A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Things are finally coming together. Last week the cabinets were delivered on Monday and installed on Wednesday. Most of the baseboards are up--they still need another coat of paint--Gary began tiling and we almost finished painting the walls. The granite people came and measured on Friday so hopefully within two weeks that will be ready to be installed. Things are coming together. Steve's goal is for the house to be completed on my birthday, November 18--what a GREAT gift! He has been working long hours at the house moving things along and I have been trying to help as much as I can with two little girls in tote. I find things like cleaning the outlets and outlet covers, lighting fixtures, and even do a little painting. Even though things have been difficult, I truly have felt the Lord's hand in our lives through this experience. He has guided us to the right people for the jobs we have needed to get done and has inspired us with some of our design work. His love has also been felt as many of our friends and family have reached out to share their talents and time with us. It truly is a time of Thanksgiving for us!

I Get Knocked Down, Again

The hits just keep coming. The hard-drive in Steve's laptop crashed. Yes, I was saving all of the data I had inventoried of damaged items from the house on the hard-drive so I guess I get to start over and I will be saving a draft in my email or something as a backup.

Halloween

Here they are--our much anticipated costumes. Can you guess the movie? Here are some clues: Disney, John Travolta. . . BOLT. A very cute movie. At first Ellie wanted to be Rhino, you know the hamster in the ball, but I could not think of how to make that work with the resources I had so she settled for Penny and her dog, Bolt. Lila is the cat, Mittens and Steve is the villan, the green-eyed man.

This is the group we went with. Our friends are so nice to let us go trick-or-treating with them and do laundry while we were out. What a good looking group!
Notice Lila's small green bucket--she actually got candy too--at first we were okay with it and then we were like no no she doesn't need any and people kept giving her candy. We ended up with a gallon zip-lock full of good chocolate candy.Ellie and Ben are good friends. It was so cute to see them run together from house to house and then they would look in each others' buckets to see what they each got at each house. Ellie really got into it this year--keeping up with the kids, she was shy at first about getting the candy and then after several houses she held her bucket up like a pro.

Lila was really trying to crawl today. It was so cute. I got on the ground and would say, "Here kitty, kitty." She would smile and try to move towards me. She can get up on her hands and knees, a good crawling position, but her arms would push her backwards so then she tried this pyramid shape on her hands and feet. So cute. This whole crawling thing is new to us since Ellie never crawled. I think she'll get it before we move back into our house and then I'll be in trouble.

I Get Knocked Down, but I Get Up Again

I feel like the last seven weeks have been one situation after another. Let's recap:

* House Flooded
* Living in a Hotel with two children
* Get food poisoning and spend the weekend in the hotel bathroom
* Steve is told he has to have a dissertation meeting or else
* Girls and I decide to go visit Mimi and Grandpa for a break while Steve works long hours in preparation for his dissertation meeting
* Instead of relaxing in Idaho we catch the swine flu (not a break)
* Ellie ends up at an Evening Clinic and the ER because of a prolonged fever
* Lila gets a terrible ear infection
* I get sick--yes three weeks of us spreading the germs--we couldn't all get it at once and then enjoy our time in Idaho--we had to be sick for the whole 17 days
* We return to Steve and our hotel only for him to get sick--we could not have still been contagious? and I washed everything
* While we were fighting the germs, we had to pretty much fire the Restoration company because they were adding ridiculous charges for the repairs and their work was just okay
* Hired Gary McGuinness (highly recommend him). He noticed the tiles were hollow which means they had separated from the cement underneath so yes after I thought the house had been deconstructed as much as possible they began tearing up tile
* Anyone ever cooked a turkey in a hotel before? (We hope to be in before Thanksgiving. Gary is making great progress and our cabinets should be shipped tomorrow so things are coming together)

I just keep telling myself, "it is going to be really nice, it is going to be really nice, it is going to be really nice" that is when I remember that we do own a home. :)

