Family Home Evening Treat

We made caramel apples for our family home evening treat on Monday. Actually there is kind of a funny story behind that (although I didn't think it was funny at the time). I took Gracie and Sammy to the grocery store on Friday. Gracie really is getting to big to ride in the cart, but she isn't big enough to listen and stay by my side very well. Anyway, I told her if she would stay right by me she could walk. She was following me (sort of). She picked up all the bell peppers and smelled them, and she had to touch a lot of things (sorry to the people in the store...). She was right next to me, and I turned to pick up some dried cranberries for a salad I was making. Gracie picked up an apple from the display right next to me and took a great big bite! And of course it wasn't from an apple you can buy by the pound. Nooooo, it was an apple that you had to buy by the BOX! So I had to buy a whole box of apples. It was sooooo tempting to just put the apple back and pretend nothing had happened. But I didn't. So I had to think of something to do with apples. We made caramel apples on Monday, and I think I am going to make apple crisp tonight. If anyone wants some, bring some vanilla icecream and come on over.

You're it!

Tag your it!

All right, so I have been tagged. Here I am:

Jobs I have had:
1. Domestic Engineer (yay for mommies!)
2. Zions Bank Internet Branch
3. Zions Bank Teller and New accounts
4. Skywest (loved the benefits!)
5. Phone survey place (I can’t remember the name)

Movies I can watch over and over:
1. That thing you do
2. National Treasure
3. Anything SUPERMAN
4. Miracle on 34th St.
5. While you were sleeping

Favorite T.V. Shows
Actually my tv doesn’t work and even when it did we didn’t get very good reception… oh well. We just watch movies.

Places I have been on Vacation:
1. St. George
2. Church history sites
3. California
4. Is it so sad that I haven’t been anywhere else?
5. David promised me that when he graduates from school he will take me on a vacation where ever I want to go (can you say Europe!)

Favorite Dishes:
1. Anything Mexican (except corn tortillas, I don’t really like those)!!!!!
2. Spaghetti
3. Mom’s Sunday dinners (I can make the exact same things and somehow they aren’t as good.)
4. Chicken noodle soup (homemade of course and only in the winter)
5. French Fries

Websites I visit:
1. BLOGS!
2. theBank
3. Food Network, all-recipes… other random recipe websites
4. LDS.org
5. G-mail

Places I would rather be:
1. with my family
2. In bed with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate (it is only 60 degrees here today)
3. Riding my bike with the kids in the bike trailer (did I mention it is also raining here today)
4. Café Rio
5. At the top of the Empire State Building… with David

People I am tagging:
1. The Cluffs
2. The Hales
3. The Morris Fam
4. The Frontones
5. The Kohlers (that means you actually have to post something on your blog again!

My new couches.

So here are my new couches. They don't look exactly like I remember them looking in the store. Strange how that happens, but oh well. I don't know if I really love them, but David REALLY likes them a lot, so I don't think we will return them. The two end seats on both couches recline (David's favorite feature). I think somehow in my head these couches mixed with another couch that I was looking at, and my favorite features from both got mixed in my head. Anyway. They are very comfortable. The room is still kind of bare. We took the rug that was in there downstairs to the family room so I need a new rug and I still need an end table and to hang more pictures. But these are my new couches.

Carrots, chocolate ice cream, and sitting up!!!

Sammy had his first bite of baby carrots yesterday. He sure loved them, but I can't help but feel sorry for him when the rest of us were eating chocolate ice cream.

Gracie really REALLY liked the chocolate ice cream. Just look at that chocolatey grin.

Sammy started sitting up all by himself! He doesn't even need me to help him get that way. He stands on his hands and his toes and then bends his legs and falls backwards onto his bottom. What a cutie!

Sammy is so big....

Sammy thinks he is such a big boy. He is so close to crawling, but he doesn't really want to crawl he wants to walk. He climbs up on his hands and feet and tries to jump. He gets up so tall and then he falls over (not on purpose) and rolls all the way on to his back. That makes him really mad. He is so fun, I just love him SO MUCH!

