Projects

I kept thinking that once the girls were in school I would relax and focus on getting ready for the baby, but we have had so many projects to try and finish-up that I was lucky to have a weekend to wash clothes and have Steve make me some shelves for the closets (he is super handy to have around!! LOVE HIM!!)
 

I had three wonderful friends give us large boxes of hand-me downs. I am so grateful!!

Steve's handy work with the shelves and all of the clothes organized and put away. :)

Here is what we have been up to, besides the normal school, dance, soccer, piano routine.

First, Steve started consulting for this company in Draper at the beginning of the summer (which is a 45 minute commute each way, something neither of us are used to) and they have kept him pretty busy and working late--a couple of times until midnight. As a matter of fact, Steve came home at 5:30 on Monday, we had dinner and he wanted to go to the park as a family. The girls were in heaven and said, "we like it when Daddy comes home early." I told Steve and he shrugged and said, "you mean on time."  The long hours have taken a toll on all of us, but we are grateful for the work.

The garage . . . I felt like we moved in and dumped all of this stuff in the garage. Last summer we managed to buy some cabinets off of KSL and install them, but Steve hasn't really had an opportunity to spend time out there organizing and cleaning so for several Saturdays this spring we spent time out there. I love working with him and I think he appreciates my support. He did ask once, "are you nesting in my space?" Possibly, but I think he enjoys the results and will hopefully now have more of an opportunity to work on the Datsun and projects he enjoys.

Then this was supposed to be a spring/summer project, but turned into a summer/fall project. We just put the railing up today.  Isn't it wonderful!! I'm really looking forward to having a space this winter that isn't snow packed and the shade it will provide during the summer--I'm so glad we did it, even though it has consumed a few weekends (we payed someone to build the awning, Steve and my Dad did the electrical/lighting for it and then built the deck and installed the railing).

We bought paint for the posts and to redo the door, but I think that will have to wait until spring. The deck is so nice-I can see us eating breakfast out there once in a while not just barbecuing.

The before with the crazy maze like stairs.

Steve gave the girls a piece of styrafoam and the old deck screws and the girls had a blast. They know exactly where to get Daddy's screwdrivers and have spent a few hours out there building (at one point they told me it was a leprechaun trap).

The yard has been another fall project of mine because it was too stinkin' hot to be out there during the summer (I know I lived in Tucson, but we had almost a month of 98+ and being pregnant I have every right to say it was HOT!). We worked really hard on it last year and then this spring we had to deal with some vole and grub issues which killed sections of the lawn and of course weed control is still an issue when bringing a lawn back to life. So I spent several days out there digging up crab grass so much that I filled our large green dumpster twice. Then Steve sprayed for the remaining weeds. Finally, I spent a few hours raking the dead weedy areas and the dry spots and over seeding those areas again. I wanted to get the new seed in this fall because it is the best time and then we can do the pre-emergent in the spring and hopefully the yard will be easier to maintain next year. It really is looking a lot better (you can see how dead it was in this post or the before patio pictures above, taken when we were looking at buying the house).

Oh and not to mention I have been working on primary stuff like crazy--it's a busy time with the program, new year preparation--classes, manuals etc., and 7 baptisms all in November so I'm trying to get stuff done in preparation for my leave of absence.

So here's for hoping October has a few relaxing weeks then Halloween and a new baby! :)

Lila's Big Week

Lila finally started preschool and had her first dance class, today. She is so excited to be doing all of these big kid things. :)  Last week she started a little music class here in the neighborhood and learned about string instruments and even made a little instrument out of shoe box. I was debating whether to sign her up for both dance and music classes and I asked her a few weeks ago which she would prefer and she said, "I can do three things Mom." Nothing wrong with her math skills ;) (she included preschool in her count).

She loved dance class, even though it seemed a little infantile for her.  We are going to try a pre-ballet class on Thursday to see if  it works out better (to be honest I'm not to thrilled with the class times available and a little frustrated . . . she really wants to dance and I'm really trying to make it happen).

We did have a little talk after dance class about not interrupting the teacher and raising our hand and waiting to be called on and sometimes we might not get called on because there are a lot of kids.