Pumpkin Patch with Grandpa & Mimi

With the house taking longer to repair and Steve's upcoming dissertation committee meeting, I decided to get away from the hotel and took the girls to Idaho to visit Grandpa & Mimi. Unfotunately, Ellie caught one of the many bugs going around here and had a fever for five days--which concerned me and the doctors so we took her to Urgent Care last week to make sure it wasn't anything serious. She is now on the mend, but Lila woke up with a fever yesterday so here we go again. I am just grateful for my health and being able to attend to my girls. So know if you live in the area we had good intentions of visiting family and friends, having play-dates, shopping etc. but instead we decided it best to stay put and keep our germs to ourselves. Now to the point of this post, with Ellie feeling better we decided to go to the pumpkin patch. Grandpa told her there might be a pumpkin with her name on it so off we went to find out.

I think this pumpkin had Ellie's name on it. She picked it out as soon as we got there and then sat it down to checkout her other options and came back to this exact pumpkin.

After finding her pumpkin she wanted to climb on this cute display. Can you see the huge squash Ellie is sitting on--they had it setup as a chair--so cute.

I love that both the girls are looking at the prized pumpkin.

I was able to make the desired Halloween costumes at Mimi's house since I do not currently have access to al my sewing and craft items. Ellie has a theme for the whole family--bet you cannot wait to find out. :)

Thank you Grandpa & Mimi for making our Halloween special.

Cursed?

I recently remember that the first apartment Steve and I ever lived in also had water damage. We moved into a one bedroom bottom floor apartment after being married and after a few weeks the hall in between our bedroom and hall closet that led to the bathroom was really wet. We called the maintanence man to come look at it and he put one of those huge drier fans--that I have recently gotten to know so well--in the hall and told us it would dry up. A week later it was still wet so we called him back and he began tearing the drywall down in the hall and down the wall into the bathroom trying to find the leak. Finally he found that a prior tenant had used a HUGE nail to hang something above the toilet and had punctured a supply line thus causing the leak. We could not use our bathroom for a couple of days while he fixed it. They offered to let us stay at a hotel or give us a key to a neighboring apartment to use their facilities (we opted for the latter). Hopefully this pattern of water damage will not continue as that apartment and our home in Tucson are the only two places we have lived.

Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice

Twice a year we have the opportunity to hear the Lord's Prophet and Apostles speak at General Conference. They lead and guide The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through modern revelation from our Father in Heaven. During conference they give us guidance and the messages they share provide such a wonderful spiritual boost. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that He hears and answers our prayers. Listen or read the messages for yourself and feel the love He has for you as His child.

October 2009 General Conference

I know two days worth of meetings can be overwhelming so I picked one, in particular that I wanted to share:

"Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ"

Anything - Nothing

Ellie has always mixed up anything and nothing. I have tried to explain the difference to her and correct her when she gets it wrong, but it is quite difficult and so I haven't been very consistent with it. During dinner I asked Ellie what she would like to eat with her hot dog and suggested applesauce, apple slices, raisins. She replied, "anything." Which meant nothing so I left it at that and moved on. Steve smiled and said, "Ellie you mean nothing. Anything is when you want something and nothing is when you don't want any . . ." He stopped himself because he realized he was going to say anything. We both laughed and Ellie laughed because we were laughing and then Steve said, "I guess they are pretty confusing because it just matters how you frame it." Ellie said, "Yeah frame it. I don't want anything with my hot dog." She knew what she was talking about.

Here are some pictures of us doing anything or nothing depending on how you frame it.

Lila is still working on the hand-eye/catch-and-release to get crackers to her mouth. One night I put her in the highchair with some crackers turned around to get her sippy cup and when I looked back at her this is what I found. So close--she almost had it and I love the look of confusion on her face.

Ellie intent on typing. She loves to type letters and then use the backspace to eat the letters and say, "chomp, chomp, chomp".

Daddy-daughter snuggle time at 3:30 a.m. Lila has had a little cold so she has gotten us up several times during the last couple of nights.

Ellie decorating cookies during one of my many cake decorating sessions (yes in the hotel).