The wall in my bedroom...

So here is the infamous wall in my bedroom that I have told some of you about. I really wish that I liked it because I am sure it took the woman who used to live here a long time to paint it, but I just can't leave it. I don't really like to spend time in my bedroom the way it is unless all the lights are off (it is a good thing bedrooms are used for sleeping). But I haven't decided yet what color to paint it. I am open to suggestions... Let me know what you think.

The lake

As you can see, Sammy enjoyed the lake probably almost as much as his sister. What a cute little stinker he is!

The lake II

So we went to the lake last week, actually we have been there a couple of times, but I took pictures this time. Gracie absolutly LOVES to go to the lake. She runs right out into the water very first thing. David had to follow her out because she likes to go so deep that sometimes she gets dunked by the waves (as you can see in the second picture). I took a picture of the sunset since they are supposed to have one of the most beautiful sunsets in the country. It was a very hazey day so the sun looks really PINK. It wasn't the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, so I will have to try again on a day that is clearer.

I was just kidding...

When I thought I understood about humidity before, well I was just kidding. I thought 70% humidity was a lot, but it is nothing compared 90+%. Yesterday evening we went and did some shopping and when we walked out of the store I felt this wave of wetness wash over me... literally. It almost feels like you could drink the air. It is so humid that the water actually condenses on the car windows as we are driving. I don't know what to do about that, do you turn on the defroster or what? And if the humidity reaches 100% would all the air turn to water? Back home after you take a shower and you blow dry your hair in the humid bathroom you get all sweaty (which kind of defeats the point of taking the shower). Well if feels like that all the time here. Now, I am not complaining. It is actually kind of interesting. We have had 3 HUGE rainstorms since we moved here two weeks and one day ago. I wish that I could bottle up some of this water and send it back to my family. It struck me as kind of ironic last night as I was praying. I thanked Heavenly Father for all the moisture we have been recieving. Now I don't think it was bad to do that, but I bet people don't have to pray for rain here like we did back home. Anyway. These have just been some of my thoughts during these past few wet days. I do appreciate the rain, and I think it is really beautiful.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

So... yet another event I missed blogging about in July. Micah and Sarah got married on July 14th.
Congratulations Micah and Sarah. The wedding was beautiful, Sarah was beautiful and Micah was...not beautiful, but handsome. They got married in the Mt. Timponogos Temple and had their reception on the lawn next to the church. Today when I was looking for a picture to put on the blog Gracie saw this one and said, "Rella!" Which means Cinderella. Then she picked up the corners of her imaginary dress and curtsied like the women do when they are being presented to Prince Charming at the ball. So Gracie thinks that Sarah looks just like Cinderella. Anyway, we just wanted to tell you two that we love you and we are sorry it took us so long to get this posted. But Congratulations anyway.

Trouble with a capital T!

I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but Gracie has a look on her face that says. "Hmmm, what trouble can I get in to?" She is the funniest little girl! She is talking more and more and says the funniest things. About a week ago I was trying to distract her from something she was doing that I didn't want her to (I can't remember what it was). I asked her if she had a bug in her ear. She looked at my like, "What are you talking about mom... you are totally crazy." But I wiggled my fingers next to her ear and made a funny sound. Now every day she asks me, "Bug in my ear? Bug in my hair? Bug in my nose? Bug in my ahhhh (which means mouth)? Bug in my bed?" But it doesn't worry her that there are bugs in all of these places. In fact I think she likes them there. On Saturday we went to a picnic for David's school and as Gracie was walking around a grasshopper jumped on her head. David pulled it off and let it walk on Gracie's hand. She just whispered, "a bug" and looked at it.
She has started saying, "Thank you mama" when I help her with things and it makes me feel so happy just to be her mom. Even when she steels my keys. It was Friday and I needed to go pick David up from school. I was already kind of having a bad day, and I couldn't find my keys anywhere. I remembered putting them on my desk after I dropped David off at school. I even made a mental note that that was where I was putting my keys, "Okay Julie, the keys are on the desk when you are ready to leave again..." But when I went to find them they were gone. I looked all over the house wondering if I had picked them up and moved them. I asked Gracie if she knew where they were, and she walked all around the house calling, "Keys? Keys?" like they would just jump out and say, "here I am!" In my head I kept thinking, I bet Gracie took them and burried them in the dirt in the back yard. Finally in desperation I went out and looked. Guess what. They were burried in the dirt in the back yard. I am also missing a bottle of baby tylenol. I wonder if it is out there too. Next time something else goes missing, I know the first place I am going to look.