Then we scurried home, changed clothes, ate lunch and left for preschool.  Below is the outfit she has been saving for the first day of school. 

Left: We happened to get there just as her friend Alana was so we walked in with her. Right: She is putting her back-pack in the cubby at school (she is so funny because the back-pack is a hand me down she kept telling everyone it is mine now.) 

As I was getting ready to say good-bye she realized the kids were playing with toys while awaiting everyone's arrival and she turned to me with a smile on her face and said, "I think it's recess time.":) Can't wait to hear about her day when I pick her up!

This is who I picked up after school, Lila the Raccoon. They had read the "Kissing Hand" today and made raccoon masks. :)

Back-to-School

Ellie started second grade this morning. Summer has been wonderful, but I have to admit that on Saturday I said, "It's time for school to start." Steve said that was good timing. For some reason this pregnancy is really draining on me and I was ready to get back into a routine--although it is a little quiet around here without Ellie . . . what am I going to do next week when Lila starts preschool? Well, back to this morning. The girls got up early and Ellie quickly got dressed, practiced the piano and then the girls went with Dad, as is tradition, to get donuts. The "hot" light was on so they each got a really fresh one and ate it on the way home and then somewhat grudgingly ate their eggs. :) Ellie made her own sandwich this morning and then almost walked out without her back-up, oops. Steve dropped us off and gave Ellie the sweetest hug, wish I could have gotten a picture of that (he had a Monday meeting so he couldn't stay with us for the orientation).

Ellie at her desk and with her friend Micah who is in her class. :)

 

Enjoying their special donuts after school since they got a "hot" donut this morning and then Lila tuckered out during homework reading time. :)

We had special Family Home Evening yesterday in preparation for today where we talked about how we are braver and stronger than we think and we can do hard things. We talked about how Ellie made huge progress in swimming this year because she tried new things and worked hard at it. We spoke with Lila, who has been struggling with accidents again, on how she can do it, she needs to keep trying. We talked about how Heavenly Father will always be there even when Mommy & Daddy can't so they can always pray to Him and ask for help. Steve then gave them each a very special Father's blessing. It was amazing to watch how the Spirit affected Lila as she sat so still listening and I think mostly feeling of our Father in Heaven's love. Ellie understood more and was grateful for the special blessings. Steve was nice enough to give me one also and I was grateful to be reminded of how well my Father in Heaven knows me and wants me to succeed. :) It will be another great year of progress and growth both physically, mentally, and spiritually for our family!

Legoland & California

We received free kids tickets for Legoland and decided we could use some of our hotel points and fit it into our already scheduled trip to California. I decided I wanted to get the most out of this trip so we told the girls we were planning it and gave them each a roll of dimes and quarters that they could use on a souvenir from Legoland, but they had to be good or they could lose coins over the summer. I have to admit it made a huge difference in Lila's attitude. After losing a few dimes, she went from throwing a fit about everything I said to, "ok Mom" and then happily doing it. There was a funny side affect to them knowing so early. Lila set out an outfit she wanted to wear to Legoland and everyday as she was getting dressed I would hear, "Are we going to Legoland today. (after response in the negative) Fine I won't wear this outfit today." Even when we got her up early for Ellie's triathlon last week she asked, "Are we going to Legoland today?" She is a determined little girl. :)

We arrived at the park early since the girls were already up and walked around a bit. We went by the world's largest Lego model, a star war's x-wing fighter that has more than 5.5 million legos and weighs more than 45,000 lbs. The girls were impressed with everything that could be made with legos.

Then we found a little boat tour that was open so we went for a ride to see cities from all over the world made with legos.

Ellie and Steve with the New York city skyline in the background and Lila pointing out the two guys using a Q-tip to clean the ears on lego Mount Rushmore.


The girls enjoyed driving school--they had the ride separated by age 3-5 then 6 and up so Ellie got to drive a car with a gas and break pedal while Lila got to drive her simple car twice while waiting for Ellie to be done.