My final cake for Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1. My sister called me in August saying she was going to take this class and I thought how fun so I looked into it and signed up--obviously prior to the house flooding because baking and decorating in the hotel is not ideal. The class was fun and I learned a lot and feel much more confident in my skills. It was fun to share the experience with my sister even though it was long distance. Who knows maybe someday we can be as good as our grandmother who made a grand piano cake. I'm just excited to decorate my girls' birthday cakes. :)

Homesick

For the month of September we spent a total of 4 days and 3 nights in our house. We feel blessed that the damage wasn't worse and that most of our belongings are salvageable, but we are all getting worn out by our hotel life. I would love to just curl up on my nice soft bed, or send Ellie and Zoe outside to play, or make whatever I want whenever I want without having to go to the store to get ingredients, or be able to TIVO shows (I don't watch a lot, but the fall shows are starting up again and I miss recording them, watching one with Steve after the girls go to bed, and skipping the commercials), or walk around barefoot without my feet turning black from the hotel carpet, or do laundry in my pajamas all day . . . I'm gonna cry just thinking about all the things I love about our home--it's ours and I miss it!!

Ellie showing the exhaustion we all feel--she fell asleep at the table while eating lunch.


An update to the house--the drywall is up, textured, and ready to be painted, then they will replace the baseboards in the whole house along with most of the door frames. We are carpet shopping and hope to have that laid early next week. We got a good budget for cabinets so we are shopping around for new kitchen cabinets. It is kind of fun to play with the kitchen area a little, but a little frustrating as it will be 3-4 weeks before they are ready. We are going to upgrade our counter-tops to granite which will add another 2-3 weeks. I was hoping to be in the house before Halloween now we'll see how we feel when the cabinets get here, early November--I'll probably be ready to move back in without the counter-tops (let's face it I don't have a lot of counter-top space in the hotel).
Does it sound like we are building a whole new house because it feels like it.

Dance Class -- Success

Ellie is quite the social butterfly once she comes out of her cocoon. Unfortunately, she can be very stubborn sometimes and as we learned with swim lessons this summer, it can be a lot of work to try to get her to do something she loves if it is a new situation (we ended up dropping out of swim lessons). I have been wanting to enroll her in a Ballet/Creative Dance class, but a little worried about how she would react because Mom is not allowed in the room. So I have been telling her since the middle of August, when we enrolled, that her friend Alex is in the class and it is just for girls their age and the Mommies will be in the hallway. She nodded and would repeat it like she understood, but experiencing it is a different story. Last Thursday was our first class and the teacher lets the parents observe the first and last week. Ellie would not leave my side. I was so frustrated and yet trying to keep my cool and encourage her. Toward the end of class they all got ribbons and were dancing, she was so close, she stood up and started walking towards the teacher and ribbons and then the teacher turned the music off and ended class. So all week we have been talking about all the fun activities the teacher did with the class and how Alex had a fun time dancing and that Ellie needed to dance. She agreed that she wanted to try it next time and actually dance, but once again I was worried that the actions wouldn't follow through. Today was the day and she insisted that I curl her hair so that it would "be cute for dance class". She got dressed in her leggings and leotard and away we went. As we were walking up I reminded her of all the fun activities listing them one-by-one and then asking her what colored spot she was going to try and get (the teacher puts down little rubber spots for the girls to stand on and do their stretches before they dance). We walked in and the teacher took role and then asked the kids to enter the dance studio. Ellie looked a little nervous which made me completely nervous on the inside, her friend wasn't there yet to walk with her, so I just took her to the door and said go find your spot Mommy will look in through the window and away she went. I peeked in and saw her standing on a green spot. When Alex arrived and entered the room she found a spot near Ellie and they had a wonderful time--as we peaked in we could see them move their spots to be closer to each other and they were so cute doing their little stretches. About half-way through a little girl said she had to go potty and Ellie came out with her saying she had to go potty, but I knew she would not use the public restroom so I was nervous that she would not go back in, but after exploring the bathroom we came out to find the teacher was having break time so Ellie ate half of a granola bar and then excitedly went back in to dance when the teacher called. Right after break a girl was crying and screaming saying she wanted to go home. The teacher and Mom took her into class to see if she would change her mind which made me nervous because Ellie is very empathetic and I was afraid the crying would disturb her, but she persevered to the end and danced with a green ribbon. YAY!! We went to Wendy's to get a picnic to celebrate--she was so excited that we were having a takeout picnic she ate all of her Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, half of my fries, and we shared a frosty (we do this so rarely that she asked how come we didn't get Daddy a hamburger--because he is at work and this is a girls' picnic). I am so glad she had a good time and I hope this may encourage her to come out of her cocoon more often.