Happy Anniversary to us!

"Maybe we were flowers
Soaking up every ray of sun
To grow one inch closer to one another
Maybe we were songbirds
Flying high up on the wind
And every night in the trees I’d sing you to sleep
Whatever the truth is one thing’s for sure

I’ve got a timeless place for you in my heart
How I could love you this much I don’t know
But there’s this ageless feeling that tells me more and more
I must have loved you before

Maybe I was an ocean
And you were the sandy beach
And every minute
I was falling at your feet
Or maybe you were the moon
Oh and I was just the dark
Living in your sweet light
Thanking God I was where you are
They say love is eternal and I guess they must be right

'Cause I’ve got a timeless place for you in my heart
How I could love you this much I don’t know
There’s this ageless feeling that tells me more and more
I must have loved you before

Whenever you kiss me well it feels like coming home

I’ve got a timeless place for you in my heart
How I could love you this much baby I don’t know
There's this ageless feeling that tells me more and more
I must have loved you before" -Jason Deere

I love you David. I just wanted you to know that. Happy Anniversary!

Drip, drip, drip...

Well, I understand now about humidity. David told me the humidity today is over 70%. I took Gracie to the playground at the elementary school at the end of the street. She was dripping after playing for an hour (even though it was only 8:00 in the morning). Then we explored a little bit around our neighborhood. After 45 minutes of walking I was all wet too. It wasn't that I was so hot, the temp is only 80 degrees, but I was sweating anyway. Crazy. Anyway, we like it here so far. The time difference is weird when I am talking to my family and their day has just started when it is mid morning here. And I hate being so far away from my family. We do have a very friendly ward though and it is fun to be able to see new places that I probably wouldn't get to see otherwise. We are planning to go to the lake again tonight (it is a good thing too because it is supposed to be the hottest day since we go here). Anyway, we just want all our friends and family to know that we miss and love them. Take care.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Sammy's first tooth came in yesterday. He has been sooo crabby lately. He hasn't been sleeping well during the nights and wants to nurse ALL of the time. But yesterday morning he took a two hour nap. I think that tooth finally broke through and gave him some relief and he was able to rest afterwards. Sammy really seams to like our new house. He especially likes to play in the backyard. He gets really close to the grass and looks at it... I think he even tasted it. He loves to go outside; it almost always settles him down when he is sad. We are going to sleep outside on Friday night. We want to show Gracie the lightning bugs. We are still looking for a fun playset for the yard, but for now the rocks and grass and dirt are fun.

Palmyra

We took a trip to Palmyra last Friday. Just too give you an idea of how green everything is back here, this is a picture of the Palmyra Temple from the road. It is really beautiful. There are flowers everywhere. We visited the Smith home, the place where the Book of Mormon was printed, and the Sacred Grove. I don't know if this is entirely appropriate or not, but Gracie and I chased an imaginary monkey all through the Sacred Grove. Gracie thought she saw one up ahead of us, and all I had to do was tell her I thought the monkey had gone in the direction I wanted her to go and she followed me so willingly. After spending the morning chasing her out from under the bed at the Smith house and from behind the ropes that you aren't supposed to go behind, this was a welcome change.