We rode several simple rides and ended up by Pirate Shores (a water/splash pad area) at the hot part of the day. I had originally planned on having the girls where their swimsuits under their clothes, but decided the night before not to do that when I saw the weather was only supposed to reach 70 . . . wished I would have because it would have been a perfect time to let them play there. Oh well, you live and learn. Instead we went and waited in line for this pedal ride which the girls really wanted to do, but the line was always forever long. They enjoyed playing in the lego building area while Daddy waited in line for us. :)  Then we went to see the Lego Friends show. It was really cheesy, but the girls loved meeting some of the Lego Friends they play with all of the time.

After which we grabbed lunch at a little pizza place, while Steve tried a Ramen stir fry of some sort. Ellie wanted to watch the bus and boats move around this lego city area we could see from where we were sitting so we let her venture over there while Lila finished eating. Lila was pretty tired at this point so we thought it would be a good time for Ellie and Steve to do the roller coasters. I love both of their faces as they start the descent down the roller coaster.

We managed to catch a little princess show and ride a couple of more rides. Then let the girls pick out their souveniers which they picked out stuffed animals again--I tried talking them into something/anything lego from Legoland, but ultimately it is their decision. 

We then exited and began our drive to Grandpa & Grandma Moore's house. It was a long night, but was so nice to wake-up and relax in their home instead of driving more. Carole & Russ were on their way home from Lake Powell so we chilled that morning and the girls were so good to just play and be creative with the toys in their front room. Even Steve commented on how they are good about just playing and using their imaginations--we are so spoiled. :) Then we went over to Steve's brother Doug's house where we enjoyed swimming, visiting, and just relaxing some more. They grilled up some tri-tip for dinner and it was a lot of fun to just hangout and watch the kids play so well together (I remember purposely getting out my camera, but I didn't take any pictures--losing my mind).

Saturday the girls were excited to be with Grandpa & Grandma and play with Lexie. They fed the chickens, gathered eggs, drove their little car, went for rides in Grandpa's "new" classic cars, and then an afternoon at the beach.

The adults went out to dinner Saturday evening which is always a fun. Then Sunday we went to church and a little parade of homes where we saw Greg & Katie's new place, Maddie & Scott's new home, and Monique's cute place and enjoyed a nice Sunday meal together.  Monday we went back to the beach in the afternoon and just had fun. That night as I was flossing Ellie's teeth I found a surprise. She has a permanent tooth growing behind her baby teeth that aren't even lose yet. Uncle Doug took a look and said to just start working the front teeth until they loosen up--she may lose her first tooth soon.

We decided to start our journey home on Tuesday since we would be hauling a trailer full of tools from Russ's shop. It was hard to leave, but I'm so glad we broke the journey up into two days--this pregnant Mamma was having a hard time traveling. The girls were champs as always--they may have watched a whole season of Chip-n-Dale Rescue Rangers ;) but they were good.

A couple of funny notes, so there are some hills on this windy road by their home that Steve likes to take a little fast and it can take your stomach so Steve convinced Lila it was like riding a roller coaster and she would put her hands in the air every time we made that drive. She decided she would try a roller coaster next time. Then Lila also has impeccable timing as far as restroom stops while traveling. We'll ask her if she needs to go and she'll say no, no. Then just as we pass the last exit for civilization in while she'll say I have to go really bad and start moaning. So we made a few pit stops on the side of the road. :) I was also impressed with Ellie's responsibility, she came into the room and got our Wii Just Dance Disney so they could play and then returned it to the exact spot when they were done. I told her thank you for doing that and she said, "No big deal." I love to see my girls interact with Carole and Russ and we were spoiled last year with how much we got to see of them so I'm so glad we could make the trip out there to visit.