She likes it chunky

I'm thinking of the song the hippos sing in Madagascar 2. . . we started Lila on solids and that girl can eat. We started doing rice cereal at night and then at breakfast she started hollering when we were eating and she wasn't getting anything so we moved rice cereal to breakfast and then she gets a vegetable for dinner. However, I don't know whether it is due to our living situation being a little chaotic, or because she just likes to eat, or because she is my second child, I find myself giving her table food already. She had half a french toast yesterday while we were trying to eat breakfast and loved some mashed sweet potatoes we had on Sunday. She likes food and she likes it chunky so she can chew on it.

We moved one of the hotel chairs into the closet so we could put Lila's highchair at the table and conserve space in our living area for other items. The table was just right for gnawing on.

Oh yeah, I fed her watermelon too. I'm telling you she really does holler if she isn't eating something when you are eating so I find myself just giving her what I can off of my plate.

We are still working on the fine motor skills to get the crackers to the mouth, but she has no problem directing my hand, with whatever may be in it, to her mouth.

Update

In case you haven't heard, every square inch of the house was covered in water. We think the leak is in the fridge. The line to the ice maker busted and it can really let out some water--they turned the water on for about 90 seconds and the whole back part of the kitchen was covered in water again. As for cleanup the carpet and padding is gone, they have cut about 2 feet of dry wall off of all the external walls, and they took out my bottom kitchen and bathroom cabinets Thursday afternoon and they determined that they can rebuild the boxes and reuse the drawers and doors so that should shave some time off of our hotel stay--they told me 2-3 months if I had to get new cabinets--now we are hoping for 4-6 weeks. I have been slowly taking boxes and bags from the house and cataloging them at the hotel and then taking them back and exchanging for other items to catalog--this keeps me busy and I hope cuts back on our returning to normal time.

Making Me Smile

The girls are so wonderful and make me smile through thick-n-thin. Ellie has been wanting her toys and we haven't made a trip to the house to look for them and I'm not for sure we will be able to find or access them so I told her today that we could go to the store and buy the Lightening McQueen cars she has been coveting for months. She was so excited she said, "those are the best cars that I ever did have."

Ellie is a large breakfast eater, an okay lunch eater, and by dinner she really has no interest in food. She is such a breakfast eater that she out eats me most mornings so today at lunch when she finished her corn dog and a large bowl of applesauce she looked at me and said, "Mom someday you can be like me and eat all of this."

We took the girls swimming last night and they both loved it! After an hour in the pool neither of them were ready to get out. Lila was splashing and loved floating in the Mommy & Me tube I have--I love it because I also float with her and Ellie was using her tube and swimming like a champ. I guess we will be frequenting the pool during our stay-cation.

and then . . . .

We loved our California trip, but were glad to be on our way home and to have Sunday to recoup and get back into a routine before Steve went back to work on Monday. And then . . .


