped, but he did have an exciting "last man standing" run during his last game. Too bad I'd already left with the girls - we missed it!

Harmony - The Music of Life

2011-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

{February 11, 2011}

When I read that the Young Ambassadors were performing in Hendersen and the tickets were only $5 I jumped at the chance to take my girls! I can still remembering seeing them when I was little, I thought it was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. I can still remember some of the songs.

Las Vegas was in the middle of a cold spell, so we dug out hats, gloves, and coats - and, thanks to my MIL's suggestion, a sleeping bag along with some blankets. Even with all of that we were still cold. I was worried we'd be so uncomfortable that it wouldn't have been worth the drive down. Three songs into it Haydan turned to me and said, "I want to do that one day."

Yeah, it was worth it.

Much to the girls' disappointment we left a couple of songs into the second half. It was late and they were tired, but we all had a great time.

Cousins and the Springs Preserve

2011-03-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

{February 18, 2011}

On her way to the wedding in San Diego, my sister stayed with us for a day and a half. That's probably the best thing about living in Las Vegas - we always seem to be about half way to somewhere and get to be everybody's pit stop!

Having my sister and her girls here gave me the excuse I was looking for to borrow some passes to the Springs Preserve museum.

The girls had a great time exploring the wonders of the cave (their current exhibit) and playing outside in the beautiful weather.

Posing with a giant bat.

Kissing the giant bat.

They had this exhibit with statues and an audio recording reenacting a land auction.

Haydan and Maura hitching a ride.

I asked Bailey if I could take a picture of her. This is the pose she struck:

Hanging out on the train from Salt Lake to LA.

Mid snore...it was a long ride.

Haydan and Sophie tagged along.

After the train we spent some time outside. We found this secluded area with rocks for climbing and a giant, marble, circular slab. The marble slab was supported and spinning on water. The girls loved it!

On the marble slab. I took this picture while it was spinning. I can't believe I didn't fall off!

Exploring the outdoor exhibits and animal habitats.

Checking out the innards of a Gila Monster.

Experimenting with erosion.

Quinn being Quinn.

After the museum we headed over to the park,

where there was a train and lots of rocks to climb on.

Bailey in a turtle shell.

I didn't get too many pictures of this one! She was too busy doing her own version of Parkour!

We loved having them and hope they come again soon!

Wedding in San Diego

2011-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

{February 20-21}

My big Valentine's gift was getting to go to San Diego for my cousin's wedding! My in-laws very graciously watched the girls for us, so Dan and I were able to attend the adult only event (what would we do without you?!).

The wedding took place on a naval base over looking the water. It was so beautiful.

We were lucky to get a hotel right down the street from the base. And not only was it the same hotel my brother and his wife were staying in, but we had adjoining rooms! All without planning. How's that for coincidence?

Before the ceremony.

Beautiful sister.

The girls and Dad.

All the kids and Dad.

The whole family. {despite how it looks in this picture, no, I am not pregnant! The dress just kind of poofs.}

I wish I had a better seat for getting this picture. Love the look on his face - the groom watching his bride-to-be walk down the aisle.

{my cousin Mark}

It was actually quite chilly, but these sweet little flower girls stayed still and quiet through the whole ceremony. Except for the occasional snuggle.

{Maeve and Margaret}

My cousin Matt, Mark's brother, officiated the ceremony, and did a wonderful job. Only two mess-ups, which was five under the predicted high :)

Matt and his family.

After the ceremony, hor d'ouveres were served outside. It was cold but the view was gorgeous. Unfortunately, my camera (for all it's strengths) does not photograph well at night.

So I decided to intentionally blur the lights. I kind of like how this turned out.

Cousin Mike, another brother of the groom, with Elizabeth. Such a sweet little girl. I was a little smitten! She made me miss my babies.

The wedding colors were navy blue and magenta. A really lovely combination.

Matt and Katie

Devon, Matt's wife, and my dad.

Soren and John

Maeve having a moment with Uncle Steve

Monday, the day after the wedding Dan and I did a little sight seeing around San Diego before heading home. The weather was perfect - sunny and brisk!

Dan was nice enough to indulge me by walking down the waterfront to look at the public arts project. Interpretation of trees.

"Better Together"

"Sprouted Bumbershoot"

"Port Mobile"

"Golden Torison"

"Dancing in Primary"

"Hello? Is this the Pacific"

"Grand Finale"

"Behind the Puppetree"

"Liberation"

"One fish. Two fish. Red fish. Blue fish."

The Maritime Museum is located along the waterfront we were walking down. We would have loved to have gone it, but the price was a bit steep. We contented ourselves with admiring the boats from ashore. This boat was built in the 1800s and has circled the globe 21 times! It is amazing to me how in the past things were built with longevity in mind. Materials and time were precious and if something was going to be made it was going to made well and made to last. Whereas today the whole concept behind construction is deconstruction. Planned obsolesence. Really such a waste, don't you think?

"Precision"

"Sea Level"

"Can you say Pooper Schooner 5 times fast?"

