9.27.15

My sister asked me a little over a week ago to do pictures for her family. Her husband really wanted some fall leaves so I went out to see what I could find without going up the canyon. Since I had S with me I took the opportunity to grab a few shots of her. She was lots of fun to work with!

you have to do silly faces :)

S has been in love with all of the falling leaves. She collects them and brings them inside (which I'm not such a fan of) and then they slowly crumble everywhere. In honor of her love of leaves we did a little leaf mosaic this week. She had fun gluing all of those colors on :)

I have little tubs of monthly themed books. I pulled out the September set at the beginning of the week. We have read most of the books in there, but this is one that she asks to be read repeatedly. We've had lots of quality reading time this week :)

This kid loves letters, and anything to do with them. She will open a book, put her finger under words, and "read" them to us. She has loved learning her alphabet. I think we have about 8 we still need to do. We practiced her name this week. I made dots and she traced them. She did pretty good for a two year old!

We had friends over one day this week for a bit of time in between mom leaving and dad getting home from work. It has been in the 90s some days this week. We got the pool out and had a great time! I figured we might as well enjoy at least one more time while we still could.

Of course, we had to have Popsicles. "Mom, is my tongue orange?!"

We got together with my sister's family Saturday morning to do family pictures. We went up American Fork canyon to take them. I did her family, then set up the shot for our family and she took it. I think we got some pretty good ones out of it!

throwing rocks in the reservoir 

 
 My mom and sisters that live in Utah got together to go to Women's Conference on Saturday and have dinner together. We met at one sister's house. About an hour before we were supposed to meet she called about a crazy accident with "bad guys" that happened right down the street from her. A citizen took it upon themselves to make the bad guys car stop. My brother in law held down one of the guys until the police got there to make an arrest. The police were still there and taking evidence at the scene when we got there. We all enjoyed dinner together, conference together, and dessert after. I really feel blessed to have family so close, and for the great messages that were shared that evening.

frozen custard

I bought a few things this week to have coordinating colors for our family pictures. I couldn't pass these up for S. Glow in the dark skeleton jammies are amazing to a two year old. She really had no clue what they were in the store, but when we got them home and went in a dark bathroom she started dancing when she saw herself. She is SO much fun! She is already talking lots about Halloween and her costume :)

9.20.15

We went to Wyoming with Brett on business this week. It was a lot of time in the car for a little time together, but totally worth it. There were lots of memorable things from this trip, and so we're glad we were able to capture photos of most of them. 

We left on Tuesday shortly before 10. We were hoping to get to Casper by 5. We had a stop at Little America for gas and a potty break. Shortly after we got back on the interstate we blew a tire. Thankfully Brett didn't loose control of the car, and it was on the passenger side of the car. Fortunately I had a smart phone to start looking up tire shops and call ahead. Unfortunately, there was a very limited supply of the tire we needed in the area. I think I called at least 7 shops before we actually found one. When we got there I felt like we had stepped back in time. The place is out of the 50's. It was totally filthy...like dust on the chairs in the waiting area and me saying "don't touch anything...it's dirty" to S for the whole time we were there. It was about 45 minutes and we were back on the road.

a trick I pulled out of my bag to keep her entertained :)

This kid is seriously the best traveler in the world. She was awake until around 5 then finally crashed. Normally I would never let her crash that late in the day, but she needed it...and she started to fall asleep right before we stopped to get the tire changed. 

minutes between these pictures

We have a pass to Thanksgiving Point which gets us into other ASTC museums. We found one that was available in Casper that we spent a few hours at while Brett was at his conference. They had lots of reptiles that S loved to see. There was a toddler area, blocks, tanagrams, and lots of other stuff. It was fun to sit and explore with her :)

tanagram picture

visible piano

That evening Brett had a catered dinner with other oil and gas people. I told S we were going to have a fun mommy and S date. I opted to go to the mall so she could have lots of choices for dinner at the food court. After we were walking around a bit and she found this fun playground inside. I'd deem it a successful mommy S date :)

After we picked up dad from his meeting we grabbed a fun "treat" for us to share. S loves popcorn and had asked for some earlier. We picked up a bag of microwave popcorn to take back to our hotel. She thought it was the coolest thing because she had never seen it before. I realize this makes us sound like we're from the stone age, but we really prefer the taste of it popped on the stove...that's what she's used to seeing. Yes, it takes a tiny bit more effort, but is totally worth it :)

The morning we were leaving we just hung out in the hotel for a bit while Brett went to the last bit of his conference. We watched Daniel Tiger (aka "tiger show") and just played. She thought she needed all four pillows. What a crazy kid.

We made a stop at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. They had all sorts of fun things from the Mormon Trail, Oregon Trail, and others. We got to ride in a covered wagon as it (virtually) crossed the Platte River. We rode in a stage coach and watched as others on the 

frontier "passed" us by. There were lots of other fun hands on things to do there. If you are in Casper and are looking for something worthwhile I highly recommend a stop in.

S thought it would be fun to decorate herself with stickers on the ride home. She was full of giggles as she did it. She really is so fun! 

It wasn't long on this trip before she conked out!

We enjoyed some really beautiful skies on our drive home. Some of them quite ominous and ready to pour at any minute. Others of them were quite serene and breathtaking. We really do have some beautiful creations we are able to enjoy! 

One fun thing with S that has developed recently is a conversation that goes something like this:

S: Can I have _______, please?!

*brief pause

S: Say yes, say yes, say yyyeeeesssssssssss!

I seriously can't help but just about laugh every time I hear her say it. She is such a delight!