Our neighbor called us about halfway home to tell us that water was coming out the front door and the garage door. He turned the water off at the main line. We called my parents to see what we should do and my Dad began calling restoration companies. He found a 24-hour company that was very helpful so we gave them a call and scheduled them to come out. They moved all of the furniture out and gave us things to go through they thought might be water damaged. Everything was bagged and labeled and now the carpets are torn up with fans and dehumidifiers running. We are so grateful for wonderful neighbors who look out for us and are willing to let us crash at their place while we figure things out and for extended family and the love and support you can feel even when separated by hundreds of miles. I have to admit that I went through a little grieving process on the way home. I was upset. I cried. I was frustrated. And then I realized my most valued treasures were with me, my beautiful angel girls who were real troopers during the California trip and transition period when we should have been home and my darling husband who is always a calm voice of reason. By the time we got home I was ready to get to work and continue on with life as is. I guess we now get to enjoy somewhat of a stay-cation while our house gets fixed. I know the Lord loves us and was looking out for us as things could have been much worse.

Side note: as I walked through the house after things had been moved and carpet torn up I noticed they found Ellie's missing princess cards that I have been looking for for a couple of weeks--silver lining? :)

(I will post pictures as we get them.)

Visit to Grandma & Grandpa Moores

Steve got a little head cold towards the end of our San Diego trip and decided that instead of going home and staying home sick we should drive up to his parents house and spend the week there, so off we went. It was a busy, but a good week. I did 5 loads of laundry since I only packed for a weekend trip and because Ellie and Lila got a little stomach bug that caused diarrhea and throw-up one night--all night. Ellie loved playing with, "my friend", her cousin Lexie. They played and played and Ellie missed her when she went to school, but Grandma and Grandpa kept her busy during the day making cookies, rides in Grandpa's model T, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs, playing with all of the dogs, and her and Daddy even did the zip-lines out front. We also got to spend an evening with Steve's brother's family during a pizza making evening (Carole always has good food and fun things to do for the kids). Steve managed to get their front gate working which was very rewarding since they have been trying to get it working for almost 2 years. Steve's brother was very kind and got us both in to work on our teeth. While at the dental office his computer server went down so Steve spent some time helping them, but in the end he'll have to order something and send it off to them once he gets it setup. I love having a husband who is so versatile and willing to help. It is nice to have such wonderful extended family to look out for each other (this may be some of my current feelings flowing into this post--which you will understand better with my next post). Overall we are so glad we were able to spend the week with them and look forward to our next trip.

Steve walking the rope bridge to the zip-line. Note the foot attire for this activity.

Ellie and Grandma making delicious cookies.

The girls watching Hotel for Dogs. Ellie loves that movie and probably watched it three times during our stay. She even started making her own log in a little notepad Grandma had and would tell us all about her dogs as she read the log in their entry way--so cute.

P.S. We were a little worried about Zoe not wanting to come home with us since she lived and loved Carole and Russ for 5 years before us and all her doggy friends live there. The first night Russ took Zoe to sleep with them and when I woke up in the middle of the night with girls Zoe was snuggled up in our suitcase asleep. The next day Lila was on her tummy in the living room and the other 3 dogs came trotting in and of course they were curious about the baby on the floor, but before they could get too close Zoe jumped up and placed herself between Lila and the other dogs and gave them a little growl to know she meant business--way to go Zoe protecting my baby. :) It was cute and we are glad to know Zoe loves us as much as we love her!!

San Diegos

I have a dear friend that I have known since the 6th grade, Toni. She lives in San Diego with her husband, Dave and adorable one-year-old daughter, Lucy. We have gotten together almost annually since we moved to Tucson (we are normally the ones crashing on them since they are close to the beach, but have convinced them to visit us at least once and hopefully again this winter they can come enjoy some warm Tucson weather). We told Ellie that we were planning on going to San Diego for Labor Day weekend and all we heard after that was, "Are we going to San Diegos now?" "After this store are we going to San Diegos?" "Does San Diegos have a potty?" She even tried to convince me to leave Steve behind when he wasn't ready when she thought he should be and I quote, "Mom we are going to have to go to San Diegos without Daddy." We all made it and had a wonderful weekend! We love their family and appreciate their hospitality and friendship!

At the beach--we all had so much fun digging, playing in the waves, and sleeping on the beach. Can you see the cool letters Steve made in the dirt? He spelled out Ellie and Lila and then Ellie stomped all over it before I could take a picture.