Ellie's First Triathlon

This summer Steve has been training to participate in the Spudman again with my family. I found a mini-tri for the kids and asked Ellie if she would be interested in trying it. She said yes so Steve and I talked about it and decided to see how she did in swim lessons. One night she was complaining about going to swimming lessons and Steve explained that she needed to improve her swimming skills if she wanted to do the triathlon and something clicked in her mind. That day at swim lessons she was brave and jumped in all by herself and floated on her back and then later when I took her swimming at a friends house she just decided she could swim and was putting her face in the water and kicking and not touching the bottom of the pool to take a breath (this is a huge improvement from the beginning of the summer when we were coaxing her in to doing everything). I was so happy that she was trying, but not comfortable with her swimming 50 yards on her own so I called the registration desk and they said they could use floatation devices during the swim so we signed her up for a fun event. This morning we got up bright and early 5:45 am to get ready and be there to get her registration packet by 6:30, then a racer/parent meeting at 6:45 and then the racing began. Ellie was a bit nervous, but Steve was wonderful to stay with her through the race and talk her through it. Once she got going she enjoyed it and of course the treats and awards at the end are awesome. She even said on the way home that getting up that early wasn't too bad. Lila was cute and cheering her on the whole time saying, "Go Ellie Go!" Maybe next year we'll register two kids. :)

Waiting for her turn to swim:

Transitioning to Bike:

Returning from the bike and getting directions from Dad before the run:

Enjoying her award and goodies at the end (her race packet was full of goodies--a nice t-shirt, water bottle, athlete snacks, and a grow a sunflower kit):

In the video you can see her pulling her pants up even though I took them in last night--skinny girl. :)  She did great and had a fun time!

Just for the record here are her times;  50yd swim 2:23, 1mile bike 8:32, 1/2mile run 3:40, T1 3:33, T2 1:02, TOTAL 19:10.

Power Outage

So the power was out tonight from about 6-10pm. It went off for a few minutes while we were getting ready for tennis lessons, but came back on and then Steve called us when he got home to tell us the power was off again. There was an accident that took out a power line and there was almost 1500 people without power. The girls were surprised at how much we couldn't do without power, but we managed to make it fun by eating cold leftover pizza for dinner, giving them headlamps to walk around the house and they read books for a good 20 minutes using the headlamps, then we went outside and lit some sparklers. I love that Ellie is sounding out words because when I pulled out the sparklers she said, "Mom you got these at the 'tint' tent didn't you." I was a little puzzled and happened to glance at the sparkler box and see TNT and realized she was sounding it out and pronouncing it almost like 'tint'.  She has seen the TNT tents across town all month and was excited to have 'tint' sparklers. :)

When we finished it was 9:30 so we came in brushed teeth and got ready for bed. The girls were upset that their nightlights weren't working, but we told them to leave their headlamps next to their bed and they could turn them on if they needed anything during the night. We left their doors open and were visiting for a minute when the power came back on. There were shrills of excitement from the girls that their nightlights were working and the air conditioning came back on. So they peacefully went off to sleep, but it was a fun adventure in which we realized that our flashlight and lantern were out of commission--fixed now by new batteries and a light bulb.

Yellowstone

When we were talking about possible ideas for this year's summer vacations, Steve said he wanted to do something outdoors and since he has never been to Yellowstone (that he can remember) we decided it was the place to go. We booked a hotel in West Yellowstone for a few days before the 4th of July since it seems to be tradition to head to Rupert for the 4th. Then it turns out my Grandma Buckley had planned a reunion in Island Park the weekend before our trip and since it was conveniently on our way we went up a few days early and spent some relaxing time with my parents, Venessa and her girls in a cabin.

Left: the girls playing in a little stream that ran by the cabin. Right: making s'mores.

Sunday my parents and Nessa headed back to Rupert and we went in to Montana where we checked into the hotel. The girls seemed to be tired, but as soon as we got to the hotel they were wired so we got in the car and ventured into the park for a few hours.

We had only been in the park for about 5 minutes when I looked up from the map and saw this bison standing on the side of the road. I pointed it out to Steve, who slowed down just in time for him to decide that he was going to take over our lane for a few minutes.

Then we stopped by the the trail around Fountain Paint Pots (pictured on left). The girls were pretty impressed with all of the hot springs, mud pots, and geysers we saw there. Then we headed to the Old Faithful visitors center to pick-up their Junior Ranger packets and it so happened that Old Faithful (pictured on right) would be erupting soon so we took a seat and watched.  On our way out we saw little baby dear eating near a stream.

 






Monday, after having breakfast at the hotel (which the girls loved--they each ate 4 waffles, yogurt, boiled eggs, cereal  all in one sitting--Steve and I could not believe the amount of food they packed away) we went back into the park and found these elk sitting in the shade near a stream.