"Up-rooted"

"Dancing with the stars"

"Nature's Berth"

{To fully appreciate the meaning behind the art - and understand the titles - you'll want to read about them here}

I thought it would have been fun go to Tijuana, but our passports were expired. Thanks to some sidewalk vendors I got a little taste of Mexico!

Dan checking out Petco Park

We finished out our trip with a little shopping and a brief stop at the Mormon Battalion Museum. We didn't have time for the full tour, so it was more of a scouting mission to see if we wanted to take the kids there this summer when we're at the beach. We'll definitely be back!

We had a wonderful time and look forward to visiting again in June!

Happy Love Day!

2011-02-23T07:22:00.000-08:00

{February 11, 2011}

Dan and I attended our ward's adult only Valentine's Day Dinner and Dance. It was so much fun! I taught a little salsa and there was country line dancing and just plain dancing. Dan was such a good sport and got up and danced even with his arm in a sling from separating his shoulder. There was even an older gentleman there (a guest) who did a little mambo and swing with me. Don't you just wish we danced like they did "back then"? It was a wonderfully organized party with a good turn out. We brought home some balloon centerpieces that Bailey really loved.

This year when I asked Haydan if she wanted to go and buy some Valentine's cards for her class she said, "You know, when I was in preschool Daddy bought me some really pretty cards, but then two other girls had the same cards. So I think this year I will just make my own so they will be different." There's a girl after my heart!

So we set to work cutting out hearts and cards. Or rather I cut and she arranged.

Cheesy grin!

Haydan also requested that we make sugar cookies. She individualized each one with her classmate's initial in candy hearts. They turned out super cute!

{February 14, 2011}

Quinn was feeling a little sad that she wasn't going to be able to go to Haydan's V-day party, so I told her she could have one of her own.

Here she is posing with the "decoration" she put on the door handle.

When I told her to go put something on for Valentine's Day, letting her know that most people wear something red or pink, she came down wearing this...

Okay, so more Cinco de Mayo than Valentine's, but I went with it.

Not all her friends could come, but enough to have a cute little party with cookie decorating and plenty of running around.

Dan and I surprised Haydan with a dozen carnation flower-grams through her school. Six were for Quinn. Dan wanted them to feel really special. He surprised me with a cartoon of my favorite ice cream and making dinner. Love that!

Happy New Year!

2011-02-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

{Chinese New Year Garden}

The Year of the Rabbit

Isn't that giant rabbit cute? When Haydan and I were at the Bellagio soaking up great works of art we also stopped by their indoor garden. This is the only place on the strip we really love going to. The garden changes between 4-5 times a year with the seasons and has the most amazing natural creations.

A couple of weeks after my date with Haydan I took Quinn out on a little date of our own. Our first stop was the Bellagio and ended at the library checking out superhero comics. She was appropriately charming in her Supergirl costume and earned a lot of smiles from tourists.

I completely over exposed this shot, but decided to include it any way. This is the one feature of the Chinese New Year garden the never changes.

I loved this flower. The name had "quill" in it (completely forgot the name even though I made sure to take note of it!), which is because it does look just like a feathered quill.

The garden also featured replicas of the terracotta warriors - China's greatest archaeological find. The warriors, and their horses, were made out of crushed walnuts and carrot seeds.

*Confession: a week after I took Quinn on our date I accidentally deleted all my pictures. Not to be deterred from the all important blog post with pictures, we went back and had a re-do. That time Bailey tagged along.

Figuratively Speaking: A Survey of the Human Form

2011-02-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of January Haydan and I went on a little date. First we stopped by AAA Bar and Restaurant Supply so the mommy could hunt for some treasures. The place is a labrynith of industrial sized kitchen supplies, chairs, and the few odds and ends. Haydan mentioned more than once that it was like a spooky, old kitchen in a scary movie.

Once we were done there we headed over to the Bellagio for the main event of our date: The exhibit Figuratively Speaking at the Fine art Gallery. It was an exhibit featuring 40 works art ranging from old masters like Picasso and Degas to more contemporary artists like Hockney and Lichtenstein.

It was an amazing exhibit and I will admit to getting a little teary at the Degas sketches. Haydan loved it and we had a great time just the two of us. I didn't think to bring a camera, so no pictures, but I do want to mention that Haydan sported a pair of neon green plastic glasses with the lenses popped out almost the whole time. Oh to be young and completely lacking in self-consciousness!

brown bear, brown bear what do you SAY?

2011-01-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

baby, bottle, bear, water, drink, bike, ball, doll, shoe, go, seat, eat, juice, out, down, up, blankie, bed, night night, mommy, mama, daddy, Haydan, Quinn, grandpa, grandma, book, bunny, monkey, dog, cat, meow, duck, quack, bird, goat, bee, tiger, roar, yellow, purple, green, noodle, chicken, apple, banana, more, please, thank you, mine, snack, diaper, bath, cookie, cracker, cheese, movie, show, no, ee-ie-ee-ie-oe, cow, ow/owie, treat, help, penguin, eye, nose, teeth, done, giraffe, phone, remote, mine/my, want, it, sorry, turtle, pizza

{and probably more I'm forgetting}

She can even say simple sentences. Usually beginning with "my" and ending with any of the above.