The wave was this big.
It really was--look at how wet they both are. Ellie loved it!

One of our favorite activities is to make Dave play and sing for us. The girls all love it and Dave is very talented and patient.

On Monday we just hung around the house relaxing and playing with the girls. It is so nice to have good friends you can just chil with.

New Tricks

Lila is growing fast. We love the sparkle in her eyes, her frequent and big smiles, her hesitant laugh, and the fact that she is a part of our life! Her latest tricks include: 1.Trying to suck her thumb while nursing--I'm thinking why isn't she latched on and I look down to find the intruding fingers. 2.Attempts to get food we are eating into her mouth--she opens wide and pulls your hand, utensil and all towards her mouth. Her latest attempts have been with bacon and cookies. I think we'll start her on solids this week, but probably with something other than the afore mentioned foods. :) 3.She really wants to move and is getting close to crawling during tummy time, but my favorite part is when she is beached on her stomach and extends her arms and legs--I wonder if she thinks she is going to fly.

Lila 'kneeds' to always have something in her mouth.

Reasons to be glad laundry was procrastinated . . .

1. Lila is on her third outfit for the day. How does that stuff manage to squirt/squirm out of a diaper so quickly?

2. I'm on my second outfit--also thanks to a leaky diaper.

3. Ellie's favorite blanket got ketchup on it.

4. I was just plain too tired to do it until I had enough reasons--hence today is laundry day. :)

Ellie Euphemisms

I often give Ellie two choices when I'm trying to get something done. Like you can have this or this for lunch. Another example, you can walk or run to the car. However, she is getting a little too smart and when things are not going her way she will now tell me, "I don't like those options. We need to come up with a new plan."

She went to a friend's house to play and told the Mom that she needed to go potty. So my friend showed her the bathroom downstairs where they were and Ellie said, "Can I use the potty upstairs because that bathroom is much cleaner than this one."

Her vocabulary is so big that I think she has begun to create words in order to feel like she is still learning. We have to remind her to use real words so we know what she is talking about. She loves telling us how much something costs or if it is on sale (she sees Mommy going through the ads and clipping coupons) usually things cost 55 bucks (she has an expensive world).

Here's looking at you kid!

Lila's 4month Checkup

weight: 13lbs 9oz 50% percentile
height: 25 7/8 inches 90-95% percentile

Lila is still growing like a weed! We love her so much, even though she is still getting me up twice during the night (we're working on it). She loves to watch big sister doing whatever big sister does. She now stands on her legs and thinks she is all bad when she does it (she gets a big grin and so excited). We still lay her on her back to sleep, but find her on her stomach in the morning. Her and Ellie can talk up a storm already so I don't know what I'm going to do when Lila actually talks. I love my girls!

Here she is in a very cute outfit from Aunt Debbie and family with accessorized bracelet from Aunt Melanie and family--don't mind the drool marks, I just tried to eat my way out of the dress :)

Testimony

You may have noticed my new link at the top that starts with, "We believe . . ." Well a few events have happened to encourage me to post the link. First, I recently found a blog to a dear college neighbor and friend. I was shocked to find that she was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma (a cancer of the bones) about 18 months ago. She had a premature baby and two other children as she began chemotherapy. The cancer went into remission for a few months only to return again at the beginning of this year. Second, another dear college friend had a niece born with cystic fibrosis. These deadly illnesses to dear friends in similar circumstances made me realize my own mortality and how much I love my family! I am comforted by my knowledge of the eternal plan of our Heavenly Father. We are mortals and will pass through certain tests and trials which can include physical illnesses and premature deaths, but I know are Father in Heaven is merciful and sent His son, Jesus Christ, to show us the way to live and that through Him we can return to live with our eternal Father in Heaven and our mortal families whom he has provided for us to love, teach, and help one another. I know that families can be together forever through our Savior Jesus Christ.