We decided to drive the loop North and stopped at Sheepeater's Cliff. Everyone enjoyed stretching their legs and climbing this spectacular cliff.

We then stopped at the North visitor's center near Mammoth Hot Springs and saw lots more elk. The girls also participated in the Wildlife Olympics where they tested their skills against the animals, if they could jump as far as a rabbit, or high as bison (those massive creatures can jump 6' high), keep their eyes open without blinking like an owl, or stand on one leg with your eyes closed like how many birds sleep. They also got to look at a few skulls of animals and impressed the rangers with their knowledge of the animals displayed. We then found a picnic spot and had lunch. The girls wanted to touch every stream or river we came close to and Steve was nice enough to let them get in and play here after lunch (pictured left). Then we did a short hike to Wraith Falls (pictured right) where we saw another elk on our way and a marmot playing in and around his hole.

 






The girls were beat so we made the rest of the loop out and around which took longer than anticipated. We ate dinner in West Yellowstone at a local cafe--it was yummy and then to the hotel for swimming. After swimming and showering we walked around West Yellowstone where the girls picked out their newest stuffed animals; Lila got a moose and Ellie got a wolf she calls Husky after her school mascot. Then we enjoyed some delicious ice cream before heading off to dreamland.

Tuesday, we decided since the girls had been going to bed a little later we would let them sleep in, go swimming after breakfast and then hit the park after lunch so we could stay in Yellowstone and try to see more animals during the cool evening hours. On our way in on Tuesday I wanted to stop and take a picture by this sign, I remember doing it as a kid with my family. Silly Lila held her moose in front of her face for all four pictures--it made me laugh so hard when I noticed while I was reviewing the pictures.

This elk was in the stream when we drove by, but by the time we got down to the bank to take a picture it was on shore.

This is our second hike. We hiked around an area of Yellowstone Lake. The girls were awarded their junior ranger badges shortly before and were wearing them with pride. We saw some trumpeter swan and geese while on the hike.

Here they are taking turns with the binoculars to see a coyote running through the fields. We also saw a grizzly bear and several herds of bison with babies on our drive towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Grand Canyon and water falls--it was beautiful and my beauties there too. :)

We ate dinner at a restaurant in the park and Steve dared to try a bison burger. :) Then on our drive out we did see several animals out enjoying the cooler evening temperatures (I was hoping to see a moose, but no such luck).  The elk below walked across the street right in front of us.

We knew we would be driving to Rupert on Wednesday and so we didn't know if we dared do more driving in the park to make the time in the car seem so much longer so we decided to do the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center right there in West Yellowstone. It was very educational, we learned a lot and got to see wolves, bears, bald eagles, and a cute owl. The girls also made another smashed penny for their collector books.

Then on to Rupert for the 4th of July festivities.  The parade is always a hit with lots of fun floats and candy being tossed. Lila was funny this year--instead of just grabbing candy she would run out and see if it was something she liked before picking it up.

We celebrated Grandma Fern Olenslager's 80th birthday (which was on July 1st) and Siena's first birthday (which is on July 10th).

The girls spent the whole 3 days in their swimsuits playing in the kid pool, fishing, hot tubbing, boating, and paddle boarding. Jakey taught Ellie to cast and she spent almost an hour down there on the dock casting and reeling it in trying to catch a fish--maybe next time. :)

Lila got out of the pool to cozy up to Marcee who was reading a book on her kindle. Lila loved that the book didn't have any pages and that Marcee let her turn the page by pushing a button.

We took the girls out several times on the boards. We beached them one day in the shade and let the girls play around in the water. It was fun!

It's really hard to want to head home after such a relaxing weekend, but we made it home yesterday to our dog Zoe who was ecstatic to see us. Today the girls are tired and having a rough time transitioning into normal life (lots of crying for no reason-which is driving Steve crazy, I some how manage to ignore it pretty well). Hopefully a good night's sleep will help because tomorrow we're back to swimming lessons, tennis lessons, art classes, and Ellie has piano camp for the next two days at her teachers studio. We are truly enjoying summer!