Birthdays in July!

Happy Birthday to those July birthdays out there. We may be a little late, but we want you to know we love you and we were thinking about you on your special day.

Eden is one! What a sweetheart. Hope you had fun!

Grandpa is 29. We miss you Grandpa and can't wait to see you in October.

MaryAnn is 19 and Sarah is 22! Have you ever seen such beautiful girls? We love you all. Be good and I hope you ate a piece of cake for me!

An answer to prayers...

Wow! I have been praying all morning that everything would go smoothly with the move today. And the craziest thing happened. Everything did NOT go smoothly. I have still been presented with problems at almost every turn. BUT, I have been able to get through the problems without feeling totally overwhelmed (unlike yesterday). I feel like I can get through all of this and everything is going to be ok! There is a saying, and I can't remember how it goes exactly, but it is something like, "sometimes God quiets the storm, and sometimes God lets the storm rage and He quiets His child." I feel that today. I feel peace even though everything around me is crazy. I am grateful for the Spirit that brings peace to my life.

Update...

So I don't have a picture to post today because just about everything I own is still in storage including my computer (thanks Lindsay for letting me use yours). Things are totally crazy here. We were supposed to have all of our stuff picked up by the moving van tomorrow to be shipped to our new house, but we got a message saying they wanted to pick it up today. So I had to scramble to get the motorcycle brought to the storage unit today instead of tomorrow and have everything ready to go. When I got to the unit, the gates wouldn't open so we had to get that fixed. Our good friend and previous bishop, Ryan drove David's motorcycle to the storage unit (David is in Kansas presenting a research paper at a conference) and parked it there for me. But the moving truck never showed up!!! Aaahhhhh! I called them and they said that someone had given me the wrong information and they aren't coming until tomorrow. So I had to have Ryan come back and move the motorcycle out of the storage unit (it won't actually fit because we have too much stuff...either that or the unit is just to small). We ended up parking the motorcycle on the street. But I found out that we have to drain the gasoline out of it before it can go on the truck. I have no idea how to do this and as I said before, David is out of town. I think this motorcylce is becoming more trouble than it is worth. Does anyone out there want a motorcycle? It is parked on the road next to the storage unit place and if it is by some chance missing in the morning I think I would be more relieved than sorry.

A fun day!

Well, we are homeless. We will be staying with family for the next few weeks until we close on our new house. It is strange being without our own house, but it is fun to spend so much time with our families.My sisters Caralee and LeAnn and I spent the day together with our six kids. Sydney and Sammy had fun playing together.

Sammy is teething. He is pretty squirmy and unhappy much of the time. He is so wiggley he can get out of his car seat!

Eden is such a mama's girl. She loves her mommy so much!

Sammy is SO crabby! He wants me to hold him constantly. He likes to play with my face.

Sammy loves kisses. They can almost always make him happy.

Caralee and Sydney are so fun. Caralee has lots and lots of fun toys (she likes to collect them) and the kids have a blast at "Aunt Kiwi's" house.

Tolman and Gracie and Kimball all love to play together, but Gracie is ready to go back home. It breaks my heart because she keeps saying, "Go home, go home" to me, and I don't know how to make her understand that we are getting a new house. I keep telling her, but she just looks at me like I am crazy and says " want go home." We are just trying to keep things as normal as possible. But it has been a really fun day!

My Beautiful Girl

Oh how I miss my beautiful girl. She has been with my family for the last week and a half. I dropped her off with my sisters when my mom and I went to look at houses. I spent Monday with her, and then came home without her so I could go to girls camp. My heart is begging to hear her sweet laugh and my arms are aching to hug her. I just can't wait until we close on the house on Monday so I can go and play with her again. Meanwhile she has been calling all of my sisters "mom." I guess it is okay; she used to call them all Julie (she called me Julie too). One of these days she will figure it out. Anyway, only a couple more days pretty girl and then I am coming!