If you are interested to learn or read more please click on the link at the top of the blog or contact me. LOVES!

Lila Laughing

Last Thursday, July 16, was an eventful day for us--not only did I cut Ellie's hair, but we got Lila to laugh a lot and it was cute. Of course I ran to get the camera, came back, turned it on, and she looked at me and went dead silent just staring at the camera (what is it with kids and stopping whatever cute activity it is as soon as you get the camera). So I hid behind Steve and when she began laughing again I stealthily stuck the camera out and began recording--anyway I hope this explains the weird angle of the video and let's you know that you only get a glimpse of how cute her laugh is. Other good news, this week she has begun to sleep until 3 or 4 a.m.--I am loving the more consistent sleep. We are so blessed with such wonderful little girls.

Ellie's New Look

Yesterday I decided that I was tired of Ellie's hair being in her eyes and getting in her food. I liked it long because I could pull it back, but let's be honest she never really let me do it. So I called my Mom and said I want to cut Ellie's hair (why I didn't think of this when we were visiting last week--I cannot explain). She agreed Ellie would look really cute with a bob. I asked if I could do it or if I needed to seek out a professional--she encouraged me and said I could do it and then talked me through what needed to be done (it would have been easier if she wasn't on a business trip to Vegas and we could have video chatted, but a phone conversation would have to do). So I turned on a movie, Bolt, and began cutting away. Here is the result:

I couldn't get her to look straight at the camera and the pictures don't really do it justice--it is really cute in person, but you get the idea. I made her a little barrette out of this yellow flower she loves and now she lets me comb her hair and put it in--I'm loving this new hair-do!

Not too bad. Next time I see my Mom I will be asking for lessons.

Lila's Baby Blessing

We scheduled Lila's blessing to be this weekend, as we knew we would be surrounded by family and it was very special. We had Grampy & Mimi Buckley, Uncle Jakey, Uncle Nate & Aunt Nessa, Great Grandpa & Grandma Olenslager, Great Grandpa & Grandma Merrell, Great Uncle Kirk & Aunt Brenda, and Steve's sister's family the Flakes in attendance. Steve gave a wonderful blessing and then we enjoyed visiting with everyone at my parents' home as we ate a lunch after Church. Here are some pictures of the day.

Beautiful Lila in her blessing dress made by Mimi.

Family Photo in which we were having a hard time getting the star of the day to look at the camera. She was a star even though she didn't realize it. :)

Pictures of Lila with the Great Grandparents.

Merrells
Olenslagers

4th of July Week

We went to visit the Buckley side of the family for the week and had a wonderful time! Our friends the Troutmans who recently moved from Tucson to Butte, MT were able to come down and spend some time with us. It was nice to see them again. Now that we are home, Ellie misses her friends, as there were lots of cousins and kids her age to play with. Lila misses being held all the time. I miss not having to worry about my day-to-day responsibilities. Steve is sad to be back at work. Although it is nice to be home, it is always nice to escape reality to the treasures of my parents' home. Here are some of the activities we participated in.

Rides in Grampy's boat.

Kite flying.
My Dad puts the kites on fishing poles to help control them and reel them in. He had a butterfly, shark, and the green kite in the picture--the kids loved it (including the fathers).

The famous parade and all of it's goodies.
Note: Uncle Jakey forgot his sunglasses and Ellie didn't want to wear her's so the green glasses became Jakey's. Don't you think they compliment his Salmon colored shirt?

There was a successful snorkeling search for a camera that drowned 10 days earlier while Nate and Nessa were visiting. I told Dad to blow this up and frame it in his office as
"My Sons In-Law"

Fireworks were observed while anchored in the boat. The glassed were 3D of sorts that made the fireworks spazz out a little (I cannot think of how to describe it, but they enjoyed it).

Sunsets!
This is my parents' dock into the Snake River right out of their back door.

We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends! When Uncle Jakey left Sunday night Ellie waved and said, "I love you. I miss you." as he drove away, causing tears to well up in all of us! We do love all of our family and miss them!!