After church today she was just so excited. I had a cupcake that someone had brought to share. As soon as she saw it, it was, "Mom, can I have some?" To which I replied, "As soon as we get outside." I know all too well how crumby cupcakes are and didn't want to make that mess in the church. In her excitement she was pretty much dancing/running down the halls with a big smile on her face. I friend saw her and commented on how excited she is, and she is filled with "life is so great!" type of attitude. I smiled back and just said, "Pretty much!" 

When you look back at experiences like that how can you not think life is great?! Sure, it is hard. Yes, we all have things that we really struggle with. Yes, there are things we all wish were different or weren't as hard for us. But, taking a step back to look at life. It is pretty great. We are so blessed. Despite the heartbreaks there's nothing I would change. Without them we wouldn't have this fantastic bundle of joy in our lives.

9.13.15

Occasionally you have those weeks that you don't blog on Sunday and forget to come back to it until it's been too long to remember what the week was like...Thus I give you a week in pictures since that's about all I can remember.

We have been having less treats during the week, and more treats that are "worth it" on the weekend. We opted for a fresh peach pie this week.

fresh peach pie

Dad and S enjoying the cream from the beaters

S and I enjoyed making nectarine jam from our tree together. She is such a great helper and always want to be involved. She added the sugar then helped stir as we were processing it. We made it last year for the first time...it's delish!

S making jam

We have done pretty good going out together getting our exercise. S has started pulling the shade down in front of her face and says she is "in a tunnel" while we go. I love that it's starting to be a little cooler!

It was Peach Days this weekend in Brigham City. It's fun to go up there and be with everyone, but it's even better that it is a time the family comes together. We had everyone and all their kids together. It was so fun to just be together. We had to let her get in at least one ride :) Sorry for the blur! 

The next morning when S woke up she heard some of the other kids and started saying, "Cousins! I see cousins!!" I love how much she loves to be around them! We went down to the parade the next morning and S loved it...the floats, bands, dancers, and candy. It was so much fun to experience it with her!

9.6.15

This week was filled with lots of time with friends or helping friends...so when it was just us we tried to do some fun things that we don't do very often. I bought S

 some water colors during the back to school sales. She tried them out the the children's museum about a month ago, but I just broke them out at home. She loves them!

Our friend had twins two weeks ago. She has had a lot of help from family, but this week she said she could really use some help in the morning. She has three other kids, two in elementary school, and one that is just a few weeks older than S. We walked the older two to school twice this week and had the younger one come with one day then just stay and play after. It worked out well. Thankfully I had a kind neighbor willing to let me borrow her double stroller....these two wouldn't have done the 1.5 mile round trip. We had to stop at the park to play on the way home. It was nice enough and I figured we might as well get some energy out while we were outside :)

 Another friend was leaving to go out of town for the holiday weekend. She had errands to do, and they are SO much faster without little ones in tow. We had them for a bit so she could do her thing. We love these kiddos. They play well together and S always asks about them and when she can see them. We're glad they got to spend time with us for a little while!

S discovered one morning that her step could also double as a little table. She opted to eat her oatmeal breakfast sitting on her step, but insisted on sitting next to me while she did it :)

This week was a bit rough at times. Something about two, two years olds having complete meltdowns at the same time that just was a bit much. One day I sent Brett a text that he may need to bring some "reward" home for me surviving the day...aka slurpee or something along those lines. I was really trying to make healthier choices so by the time the day ended I told him it was ok, and not to worry about it. Friday we ended up meeting him at his office and going to dinner at a Balkan restaurant owned by one of his co-workers. He and his wife are Bosnian refugees and came here during the war and opened this restaurant. We'd definitely go back :)

entertaining herself while she waits at dad's office

I've been trying hard to get good exercise in everyday. Somedays I really don't want to, but have gone anyway. Most mornings it's been happening (at least starting) before the 6:00 hour. That is early. Earlier that I have regularly gotten up since before S was born. Anyway, we went out on a walk together on Saturday morning. The wind was incredible. Brett joked that S looked like that dinosaur was running full speed ahead with the amount the wind was blowing her hair back.

A brief stop at the park on the way home

On a site note. We haven't done much in the way of potty training this week helping so many friends has kind of consumed much of our time.

She is such a fun girl. She says the sweetest things. She is so attune to emotions and wanting people to be happy that she will try to do things to change your mood when she senses you are sad. This girl brings so much light and sunshine into our lives. We will be forever grateful for her!

8.30.15

This week Brett was out of town Monday-Thursday. Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit after work Monday night. We all ended up going out to dinner together. 

dinner with grandma and grandpa

We had some friends come over one afternoon. They all loved playing in the dress ups together. They make quite the cute bunch!

This is the reason there are very few pictures this week. We started potty training. It is a a lot of work. Some days she's had no accidents, but others we've had multiple. It has been exhausting. I have given her my phone multiple times while she is on the toilet, and this is one of the gems that I was graced with.  

Dishes. This is currently one of her favorite things. She loves to stand on her step and help. She will wash and hand them to one of us to load. She doesn't like being told that dishes are all done and she need to get down and dry off. 

She really loves her bike. I forget how much she likes it. I need to get it out for her more often after we get back from exercising together. She is getting more and more brave at what she dares to try. She has started going down part of our driveway that adds a little bit of speed to her going. 

Saturday we got together with some of Brett's family to do corn. Our family chose to can some and freeze some. I think we have enough to last us a year, and it only cost us $20 and a bit of time. Brett and I came home and canned tomatoes and pickles. It is so nice to be able to provide for ourselves through the things that we grow. Added bonus is that it always tastes better too!